President Donald Trump has consistently championed religious freedom here at home, confronting anti-Christian bias head-on. His administration’s bold actions—standing against violence and vandalism in places of worship, religious discrimination within the federal government and challenging ideologies that seek to silence traditional religious belief—set a standard for moral and decisive leadership.   Building upon that legacy, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025. This legislation will direct the Department of State to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. It is a concrete response to the ongoing, ghastly persecution of Christians in the African nation by radical Islamists. The Biden administration bizarrely insisted that the surge of violence in Nigeria was a byproduct of climate change. That claim obscured the grim reality: Christians are being hunted in their houses of worship, slaughtered with machetes, and burned. To call this “climate-related” violence was not only inaccurate but was offensive to victims and insulting to truth.  America can and must respond decisively. The tools provided by the IRFA—public condemnation, canceling official meetings, restricting aid—are designed to translate moral outrage into action. Nigeria’s failure to protect Christians from Islamist thugs clearly warrants their use.  Under the Act—and the 2016 Frank Wolf amendment—nations committing “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations” of religious freedom must be designated as Countries of Particular Concern. The State Department is then authorized to take these actions. The International Religious Freedom Act is intended not merely to shame governments but to inspire reform, and Nigeria’s repeated failures demand precisely such a response.  Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., has championed this cause in the House, holding special hearings and pleading for Nigeria’s Country of Particular Concern designation. In July, Smith submitted into the Congressional Record a letter from religious freedom experts urging Nigeria’s designation—reminding the world that Nigeria is the deadliest country for Christians, responsible for more than 69% of faith-based killings globally. In just one decade, over 145 Catholic priests were abducted, and 11 were murdered.  Meanwhile, the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has repeatedly recommended Nigeria for Country of Particular Concern status—yet the State Department under President Joe Biden refused to act. That refusal was not neglect, but a calculated dismissal of the severity of the crisis.  The scale of atrocities is staggering. According to TruthNigeria, at least 7,087 Christians have been massacred in Nigeria in just this year alone. In Benue State, Fulani jihadists recently killed five Christian farmers, including a father and daughter, in coordinated ambushes. Beheadings, rape, and terror grip communities while security forces stand down. Agatu County saw simultaneous machete murders—including a 35-year-old mother and her 15-year-old son—adding to the cascade of horror.  In Southern Kaduna, a church was turned into a slaughterhouse. Fulani militants stormed a worship service on motorcycles, firing indiscriminately: Five worshippers were killed and others abducted. Even local media is beginning to acknowledge what state authorities refuse to: These are not isolated incidents or vague communal clashes—they are organized campaigns of terror.  Cruz’s legislation sends a clear message: Congress will no longer accept half-truths. The bill will nudge his former Senate colleague Marco Rubio, whose long record defending international religious freedom—from China to Cuba and beyond—could significantly amplify this cause. Cruz has highlighted a deeper principle at stake: In a recent Senate exchange with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Cruz reminded colleagues that our rights come not from government, but from our Creator. This foundational principle demands that America side with those persecuted for exercising God-given rights.  The previous administration’s refusal to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern was a dereliction of moral responsibility. Cruz’s bill changes the narrative: Congress is stepping up and taking action. The Trump administration must immediately use International Religious Freedom Act tools to enforce this designation, applying public pressure, diplomatic restrictions, and targeted sanctions to compel Nigeria to protect its Christian citizens.  It is time to call this what it is—religious persecution—and to act accordingly. The blood of thousands cannot be ignored, and the United States has the legal framework to respond. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Christian Persecution in Nigeria Demands American Response   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Although we wouldn’t recommend trying it.

Before and after shots of the 1980 Mount St Helens eruption show how truly gnarly it was.

It probably wasn't just grunts and groans.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — If there was any day to show the Trump administration that the local population is still ardently resisting federal agents arresting illegal aliens, Tuesday night would have been the perfect time to have their show of force.Instead, barely 100 protesters showed up at MacArthur Park outside the Mexican Consulate before heading to the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles for Mexican Independence Day. The event was shared on social media by some far-left groups who have been active in the city, but given the significance of the day, the flyer was not widely shared compared to past protests.'Somebody is paying for all of this.'A source familiar with the situation told Blaze News that the Los Angeles Police Department, which monitors online chatter in case of mass disturbances, did not need to issue a tactical alert for the downtown area because the event had such a small crowd. The lack of any meaningful attendance is shocking considering the wave of riots in response to immigration enforcement started in Los Angeles. The Federal Building was under siege for days, surrounded by thousands of people, back in June. Larger crowds showed up on days like Independence Day for the United States to harass federal agents, soldiers, and Marines guarding the building.RELATED: Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters harass DHS agents, military members on Independence Day Image source: Julio Rosas/Blaze Media Tuesday's showing is an indicator of how concerned would-be agitators are about getting swept up in the crackdown on violent leftist groups and street actors in the aftermath of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk being assassinated last week."There are these nonprofit entities that organize ... attacks on ICE officers, attacks on Border Patrol agents, organized doxxing campaigns, which are a violation of federal law. ... There's a whole network of organization, so I think the key point the president has been making is, somebody is paying for all of this. This is not happening for free. Under the president's direction, the attorney general is going to find out who is paying for it, and they will now be criminally liable for paying for violence," deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said on Monday.Fatigue could also be a factor in Tuesday night's low attendance. This is evidenced by a larger showing of protesters in the Chicagoland area on Tuesday since the heightened immigration enforcement operations, named Operation Midway Blitz, in that part of the country has recently commenced.While Border Patrol agents were sent to Chicago to help with the increased operations, illegal aliens are still being arrested in different parts of Southern California on a daily basis.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Antifa is a decentralized anarcho-communist militant group that has long threatened lives and property in the United States as well as in Europe. It inherited its name, violent reflexes, and much of its symbology from Antifaschistische Aktion, the paramilitary wing of the Communist Party of Germany in the 1930s.Amid the Black Lives Matter riots and just 20 days prior to a Trump supporter's murder by an Antifa thug, former Attorney General Bill Barr told Blaze Media co-founder Mark Levin that Antifa is "a revolutionary group that is interested in some form of socialism, communism. They're essentially Bolsheviks. Their tactics are fascistic."'Expect a lot of liberal and left-wing media propaganda the next few days about Antifa.'In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination by a coward whose ammunition was reportedly engraved with Antifa slogans, President Donald Trump signaled a renewed desire to bring the weight of the American republic down on the violent leftist group.Trump went the distance on Wednesday evening, announcing that he is designating "ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.""I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices," added Trump. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"The FBI has in recent years declined to designate Antifa or any other organization a "domestic terrorist organization," partly in fear of infringing on First Amendment-protected speech. This unwillingness on the part of the FBI helped frustrate Trump's effort to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization during his first term.There is, however, more than one way to skin a cat.RELATED: Media tries to protect Antifa with tired al-Qaeda talking points AMY OSBORNE/AFP via Getty Images While various Republican lawmakers have unsuccessfully attempted in recent years to create an official domestic terrorism organization list and put Antifa on it, Secretary of State Marco Rubio can, with relative ease, designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.Kyle Shideler, a senior analyst at the Center for Security Policy, told "Blaze News: The Mandate" on Monday that an optimal approach would be to identify a number of foreign Antifa groups, tie them back to an international Antifa network such as the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, "then you go after U.S.-based groups that are also tied to that international network, and so you build a series of designations that way.""Now you could argue, and I think it would be legitimate, for a single terrorism designation against Antifa as a foreign terrorist organization," said Shideler. "If you try to designate Antifa just as a single movement, what I suspect you'll find is that the bureaucrats will say, 'We don't know what that is. That's not a thing that exists.'" Andy Ngo, the journalist who was savagely attacked by Antifa thugs at a Portland, Oregon, protest in May 2019, noted after Trump made his announcement on Wednesday, "Expect a lot of liberal and left-wing media propaganda the next few days about Antifa. They will say the movement doesn't organize into groups and that those groups are peaceful, racial justice activists simply opposed to fascism."Don't let them get away with lying," added Ngo.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A historian misrepresents conservative jurisprudence and misunderstands the greatness of our founding document.

The administration, having long flouted the law, now appears poised to evade it permanently.

Charlie Kirk was denied the chance to grow and mature in political commentary.

If we are to remain the place the Founders hoped we would be, then we cannot ever treat such events as acceptable or deserved.