Quick Takes from the Past 24-48 Hours

The ‘Speed of Trump’ continues.

The following is an installment of Trump-Vance team accomplishments (each article is linked for further info):

1. Trump Names Dan Bongino as FBI Deputy Director

Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, will now work alongside Trump’s new FBI Director Kash Patel.

Dan Bongino: ‘Cutesy time is over!’

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday night, Trump wrote:

Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice.

Trump revealed in a statement that Bongino was picked by Patel.

Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, by the man who will be the best-ever Director, Kash Patel.

The president said Bongino has a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the City University of New York and an MBA from Penn State.

Trump wrote:

He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve.

Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly.

2. Bondi’s DOJ Launches Fraud Investigation of UnitedHealth, Same Insurer Whose CEO Was Assassinated 

Attorneys are reportedly examining possible civil fraud linked to UnitedHealth Group’s practices for recording diagnoses that allow for extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans.

According to a Friday exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal:

Insurers receive payments under the Medicare Advantage system to oversee benefits for enrollees, but the payments increase when certain diagnoses are discovered.

That creates an incentive to diagnose more ailments and receive more payouts.

Recall, UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, was assassinated in New York City on December 4, 2024.

The suspected assassin, Luigi Mangione, was later arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, more than 200 miles away from the site of the killing.

3. Research Finds Big Federal Grants to Local Governments Breed Corruption

DOGE may not just save money; it may encourage honesty.

After decades of increasing flows of federal grants to local governments, there is strong evidence the money fuels corruption.

The research speculates the growing flow of federal grants, especially as they come from increasing numbers of sources in D.C., overwhelm local oversight capabilities:

[And] provide opportunistic actors with an expectation that they can engage in corrupt practices before such systems are adequately implemented.

So, should DOGE operations be established at the state and local levels to turn attention to cutting states’ and localities’ dependence on the federal government? That’s likely the key to not just balancing the books but making the country more honest.

4. New German Chancellor Merz Said His Top Priority Is to Make His Country and Europe Stronger and Independent from the U.S. 

Merz was not specific about President Trump’s comments, but the president has vowed to pull the U.S. out of NATO if member states do not pay their share.

Earlier this month, Vice President J.D. Vance in a public address in Munich, accused Europe of censoring free speech.

Merz is also suggesting Europe might have to form its own military defense alliance—amid the potential end of decades-old NATO, the 32-member military alliance of 30 European countries, the U.S. and Canada.

This sounds like a great start for the new chancellor, but no mention of their migrant (Read: moslem) population problem. Perhaps the chancellor should spend less attention on his bad attitude toward America and President Trump and more on sharia law overtaking his homeland.

5. President Trump Gives Update on His Meeting with France’s President Macron and Canada’s “Governor Trudeau”

The news: Trump clearly believes the mineral rights deal will be signed soon with Ukraine, and he is in serious discussions with Putin on ending the war.

Macron and Trudeau met with Trump in the Oval Office to acknowledge the Third Anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine War.

Each leader expressed his goal of seeing the War end, and Trump emphasized the importance of the vital “Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal” between the United States and Ukraine, which Trump hopes will be signed very soon!

Trump said:

This deal, which is an ‘Economic Partnership,’ will ensure the American people recoup the Tens of Billions of Dollars and Military Equipment sent to Ukraine, while also helping Ukraine’s economy grow as this Brutal and Savage War comes to an end.

Further:

At the same time, I am in serious discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning the ending of the War, and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia. Talks are proceeding very well!

Trump is like a guard dog with a bone when he gets ahold of a worthy idea, yes?

6. Dirty Nasty Birds: Philadelphia Eagles Decline Invite to White House—Megyn Kelly Offers Best Advice to Team

The response on X is unanimous—Go f**k yourselves, Eagles.

These idiots turn down an invitation from the greatest U.S. president in history—or a long, long time at least. Seriously?

What a cluster of boneheads.

7. Inconvenient Facts for the Left on Trump Admin’s ‘Legal Setbacks’ — “These are not major setbacks.”

We the People have been hearing a lot in the media about alleged “legal setbacks” and “court losses” for the Trump team.

However, the reality is far more nuanced—and in Trump’s favor—MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos told his stunned co-panelists during a recent segment on the network’s Ayman program:

And I think the concern I have is that people watching those headlines, especially people who don’t like Trump, are gonna think ‘Trump is getting his butt kicked.’ And then, when – invariably he’s gonna win some of these cases, they’re gonna say ‘What happened to all the butt-kicking,’ right? And here’s why.

These are not major setbacks. First reason: We are at the ‘stay’ stage. In other words, in almost all of these cases, the court is issuing a stay. That is a pause, by definition, it is not on the merits. Nobody’s winning or losing on the merits. They’re hitting the pause button until they can decide the case on the merits.

In other words, reports from the left-wing media of supposedly devastating “losses” for the Trump administration in the courts have been greatly exaggerated.

Further, let us not lose sight of the Trump team’s next phase: The investigators are now seeking to determine the recipients of the billions of dollars of kickbacks. We can anticipate escape attempts and suicides.

8. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Under Investigation for Alleged Bribery, Fraud, and Racketeering

AZ state authorities and legislative leaders are probing Hobbs’ administration’s financial dealings.

The inquiry centers on accusations that Hobbs and other Arizona democrats communists/globalists allegedly accepted $400,000 in bribes from Sunshine Residential Homes, a state contractor, in exchange for directing millions in taxpayer dollars to the company.

State records indicate that under Hobbs’ oversight as budget director, $339 million in taxpayer funds remains unaccounted for. The missing money was initially reported as a $339 million shortfall but has since risen to $350 million, prompting further scrutiny from lawmakers.

The Arizona Auditor General’s Office is now assisting Maricopa County investigators. The Arizona Legislature is also conducting its own inquiry, with some lawmakers calling for federal involvement by the FBI and the Department of Justice.

9. Trump Will Reinstate Title 42, The COVID-Era Rule to Expel Migrants from the Border

Empty promises about border security forced American communities to shoulder the crushing burden of an unchecked illegal alien invasion.

Costs mounted in emergency rooms, schools, and neighborhoods as career politicians perfected the art of kicking the can down the road.

From CBS News:

The Trump administration plans to implement [Title 42] that would allow U.S. immigration officials to swiftly expel migrants on the grounds that they could spread diseases like tuberculosis.

The revival of Title 42 authority is not just another policy—it is what putting Americans first actually looks like.