Crossroads with Joshua Philipp

Cryptocurrencies could soon be part of the U.S. national strategic reserve. During a recent event, President Donald Trump announced his administration is exploring ways to do this through bitcoin. The move follows another Trump order where he banned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), or government-backed digital currencies. Both actions could represent a break of the United States from a glo...

President Donald Trump is expected to abolish the Department of Education. A draft of the executive order was detailed by several news outlets ahead of the expected announcement, and this also aligns with what Trump had promised early in his campaign. The plan is to have the school systems handled by the states, and not by the federal government.

An anti-Trump resistance has formed within government agencies. A secret network of federal workers has organized to fight back against the Trump administration. The group is now working to form strategies and share information on encrypted apps. Alongside this, new U.S. intelligence shows that the Chinese regime is attempting to recruit disgruntled U.S. federal employees. In other news, the U.S....

The Department of Justice has recovered files on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that were allegedly withheld from release. The announcement was made by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who announced plans to make the Epstein files public. In other news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced he’s now ready to sign a rare earths deal with the United States and be a part of peace talks wit...

With the midterm elections coming up, there’s a legal battle starting over election laws and who controls them. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bring the Federal Election Commission (FEC) under White House scrutiny. Democrats say that this could undermine the independence of the FEC, which is in charge of enforcing campaign finance laws, and a new lawsuit could soon determine t...

Plans for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine broke down on live TV. In a discussion at the White House, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy argued with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance about the potential agreement. The deal is now on pause, and Trump has said Zelenskyy can come back when he’s ready for peace. In the meantime, Ukraine is turning to Europe for help, and this is spa...

The first batch of files on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has now been released by the Department of Justice. The files were first given to a handful of conservative influencers where photos at the White House showed them holding binders with the label “The Epstein Files, Phase 1: By order of Attorney General Pamela Bondi & FBI Director Kash Patel.” And now the DOJ has publicly released these...

The White House is ending the practice of letting an outside association decide who gets access to the president and who doesn’t. An organization known as the White House Correspondents’ Association used to control a good amount of press access to the White House, and now the Trump administration is replacing it with a new White House Press Pool while promising more access to new outlets. In other...

A new movement is underway to fix some of the causes of childhood chronic disease. This is being led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In addition to his role with HHS, he’s also the head of the President’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, which has influence over other departments and agencies. In other news, Kash Patel has now...

President Donald Trump has a new plan for the District of Columbia, and is suggesting the federal government should take over the nation’s capital. His plan is a counter to those who believe it should, instead, be granted statehood. And in other news, Kash Patel has now been confirmed as the new director of the FBI.

There is now a new push for the United States to decouple from China, including a campaign for large-scale divestment. These measures could also serve as part of a broader undercurrent to President Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs and, ultimately, could signal the beginning of a new global trade war. At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party shows increasing signs of its preparations for war...

Despite the legal pushbacks it’s now facing, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is moving forward with audits and reviews of government agencies. And now, just in time for tax season, DOGE staff have arrived at the headquarters of the IRS. The federal tax collection agency is now facing an investigation into any potential waste, and also a review of its practices.

An alleged drone attack hit the Chernobyl nuclear reactor site in Ukraine and was able to pierce the shield of the facility that experienced a nuclear disaster during the Cold War. The attack took place as President Donald Trump is trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, as well as efforts in Europe that could keep the war going.

It’s possible that Americans could someday get a license to hunt drug cartel members. A U.S. senator has suggested that “letters of marque and reprisal” going back to the early 1800s could again be activated. The program under one of the U.S. Founding Fathers, President James Madison, allowed people to receive government licenses to become privateers to fight pirates, and it allowed them to attack...

A battle is taking place in Washington over the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk. Democrats are declaring that the United States is now in a constitutional crisis, as the Department of Government Efficiency moves to halt funding, audit agencies, and fire government employees. In response to this, President Donald Trump has issued another executive action to f...

Many policies of the Trump administration are now being openly challenged by judges. This includes moves to block several of the administration's key policies—including the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—as well as freezes on spending cuts, holds on buyouts of federal employees, and many other measures. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is arguing that the court orders...

It turns out President Donald Trump wasn’t joking when he suggested Canada could become the 51st U.S. state. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was caught on a hot mic stating that Trump isn’t joking about the suggestion, and Trump also confirmed the intent during a recent press conference. In other news, it appears that Trump was likewise serious about diverting IRS agents to work on border s...

The Department of Government Efficiency is facing legal challenges as it attempts to investigate the U.S. Treasury. The case is raising questions over the legalities of the department, which has been uncovering alleged overspending and other issues in the federal government. Yet the program actually isn’t new. It goes back to the Obama administration, which established not only its legality, but a...

The United States could soon have a very different tax system. The Trump administration has now unveiled its list of tax priorities. This includes campaign promises like no tax on tips, as well as other reforms. While it doesn’t go as far as the near elimination of federal income tax that some have floated, it does appear to be aimed at reducing the amount of taxes for the average American. In oth...

The Department of Government Efficiency’s investigations into the U.S. Agency for International Development have now revealed that several news outlets were receiving millions in government funds. This includes government funding that was going to many corporate news outlets like Politico. Not only that, the White House has also released a list showing wasteful spending by the USAID, including for...

The Trump administration has now obtained a list of FBI employees who were involved in cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Despite early attempts to block the list from being handed over, the FBI has now given the Justice Department a list of all employees who were involved in investigations and criminal cases related to the incident. This allegedly includes the names of 5,000 FBI e...

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Elon Musk has gained access to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). And the investigations of what the USAID has been funding are now sparking a national debate. The agency is now being moved under the State Department and could serve a different mission going forward.

Non-governmental organizations tied to the process of mass migration into the United States have now been defunded. The announcement came from the Department of Homeland Security, and it has brought attention to government grants and funding that were going to NGOs accused of helping facilitate the border crisis. In other news, the United States has placed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and ad...

It’s now being determined whether the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda will become a reality. On Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat before the Senate for the first day of his confirmation hearing. If he gets confirmed, he’ll become the new head of Health and Human Services, and with that, bring his stated plans to get harmful chemicals out of American food products, and to begin reforms...

Federal income tax could be coming to an end in the United States. President Donald Trump first floated the idea when he was on the campaign trail, and it now seems he was serious. At a recent event, Trump discussed how the United States could replace income tax by using tariffs instead.