DV Journal

America is facing an unprecedented crisis at our southern border, one that is costing lives daily. The flood of fentanyl into our communities has become the deadliest drug epidemic in our nation’s history. Since Donald Trump took office, fentanyl deaths have skyrocketed from 10,000 annually to more than 70,000. This crisis, coupled with the unchecked flow of immigrants, demands urgent action.

The failure to secure the border has emboldened drug cartels and left American families vulnerable. Trump has a strategy to fight back — one that worked before and will work again. His plan? Leverage tariffs to force Mexico to take responsibility and crack down on the criminal organizations that manufacture and traffic fentanyl into the United States.

For decades, Washington has turned a blind eye to Mexico’s role in fueling the drug trade and illegal migration. Under Joe Biden, cartels operated with near impunity, flooding streets with deadly drugs and trafficking people across the border. Communities nationwide are paying the price with overwhelmed law enforcement, devastated families and a worsening public health crisis.

Trump’s solution is to hit Mexico where it hurts — trade. His newly announced tariff plan proposes a 25 percent tax on Mexican imports, clarifying that Mexico must act or face devastating economic consequences. In response to this pressure, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to allow 10,000 National Guard troops to the border. This is the kind of decisive leadership America needs.

The Biden administration failed to stand against Mexico’s complicity in this crisis. Trump is proving that economic leverage is a powerful tool in securing results. Mexico depends on the U.S. market for its economic prosperity — Trump is making sure it cannot continue to profit while turning a blind eye to the destruction.

The fentanyl crisis is out of control, with Mexico serving as the central hub for cartel operations. Despite repeated calls from law enforcement, the Biden administration did nothing to hold Mexico accountable. Trump’s tariff strategy changes that by tying Mexico’s economic well-being to its willingness to fight drug trafficking.

Mexico cannot continue to benefit from free trade with the United States while ignoring the cartel-driven drug epidemic killing Americans. Mexico must choose — crackdown on the cartels or suffer the consequences. Trump’s tariffs send a clear message. Act now or pay the price.

This is not Trump’s first use of economic pressure to force Mexico into action. In 2019, he threatened to escalate tariffs unless Mexico stopped illegal migration. Within days, Mexico responded by deploying thousands of troops to the border, leading to a significant drop in illegal crossings.

Now, with record-high border crossings and fentanyl deaths at catastrophic levels, Trump is showing he is the only leader willing to take bold action. Biden’s border policies exacerbated the crisis, creating chaos and endangering lives. Trump’s tariff strategy is a stark contrast — a strong, results-driven approach prioritizing American security.

This contrast is clear: Biden lets chaos continue, while Trump demands action and delivers results. 

The people must decide. Do we want failed leadership, or do we want a president who fights for our security?

As a congressman, I fought to protect American families, ensure economic stability, and advocate for stronger border security. I saw how weak policies endanger our communities. My convictions on this issue are why I continue to speak out. I believe in bold policies to protect our borders, stop deadly drugs from flooding our streets and put America first.

Using economic leverage to achieve national security goals is essential. Trump’s tariff strategy is not just about trade — it’s about holding Mexico accountable and protecting American lives.

This crisis affects every American. Families are being torn apart by fentanyl overdoses. Communities are struggling under the weight of immigration. Law enforcement is overwhelmed. Trump is proving that he will act.

The United States must hold Mexico accountable. With Trump, we will make sure it is.

President Donald Trump has been in office for less than a month, but already some local Democrats have decided to spend Presidents’ Day protesting him.

An announcement on social media said there will be a protest on Monday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. at the corner of Main and Court Streets in Doylestown.

The Doylestown Republican Social Club has also announced a rally for Trump at 12:30 p.m. at the same location.

Ellen Cox, president of the Republican Social Club, said members of other local Republican and patriots groups plan to attend.

“All the Democrats are screaming about are ‘Elon and Eggs’ instead of being happy that Musk is finding fraud, waste and abuse and billions of dollars in our tax money to come back into American pockets, they’re protesting it,” said Cox. “And Illegals have broken our laws. We’re a nation of laws.”

The Democrats’ protest was organized by Larissa Hopwood, who describes herself on Instagram as an “activist, feminist and anti-racist.” Her account says similar demonstrations will be held across the country to protest “oligarchy,” “save democracy,” and protect “trans-kids.” The protest is not just against Trump but also against Elon Musk, who Trump appointed to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which audits various government agencies. DOGE has already found $48.3 billion in savings.

However, 14 Democrat state attorneys general have filed lawsuits claiming what DOGE is doing is unconstitutional. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that freezing $1.2 billion in federal funds, primarily for environmental programs, is unconstitutional.

Trump has quickly been moving to enact his agenda, much of it through executive orders. He ran on closing the border and deporting criminal illegal aliens, which has taken place without the help of some district attorneys, including Delaware County’s Jack Stollsteimer and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. However, Border Czar Tom Homan admitted it is unlikely the government will be able to remove all of the estimated 11.7 million people who are in the U.S. illegally. Homan said ICE is focusing on those who have committed other crimes.

Trump also signed an executive order to stop biological males from competing against girls and women in their sports and another to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI).

Last week, CNN pundit Scott Jennings made a great point about why President Donald Trump seems to be overwhelming Democrats in so many ways. Jennings stated that Trump’s superpower is doing things that 80 percent of Americans support versus stuff that 20 percent support. Jennings added that Trump Derangement Syndrome forces Democrats to flail against Trump’s actions even if their flailing damages them.

Last week, Trump masterfully stepped in and blocked biological men from participating in women’s sports through an executive order. The picture of Trump at the White House surrounded by hundreds of young female athletes was iconic. Trump’s order was not only supported by 80 percent of the American people, but it also got the attention of those who may not follow politics closely but will vote against the political party that promotes men competing against women in female sports.

This week, Trump has signaled that he will sign an executive order rescinding the federal ban on plastic straws. This attack on plastic straws was triggered in 2011 by then 9-year Milo Cress, who called straw companies to determine how many plastic straws Americans use each day. He estimated from the conversations that Americans used 500 million straws a day. Then, it was extrapolated that that number would fill up 46,400 large school buses a year. These numbers are largely disputed, but what is overwhelmingly undisputable is that Americans want to use plastic rather than paper straws. Trump is just going to fulfill that desire.

How will Democrats react to this? They will say it’s a silly waste of time. They will say Trump has done nothing about the cost of straws, eggs, and everything else in grocery stores. They will say this is a reckless environmental move. They will flail and fail.

A new CBS poll conducted during Trump’s first 15 days in office shows 53 percent of Americans approved of what Trump has done so far. Just as importantly, 70 percent said he’s doing what he promised. The poll also indicated 63 percent of Americans view Trump as “energetic” and 69 percent viewed him as “tough.”

The next big issue for Trump will be an audit of the military budget. Trump’s audit of USAID and the Department of Education through Elon Musk’s DOGE has been pretty much popular. Even though Americans, especially Trump supporters, strongly support the military, they want the fraud and waste in that budget to be exposed. Remember the $640 toilet seat, $7,622 coffee maker, and $37 screws?

The battle that will probably be the most intense and imminent across the Delaware Valley will be the Trump administration’s enforcement of his executive orders around transgender issues. I predict that school districts like Central Bucks will resist, and we will see massive legal battles and possible withdrawal of federal funding. Resistance may appeal to some blocs of voters in school districts across our area, but in the end, they will lose. This is not an issue that people will change their minds about.

The policy that Trump has to be careful about is deporting illegal immigrants. Deportation of criminals here illegally is wildly popular. Polling indicates the deportation of those with a deportation order is popular. But deporting those who are unlawfully but have not committed crimes is a trickier issue.

Trump brands his executive orders as simply acknowledging common sense. Just in the past few days, prominent Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons defended at length on CNN America’s “soft power” through USAID, such as spending $20 million on producing “Sesame Street” in Iraq. Chris Hayes, progressive MBNBC host on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” said Democrats could win by saying parents should have the right to get surgeries and puberty blockers for their very young children.

These guys must have been asleep during the last election.

Dear President Trump:

Before you can fix the FBI, you must understand how it was broken. Three things destroyed the FBI: 9-11, DEI, the Swamp.

Before 9-11, “FBI” stood for the Federal Bureau of INVESTIGATION. After 9-11, it stands for the Federal Bureau of INTELLIGENCE. Director Robert Mueller became convinced that the FBI had to become more like the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency].

Before 9-11, FBIHQ was all about supporting the investigators. Headquarters management were all former investigators. The CIA on the other hand, is run by analysts, not their few street operators. Mueller made the FBI more like the CIA. Mueller brought in people directly from the CIA and other venues as analysts.

He brought in attorneys from outside law firms. In 1986, there were only three assistant directors. All had some street experience. There are currently upwards to 20 deputy directors, assistant directors, and executive assistant directors. Several have no investigative experience at all. This is especially true in the ever-expanding and very liberal legal unit.

Remember it was the legal unit that blocked field agents and their field counsel from obtaining a search warrant for the laptop of one of the 9-11 terrorists prior to the attack. The famous Lisa Page and Kevin Clinesmith, of the Russian Hoax, are examples of the very left-wing legal unit.

Taking out the management, and leaving the legal unit intact, would be a grave error. A few street agents have a theory that the FBI is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the CIA and like the CIA, analysts are running the show. It seems logical for conspiracy theorists that the agency who subvert overseas elections would be able to subvert United States elections by using a bureau that operates here.

Other, even more paranoid employees, whisper that Mueller himself could be a victim of a CIA dirty trick. His rambling testimony after the Russian-Trump investigation made it plain to many he played no part in running that inquiry. Although I never met him, there were many rumors while he was still director that described his mental state similar to Hitler at the very end of WW II, “moving imaginary armies,” because nobody dared to tell him the truth. Could it be that someone took advantage of his impairment to tailor the FBI to their liking? Whether it was Mueller or his handlers, after 9-11 the FBI’s mission changed from its original role to becoming a domestic CIA.

Before DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] was a “thing” the FBI, like most law enforcement agencies, was desperate to hire woman and minorities. During my 29-year career, they lowered standards several times in “doomed to fail” attempts to make the FBI more diverse.

The fact that women make up half the country does not mean the FBI can recruit half its agents from women. It is not the patriarchy that makes many women less interested in law enforcement careers than men. Setting arbitrary numbers does not work, as the Secret Service found out when it tried to set a 20 percent quota of women.

Further, lowering standards to get all of the few that do apply hired does not help the qualified female and minority applicants. In fact, you hurt them, because other employees view them with suspicion.

The FBI not only lowered physical fitness and shooting requirements, it reduced background requirements to allow, among other things, amazing amounts of past drug use.

African Americans make up 13 percent of the population.  How many have college degrees in law or accounting? How many are interested in law enforcement? Then of those, how many can pass the physical fitness and background test? Enforcing an arbitrary number for hiring goals is a recipe for destroying the meritocracy of any organization.

The Swamp. Although the FBI is better than most agencies at rotating its management back to the field, there are quite a few agents that go to D.C. and stay there the rest of their career.  Without beating a dead horse, they become more and more liberal, trying to fit in with their surroundings both at work and in their neighborhoods filled with other government workers.

Just like in our universities, people who toe the party line seem to get promoted until there are no other points of view allowed. Also, the support personnel working at HQ represent the local population which is almost all Democrats. I strongly support the idea of moving the headquarters of the different government agencies to different parts of the country. I see no other way to break up the ruling class unibrow mindset.

Otherwise, the swamp dwellers will hunker down and wait until MAGA blows over.

As news broke that former President Donald Trump was ordered to turn himself in on Tuesday to face charges related to his handling of secret documents and the raid on his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, DelVal reaction fell largely along party lines.

The 37-count indictment includes violations of the Espionage Act for allegedly mishandling classified documents and also names Trump’s aide, Walt Nauta, as a co-defendant.

Special Counsel Jack Smith said, “The indictment was unsealed, charging Donald J. Trump with felony violations of our national security laws, as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice. A grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida voted this indictment. And I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.”

Trump rejected the indictment as partisan politics.

“The corrupt Biden administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Trump said in a statement, “even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is ‘secured’ by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time.”

“I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” (Emphasis in original), he added.

Trump is already awaiting trial in New York on state charges related to handling business records. Most legal observers say that the case is weak at best, feeding the belief among Trump supporters that progressive District Attorney Alvin Bragg was politically motivated.

Many Trump supporters are outraged, while Democrats believe Trump deserves to be charged. Will this deter Trump’s supporters in the presidential campaign? Time will tell.

“While legally, this indictment seems more threatening to the former president, I’m not sure it poses any new political threats to him at this point,” said Christopher P. Borick, professor of political science and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. “The indictment does force his Republican challengers to either offer a degree of support or simply stand on the sidelines for a while, essentially providing Trump a short-term advantage.

“For his base, the indictment will do nothing but enhance their support. If ultimately convicted, it will certainly weigh on a general election audience and hobble his chances if he was the GOP nominee,” Borick added.

Former Republican chairman for Area 3 in Montgomery County Kurt Stein said, “Yesterday was a dark day for our once great country. The indictment of a former president, a current presidential candidate, is a tipping point for our republic. The weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) against a president who has the authority to declassify documents is setting a dangerous precedent. Biden and Pence had classified documents, and they were vice presidents with no authority and no charges. The media is complicit as they do not report on any of the many Biden scandals.

“I do not believe this will have a negative impact on Trump in the Republican primary, as it will bring more voters to Trump,” Stein added. “Competition in a primary is good for Trump, as it will show the public that Trump is the only candidate who can fight the corruption in Washington.”

Kim Bedillion, president of the Pennridge Area Republican Club, said, “It is outrageous that a sitting president and his swamp cronies would weaponize federal law enforcement in a blatant attempt to take out a political opponent. The American people are fed up with the left’s penchant for using the strong arm of the government to target their political rivals, whether it be parents labeled as domestic terrorists, a pro-life street preacher yanked out of his home in front of his crying children, or the eternal witch hunt involving President Trump. The unprecedented action of Joe Biden and his swampy DOJ to indict President Trump will only serve to unify conservatives around President Trump in the primary.”

But Christian Nascimento, chair of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, had a different view.

“This certainly will not help Trump expand his base of support and may help to erode some of it,” said Nascimento. “Regardless, yet another legal issue for Trump will absolutely have an impact on the GOP primary. Trump’s most core supporters may not be moved away from him by this, but for the other candidates, all of whom are positioning themselves as superior to the former president in areas of competency, character, or values, this presents yet another data point in their efforts to move the GOP past the Trump era.”

Charlotte Valyo, chair of the Chester County Democratic Committee, said, “It is a cornerstone of our justice system that no one is above the law, including a former president. It is also a cornerstone of our justice system that everyone, including former President Trump, is entitled to due process and the opportunity to mount a defense. We will await the outcome of a fair and transparent process, as we would in any other case, to determine any impact this may have on the 2024 presidential campaign.”

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware/Philadelphia) tweeted: “A second grand jury of ordinary Americans has indicted disgraced and twice-impeached former President Trump, this time on federal criminal charges. The Speaker calls the indictments unconscionable — what is unconscionable is the alleged criminal conduct.”

And Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) took a swipe at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in a retweet: “Just a reminder that Mr. McCarthy spent more time writing this tweet to defend the disgraced former President than he spent leading the House this week. House Republicans were so disorganized that they ended the session week early because they couldn’t get anything done.”

McCarthy @SpeakerMcCarthy had previously tweeted, “Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades. I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”

The Trump campaign, which is fundraising off the indictment news, issued this statement: “This bogus indictment is not only election interference from the Biden Justice Department but an attempt to distract from the revelation that foreign nationals bribed Biden. It’s not coincidental that the indictment news came just hours after reports revealed that Joe Biden was paid $5 million in a ‘pay-to-play scheme.’”

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal