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Second coming of DOGE

National Columnists

President Trump has signed an executive order creating a task force to crackdown on fraud in government programs. It will be headed by Vice President JD Vance. This is the administration's second effort to reduce government misspending and overspending following Elon Musk's effort as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. As we approach another April 15 with a $38 trillion debt (and counting) addressing fraud is something that ought to be a bipartisan goal. The fact that it hasn't been a priority for politicians is largely because, I suspect, it isn't their money ...

Iran challenges US shipping power

National Columnists

The reason why we have the Fifth Fleet, one of the most awesome naval forces ever assembled in the history of mankind, is to protect the sea lanes in the Middle East. That the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed is not just a blow to the global economy and a key point of leverage for the Iranian regime, it is an assault against one of the foundations of American power. Guarding the safe passage of commerce has been a core Anglo-American commitment for a couple of centuries, with the baton of naval leadership passing from the British to the United States around the time of ...

Who's afraid of trillionaire Elon Musk?

National Columnists

Early this year, we learned that Elon Musk may become the first trillionaire in world history. My friends on the left of the political spectrum have been fuming about this story as the ultimate example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting crumbs. When I appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" not long ago, Bill questioned me about the prospect of Musk becoming a trillionaire. "Isn't that excessive?" he asked. Similar questions about the super wealthy have been asked throughout American history. The first multimillionaire, John Jacob Astor, amassed his ...

Freedom is not free

National Columnists

At the height of the energy crisis in the 1970s, when oil prices more than sextupled, The Economist magazine showed a map of the Persian Gulf on its cover with the headline, "What's a Nice Thing Like Oil Doing in a Place Like This?" The Iranian miscreants, with whom we are now at war, understand that, although they could care less what their own citizens think, in free countries public opinion and support is vital to a president's ability to wage war. By impeding the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil supplies pass, they ...

It's time to confront Islamic terrorism

National Columnists

Importing people who hate America didn't end well. See if you can spot any similarities in these four events. During one weekend, President Donald Trump attacked Iran, Ndiaga Diagne opened fire at a bar in Austin. He wore a "Property of Allah" sweatshirt on top of an Iranian flag shirt. He killed three people and injured more than a dozen before police shot him dead. Diagne was a citizen of Senegal. He entered the United States in 2000 on a tourist visa and became a naturalized citizen in 2013. On Saturday, March 7, around 20 people protested Islam outside of Gracie ...

Let's show gratefulness for military

National Columnists

TMZ recently published a story with a dramatic all-caps headline, "PETE HEGSETH BLEW BILLION$ ON FRUIT BASKETS, LOBSTER," that was accompanied by a manufactured photo of the secretary of war surrounded by a bunch of plastic lobsters. If you've never covered the military, or served in the military, or if you don't have any family or friends in the military, this would appear to be a shocking story. But it's not — not even remotely. It is a common practice for the Pentagon to provide these special meals, often known as "surf and turf Fridays," to our service men and women ...