QAnon Account Predicted ‘Staged’ Trump Assassination Attempt in June 2024

Ken Silva
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QAnon Account Predicted ‘Staged’ Trump Assassination Attempt in June 2024

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) By all accounts, the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania was an authentic event—contrary to the conspiracies initially floated by liberals, and more recently by disenfranchised ex-Trump supporters, including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Indeed, the bullets, blood, bodies and shrapnel were all very much real, while plastic surgeons have explained that yes, Trump’s ear really could have healed without a scar if it were just grazed. Meanwhile, Butler truthers have yet to articulate a cogent explanation for how Trump could have staged his own assassination attempt with the complicity of the Biden Justice Department, Secret Service and FBI, as well as with state and local authorities.

With all that said, an account on the social media app Telegram did post a video about a month before Trump was nearly killed, claiming that “white hats” in the U.S. government would stage an attempt on him. The term “white hats” is a reference to benevolent actors in the U.S. intelligence community.

The account in question has made numerous predictions that never came to pass, including inaccurate forecasts about nuclear war, cyber-attacks and economic events. The account has also made wild and unsubstantiated claims, including that the “real” Joe Biden was killed years ago.

Headline USA was hesitant to publicize the nearly two-year-old video when first discovering it days ago, knowing that the truthers will use it to support their theory that Butler was a fake event. But given the public interest in the issue, the timing of the video’s publication, and the fact that the video is out there and would’ve eventually been discovered by someone else, Headline USA is choosing to report on it, rather than suppress it, for transparency’s sake.

In the video, someone speaking with an AI-generated dog imposed over his face under the name “Jonny Puggle” says: “We are coming into a powerful event: This is the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.

“It’s important to understand that the deep state wants to assassinate Donald Trump, but also the ‘white hats’ have military operations in place to counter this and to stage their own event of Donald Trump,” he said.

“You will know the event of how it will unfold because Donald Trump will survive the assassination attempt,” the account said, adding that the event was being staged to “expose” the deep state. The speaker didn’t elaborate on how a staged assassination attempt would expose anything—and his prediction certainly hasn’t been the case, as Trump’s own government has hardly released any information about the event.

The “Jonny Puggle” account appears to be the same person who also goes by the name “Q the Storm Rider”—an apparent reference to “QAnon,” who, according to the conspiracy theories, is a highly placed federal official with a “Q Clearance.” Among other claims, QAnon purports that there is a conspiracy amongst various law enforcement agencies to overthrow Trump.

Nearly two weeks after the July 13 Butler shooting, “Q the Storm Rider” posted a follow-up video under yet another alias, “Pepper the Magnificent,” purporting to explain what had happened. The video made more wild and unsubstantiated claims, including that the “white hats” had arrested the agents who really were trying to kill Trump—replacing them with pro-Trump agents who staged Butler.

“So, this fake assassination attempt that happened was a double assassination attempt. There were real CIA, FBI, military-government contractors that were planning to kill Donald Trump at the rally. But about 30 minutes beforehand, the deep state knew that they were in trouble—that they were infiltrated—so they called off, and they stopped the assassination attempt,” “Pepper” says—later falsely claiming that there were three shooters targeting Trump.

“And at this moment, the ‘white hats’ replaced them and arrested a lot of the other people. And also, at the same time there was a switch out. And that’s why there’s three shooters: There’s one on the [barn behind Trump], there’s one on the water tower, and there’s also one on that was on top of the building.”

Whoever is running the “Q the Storm Rider,” “Jonny Puggle,” and “Pepper” personas could not be reached for comment.

Throughout Trump’s presidency, the original “Q” posted cryptic messages on the websites 4Chan and 8Chan, and the persona’s followers would try to decipher their meaning. This often led to absurd conspiracy theories, such as that Trump was still secretly the president, Hillary Clinton would be executed at Guantanamo Bay and the deceased JFK Jr. would reappear to run for president in 2024 with Trump as his running mate.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

U.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP, ‘Deeply Troubling’ for Economy, National Security

Headline USA Editor
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U.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP, ‘Deeply Troubling’ for Economy, National Security

(, The Center Square) The U.S. national debt is now larger than the entire American economy and is only set to keep growing, further exacerbating the affordability crisis and risking national security.

Out of the $39 trillion total national debt, debt held by the public hit $31.27 trillion on March 31, surpassing the $31.22 trillion in Gross Domestic Product over the past 12 months.

The fact that the national debt has reached 100% of GDP – the highest in history except for the years immediately following World War II – is “deeply troubling,” Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, told The Center Square.

“Following World War II, we actually had a good reason for having such a high debt, and the government was on a path to reduce that debt after the war ended,” Boccia said. “In this case, we have debt as high as since World War II, except we are on a steep upward trajectory, and it’s not driven by a temporary war but by permanent entitlement obligations that are expanding – that’s Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

Social Security and Medicare spending alone made up more than 30% of federal outlays in fiscal year 2025, and that spending is projected to continuously increase in the near future.

While some U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern over the unprecedented debt increase, there is little to no action on substantially reducing federal spending.

Yet if Congress does not rein in deficits quickly, current and future generations of American taxpayers will feel the economic brunt of the rising interest costs that servicing the debt requires.

“The reason we concern ourselves with debt to GDP is primarily because of the burden it poses for current and future generations, and that is primarily measured in the interest costs that servicing the debt requires from working Americans and taxpayers,” Boccia said.

“There’s strong research indicating that when debt grows to such high levels, above 80% of GDP, it tends to crowd out private sector investment, which reduces economic growth, and therefore economic opportunities, jobs, and higher wages.”

In the immediate term, rising debt worsens affordability by spiking interest costs on Americans’ credit card debts, mortgages, car loans, student loans and more.

“The federal government is using up so much credit in the market that it’s driving up interest costs, and it affects all of us,” Boccia said. “It has these downstream effects.”

The U.S. currently spends more money on financing debt interest costs than it does on national defense – even as high debt ratios directly endanger national security.

“The reason we want governments to maintain low stable debt ratios, preferably below 60% of GDP, is so that they have room, so-called fiscal capacity, to borrow during times of crisis. And that can be a pandemic, a national security crisis, a financial crisis, or an economic recession like we saw in 2008,” Boccia said.

“When governments have that room to borrow for that emergency response, it means that their recessions aren’t as severe and they can more easily return to normal economic growth after the crisis ends,” she added. “But when a government enters a crisis already over-leveraged, holding too much debt, they’re not able to borrow as much as they otherwise would have in order to weather the crisis, and so the crisis will be more severe.”

In a situation where America is at war, the results would be disastrous.

“If you don’t have the fiscal capacity to respond to a military threat, then you are leaving yourself at risk of not being able to defend yourself,” Boccia said. “The national debt is our greatest national security risk.”

Without major changes to federal fiscal policy, the U.S. government will default on its debt in about 20 years, according to Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates.

DOJ Indicts Top Mexican Officials for Drug Trafficking

Headline USA Editor
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DOJ Indicts Top Mexican Officials for Drug Trafficking

(Headline USA) Two members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s party in the northwestern Sinaloa state said they would temporarily step down from their posts after the United States charged them and eight other politicians and security officers with drug trafficking.

The bombshell indictment against the 10 has shaken Mexico’s political establishment.

In a short video announcement at midnight on Friday, Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, the highest-ranking official named in the indictment, denied accusations that he protected the Sinaloa cartel and helped it smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the U.S. in exchange for political support and millions of dollars in bribes.

“My conscience is clear,” said Rocha, 76, a longtime ally of influential former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “To my people and to my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will.”

But he said he would take a temporary leave of absence from the position he has held for six years to defend himself against what he called the “false and malicious” allegations and cooperate with the Mexican government’s investigation.

Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, the mayor of the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacán named in the indictment, also said he would take leave and denied the charges. Another defendant and member of the ruling Morena party, Sen. Enrique Inzunza, said he would continue serving in the Senate while defending himself from the accusations.

In a special vote Saturday, the state’s local congress appointed as interim governor Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde, an ally of Rocha who previously served as the state’s secretary of government. It approved Rocha’s leave of absence for a period of 30 days.

As serving governor and mayor, Rocha and Gámez Mendívil had enjoyed immunity from criminal prosecution. But in leaving their posts even temporarily, the officials lost their blanket protection from prosecution, Arturo Zaldívar, a former Mexican Supreme Court justice who now advises Sheinbaum, posted on X.

“They can be detained like any person,” he wrote.

The president wants the trials held in Mexico

Sheinbaum has struggled to strike a balance between the interests of her progressive Morena party and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to step up the fight against cartels.

In a nod to her party’s vow to stamp out corruption, Sheinbaum said she wouldn’t defend anyone found to have committed a crime.

But she vigorously defended Mexico’s sovereignty, saying that if federal authorities uncovered “irrefutable” evidence linking the 10 indicted officials to cartel crime, the accused would be tried in Mexico, not the U.S. — a move that risks backlash from an American administration that has threatened military action against cartels on Mexican soil.

“We will never subordinate ourselves because this is a matter of the dignity of the Mexican people,” she said Friday.

Many Mexicans living cartel violence almost daily in Sinaloa said on Saturday that they welcomed news of the U.S. indictment and their governor’s resignation as a step toward accountability.

“We are in an ungovernable state where the same party and the same governor essentially gave free rein to what has become a violent situation,” said Raquel Campos, a 35-year-old doctor in Culiacán. “Unfortunately it was another country that had to take action.”

No arrests till the investigation is over

Pending investigation, the Mexican attorney general’s office said it would not arrest Rocha or the other accused officials, as requested by the U.S.

Rocha, a point person for the hands-off “hugs not bullets” approach to dealing with organized crime that López Obrador pioneered and Sheinbaum has since ditched, insisted in the video that the indictment represents a political attack on Morena.

“I will not allow myself to be used to harm the movement to which I belong — one that has improved the lives of millions of Mexican men and women,” he said.

Born in the same town as the notorious Mexican drug kingpin “ El Chapo,” Rocha has found himself embroiled in similar scandals before. In 2024, he was named in a published letter written by a then-Sinaloa cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction and handed over to U.S. law enforcement. In the letter, the capo said that he was on his way to meet Rocha when he was abducted.

“It’s an open secret,” Sergio Estrella, 42, a shopkeeper in Culiacán, said of the alleged collusion between drug kingpins and senior officials. “The government needs to take a different tack, to recognize how deeply drug trafficking is embedded in politics.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Trump Hints at Big Surprise w/ Impending UFO Disclosure

Headline USA Editor
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Trump Hints at Big Surprise w/ Impending UFO Disclosure

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump says the Pentagon is preparing to release some “very interesting” UFO files uncovered by his administration, generating a mix of buzz and skepticism as he hints at new revelations around questions of alien life.

Trump started stoking interest in the extraterrestrial in February, directing federal agencies to release their records related to extraterrestrial life and UFOs. Since then, he has built suspense with tantalizing updates, teasing an imminent release of documents never before shared by the U.S. government.

“We’re going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven’t,” Trump said Wednesday at a White House event celebrating NASA astronauts. “I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”

Trump has relished in portraying himself as the president who spills the secrets. In the first week returning to office, he ordered the release of records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The disclosures revealed little beyond what was already known.

In the buildup to that release, Trump said “the American people deserve transparency and truth.” Now, as he turns to the sky, the president has struck a similar tone, suggesting answers to decades-old questions may be on the way. His February directive on social media called for transparency around “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).”

“The first releases will begin very, very soon,” he told supporters in April at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. “So you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct. You’ll figure it out.”

An expert cautions against raising expectations

Even before Trump’s directive, the Pentagon was years into a process to declassify and release government documents related to UFOs, now often referred to as unexplained anomalous phenomena, or UAP.

Citing concerns over national security, Congress created an office in 2022 to investigate UAP and declassify as much material as possible. The office’s 2024 debut report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology. A second report covering more recent sightings is expected to come soon.

That agency, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is now working with the White House to release “never-before-seen UAP information,” according to a Pentagon statement.

The office’s previous director, however, said Trump’s promises were bluster, a “shiny object” to distract Americans from the war with Iran. Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist and former career intelligence officer who led the office until 2023, said he has seen the government’s records and believes there are no bombshell revelations to be found.

“Readers should not get their hopes up that there’s going to be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down,” he said. “Because that just doesn’t exist.”

Videos purporting to show alien technology tend to have mundane explanations, he said. Modern infrared cameras used by the U.S. military often capture jet engines and other hot objects in a long thermal bloom, which, Kirkpatrick said, explains viral videos of speedy, pill-shaped objects.

Pentagon not forthcoming on UAP reports, GOP-led panel says

On Capitol Hill, those types of videos have caught the attention of a small group of Trump-aligned Republicans who insist the Pentagon is holding back secrets.

The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets has been conducting its own investigation into reports of mysterious aircraft near U.S. military installations, which the panel says pose a threat to national security and the armed forces.

Last fall, the task force heard testimony from current and former service members who described UAP encounters. In one case, a senior Navy officer said he was off the coast of California in 2023 when he saw a glowing “Tic Tac” shaped object emerge from the ocean and link up with three similar objects. They sped away in an instant, he said.

Trump’s interest in the subject has energized congressional Republicans, including Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran who co-chairs the task force. Luna has criticized what she calls “less than adequate” transparency from the Pentagon.

In a March letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Luna demanded dozens of UAP videos identified by whistleblowers and labeled with names such as “Spherical UAP in clouds.” Her deadline for Hegseth came and went, and no videos were produced.

Trump’s entry to the UFO fray drew applause from Luna, who last year told podcaster Joe Rogan that she has seen evidence of “interdimensional beings.” The Pentagon “can’t hide from our docs request anymore!” Luna said on social media after Trump’s directive.

Vance professes to be ‘obsessed’ with UFO files

Trump appears skeptical about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Addressing the Turning Point USA crowd in Phoenix, he said, “I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people, you’re really into that. I don’t know if I am.”

Why he made the revelation at that event, held at a megachurch, is unclear. A day earlier, Trump had spoken in Las Vegas, not far from Area 51, a top-secret Cold War test site that has fueled UFO conspiracy theories.

Vice President JD Vance has described himself as “obsessed” with UFO files. In March, he said he has been trying to find time to investigate Area 51 since he took office.

“I’ve still got three more years as vice president,” Vance told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “I will get to the bottom of the UFO files.” Invoking his Christian faith, Vance said he believes sightings reported to be aliens are actually the work of spiritual demons.

Even before Trump tackled the topic, alien buzz was already in the air.

It’s back in Hollywood with an upcoming Steven Spielberg movie, “Disclosure Day.” Former President Barack Obama made a splash in February when he declared on a podcast that aliens are real. He later clarified that he had seen no evidence but that “the odds are good there’s life out there.”

Trump is hardly the first president drawn to UFO mysteries. President Bill Clinton has said he once ordered a review of the Roswell Incident — something had crashed in 1947 at a New Mexico ranch and officials later said the debris was the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon — around its 50th anniversary in 1997. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan claimed to have seen UFOs before their time in the White House.

The U.S. government has been investigating UFO reports since the 1940s, in part to determine if they represent advanced technology from competing nations or “evidence of off-world technology,” according to the Defense Department’s 2024 report.

In online communities devoted to UFOs, some see Trump’s promise as a step in the right direction; others believe it will come to nothing. For people who follow the topic closely, promises of big revelations have never lived up to the hype, said Greg Eghigian, a Pennsylvania State University professor who wrote a book on the history of UFO sightings.

“There is almost no satisfaction that is possible for many of the really die-hard folks,” he said. “So in a sense, I think disappointment can almost be guaranteed to be expected no matter what comes out of this.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

New Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson Cuts Interview Short in Viral Video

Luis Cornelio
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New Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson Cuts Interview Short in Viral Video

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Newly elected Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson ran an outspoken campaign in 2025, but five months into office, she offered few answers when pressed on public safety concerns.

Wilson drew viral attention on social media after abruptly walking away from an interview with KOMO News Senior Reporter Chris Daniels, who pressed her on rising lawlessness.

During a Friday event to inaugurate a new wood recycling facility, Daniels pressed Wilson about a shooting that had taken place Tuesday at the Yesler Community Center.

The shooting was not targeted, but bullets struck a window and the front door of the community center where Wilson was present, forcing her to be moved to safety.

When Daniels raised concerns from residents about violence and the potential need for surveillance cameras, a Wilson staffer quickly intervened.

“People on that community who are concerned there’s been rising gun violence and there should be more surveillance cameras and that kind of thing. That’s obviously been an issue you weighted on — does that change your perspective at all?”

Wilson, a left-wing democratic socialist, has long condemned the use of security cameras, arguing they make communities more vulnerable. She previously paused an expansion of such cameras pending an audit.

“Let’s keep it on the topic,” Wilson said, glancing toward the staffer.

“So, I—” she began.

“Mayor Wilson,” the staffer interjected.

“Let’s keep it on topic, okay?” the staffer added.

“She’s about to answer the question, though,” Daniels responded. “I mean, it looks worse when you jump in like that.”

“Sorry, I specifically said to keep it on the topic,” the staffer replied.

The awkward exchange escalated, with the staffer and the mayor urging Daniels to schedule a separate interview — to which he responded that her office had not been answering questions.

“It’s been a busy week,” Wilson said, speaking off camera.

Wilson was elected in the 2025 off-year cycle as part of a Democratic class the left has touted as its future. Alongside Zohran Mamdani in New York City, she is now facing mounting questions about public safety in both cities.

DOJ Leaker Tells Raskin SPLC Indictment Was Rushed

Luis Cornelio
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DOJ Leaker Tells Raskin SPLC Indictment Was Rushed

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Two Democrat lawmakers have turned to a familiar playbook to undermine the 11-count grand jury indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center: an anonymous “whistleblower” and claims the charges were “rushed.”

Details of the effort surfaced in reports from CNN and MSNBC, both of which covered a letter from Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon to U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson, who is overseeing the case.

The lawmakers claim a whistleblower alleged that Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh ordered Davidson to “rush through” the SPLC indictment despite supposed concerns about the strength of the case.

Raskin and Scanlon demanded that Davidson turn over emails and text messages tied to the SPLC investigation, even though they lack subpoena power.

They also called for those records to be preserved, a move that suggests they may pursue them if Democrats regain power in the 2026 midterms.

Notably, the letter does not reveal the whistleblower’s identity or which office he or she allegedly works for.

Despite the claims, even if senior DOJ officials pushed for urgency, the decision to return an indictment ultimately rests with a grand jury.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the investigation began during the Biden administration but was halted for unclear reasons.

According to a 14-page indictment, the SPLC faces six counts of wire fraud tied to alleged efforts to conceal payments to informants embedded in hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Unite the Right and American Front.

The organization is also charged with four counts of making false statements to a federally insured bank and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” Blanche said in a statement. “Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.”

The SPLC denies the claims as the case moves forward in court.

Calif. Gubernatorial Supported by Firm Tied to Campaign Finance Scandal

Luis Cornelio
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Calif. Gubernatorial Supported by Firm Tied to Campaign Finance Scandal

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Xavier Becerra’s campaign for California governor is being supported by a political firm led by individuals tied to a consulting network previously linked to a campaign finance theft scandal, according to a new report Thursday.

Becerra has faced scrutiny over a criminal case involving his former chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal $225,000 from a dormant campaign account linked to Becerra after he was appointed HHS secretary under the Biden administration.

At the time, Becerra was California’s attorney general.

Becerra has said he had no knowledge of the scheme, though he has acknowledged awareness of the payments. Now, political firm Bearstar Strategies has launched an independent expenditure campaign supporting Becerra’s bid for governor.

The connections trace back to a political consulting network known as The Collaborative. According to state prosecutors, McCluskie, former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson and Sacramento lobbyist Greg Campbell used the LLC to divert Becerra’s AG campaign funds for personal use.

Several individuals who were part of the network are now leading Bearstar Strategies, according to KCRA 3, though none have been accused of wrongdoing.

These individuals are Ace Smith, Sean Clegg, Juan Rodriguez, Erica Kwiatkowski Nielsen and George Ross.

As reported by KCRA 3:

“Court records say McCluskie took a pay cut to follow Becerra from California to Washington D.C. to work in the Biden Administration, which prompted the funneling of funds beginning in 2022. McCluskie and Campbell have pleaded guilty in the case. Williamson’s case is ongoing and court records show she is negotiating a plea deal.

“Williamson had associated with and had longtime ties to those leading Bearstar, working for candidates and elected officials together including Becerra in 2018, former Gov. Jerry Brown and current Gov. Gavin Newsom. When The Collaborative was established, it was meant to serve as an alliance of some of the state’s most powerful political consultants.”

Bearstar has sought to distance itself from The Collaborative, saying:

“Bearstar participated in a joint marketing press release with The Collaborative and worked on one campaign with the Collaborative’s members in 2022. Bearstar and its partners had no interest, stake or other involvement with this entity.”

Critics say the overlap raises questions.

Mike Trujillo, a Los Angeles Democrat strategist who backs a Becerra opponent, stated that “fact is that this Dana Williamson individual is part of Bearstar’s The Collaborative. It should tell voters across the state that something stinks.”

Republican strategist Rob Stutzman added: “There is this specter of unknowns that swirl around Xavier Becerra, whether he did anything wrong or not. He can’t escape it, and now with the same consultants that are tangential to all of this, not directly involved, but were in business with. It’s going to be hard to get away from the questions.”

Becerra did not respond to a request for comment sent to his personal cellphone. He is seen as a top contender after former Rep. Eric Swalwell exited the race amid separate misconduct allegations.

California’s open primary is set for June 2.

2 U.S. Military Members Go Missing in Training Exercise

Headline USA Editor
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2 U.S. Military Members Go Missing in Training Exercise

(Headline USA) Two U.S. service members are missing in southwestern Morocco after taking part in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Sunday.

The U.S., Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation, AFRICOM said.

“The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” it said in a statement.

The incident happened on Saturday at about 9 p.m., the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains.

The war games exercise started in April and runs across four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to end in early May.

The command did not state what unit or branch of the military the missing service members belong to.

The exercise began in Tunisia with active-duty members of different branches of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force, and the Marine Corps.

In all, over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 nations are participating across the four host countries.

African Lion, which has been running since 2004, is the largest U.S. annual joint military exercise on the continent and usually features high-ranking military officials from the U.S. and its top African allies.

U.S. military officials have said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue for strengthening regional security cooperation and refining the readiness of participating forces for global crises.

In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco’s southern city of Agadir while taking part in African Lion.

Morocco is a major ally of the United States in a troubled region. Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments’ records of stemming violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and began distancing themselves from Western powers.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Jesus Comments Spark GOP Faith Firestorm

Jose Nino
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Vivek Ramaswamy’s Jesus Comments Spark GOP Faith Firestorm

(José Niño, Headline USA) A viral clip of Vivek Ramaswamy explaining his Hindu view of Jesus has reignited controversy as his Ohio gubernatorial campaign faces sustained attacks over his faith. On Friday, the X user @UnderCoercion posted the clip of Ramaswamy interacting with an Ohio voter with a caption that read: “Vivek: Jesus is A son of god but Jesus is not THE son of god. Jesus is A way to heaven but not THE way to heaven.”

As a practicing Hindu running for office in a deeply Christian Republican Party, Ramaswamy has repeatedly stated that in his faith, Jesus is “a” son of God rather than “the” son of God — a path to the divine but not the exclusive one, per a report by NBC News. This framing reflects Hindu theological pluralism, which views multiple spiritual paths as valid.

From an orthodox Christian perspective, Ramaswamy’s framing directly rejects a core doctrine. The Gospel of John records Jesus saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” By substituting “the” with “a,” critics argue Ramaswamy denies Christ’s unique divine status and the doctrine of salvation through Jesus alone.

The controversy first emerged during his 2024 presidential campaign when Iowa voters confronted him repeatedly on the trail. It has intensified as he runs for Governor of Ohio in 2026. 

At Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in December 2025, young conservatives confronted Ramaswamy on both theology and ethnicity. Students challenged him with statements like “Christianity is the one truth” and asked how he could represent Ohio if he did not share the faith, per a report by Fox News. One female student asked why he was “masquerading as a Christian.”

The religion controversy has been exploited by rivals in the Ohio GOP primary. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, opponent Casey Putsch repeatedly attacked Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith and Indian heritage. National figure Nick Fuentes vowed to campaign against Ramaswamy specifically in Ohio, saying: “We have to deny Vivek Ramaswamy the governorship. This is the only race I care about in ’26,” as Fox News reported. 

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

Biden Endorses Infamous Ex-Atlanta Mayor

Luis Cornelio
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Biden Endorses Infamous Ex-Atlanta Mayor

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Keisha Lance Bottoms may have fled elected office after four tumultuous years as Atlanta’s mayor, but she now boasts the endorsement of disgraced former President Joe Biden as she runs for Georgia governor.

Bottoms is currently running in a crowded field of candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor. She leads in polling but has not surpassed 50% support, meaning a primary runoff remains possible.

Biden endorsed Bottoms in a video posted on her X page, saying:

“I’ve known her for a long time, and she’s something special. As mayor of Atlanta, Keisha faced every challenge a leader could face and then some: a global pandemic, a major cyberattack on the city systems, economic uncertainty that tested every community across Georgia — but she handled it all with steady, thoughtful leadership. That’s the definition of battle-tested.”

A former city councilwoman, Bottoms was elected mayor of Atlanta in 2018. Her tenure coincided with widespread Black Lives Matter protests and rising lawlessness in the city. After leaving office in 2022, she moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as a senior advisor in the Biden White House.

“In the same way that it was very clear to me almost five years ago that I should run for mayor of Atlanta. It is abundantly clear to me today that it is time to pass the baton on to someone else,” she said in a statement at the time.

Despite her vague explanation, political operatives understood she faced an uphill re-election battle.

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