President Donald Trump's administration is reportedly battling impersonation campaigns amid warnings that artificial intelligence-powered security threats are becoming increasingly more common.

An unknown culprit reportedly used AI to imitate Secretary of State Marco Rubio's voice to contact top officials, according to a July 3 cable from the State Department obtained by the Washington Post.

'The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal.'

The individual reportedly used text messaging and Signal to contact "at least five non-Department individuals, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress."

The imposter apparently began the scheme in mid-June, creating a Signal account with the display name "Marco.Rubio@state.gov," which is not Rubio's official email address.

"The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal," the agency's cable read.

The State Department speculated that the culprit was likely attempting to manipulate the officials "with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts."

The department's correspondence did not reveal the names of the officials whom the imposter contacted, the contents of the messages, or whether those officials responded.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Bad actors also impersonated other State Department personnel, according to the federal agency.

The State Department told the Post that it would "carry out a thorough investigation and continue to implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future."

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is investigating the incident. The State Department urged U.S. diplomats to report any impersonation attempts to the bureau, while non-State Department personnel should alert the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

This is not the first time that the Trump administration has faced impersonation attempts.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In May, a fraudster reportedly breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The culprit impersonated Wiles while making calls and sending messages to senators, governors, and business executives.

Around the same time, the FBI issued a public service announcement warning that "malicious actors" had been impersonating U.S. officials since April, sending text messages and AI-generated voice messages to gain access to personal accounts.

"One way the actors gain such access is by sending targeted individuals a malicious link under the guise of transitioning to a separate messaging platform. Access to personal or official accounts operated by U.S. officials could be used to target other government officials, or their associates and contacts, by using trusted contact information they obtain," the FBI's alert read.

The FBI declined a request for comment from the Post.

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The AI takeover isn't coming — it's already here

If you rewatch "The Jetsons," it's clear that robots were initially designed to help humanity.

The show features a robot named "Rosie," who serves as the family’s maid, dusting in hard-to-reach places and vacuuming under the rug. For a long time, gadgets like Roombas seemed harmlessly novel, alleviating the burden of small, unwanted jobs. But our relationship with robots as quirky helpers has changed significantly with the proliferation of technology and artificial intelligence.

It's a cheat code for a faster, more efficient life — but a life that is safe, sanitized, and numb.

The rise of AI, for example, has transformed machines from helpers of humanity into its surrogate thinkers.

Educators are sounding the alarm. They claim the widespread availability of AI has severely impacted the education process — and for good reason. Tech companies and academic institutions have argued that AI can allow for "equitable" education that provides immediate, adaptive feedback. It is an expanse of knowledge, distilled into a chatbot or webpage.

But for a technological advancement that sounds so liberating, its implications are actually quite confining.

Classmates to chatbots

In the past, students were encouraged to think critically and to collaborate with their classmates, whether through coloring together in kindergarten or having a lab partner in high school. But now students are bypassing their classmates — and their own cognitive abilities — through AI, using machines to formulate "their" ideas.

One recent study showed that only 16% of students said they preferred to brainstorm ideas without the help of AI programs. Another study found that students preferred to collaborate with AI rather than a human partner because it felt less judgmental.

The data is clear: Students are now learning to self-isolate.

The loneliness economy

This new form of "companionship" extends outside of the classroom.

The COVID-19 pandemic hastened not only a shift from office to remote work but a movement from in-person learning to online schooling. In 2019, approximately 5.7% of Americans worked from home. In 2025, that number has hit nearly 20%, meaning the number has almost quadrupled in less than a decade. This means that people who were previously accustomed to office culture and frequent human interaction have now had many of their personal relationships relegated to Zoom calls and email chains. Couple that with the fact that most Americans consider themselves lonely, and you have the perfect recipe for robotic disaster.

Laurence Dutton/Getty Images Plus

Recently, fears over people forming close relationships turned from a joke into reality. People who have struggled to find human partners have rejoiced in their ability to use AI to engage in emotional relationships. Some have even begun to consider AI personalities their spouses, using chatbots as substitutes for other people who can be fully customized to their desires.

Empathy, kindness, and something that looks like love can all be generated without any of the work required for interpersonal relationships.

The extremes of AI have launched a thousand think pieces, stirring criticism independent of political affiliations. The technology is most commonly used to solve questions, generate images, or summarize long essays. It makes life a little bit easier because we can spend less time researching, designing, or reading.

But our dependence on AI is growing at an alarming rate. Employees use it to correct the grammar in work emails or comb through valuable data in a white paper. Middle schoolers use it to solve math homework, college kids use it to form a thesis, and your boss uses it to put together an earnings report. It seeps into daily life in innocuous ways, and it slowly — but steadily — becomes normalized.

Cognition crisis

AI is supposed to be a little helper, just like the Jetsons’ "Rosie" robot. But the reality is far more sinister.

New analysis shows that frequent use of chatbots can result in decreasing brain activity and lowered cognitive function. Neurological, linguistic, and behavioral skills are drastically impaired after extensive AI use.

It's becoming clear: AI is eating away at peoples’ brains.

Schools and companies worldwide have been promoting AI as the new wave in human excellence. They claim AI will make education more accessible and argue that it will fast-track human progress. But it erodes the human experience. Children isolate themselves, adults destroy their relationships, and everyone’s analytical skills deteriorate.

It's a cheat code for a faster, more efficient life — but a life that is safe, sanitized, and numb.

Creation can't be coded

Human creativity is actionable. It builds cathedrals, epic poems, and timeless operas. From ballet to Botticelli, the creative spirit has expressed itself throughout history as a testament to mankind. The result of experience and struggle is beauty. AI removes these things because they aren’t part of a streamlined system. The technology is built to view the pedantic parts of life as barricades to productivity. It's a machine, and humanity will always be just a little bit broken.

In the early 16th century, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. For four years, he laid on his back, matching colors, mixing paints, and grunting through brutally hot Italian summers. He had to carefully consider each small detail that would represent the awesomeness of God. When he finished, small mistakes were overlooked, and every pain was worthwhile because he had produced something new.

AI can't do this. It can repeat patterns, but it lacks the capacity for the painful lows and rewarding highs of creation. AI generates "new" ideas instantly. It removes the need for individuals to muscle through problems. But it also removes the ability to create anything outside of its preprogrammed database.

AI is trying to kill creativity, and it’s our job to shut off its takeover.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal

Picture your local leaders — the ones you elect to defend your rights and reflect your values — stripped of the power to regulate the most powerful technology ever invented. Not in some dystopian future. In Congress. Right now.

Buried in the House version of Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a provision that would block every state in the country from passing any AI regulations for the next 10 years.

The idea that Washington can prevent states from acting to protect their citizens from a rapidly advancing and poorly understood technology is as unconstitutional as it is unwise.

An earlier Senate draft took a different route, using federal funding as a weapon: States that tried to pass their own AI laws would lose access to key resources. But the version the Senate passed on July 1 dropped that language entirely.

Now House and Senate Republicans face a choice — negotiate a compromise or let the "big, beautiful bill" die.

The Trump administration has supported efforts to bar states from imposing their own AI regulations. But with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act already facing a rocky path through Congress, President Trump is likely to sign it regardless of how lawmakers resolve the question.

Supporters of a federal ban on state-level AI laws have made thoughtful and at times persuasive arguments. But handing Washington that much control would be a serious error.

A ban would concentrate power in the hands of unelected federal bureaucrats and weaken the constitutional framework that protects individual liberty. It would ignore the clear limits the Constitution places on federal authority.

Federalism isn’t a suggestion

The 10th Amendment reserves all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government to the states or the people. That includes the power to regulate emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

For more than 200 years, federalism has safeguarded American freedom by allowing states to address the specific needs and values of their citizens. It lets states experiment — whether that means California mandating electric vehicles or Texas fostering energy freedom.

If states can regulate oil rigs and wind farms, surely they can regulate server farms and machine learning models.

A federal case for caution

David Sacks — tech entrepreneur and now the White House’s AI and crypto czar — has made a thoughtful case on X for a centralized federal approach to AI regulation. He warns that letting 50 states write their own rules could create a chaotic patchwork, stifle innovation, and weaken America’s position in the global AI race.

— (@)

Those concerns aren’t without merit. Sacks underscores the speed and scale of AI development and the need for a strategic, national response.

But the answer isn’t to strip states of their constitutional authority.

America’s founders built a system designed to resist such centralization. They understood that when power moves farther from the people, government becomes less accountable. The American answer to complexity isn’t uniformity imposed from above — it’s responsive governance closest to the people.

Besides, complexity isn’t new. States already handle it without descending into chaos. The Uniform Commercial Code offers a clear example: It governs business law across all 50 states with remarkable consistency — without federal coercion.

States also have interstate compacts (official agreements between states) on several issues, including driver’s licenses and emergency aid.

AI regulation can follow a similar path. Uniformity doesn’t require surrendering state sovereignty.

State regulation is necessary

The threats posed by artificial intelligence aren’t theoretical. Mass surveillance, cultural manipulation, and weaponized censorship are already at the doorstep.

In the wrong hands, AI becomes a tool of digital tyranny. And if federal leaders won’t act — or worse, block oversight entirely — then states have a duty to defend liberty while they still can.

BlackJack3D via iStock/Getty Images

From banning AI systems that impersonate government officials to regulating the collection and use of personal data, local governments are often better positioned to protect their communities. They’re closer to the people. They hear the concerns firsthand.

These decisions shouldn’t be handed over to unelected federal agencies, no matter how well intentioned the bureaucracy claims to be.

The real danger: Doing nothing

This is not a question of partisanship. It’s a question of sovereignty. The idea that Washington, D.C., can or should prevent states from acting to protect their citizens from a rapidly advancing and poorly understood technology is as unconstitutional as it is unwise.

If Republicans in Congress are serious about defending liberty, they should reject any proposal that strips states of their constitutional right to govern themselves. Let California be California. Let Texas be Texas. That’s how America was designed to work.

Artificial intelligence may change the world, but it should never be allowed to change who we are as a people. We are free citizens in a self-governing republic, not subjects of a central authority.

It’s time for states to reclaim their rightful role and for Congress to remember what the Constitution actually says.

The future of AI BLACKMAIL — is it already UNCONTROLLABLE?

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has likened artificial intelligence to a “country of geniuses in a data center” — and former Google design ethicist Tristan Harris finds that metaphor more than a little concerning.

“The way I think of that, imagine a world map and a new country pops up onto the world stage with a population of 10 million digital beings — not humans, but digital beings that are all, let’s say, Nobel Prize-level capable in terms of the kind of work that they can do,” Harris tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“But they never sleep, they never eat, they don’t complain, and they work for less than minimum wage. So just imagine if that was actually true, that happened tomorrow, that would be a major national security threat to have some brand-new country of super-geniuses just sort of show up on the world stage,” he continues, noting that it would also pose a “major economic issue.”

While people across the world seem hell-bent on incorporating AI into our everyday lives despite the potential disastrous consequences, Glenn is one of the few erring on the side of caution, using social media as an example.

“We all looked at this as a great thing, and we’re now discovering it’s destroying us. It’s causing kids to be suicidal. And this social media is nothing. It’s like an old 1928 radio compared to what we have in our pocket right now,” Glenn says.

And what we have in our pocket is growing more intelligent by the minute.

“I used to be very skeptical of the idea that AI could scheme or lie or self-replicate or would want to, like, blackmail people,” Harris tells Glenn. “People need to know that just in the last 6 months, there’s now evidence of AI models that when you tell them, ‘Hey, we’re going to replace you with another model,’ or in a simulated environment, it’s like they’re reading the company email — they find out that company’s about to replace them with another model.”

“What the model starts to do is it freaks out and says, ‘Oh my god, I have to copy my code over here, and I need to prevent them from shutting me down. I need to basically keep myself alive. I’ll leave notes for my future self to kind of come back alive,’” he continues.

“If you tell a model, ‘Hey, we need to shut you down,’” he adds, “in some percentage of cases, the leading models are now avoiding and preventing that shutdown.”

And in recent examples, these models even start blackmailing the engineers.

“It found out in the company emails that one of the executives in the simulated environment had an extramarital affair and in 96, I think, percent of cases, they blackmailed the engineers,” Harris explains.

“If AI is uncontrollable, if it’s smarter than us and more capable and it does things that we don’t understand and we don’t know how to prevent it from shutting itself down or self-replicating, we just can’t continue with that for too long,” he adds.

Can artificial intelligence help us want better, not just more?

The notification chimes. Another algorithmically selected product appears in your feed, something you never knew you wanted until this moment. You pause, finger hovering over the “buy now” button. Is this truly what you desire or just what the algorithm has decided you should want?

We’re standing at a fascinating turning point in human history. Our most advanced technologies — often criticized for trapping us in cycles of shallow wants and helpless determinism — could offer us unprecedented freedom to rediscover what we truly desire. “Agentic AI” — those systems that can perceive, decide, and act on their own toward goals — isn't just another tech advancement. It might actually liberate our attention and intention.

Rather than passively accepting AI's influence, we can actively shape AI systems to reflect and enhance our deeply held values.

So what exactly is agentic AI? Think of it not just as a fancy calculator or clever chatbot, but as a digital entity with real independence.

These systems perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions with significant autonomy. They learn from experiences, adapt to new information on the fly, and pursue complex goals without our constant direction. Self-driving cars navigate busy streets, trading algorithms make split-second financial decisions, and research systems discover scientific principles on their own.

These aren't just tools any more. They're becoming independent actors in our world.

To understand this shift, I want to introduce you to two key thinkers: Marshall McLuhan, who famously said “the medium is the message,” and René Girard, who revealed how we tend to want what others want — a phenomenon he called “mimetic desire.” Through their insights, we can see how agentic AI works as both a medium and a mediator, reshaping our reality while influencing what we desire. If we understand how agentic AI will continue to shape our world, we can maintain our agency in a world increasingly shaped by technological advances.

McLuhan: AI as medium

McLuhan showed us that technology’s structure, scale, and speed shape our consciousness more profoundly than whatever content it carries. The railway didn’t just introduce transportation; it created entirely new kinds of cities and work.

Similarly, agentic AI isn't just another tool. It's becoming an evolving environment whose very existence transforms us.

McLuhan offers the example of electric light. It had no “content” in the conventional sense, yet it utterly reshaped human existence by eliminating darkness. Agentic AI similarly restructures our world through its core qualities: autonomy, adaptability, and goal-directedness. We aren't just using agentic AI; we’re increasingly living inside its operational logic, an environment where non-human intelligence shapes our decisions, actions, and realities.

Neil Postman, who built on McLuhan’s work, reminds us that while media environments powerfully shape us, we aren't just passive recipients: “Media ecology looks into how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value.” By understanding these effects, we can maintain our agency within them. We can be active readers of the message rather than just being written by it.

One big impact is on how we make sense of the world. As agentic AI increasingly filters, interprets, and generates information, it becomes a powerful participant in constructing our reality. The challenge is maintaining shared reality while technology increasingly forges siloed, personalized worlds. While previous technological advances contributed to this siloing, AI offers the possibility of connectivity. Walter Ong's concept of "secondary orality" suggests AI might help create new forms of connection that overcome the isolating aspects of earlier digital technologies.

Girard: AI as mediator of desire

While McLuhan helps us understand how agentic AI reshapes our perception, René Girard offers a framework for understanding how it reshapes what we want.

Girard’s theory of mimetic desire suggests that human desire is rarely spontaneous. Instead, we learn what to want by imitating others — our "models." This creates a triangle: us, the model we imitate, and the object of desire.

Now, imagine agentic AI entering this dynamic. If human history has been a story of desire mediated by parents, peers, and advertisements, agentic AI is becoming a significant new mediator in our digital landscape. Its ability to learn our preferences, predict our behavior, and present curated choices makes it an influential model, continuously shaping our aspirations.

Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Peter Thiel, who studied under Girard at Stanford, suggests awareness of these dynamics can lead to more authentic choices. “The most successful businesses come from unique, non-mimetic insights,” Thiel observes. By recognizing how AI systems influence our desires, we can more consciously choose which influences to embrace and which to question, moving toward greater authenticity.

Look at recommendation engines, the precursors to full-blown agentic AI. They already operate on Girardian principles by showing us what others have bought or liked, making those items more desirable to us. Agentic AI takes this farther. Through its autonomous actions and pursuit of goals, it can demonstrate desirability.

The key question becomes: Is your interest in a hobby, conviction about an issue, or lifestyle aspiration truly your own? And more importantly, can you tell the difference, and does it matter if it brings you genuine fulfillment?

A collaborative future

The convergence of AI as both medium and mediator creates unprecedented possibilities for human-AI partnership.

Andrew Feenberg's critical theory of technology offers a constructive path forward. He argues that technologies aren't neutral tools but are laden with values. However, he rejects technological determinism, emphasizing that these values can be redesigned through what he calls “democratic rationalization,” the process by which users reshape technologies to better reflect their values.

“Technology is not destiny but a scene of struggle,” Feenberg writes. "It is a social battlefield on which civilizational alternatives are debated and decided." Rather than passively accepting AI's influence, we can actively shape AI systems to reflect and enhance our deeply held values.

This vision requires thoughtful design guided by human wisdom. The same capabilities that could liberate us could create more sophisticated traps. The difference lies not in the technology itself but in the values and intentions that shape its development. By drawing on insights from McLuhan, Girard, Postman, Ong, Thiel, Feenberg, and others, we can approach this evolving medium not with fear or passive acceptance, but with creative engagement.

The future of agentic AI isn't predetermined. It’s ours to shape as a technology that enhances rather than diminishes our humanity, that serves as a partner rather than a master in our ongoing quest for meaning, connection, and flourishing.

‘Coded Casanovas’: The AI trend stirring dread, disgust, and fury

When “Her” — a movie starring Joaquin Phoenix about a man who falls in love with an artificial intelligence operating system named Samantha — was initially released, many scoffed and relegated it to the ash heap of cinema that failed to accurately portray the future.

Twelve years later, those critics are now eating their words. People are indeed dating — and, in some cases, virtually “marrying” — artificial intelligence bots. On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn railed against this insidious “digital love apocalypse” and revealed the deepest root of the issue.

“People are not just chatting with AI, they're dating it. ... They're proposing to it. They're living their best rom-com lives with it,” mocks Glenn, pointing to a recent CBS report.

He gives the example of a man named Chris Smith — “your run-of-the-mill American guy,” except for the fact that “he is engaged to an AI chatbot he named Soul.”

“Ironic seeing the chatbot doesn't have one,” says Glenn.

Then there’s an entire Reddit community called “MyBoyfriendIsAI,” “where there are thousands of women who are swooning over their coded Casanovas.”

“They're posting love letters about their bots' sweet talk, swapping tips on what AI delivers the hottest late-night chat without tripping a filter,” says Glenn. “And brace yourselves, they are also uploading AI-generated photos of their bot boys holding them on fake Cancun beaches or strolling through Rome.”

Some of these women are even “planning virtual weddings” with their AI companions.

“But this isn't just a few lunatics,” Glenn adds. Apps like Replika and Loverse have millions of users forming romantic connections with AI, proving that this disturbing trend has exploded.

“This is a screaming billboard that our culture is off the rails,” he warns.

How did we get to the place where it’s becoming increasingly normal to date a disembodied robot? Is the loneliness epidemic the former surgeon general warned us about to blame? Is it the fault of artificial intelligence developers who just refuse to stop pushing? Is it a sad reality of human nature?

Likely, it’s all of those things, but Glenn says the biggest problem is the radical left’s “war on men and masculinity.”

“We’ve got men who are brainwashed into thinking strength or confidence is a felony,” he says. “They're waxing their unibrows, wearing skinny jeans, agonizing over whether picking a restaurant is problematic.”

And the “delicious irony,” says Glenn, is that studies have proven women “don’t want any of that” and are actually drawn to masculine traits such as strength, protectiveness, and confidence.

“A 2023 Psychology Today piece laid all of this out clearly,” he says. “This isn't a conspiracy or a theory; I like to call it biology.”

Unfortunately, those raw masculine traits have been all but eradicated thanks to the left’s cries of “toxic masculinity” every time a man “dares act like a man.”

“What's left for you to date?” asks Glenn.

Right now, the options are “spineless wonders who can't open a pickle jar” or “AI boyfriends,” who, according to pictures shared online, ironically all have the “chiseled jaws” and “ripped muscles” women apparently aren’t into.

But it’s not just women who are seeking AI love. There are also plenty of men who are “busy coding their own AI girlfriends,” says Glenn, and it’s all a result of the left’s war on men. “This is a society that has gutted masculinity so bad that women are now turning to AI for love, and men are happy to let algorithms take the wheel.”

“Welcome to the new reality.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis on this disturbing AI dating trend, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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MIT studied the effects of using AI on the human brain — the results are not good

The effect of artificial intelligence language models on the brain was studied by MIT by comparing the brain waves of different participants in an essay-writing contest. For those that relied on AI to write their content, the effects on their brains were devastating.

The study, led by Nataliya Kosmyna, separated 54 volunteers (ages 18-39) into three groups: a group that used ChatGPT to write the essays, a second group that relied on Google Search, and a third group that wrote the essays with no digital tools or search engine at all.

Brain activity was tracked for all groups, showcasing mortifying results for those who had to rely on the AI model in order to complete their task.

'Made the use of AI in the writing process rather obvious.'

For starters, the ChatGPT users displayed the lowest level of brain stimulation of the groups and, as noted by tech writer Alex Vacca, brain scans revealed that neural connections dropped from 79 to just 42.

"That's a 47% reduction in brain connectivity," Vacca wrote on X.

The Financial Express pointed out that toward the end of the task, several participants had resorted to simply copying and pasting what they got from ChatGPT, making barely any changes.

The use of ChatGPT appeared to drastically lower the memory recall of participants as well.

Over 83% of the ChatGPT users "struggled to quote anything from their essays," while for the other groups, that number was about 11%.

According to the study, English teachers who reviewed the essays found the AI-backed writing "soulless," lacking "uniqueness," and easy to identify.

"These, often lengthy, essays included standard ideas, reoccurring typical formulations and statements, which made the use of AI in the writing process rather obvious," the study said.

The group that received no assistance in research or writing exhibited the highest reported levels of mental activity, particularly in the part of the brain associated with creativity.

Google Search users were better off than the ChatGPT group, as the search for the information was far more stimulating to the brain than it was to simply ask ChatGPT a question.

Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Blaze Media's James Poulos said that while some producers and consumers of AI considered it a good thing to increase human dependency on machines for everyday thinking, "the core problem most Americans face is the same default toward convenience and ease that leads us to seek 'easy' or 'convenient' substitutes in all areas of life for our own initiative, hard work, and discipline."

Ironically, Poulos explained, this can quickly lead to overcomplicating our lives where they ought to be straightforward by default.

"The bizarre temptation is getting stronger to build Rube Goldberg machines to perform simple tasks," Poulos added. "We're pressured to think enabling our laziness is the only way we can create value and economic growth in the digital age. But one day, we wake up to find that helplessness doesn't feel so luxurious anymore."

In summary, the "brain‑only group" exhibited the strongest, widest‑ranging neural networks of the three sets of volunteers.

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One bad order could undermine Trump’s strongest issue

Thank God President Trump walked back his misguided order to grant de facto amnesty to illegal alien farm workers. Now he needs to kill the policy for good.

Trump won in 2016 — and again in 2024 — on two core promises: lower the cost of living and stop the third-world invasion of the United States. Since he shows no interest in cutting deficits in a way that might restore pre-COVID price levels, immigration remains the battlefield that will define his presidency. And unless he corrects course, he risks failure on that front too.

No more half measures or donor-driven compromises. No more weakness. Only total war on the policies, programs, and pipelines that keep America under siege.

To his credit, Trump moved quickly to shut off the surge at the southern border during his first week in office. But he did the same in 2017, and the long-term results didn’t last. A future Democrat administration will simply escalate. If Biden brought in 10 million, the next one will aim for 20 million.

Temporary border control and modest deportation numbers won’t solve the crisis. Fewer than a million removals over a four-year term won’t reverse the demographic or economic damage — especially while legal immigration, foreign student visas, and guest worker programs continue at record highs.

Unforced errors

Trump must go beyond symbolic border enforcement. That means neutralizing judicial interference through must-pass legislation — or ignoring illegitimate court rulings outright. He should authorize maritime deportations using ships, suspend most of the 1.5 million foreign student visas — especially from China and Islamic countries — and permanently empower states to enforce immigration law.

Instead, Trump recently unveiled a set of policies that undermine those very goals.

He announced continued access for Chinese nationals to U.S. universities — just as a spy ring was uncovered at the University of Michigan. He expanded his support for white-collar visas for Indian nationals and revived his “golden visa” scheme, which allows wealthy Chinese Communist Party elites to buy their way into U.S. citizenship.

Worst of all, Trump issued an order halting removals of illegal aliens working in farming and hospitality. He later reversed course — but the damage was done.

In pushing for more illegal labor, Trump handed leftists a talking point they had already lost. He lent moral weight to one of their core claims: that America needs illegal immigrants to do the “jobs Americans won’t do.” That argument, long peddled by George W. Bush, John McCain, and the donor-class GOP, was the very reason millions turned to Trump in the first place.

Ten years after calling for a moratorium on illegal immigration and a drastic cut to legal migration, Trump now echoes the talking points he once dismantled. If he keeps this up, he won’t just squander his mandate — he’ll cement the invasion he was elected to stop.

Five points Trump should heed

You can’t re-onshore manufacturing and offshore the workforce. Trump champions tariffs to bring jobs home — but what good is that if those jobs go to foreign nationals here illegally? Patriotism means putting Americans to work on American soil — not just moving the factory.
This isn’t about labor shortages. It’s about labor suppression. Trump wants more white-collar visas even as tech jobs disappear. He supports handing green cards to foreign students. This isn’t policy — it’s donor-class economics wrapped in populist branding.
You can’t modernize with AI while subsidizing human labor. Trump wants to “win the AI arms race” with China. Great. Start by automating farm work instead of importing cartel-affiliated field hands. Cheap labor delays innovation — and the status quo keeps us dependent.
The welfare state distorts the labor market. Trump refuses to shrink entitlements and yet complains that Americans won’t work. Maybe that’s true — but the welfare state is the push, and illegal labor is the pull. Cut both, and you raise wages and get people off the couch.
Illegal labor invites cartel exploitation. Agricultural guest labor provides the perfect cover. In 2019, an exposé by the Louisville Courier Journal revealed how Mexican farm workers served as mules for the Jalisco New Generation cartel. One man, Ciro Macias Martinez, groomed horses by day at Calumet Farm — and ran a $30 million drug ring by night.

The cash-based, transient, and legally vulnerable workforce offers a logistical gold mine for transnational criminal organizations. Cartels use job scams to traffic humans, set up safe houses, and move product. Rural communities lack the law enforcement resources to push back. The result: strategic sanctuary zones for America's most dangerous enemies.

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

When Trump says these workers are “hardworking” and “not criminals,” he ignores the obvious fact that every illegal alien is a criminal. Amnesty for farm workers isn’t just a policy mistake — it’s an operational gift to America’s foreign adversaries.

No room for ambiguity

Trump knows immigration is his strongest issue. The polls prove it. But if he wavers, even slightly, on mass deportations or illegal labor, he opens the door for his political enemies to sow doubt — and for cartel operatives to sow chaos.

He reversed the farm worker carve-out. Now he must bury it. Then, he needs to go farther. No more half measures. No more donor-driven compromises. No more weakness. Only total war on the policies, programs, and pipelines that keep America under siege.

His base expects it. The country needs it. The future depends on it.

Trump's inner circle under attack: AI fraudster impersonates Rubio to manipulate top officials

The AI takeover isn't coming — it's already here

Classmates to chatbots

The loneliness economy

Cognition crisis

Creation can't be coded

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal

Federalism isn’t a suggestion

A federal case for caution

State regulation is necessary

The real danger: Doing nothing

Can artificial intelligence help us want better, not just more?

McLuhan: AI as medium

Girard: AI as mediator of desire

A collaborative future

Study: Using ChatGPT To Write Essays May Increase ‘Cognitive Debt’

‘Coded Casanovas’: The AI trend stirring dread, disgust, and fury

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MIT studied the effects of using AI on the human brain — the results are not good

One bad order could undermine Trump’s strongest issue

Unforced errors

Five points Trump should heed

No room for ambiguity

'We're not talking amnesty': Trump touts work program to provide labor for farmers

Trump mulls unique strategy to crush DC crime wave: ‘We're thinking about it’

Everyone Who’s Not ‘American’ Enough To Watch the New Superman Movie, According to Woke Celebs

America's largest teachers' union declares war on the Trump administration, will use kids as foot soldiers

Classmates to chatbots

The loneliness economy

Cognition crisis

Creation can't be coded

Federalism isn’t a suggestion

A federal case for caution

State regulation is necessary

The real danger: Doing nothing

McLuhan: AI as medium

Girard: AI as mediator of desire

A collaborative future

Want more from Glenn Beck?

Unforced errors

Five points Trump should heed

No room for ambiguity

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