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A trade war is kicking off between the United States and Canada. The new Canadian prime minister is promising to win the financial battle. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is working on his own response, which he says will include actions that will go down in history. We’ll discuss this topic and others, in this episode of Crossroads. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🔵 Watch the full episode HERE 👇   https://ept.ms/3FwEDnu Stay Informed. Stay Free. https://www.joshphilipp.com/

While I was in Washington for this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, I was given a sticker that really made me stop and question what I was seeing. It was a sticker that said: “Trump 2028: Finish the Job.” At first, I thought it was just a joke, but apparently it wasn’t. There is an actual effort underway to try and change the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in order to allow someone to run for a third term (if their previous two terms were non-consecutive). I met up with the organization behind the stickers, and I sat down with its director, Shane Trejo. He explained to me his rationale for wanting to amend the 22nd Amendment, as well as the concrete steps that he and his organization are taking to try and make it happen. Views expressed in this video are the opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🇺🇸 Epoch Times $1 Full Access Special Offer: https://ept.ms/RomanSale

Cryptocurrencies could soon be part of the U.S. national strategic reserve. During a recent event, President Donald Trump announced his administration is exploring ways to do this through bitcoin. The move follows another Trump order where he banned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), or government-backed digital currencies. Both actions could represent a break of the United States from a global trend of mass surveillance in digital payments. We’ll discuss this topic and others, in this episode of Crossroads. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🔵 Watch the full episode HERE 👇   https://ept.ms/3R1pkFI Stay Informed. Stay Free. https://www.joshphilipp.com/

At this year’s CPAC event in Washington, we sat down with K.T. McFarland, former deputy national security adviser for President Donald Trump, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, the U.S.–Mexico border, and the rise in populism across the Western world. Views expressed in this video are the opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🇺🇸 Epoch Times $1 Full Access Special Offer: https://ept.ms/RomanSale

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the President Santiago Peña of Paraguay. He shared why Paraguay is one of only 12 countries in the world that recognizes Taiwan instead of communist China and one of only six countries that have moved their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Now I’m sitting down with his foreign minister, Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, to learn more about Paraguay, the region, and Lezcano’s candidacy for secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS). Watch the video: “Paraguay matters in the agenda of the United States. Why? Because Paraguay is a very important and key partner for the United States,” says Lezcano. “I think that America abandoned for a long time Latin America. In the last year, the United States lost a lot of markets, a lot of investment, and a lot of opportunities. I think that [now] is the time to work closely again.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. FULL TRANSCRIPT Jan Jekielek: Minister Ruben Ramírez Lezcano, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders. Minister Ruben Ramírez Lezcano: Jan, it’s a pleasure to be here on your program with your audience. Mr. Jekielek: Welcome to the United States. Since the inauguration of President Trump, the State Department with Secretary of State Rubio, and President Trump himself has been quite active on issues related to Latin America and Paraguay as well. How do you view what has happened in the last 20 days? Minister Lezcano: First of all, it is a very clear message that Latin America matters for the government of President Trump. Marco Rubio, coming from a Latin family, is very clear about the future of our relations. The recent visit of Secretary Rubio to Central America is restarting the relationship in the region from which the United States was very absent in recent years. Mr. Jekielek: You have announced your candidacy for the Secretary General of the Organization of American States [OAS]. You are viewing this both from a Paraguayan perspective, but also from a broader perspective. Minister Lezcano: Yes. My candidacy responds to the prioritization that President Santiago Peña gave to the multilateral system and also to our principles and values about freedom, human rights, democracy, and rule of law. The Organization of American States was created in 1948, but was born before that with the inter-American system. That is quite important for us, because our main proposal is integration, not only with economy and trade, but also political integration. Mr. Jekielek: There is suspicion of multilateral institutions here, with the U.S. recently withdrawing from the WHO and the UN Human Rights Council. Please explain to us why the multilateral structure of the OAS is so important for you. Minister Lezcano: It’s important because we are discussing four pillars for development and for political stability in our hemisphere. The first one is democracy. We need to extend democracy. In recent years the OAS lost three country members, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. We need to work on strengthening the institution, working on education, democracy, and on strengthening the election system program that we have in Latin America. Yesterday, we celebrated the election in Ecuador and that means that it’s quite important to have all the institutions supporting those democratic processes. Secondly, we are working on human rights. Human rights are very important because they deal not only with democracy, but also with development, job opportunities, the income of the people in their own countries, as well as security issues. Those four pillars that we are talking about, democracy, human rights, development, sustainability, and security, are the most important challenges that we have in our hemisphere. Those challenges don’t have any relation with the size of the country, they have a relation with the needs of every country. The United States is dealing with security, migration, and trade exchange. That means that we need the space for debate and to build consensus among those countries in our hemisphere. The Western Hemisphere is quite important, not only for our country, but also for the United States. Mr. Jekielek: Let’s talk about the migration situation. There has been a lot of migration in recent years into America from Latin America, and more specifically, Guatemala. But now, the migrants will be returning to their home countries. It’s not really clear how that operation will work. Minister Lezcano: That is the reason why OAS is important, because we understand each country has the sovereignty to deal with the illegal people that came to their territory. We need to discuss how to deal with those challenges, and those challenges have a relationship with democracy. Why democracy, you say? We are looking at the situation in Venezuela where they have 8 million Venezuelans going outside the country—8 million. The impact is not only in the United States, it’s in Peru, it’s in Chile, it’s in Ecuador, and that is a challenge for the whole hemisphere. It has a relationship with development. The development challenge means that people are going to look for the opportunity to get jobs, and to get better wellness in other countries. It has a relationship with human rights. When democracy is weak in a country, human rights are not safe. It also has a relationship with security, because you have human trafficking, drug trafficking, and money laundering. You have the challenge of the crime organizations, because they have become multinational institutions. They are more integrated than the state governments. We have several crime organizations that are multinational; Primeiro Comando da Capital from Brazil, Comando Vermelho from Brazil, and Tren de Aragua from Venezuela. They are working throughout the whole hemisphere. There are also other cartels working. It is most important to have the conditions to discuss the solutions to this challenge by integrating our authority with the OAS. We need to not only give financial support, but also to have the security system of our country working with them. Mr. Jekielek: These gangs are multinational enterprises, almost like lawless corporations. They are transnational and even bigger than some states in Latin America. Minister Lezcano: Absolutely. You have corruption, because with those operations of the organized crime organizations, you are dealing with all the resources that they have. They are working in money laundering, weapons trafficking, and human trafficking. It’s amazing the challenge that we have before us. The only way to deal with this problem is for all the governments to come together against these crime organizations. Mr. Jekielek: Paraguay is a very strong democracy. What lessons can Paraguay offer to the Organization of American States? Minister Lezcano: First of all, Paraguay, for all its history, has had a foreign policy based on the principles of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and freedom. At the same time, we work very hard to keep democracy. We once had the oldest dictatorship in Latin America, the regime of Alfredo Stroessner, for 35 years. Last February 2nd, we accomplished 36 years of democracy. We are different from the Stroessner regime. When that regime ended, 60 percent of the population of Paraguay were in poverty. Now, we are proud to have less than 20 percent in poverty. That is one point about the democratic system. We have the moral right to discuss the importance of democracy. Secondly, with our economy, we work to be very independent in our region. We have two continental countries who are neighbors, Brazil and Argentina. Paraguay is a small country. The size of our territory is the same as France or Spain, but we have only six-and-a-half million inhabitants. During our history, we have had two important wars. There was the Triple Alliance, when Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay went to the war against Paraguay. Paraguay resisted for five years. We lost 90 percent of our male population and 60 percent of our territory. When the war ended in 1970, Paraguay didn’t receive the aid of the Bretton Woods system. Paraguay emerged alone. That is the reason why we have a very special culture and 90 percent of Paraguayans speak Guaraní. Our currency is Guaraní and our main music is Guaraní. Really, it’s very interesting. We respect our origins. Working hard during those years, Paraguay arrived last year at investment grade. We have a lot of challenges. But we have the most important resources in the world. Today, a big risk in the world is food insecurity. Our 6.5 million inhabitants produce food for 100 million people. That means we have a very strong opportunity to develop our potential in fighting against food insecurity. Paraguay has the most important reserves of water. Paraguay is the country that produces the most renewable energy per capita in the world. We are in a very interesting position to develop this technology, and we are working on that also. The average age of our population is 26-years-old, and 70 percent of our population is younger than 50-years-old. The potential of our country is quite impressive, but we have challenges with logistics. We have the third biggest fluvial vessel fleet in the world after China and the United States. Mr. Jekielek: That’s the third largest set of freshwater barges for the river system. Minister Lezcano: The Paraguay and Parana rivers have 33,200 kilometers of navigable water and go up to the La Plata River in Argentina on to the sea port. We have all our trade going through the rivers. Our transportation and our production is 90 percent going through the river. We also have the opportunity to increase our market with our trade agreements with Mercosur, an economic integration system with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, and now Bolivia is added. We are looking at other countries like Panama to join us as a country member of Mercosur. That is important because we are increasing our market access at the regional level. Mr. Jekielek: Panama has recently started shifting its policy on the Panama Canal. How do you view this? Minister Lezcano: First of all, there are very interesting discussions between the Panama government and the United States. The rule of law also is important. International rights are important. This discussion between two governments that Marco Rubio started a few weeks ago visiting Panama was a good time to start resolving the problems that we have before us. I believe the Secretary General of OAS can strongly help both governments to arrive at an understanding. Mr. Jekielek: President Trump said the Chinese Communist Party has too much control over the Panama Canal. But Paraguay actually has formal relations with Taiwan, one of only 12 countries that does. Please explain to us why. Minister Lezcano: Paraguay started this relationship 68 years ago. We never cut relations with Taiwan. It’s a decision made on principles. We always support Taiwan because they have democracy. They have human rights, freedom, and a very clear rule of law. We need to protect this country and we feel the same as they do. We are an island surrounded by land, said our writer, Augusto Roa Bastos. Taiwan is also an island. We are not against China. We will have diplomatic relations, commercial relations, and consular relations with China, but without conditions. We will still recognize in Taiwan because of our principles. We have very close relations with Taiwan and it’s important for Paraguay to keep this relationship. It’s not easy at all, but it is important to understand and always promote these principles. Mr. Jekielek: You’re putting a high value on democracy, rule of law, and human rights. You are saying that maintaining those things keeps the whole society together. It’s really a very pragmatic principle. Is that correct? Minister Lezcano: Absolutely. It’s pragmatic because we need to keep those principles for ourselves. We need to follow those principles, because we need to build a very serious country. Our strength is based on those principles. The challenge for Paraguay is social improvement and fighting against poverty. We have a poverty rate of less than 20 percent, but it’s a huge achievement for us. We have to have the opportunity to create jobs, to attract foreign and national investment, to develop our country, to transform production, to add value to our production, and to focus on how we are dealing with all this. First, it is education. Education is the first priority for our government. There is also healthcare and also security. Those three issues we are working on as priorities in our country. Then macroeconomic fundamentals will give us the best conditions for our fiscal policies. We have the rule of triple 10; 10 percent value, 10 percent on income, and 10 percent to corporate. That maybe means we have the lowest taxation in the world. Mr. Jekielek: Both the president and the finance minister of Paraguay are economists. Minister Lezcano: I’m an economist, and so is the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well. Our president was the former Minister of Finance. My colleague, the current Minister of Finance, is an economist. As the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, I also happen to be an economist. Economic development is always our challenge and our priority. Mr. Jekielek: How has Paraguay’s relationship with Argentina changed since President Milei became president? Minister Lezcano: We have a very close relationship. We have a lot of challenges that we share together. For Paraguay, the economic situation of Argentina is quite important because they need to improve the solution on the economic road that Argentina knows. The Minister of Foreign Affairs from Argentina, Gerardo Werthein, is also a very close friend of mine. We are always working closely together. We have the same relationship with Brazil. President Lula is a very close friend of President Santiago Pena. We are also friends with the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira, as well as with Javier Milei. We have a lot of interest in sharing with both countries. At the regional level, we share the highway of the river Paraguay-Paraná, we share the Mercosur, we share the dams, we share the trade exchange, and we share investments. We share the markets. We are working very closely in those worlds. Yamandu Orsi, the elected president of Uruguay, is also a very close friend of ours. We have met three times and discussed integration. We share common views, even if we have a different ideological position. That means we are very practical. We don’t think about the Left or the Right. We are going straight ahead. Mr. Jekielek: But you don’t compromise your principles either. Minister Lezcano: Never. Mr. Jekielek: That is a tough balance to find. Minister Lezcano: At the right, you are in your corner. At the left, you are in your corner. But in the center, both forces look at you from their side. Being in the center gives us the opportunity to protect our principles. Secondly, it helps to work closely with those countries, but we are always looking out for our own people’s interest. We have a close relationship with our neighbors. And really, we respect each government, because they were selected by the people democratically, and we have to respect them. We are always looking for the common denominator in our relations, and we work on that. For example, President Santiago Peña and President Boric from Chile have a very close relationship, but it is not based on ideology. They have a very close relationship because they agree on several points of view. We concentrate on common points of view and that gives us the opportunity to strengthen our relationships. Mr. Jekielek: How do you hope the U.S. will engage with Paraguay and Latin America? What is your dream situation? Minister Lezcano: My dream situation is that Paraguay is the most important ally that the United States has in South America, because we share those values with the government of President Trump, and especially with Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau. Christopher is a very close friend of Paraguay. Mr. Jekielek: Christopher Landau speaks Guarani. From what I understand, that is remarkable. Minister Lezcano: Christopher’s father was ambassador to Paraguay, and Christopher started his education in Paraguay. He studied at the International College in Asuncion where he learned Guaraní, and he speaks Guaraní. I’m very proud of his Guaraní because he speaks very well. In recent days, because he was in the hearing nomination process, I couldn’t speak with him. But before his nomination, we were talking about his experience in Paraguay. He is a very good friend of Paraguay. But we are not looking for friends only. The most important thing is that Paraguay matters in the agenda of the United States. Why? Because Paraguay is a very important and key partner for the United States. Mr. Jekielek: What do you hope America’s role in the region will be? Minister Lezcano: I think America abandoned Latin America. In recent years, the United States lost a lot of markets, a lot of investment, and a lot of opportunities. It is now time to work closely again. Mr. Jekielek: Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano, it’s such a pleasure to have you on the show. Minister Lezcano: It’s my pleasure, Jan. It’s a pleasure to be with your audience and I hope to see you again here in Washington. This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

At this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, we sat down with Mark Chenoweth to discuss the recent case that his firm won at the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the doctrine of Chevron deference, the principle that allows federal agencies to interpret laws beyond their plain text meaning. Views expressed in this video are the opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🇺🇸 Epoch Times $1 Full Access Special Offer: https://ept.ms/RomanSale

The United States needs skilled workers in the trades more than ever. Yet each passing year finds the United States short of welders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and others engaged in building and manufacturing. Despite good wages, job openings across the country, and steady work, the number of young people entering the trades isn’t even close to matching the number of available positions. In manufacturing, for instance, more than 600,000 jobs remain open every month. A number of factors account for this disparity. An aging workforce is taking retirement faster than they can be replaced. A cultural bias against vocational schools remains in play, with one survey of those aged 18 to 20 finding that 79 percent said their parents wanted them to attend college, while only 5 percent were encouraged to pursue the trades. Meanwhile, the boom in construction and manufacturing, along with the increasing need for repairs to our country’s infrastructure, has driven demand for skilled workers through the roof. Longtime trades advocate Mike Rowe has worked for years promoting the value of a skilled workforce. Best known for his Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs,” he also created the mikeroweWorks Foundation in 2008 to promote skilled trades and the nobility of work. A few years later, Rowe and his foundation launched the Work Ethic Scholarship Program, dispersing competitive scholarships to vocational school students. The 2025 deadline for applying for a mikeroweWORKS Foundation Work Ethic Scholarship is April 17, 2025. Overalls and Opportunity This year, Rowe and his foundation are looking to give away at least $2.5 million in scholarships for students attending trade schools. The foundation’s website  states, “We’re looking for hardworking men and women who will keep the lights on, water running, and air flowing—people who will show up early, stay late, and bust their asses to get the job done.” One key part of a student’s scholarship application process is to read and sign the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge. The 12 tenets of this  pledge  contain the heart of Rowe’s work ethic. Here are blunt affirmations, such as: “I believe that I am a product of my choices—not my circumstances. I will never blame anyone for my shortcomings or the challenges I face. And I will never accept the credit for something I didn’t do.” Here, too, gratitude ranks No. 1 on this list: “I believe that I have won the greatest lottery of all time. I am alive. I walk the earth. I live in America. Above all things, I am grateful.” Read more...

The 2024 elections were telling. Not only did President Donald Trump win the popular vote, and win every swing state, but he also came close to winning many states that are otherwise thought of as solid Democrat. It’s possible we could even see states like New Jersey become swing states in the next election. And now, it’s possible that even some solid blue states, like California and New York, could shift on the political spectrum due to issues of people leaving the states. We’ll discuss this topic and others, in this episode of Crossroads. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.   🔵 Watch the full episode HERE 👇   https://ept.ms/40QFEPj Stay Informed. Stay Free. https://www.joshphilipp.com/

On Monday, Jan. 20, President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. Almost immediately, he got to work on implementing his agenda—issuing roughly 200 executive orders, executive actions, proclamations, and memoranda within just a matter of hours. Let’s go through several of them together that relate to the federal workforce. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🇺🇸 Epoch Times $1 Full Access Special Offer: https://ept.ms/RomanSale

“They’re at war for the American mind. That’s why you have TikTok out there. That’s why you have DeepSeek. That’s why you have the China Daily. They’re out there trying to control information and your perception of reality,” says Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), who was recently elected for his first term. His first bill seeks to ban the widespread distribution of the China Daily in the House of Representatives. China Daily is a registered foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In 2020, the newspaper was among many Chinese state media outlets designated as foreign missions  in the United States. Watch the video: “It’s propaganda by a foreign government that’s trying to influence the highest echelons of the United States government. It’s unacceptable,” Hamadeh said. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. RUSH TRANSCRIPT Jan Jekielek: Congressman Abe Hamadeh, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders. Congressman Abe Hamadeh: Thank you for having me. Mr. Jekielek: First of all, congratulations on being elected. I understand you’re in the district where the TSMC factories have been built in Arizona, which is quite fitting for our discussion today. You’re working on a bill, which is a China Daily ban, first out of the blocks. Why? Congressman Hamadeh: On my first day in office here on Capitol Hill, I walk in and I see the typical newspapers—Washington Post and Politico, which have their own sets of issues. But then I see the China Daily News and I was reading through some of it. And you have to be pretty discerning to actually discover that it was owned by the Communist Chinese Party and that they’re registered foreign agents. So I had my team look into that. It’s just fascinating to see the level of influence that the Communist Chinese have in our government. And I think it’s unacceptable and we should ban it, at least for it to be publicly distributed into the halls of Congress. Mr. Jekielek: I think a lot of people would say, yes, I see it around. It’s in our building, kind of all over the place. They just drop it off in front of people’s doors, not in front of our door. But they just say, yes, it’s around, but who really reads that? Congressman Hamadeh: People read it. That’s why they’re doing it, and they know how to target. They’re going to the halls of Congress, lobbyists and other organizations around Washington, D.C., because that’s how the communist Chinese know to put their influence into the United States’ highest levels of government and the people surrounding the government. You get a rubber band collection of all these newspapers that are coming in. When you put that China Daily at the same level as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, all of them, it’s very scary because it’s propaganda by a foreign government that’s trying to influence the highest echelons of the United States government. It’s unacceptable. Mr. Jekielek: There was a time when it functioned as an insert in the New York Times, in the Washington Post, in the Wall Street Journal, at different times. And these media were paid millions of dollars for doing this. It was marked, people would say that it was marked as sponsored content or something like that. Congressman Hamadeh: Sure. I can’t stop what a private corporation does if they want to do that. But it goes to show you that the communist Chinese understand that America is for sale, sadly. They know how to influence and get themselves into the papers like New York Times, Wall Street Journal, all of them. But this isn’t a bill to ban it totally. If people want to read this paper on their own, they want to go online, they are totally free. If they want to subscribe personally to it, they are free to do it. But to have it distributed in the halls of Congress should not be allowed. Mr. Jekielek: You know, you have a background in military intelligence, among other things. So you’ve kind of seen a bit more under the hood than perhaps a lot of people. And I’m wondering how much your background has influenced, you know, your particular interest in this right out of the blocks. Congressman Hamadeh: Yes. I’m a son of immigrants. My family came from places like Syria, and I have family from Venezuela. So not so nice countries. So I understand that freedom is at stake and it’s always at stake. And it’s only one generation away from being totally extinguished. It’s up to us to defend it. When you look at the communist Chinese and their apparatus, what they’ve built, they try to act like they’re benevolent right now and that is so concerning. When I was a military intelligence officer I served overseas in the US Army in Saudi Arabia. I remember at the time that Joe Biden had a really poor relationship with the Saudis. I was sitting with these Saudi generals and they would say, we could always team up with the Chinese. That was scary, because we built Saudi Arabia. Aramco is literally the Arabian/American oil company. That country exists because of us. We can now see the level that they’re willing to possibly team up with China, because the United States wasn’t going to be friendly with them. We can now see how China is coming in with their soft power, not just in the Middle East, but in places like Africa. It shows the extent they’re willing to influence the world and to change our perception of them, which we know is a brutal, brutal regime. But my district has all these Taiwanese companies moving in. They’re moving in their big factory and spending $50 billion. That’s just one company. We have also other companies that are related to the microchip industry all coming into my district. I understand the importance of the military aspect of making sure that we’re competing with China on the semiconductor, the microchips. My district also has the Luke Air Force Base, and I serve on the Armed Services Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committee. I want to take care of those who defend our freedom here at home. Mr. Jekielek: Let’s talk for a moment about the importance of getting this kind of extremely high-level chip production into America, which is a safer place than Taiwan right now. Congressman Hamadeh: Right. If you look at who actually started this, it was President Donald Trump. He was the one who really led the Taiwanese to move operations into the United States. Joe Biden tries to claim credit because they passed that bloated CHIPS Act. I think President Trump wants to renegotiate so much of it. But it was actually President Trump, Wilbur Ross, and so many others that were the ones who were convincing the Taiwanese companies to move their operations in the United States. Because, you know, China wants, they have aspirations, obviously, to take back Taiwan. And it put the United States in a very dangerous spot to have all these semiconductors being controlled by the Chinese. But right now, TSMC is one of them. It’s obviously one of the biggest microchip industries. But they’re also moving into Europe. They’re diversifying geographically quite a bit. But we are glad to have them in the United States and in Arizona particularly. But, you know, I always said this on the campaign trail too, you know, Arizona is a great place for business and to have these companies move into it, but how could we have them come in when we don’t have a secure border? It was just shocking to me because we understand the tens of thousands of communist Chinese who are flooding our southern border under Joe Biden was unacceptable. Obviously, as an intelligence officer, I understand that my district would have been a target of intelligence gathering operations. That’s something I was really making sure to hit home on when I’ve met with so many representatives in Arizona from these companies. The reason why we have to secure a border is precisely to protect from intelligence gatherings from foreign adversaries. Mr. Jekielek: Just a bit more on the CHIPS Act. It put major export controls on some of these most premier value chips. It seems like from what we’ve been hearing about DeepSeek, it seems like Communist China has been able to evade these export controls. There have been allegations of something like 10,000 in NVIDIA chips and things like that for doing the things that the CHIPS Act was trying to stop. Congressman Hamadeh: Yes, I think that’s exactly right. That shows you the extent to which the communist Chinese have the ability to influence, and the ability to skirt around the best intentioned laws that we’ve got. It’s because they understand that this is a race for AI. This is a race for the chip industry. If you look at how they were acquiring those NVIDIA chips, a lot of it was going into Singapore or other countries and invading it that way. It’s sophisticated, and you have to give them credit. As an intelligence officer, you never underestimate your enemy. You can’t. If you do, that’s game over. So we always have to be constantly on guard with it. That’s exactly why the China Daily piece comes into it. Because if we allow that type of influence to happen in the halls of a Congress, the People’s House, what does it say about us as a government? Can you imagine us putting our propaganda like Voice of America into the communist Chinese meetings? They would never tolerate that and they don’t tolerate it. Yet, here we are. We’re tolerating that the Communist Chinese are able to influence and infiltrate in that aspect. Mr. Jekielek: There is also a symbolic element here. They say, we’re here right in the highest levels of where the US lawmakers sit, where they make their decisions. We’re here, and we have that influence. That’s a statement. Congressman Hamadeh: Absolutely. They understand that if they’re able to get their message out, they’re able to influence not just the congressman. I’ve got a staff and I’ve got a team, if they’re able to infiltrate and get some of the staffers that are quite young. They may not know when they’re receiving the China Daily. They may not know that this is actually paid for by a foreign government. So if they’re able to influence the staffers who then go ahead and influence their boss, the congressman, that’s a big problem. I’ve met with Uyghurs and I’ve seen the plight they are going through. Again, the staffers continue to read this. It could influence a vote, for instance, or it could influence sanctions on the communist Chinese. It moves far past just information warfare to where there are real life consequences happening. As an intelligence officer, somebody who served in the military, you have to understand that propaganda information is the new reality of warfare. We’re seeing that on the battlefields in Ukraine and Israel and everywhere else now. It is really a battle of getting that message out and what the truth is. That’s why it’s so important to have honest, fair news organizations out there. I look at this situation and what the communist Chinese have been doing. Their apparatus is sophisticated, and you have to give them credit for it. And if we don’t combat this, what is next for them? That’s what scares me. They understand the level and sphere of influence that they’re doing. I serve on the Veterans Affairs Committee, and something that I discovered is that a lot of these veteran service organizations, which are amazing organizations that want to help the veterans, and oftentimes what the communist Chinese do is they actually go in and give a donation to the veteran service organizations under TikTok, for instance. That’s something that we had to deal with is that TikTok was giving money to veterans organizations. When those veterans want to defend TikTok, they don’t even know that they’re being used in that way. That is sad to see and you have to be constantly on guard about it. Mr. Jekielek: Most of these veterans organizations are cash-strapped. You can imagine them saying, why shouldn’t I take that money? It helps them, right? But then it engenders that goodwill later on, and that’s what is being bought. Congressman Hamadeh: It’s so sad. It’s so sad that veterans organizations have to even raise money from a foreign government or what they don’t even know is a foreign government in order to operate. We should be taking care of our veterans. We should make sure that their veterans organizations are self-sufficient. They’re able to see where they could influence with soft power, communist Chinese. Some of these other countries apitalize on the fact Americans love our veterans. To have an ability to influence a veteran’s organizations, or to take a position on a bill or a resolution, that’s powerful. That’s why they do it. So many of these groups don’t realize that they’re being used in that way. That’s why it’s important for us to say, you are part of an intelligence operation. You may not know it, and this is the reason why. So making sure we get that out there is important. Mr. Jekielek: I looked at the China Daily while preparing for this discussion. You make a really good point. There’s no suggestion there of any sort that there’s anything other than kind of a harmonious life within China. But what’s not in there is perhaps even more important than what is in there. Congressman Hamadeh: It’s beyond just the free press. This isn’t the free press. This is a foreign government operated newspaper. It’s in English for a reason. Why? Because they want to influence the United States, specifically the people who make the key decisions in our government. It is designed there to present a viewpoint that everything is going well in China. They’re talking about AI and how China is going to be leading the AI revolution with Deep Seek and all that. That is their psyop. That is their propaganda piece. And that’s why we have to be on guard against it. Mr. Jekielek: You said America is for sale. That could be viewed as quite a contentious statement. Is America really for sale? What do you mean by that? Congressman Hamadeh: It’s obvious. Look at our farmland that we sell to the communist Chinese near air bases and near military bases. This is something that other countries would never tolerate. It’s something where we have to put our patriotic duty ahead of the dollar. That’s something that our corporations should be doing. It’s something that every individual should be doing. It’s key. I respect other countries in that regard that they would never sacrifice their honor for the dollar. I hate the word global corporations, because these corporations started off in America. You know, they were built off American workers. They were built because of the laws we have here, because of capitalism and the free enterprise system. Then they go and capitulate to a country like the communist Chinese. The Chinese are very smart. They’ve shifted away from Marxist Leninism. Now it’s market Leninism, right? It’s so fascinating to see how they’ve been operating and maneuvering into the global marketplace. When they take advantage of the United States laws in order to influence, it’s a big problem. But it’s something that we as a culture need to be on guard against. Mr. Jekielek: Let’s dig into the nuts and bolts of the bill. You mentioned FARA, which is the Foreign Agents Registration Act, also in here. Just explain to me how the bill works. Congressman Hamadeh: This one specifically targets the communist Chinese. It prevents somebody who’s registered as a foreign agent that is tied with the communist Chinese from distributing. It also prevents these third party contractors, because that’s ultimately who is passing out these newspapers, from distributing the papers in the House of Representatives. Mr. Jekielek: Do you think there will be other acts of this nature that will follow? Because I guess China Daily is not the only type of media that’s influenced by a foreign government out there. Congressman Hamadeh: We kept it limited to the communist Chinese, because it’s a good gauge to see how far deep the communist Chinese have reached into the halls of government. That’s why I did it. I could have kept it broad. We could have kept it for all FARA, which eventually I hope to see happen. But I wanted to assess who signs onto the piece of legislation and who votes for it. I thought it would be an interesting test to see how deep the communist Chinese infiltration is. Mr. Jekielek: This is a resolution and often resolutions are described as not having a lot of teeth. It’s just kind of a statement from Congress. But in this instance, it actually does have teeth, because the congressional building will have to abide by it. So that’s a very interesting use of the resolution. Congressman Hamadeh: Yes, exactly, because it becomes easier to pass, right? Why I chose the communist Chinese and specifically targeted China Daily is because once it’s on the House floor, I want to see these members of Congress trying to justify allowing a newspaper that is foreign controlled by the communist Chinese. I’m very curious to see that. I’m an intelligence guy. It’s about the second and third order of effects and looking at the consequences, both intentional consequences, and unintended consequences. We have to police our own in the halls of Congress, and that’s what it intends to do. Mr. Jekielek: You mentioned TikTok and DeepSeek. How do you view these apps on the phones of Americans and computers of Americans? Congressman Hamadeh: I understand that many Americans like TikTok. I’ve used TikTok before. President Trump seems to like TikTok. It seems to get the truth out in so many ways. However, it becomes concerning when you understand that the TikTok platform and so many of these others have an algorithm, an ability to influence the end user in a way that could be quite destructive. DeepSeek is something that, as we mentioned earlier, the ability for it to wipe about a trillion dollars, half-a-trillion dollars from our marketplace based on conjecture. We don’t know the reality of Deep Seek, how much it really costs them to produce, what the chips that they’re actually using for it. For them to be able to wipe out that market share of the United States, half-a-trillion, that’s bigger than the GDP of most countries. That’s the scary aspect of it. This is information warfare. This is propaganda. This is psychological warfare. You could wipe out a lot of Americans’ bank accounts and their investments because of that ability. Then at that point, since the marketplace is open, who knows if you had these foreign countries come in and buy the dip, as they say, in order to influence the market in that aspect. It’s so fascinating to watch. It’s something that we will be watching in the future. Mr. Jekielek: I had an interview recently with Nicolas Chaillan, the former chief software officer of the Air Force and Space Force, who has an AI company himself right now. He runs tests on all the models, including DeepSeek, which he air-gapped, put into its own place, because of course he wasn’t going to go on the actual DeepSeek platform. He found it wasn’t a particularly great model. He believes they just tested it against the benchmarks. The benchmarks looked really good. He says it’s a fine model, but the American models are stronger. To your point, absolutely, this was an information op. It’s almost like the case in point example of how effective propaganda can be. Is there a better example off the top of my head? Half-a-trillion dollars, that hurts, right? Congressman Hamadeh: Absolutely. Again, imagine the China Daily pushing that out there and the media pushing out there that Deep Seek suddenly has taken over AI. That is the information that we have to be on guard against. We were talking about this earlier to see the level of influence the communist Chinese has. It’s not just in Washington, D.C. It is in the heartland. There is the bioweapons lab that had the ability to produce another type of disease out in California. Just recently, we see the ports in L.A. that have communist Chinese infiltration, and as well as the secret police stations that are occurring in our cities, as well as the Confucius Institutes in our education systems. That is the level of information warfare that we are fighting, and that so many Americans want to act like is not happening. But it is happening. And it’s not because they’re just trying to export the cultural traditions of China, which, of course, has a very rich tradition that has been utterly destroyed by the ideology of communism. Mr. Jekielek: To your point, years ago, we knew it was approximately $10 billion that was being spent on these influence operations, United Front operations, influencing local communities, both Chinese and otherwise, through Chinese agents of influence in these communities. The scale of it today, we think it’s something more like 20 billion, perhaps even more than that. And that’s not even talking about these operations like DeepSeek or TikTok and everything else. The scale of it is almost unfathomable. Congressman Hamadeh: It’s not just information warfare. There’s a war going on here in the United States with fentanyl. In my district, in Arizona, a border state, I see the fentanyl coming in from the chemical compound being shipped in from the communist Chinese into the hands of the drug cartels. Then they go in and ship this all across the United States and get the American citizens drugged up and addicted. That’s why President Trump has been doing so successfully with these tariff threats and with going after our border countries like Canada, Mexico, but also the communist Chinese. It’s so critical. I want the American people to understand that we may not have asked for this, but for this type of war, but they’re at war with us and they’re at war for the American mind. That’s why you have TikTok out there. That’s why you have DeepSeek. That’s why you have the China Daily. They’re out there trying to control information and your perception of reality. And we have to understand that. Talk to people who live through the horrors of the communist and Maoist revolution. That’s how we keep this reality and what’s real alive and for us to understand to fight back. That’s why I’m a member of Congress. I’m the son of immigrants from Syria. I have family from Venezuela. I understand that if freedom is extinguished here at home, there is no place to go. So we can never allow ourselves to bend the knee to the Marxist communists. Mr. Jekielek: I want to discuss the new foreign policy directions that the Trump administration has taken. You have the Secretary of State Rubio in South America. China comes up. We’re talking about these border deals with the tariffs in Canada and Mexico. There seems to be some pretty serious negotiations happening within moments of these tariffs going into place, arguably also both really about China. I’m curious what you think about this. The Greenland question is very much about China as well in a lot of ways. So tell me your thoughts on this. Congressman Hamadeh: I’m glad you framed it in that way, because it is true. The nexus of the communist Chinese is global. You’re talking about the Panama Canal, something that the United States built with our workers, and yet the Panama government had a memorandum of understanding to allow the Chinese to operate it, essentially. When you saw Marco Rubio go down there and meet with the leader there. We are going to change this ship around because if we don’t, the communist Chinese are going to totally capitalize their soft power and influence and take over all of these governments, which they have done so successfully. That’s something that you have to credit to President Trump. He understands what’s going on. He’s been saying this for a while, too. This doesn’t just happen overnight. This has been going on for decades. You know, there’s a lot of people who have been ringing the alarms about what’s been going on. But it took President Trump to take office and to actually execute on this plan. Mr. Jekielek: Congressman Abe Hamadeh, such a pleasure to have you on the show. Congressman Hamadeh: Thank you.

At the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, we sat down with John Eastman. He is the subject of the documentary film “The Eastman Dilemma: Lawfare or Justice.” Five years ago, John Eastman urged President Donald Trump to challenge the legality of the 2020 elections. Today, he faces multiple legal cases and his license to practice law has been suspended. In this episode, he shares his story. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Watch the video:

An anti-Trump resistance has formed within government agencies. A secret network of federal workers has organized to fight back against the Trump administration. The group is now working to form strategies and share information on encrypted apps. Alongside this, new U.S. intelligence shows that the Chinese regime is attempting to recruit disgruntled U.S. federal employees. In other news, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Trump’s freeze on some USAID payments will have to go through. The denial of Trump’s attempts to block a lower court order could signal how other legal challenges over money heading to international programs may go. We’ll discuss these topics and others, in this episode of Crossroads. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 🔵 Watch the full episode HERE 👇 https://ept.ms/43qULAE Stay Informed. Stay Free. https://www.joshphilipp.com/