They covered Christ — Trump just brought Him back to light



Jesus is coming back — to the walls of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

In a sharp reversal of the Biden administration’s campaign to scrub religious symbols from public institutions, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week that a painting of Jesus covered up in 2023 would be restored to public view. The announcement drew cheers from merchant mariners gathered at the academy.

Under the previous administration, erasing Jesus from the walls was just the beginning. But that all changed the moment President Trump took office.

The painting, titled “Christ on the Water,” dates to the 1940s and was created to honor mariners lost at sea during World War II. But in early 2023, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation sent a letter to then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, calling the artwork a “sectarian painting illustrating the supremacy of Jesus Christ” and demanding that it be removed as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

Naturally, Buttigieg complied. Joanna Nunan, the academy superintendent — whose biography boasted of her efforts to expand “diversity and inclusion” in the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine — ordered the painting covered.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and then-Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) slammed Nunan for her “flawed understanding” of the First Amendment and called on the academy to keep the painting on display. At the time, academy midshipmen warned that “woke” ideology had “seeped into the school” — and that its spread had only accelerated under Biden and Buttigieg.

Duffy’s announcement marks a clear break from that era and shows just how dramatically things have shifted under President Trump.

Last week’s announcement isn’t the only recent move by the administration to defend America’s religious heritage.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins announced that his office intervened to stop a speech code threatening chaplains at a Pennsylvania VA hospital.

The action came after First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center sent a letter to Collins on behalf of Chaplain Rusty Trubey. An Army Reserve chaplain, veteran, and former missionary, Trubey has served at the Coatesville VA Medical Center for nearly a decade.

In June 2024, as part of his regular duties, Trubey led a chapel service and preached from the first chapter of Romans. After the service, while cleaning up, he was approached by a VA police officer who said complaints had been filed about his sermon.

After the incident, the VA removed Chaplain Trubey from his duties, launched a months-long investigation, and threatened to mark his permanent record. Though the VA eventually dropped the reprimand, his supervisor pushed to impose a sermon review process and revise the Chaplain SOP and Performance Plan to limit what topics chaplains could preach on. Had those changes taken effect, chaplains could have faced punishment for preaching in accordance with their religious convictions.

Secretary Collins reversed course, stating clearly: “There is no national or local policy or standard operating procedure which inhibits Chaplain sermons. To the extent that there have been any proposed changes to any existing policy, those proposals will not move forward and have been rescinded.”

He emphasized, “It is undisputed and well-settled law that constitutional protections and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act safeguard statements made by all VA chaplains while delivering sermons in line with their ecclesiastical endorsers.”

Under the previous administration, erasing Jesus from the walls was just the beginning. Erasing faith from the pulpit soon followed. We can only imagine what the landscape would look like if the November election had gone the other way.

But that all changed the moment President Trump took office.

In his first days, Trump issued executive orders to restore religious liberty and end the weaponization of the federal government against political dissent — a tactic increasingly common in the left’s push to enforce its woke ideology. From the start, the administration made clear that faith would not be silenced.

That mission hasn’t let up. The fight to restore our first freedom has been relentless.

And to that, many Americans say amen.

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'Anti-Christian activist' viciously attacks DOT Sec. Duffy for seeking return of Jesus painting at Merchant Marine Academy



A New York-based activist group successfully pushed in 2023 to have a historic painting depicting Jesus Christ covered up at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where it had been proudly displayed for 76 years without incident. The alleged motivation behind this act of iconoclasm, which resulted in the painting's exile to the building's flood-prone basement, was to create "a welcoming environment."

When Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signaled earlier this month that the painting might soon make a triumphant return, Mikey Weinstein, the head of the iconoclastic activist group, let his mask slip, revealing there might be some prejudices lurking behind his iconoclastic campaign.

Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, whom Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) previously dubbed an "anti-Christian activist," viciously attacked Duffy, Trump supporters, and midshipmen supportive of the painting's return in a statement shared with the Christian Post and the Daily Kos.

"tRump's [sic] Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is clearly bereft of any semblance of morality, ethical standard, or constitutional legality (obviously required with all MAGA filthy, ignorant, hateful, bigoted scum) and is merely throwing rotting dripping, fetid, red meat to the Christian Nationalist MAGA fascists in America, who are clearly sprinkled among the USMVA midshipmen, staff and faculty," wrote Weinstein.

The activist, whose demand in 2023 USSMA Superintendent Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan apparently took seriously, added, "Duffy is simply a stray, feral dog, lifting his leg and urinating a rancid fundamentalist Christian fealty on what MAGA fascists now apparently view as a front yard lawn toy rather than an honored cornerstone of the defense of our constitutionally created secular democratic republic."

The painting

The painting that has Weinstein all bothered is a heritage asset under the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration titled "Christ on the Water."

According to the USMMA, the 10'x19' painting "depicts an image of Jesus and merchant seamen adrift in a lifeboat, presumably after being torpedoed in the Indian Ocean during World War II."

'The painting is perfectly in keeping with the Establishment Clause.'

It was painted on sail canvas by Lt. Hunter Wood in 1944 as a tribute to all merchant seamen.

Wood joined the U.S. Coast Guard with the rank of chief boatswain's mate 10 days after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He saw action during the invasion of North Africa in late 1942. Wood subsequently served as an artist in the Coast Guard Combat Artist Unit. He later joined the U.S. Maritime Service, with which he remained until the end of the war, advancing to lieutenant commander.

Wood's painting hung for seven decades in the Elliot M. See Room of the USMMA's Wiley Hall, which served from 1942 to 1961 as an interfaith chapel.

The complaint

The academy indicated that in early January 2023, it received a complaint about "Christ on the Water," suggesting it somehow sent an "improper message of preferred faithin violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution."

Weinstein, claiming to represent 18 midshipmen, faculty, staff, and graduates at the academy, demanded in a Jan. 10 letter obtained by the Christian Post that Nunan "expeditiously remove a massive, sectarian painting illustrating the supremacy of Jesus Christ."

"The outrageousness of that Jesus painting's display is only further exacerbated by the fact that this room is also used regularly for USMMA Honor Code violation boards where midshipmen are literally fighting for their careers, and, often even more, as they face the shameful ignominy of potential expulsion with prejudice if found guilty of USMMA Honor Code violations," wrote the activist.

Initially, the academy decided to keep the painting up but discontinue use of the room for official business. Accordingly, members of the community interested in viewing the painting were free to do so. Those who shared Weinstein's hostility were free to avoid the painting altogether.

On Jan. 26, 2023, the academy — which supplies some officers to the U.S. military, at least 70% of which is Christian — announced that it had chosen to cover the painting with curtains and install a plaque describing the work's history.

"The curtains will remain closed when official Academy meetings and events are conducted," said the statement. "This solution balances legal requirements with the concerns of those who have an interest in the painting."

The decision to oblige the iconoclasts prompted a petition and letters to Nunan from various lawmakers, including Banks and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) demanding the painting's unveiling.

Cruz noted:

The relevant constitutional question is whether the Academy's display of the painting meets the requirements of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. As a long-standing display that is consistent with the history and tradition of the United States and its Maritime Service, it clearly does. Under the Supreme Court's standard for long-standing government displays, the painting is perfectly in keeping with the Establishment Clause.

Banks similarly underscored the lawfulness of hanging the painting in the academy, referring to a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that "historic displays with religious symbolism are not a violation of the Constitution."

'Let's let him out! Bring him up!'

Despite the backlash and indications that the removal was wholly unnecessary, multiple sources told Fox News Digital that the painting was moved to a chapel basement prone to flooding.

The return

During his April 4 visit to the academy, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed a room full of midshipmen. During his speech, he signaled support for the painting's return, stating, "Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?"

The audience burst into cheers, while scores of midshipmen leaped to their feet, applauding.

Duffy, a devout Catholic, continued, "Let's not put Jesus in the basement. Let's let him out! Bring him up!"

Since the USMMA falls under Duffy's purview, he is apparently able to restore the painting to its rightful place in the academy — something his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, proved unwilling to do.

The academy's Christian Fellowship Club launched a petition on April 7 to permanently move the painting into Ackerman Auditorium.

'I think we're returning to objective truth.'

The petition notes that "moving the painting to the Museum damns it. It declares, 'This is who the Merchant Marine used to be once upon a time long long ago.'"

"We declare to you, faculty and staff, that this painting represents the Regiment of Midshipmen today more so than ever before," said the petition. "Here us now: We identify with those sailors."

The tantrum

Unlike those gathered at the academy, Weinstein responded poorly to Duffy's remarks, going so far as to dehumanize midshipmen who dared signal support for the painting's return.

"To the cheering robustious throngs of Christian Nationalist midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant of Venice Academy, and to their dear MAGA fascist cheerleader Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, MRFF commands: 'Side Step HARCH!,' you stinking piece-of-s**t Christian Nationalist insects," wrote the activist.

Weinstein added in his statement that the return of the painting would "spark WORLD WAR 8."

The activist continued ranting in an unhinged YouTube video, where he suggested that midshipmen's cheering of Duffy was a "despicable, shameful disgrace of [their] oath to the U.S. Constitution" and characterized their support for the DOT secretary's remarks as cowardly.

"Jesus Christ represents ideals that are not specific to one group of people or another," Jackson Tolle, a midshipman in USMMA's class of 2026, told the Christian Post. "Ideals of sacrifice, ideals of love, compassion, and empathy; these are ideals and traits that we, as a culture, need to return to."

"Moral relativism has failed the country and the world, more so than any belief system ever really has," continued Tolle. "I think we're returning to objective truth."

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Trump threatens Mexico with tariff, sanction for violating water treaty and 'hurting' American farmers



President Donald Trump threatened Mexico on Thursday with tariffs and sanctions if it continues "stealing" water from Texas.

Trump's comments referred to a 1944 water treaty for the "Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande," which requires Mexico to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande every five years. The U.S. is required to send Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet of water every year from the Colorado River.

'We will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!'

The New York Times, based on International Boundary and Water Commission data, stated that from October 2020 to October 2024, Mexico provided only roughly 400,000 acre-feet of water, falling substantially short of its treaty obligations.

Last month, Trump threatened to cut off water to Tijuana over Mexico's failure to keep up its end of the deal, which the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs explained has been "decimating American agriculture — particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called Trump's action "excellent."

"This option is absolutely what the Trump administration needs to pressure Mexico to fulfill its obligations under the 1944 Water Treaty," he wrote in a post on social media. "Texas farmers are in crisis because of Mexico's noncompliance. I will work with the Trump administration to pressure Mexico into complying and to get water to Texas farmers."

On Thursday, Trump warned Mexico yet again, this time threatening to impose additional tariffs and "maybe even SANCTIONS."

"Mexico OWES Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but Mexico is unfortunately violating their Treaty obligation. This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

He said that Texas' only sugar mill was forced to close because Mexico has been "stealing the water" from farmers.

Trump credited Cruz for leading the effort to hold Mexico accountable and ensure that farmers are provided with the water they are "owed," noting that former President Joe Biden "refused to lift a finger."

"THAT ENDS NOW! I will make sure Mexico doesn't violate our Treaties, and doesn't hurt our Texas Farmers," Trump continued. "My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!"

Rollins thanked the president for his commitment to help farmers.

"Texans know a thing or two about facing down Mexico — especially when Mexico breaks its promises and takes what's ours," Rollins stated. "With your leadership, we're going to get that water we're due — for Texas, and for America."

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'How many men?' Ted Cruz demands answers from USA Fencing after male athlete was allowed to compete against women



Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked the national fencing body why it is not complying with federal mandates and gave a clear deadline for answers.

A male competed in a women's fencing tournament in Maryland at the end of March, which sparked a protest from one of the female athletes, who refused to compete against the man.

Female fencer Stephanie Turner forfeited her match against male Redmond Sullivan and was disqualified from the tournament, with officials stating that her DQ was due to her refusal "to fence an eligible opponent."

To make matters worse, as Blaze News previously reported, the male fencer had already seen great success in the women's division, accumulating two gold medals in just six events. This, despite the male athlete's highest achievement in the men's category being third place over the span of several years.

Senator Cruz decided to pen a letter to USA Fencing after the ordeal, dated April 7, and asked why the sport's national governing body was defying President Trump's executive order that requires women's competitions to remain solely for women.

"It has come to my attention that USA Fencing is still permitting men to compete in women's fencing in violation of federal law. I'm writing to ask why," the Texas Republican wrote.

Cruz added that in order to retain its recognition as a national governing body in the United States, USA Fencing must comply with Olympic and federal standards.

"If it does not, and instead continues to put women at risk, Congress may be forced to terminate USA Fencing's NGB's certification," Cruz warned.

After going into great detail about violations and different instances of unfairness to women, the senator noted that male fencers have natural advantages over female competitors.

"Men tend to be taller, have greater muscle mass, and more testosterone — all advantages for fencing movements like lunges, jumping, or leg power measures," Cruz explained.

Then, the senator gave USA Fencing a deadline of April 21 (two weeks) to respond to his inquiries about the sporting conditions for women in fencing. His inquiries included questions like, "How many men (or transgender women) currently compete in the women's division of USA Fencing?" and, "Does the USA Fencing Transgender and Nonbinary Policy comply with President Trump's EO on Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports? Why or why not?"

Cruz also wanted to know how many sanctioned bouts had occurred in fencing between men "or transgender women" and women and how many times the male won. He also asked about how many times a female suffered in an injury in one of those bouts.

Blaze News has reached out to USA Fencing to see if the organization has provided the senator with a response or if it has a general response about allowing men to compete in women's sports.

This article will be updated with applicable responses.

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Senators grill aviation leaders over 15,000 close calls at DC airport before deadly collision



Senators on Thursday grilled several aviation leaders during a hearing concerning the January midair collision between an America Airlines commercial jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that resulted in the deaths of 67 people.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, cited a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board in his opening statements, noting that the agency’s investigation found thousands of close-call incidents near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport over a three-year period.

'Specifically, even since the crash, certain safety measures that could have been simply implemented still have not been.'

“Sixty-seven lives that were lost on January 29 were taken prematurely in an accident that by all indications should have been avoided,” Moran stated.

He called the statistics in the NTSB’s preliminary report “alarming.”

“In a 13-year period, not a single month went by without at least one ‘close call’ between a helicopter and a commercial jet operating at DCA,” Moran continued. “Between October ’21 and December ’24, there were 85 incidents where the lateral separation between a commercial jet and helicopter was less than 1,500 feet and the vertical separation was less than 200 feet.”

The NTSB’s report stated that during the same period, of the 944,179 operations, 15,214 were considered “near midair collision events” between commercial planes and helicopters. The report defined those close calls as instances where two aircraft were “less than 1 [nautical mile],” or roughly 6,000 feet, of lateral separation and “less than 400 ft” of vertical separation.

The NTSB also found that “a helicopter operating over the eastern shoreline of the Potomac River would have about 75 ft of vertical separation from an airplane approaching runway 33, and this distance decreases if the helicopter is operated farther from the shoreline.”

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the NTSB, told senators, “There’s virtually no margin of error.”

Chris Rocheleau, the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting administrator, was pressed about how the agency failed to address the safety concerns.

“How did we get to this point?” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) asked Rocheleau. “It’s like it’s a series of errors here.”

“What office said this is a safe pathway in agreement when the NTSB is telling us today it never really was safe? It was an intolerable risk,” she stated.

Rocheleau explained that the airspace was redesigned several times in the past.

“When you talk about how did we get there, I think we’re going to learn more of that through the investigation,” he replied.

Rocheleau stated that the FAA’s air traffic system requires “modernization as soon as possible.”

“I can assure to the flying public: to fly is safe. We have the safest, most complex system in the world, and it is safe to fly. I would also say the air traffic system is in dire need of upgrade,” he said.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questioned Brigadier General Matthew Braman, the U.S. Army aviation director, about a controversial policy that allows flights to operate with the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, a key safety system, turned off.

“I find that shocking and deeply unacceptable. And I want to encourage the Army right now to revisit that policy and to revisit that policy today,” Cruz told Braman. “I can tell you, if the Army chooses not to, I have a high level of confidence that Congress will pass legislation mandating that you revisit the policy.”

Family members of the victims also attended the Senate hearing.

Dailey Crafton, the brother of 40-year-old Casey, a husband and father of three who died in the collision, told the Daily Caller that he was “surprised” by the safety lapses.

“Specifically, even since the crash, certain safety measures that could have been simply implemented still have not been. Accountability is still not being taken by parties who should be held responsible,” he said.

Tracy Brammeier, a partner at Clifford Law Offices, which is representing the families, stated, “The failure to share details about near-midair collisions, or to perform trend analysis on the history of such incidents, or otherwise take action to address the high number of occurrences is completely unacceptable.”

“All entities who failed to take action must be held accountable to the victims’ families and to the flying public,” Brammeier added.

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Jasmine Crockett admits she's not focused on lawmaking; recommends violence against Ted Cruz



The Democratic Party is setting all-time records with its unpopularity. According to a recent NBC News survey, only 27% of voters have a positive view of the party.

Rather than deliver legislative victories to improve upon this embarrassing statistic, some Democrats instead appear committed both to engaging in violent rhetoric and preventing President Donald Trump from delivering on his promises to the American public.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett made clear in a recent interview that she is one such Democrat.

Since rolling up to Congress in 2023, Crockett has introduced a few bills and partisan resolutions, including a bill that would direct the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to launch a pro-abortion propaganda campaign; a bill designating the month of August as "National Black Business Month"; and a bill ensuring that convicted criminals can vote nationwide.

KXAS-TV's Phil Prazan asked Crockett in an interview released Sunday whether she was trying to pass any legislation in the 119th Congress.

"'Trying to pass.' Uh, no," said Crockett. "You know, I should probably be a better politician and tell you, 'Yes, we've got all this amazing legislation that I can absolutely imagine Donald Trump signing into law.' I'm just not gonna lie."

'We've gotta get comfortable with letting our hair down a little bit.'

"I think that right now it is about preserving our basics and getting back some of the norms — the norms that make sure that people have food on the table; the norms that make sure that people aren't going through any extra layer of stress when it comes to figuring out education for their kids," continued Crockett. "So right now, I can tell you that, unfortunately, I am not working towards very much that I would consider being the progress train. I am working to make sure that I can minimize the regress train."

If Crockett's recent conduct and commentary serve as any indication, then the minimization of the "regress train" involves publicly rooting for foreign nations engaged in trade disputes with the U.S.; telling radicals that Elon Musk must be "taken down" amid firebombs; characterizing Republican voters as stupid; issuing racist remarks; mocking the handicapped; and dubbing the commander in chief "an enemy to the United States."

During the interview, Gromer Jeffers from the Dallas Morning News asked Crockett how she plans to "resist Trump's policies."

"The reality is that we're dealing with an administration that is lawless and disrespectful," said Crockett. "The idea that we're still going to be nice and friendly and kind and try to look for some sense of normalcy when we are literally living in a time that is anything but normal, I think that we've gotta get comfortable with letting our hair down a little bit."

"We clearly play ourselves by being like these, like, do-gooders, right," said the congresswoman. "It just needs to be clear that we're not weak. And I don't know that anybody believes that we're not weak."

Apparently desperate to make clear that she is neither friendly nor a do-gooder, Crockett appeared to advocate for violence against at least one Republican lawmaker.

When asked about how to win an election in Texas, Crockett said, "You punch. I think you punch. I think you're OK with — you OK with punching."

Crockett then referenced failed Colin Allred's electoral defeat last year by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and suggested the Democrat should have been more combative with his Republican opponent, saying, "I mean, like, this dude [Cruz] has to be knocked over the head, like, hard, right. Like, there is no niceties with him — like, at all. Like, you go clean off on him."

While Crockett's violent rhetoric was likely enough to confirm for critics her commitment to unfriendliness as a hands-off legislator, her mockery of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in a speech Saturday at a LGBT activist event in Los Angeles — calling him "Governor Hot Wheels" on account of his wheelchair — helped seal the deal.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) stated, "Jasmine Crockett is despicable."

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) noted, "FYI to the new spokeswoman for the Democrat party— @GregAbbott_TX became paralyzed after a huge oak tree fell on him, crushing his spine. But sure, go with 'hot wheels.'"

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