With a summit fast approaching between President Donald Trump and Secretary General Xi Jinping in April, expect China’s military activities around Taiwan to be subdued for now. Since the summer of 2022, China’s People’s Liberation Army has conducted routine military drills around Taiwan practicing blockades and simulating invasions of the island. This includes the late December Justice Mission 2025 which involved a large number of warships and 130 aircraft around Taiwan. Recent PLA activities paint a picture of what to expect ahead of the approaching Lunar New Year, and, more importantly, Trump’s trip to China in April. Previously, Heritage scholars predicted a continued increase in People’s Liberation Army Air Force activities near Taiwan. This was predicated on analysis based on previous PLAAF activity and an expected increase in military activity around Taiwan. From September to February, around 65% of the PLAAF activities fell below predictions. Although a majority of activities being below predicted levels is good, this does not give Taiwan permission to lower its guard. Of the 1,928 Chinese aircraft operating near Taiwan between September 2025 and January 2026, over 60% of them crossed the median line in the Taiwan strait. This is a provocative move and something unheard of prior to the elevated activity that began in the summer of 2022. https://datavisualizations.heritage.org/defense/chinese-military-activity-near-taiwan/ Increasingly frequent intrusions across the median line in the Taiwan Strait highlight how urgently Taiwan must be prepared for drills around the island, which could eventually be a precursor to a full-scale invasion. One of these surprise military drills, Justice Mission 2025 in December, saw a spike of PLA activity near Taiwan of up to 130 aircraft with 90 of them crossing the median line. This drill also included 17 Chinese navy ships plus significant coast guard activity in the region. At the time, this operation was not previously announced nor explicitly rationalized as a reaction to any action taken by the U.S. nor Taiwan. As for the People’s Liberation Amy Navy, their activities have not varied significantly in recent months. Their quarterly average of ships near Taiwan has stayed within six to eight ships daily since Q3 of 2024. However, the Chinese navy is not the only maritime threat China possess. On Dec. 25 over 2,900 Chinese fishing boats formed into an L formation stretching over 290 miles in the East China Sea. They conducted a similar operation on Jan. 11 with over 1,400 fishing boats forming into a rectangle formation spanning over 200 miles. This is not the first time Chinese fishing ships have been deployed in coordinated efforts, albeit in a much smaller scale, most often being used in small groups to obstruct maritime operations in the South China Sea. This level of coordination represents a new challenge to Taiwan and the United States in multiple ways. China has used fishing ships to provide surveillance near foreign coastlines and to pressure other ships out of contested areas over the past few years. This new activity illustrates the capability to use massed fishing fleets to blockade or obstruct naval operations most likely in peacetime. It could just as well complicate wartime operations. Over the next few months, there are multiple events that will affect China’s presence near Taiwan which includes the Lunar New Year and Trump’s trip to China in April–a time when the weather is optimal for military operations across the Taiwan Strait. The 2026 Lunar New Year is a fifteen-day celebration in China that runs from Feb. 17 to March 3. In the past, the PLA activities decreased slightly during the celebration. This can be seen in 2023 when the Chinese air force average during the Lunar New Year celebration dropped to 8.9 aircraft near Taiwan daily compared to the 2023 Q1 average of 11.4 aircraft. However, a decrease in activities for the holiday has not happened in the past two years as the levels of PLA activities during Lunar New Year in 2024 and 2025 stayed consistent with past levels in the first quarters of the respective years. Therefore, we expect PLA activities to remain consistent with past seasonal averages. However, this does not account for a possible reduction that could result ahead of the much-anticipated April summit. In the past, following high-level engagements have noticeably affected China’s military activities. Notably, the sustained spike upwards in PLA activity after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. After her visit in August 2022, Chinese air force activities near Taiwan spiked dramatically and have remained at these higher levels since then. Before her visit the average PLA activities remained near 5 aircraft daily, but after her visit the average varied from around 10 to 20 aircraft daily. Additionally, before Pelosi’s trip, the last median line crossing by any PLA aircraft occurred in May 2022 and the grand total of such crossings between 2020 and August 2022 was 23, less than occurs in an average week in recent years. Another key event in the growth of PLA activities around Taiwan is President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration in May 2024. After the inauguration, China conducted various military drills around the island as “punishment.” Although Chinese air force activities returned to normal levels, the frequency of PLA aircraft crossing the median increased never returned to previous averages. In the five months after May 2024, the PLAAF averaged 11.7 aircraft crossing the median daily compared to the 3.25 aircraft daily in the five months before. Once PLA air activities rachet up, it likely remains at that level, symbolizing a new normal. How will Trumps’ trip to China in April affect PLA activities? After Xi met with former U.S. presidents in November 2022, 2023, and 2024, PLA activities remained standard compared to the rest of the season. However, PLA activities near Taiwan were below average for the week before and after Trump’s meeting with President Xi on Oct. 30 this past year. Yet activities returned to average levels in the following weeks, indicating this was a diplomatic gesture towards the U.S. and only a temporary reduction. Taken together, the PLA remains likely to limit operations during the next few months in preparation for the April summit as a diplomatic gesture, especially as both Trump and Xi have spoken positively of U.S.-Sino relations ahead of the summit. However, as seen in the past, PLA activities often spike in response to political events. Therefore, activities after April may rise above previous averages depending on the Chinese government’s view of the summit. Nevertheless, one can still expect levels to return to average after the temporary reduction for the summit. Regardless, the U.S. and their allies must still remain vigilant as China still maintains a significant PLA activity near Taiwan. This should animate the dialogue best supported in the meantime with resolute and committed support to our partners and allies in East Asia. For more information on PLA activities near Taiwan visit HERE. The post What to Expect in PLA Activities Near Taiwan Leading up to Trump and Xi Summit appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The bill President Donald Trump signed in order to end the government shutdown also included mandatory spending that will contradict his policy goals. The $1.2 trillion package included funding for specific entities—some of which the Trump administration is currently threatening to defund. Other funded entities provide legal defenses for illegal aliens facing deportation, while some hospitals receiving money practice late-term abortions. “Avoiding a protracted government shutdown of some of the largest agencies like HHS and the Department of War is a laudable goal, but passing bills that undermine the president’s agenda to cut woke and weaponized spending is not the way to do it,” Connor Semelsberger, government relations director at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in a statement Thursday. “The Trump administration has taken more steps to eliminate woke spending then any president in recent history, starting first and foremost with entities pushing horrific practices like gender mutilation of children and late term abortions of unborn children whom can feel pain,” he added. “Unfortunately, the appropriations bills passed by Congress provide funding to these exact entities against the will of the American taxpayers.” When Congress funds the government, each agency usually has discretion in how to spend the money. Yet Congress can stipulate that the agency give the money to a specific entity in a process called “congressionally directed spending.” This mandatory spending—often referred to as “earmarks”—does not appear in the text of the bill President Trump signed, though the bill mentions it. Instead, the Senate Appropriations Committee released the earmarks last month, in files that stretch to hundreds of pages. Here are five of the most egregious examples. 1. Funding Health Centers Performing Transgender ‘Treatments’ While the Department of Health and Human Services is currently investigating some hospitals for performing experimental medical interventions on minors, the funding bill explicitly directs taxpayer money to those hospitals, albeit for other purposes. Fox News reported that Seattle Children’s Hospital in Washington state will receive $3 million, due to a request from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., while the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago will receive $1 million, thanks to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. The Department of Health and Human Services has investigated both hospitals for performing the “chemical and surgical mutilation” of minors. Lurie has paused transgender interventions for minors amid the investigation. Both senators defended the funding in comments to Fox News, emphasizing the health centers’ work. Critics note, however, that money is fungible and that these earmarks appear to directly undermine HHS’ ability to use a threat of defunding to convince the health centers to cease operating on minors. Neither Seattle Children’s Hospital nor Lurie Children’s Hospital responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. The Daily Signal reached out to the senators for comment, and did not receive responses by publication time. 2. Funding for Health Centers that Perform Abortions Semelsberger also flagged earmarks for health centers that perform abortions. He drew specific attention to a $4 million grant for ChristianaCare Health Services, requested by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. According to its website, ChristianaCare offers “pregnancy termination services” “from early in the first trimester to 23 weeks gestation.” Pro-life groups claim that unborn babies can feel pain as early as 12 to 15 weeks gestation, while pro-abortion groups state that they cannot feel pain until 24 weeks gestation. ChristianaCare Health Services did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. The Daily Signal reached out to Sen. Coons’ office for comment, and did not receive a response by publication time. 3. Immigration Groups The earmarks also include millions for organizations that resettle refugees, provide legal defense for illegal aliens facing deportation, and advocate for increased immigration. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., requested $300,000 for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, recently rebranded as Global Refuge, which faces accusations that it provides services to illegal aliens, not just refugees. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., requested $680,000 for the Dorcas International Institute, which provides “deportation defense,” according to its website. Neither Global Refuge nor Dorcas International Institute responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. The Daily Signal reached out to the senators for comment, and did not receive responses by publication time. 4. AFL-CIO The AFL-CIO, America’s largest federation of labor unions, has long supported Democrats and liberal causes. It funded many of the left-wing activist groups that sent staff and ideas into President Joe Biden’s administration, as I detail in my book, “The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.” The Michigan AFL-CIO lobbies for specific bills in the state Legislature. Yet Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., requested $2 million in an earmark for the Michigan AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute. The money would go to “expanding workforce training,” but critics note that money is fungible and would support the institution as a whole, allowing the union to spend more money on other priorities. The AFL-CIO did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. The Daily Signal reached out to Sen. Slotkin’s office for comment, and did not receive a response by publication time. ?Why is the Biden-Harris administration so woke? Didn't Biden campaign as a moderate??This chart explains what happened. Bear with me: I know it looks like a conspiracy theory, but I have the receipts. In short: The Left's dark money network funds a system of woke… pic.twitter.com/FR4KWQ7CYE— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) October 21, 2024 5. Union Activist Group Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., requested $500,000 for the National Domestic Workers Alliance’s New York chapter, for “programming to support low income workers.” The National Domestic Workers Alliance, a union-like organization that represents workers in industries that fall outside the scope of traditional unions, claims on its website to “mobilize domestic workers, supporters and partners to organize and advocate for solutions that will improve working conditions and economic security for domestic workers and beyond.” An activist group, NDWA supported California’s AB5, a bill imposing onerous requirements on independent contractors. As I outline in “The Woketopus,” the bill’s supporters admitted that AB5 aimed to drive more people into unions, increasing their economic and political power. AB5 has caused considerable economic pain in California, and the Legislature has amended the measure several times, adding more than 100 exemptions to the original law. The NDWA did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. The Daily Signal reached out to Sen. Schumer’s office for comment, and did not receive a response by publication time. The post Shutdown-Ending Funding Bill Directs Millions to Pro-Trans Hospitals, Woke Activist Groups appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON DAILY SIGNAL—Selling off unused or underused federal property could save taxpayers $3 billion in deferred maintenance costs, and more than $100 million in operation costs each year, according to one government report. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chairwoman of the Senate DOGE Caucus, introduced legislation to expedite the sales of these properties.   “Why should taxpayers be stuck with billion-dollar bills for bureaucrats to hold onto empty buildings when they are keeping the roofs over their own homes? That’s why I’ve worked to eliminate Washington’s bloated real estate portfolio,” Ernst told The Daily Signal in a statement.   The DOGE Caucus supports the mission started by the White House Department of Government Efficiency that sought cost-cutting measures in the federal government.   Ernst’s bill is the Disposing of Inactive Structures and Properties by Offering for Sale And Lease Act, or the DISPOSAL Act.  It calls for the General Services Administration to sell buildings with regulatory and procedural exemptions, such as environmental reviews, historic preservation reviews, and other matters.   “By fast-tracking basic maintenance and construction projects, my new legislation will play a critical role in ending the entrenched bureaucracy’s excessive regulations and pointless red tape to take empty, expensive buildings off the taxpayer’s dime,” Ernst said.   A December report by the Government Accountability Office noted the burden for taxpayers of the properties targeted for sale.   “In March 2025, GSA announced it would begin disposing of federally owned office buildings using what it described as an accelerated approach,” the GAO report says.   “As of November 2025, GSA had identified 45 federal properties—many of which were previously identified for disposal—for this accelerated approach,” the GAO report continues. “GSA estimates that disposing of these properties will reduce the federal government’s real property inventory by 14.6 million square feet and save $106 million in annual operations and $3 billion in deferred maintenance costs.”  The government has a total of 23.28 million square feet of underused office space it owns with annual operating and maintenance costs of $67.1 million, according to an August 2024 report from the Office of Management and Budget.   It has another 766,000 square feet of underused leased space with an annual lease cost of $13.6 million and annual operating and maintenance costs of $481,000. That brings the total annual cost for all of these properties to $81.3 million, according to the Office of Management and Budget report.  Ernst has already introduced legislation that calls for several specific federal properties to be auctioned off.   This bill continues that effort. Targeted properties include: the 1 million-square-foot Hubert H. Humphrey Federal Building, which houses the Department of Health and Human Services; the 1.8 million-square-foot Frances Perkins Federal Building for the Department of Labor; the 1.8 million-square-foot James V. Forrestal Building for the Department of Energy; and the 810,834-square-foot Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building that houses the Office of Personnel Management. The measurements are according to the federal Public Building Reform Board.  The post Billions in Tax Dollars Pay for Empty Federal Buildings appeared first on The Daily Signal.

What Difference Does It Make If We *checks notes* Finally Got a Benghazi Terrorist

On January 30, the U.S. Department of Justice dropped over 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents, as mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by President Trump in November 2025. This massive data dump includes roughly 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.These revelations seem to confirm what independent voices like Glenn Beck and Matt Kibbe have warned about for years: a shadowy cabal of insiders wield tremendous power to shape how we think.As the dust settles around this 2026 bombshell, it's the perfect time to revisit BlazeTV’s docuseries "The Coverup” — Matt Kibbe’s deep dive into a similar web of corruption: the COVID-19 pandemic. Months before this latest Epstein file dump, Glenn Beck sat down with Kibbe to dissect the insidious links between COVID mandates, Russiagate hoaxes, and censorship to pinpoint the very same shadowy forces now spotlighted in the Epstein files.“The same people and the same machine that weaponized the Russiagate story and covered up the Hunter Biden laptop story are the same people in the [COVID-19] apparatus,” Kibbe told Glenn. With the Epstein files shining new light on long-hidden networks of power and influence, now is the time to watch BlazeTV’s "The Coverup" series. Go to faucicoverup.com to access the full series.Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Mariah Carey and a tribute to disco are hardly controversial.For the 2026 Winter Games, the Olympics kept political messaging to a minimum, save for a couple of small segments.'Harmony between beauty and creativity.'The games, which are taking place in Milan and Cortina, Italy, held two parades for the opening ceremonies. Athletes came from the mountains, where they will compete in Cortina, down to the town square to celebrate, while fans packed the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan to watch the ceremonial performances.The ceremony opened with a montage video featuring skiers, a woman making a bowl of pasta, cappuccinos, families on a mountain, Italian sports cars, and more.According to NBC's commentary team, the ceremony that followed was meant to represent "harmony between beauty and creativity." This featured dancers dressed as angels performing a lot of interpretive movements, which was a recurring theme throughout the near-hour-long event. There were mascots serving as an ode to Italian composers, giant paint tubes, and even a segment dedicated to disco dancing. After Mariah Carey sang in Italian, a few of the more contentious elements of the ceremony appeared.First, a very diverse cast of fans arrived at the stadium on a train before Armani-clad models in Italian colors delivered the Italian flag to the podium. Then, an "all-female honor guard," which NBC noted was the first of its kind for the Olympics, raised the flag.RELATED: Baphomet, drag queens, and the Olympics' satanic symbolism Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images What seemingly caused the most disagreement was the Olympic committee using giant rings to represent harmony between dueling ideals, which then turned into the Olympic rings. Fans pointed out on X that this was similar to London's use of the rings in 2012."Bit of a London copy of 2012," one viewer wrote."Copying the [Brits] I see! Nothing will top 2012 opening and closing ceremonies," another person reacted.Overall, the general lack of divisive messaging in the ceremony was appreciated by viewers, with one applauding the organizers. "Italy. No woke garbage."The 2024 Paris Olympics' opening ceremony sparked worldwide controversy, however, particularly with Christians. The ceremony mocked the Bible's Last Supper with a "drag queen Last Supper," replacing Jesus and his apostles with a cast of disturbing characters, including an obese woman in the place of Jesus.A nearly nude male, painted blue, appeared as Dionysus, the god of winemaking, vegetation, fertility, and ecstasy.The strange events were also coupled with a drag queen carrying the Olympic torch before the games started.RELATED: Russell Brand explores what was revealed by the Olympics' symbolic attack on Christianity Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images In 2026, rapper Snoop Dogg, who is a part of the NBC Olympics crew, wore a special Italian Olympic chain. This is noteworthy because in 2024, the musician was accused of wearing a chain that some alleged was a representation of Baphomet. Baphomet is a pagan god adopted as a symbol for the Satanic Temple. Snoop rejected the idea, saying he had it made because "somebody told me I was the GOAT, so I wanted to make me a goat chain."This time around, Snoop focused on celebrating the Jamaican bobsled team, which is drawing comparisons to the 1993 film "Cool Runnings."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A 16-year-old girl said in a video interview that that she fought the adult male with a MAGA hat at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Texas earlier this week, calling him "old" and "racist" while excusing fellow teen brawlers.“I didn't think it was going to escalate this far," Alissa, a student at Moe & Gene Johnson High School in Buda, told KEYE-TV. "I didn't think that he was going to be capable to even think to hit a minor. I didn't think he was actually going to get out of his vehicle. So in the moment I reacted."'I'm not gonna let, like, [an] old man, a racist man, like, say something to a minor.'Alissa told the station she saw another female juvenile kick the man's truck amid a verbal argument between them Monday afternoon.“She kicks the truck. She just kicks the truck one time, and that's it," Alissa added to KEYE. "That's the moment that he got mad. He reached for his door. He decides to get off the vehicle and starts to come straight to the girl and starts to attack her.”She also told the station that "he should have known better. He's an adult. He could have just easily let the girl hit the car, park to the side, call the police, and call it a day. He decided to get out of the car and do what he did."Alissa added to KEYE that cellphone video another student recorded shows the moment she intervened.“He kind of got on top of her and started to hit the girl. In that moment, I reacted. I went and I pulled the guy off, and that's when I hit him,” she recalled to the station. “Everybody comes and attacks him, and it escalates from there."Alissa in her interview with KEYE excused the actions of her fellow teens.RELATED: Video: All-out brawl erupts between adult male with MAGA hat and more than a dozen apparent HS students at ICE protest "It's teenagers," she argued to the station. "How was he not going to expect teenagers to act like teenagers? Like, if they have the moment to attack a guy, and they're doing a protest ... like, obviously those kids are gonna take the time out of their day to come defend the girls."Alissa added to KEYE, "Like, it's a girl. Like, he should have known better, like, not to put his hands on girls, first of all, and he should have known that it's a minor; he should have known that these are kids doing a protest."She also told the station, "I'm not gonna let, like, [an] old man, a racist man, like, say something to a minor." The reporter interviewing Alissa didn't ask her to clarify why she called the man a racist.Alissa's father told KEYE he was furious when Alissa told him the man grabbed her by her hair.RELATED: Cops drop new detail about what led to all-out brawl between adult male with MAGA hat, apparent HS students at ICE protest “I was really, really mad,” Jose Loredo told the station. “We are grown-ups, you know; we're not little kids. And him hitting girls, females, you're not supposed to do that. He could have just left. No reason to pull over and get off his car.”Buda Police said 45-year-old Chad Michael Watts of Kyle was charged Tuesday with two counts of assault causing bodily injury, which are Class A misdemeanors.Hays County Jail records indicate Watts was booked into jail Tuesday and released Wednesday on two surety bonds of $2,500 each. Police told KEYE in a separate story that Watts has no previous record of violent offenses.While police determined that Watts was the primary aggressor, Officer Matt Schima with the Buda Police Department told KEYE in a video interview that police also are looking into possible charges against the juveniles involved in the brawl and that "we want to be thorough in this investigation to make sure that everybody is held accountable that needs to be held accountable."KEYE claimed that it had attempted to reach out to Watts for comment but those attempts were unsuccessful.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

UCLA DEI Chief Finds Out the Hard Way That Celebrating Charlie Kirk's Murder Was a Sick Thing to Do

Operation 'Reclaim and Rebuild' Nets Over 600 Sex Trafficking Arrests Across the State of California

Iron Lung Review - Cosmic Horror in a Metal Tube