curated news excerpts & citations
Thom Hartmann: Is Donald Trump Trying to Crown Himself “King of the World”?
This isn’t merely scandalous or unethical: it’s impeachable on its face and dangerous to the survival of democracy worldwide.
Donald Trump is trying to use a United Nations resolution to justify making himself King of the World via a new “Board of Peace” that Trump says “might” replace the UN, with the ability to pass the title along to his son, Don Jr., if he continues to please his father.
No, this isn’t an exaggeration.
It all started when the United Nations Security Council voted to accept Resolution 2803 on 17 November 2025 to make effective the Gaza peace plan agreed to by Israel and Hamas in October 2025.
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In response to that, Trump had his administration lawyers create an entirely new private, non-governmental “treaty‑based international organization” with its own legal personality, that is not a U.S. government agency, corporation, or standard NGO/non‑profit. This new entity called the “Board of Peace” would …
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The draft charter Trump has proposed for his Board of Peace doesn’t even mention Gaza, anywhere; as a result, it appears designed to replace the United Nations as a new governing body for the entire world.
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Trump’s “Board of Peace” is a direct threat to American constitutional government because the US itself, under the terms of this charter, becomes subject to Trump’s personal authority. Under the proposed document, the U.S. can be expelled unless it pays a ransom or pleases the chairman.
(Thom Hartmann more…)
WSJ: Trump Wants Peace Board to Rewrite Global Order—but Major Powers Aren’t Sold
U.S. allies worry about joining an organization that could weaken the U.N. and give equal status to authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – January 22, 2026
… Podcaster Joe Rogan has compared ICE to “the gestapo,” … Media Matters reported that the senior judicial analyst on right-wing channel Newsmax, Andrew Napolitano, called the newly revealed secret ICE memo claiming the right to break down doors to arrest people in their homes “a direct and profound violation of the Fourth Amendment, which expressly says people are entitled to be secure in their homes and that security can only be invaded by a search warrant signed by a judge based on probable cause of crime.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
MPR: ICE detains 5-year-old Minnesota boy; school leader says agents used him as ‘bait’
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“Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let him take care of the small child, and was refused,” Stenvik said.“Instead,” she said, “the agent took the child out of the still-running car, led him to the door and directed him to knock on the door asking to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home, essentially using a 5-year-old as bait.”
Agents later took the father and child away in a vehicle and sent them to Texas.
Stenvik said Liam’s family has an “active asylum case” with no deportation orders.
(MPR more…)
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RNS: Hundreds of clergy descend on Minneapolis and go on lookout for ICE
MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — Around 200 faith leaders fanned out across the city on Thursday (Jan. 22) to observe and document the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with some clergy confronting Department of Homeland Security agents, adding a visible religious presence to widespread efforts to counter the president’s mass deportation campaign in the region.
The faith leaders, who are in Minneapolis as part of a larger convening focused on religious pushback to ICE, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agents have been most active during an ongoing campaign known as Operation Metro Surge. The clergy, who hail from a range of traditions and worship communities across the country, sang on the buses as they ventured out into the street. They belted out hymns and songs popular during the Civil Rights Movement, such as “Woke Up This Morning.”
(RNS more…)
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Chronicle of Higher Education: ‘The Perception of Danger Everywhere’: Navigating Campus Life Amid ICE Enforcement
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Joyce Vance: Breaking the Fourth Amendment
Bulwark: Target of Viral Botched ICE Raid Was Already in Prison
When ICE agents dragged out ChongLy Thao half-naked in the snow, they were looking for a man named Lue Moua. They should have known exactly where to find him.
(Bulwark more…)
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NY Times: Chicago Jury Acquits Immigrant Accused in Bovino Murder-for-Hire Trial
Prosecutors said a Chicago carpenter had offered a bounty for killing Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official. Defense lawyers said he was just sharing a social media post.
(NY Times more…)
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Bulwark: Trump’s Chilling Weaponization of Confidential Government Records
Remind me—who else in history made lists of Jewish intellectuals and people with disabilities?
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Al Jazeera: Jack Smith testifies to US Congress while Trump calls for his prosecution
Robert Reich: The 4th Axiom for Interpreting Trump
Whenever he tries to shoot the messenger, the message is worth your attention. For example …
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Politico: They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted.
Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by Bari Weiss.
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Patricia J Wentzel: Disability Rights California
Thankfully, the abrupt termination of SAMHSA grants last week was reversed in less than 24 hours, saving lives and allowing for continued mental health and addiction treatment for millions of Americans. Are those grants still at risk? Who knows? …
With that off the table, I decided to write about Disability Rights California today.
(Patricia J Wentzel more…)
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Wired: We Are Witnessing the Self-Immolation of a Superpower
With Donald Trump’s actions in Greenland, Minneapolis, and Venezuela, a foreign enemy could not invent a better chain of events to wreck the standing of the United States.
Imagine you were Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping and you woke up a year ago having magically been given command of puppet strings that control the White House. Your explicit geopolitical goal is to undermine trust in the United States on the world stage. You want to destroy the Western rules-based order that has preserved peace and security for 80 years, which allowed the US to triumph as an economic superpower and beacon of hope and innovation for the world. What exactly would you do differently with your marionette other than enact the ever more reckless agenda that Donald Trump has pursued since he became president last year?
(Wired more…)Dan Pfeiffer: Deal or No Deal: Trump’s Greenland Problem isn’t Going Anywhere
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NBC: U.S. severs ties with WHO, raising concerns about flu epidemics
Health officials haven’t committed to an upcoming meeting with the World Health Organization that will select flu strains for next season’s shots.
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Semafor Energy: Solar and wind overtake fossil fuels in the EU
Wind and solar power overtook fossil fuels last year as a source of electricity in the EU for the first time, a new report found.
The milestone was hit largely thanks to a rise in solar power, which generated a record 13% of electricity in the EU, according to Ember. Together, wind and solar hit 30% of EU electricity generation, edging out fossil fuels at 29%.
(Semafor Energy more…)
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James Eagle: Europe’s military strength is more fragmented than it appears
(James Eagle more…)
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LA Times: Newsom, on world stage, accuses Trump of trying to suppress dissent
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday morning said he was not surprised the Trump administration blocked his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland the day before, saying it was another example of the president trying to stifle dissent.
“Is it surprising the Trump administration didn’t like my commentary and wanted to make sure that I was not allowed to speak? No,” said Newsom, who is weighing a 2028 presidential run. “It’s consistent with this administration and their authoritarian tendencies.”
The Democratic governor spoke Thursday morning in Davos, less than a day after his scheduled conversation with Fortune at USA House was canceled.
(LA Times more…)Raw Story: Trump melts down over Gavin Newsom’s Davos appearance
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Newsweek: Republican-Appointed Judge Questions if Trump Can Build His New Ballroom
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Liz Dye: SCOTUS Skeptical that Truth Social Is Real Life
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Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims: DOGE staffer signed deal to share Social Security data with election deniers
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Jennifer Rubin: So, You Want to Run for President?
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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