Badlands Brief
Earned Deportations, Irish Knife Fights, & the Eventual “Liberation” of Jerusalem
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.
DHS Directs ICE to Pursue Deportation of Noncitizens Who Illegally Vote in US Elections
The Department of Homeland Security announced new guidance directing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue deportation proceedings against noncitizens who illegally vote in American elections or falsely claim US citizenship. DHS General Counsel James Percival said the policy reflects existing provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and follows the administration’s broader election-integrity initiatives.
According to the directive, ICE attorneys may seek removal based on evidence of illegal voting or false claims of citizenship, even if a criminal conviction has not yet occurred. DHS officials argued that unlawful voting by noncitizens undermines election integrity and can trigger grounds for removal under federal immigration law.
The announcement comes amid a broader administration push focused on voter eligibility verification and election security. Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and several recent cases involving noncitizens accused or convicted of illegal voting have drawn national attention.
Ashe in America: I can’t wait for the lawsuits in which leftist NGOs argue that criminal invaders that diluted the votes of Americans should stay in our country.
I’m sure my Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is running for governor, will be first in line to sue. He’s probably looking for plaintiffs now. He’s citing his official acts as AG as campaign accomplishments — which should trigger a corruption investigation, but who investigates the AG? No one, apparently.
As we all navigate The Midterms™️together, let us take comfort and direction from Alexander Solzhenitsyn. From “Live Not by Lies”:
“And is there really no way out? And is there only one thing left for us to do, to wait without taking action? Maybe something will happen by itself? It will never happen as long as we daily acknowledge, extol, and strengthen—and do not sever ourselves from—the most perceptible of (the encirclement’s) aspects: Lies.
When violence intrudes into peaceful life, its face glows with self-confidence, as if it were carrying a banner and shouting: “I am violence. Run away, make way for me—I will crush you.” But violence quickly grows old. And it has lost confidence in itself, and in order to maintain a respectable face it summons falsehood as its ally—since violence can conceal itself with nothing except lies, and the lies can be maintained only by violence.
And violence lays its ponderous paw not every day and not on every shoulder. It demands from us only obedience to lies and daily participation in lies—all loyalty lies in that. And the simplest and most accessible key to our self-neglected liberation lies right here:
Personal non-participation in lies.
Though lies conceal everything, though lies embrace everything, we will be obstinate in this smallest of matters: Let them embrace everything, but not with any help from me.”
I posted that except, and got this response:
No. The biggest lie is that elections are real, and that we consented to be governed by these people, at any level, through any lawful process, to begin with.
That’s been the biggest lie for a while, and it’s the foundation of all the other lies. But it’s also the most uncomfortable to confront, so people still live by it.
I believe voter intent is real. And I believe real elections are possible.
But we can’t have real elections until there is honesty and accountability for how fake they’ve been.
Tossing criminally-invading voter-fraudsters out of the country is a good step in that direction.
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Erdogan and Netanyahu Exchange Threats as Turkey Falls Into Israel’s Crosshairs
Tensions between Turkey and Israel escalated this week as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sharply criticized Israeli military operations in Syria and Lebanon, warning that Israel’s regional actions could eventually threaten Turkey. Erdoğan accused Israel of pursuing expansionist policies and renewed calls for stronger support for the Palestinian cause, including the eventual “liberation” of Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by branding Erdoğan an “antisemitic dictator” and accusing him of supporting Hamas. Netanyahu said Israel would continue acting against security threats across the region and rejected Turkish criticism of Israeli military operations.
The exchange comes amid growing friction over Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah-linked targets in Lebanon and military assets in Syria. Turkish officials have increasingly portrayed Israel’s actions as destabilizing the region, while Israeli leaders argue the operations are necessary to prevent attacks by Iranian-backed groups and other hostile actors.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump took a notably different tone when asked about Erdoğan’s rhetoric, praising the Turkish leader as a strong and effective negotiator while emphasizing the importance of maintaining US-Turkey relations. Trump’s comments highlighted a contrast between Washington’s approach and the increasingly hostile public exchanges between Ankara and Jerusalem.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Ever since the October 7th incident, President Erdogan of Turkey and the Israeli leadership have exchanged public rebukes that have escalated into threats. We even saw Israeli Foreign Minister (now Defense Minister) Israel Katz warn Erdogan at the UN that he may become the next Saddam Hussein; a reference to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and execution of the country’s leader by US-led forces.
We’ve also seen the leaders of the Israeli opposition party—the minority in the Knesset who do not support Netanyahu’s majority/government—openly state their desire to see Turkey become the next Iran, meaning yet another war.
Yesterday, Erdogan address the Turkish Parliament, and made a number of comments that have gain viral attention; The most noteworthy of which in reference to Israel’s now publicly stated desire to establish Greater Israel through the conquest and annexation of its neighboring countries—something Israel says is necessary in order to achieve its security. Erdogan said that this objective must never be allowed to be achieved.
Netanyahu responded on X—invoking, of course, the sanction of antisemitism.
In an interesting twist, President Trump was asked about Erdogan’s comments during his Oval Office gathering with the press. Note how the reporter posits the question, asking if Trump will follow through on his promise to sell Erdogan F-35 jets.
Turkey has already paid for the jets and the pilots and maintenance crews have already been trained. The planes are being withheld due to Erdogan’s relationship with Putin and the concern that Russia will acquire this technology. (Personally, I think we should be more concerned with Israel stealing and selling off our classified technology, as they have an actual history of doing so.)
Note how Trump responds to the reporter’s question. He makes it clear that he stands with Erdogan, and is not worried that Turkey will start a war with Israel. What he doesn’t address is whether he is concerned that Israel will start a war with Turkey.
As the IDF moves north in Lebanon and takes Beirut, they move closer to the Turkish border (which now, in practice, lays somewhere in Syria). Though I think the Turks are more concerned about a potential IDF advance in Damascus, which will threaten the plans that Erdogan and the Saudis have to rebuild Syria.
My guess is that Netanyahu will leverage his recently bolstered alliance with Greece, and have their navy harass and provoke the Turks in the Aegean Sea and potentially on the island of Cyprus, where Turkey maintains a small territorial claim.
The strategic significance of this dynamic is that Greece is a member of NATO, and so a conflict with Turkey (also a NATO member) would not invoke Article 5 of the alliance treaty. Conversely, if Israel were to attack Turkey, it would find itself immediately at war with all of NATO. Greece and Turkey have an ancient feud dating back to the 12th century when the Byzantine Empire (a Greek civilization) fell to the Ottomans and Constantinople became Istanbul. The recently signed security agreement between Israel and Greece was forged over their shared contempt for Turkey.
Though Netanyahu is short on time and has lost considerable clout throughout the world, the logical strategy would be to form a three-way alliance with Greece and Ukraine in order to encircle Turkey and draw their attention away from Lebanon and Syria.
The last thing Netanyahu needs is another ground war in the Levant. A naval conflict with Turkey would open up a western front in the Greater Israel campaign, and bring Europe into the Middle East conflict.
Frankly, this plan (my own hypothetical) is likely far too ambitious to be successful, but Netanyahu is desperate and in a position to take such risk. Erdogan must work with his allies in Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia to contain the IDF in Lebanon and fold Iran into the emerging Middle East security architecture.
Belfast Knife Attack Sparks Riots, RENEWS Immigration Debate Across UK
A Belfast man suffered catastrophic injuries, including the loss of an eye, after a knife attack that police say resulted in attempted murder charges against a 30-year-old Sudanese suspect. Video of the assault spread rapidly online, fueling outrage and calls for anti-immigration demonstrations.
Hundreds of protesters gathered across Belfast, with some setting vehicles and buildings ablaze, blocking roads, and clashing with police. Authorities deployed additional officers as political leaders condemned both the attack and the ensuing disorder.
Officials urged calm and said the investigation remains ongoing. The victim’s family appealed for peaceful responses, while the incident intensified wider debates over immigration and public safety that have become increasingly prominent in UK politics.
Burning Bright: Migrant crime and economic stagnation are nothing new to the engineered Western landscape of the current century.
What has changed is the accelerationist pressure applied by Trump’s second term: tariffs imposed even upon ostensible allies, an international energy posture that exploits European dependencies more than most and a broader military and diplomatic squeeze that is compelling the Collectorate to reveal its true face under stress.
Atop this provocation has come a rash of violent and disturbing assaults by foreign invaders upon native victims, with this week’s attempted beheading in Belfast—carried out by a Somali migrant who entered via Sudan, Paris and Dublin before claiming asylum—along with the revelation of just how sickening the murder (and subsequent cover-up) of Henry Nowak truly was stand as the latest and most grotesque illustrations of the abject betrayal of European governments, police forces and their media protectorate.
The incidents have exposed not only the human cost of open-border policies, but the two-tier enforcement and narrative management that have long accompanied them.
I have predicted for some time that, while the awakening would spread worldwide, its expression across the pond would necessarily diverge from the American path.
For all its faults, the United States possesses a culture and demeanor more immediately receptive to a nationalist realignment; our people have been, on balance more ready to embrace and then institutionalize their own sovereign agenda.
Europe, for its part confronts a more advanced stage of demographic and cultural displacement, layered atop rigid supranational structures and a political class more thoroughly invested in the very frameworks now fracturing beneath it, all set atop a population that has historically been more receptive to top-down management and control.
The result has been a slower, but perhaps more extreme rise in nationalist, sovereign zeal and discontent.
With Western peoples now staring cultural—and in places, perhaps literal—extinction on the back of an invasion engineered by those who lord over them, the lords themselves now confront the prospect of the sort of kinetic revolution they long assumed could only arrive from across the sea.
Americanism is coming full circle.
The same spirit of self-determination that once cast off the British Empire’s direct rule is rising again, not merely to drive out the remnants of that empire’s globalist tentacles in our own lands, but perhaps this time to bring the edifice down with finality everywhere, all at once.
And to the Collectorate, let us borrow a line from Ser Arthur Dayne, and that stands as both the intro and outro to The Narrative ...
“I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.”
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Trump Threatens to Bomb the Shit Out of Iran if the ‘Most Violated Ceasefire in the History of the World’ Gets Violated Again
President Donald Trump warned that the United States would resume major military strikes against Iran if ongoing peace negotiations fail, telling Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst that he would “bomb the shit out of them” if Tehran does not immediately agree to a deal. The remarks came after another round of US strikes on Iranian military targets and renewed fighting despite months of ceasefire negotiations.
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with what he has described as a ceasefire that both sides continue to violate. Earlier ceasefire arrangements between the United States, Israel, and Iran have been disrupted by repeated exchanges of strikes, missile attacks, and retaliatory operations, with Trump at various points accusing all parties of undermining peace efforts.
The latest escalation followed US military strikes on Iranian surveillance, communications, and air-defense facilities after Washington blamed Iran for downing a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes were intended both to degrade Iranian military capabilities and strengthen Washington’s negotiating position.
Despite the threats, Trump and administration officials continue to say they prefer a negotiated settlement. Trump has repeatedly argued that a peace agreement remains within reach, even while warning that additional military action could occur if talks collapse.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Right on the heels of my schizo take from yesterday’s Brief, where I explained my perception of the mind games President Trump is currently playing with the world, we now get a perfect example of what I was attempting to describe.
After a solid week of narrative deployments against Israel—specifically, Netanyahu—President Trump is now “resetting” the game board by resuming his hyper-aggressive posturing against Iran.
This is exactly what I was describing yesterday. Let’s track it in real time.
First, Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office that he is going to resume bombing Iran tonight. Listen to the clip and note how Trump seems to enter into a different state of mind as he answers this question, becoming Trump The Story-Teller. The way he allows himself to meander into sidebars and embellish every little detail with backstory. It almost feels like he is just riffing and making it up on the spot as he speaks, seeing how far he can push it without breaking character.
The bomb flew right into the helicopter and didn’t explode. The unmanned boats! Traveling at ludicrous speed—speeds you wouldn’t even want to travel. (That one felt like a callback to the Trump Train memes from the campaign era.) And they shot at the helicopter—a very expensive helicopter, by the way—and fortunately the pilots are okay. An amazing rescue, if you ever get a clip of it, it was really cool. (That’s a direct quote.) Then Trump finishes by taking us on an adventure about his favors to the Field Marshall of Pakistan, who is an amazing man, and how Trump saved Pakistan from getting nuked by India, but it’s all good because Pakistan is tight with Iran so everything is gonna be all good.
And I should note that the whole diatribe begins with Trump responding to a question about a Truth Social post he made yesterday morning where he describes Iran as “the bully of the Middle East” and says that they are “DEAD,” and will “now have to pay the price.”
He followed this up with another post where he utilized even more caps lock, calling the naval blockade a “STEEL WALL” and continuing with the bombastic rhetoric. He finishes the post with “Praise be to Allah!”
If that post doesn’t register as something directly from a professional wrestling promotion, then nothing will. It doesn’t get much goofier than that. It definitely doesn’t seem like something the President of the United States would post if he was earnestly trying to negotiate peace with a formidable enemy combatant.
And yet, because President Trump has succeeded in selling The Donald persona to the public, people do take this side of him very seriously, even while acknowledging his levity and recognizing how goofy the whole thing is. They just assume that President Trump is a fool who keeps stumbling from one success to another.
Did you note at the very end of the clip when Trump says, “in case you don’t turn on your television tonight…”? Because television rules the nation. It is the storyteller that dictates our fake reality.
Here is another example of Trump testing the verisimilitude of that reality.
We have been taking Iran’s oil—in the middle of the night lol—and they are too stupid to know it. Except now they do know it, as Trump explains, because he just told the television reporters who fabricate reality like mystics trying to wield the power of God. The real superpower is how Trump can maintain composure through all of this and not burst out laughing at the reporters, who are taking this all very, very seriously.
Let’s go back to that original clip. Did you notice in the middle of it when Trump said, “I’ve been working with Iran for months…” then he sort of pauses and stares around the room before continuing. It’s almost as if he dropped the act and told the truth in that one instance before falling back into character and resuming the wrestling promo.
Listen to how Trump bamboozled Faux News by telling them that he is now speaking DIRECTLY with the Iranian leaders, and that they are begging him to stop bombing them.
If you go and read my take from yesterday, this is following that pattern that I described. Trump is now moving into the humiliation phase where he presents Iran as this fledgling adversary that is in over its head and desperate for the conflict to end. And don’t forget that Trump called it “the most violated ceasefire
What will make that clip go viral is the revelation that Trump has established a direct line to Tehran—which is yet another test of the verisimilitude of this narrative. When will people start questioning how silly this all sounds?
Now for the final, and most important question: What is the point of all of this? To what end?
In my opinion, the objective here is to “tap, tap, tap” Netanyahu along and into a state of fighting with Iran, regardless of what the US does. Why? Because only once Iran has strategically defeated Israel, and forced their surrender, will there finally be peace in the Middle East.
And to demonstrate that Trump’s strategy—the pattern I have described and shown above—is working, here is the latest from Netanyahu, who says, “Even with a ceasefire, we will continue to attack both in Iran and Lebanon…”
President Trump is psychologically conditioning everyone, including Netanyahu, to normalize fighting between Israel and Iran while the US makes peace. Before this conflict, the idea of Israel fighting anybody, especially Iran, without the help of America would be inconceivable. Yet, here we are, watching that very scenario unfold.
Lawfare Round Two? Activists Target DOJ Attorney Who Challenged 2020 Election
NBC reports that election NGOs are raising concerns about Kurt Olsen’s appointment to a senior Justice Department position because of his involvement in post-2020 election litigation and efforts challenging election procedures and results. The critics argue his previous election-related work raises questions about his suitability for overseeing election matters at DOJ.
The article highlights criticism from Free Speech For People (FSFP), which has called for scrutiny of Olsen’s role and raised concerns about public confidence in DOJ election enforcement. The group argues that attorneys who advanced claims challenging the 2020 election should not be placed in positions overseeing election-related investigations and policy. Notably, FSFP advocated for impeaching President Trump the day after Inauguration Day in 2017.
Supporters of Olsen counter that he is an experienced attorney whose prior election work constituted lawful advocacy on behalf of clients and causes, and they view the criticism as part of a broader effort to marginalize election-integrity concerns.
Ashe in America: As I’ve said since Kurt Olsen was appointed to be special advisor to the President back in October 2025, if there is any attorney in the nation that has a complete understanding of 2020 election fraud, it’s Kurt Olsen.
So, it’s no wonder that Free Speech for People is attacking Olsen. FSFP is, in my opinion based on the information available and my personal experience, a lawfare strategist for undermining the First Amendment and abusing the legal process to undermine the political support and advocacy of their ideological opponents.
CannCon, in The Gateway Pundit yesterday, wrote about this:
FSFP co-founder and President, John Bonifaz, has previously expressed concern about that same voting software coming from a “foreign-controlled company” that has “ties to the Venezuelan government” in a letter still available on nist.gov, the National Institute of Standards and Technology website.
Reporting on the letter from the FSFP, NBC News describes Olsen as “an election denier who tried to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss” while describing the nonprofit as focused “on free and fair elections and rooting out corruption in government.”
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that FSFP was intimately involved in a lawsuit against canvassers in Colorado after the 2020 election, claiming the defendants violated the KKK Act in doing so. The lawsuit hinged almost exclusively on the testimony of a single witness coached by attorneys to mislead investigators and the federal court in order to silence private citizens lawfully canvassing voters to ensure election integrity.
The defendants won that case in federal court with a directed verdict.”
Yes, we did.
In discovery in our case, the privilege log revealed that FSFP approached the plaintiffs with a novel legal theory. The plaintiffs lapped it up and sued us, despite not knowing anything about us, and over two years later, their star witness admitted that she only named us (18 months earlier to bear a dispositive motion) because the lawyers — Free Speech for People — told her to.
Kurt Olsen, who now works at the DOJ in Florida, knows all about FSFP and what they did in our case. And what they did to others in the nation.
No wonder FSFP is attacking Kurt Olsen.
He’s a threat.
BONUS ITEMS
Epstein Probe Expands as Gates Testifies and Comer Seeks Blanche Testimony
Bill Gates testified behind closed doors before the House Oversight Committee about his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, calling the association a “grave error in judgment” and saying Epstein later tried to blackmail him over extramarital affairs. Gates denied knowing about or participating in Epstein’s crimes and said their meetings were tied to philanthropic fundraising discussions.
Oversight Chair James Comer said he is working to bring Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche before the committee in July, with lawmakers focused on whether any Epstein-related documents remain unreleased. Democrats want Blanche’s appearance to be a videotaped, under-oath deposition.
The committee is also seeking testimony from Alan Dershowitz as part of its broader investigation into Epstein’s network and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
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I don't think I've ever seen more negative comments regarding trump as I've seen today on X ~ his head games may appease some, however the majority of trump supporters (as I'm watching) are so frustrated and confused by his schizophrenia rhetoric......I fear his games are going too far for his approval numbers. It's literally become a joke. People think he's actually losing his mind. His leadership persona is not encouraging his base. I've given up trying to defend his rhetoric or actions ~ idk WTH he's doing. At one point I actually thought I did. Maybe my mind doesn't work in that many dimensions or 5D chess. I pray he knows what he's doing even though few actually seem to...
What I don’t understand is why aren’t we more interested in taking out Iranian backed terror groups like Hezbollah, no matter where they are. We aren’t taking them out but we’re supposed to be mad when Israel does? Also, why do we sell our technologically advanced military equipment to a country like Turkey? Especially if we don’t trust them not to sell it to our enemies? Maybe it’s because we have even more advanced military equipment than what we’re selling? 🤔