Tucker Carlson's nicotine pouch company has announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of a multimillion-dollar shipment of product that was reportedly hijacked in Southern California.

ALP Supply Co., the brand Carlson launched in 2024 with Turning Point Brands, noted on Wednesday that the shipment contained roughly 378,000 tins of the nicotine product and was headed for a warehouse in Kentucky.

'Redistribute their booty.'

While tracking data initially indicated that the truck was progressing eastbound toward its destination, "communication was suddenly lost," ALP said. Investigators are looking into whether the vehicle's location system was modified to provide false positioning data.

The company — which stressed that the delay of its product was temporary — claimed that the driver of the missing truck had "presented what looked like legitimate credentials at pickup, but those documents have since been determined to be fake."

The Fullerton Police Department told TMZ that a report was taken with regard to the hijacking on Feb. 23.

ALP — short for American Lip Pillow — claimed in a release that it has been working closely with law enforcement authorities and has been in contact with the FBI.

RELATED: Newly revealed documents back Tucker Carlson, Roger Stone's take that Nixon was undone by a 'coup'

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Blaze News has reached out to the FBI for comment.

"We know what it feels like to want an Alp so badly that you could hijack a truck full of it. But come on. That's illegal," Carlson said in a statement. "We're going to find the people who did this and redistribute their booty. Alp for the people."

Amid wild speculation about the motivation of the hijacker and a deluge of related memes, the company shared a playful, AI-generated video with a '90s action-movie aesthetic in which Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — all sporting mullets — discuss the heist, with Kennedy warning that "you're going to f**king die" if you steal someone's ALP pouches.

ALP noted that its $100,000 reward is also good for tips of "credible information" leading to the conviction of those behind the hijacking.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Stellantis is facing a financial reckoning that should send a warning across the global auto industry.

After betting that the electric vehicle transition would move faster than consumers were ready to follow, the company is now reporting a staggering $26.3 billion net loss for 2025 — driven largely by roughly $30 billion in write-downs tied to scaling back parts of its EV strategy.

As recently as 2023, some workers received nearly $14,000 in profit-sharing payouts. This year, they received nothing.

For a company that was profitable just a year earlier, the reversal is dramatic. Stellantis’ experience highlights the risks of building product strategies around aggressive electrification timelines shaped by government policy and optimistic forecasts rather than actual consumer demand.

Stellantis, the Amsterdam-based automaker formed in 2021, oversees 14 brands, including Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Peugeot, and Citroën. With that kind of global footprint, its strategic decisions ripple across workers, suppliers, investors — and ultimately car buyers.

Electric slide

The company’s 2025 financial results show how quickly those bets can unravel. Net revenue totaled $181.1 billion, down 2% from the previous year. But the real damage appears on the bottom line: a $26.3 billion net loss replacing what had been a $6.5 billion profit the year before. Free cash flow turned negative by roughly $4.9 billion. Dividends were suspended, and profit-sharing checks for UAW workers disappeared.

As recently as 2023, some workers received nearly $14,000 in profit-sharing payouts. This year, they received nothing. When automakers absorb losses of this scale, the financial pressure eventually spreads through the entire system — from employees and suppliers to vehicle pricing and investment decisions.

Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa acknowledged the miscalculation directly, saying the results reflect “the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition.” That unusually candid admission reflects a broader reality across the auto sector: Automakers, regulators, and investors collectively assumed EV adoption would accelerate faster than consumers, charging infrastructure, affordability, and political support would allow.

'Dare' or truth

The roots of the problem trace back to Stellantis’ “Dare Forward 2030” strategy under former CEO Carlos Tavares. The company set ambitious goals: 100% EV sales in Europe and 50% EV sales in the United States by 2030. To reach those targets, Stellantis invested billions in EV platforms, battery supply chains, and factory conversions.

Those investments were encouraged — and in some cases effectively required — by government mandates and regulatory timelines. But the strategy assumed that consumers would move to EVs at roughly the same pace as policymakers hoped.

That assumption proved overly optimistic.

EV adoption has grown, but not at the pace many projections predicted during the peak of electric vehicle enthusiasm. High vehicle prices, uneven charging infrastructure, rising insurance costs, and concerns about resale value have slowed adoption. As those concerns mounted, both Europe and the United States began easing some regulatory pressure tied to EV mandates.

When policy expectations change, automakers are left adjusting billions of dollars in investments that were made under very different assumptions.

Misery loves company

Stellantis was not alone in this miscalculation. Across the industry, automakers have announced more than $55 billion in EV-related write-offs. Reporting from the Financial Times estimates the broader financial toll of scaling back electrification plans — including restructuring costs and canceled programs — has reached roughly $65 billion. Ford alone has taken about $19 billion in charges connected to its EV reset, while General Motors and Volkswagen have also booked major write-downs.

Even in that context, Stellantis’ losses stand out. The company recorded about $25.9 billion in one-time charges, including nearly $20 billion tied directly to electric-vehicle programs, along with roughly $4.8 billion in warranty costs and other restructuring expenses. Those charges reflect a broad reset of the company’s strategy as Stellantis scrapped certain electric and plug-in hybrid models, revised production plans, and shifted investment back toward internal combustion and hybrid vehicles.

Buyers wanted

For consumers, these strategic resets matter because powertrain choices shape vehicle availability and pricing.

In North America, one of the clearest signals of Stellantis’ shift is the return of the 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine. That move reflects continued demand for traditional powertrains, especially in high-margin truck and performance segments where buyers prioritize capability, reliability, and price over electrification targets.

In Europe, Stellantis is folding diesel and mild-hybrid gasoline options back into several models. Instead of betting exclusively on battery electric vehicles, the company is moving toward a broader powertrain strategy that includes EVs, hybrids, gasoline, and diesel options.

That shift reflects what many consumers have been saying throughout the transition: They want choices that fit their budgets, driving habits, and infrastructure realities.

RELATED: Hemi tough: Stellantis chooses power over tired EV mandate

Chicago Tribune/Getty Images

Smooth travels ahead?

Despite the enormous write-downs, there are early signs of stabilization. During the second half of 2025, after Filosa began unwinding elements of the prior strategy, Stellantis reported approximately $93.3 billion in revenue for the July-December period, a 10% increase year over year. Vehicle shipments rose 11% during that timeframe.

The company still reported an adjusted operating loss of roughly $1.6 billion during that period, but improved shipment volumes suggest the recalibrated strategy may be gaining traction.

The crisis did not develop overnight. It grew from several assumptions: that EV demand would rise steadily, that battery costs would fall fast enough to make EVs profitable, and that regulatory pressure would remain constant.

Instead, the transition has proven far more uneven. EV sales remain heavily dependent on subsidies, battery supply chains still rely heavily on China, and charging infrastructure remains inconsistent across many markets. When incentives shrink or economic conditions tighten, EV demand can slow quickly.

Workers feel the pain

For workers, the consequences are immediate. Because Stellantis posted a loss, UAW employees will not receive profit-sharing payouts this year. Across the Detroit Three, the average payout is about $6,200 — roughly 40% lower than prior averages near $10,000. For Stellantis workers, the payout is zero.

The broader lesson is not that electric vehicles have no role in the future. They do, and EV technology will continue to evolve.

But the assumption that internal combustion engines would disappear rapidly now looks unrealistic. Consumers ultimately determine the pace of change, and their priorities remain clear: price, reliability, convenience, charging access, and resale value.

Filosa has framed Stellantis’ reset around restoring “freedom to choose” across electric, hybrid, gasoline, and diesel technologies. That message reflects a shift toward building vehicles that align with real-world consumer demand rather than political timelines.

The cost of the earlier miscalculation is now measured in tens of billions of dollars. Whether the reset ultimately strengthens Stellantis or simply marks the beginning of a smaller product lineup will depend on how effectively the company balances innovation with consumer priorities.

In the end, the lesson is simple. Automakers can design new technologies and governments can set policy goals, but consumers still decide what succeeds in the marketplace.

Louisiana has become a flash point in the battle over carbon capture and storage technology.

As its name suggests, CCS entails the capture, transportation, and storage of carbon dioxide produced by industrial activity or power generation.

'CO2 capture and storage will provide additional revenue sources.'

Long employed as a means of enhancing oil recovery, this technology has been embraced in various sectors as a way of simultaneously trapping greenhouse emissions and pacifying climate alarmists who regard carbon dioxide as an existential threat.

Just as liberals can be found on both sides of the issue, conservatives too are divided over whether to encourage CCS in Louisiana, one of only six American states approved to regulate all underground wells.

Republican supporters of the technology have touted it as a job-creating, industry-preserving means of fostering energy security, boosting the state's global competitiveness, and attracting business to Louisiana — claims echoed by ExxonMobil in its Feb. 16 announcement of expanded CCS operations in the state.

Some of the most outspoken opponents of CCS in the Bayou State are, however, MAGA-minded politicos and residents unwilling to accept the potential fallout of what they regard as a threat to private property rights and an act of surrender amid a decades-long climate alarmist campaign against American energy.

In defense

Gov. Jeff Landry (R), among the lawmakers who have encouraged CCS in the state, noted in an Oct. 15 executive order barring consideration of new applications for carbon dioxide injection projects — an order purportedly aimed at enabling the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy to catch up on previously received petitions — that:

• Louisiana's industrial infrastructure "positions the State as a national leader in CO2 capture and storage, capable of seamlessly integrating CO2 capture in existing processes, enhancing America's energy competitiveness globally";
• "CO2 capture and storage will extend Louisiana’s presence in energy by creating 17,000 potential new jobs, investing seventy-six billion dollars in potential capital for communities throughout Louisiana from announced projects alone, and driving economic growth on a scale unimaginable for Louisiana"; and
• "CO2 capture and storage will provide additional revenue sources for local governments, has the potential to create a more diversified economy for Louisiana, and continue to serve as a catalyst for multiple industries, while sustaining and enhancing existing industries."

According to Louisiana's economic development agency, $23 billion in CCS-related capital investments in the state has been announced to date and 4,500 jobs are projected to result from CCS-related projects.

RELATED: Out of order: Courts shouldn’t rule based on ‘trust us’ science

Photo by F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Cameron Henry, the president of the Louisiana Senate who has expressed concern about recent legislation that would empower local communities to reject CCS projects, has similarly pitched carbon capture as the way toward greater prosperity.

'Another industrial experiment with serious risks.'

"It is something that is required for industry coming to Louisiana. Louisiana has to come to grips with that and find a happy medium to it," Henry said.

Liberal aversion

CCS has historically enjoyed a great deal of support from the American left.

The Biden administration, for instance, committed billions of taxpayer dollars to advance CCS initiatives, while the Democratic Party endorsed increasing taxes on fossil fuel power generation where the technology is employed.

While supported by powerful elements of the left and identified by the United Nations as a way of helping to limit so-called "global warming," some leftists who would apparently prefer to see the fossil fuel industry further humbled and America dependent on unreliable energy sources have exhausted a great deal of time and resources fighting the technology's implementation.

Antagonistic groups in the Bayou State, which reportedly leads the nation for proposed CCS projects, appear to have drawn funding from out-of-state liberal organizations such as the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and a climate fund started by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

'The only people that want it are the ones who are trying to abscond with these federal tax credits.'

Form 990 tax returns indicate that Healthy Gulf, one of the New Orleans-based activist organizations that has criticized and campaigned against CCS initiatives in Louisiana, has received a fortune in recent years from the Rockefeller Family Fund and at least $1 million from the Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc.

Healthy Gulf has in turn dumped grant money into other Louisiana-based anti-CCS outfits including the Lake Maurepas Preservation Society, which campaigned against Air Products' proposed injection of trapped emissions a mile underneath the eponymous lake.

Healthy Gulf is hardly the only outfit opposing Louisiana CCS initiatives that has received money from out-of-state liberal groups.

Rise St. James touts itself as "a faith-based grassroots organization championing environmental justice and opposing the expansion of petrochemical industries in St. James Parish, Louisiana."

The group has characterized CCS as "another industrial experiment with serious risks" and advocated against it — not just in Lake Maurepas but across the whole of Louisiana.

This supposedly "grassroots organization" notes on its website that it is financially backed by the Earth Island Institute, a mammoth international organization based in Berkeley, California.

The Earth Island Institute, which has itself received funds from various climate alarmist groups such as the leftist Tides Foundation, has pushed anti-CCS literature, warning about possible leaks and a potential "pipeline-building frenzy" in the event that the technology becomes more common.

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, a New Orleans-based nonprofit, even appeared to imply that CCS initiatives are racist, claiming that the technology is "one of the biggest threats to communities of color being harmed by the polluting industries that exacerbate our climate crisis and by the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be protecting them."

The DSCEJ also joined Healthy Gulf and the Alliance for Affordable Energy in an unsuccessful legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to grant Louisiana primary enforcement authority over a class of underground carbon storage wells.

As with the other groups, the DSCEJ has received funds from deep-pocketed, out-of-state liberal organizations.

The Bezos Earth Fund — described as a "$10 billion commitment from Jeff Bezos to fight climate change" — reportedly gave the New Orleans-based activist group $4 million in September 2021. From 2020 to 2023, the DSCEJ received over $700,000 from the San Francisco-based Tides Center and Tides Foundation.

Healthy Gulf, Rise St. James, and the DSCEJ did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Conservative backlash

While some of those who oppose CCS appear to be liberals, both inside and outside Louisiana, there is substantial resistance among local conservatives — including Republican lawmakers.

State Rep. Chuck Owen (R), one of the more vocal critics of carbon sequestration initiatives, told Blaze News, "People who live in the country where they're trying to dump this stuff do not want it."

"I polled this twice. This is an 85% 'no' issue in my district," said Owen, whose district includes the cities of Anacoco, DeRidder, Leesville, and Rosepine. "The only people that want it are the ones who are trying to abscond with these federal tax credits, knowing that it's not going to do any good."

Owen emphasized that much of the resistance is about property rights — about Louisianans' aversion to having "private companies coming in and taking their land for money."

A group called Save My Louisiana, comprising mostly residents and elected officials in Owen's neck of the woods, filed a lawsuit in November over state laws enabling the expropriation of private property for pipelines transporting carbon dioxide.

The lawsuit, which was supported by Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming (R), alleges that laws permitting the use of eminent domain for CCS are unconstitutional and that such statutes turn Louisiana "into a national waste dump site."

"No one's against oil and gas. We want oil and gas to succeed here. But how do you equate the burial of carbon waste with energy?" Owen said.

Daniel Turner, founder of the American energy advocacy group Power the Future, told Blaze News, "The entire thing is just absolute bulls**t. The process, the money, the subsidies, the metrics, the goals, the technology — the entire thing is a farce."

"Once we start playing this game that carbon dioxide is bad and needs to be captured, you are playing the left's game," added Turner.

When asked about the burgeoning industry promise of generating thousands of jobs in Louisiana, Turner said, "We're going to create fake jobs for a fake problem and then wonder why we are further in debt."

The disagreement over the value of CCS appears to be coming to a head in Baton Rouge, where lawmakers have advanced numerous bills aimed at hamstringing CCS initiatives.

"These bills are not anti-industry," state Rep. Mike Johnson (R) said in January after filing a trio of bills targeting CCS. "They are pro-property rights, pro-local government, and pro-Louisiana families. Economic development should be built on voluntary agreements — not forced land seizures — and local communities deserve a seat at the table."

Landry's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Texas family of a 16-year-old girl who went missing from their hotel in Tennessee suspect the man she ended up with contacted her through online sites and apps.

North Carolina police said in a press release that the family had been visiting a relative in Tennessee when they reported the girl missing to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office on Sunday.

'Just because you are watching the social media — you need to watch all the social media.'

On Monday, the Rockingham Sheriff's Office said it was contacted about the girl's location hundreds of miles away, and deputies found her with a 27-year-old man named Dakota Wayne Vettor.

Police said the teen was placed into the custody of the Rockingham County Department of Social Services until she could be returned to her parents.

Vettor was interviewed and charged with felony abduction of children.

The parents told WGHP-TV that they were able to determine the girl's location through her online apps. They said they believe the girl met the man through online gaming apps and social media sites.

"I just wish I could have done more," said a tearful Jason Poston, the father of the victim.

"Once the relief sets in, it's definitely a, 'I should have seen,' ... 'maybe if I'd have done this or that.' Unfortunately that's one of those hindsight things," said a visibly shaken Jess Poston, the mother.

They had a warning for parents who allow their children access to online apps and websites.

"Just because you are watching the social media — you need to watch all the social media," the father said.

RELATED: 'Sadistic' PA man raped and cut 13-year-old girl at California motel after grooming her on Discord, feds say

The parents said they had a simple message to their child when they were reunited.

"We love you," Jason Poston recalled saying to her.

"That's all we could say," Jess Poston added.

Vettor was ordered to be held on a $250,000 secured bond, and police said further charges are expected to be filed.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

When LeBron James opened up about cherishing time with his children during the NBA season, the conversation took an unexpected turn. After quickly correcting an interviewer that his daughter plays volleyball, not basketball, James joked that his wife is “done with this basketball s**t.”

And BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is curious as to why that is.

“I miss a lot of moments, you know, spending time with my kids because of my career, and, you know, any time I get over the course of my career, any time I got moments with them either individually, two of them, three of them all together, whatever the case may be, is always special for me,” James said.

“So, to have my daughter want to come on the road and be with me and spend a lot of time — yesterday we went to Alcatraz,” he continued.

When an interviewer interjected and commented on her playing basketball, James quickly responded, “She’s a volleyball player. Don’t get my wife mad. My wife is done with this basketball s**t.”

“I think LeBron very cleverly is protecting his wife and protecting them from the truth, is LeBron James and Savannah James want no part of sending their daughter into that LGBTQIA+ silent P women’s basketball world,” Whitlock speculates.

“They’re not raising a lesbian, and they want her in volleyball,” he adds.

Dre Baldwin believes it could be a different reason, explaining that it seems to him like “he just doesn’t want to even put that spotlight on his daughter the way it was on his sons.”

“And maybe his daughter might be better at volleyball than she is at basketball. And another kid who he doesn’t want feeling the pressure of having to quote, unquote ‘make it’ in a highly competitive space like basketball,” Baldwin continues.

“But, now that you bring that up, I hadn’t thought of that. That is an interesting angle, and I wouldn’t be mad at LeBron and Savannah if that is indeed their reason,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Donald Trump told the New York Post this week. Referring to Iran, he added that while he probably doesn’t need them, he would deploy ground troops “if necessary.”

With those words, the administration cracked open a door most American strategists hoped was bolted shut by half a century of hard lessons.

Modern American military history is a graveyard of campaigns that began with overwhelming tactical success and ended in strategic failure.

Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign, has already delivered what hawks in Washington have wanted for decades: the decapitation of Iran’s top leadership. The strikes that killed Ali Khamenei were meant to trigger a rapid collapse of the Islamic Republic. Early evidence points to something messier — and more dangerous.

The fundamental flaw in the administration’s logic is simple: Removing a leader does not remove a regime.

Khamenei is dead, but the Iranian state remains. A temporary leadership council has already formed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still holds the monopoly on force. Worse, strikes that reportedly killed hundreds of civilians — including more than 100 children in Minab — handed the regime a fresh narrative. Instead of a unified, pro-Western uprising, many Iranians are responding with nationalist anger and a predictable desire for revenge.

That reality should end any talk of “finishing the job” with a ground invasion.

Modern American military history is a graveyard of campaigns that began with overwhelming tactical success and ended in strategic failure. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq. In each, the “mission accomplished” moment became the prologue to years of insurgency, political collapse, and sunk costs.

In Vietnam, the U.S. won battles and lost the country because it could not produce a legitimate political alternative.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, trillion-dollar investments in nation-building crumbled once American security guarantees lifted.

If the United States shifts from air strikes to a ground presence in Iran, it will collide with problems it cannot solve.

Start with geography and scale. Iran is a country of nearly 90 million people, with mountainous terrain that functions as a natural fortress. A serious occupation would require a troop commitment the American public will not support — and it would likely exceed anything seen in Iraq.

RELATED: Hegseth just delivered a precision strike on the legacy media

Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

Then comes the legal and constitutional crisis at home. Trump has prosecuted this war without a formal declaration — and without meaningful consultation with Congress. That bypasses the democratic safeguard meant to force elected representatives to weigh blood and treasure.

Escalating to a ground war on such a foundation invites a domestic political firestorm, fracturing the country at the very moment unity matters most. Disregard for constitutional norms does not merely weaken the rule of law; it undermines the legitimacy of the mission.

Next, look at the internal politics of Iran. The administration appears to hope Iran’s grievances can be leveraged against the regime. History suggests the opposite. Foreign boots on the ground almost always unify a population against the invader. An invasion would turn a struggle for internal reform into a war of national liberation and hand hardliners their best recruiting tool.

The anger in Tehran is not necessarily pro-regime. It is a primal response to foreign violation.

Finally, consider the regional fallout. The “Axis of Resistance” has already begun responding — drone activity, base attacks, threats to shipping and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Six U.S. service members have already died in retaliatory strikes. A ground invasion would expand the conflict into a full regional war, drawing in proxies and potentially major powers into a fight Washington cannot afford and cannot control.

A ground invasion would not be brief, as Pete Hegseth has suggested. It would become a generational entanglement.

Washington can destroy targets. It cannot manufacture a stable, pro-Western political order at the point of a bayonet. Ignore the failures of the past and you guarantee a disaster in the future.

The Democratic primary race for Texas' redrawn 18th district is headed for a runoff after the 78-year-old congressman failed to get over 50% of the vote.

Rep. Al Green will face Rep. Christian Menefee, who is only 37 years old, in the runoff election on May 26.

Green had accused Menefee of making a 'deal with the devil' to gain the support of the cryptocurrency industry.

Green was first elected in 2004 but chose to run in the 18th district after Republicans redrew his district to tilt more Republican.

With nearly all the votes counted, Menefee has only 46% of the vote, while Green garnered 44.2%.

The winner of the runoff will face Ronald Whitfield, who won with 55.1% of the Republican primary votes over the 44.9% garnered by Elizabeth Vences.

Menefee complained to his supporters Tuesday evening that Green had run a "negative campaign" against him.

"Congressman, you can talk all your trash about me," Menefee said, addressing Green. "I'm going to keep being focused on integrity, on standing firm, on doing the right thing, and on serving my communities."

Green had accused Menefee of making a "deal with the devil" to gain the support of the cryptocurrency industry and said it aligned Menefee with "Trump crypto cronies."

He also responded to Menefee by saying that he was "talking truthful trash" when he accused Menefee of not showing up for work.

RELATED: Democrat releases statement on sexual assault allegations from 2008

Green recently made headlines when he interrupted the president's State of the Union address and held up a banner reading, "Black people aren't apes," in reference to a controversial video posted to the president's social media page. He was kicked out of the chamber.

The elderly Democrat also faced sexual harassment allegations, which he denied, and was censured by Congress when he interrupted a different Trump speech before a joint session of Congress.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Author and podcast host Larry Alex Taunton believes there’s a reason America is under religious siege, and it’s because most Americans don’t understand the theological and political foundations of Islam — which is why so many have now come out in support of Iran after President Trump’s strikes.

BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler is not among them.

“The Islamification of the United States of America is under way as we speak. And no, it doesn’t make me an Islamophobe or a xenophobe or a racist or a bigot to say so,” Wheeler says.

And Taunton couldn’t agree more.

“A major problem here, Liz, is that Americans really don’t, Westerners in general really don’t understand Islam,” Taunton says, explaining that he’s been investigating the no-go zones of Paris — and there are some already forming in America.

“Places like Minneapolis, Dearborn, they’re future no-go zones — already no-go zones. And they’re future Gazas, you know. They’re kind of places that become staging areas, you know, for terrorist attacks or the kind of places where terrorists flee to when they’re attacked,” he tells Wheeler.

“This is what happened in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the Bataclan, where more than 100 were killed by Islamic terrorists,” he says.

And while there are politicians pushing to ban Sharia law, Taunton doesn’t believe that’s the answer.

“I can appreciate that, but you got to go after the root of the tree, and we have to ban Islam. And some would say, ‘Well, isn’t Islam protected?’ ... My argument is no, it is not,” he explains.

Taunton points out that not only was their prophet Muhammad a murderer, but he was a pedophile.

“They’re supposed to read the Quran. They’re supposed to read the Hadith. They’re supposed to do the things that are commanded in it. And what we call radicals aren’t really radicals, Liz. They’re orthodox Muslims,” he tells Wheeler.

“And when you practice that religion according to those three things, which is what orthodox Islam is, it is by definition anti-constitutional. And that’s because it doesn’t believe in freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of petition, freedom of press. Doesn’t believe in any of those things,” he continues.

“So, that religion is by definition contrary to our own laws, not just the spirit of our laws, not just our culture, but it’s against our laws,” he adds.

Want more from Liz Wheeler?

To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Five Republicans voted with all of the Democrats on the committee to approve the subpoena motion made by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

'If Epstein had as many cameras as has been reported, what has been released to the public is only a fraction of what exists. So who has them? Who is hiding them?'

Bondi has already been questioned by the House Judiciary Committee over the release, which was criticized for not being careful enough to protect alleged victims and others involved with Epstein.

"The attorney general has gone to speak, obviously, to other committees," said Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who is on the Oversight Committee. "I think it's important that she is in front of our committee. She can directly answer questions about the release of the files, about transparency, about ensuring that victims and survivors are protected."

Garcia said the public still has "significant" questions about the Justice Department's process for releasing material.

"We want to know where all the audio and video footage is from all of the pinhole cameras at every Epstein property," Mace said. "What about the 'Lolita Express'? Where is the footage? If Epstein had as many cameras as has been reported, what has been released to the public is only a fraction of what exists. So who has them? Who is hiding them? The victims of this horrific global network deserve justice, and the American people deserve the truth. We will not stop until we get both."

Bondi was criticized after she appeared on Fox News in Feb. 2025 and claimed that the files were on her desk and getting reviewed in order to be imminently released. That first tranche of documents was mostly composed of information already released and disappointed many.

Democrats have since accused the Justice Dept. of covering up some information in the files to protect Trump and others, while leaving some of the victims' names unredacted.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has also agreed to an interview with the panel after his interactions with Epstein were revealed in the last massive release.

RELATED: Bill Clinton accuses GOP of setting up 'kangaroo court' over Epstein testimony — and demands public hearing

Bill and Hillary Clinton were interviewed by the panel about their involvement with Epstein.

"There's nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women," the former president said to the committee.

The other Republicans who voted in favor of the motion were Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas, and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Former Republican strategist Bill Kristol tried to mock the rationale for the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and was ridiculed by critics pointing out his past contradictory statements.

Kristol weighed in on a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio explaining to a reporter that the "intent" of the strike was separate from the "timing" of the attack.

'Have some self awareness and sit down.'

"Incoherent walk back by Rubio, after he said yesterday the threat was imminent so no time to go to Congress," responded Kristol. "But to the degree Rubio is now saying, no, the president all along intended a major assault on Iran, there's no excuse for not having gone to Congress for authorization."

But only two months prior, Kristol was calling for the administration to help "overthrow" the regime in Iran.

"The Trump administrations should be helping the brave people of Iran overthrow a cruel and terror-sponsoring dictatorship, rather than threatening our democracy ally Denmark," he posted. "But that would require having an administration that supports American interests and principles."

And in June 2025, Kristol referred to Iran as "our enemy" when criticizing the president's statement, saying he was not "happy" with Israel.

"I assume all pro-Israel Trump idolators, supporters, and rationalizers will rush to denounce this horrifying moral equivalence an American president has drawn between our friend Israel and our enemy Iran," he wrote.

Many demolished Kristol for the seeming contradiction.

"You just keep digging further and further making you the butt of so many jokes. We’re enjoying it though!! So keep it up!!" responded one account.

"Bill, you are rightfully getting crushed on X today. Have some self awareness and sit down," said one account.

"If you told me 30 years ago that Bill Kristol would be coming to the Iranian Mullahs' defense I'd have told you that you were crazy," read another response.

RELATED: US 'suicide drones' deployed against Iran are based on Iranian tech from drones in Ukraine

"Why don't you just sit this out Bill," said another.

"You seem to have zero principles. You're just a never Trumper grifter these days."

Kristol addressed some of the criticism in a post at the Bulwark, where he noted his past support for regime change in Iran. He argued that the manner in which the administration proceeded without congressional authority is the issue and accused the government of having no transition plan after the strikes are completed.

The political commentator is known for defending the U.S. invasion of Iraq but has declared himself a Democrat after being a vehement opponent of President Donald Trump.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow presented U.S. senators with a disturbing map, revealing 338,000 U.S. IP addresses allegedly distributing child sexual abuse material.

Tebow testified on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which held a hearing about confronting child trafficking.

'This is a fight of good vs. evil, and we are losing.'

Tebow, the chairman and founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, explained to lawmakers that he attended a meeting in Lyons, France, in 2023 alongside experts in victim identification, and they determined that there were more than 57,000 abused and unidentified children who appeared in multiple images.

Just two years later, that number has grown to over 89,000, Tebow stated, citing INTERPOL's database.

Tebow's map was blanketed with a sea of red pins, each marking the location of an alleged offender. Also indicated on the map were blue pins, showing the locations of open law enforcement investigations; however, those markings were few and far between.

"There's a red dot map right over there over my right shoulder," he told lawmakers. "That's just a six-month screenshot of the U.S., and every red dot that is on there is someone that is downloading, sharing, or distributing child rape images, almost all under the age of 12."

RELATED: Government-paid traffickers? Noem testifies Biden administration funded abuse of migrant kids

Tim Tebow. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

He described the map as showing over 338,000 red pins, adding that an estimated 55% to 85% of those are also alleged "hands-on offenders."

While pointing to the map, Tebow stated, "If you could also look, there's blue dots on there. You can't really see them, but the blue ones are the ones that are under investigation."

Tebow's written testimony noted that the map was based on Justice Department and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program data.

"We have to do a whole lot more, and we have to do it faster because every day we wait, they're suffering. They're crying. And I believe right now many of them are praying that we would respond," Tebow told lawmakers. "The question is, will we actually accept the responsibility of caring for these boys and girls and truly protecting them, or are we just going to continue to talk about it?"

During the hearing, Tebow noted that it is nearly impossible to estimate how many children are being abused and have yet to be identified.

"That's just one database," he said. "So, one of the things that we would ask and plead this committee to work on is an international treaty of getting all of the different databases to work together to deconflict so we actually get a ground truth on what the number is."

He stated that Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, Canada, Australia, and INTERPOL each maintain separate databases.

RELATED: After years infiltrating child exploitation rings, expert reveals an even DARKER American underworld

Josh Hawley. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) shared data from INTERPOL, which estimated that of the images of unidentified and exploited children, 60% were victims under 12, and 4.3% were infants.

Tebow advocated the passage of the bipartisan Renewed Hope Act of 2026, highlighting that it would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to hire 200 more victim identification specialists and child exploitation investigators. He pointed out that currently, there are only 10 such specialists.

"Law enforcement needs more resources, more support ... a bigger rescue team," Tebow wrote in a post on social media. "This is a fight of good vs. evil, and we are losing."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Trump carried out one of the most consequential military operations in recent history, killing 40 of Iran’s leaders along with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — but the media and liberals would rather stand with Iran.

“It’s very clear what side the Democrats and the mainstream media stand on. And it’s not America’s side, and it’s not on the side of freedom either,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

“I unequivocally oppose this war of choice and everyone should. And the bottom line, when it comes down to it, is that if we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately,” former Vice President Kamala Harris told Fox following the president’s actions.

“The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice, and I unequivocally oppose it,” she added.

“It is so disingenuous from the woman who was the vice president in an administration that was perfectly fine continuing the Russia-Ukraine war. I mean, we funded it. We gave them weapons. We did everything we could to continue that war under her administration,” Gonzales says.

“In fact, remember, there were moments where there could have been a negotiation, and she and Joe Biden or whoever the hell was pulling his puppet strings said, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t negotiate. We will keep funding this forever.’ So I don’t want to hear it from her,” she continues.

But it’s not just Harris that Gonzales takes issue with.

“I don’t want to hear it from the Democrats. I mean, Barack Obama was the king of dropping bombs without getting authorization. So I’m just not going to be lectured to by the likes of Kamala Harris,” Gonzales says, pointing out that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also publicly sided with Iran.

“You cannot ‘free’ people by killing them and destroying their country,” Tlaib wrote in a post on X.

“A terrorist who is in our country actually serving in Congress sided with the Ayatollah?” Gonzales says, adding, “I’m so shocked.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Los Angeles officials joined protesters in a demonstration against new policies proposed by the Trump administration to ensure federal housing is used only by U.S. citizens.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an effort to root out illegal immigrants who have been using federally funded housing directly or indirectly though their citizen family members.

'Your neighbor in public housing is not your enemy. The family using Section 8 is not your enemy. Mixed-status families are not your enemy.'

On Tuesday, activists in Los Angeles spoke out against the policies at a press conference in front of L.A. City Hall.

"This administration is seeking a rule change that would put 1,700 local families with children on the street immediately," said Pastor Bridie Roberts with Unite Here Local 11.

L.A. City Council member Ysabel Jurado inadvertently indicated that there may be far more illegal immigrants using federal housing.

"Nearly one in five public housing households in our city is mixed status," said Jurado.

According to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, as of 2023, there were more than 6,200 units of public housing in Los Angeles. If one in five of those include families with illegal aliens, then that comes to over 1,200 units and perhaps 3,400 families or more.

Council member Hugo Soto-Martinez, who admitted that he had lived in a "mixed status" household, said as many as 6,800 people were at risk of being "ripped" out of their homes.

Some of the members of "mixed families" showed up at the protest and spoke out against the policy change.

"It's not just my family. It's thousands of families who are at risk," said Josefina Estrada in Spanish to KABC-TV.

L.A. City Council member Tim McOsker claimed the policy would decrease public safety, "put families out on the street," and increase poverty.

"Immigrants are not your enemy. Your neighbor in public housing is not your enemy. The family using Section 8 is not your enemy. Mixed-status families are not your enemy," said council member Eunisses Hernandez.

RELATED: 'Quite literally insane': DHS responds to LA activists scheme to warn illegal aliens about ICE

Hernandez also introduced a council resolution to oppose the HUD policy.

"No HUD, we are not going to allow you to break up families," she added. "Here in L.A., thousands of people could face eviction."

The illegal alien advocates asked for people to flood the HUD website with comments opposing the policy, but those who support the policy can also comment at this link.

Council member Jurado was mocked in February when she was photographed apparently napping during a council closed session. She said she may have dozed off while reading.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Lawmakers heavily pressed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) during a hearing on Wednesday regarding fraud taking place in his state.

The 'Feeding Our Future' scandal

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) questioned Walz about taxpayer payments to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, an organization that has been at the center of a massive COVID-era fraud scandal involving Somali operators. The Minnesota Department of Education suspended those payments in March 2021 but "voluntarily" resumed making them weeks later, according to a 2022 press release from the Minnesota Judicial Branch.

'He's here illegally, he can't read, and he got a license under your provisions!'

"Why didn't you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?" Jordan asked.

"The agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments," Walz responded.

Jordan countered that the claim was false, stating that the judge never ordered the resumption of payments. "So the court's lying?!" Jordan asked.

"I can't tell you, Congressman!" Walz said.

"Could it be you were trying to hide behind the court, Governor?" Jordan asked.

After the interaction, Walz struggled to come up with a response.

The press release from the Minnesota courts stated that the judge "never ordered the Department of Education to resume payments to FOF in April 2021, or at any other time."

RELATED: 'LOADED with fraud': Mamdani announces $425 million child-care handout — open to illegal aliens

Non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses

Later on in the hearing, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) ripped into Walz on commercial driver's licenses.

"According to the secretary of transportation, one-third of Minnesota's non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses were issued illegally," Perry said.

Perry then presented a clip of a person driving a semi-truck the wrong way on a divided Missouri highway in late February. The video shows that the truck was eventually stopped by a trooper.

Perry claimed that the suspect driving the vehicle was given a Minnesota license despite being unable to pass the driving test because of a law Walz signed that allows applicants to obtain a CDL regardless of immigration status.

RELATED: Founder of Minneapolis autism center admits to paying kickbacks to Somali families in $6 million scam

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Walz talked about the safety of Minnesota's roads and claimed that he doesn't "understand the connection" between driver's licenses and immigration status.

"He's here illegally, he can't read, and he got a license under your provisions!" Perry said. "And he's driving all across the country, imperiling everybody else! That's the connection!" Perry concluded.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

When a garage pull rope that was shaped like a noose was discovered in Bubba Wallace’s garage at the Talladega Superspeedway in 2020, the media had a field day.

Despite the FBI determining Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime, NASCAR’s reputation was tarnished.

Now, according to BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock, NASCAR is “fixing its popularity problem” with Michael Jordan.

Jordan joined NASCAR in 2020 and is making history in the sport after his 23XI Racing team won its third straight NASCAR race to start the 2026 season.

“There’s nothing that the media, mainstream media, loves more than a racial story, and Michael Jordan and Tyler Reddick are making a lot of history in a sport that has a lot of so-called racial baggage,” Whitlock says.

“Around 2006, 2007, NASCAR fell off a cliff in terms of popularity and visibility and just relevance and traction. Most people attributed that fall-off to the stock market crash in 2007 and that the hundreds of thousands of fans that would go from city to city to city with NASCAR, they lost their economic stability,” he explains.

“And that’s what most people believe gutted NASCAR. I’m going to posit a theory that, yes, the economic collapse played a role, but the economic collapse was about gutting all of the working class. And NASCAR built its reputation on southern rednecks, working-class people, you know, heart of America people,” he says.

“There was one path back, that NASCAR had to place the race card. They had to create ‘Race Jam.’ They tried to do it with Bubba Wallace. Bubba Wallace is a weak, inferior driver. He’s no good. And so, they couldn’t do it with Bubba,” he continues.

But Michael Jordan is different.

“The guy stepped away from basketball 25 years ago, hasn’t lost a bit of relevancy, and it’s Michael Jordan, and they’ve injected him into NASCAR, and they’ve injected that storyline into NASCAR,” Whitlock says. “And I think it’s going to produce results.”

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's challenge to incumbent Sen. John Cornyn went unresolved in Tuesday's heated Republican primary race, as neither candidate proved able to secure 50% of the total vote.

With over 95% of the votes in as of Wednesday afternoon, Cornyn leads Paxton 41.9% to 40.7%, reported the Associated Press.

'We must win in November.'

Several hours after the Cornyn campaign stated on social media that "Judgement Day is coming for Ken Paxton," President Donald Trump announced that he would be staging an intervention and handpicking which of the two candidates — each of whom netted the support of approximately 900,000 Texans — he wants to compete against Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) in the general election.

Trump stated that the GOP primary race in Texas "cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW!"

Claiming that his GOP endorsements have "been virtually insurmountable," Trump said that he will be endorsing one of the two candidates imminently and asking the disfavored candidate "to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!"

"We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!" continued the president, referring to Talarico. "Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be PERFECT!"

RELATED: Chip Roy's political future uncertain after nail-biting Texas AG race

Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images, Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

"We must win in November!" he concluded.

The runoff election will be held on May 26 in the event that both candidates remain in the race.

On Wednesday afternoon, Paxton tweeted, "Last night, in a historic failure for John Cornyn, he failed to get nearly 60% of the GOP vote after spending $100 million. It's time to finish the job in the runoff."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

NBA legend Charles Barkley says "stupid" people "need something to trigger them."

The Hall of Fame player was referring to the Team USA men's Olympic hockey team visiting President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address and the White House last month. The event sparked controversy because of the way Trump delivered the invite.

'I'm not a Trump guy. I want to make that clear.'

The president called the men's locker room after the team defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal game on February 22, but his invite to the White House included a joke about the women's gold medal team.

"We're going to have to bring the women's team," the president told the team as they laughed. He added that he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't.

While the call resulted in apologies, condemnations, and struggle sessions with the media, Barkley defended the team's choice to visit the capital.

"Guys who didn't want to go shouldn't have to explain why they didn't go. I've said this before. I'm not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go," Barkley told co-host Ernie Johnson on "The Steam Room."

"I'm not a Trump guy. I want to make that clear," Barkley reiterated. "But I respect the office. He's the president of the United States. But if guys don't want to go, I understand that too. It doesn't have to be a talking point. It doesn't have to be ... 'un-American.'"

Earlier in the discussion, the 63-year-old made a point of saying that while he did not agree with everything the government does, he understands that the general public can't stop themselves from being triggered.

RELATED: Boston Bruins players cave over Trump phone call: 'Certainly sorry' — 'we should have reacted differently'

"Yo, man, why do y'all have to mess up everything?" Barkley said about Trump's phone call. He then told his fellow Americans to stop "falling for stupidity" like that, while also placing blame on the government for purposely saying things that trigger people.

"I know y'all say stuff to trigger them. Y'all say stuff, and y'all know they going to be fools," Barkley told the administration.

When co-host Johnson tried to redirect Barkley's blame to Trump's call to the hockey team, the former athlete said that people should control themselves and not react to everything, but also that they often react anyway because they are "stupid."

"We don't have to fall for stupidity, Ernie," Barkley argued. "But we do, [and] that's my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them."

RELATED: Team USA players interrogated by woke Canadian media over Trump call — 'Why would you laugh?'

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Barkley went on to say he did not like how divisive the phone call had become, and that such division has "screwed up" the United States.

"Everything is not Democrat, Republican, conservative, or liberal," he argued. "That's why we got this divided, screwed-up country."

"Stop it, man," Barkley soon pleaded, looking directly into the camera. The Alabaman then reinforced his reasoning one more time.

"The public — they're idiots. They're fools. They can't think for themselves."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Three females were caught on video going on a rampage at the drive-thru window of New Jersey Wendy's fast-food restaurant recently — and now they're facing criminal charges.

Police in Ewing Township said the incident occurred just before 3 a.m. Feb. 21 at the restaurant in the 1700 block of Olden Avenue. It is open 24 hours a day.

'Insane.'

Police said they received a report about disorderly customers who broke a drive-thru window.

An investigation revealed that three females damaged property, attempted to assault employees with items, and fled the scene before officers arrived.

However, police said employees recorded video of the incident, and as a result, police were able to identify the suspects: 18-year-old Saniyah Brittingham, 19-year-old Leah Williford Stevens, and 23-year-old Honesty Harrison, all of whom hail from neighboring Trenton.

Police said Brittingham and Williford Stevens are facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief, and unlawful possession of a weapon, while Harrison is facing charges of criminal mischief and burglary.

Brittingham and Harrison turned themselves in Friday, but Williford Stevens was still at large, according to WPVI-TV.

In the station's video report below, the females are seen chucking drinks and other items at employees as apparent food is splattered around the drive-thru window — as well on the suspects. It appears toward the end of one clip that the trio get a taste of their own medicine as a huge batch of liquid flies in their direction as they take off running.

RELATED: Wendy's worker punches drive-thru customer through car window — then steals car, hits victim with car, bites 2 cops: Police

WPVI said police didn't indicate what may have sparked the incident, and a handful of people the station interviewed seemed deflated by the whole thing.

"I kinda get depressed about seeing young people just do that," Rupert Johnson of neighboring Lawrence, N.J., told WPVI.

"This is not something that should be happening," Dawn Hemsey of Ewing Township told the station, adding that the actions caught on video are "insane."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Before telling employees they do not get a say in how the government uses OpenAI services, CEO Sam Altman said intelligence agencies are no longer allowed to use OpenAI as they see fit.

On Monday, Altman cited the Fourth Amendment as a reason to change OpenAI's contract with the federal government.

'The Department also affirmed that our services will not be used by Department of War intelligence agencies.'

Altman said the company would amend its deal to include the following text: "Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution ... the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals."

The text added, "For the avoidance of doubt, the Department understands this limitation to prohibit deliberate tracking, surveillance, or monitoring of U.S. persons or nationals, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information."

Altman expressed a desire for a "democratic process" that could protect the civil liberties of Americans, while adding that the Department of War agreed to the new terms that keep his product out of the hands of the intelligence community.

"The Department also affirmed that our services will not be used by Department of War intelligence agencies (for example, the NSA). Any services to those agencies would require a follow-on modification to our contract."

Unfortunately for Altman, his post was hit with a hard community note that claimed this was "the opposite" of what he told employees the next day.

RELATED: Gamers REVOLT over age-verify scheme subjecting users to 'suspicious entity detection'

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

As CNBC reported, Altman told staff at an internal meeting that the company does not get a say in how the government uses OpenAI for operations.

"So maybe you think the Iran strike was good and the Venezuela invasion was bad," Altman reportedly said on Tuesday. "You don't get to weigh in on that."

OpenAI does not "get to make operational decisions" regarding how its AI is used by the Department of War, the CEO added.

Altman also reportedly told his team that while the Pentagon respects his company's expertise, the agency made it clear that the final decisions rest solely with Secretary Pete Hegseth.

RELATED: Sam Altman slams ICE in message to OpenAI employees: 'What's happening ... is going too far'

The about-face seems even more bizarre when considering Altman's follow-up post on X from Monday evening. In it, he described "alignment, democratization, empowerment, and individual agency" as the principles he cares most about.

At the same time he explained how AI needs to be "democratized" for the world as an open product, he wondered how he would feel if his product could have prevented an attack on U.S. soil but was not used by the government.

"I think there are real dangers coming to the world, and maybe pretty soon; I tried to put myself in the mindset of how I'd feel the day after an attack on the US or a new bioweapon we could have helped prevent."

This is more in tune with what he told his employees on Tuesday, which also included that he hoped the government would be "willing to work with us, even if our safety stack annoys them."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Weeks after Don Lemon and dozens more agitators allegedly stormed a church service in Minnesota, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon made a much-anticipated announcement.

On Wednesday, Dhillon announced that all 39 individuals suspected of disrupting the church service had been arrested as of Monday, adding an intriguing detail about a couple of the arrests.

'Outstanding work by DOJ. You don't get to terrorize churchgoers in America.'

"As of Monday, all 39 individuals indicted in the attack on Cities Church in MN had been arrested, two of them while abroad," Dhillon wrote on X.

"We @CivilRights look forward to bringing justice to the victims of this attack and demonstrating our commitment to justice for all!" she continued.

RELATED: Don Lemon enters plea following January arrest in connection with Minnesota church disruption

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Activists stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18.

Apparently among them was ex-CNN talking head Don Lemon, who previously pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to violate someone's constitutional rights and violating the FACE Act.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) praised the DOJ's persistence in this case: "Outstanding work by DOJ. You don't get to terrorize churchgoers in America."

Likewise, BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre lauded the arrests, noting how easily the case could have disappeared in the news cycle.

"I appreciate the follow-through on this. Many people predicted that the administration would do nothing and with all of the other news it would have been easy to let this quietly drop out of the cycle. But they didn't, they charged them all," MacIntyre said.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!