ALERT: Reuters reported within the last hour that Trump’s regime reversed FEMA’s new “Israel pledge policy” just hours after rolling it out … no doubt, because of the swift, massive blowback on social media by MAGA die-hards. I was about to hit “send” when I saw the reversal. I think the announcement is still worthy of examination, particularly since it is not the only speech-stifling policy out there. - jp
THE SET-UP: Trump rolled-out a loyalty test today. But this test is not screening new hires at the EPA or the Department of Justice, nor is it testing one’s loyalty to Donald Trump!
No, this is a test of loyalty to the State of Israel … and should a state or municipality fail the test … they will be denied access to $1.9 billion in emergency-preparedness funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Here’s the gist of it from Reuters:
The Trump administration said states and cities will not receive funding to prepare for natural disasters if they choose to boycott Israeli companies, according to an agency statement.
States must certify that they will not cut off “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to receive the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the agency’s terms, opens new tab for grantees.
The condition applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search and rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries and backup power systems, among other expenses, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters.
Really, it’s an impressive move insofar as it violates three of Trump’s main promises to MAGA Nation: free speech, America First, and no foreign wars. Perhaps it is just a coincidence that all three are being broken on Israel’s behalf? Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
I don’t think it was just happenstance that put stifling Gaza-related speech on college campuses atop his to-do list. For some reason it was among the first things he did after taking the oath. For a guy who attacked “DEI” and “Woke Cancel Culture” and loudly asserted his Constitutional right to be politically incorrect, his administration sure went out if its way to punish speech—with two college students as its chief scapegoats because they supported and/or demanded human rights for Palestinians.
It was perfectly-timed to halt the protests just before the start of Israel’s campaign of enforced malnutrition and maximized harm to civilians (after Netanyahu pulled out of the ceasefire agreement, btw). Now, protesting against Israel is framed as inherently Antisemitic. Advocating for Palestinian human rights is inherently pro-Hamas. They won that messaging war.
Sure, Harvard is holding out, but the “deals” Trump’s team made with Columbia, Brown and Penn turned the White House into a curriculum cop. It’s almost comical that it differs little from everything MAGA Nation hates about “Woke DEI,” only with a different set of criteria. That irony pales in comparison to Trump’s official opposition to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. It wasn’t that long ago that Trump was egging-on the boycott of Bud Light for the crime of targeting Millennials and Gen Z with an endorsement from a trans influencer.
That boycott was swift, widespread and effective … everything Israel is afraid the BDS movement will achieve. And boycotts can be very effective. Long before it was used to attack a picture on a can of beer, boycotts helped expose Jim Crow in the US and topple Apartheid in South Africa. But we may never know if it’d work on Israel because Americans are being restricted from using their money as speech in an organized way. Non-Corporate Persons are not allowed to enlist our state and local governments in a boycott-linked objection to Israel killing children or appropriating land through ethnic cleansing.
And yet, Trump’s “Israel First” policy regarding BDS is not the first one like it. Reuters also reported “at least 34 states already have anti-BDS laws or policies.” According to a University of Pennsylvania law journal, these laws…
“...[require] individuals doing business with public entities to certify that they do not and will not boycott Israel. This means that most Americans live in a state where their ability to boycott Israel is restricted to some degree. In January 2019, a federal judge in Arkansas became the first judge to uphold one of these laws. In dismissing the First Amendment challenge, the Arkansas district court held that a political boycott of Israel is neither speech nor inherently expressive conduct, therefore, it is not protected by the First Amendment. To quote a group of First Amendment scholars, who had previously written an Amici Curiae about a similar law, the constitutional issues in question here create "an easy First Amendment case." It has been Supreme Court precedent for more than 40 years that political boycotts were protected by the First Amendment, and that the government may not deny a benefit to individuals in order to hamper their ability to express a particular viewpoint. Despite this clear precedent, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision on the grounds that the Arkansas law "only prohibits economic decisions that discriminate against Israel," and because "those decisions are invisible to observers unless explained, they are not inherently expressive and do not implicate the First Amendment.”
Written for the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change, the author sums it up in one sentence…
These laws attempt to limit criticism of Israel by leveraging state contracts and investment portfolios against natural and corporate persons who engage in BDS-related activity.
It’s quite a gift to Israel … to just fork-over something as elemental as First Amendment rights to a foreign power. Then again. AIPAC gives a lot of money to politicians. So, too, has Miriam Adelson. Back in 2019, Trump gave her the Presidential Medal Of Freedom. The ROI on that wholly undeserved honor was excellent, though. She gave Trump $100 million just weeks before the 2024 Election.
Once elected, he preemptively tamped-down protests before Netanyahu began his wholesale killing/starvation policy. He also gave them the biggest “dumb” bombs that they, in turn, used to wipe out entire families. And he established the ethnic cleansing of Gaza as a stated US policy objective.
He has been the ultimate Israel First president. Which is why some MAGA heavyweights are unhappy.
He’s even abrogated the “no wars” promise… and, less than a year in, he’s actively precipitated in wars (or battles) with the Houthis in Yemen, al-Shabaab in Somalia, and with Iran and the Palestinians.
Yes, We the People are functionally “at war” with Palestinians.
After all, you paid for the bombs … to the tune of $18 billion in 2024 alone. But you might want to keep your mouth shut about Gaza’s orphans or hungry children at the next city council meeting you attend. A few years ago in Tulare, CA, the Israeli psychological warfare contractor was paid to smear a local candidate and manipulate the election. Notably, they also pitched their ability to “shape reality” at a second Trump Tower meeting in 2016 … which was sponsored by the Emiratis and Saudis.
Now, the reality is that limits to speech here in the US are being shaped and conformed to match the State of Israel’s priorities. That didn’t sit well with MAGA’s America Firsters. It seems that Trump’s team badly miscalculated … again. They reversed their loyalty pledge policy within the last hour (you will find a link to and excerpt from Reuters story below).
That, too, is a fascinating development. Suddenly, Trump’s Teflon seems to be wearing thin in a couple places. Blind loyalty is out. Criticism and cynicism are in. Today, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed despair today about the state of “America First” and the GOP. She told The Daily Mail, “I think the Republican Party has turned its back on America First and the workers and just regular Americans.” It seems that MAGA nation is getting into the habit of questioning the Dear Leader. - jp
TITLE: ‘Trump Has Fully Betrayed America’: MAGA Stars Rage About New Law Punishing US States Over Israel
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-has-fully-betrayed-america-maga-stars-rage-about-new-law-punishing-us-states-over-israel/
EXCERPTS: Candace Owens, for example, accused Trump of betraying the American people by tying disaster funding to loyalty to a foreign country. She also claimed it was an “act of treason.”
“Denying Americans who won’t support the genocide being conducted by your friends,” she said in a tweet. “Trump has fully betrayed America for Netanyahu and if you cannot see that now you are completely blind. Best 100 million Miriam Adelson ever spent.
“Yes, in the truest sense of the definition, this is an act of treason. He is now working to undermine Americans in favor of a nation that has always been hostile to the United States.”
TITLE: US reverses pledge to link disaster funds to Israel boycott stance
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-reverses-pledge-link-disaster-funds-israel-boycott-stance-2025-08-04/
EXCERPTS: he Trump administration on Monday reversed course on requiring U.S. cities and states to rebuke boycotts of Israeli companies in order to receive disaster funds, according to a statement, and deleted the earlier policy from its website.
The Department of Homeland Security removed its statement, opens new tab that said states must certify they will not sever “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to qualify for the funding.
Reuters reported on Monday that the language applied to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search-and-rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries and backup power systems, among other expenses, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters.
This is a shift for the administration of President Donald Trump, which has previously tried to penalize institutions that don't align with its views on Israel or antisemitism.
TITLE: Republicans to Roll Out ‘America First’ Test For Teachers Arriving From Blue States
https://time.com/7306969/oklahoma-education-america-first-teachers/
EXCERPTS: Oklahoma’s education department has announced plans to introduce an “America First” certification test to ensure that teachers moving from liberal states align with its values.
"One of the things that we wanted to do is, first of all, make sure that they're great teachers, right? And No. 2, make sure we're not getting these woke, indoctrinating social justice warriors in the classroom," the state’s Superintendent Ryan Walters said in an interview with Fox Digital.
Walters said that every teacher moving to work in Oklahoma must pass the test in order to begin teaching, and that Conservative think-tank PragerU will assist in the development of the test.
“We put the Bible back in our history standards," Walters said, adding that the ‘America First’ test would include questions based on American history and “common sense.”
Walters said the teaching of gender identity in other states was one motivation for the test, which will roll out in time for the upcoming school year. “We started seeing states like California, New York, Maine as well, that are putting out directives… saying ‘In this state you’ve got to teach your 27 genders’,” he said.
California state law requires students to be taught about “gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes… schools must teach about all sexual orientations and what being LGBTQ means,” the state’s Department of Education says.
None of the Education Departments in California, New York, and Maine make reference to teaching students about 27 genders.