Burgum Orders Nearly 20 Million Acres In Alaska Opened For Oil, Gas Development

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has directed the Bureau of Land Management to “pursue steps to expand opportunities for exploration and development” of oil, gas, and mineral resources across nearly 20 million previously off-limits acres within Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR) and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The move was not unexpected after President Donald Trump issued a Jan. 20 ‘Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’ executive actions package mandating federal agencies “expedite permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects,” prioritize “development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas (LNG) potential,” and expand fossil fuel development in the 23-million-acre NPR and 19.6-million acre ANWR.

Burgum followed through with a Feb. 3 order requiring the Bureau of Land Management to “exercise all lawful authority” in developing a plan to implement the president’s policy.

“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” Burgum said in a March 20 press release announcing the directive.

The sweeping actions by Trump and Burgum, who also chairs the National Energy Dominance Council, rescind “all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions … promulgated, issued, or adopted between Jan. 20, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025,” essentially erasing dozens of actions related to Alaska by President Joe Biden and his administration.

During Trump’s first term, Congress directed the Department of Interior (DOI) to open a 1.56-million acre coastal plain area within ANWR’s Section 1002 to oil and gas drilling for the first time when it adopted the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the area could hold up to 11.8 billion barrels of oil.

However, the Biden administration auctioned only 400,000 acres in January 2025, drawing no bidders because “new severe restrictions” imposed in November 2024 made “any development economically and practically impossible,” Alaska argued in a Jan. 5 lawsuit that alleged DOI and the Bureau of Land Management were in violation of the TCJA.

Under the executive actions and Burgum’s directive, the bureau must now make the entire 1.56-million-acre ANWR coastal plain and 82 percent of NPR available for oil and gas leasing. More than 13 million of NPR’s 23 million acres had been off-limits to development for decades since at least 1980.

“For far too long, the federal government has created too many barriers to capitalizing on the state’s energy potential,” Burgum said.

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Trump Admin Chooses Boeing To Construct the ‘Most Lethal Aircraft Ever Built’

The Pentagon has awarded Boeing a billion-dollar contract to build the Air Force’s most advanced fighter jet, President Donald Trump announced Friday.

The Next Generation Air Dominance program will replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor with Boeing’s F-47, a sixth-generation jet designed to operate alongside drones in combat. While details of the new jet remain classified, the aircraft is expected to feature stealth capabilities, advanced sensors, and new engines, Reuters reported.

“The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built,” Trump said at the White House. “An experimental version of the plane has secretly been flying for almost five years, and we’re confident that it massively overpowers capabilities of any other nation.”

The new plane comes as part of a “family of systems” intended to “counter adversaries such as China and Russia,” according to Reuters. The contract is valued at more than $20 billion, with Boeing expected to receive hundreds of billions of dollars in orders.

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DR Congo Offers Trump Minerals in Exchange for Help with Rebels

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi wrote a letter to President Donald Trump in which he offered extensive mineral rights to the U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund in exchange for military assistance against the Rwanda-backed insurgent group M23.

The February 8 letter, which has not officially been disclosed to the public, was allegedly reviewed by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday.

“Your election has ushered in the golden age for America,” Tshisekedi told Trump. “Our partnership would provide the U.S. with a strategic advantage by securing critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Tshisekedi asked Trump for unspecified military assistance and a “formal security pact” to push back M23, which has been advancing from the eastern reaches of the DRC to capture key cities and threaten the capital of Kinshasa.

A spokeswoman for Tshisekedi’s office confirmed the authenticity of the letter and said negotiations with U.S. officials over the DRC’s natural resources are already underway. A source told the WSJ that the White House National Security Council (NSC) requested a briefing on Tshisekedi’s proposal.

“The DRC is interested in partnering with the Trump administration to end the conflict and stop the flow of blood minerals via Rwanda,” Tshisekedi’s spokeswoman said.

The White House, on the other hand, refused to comment on the letter, which it described as “private correspondence to the president.”

The WSJ noted that the DRC has been separately attempting to work out a deal for securing its mining operations with former Blackwater CEO and founder Erik Prince. Blackwater is long gone, having been sold off in 2010, but Prince is involved with other private security operations and he is an outspoken supporter of President Trump.

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Trump EPA Cancels Funding for Nancy Pelosi’s and Ilhan Omar’s Pet Climate Projects

The EPA canceled two multimillion-dollar environmental justice grants that Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) helped to secure just weeks before President Donald Trump took office, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Pelosi helped secure a $20 million grant awarded to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to help develop six green transportation projects—including the purchase of an electric bus, installation of electric ferry charging ports, and creation of a bike-share program. “This project will create a cleaner, greener city where reliable public transportation promotes equity and opportunity for all San Franciscans,” Pelosi said in a statement announcing the grant in December.

Omar, meanwhile, was involved in securing a $10 million grant to build solar panels and energy efficiency upgrades at the Minneapolis American Indian Center and develop a geothermal energy system at the Sabathani Community Center. The partnership between the two Minneapolis-based community centers would strengthen the resilience of an area that is “home to low-income communities disproportionately impacted by climate change,” Omar wrote to the EPA months before the agency awarded the grant.

“Recent examples of the importance of these two legacy organizations includes [sic] their response to the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd and how they served as critical resources throughout the pandemic,” she wrote in the letter obtained by the Free Beacon.

The Minneapolis partnership and San Francisco development projects, a source familiar told the Free Beacon, are among the more than 400 environmental justice and DEI-related grants that EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, in collaboration with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, has canceled in recent weeks.

The EPA’s actions to revoke the grants highlight the EPA’s and, more broadly, the Trump administration’s efforts to curb spending. Zeldin ordered EPA officials to conduct a line-by-line review of grants disbursed by the Biden administration. Overall, the Trump EPA has clawed back more than $1.7 billion awarded under the previous administration and terminated eight grants worth $20 billion for a “green bank” program.

“It is our commitment at EPA to be exceptional stewards of tax dollars,” Zeldin said this month.

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‘Anti-Trump’ Hollywood Stars Request Administration’s Help With AI Copyright Protections, Sending An Open Letter

A number of Hollywood stars who previously slammed President Donald Trump’s administration are now reportedly seeking its assistance in enforcing artificial intelligence (AI) copyright protections — as the entertainment industry fights back against the impact of the new technology.

Actor and director Ben Stiller, musician Paul McCartney, and actor Mark Ruffalo are among the over 400 entertainment figures who signed an open letter to President Trump’s administration this week.

“We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” the letter began, which was addressed to the Trump administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President. Congress established the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to provide the president and Executive Office of the President (EOP) with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of national policy and the work of the executive branch. This includes matters of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the environment, education, and resource management, according to the White House.

“America’s arts and entertainment industry supports over 2.3M American jobs with over $229Bn in wages annually, while providing the foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad. But AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion-dollar corporate valuations,” the group’s letter continued.

For years, companies training AI tech have purportedly collected copyrighted art, books, music, and other creative mediums of entertainment without paying for it. The companies can then create their own works while profiting from the “stolen” material.

“For nearly 250 years, U.S. copyright law has balanced [a] creator’s rights with the needs of the public, creating the world’s most vibrant creative economy,” it added. “We recommend that the American AI Action Plan uphold existing copyright frameworks to maintain the strength of America’s creative and knowledge industries, as well as American cultural influence abroad.”

The letter is in response to submissions placed by Google and OpenAI, requesting the ability to train their own AI models on copyrighted material.

“The federal government can both secure Americans’ freedom to learn from AI and avoid forfeiting our AI lead to the PRC by preserving American AI models’ ability to learn from copyrighted material,” OpenAI’s letter read.

The entertainment industry’s letter continued, countering OpenAI’s point: “There is no reason to weaken or eliminate the copyright protections that have helped America flourish. Not when AI companies can use our copyrighted material by simply doing what the law requires: negotiating appropriate licenses with copyright holders – just as every other industry does.”

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Trump to Strip Legal Status from 532,000 Migrants Flown in on Biden Parole Program

President Trump is set to strip the status of 532,000 migrants living in the United States who were flown in on Joe Biden’s parole program.

Recall that Joe Biden brought in more than a half a million migrants Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on his CHNV program.

CBP data found that over 1 million illegal aliens have been allowed into the US through what the Biden Regime defined as “legal” means.” The Biden-Kamala admin used the CBP One App and the CHNV program to allow illegals entry into the US.

These numbers are not included in the millions of illegals that have entered the US under Joe Biden’s watch.

It was previously reported that 81% of the Haitian migrants from Biden’s parole program – 362,000 out of 448,000 – were flown into red states.

Last month it was reported that one of the Haitians who entered the US on Biden’s parole program was charged with triple murder, including two children.

President Trump is revoking the migrants’ legal status and telling them if they don’t self deport they will be arrested.

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President Trump Issues a Dire Warning as Radical-Left Judges Continue to Sabotage his Agenda – Also Calls Out Chief Justice John Roberts

President Trump has had enough of the far-left activist judges subverting his agenda and making a mockery of the U.S. Constitution.

As The Gateway Pundit has extensively reported, these black-robed tyrants have used their unhinged hatred toward the 47th President as an excuse to override many of his perfectly legal executive orders. These include crazy rulings overturning the military’s transgender ban, blocking attempts to deport dangerous illegal aliens, and several rulings against DOGE.

Late Thursday night, Trump responded to all of this by issuing a dire warning: the danger of this judicial activism is so “unparalleled” it could lead to the end of America.

How can a President do his job when the courts will sabotage him every step of the way?

“Unlawful Nationwide Injunctions by Radical Left Judges could very well lead to the destruction of our Country! These people are Lunatics, who do not care, even a little bit, about the repercussions from their very dangerous and incorrect Decisions and Rulings,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Lawyers endlessly search the United States for these Judges, and file lawsuits as quickly as they find them. It is then the obligation of Law abiding Agencies of Government to have these “Orders” overturned. The danger is unparalleled!”

Trump continued by pointing out the ‘judges’ wanted the full power of the presidency with none of the responsibilities. Trump added that his job requires him to make rapid decisions with lives potentially hanging in the balance.

“These Judges want to assume the Powers of the Presidency, without having to attain 80 Million Votes. They want all of the advantages with none of the risks,” he continued. “Again, a President has to be allowed to act quickly and decisively about such matters as returning murderers, drug lords, rapists, and other such type criminals back to their Homeland, or to other locations that will allow our Country to be SAFE.”

He then called out Chief Justice John Roberts, who is currently hiding under his desk while these leftist ‘judges’ try to destroy America.

“It is our goal to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and such a high aspiration can never be done if Radical and Highly Partisan Judges are allowed to stand in the way of JUSTICE. STOP NATIONWIDE INJUNCTIONS NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump concluded. “If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!”

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Trump Signs Order Eliminating Department Of Education “Once And For All”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said all the critical functions of the Department of Education will remain, ahead of President Trump signing an executive order to dismantle the federal agency.

“The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today. As you know, the president’s executive order directed Linda McMahon to greatly minimize the agency. So, when it comes to student loans and Pell Grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education,” she told reporters at the White House, referring to McMahon, the Education secretary. 

“The great responsibility of educating our nation’s students will return to the states. Any critical functions of the department … will remain,” Leavitt added.

Leavitt’s comment comes as the president said he wants the department completely eliminated, but that would require an act of Congress, which is unlikely to happen since 60 votes would be needed in the Senate.

*  *  *

As Zachary Stieber detailed earlier, via The Epoch TimesPresident Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on March 20 that will facilitate the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, taking a step toward fulfilling a campaign pledge.

The order, which has been under preparation for weeks, will be signed at a White House event with several Republican governors and state education commissioners in attendance, as confirmed by the White House. The plan was first reported by USA Today.

Trump will direct his recently confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all required steps to prepare for the closure of the Education Department and transfer its authority to the states, according to a White House fact sheet obtained by NTD TV, sister media of The Epoch Times.

According to the fact sheet, the order also aims to ensure that, throughout the process, there is no disruption in the delivery of services, programs, and benefits that Americans rely on.

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Under Trump CIA Escalates Role In Failed Mexican Drug War

Donald Trump has found a new mission for the CIA—ramping up secret drone flights over Mexico to track and hunt down leaders of Mexico’s drug cartels.

The New York Times reported in mid-February that the CIA’s covert drone program over Mexico, first initiated by the Biden administration, has proved useful in helping the Mexican government to locate fentanyl labs, which emit chemicals that make them easy to find from the air.

During the 2024 election, Trump called for the death penalty for drug dealers. Then on January 20, he signed an executive order calling for a major crackdown on Mexico’s cartels, which have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization—a label that sets the groundwork for potential U.S. military operations directed against them.[1]

On February 28, the Trump administration secured the extradition of 30 prominent Mexican cartel leaders, including Rafael Cara Quintero, a founding member of the Sinaloa drug cartel who was convicted in Mexico of masterminding the 1985 assassination of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.[2]

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President Not Allowed To Solve Problems He Was Elected To Fix, Judges Order

There’s no doubt that if President Trump used his executive authority to increase hiring at federal agencies, allow in a million more destitute migrants at the southern border, and fast-track the high-ranking of trans service members, not a single judge would have ordered him to stop.

It would have never happened because in America 2025, the judiciary has made it impossible to ever fix severe problems Americans elect a president to address. The only thing a president can do on his own, according to their orders and rulings, is make the problems worse. To grow the government, flood the country with foreigners, and normalize antisocial behavior is always legal and legitimate. Joe Biden did it with impunity. But to oppose any of it is to get smacked down by some district judge who can’t stop raving about the “Hamilton” musical.

It’s been utterly surreal this week to watch court after court tell the head of the executive branch that he has no control over his own administration’s agencies (including the Defense Department), that he can’t decline to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on his political opposition’s domestic priorities, and that he’s required to halt deportations of alleged foreign terrorists.

D.C. District Court Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, on Tuesday prohibited the Defense Department from ending accommodations for trans-identifying service members, an early order from the president for the purpose of military “readiness.” Reyes, who earnestly cited the “Hamilton” musical in her order, effectively made herself commander of the armed forces, a job description that was previously exclusive to the president of the United States.

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