Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the United States and China agreed in Beijing to keep discussing if the two countries should team to set guardrails on AI.  ”You wanna be able to set guardrails,” Hegseth told The Daily Signal Saturday evening. “Given the innovation capabilities of the United States of America, we also wanna maintain an advantage, and ensure that we can utilize that advantage responsibly as well.” “It’s kind of emblematic of that competing tension,” he said. Q: Do the US and China need to set a mutually agreed upon guardrail on AI? Did you see any progress toward that in Beijing?@SecWar: "I think the agreement was that we should keep talking about it…""You wanna be able to set guardrails, but given the innovation capabilities… pic.twitter.com/qWB46gdYy4— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) May 31, 2026 Hegseth spoke to the press at the United States Embassy in Singapore at the end of his trip to the Shangri-La Dialogue conference, where he met with various Indo-Pacific leaders. Earlier this month, the secretary of war had joined President Donald Trump on his trip to Beijing, where he said he listened to hours of conversations about U.S.-China relations. Trump and President Xi Jinping discussed guardrails on AI and how to prevent bad actors from exploiting the most powerful AI models, such as Anthropic’s Mythos, which has exposed major software security vulnerabilities. Hegseth said the two countries agreed to continue talking as technology develops. “Guardrail conversations are productive between two strong countries,” Hegseth said, “but it’s also our job to run the fastest, and certainly at the War Department, we’re trying to do everything we can to maintain that.”

Just as the deranged Roman emperors—Caligula, Nero, and Commodus—turned the empire’s treasury and laws into weapons against their own people, Gov. Gavin Newsom now seeks to seize 100% of any federal compensation awarded to Californians harmed by government weaponization. Insulated by absolute power, these rulers squandered vast resources on vendettas, bizarre decrees, and self-glorification while their subjects suffered. Caligula’s paranoid confiscations, Nero’s indifferent ruin, and Commodus’s delusional grandeur were not mere failures—they were deliberate punishments inflicted to spite rivals and reality itself.  Newsom follows the same mad logic. On May 27, 2026, Newsom announced California will impose a 100% state tax on any resident receiving funds from the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. He branded it a “January 6 slush fund” and ordered every penny seized by the state.  Created from a settlement in Trump’s IRS lawsuit over leaked tax returns, the fund compensates victims of genuine political lawfare—not just January 6 defendants, but parents targeted at school boards, businesses crushed by overregulation, and ordinary citizens caught in federal crosshairs. California will literally confiscate 100% of restitution paid to its own residents for real political persecution. This is not governance. It is raw, spiteful authoritarianism—Nero fiddling while California burns. Concrete justice for victims is sacrificed on the altar of partisan mania while everyday Californians endure exploding costs, failing services, and unchecked decline. California’s Democrat leaders have abandoned any standard of right, wise, or beneficial. They govern by one deranged metric alone: If Donald Trump supports it, oppose it at all costs. Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is now official state policy. Sacramento operates as a permanent resistance machine that prioritizes symbolic defiance over practical fixes. Newsom’s crazed plan to confiscate restitution may be the most brazen display of his madness yet—but it’s only the latest. When the Trump administration tried to claw back unspent federal funds, Newsom cried “illegal political retribution”—then doubled down on more state spending for his train to nowhere.  Sold to voters in 2008 as a $33 billion system ready by 2020, California’s high-speed rail has devoured $15 billion over 18 years with zero miles of operational track. Projected costs have ballooned to $126–$231 billion while the scaled-back Central Valley segment crawls forward amid lawsuits, delays, and bureaucracy.  Romans built the Colosseum in just 8–10 years. California’s Mad King can only produce excuses, concrete tombs, and endless delays that keep slipping into the 2030s or 2040s. The same derangement drives energy policy. The Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act to restart the idle Sable Offshore pipeline near Santa Barbara and expand domestic leasing. Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta responded with immediate lawsuits and declarations that the projects were “dead on arrival”—even as gas prices punish working families, refineries close, imported energy dominates, and Kern County fields sit idle. Ideology and rabid opposition to Trump overrides affordable domestic production. Newsom doubles down on the same madness with immigration. His sanctuary laws block local police from helping ICE deport criminal aliens. As fentanyl deaths surge and emergency rooms overflow, he sues Trump and shields cities to protect repeat offenders, gang members, and cartel operatives. Public safety has been sacrificed on the altar of open-border ideology and Trump Derangement Syndrome. California’s legal jihad never ends. Former AG Xavier Becerra brags about filing over 120 lawsuits against Trump—wasting millions while homelessness spending explodes into the tens of billions with 180,000 people still sleeping on sidewalks. Meanwhile, Newsom burns nearly $40 million in taxpayer funds on self-promotion: New York PR contracts and special “legacy” funds dedicated to honoring himself. While Newsom declares war on restitution for actual victims of government persecution, Democrats are simultaneously chasing massive reparations for Black Californians.  Newsom signed legislation creating the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, issued an official state apology, and allowed task forces to float proposals costing hundreds of billions. California was never a slave state, and no living Black Californian endured chattel slavery on its soil. Yet phantom historical grievances get new bureaucracies and apologies—while real victims of recent lawfare are taxed into oblivion. Coastal elites like Newsom, shielded by their wealth and gated communities, ram through green mandates, soft-on-crime policies, and reparations theater. They treat federalism as a one-way veto against Trump while demanding billions in federal cash with no strings attached.  Their endless talk of “equity” rings utterly hollow against dirty streets, boarded-up stores, sky-high housing costs, and crumbling infrastructure. Everyday Californians pay the price: punishing gas prices, unsafe neighborhoods, and disappearing opportunity. Billions are flushed into failed programs and endless political fights that aren’t even Sacramento’s business. Like Caligula, Nero, and Commodus before him, Gavin Newsom has declared war—not on California’s problems, but on his own citizens and on reality itself. His 100% tax on victim compensation is the logical climax of a Mad King consumed by spite, vanity, and obsessive hatred. California still possesses vast resources: talent, fertile farms, world-class ports, and unmatched innovation. Its steep decline is not destiny—it is a deliberate choice made by a Mad King and his enablers. History’s verdict is clear: Mad kings eventually fall, dragging their realms into ruin, exodus, and exhaustion. California cannot afford to wait for that final chapter. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

NEWARK, New Jersey, May 31 (Reuters) – Out-of-state agitators have escalated tensions at protests outside a Newark immigrant detention center, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said on Saturday, as the city imposed an overnight curfew around the embattled Delaney Hall facility. Sherrill, who had ordered state police to take control outside the facility, said five of six arrested Friday were from out of state, and that “national extremist groups” had joined Saturday’s protests, heightening tensions in the city. “You should not be here,” she said of those who came to create chaos. “You are not helping the people detained at Delaney Hall. You’re not helping detainee families and you’re certainly not keeping New Jersey safe.”   Newark Mayor Ras Baraka imposed a nightly curfew in the half-mile area surrounding Delaney Hall effective from early on Sunday. “Beginning at 12 a.m., Doremus Avenue will be closed to all pedestrian traffic. Vehicle access will be strictly limited to those with verified official business in the area. This curfew will remain in effect nightly from 9 pm. to 6 a.m. until further notice,” he said Sunday in a post on X. State police on Friday set up “protected protest zones” after days of confrontations between protesters and federal agents outside Delaney, a 1,000-bed facility whose detainees went on a labor and hunger strike over what they called inhumane conditions and to demand their release.   “That’s exactly where our focus needs to be right now, advocating for better conditions for those inside the facility,” Sherrill said. “We can’t let what’s happening outside Delaney Hall take us away from that mission.” Sherrill said she was “grateful to the vast majority of protesters who have assembled peacefully and raised their voices about Delaney Hall conditions.” The company Geo Group (GEO.N) operates Delaney for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has denied the allegations about the facility and called the involvement of state police a “win for law and order.” But Sherrill, a Democrat, suggested federal officials had made the situation worse, with ICE using batons on protesters and taking other actions that she described as inappropriate for crowd control. “They have been increasing tensions in a way that’s not helpful to public safety,” she said. The governor, who has called for the closure of Delaney Hall, said her goal was to ensure peaceful protests and public safety — and avoid a surge of federal agents. “What we have been working towards now is ensuring that ICE has no pretextual reason whatsoever to exacerbate this situation,” Sherrill said at a news conference. Clashes between immigration officers and protesters occasionally have turned violent in other states, most notably in Minnesota, where federal personnel fatally shot two people and injured others.  State police have tried to set up areas for protesters to peacefully assemble, New Jersey officials said. But protesters who were ordered to disperse Friday night surrounded a law enforcement vehicle and made threats toward personnel, state police Lieutenant Colonel David Sierotowicz said on Saturday. Some activists were seen retrieving face coverings, gas masks, fireworks, rocks and other projectiles from a nearby tent area, Sierotowicz said. Video from Friday showed police advancing with riot shields and firing tear gas. Sierotowicz said police used standard tactics to move the crowd back, with no significant injuries to the public or law enforcement. “We were not striking anybody last night,” he said. Protests are fine as long as they remain peaceful, state officials said. At mid-afternoon on Saturday, dozens of protesters were chanting slogans but remaining behind the barriers that police had set up. “Today and going forward, I urge those protesting outside of Delaney Hall to bring the temperature down, so we can focus on the detainees and their families,” Sherrill said. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and Eduardo Munoz; additional reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Sergio Non, Franklin Paul and Bernadette Baum)

A Canadian man went to a Tim Hortons coffee shop with a minor medical problem, spoke to a doctor, and was promptly taken to a medical facility and euthanized under state-sanctioned MAID policies. Sadly, this is the most modern Canada story of all time. A recent report highlights how Canada’s medical assistance in dying program has created exactly the kind of slippery slope conservatives warned about. According to The Globe and Mail, Dr. James MacLean is being investigated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for crossing “professional boundaries” relating to “two 2024 medical assistance in dying cases.” In one case, the doctor was accused of improperly administering drugs to the patient he was killing. The “patient” began breathing again after being pronounced dead and the doctor had to return to do the procedure again. The second case was reportedly related to the death of “Thomas Dillon, a 45-year-old Ontario man who had Crohn’s disease.” Dillon also had a history of mental illness and suicidal thinking according to the report. The physician allegedly evaluated him for MAID eligibility outside a Tim Hortons in London, Ontario. Months later, after exchanging dozens of text messages they met up again. From The Globe and Mail: “Dr. MacLean met Mr. Dillon at the Tim Hortons and then drove him to a location in London where Mr. Dillon had agreed to have the procedure done, the college’s decision states. Dr. MacLean administered the lethal medications in a room at a holding facility in an industrial unit where cadavers are prepared for transport to funeral homes.” The story drew widespread commentary on X. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh condemned the entire Canadian system. “Horrors beyond comprehension happening just to our north,” he wrote on X. “There’s a much better moral argument for invading Canada and deposing its regime than invading or bombing any country 10 thousand miles away. Industrial scale eugenics and mass murder happening right next door.” A doctor met a guy at a coffee shop, assessed him for MAID, then drove him to the spot where he'd be put down. Horrors beyond comprehension happening just to our north. There's a much better moral argument for invading Canada and deposing its regime than invading or bombing any… https://t.co/0HjEoPYtRA— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 26, 2026 The Ontario incident is being treated as a possible case of malpractice. The investigative committee noted that the “limited regulatory response” to such a case was striking. But I’d suggest this is simply the kind of abuse that should be expected in a society with industrial scale government-sanctioned assisted suicide. The problem is not a lack of regulatory oversight, it’s that a society has accepted government sponsored euthanasia as just a normal part of medicine. It’s made all the worse by the fact that Canada has a single-payer health care system where there’s an additional, perverse incentive to get rid of people with chronic problems instead of treating them. And they are getting rid of people en masse. What was once a rare occurrence when Canada passed its national MAID law in 2016 has become a leading form of death in the country. More people are killed by MAID than are dogs euthanized at shelters in the country. By 2024, one in every 20 deaths in the country was by assisted suicide and the total number keeps growing. And many of these deaths were as swift as Dillon’s. “In Ontario alone, 219 people were killed by the end of the next day following their request for ‘medical assistance in dying’ (MAID) in 2023, according to a 2024 report by an advisory committee,” the Free Press reported in March. “About 30 percent of those deaths occurred on the same day that the person sought the government’s permission to die. The committee hasn’t published comparable numbers since then.” In June Canada is projected to surpass 100,000 total MAID deaths since the law was pass. As the New York Post noted, this is more than double the number of the country’s World War II deaths. And just as many warned this “normalized” industry has spun off a series of once unthinkable horrors, including organ harvesting. The pace and scale of MAID’s implementation is a massive warning to the United States where the issue is at least contested and confined to a minority of states. Even in the cases where assisted death is legal in the U.S. it is still limited. Physicians may give lethal doses of drugs, but they can’t administer them as they do in Canada. Still, the number of states that allow for this limited assisted suicide is growing. In 2025, New York became the 14th state to legalize it. The nightmare scenarios unfolding with our “nice” neighbors to the north have given us ample warning of what’s to come if the trend continues.

Although it is generally viewed as a reliably liberal region, the Northeast has Senate and House races in 2026 that could determine the balance of power in Congress in the midterms. Here are four states that could be decisive in November. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is seeking a sixth term in Maine, as the last Republican to hold statewide office in New England.  She will likely face Democrat Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who has built a large social media presence, in the general election. Republicans are also positioned to compete in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, where moderate Democrat Rep. Jared Golden is not seeking reelection. They have enlisted Republican former Gov. Paul LePage to run for the seat. The Democrat front-runners competing for the nomination are Maine Auditor Matt Dunlap and state Sen. Joe Baldacci. New Hampshire Although it tends to elect Democrats to federal office, the Granite State is far from a political desert for Republicans. On the state level, Republicans control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion. Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is retiring, leaving her seat up for grabs. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., is the front-runner to be the party’s nominee. Meanwhile, in the Republican primary, former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown are vying for the nomination. Pennsylvania The Keystone State will remain a major battleground in 2026. While Gov. Josh Shapiro vies for reelection in November, Republicans will seek to maintain hold of multiple House districts in the state. Republican Reps. Scott Perry, Ryan Mackenzie, and Rob Bresnahan are all seeking reelection in districts the Cook Political Report labels as toss-ups. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican, will also be seeking reelection in a district the report labels as “likely Republican.” New York The Empire State has not voted for a Republican for president in four decades, but it’s a crucial state for determining majorities in 2026. Cook Political Report lists Republican Rep. Mike Lawler’s lower Hudson Valley district as a toss-up in 2026.  President Donald Trump recently rallied in support of Lawler in his district, giving the congressman credit for having raised the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions—a major issue in New York and other high-tax states. The remainder of the New York Republican districts are safer. In the “lean Democrat” category, the report lists three New York districts currently held by Democrat incumbents Reps. Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen, and Josh Riley. Although it’s far from a swing state, New York is sure to be an important 2026 battleground.