Badlands Brief
Trump Roasts The Press; Teases 2028 Run
The Badlands Brief is your daily drop of Badlands’ takes on the narratives dominating the info war. Read on, and join the conversation in the comments section.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Apologies for the delay, everybody. Substack deleted the entire post and didn’t save any drafts. I had to remake the entire thing this morning while on a plane.]
Trump Roasts Captive MSM Audience At The White House Correspondents’ Dinner
President Donald Trump attended the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on July 24 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., after the annual event was postponed following the April shooting that disrupted the original dinner. The association said it intended to complete the program that had been interrupted, including journalism awards and a performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman.
During his speech, Trump joked that the audience represented “the really largest group of Trump derangement syndrome people ever put together at one time” and made additional remarks directed at members of the news media.
According to ABC News, Trump’s address lasted more than an hour, alternated between calls for cooperation with the press and criticism of journalists and political opponents, and ended with the president putting on a red “Trump 2028” hat as part of a joke about another presidential campaign. The event was held under enhanced security, with the Secret Service saying it had implemented a strengthened security plan following the April attack.
Burning Bright: Certainly Donald Trump roasting the Media to their collectivist faces is nothing new to this audience, but, while I wasn't paying much attention to the White House Correspondents' dinner ahead of time, I found myself chewing on it quite a bit in the aftermath.
First, to get the easy bits out of the way, Trump himself was fantastic as the host of what has historically been a bit of a roast of whoever the President is at the time, a ritual that once looked like a good bit of rare bipartisan unity coding for the American plebs, and which now looks with the benefit of hindsight like a deeper humiliation ritual (on us) than any of us knew at the time.
For example, I remarked on OnlyLands Friday night that I remember absolutely loving Stephen Colbert's performance at the 2006 dinner in which he absolutely roasted George W. Bush in a seeming indictment on the NeoCon policy that had taken over the American zeitgeist for the six years previous.
Of course, now I know that Colbert was always cut from the same cloth as the very warmongers and collectivists he purported to oppose, a dialectic that Trump has completely interrupted and a mirrored illusion he has shattered over the most gloriously-disruptive decade in American politics in ... perhaps ever?
To wit, Trump has basically cleverly inverted what used to be an opportunity for the Media Industrial Complex and all its court jesters to reign supreme in the land of controlled opposition for a night into a reverse humiliation ritual on that very complex.
So, that's all good.
But what I've really been chewing on in the aftermath of Trump's address were some of the understated things he said, such as the seemingly-somber tone he adopted when he lamented the fact that the media would have nothing left to talk about when he was gone.
Now, besides representing an obvious shot at the incentive structures of said media, an antagonist to the American people masquerading as a guardian of its mindscape, I think there is some existential truth to Trump's lament, in that he has allowed the American people to fully diagnose the various ills of said media, and found them to be terminal.
Meaning, just like there may not be (and perhaps should not be) political parties in the future America we're trying to build through deconstruction, perhaps there never should have been a class recognized as 'media' in the first place, and once Trump is off center stage (which this writer hopes isn't until 2032, a possibility Trump is still doing nothing to distance himself from,) the very incentive structures that made them will unmake them in the void he leaves behind.
And that's a good thing.
Just like the Joker would sink into an existential doom loop of depression and mania were he to ever triumph over the Dark Knight, Batman, I suspect the Media Industrial Complex will find their meaning completely lost in the aftermath of the Age of Trump, because he tricked them into defining themselves entirely in opposition to him in the first place.
In so doing, he revealed who they really oppose.
Us.
And now, finally, and in a larger share of the American Mind than at any point in history, the feeling is entirely mutual.
I’ve pulled some clips of the highlights from the evening.
Making fun of Adam Schiff.
Making fun of Chris Christie.
Making fun of Kaitlan Collins.
Making fun of Ilhan Omar.
Poking fun at RFK, Jr.
He even poked fun at himself when his jokes didn’t land. (I laughed)
He had this banger of a joke calling Bari Weiss a gay dictator over CBS News.
And, of course, Trump’s epic troll announcing his 2028 candidacy.
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Mamdani-Netanyahu-Arrest Narrative Coincides State Dept Call For Countries To Withdraw From UN’s ICC
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign aimed at dismantling the International Criminal Court, arguing that the tribunal threatens U.S. sovereignty and improperly targets American military personnel and officials. The effort includes encouraging other countries to distance themselves from the court.
The announcement comes as debate over the ICC’s 2024 arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resurfaced. President Donald Trump said Netanyahu would not be arrested while visiting the United States. Israel rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction and denies allegations of war crimes underlying the warrant.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration reviewed what authority the city possesses but later clarified that New York City cannot itself execute an ICC arrest warrant. Reuters reported that U.S. law provides no domestic mechanism requiring state or local officials to enforce ICC warrants because the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute.
Separately, Netanyahu criticized Mamdani over the mayor’s public comments, accusing him of fomenting hatred. In a related development, the U.S. welcomed Venezuela’s decision to withdraw from the ICC and called on other countries to follow suit, according to a State Department statement reported by Anadolu Agency.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: We haven’t reported yet on #OurBoyMom’s narrative about arresting Netanyahu in NYC, but in retrospect there is a fascinating timeline to evaluate.
We begin on July 13, when Marco Rubio announced a sweeping “whole-of-government” campaign to dismantle the UN’s International Criminal Court, which was founded in the year 2000 by George Soros in order to prosecute world leaders like Vladimir Putin who refused to comply with the New World Order.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani then released a video declaring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, along with his intent to arrest Netanyahu should he ever step foot in the state. Naturally, President Trump publicly defended Bibi, but the conversation about Netanyahu’s malfeasance and the ICC’s legitimacy was already well underway.
Netanyahu responded on Fox News, accusing Mamdani of antisemitism.
There is this idea that Netanyahu is the root of the problem when it comes to Israel and its warmongering. That if we could just get rid of Bibi, and his merry band of religious nutjobs, we could have peace.
Allow me to dispel you of this delusion.
Here is an interview conducted yesterday by one of Netanyahu’s opposition leaders, and the favorite to defeat Bibi in the upcoming October election.
That is Naftali Bennett, who describes himself as “ten degrees more right-wing than Netanyahu,” but also a secularist with no religious element to his political platform. In fact, he has no ties or allegiance to any faction in the Ultra-Orthodox community. And yet, despite years ago claiming that he would be willing to sign the Two-State Solution in order to make peace with Palestine, he now says that as Prime Minister he will never allow Palestine to exist, and will erase it from the map and absorb it into Israel.
The truth is that there is no “pro-peace” faction in Israeli politics. At least not one that has any chance of ever taking power. So that leaves us with a very sobering revelation for the Zionist State of Israel and how we deal with it.
This past weekend, we had a group of Zionist congressmen travel to Caracas to meet with interim-president Delcy Rodriguez. Rodriguez then announced Venezuela’s decision to withdraw from the ICC, inviting allegations that Rodriguez was doing it on behalf of Israel and is a Zionist puppet.
The reality is that the ICC has been looking into the Venezuelan government ever since Maduro came into office in 2014. After receiving formal referrals from NeoCon-aligned governments in 2018, the ICC opened formal investigations that continue to this day. They’ve received additional referrals as recently as last year, this time from Ecuador—the country that Colombian President Gustavo Petro has identified as the new homebase of the cocaine cartels.
The ICC has denied all requests from Venezuela to end their inquiries. It seems that they had every intention of indicting Maduro and probably Rodriguez, and using its clout to bring Venezuela under UN control.
Now the State Department is using Venezuela’s decision as a rally cry to compel other countries to withdraw from the ICC. This demonstrates President Trump’s ability to turn the Deep State against itself.
So is Mamdani working with President Trump to generate these narratives developments? Or is President Trump merely playing the Game Theory board like a master?
Ironic! Jack Smith Prosecutors Mishandling Classified Information While Prosecuting Trump For Mishandling Classified Information
A government watchdog organization has asked Acting Director of National Intelligence William Pulte to review the security clearances of former members of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigative team, citing recently released Justice Department records that it says raise questions about the handling of classified information. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) requested that clearances be revoked if an official review determines the allegations warrant such action.
CASA’s request relies on internal Justice Department communications released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. According to the released materials as described in the reporting, the records allege that members of Smith’s office granted access to classified information without the required “need-to-know” authorization and that concerns were raised internally about security procedures involving a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.
The article also reports that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan separately referred Smith to the Justice Department for possible criminal investigation over testimony related to his office’s access to members of Congress’ text messages. As of the publication of the report, no action by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to CASA’s request had been announced.
Ashe in America: Members of Jack Smith’s team are under the microscope on their security clearances, and my biggest question is why any of these people still have security clearances to begin with, in the middle of 2026.
Security clearances are of extreme value to government bureaucrats because they lead to cushy consulting gigs and speaking fees after government service. They provide insider access to classified information and national security insights, and they (inexplicably) presume the cleared person is trustworthy. The entire premise seems to invite foreign influence and espionage.
A security clearance should be granted for a specific purpose, and no one should ever be entitled to it. And, for certain, bureaucrats caught in a treasonous grand conspiracy should have their access to classified information revoked as step one.
Clean house. It’s not retaliation, it’s consequence. And it's maddening that such a basic consequence — like losing security clearance after suspected treason — hasn't happened yet.
Deputy Speaker of Russian Parliament Says Ukrainian Children Are Being Sold into Slavery on DarkNet; Others Are Being Killed in Illegal Minefields
Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker Anna Kuznetsova said in an interview published Saturday that Ukrainian children have allegedly been trafficked through the darknet for between $30,000 and $50,000 and that law enforcement agencies in France and other European countries had documented dozens of cases involving the use of Ukrainian children as slave labor. She also said preliminary data indicated that more than 60,000 Ukrainian children had been deported without legal representatives, including to European Union countries.
In a separate report based on the same interview, Kuznetsova said mines she alleged were laid by Ukrainian forces in border areas had killed more than 50 Ukrainian children and injured more than 120. She also said more than 15 children in Russia had been injured by detonations involving Ukrainian antipersonnel mines.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: One of the highest elected officials in the Russian government has come out and said that Ukrainian children are being kidnapped and sold into slavery on the internet, and that there are over 60,000 Ukrainian children who have been deported with any legal representation.
Let me be clear: If there is any truth to this, and if any American is involved with this in any way—including those from the Trump administration—they should be hunted to the ends of the earth like dogs. No mercy should be extended to them. They should be treated as unlawful enemy combatants (terrorists) and face all the consequences that accompanies that distinction.
My question is to what extent is the State Department and Congress involved? Does this explain why both political parties have so ardently defended Ukraine’s war effort? You will never convince me that nobody knew.
Every resource and constitutional power should be exercised to learn the truth of this matter. If state governors need to deploy the National Guard to bring about this reckoning, do it. If President needs to deploy the Marines and lock DC—DO IT.
If we need to dissolve the entire federal government and enter a temporary state of anarchy in order to save these children, then so be it. I would rather see God split open the earth and plunge DC into the bowels of hell than to watch this rotten band of criminals continue to plague humanity.
We need answers, damnit. Any official who seeks to deprive us of the truth is a traitor to America and an accomplice to whatever crimes these psychopaths have committed. May God have mercy on their souls. We should not.
The End Of The ABA?
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, said he intends to pursue legislation that would remove the American Bar Association’s authority to accredit U.S. law schools. Gill, who chairs the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuse, said lawmakers are examining federal legislation that could reduce the ABA’s accreditation role while leaving states free to decide whether to work with the organization.
Gill’s comments followed a House hearing at which ABA President Michelle Behnke defended the organization’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. Behnke testified that diversity initiatives strengthen the legal profession and said diversity and excellence are “not mutually exclusive.” The article also reports that the ABA has begun rescinding its DEI requirements for law schools after President Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing such mandates.
During the hearing, Gill criticized the ABA’s previous DEI requirements, arguing they discriminated against certain students. He also alleged the organization has exercised significant influence over law school admissions, curricula and continuing legal education, positions attributed to Gill in the interview and hearing.
Ashe in America: Last year, Pam Bondi sent a letter to the ABA, stripping their preferred access to participate in the judicial nomination process.
“While the ABA is free to comment on judicial nominations along with other activist organizations, there is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations and the Department of Justice will not do so.”
Now, Congressman Brandon Gill, who sort of looks like Clark Kent, is moving to end the ABA’s role in accreditation of law schools.
Good.
NGO’s and Professional Associations are the connective tissue of the corrupt and subversive shadow control, and the ABA is the center of the beast when it comes to controlling lawyers and judges and the institution of law itself.
The long march through the institutions was comprehensive and effective, but it’s more exposed than it’s ever been — and its special powers and toys are being taken away.
Speaking of resources being taken away, did you guys see that the DNC had to mortgage its headquarters to fund their operations before the midterms?
Crazy that we keep hearing about how the midterms are going to be a blood bath. yet the democrats are hard up for cash. According to this article, they had to do this two years in a row. Yikes!
What happened to all the super real and not at all laundered donations?
Dismantling the institutional corruption is fun, and we’re just getting started.
Accelerate.
“Ukraine Attacked Iranian Cargo Ship in Caspian Sea at Israel’s Behest,” -Iranian Foreign Minister
Iran accused Ukraine on Sunday of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying the strike killed one sailor and wounded another. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had conducted long-range strikes against vessels involved in military cargo shipments linked to Iran, as well as a warship. Iran summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest the incident and said it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he raised the issue with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, describing the strike as a violation of international law and warning that it “cannot go unanswered,” according to Iranian statements reported by AFP.
Separately, during Russia’s Navy Day events, President Vladimir Putin said Russian authorities should respond decisively to attempts to seize Russian vessels while acting within international maritime law, comparing such situations to efforts against piracy. The remarks come as Moscow continues to criticize Western enforcement actions targeting ships associated with Russian trade under international sanctions.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Let’s start with a quick geography lesson:
In the map below, I have underlined in red Ukraine, Iran, and the Black Sea. You’ll notice that Russia—which is denoted with a pink X—shares the Black Sea with Ukraine, which is where all of the naval conflict between Russia and Ukraine has occurred up until now.
The Caspian Sea—denoted with a blue X—is on the other side of Russia from Ukraine, meaning Ukraine likely had to fly their drone OVER Russia to strike the Iranian cargo ship stationed in the Caspian Sea and kill that sailor. (Zelensky has claimed responsibility for these attacks.)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “Ukraine attacked Iran at the behest of Israel in order to draw Europe deeper into their war [with the Middle East].
Remember, last week Ukraine attacked 13 ships in the Black Sea, at least one of which was Turkish, and they also killed a sailor in that attack. (The rest were likely Russia.) I’ll also remind you of the clip I included in Friday’s Brief.
Yesterday, President Putin convened all of his naval commanders to address this issue, which he described as piracy.
“[These attacks are] attempts by ill-intentioned parties to pressure our fleet, including the commercial fleet.”
“In such cases, of course, we must act cautiously, within the framework of international maritime law, but decisively – just as piracy and pirates must be fought,” Putin stated. “I hope for your effective work in this field – protecting our fleet,”
In international maritime law, pirates have always been viewed as an existential threat and treated with extreme hostility. They were once branded, “The enemies of mankind.”
For those keeping score, in the past week, Zelensky has bombed cargo ships from Russia, Turkey and Iran in the Black, Mediterranean and now Caspian Seas. It now seems all but a certainty that we will see a Russia-Turkey-Iran naval alliance. Such a development would really throw a wrench into NATO, the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
PS - As if we didn’t need any more evidence of the link between Israel and Ukraine, here is Mossad Media shill, Laura Loomer, on Ukrainian television revealing that she has learned that she is of Ukrainian descent. This actually tracks, being that Israel was founded by Bolsheviks and their cousins (all mostly atheists) who all came from Ukraine.
Cartel-Linked Mexican Politicians Are Becoming Informants Under Pressure From Trump Admin As Narcos Are Hunted Like Dogs; Media Frames As Prelude to Invasion
A leaked phone recording acknowledged as authentic by Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar appears to show her asking whether U.S. authorities intended to extradite her and offering to provide security-related information after her U.S. visa was revoked. Del Pilar has said the call was arranged following the visa cancellation and has stated she was attempting to restore her ability to travel to the United States.
The Atlantic reports that U.S. prosecutors have broadened investigations into alleged corruption involving members of Mexico’s governing Morena party by relying on cooperating witnesses, including extradited drug traffickers and former officials. The magazine says at least four Morena members have been indicted and that additional officials have lost U.S. visas. It also reports that Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya was indicted on U.S. drug-trafficking charges, allegations he denies and that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said lack sufficient evidence.
The article says Mexico significantly expanded security cooperation with the United States between February 2025 and January 2026 by extraditing or transferring more than 100 alleged criminals. According to the report, many of those defendants later agreed to cooperate with U.S. investigators in exchange for the possibility of reduced sentences, potentially expanding ongoing investigations.
Separately, the article reports that the United States recently designated the Juárez Cartel and Los Viagras as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. It says some Trump administration officials view those designations as supporting possible military action against cartel targets, while international-law experts dispute that interpretation. The report concludes by noting that Mexican authorities recently arrested alleged Sinaloa cartel member Janero Van DeMario Garrett through cooperation with the DEA and that Garrett is a U.S. citizen.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: For the past few months, I have been speculating on the prospect of a naval conflict breaking out in the eastern Mediterranean between Israel and Turkey, with perhaps Ukraine, Greece, or Cyprus (or all three) aligning with Israel against Turkey.
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This week, GhostofBasedPatrickHenry joined Burning Bright vfor a discussion on the Game Theory inherent in Donald Trump's restructuring of the American model.
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And no ... I'm not joking.
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@ Ghost: "Let me be clear: If there is any truth to this, and if any American is involved with this in any way—including those from the Trump administration—they should be hunted to the ends of the earth like dogs. No mercy should be extended to them. They should be treated as unlawful enemy combatants (terrorists) and face all the consequences that accompanies that distinction."
In the detailed description to John (by one of the messengers who poured out one of the seven bowls of wrath on the world as it will look and act during the last half of the 70th week of the prophecy that Gabriel brought to Daniel) we learn of the complaint of the merchants of the earth who had for some 6,000 years taken advantage of the depravity of the "Babylonian" system to gain exorbitant wealth that: among their wares were the "bodies and souls of people" which represented the long sought for fulfillment of their clients' heinous desires (see Rev.18:13-15).
They will face the "double-double" price of their depravity! I Stand with GBPH!!!
"Clean house. It’s not retaliation, it’s consequence. And it's maddening that such a basic consequence — like losing security clearance after suspected treason — hasn't happened yet."
Amen and amen. Let the cleaning begin.
"Crazy that we keep hearing about how the midterms are going to be a blood bath. yet the democrats are hard up for cash. According to this article, they had to do this two years in a row. Yikes!
What happened to all the super real and not at all laundered donations?
Dismantling the institutional corruption is fun, and we’re just getting started."
What? The media isn't telling us the truth?
It is funny how the correspondents didn't find humor against them as funny as their "alleged humor" against the administration. If one is going to use humor, one must be able to take it. Don't throw sh*t into the fan if you don't want it to blow back on you.