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Two federal courts ruled Friday that the Trump administration must release emergency SNAP funds for 42 million Americans—the same day new documents revealed the administration is simultaneously building a multi-layered domestic security apparatus, massing naval forces in the Caribbean as Venezuela begs Russia and China for missiles, and housing Cabinet officials on military bases. The convergence of starving Americans, arming riot police, provoking foreign conflict, and officials fleeing to a self-imposed “Green Zone” crystallizes what Trump is constructing: authoritarian infrastructure funded by withholding food from the hungry while edging toward war.
5️⃣ JPMORGAN KNEW ABOUT EPSTEIN’S OPERATION—AND KEPT BANKING HIM ANYWAY
JPMorgan Chase filed suspicious activity reports after Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 death flagging approximately $1 billion in transactions connected to Leon Black, Glenn Dubin, Alan Dershowitz, and trusts controlled by Leslie Wexner. The unsealed court documents show the bank cited concerns about human trafficking, wire transfers to Russian banks, and Epstein’s relationships with two U.S. presidents—yet continued servicing his accounts for years, lending him money and facilitating payments to trafficking victims. JPMorgan’s spokesperson claims they alerted regulators repeatedly but “it does not appear that anyone in the government or law enforcement acted on those SARs for years.” The bank settled related lawsuits in 2023 for $365 million, but CEO Jamie Dimon maintains he didn’t know about the Epstein relationship until 2019 despite executives discussing it with him earlier. The truth about those Epstein files is coming out one way or another, whether Mike Johnson wants to release them or not.
4️⃣ MADURO BEGS RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN FOR MISSILES AS U.S. MASSES FORCES
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is drafting desperate letters to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping requesting defensive radars, aircraft repairs, and potentially missiles as U.S. forces—including the USS Gerald Ford carrier—conduct strikes that have killed at least 61 people since September. Trump deployed over 10% of U.S. naval assets to the Caribbean, which former Ambassador James Story calls “already a win for Putin” by dividing American attention from Ukraine. While Russia has billions at stake in Venezuelan oil fields and arms deals, defense analysts note Moscow has been “relatively quiet” with forces tied up in Ukraine. Venezuela’s Russian military equipment is largely “pure junk” according to insiders—fewer than five Sukhoi fighters were operational by 2018.
3️⃣ SIX TRUMP OFFICIALS FLEE TO MILITARY BASES IN “CRIME-FREE” D.C.
Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and at least one unnamed White House official now live on military installations behind armed checkpoints—while Trump declares Washington “essentially crime-free” with 2,000 National Guard troops patrolling streets showing no protests and violent crime down 26 percent. Hegseth occupies Fort McNair’s Generals’ Row after the Army spent $137,000 renovating his quarters; Rubio assembles IKEA furniture in century-old officers’ housing; Noem lives rent-free in the Coast Guard commandant’s mansion while spending $200 million on two luxury Gulfstream G700 jets during the shutdown. There are no crowds gathering, no active threats—just officials walled off from consequences of their own rhetoric, creating a Trump “Green Zone” in a capital the president himself insists is safe.
Stephen Miller Self-Deports to Military Base
Over 2,000 National Guard troops patrol Washington’s streets in full camouflage, stationed at Union Station, the National Mall, and Metro stops across the capital. They arrived in August after President Trump federalized the DC police and declared a crime emergency—despite city data showing violent crime down 26 percent, homicides at 30-year lows, and every category of serious offense in steep decline. Trump himself now calls the city “essentially crime-free” and “a beacon” that will “serve as an example of what can be done.”
2️⃣ PARK POLICE DOUBLING RANKS WITH RIOT GEAR AS PENTAGON ORDERS NATIONAL GUARD UNITS IN ALL 50 STATES
U.S. Park Police is seeking to double its D.C. ranks from 289 to as many as 750 officers over six months, with internal documents showing plans to become “the premier law enforcement agency in D.C., capable of keeping D.C. safe regardless of inaction by MPD or inaction by the D.C. City Council.” The expansion includes $70,000 signing bonuses, riot gear, drones, thermal imaging, and missions into drugs and gang enforcement that one Interior employee calls “extremely unusual” for an agency tasked with protecting national parkland. This connects directly to Defense Secretary Hegseth’s Pentagon order establishing National Guard “Quick Reaction Forces” in all 50 states—approximately 23,500 troops trained with shields, batons, Tasers, and pepper spray, ready on 8-24 hour notice by January 1, 2026. The administration is building layered anti-protest infrastructure on a training schedule while pumping out admitted fake AI videos to justify crackdowns.
1️⃣ FEDERAL JUDGES ORDER RELEASE OF SNAP FUNDS TRUMP CLAIMS HE CAN’T ACCESS
Two federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must release $5.5 billion in contingency funds for SNAP benefits after Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claimed the shutdown prevents accessing money 42 million Americans depend on for food. Judge Jack McConnell in Rhode Island ordered funds distributed “as soon as possible,” while Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts found the refusal likely unlawful and ordered USDA to decide by Monday. Rollins’s argument that contingency funds “can only flow if the underlying appropriation is approved” contradicts the Trump administration’s own 2018-2019 shutdown guidance and USDA’s website from weeks ago. Georgetown law professor David Super confirms “there’s simply nothing in either the Food and Nutrition Act or the appropriations acts that supports” her interpretation. The same administration claiming it can’t access emergency food funds just spent $200 million on luxury jets for Noem, is hiring 450 Park Police with $70,000 bonuses, and training 23,500 troops in riot control. They have money for crowd control equipment, drones, and thermal imaging—but not for feeding hungry Americans.
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