Melania Trump, Amazon partner to release new film about her life in theaters worldwide

By Brooke Singman | Fox News

Incoming first lady Melania Trump joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss life after the 2024 presidential election, motherhood, her new memoir, 'Melania,' and how she is helping others with her new USA-themed ornaments. 

The documentary will be released in the second half of 2025 and executive produced by Mrs. Trump

Amazon Prime has exclusively licensed a documentary film for global theatrical and streaming release that will give viewers an "unprecedented behind-the-scenes look" at First Lady Melania Trump's life, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Fox News Digital has learned that the project is expected to be released globally in theaters and for streaming use in the second half of 2025. 

Filming for the upcoming documentary began in December 2024. The documentary will be executive produced by First Lady Melania Trump and Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media, with Brett Ratner of RatPac Entertainment serving as director. 

Prime Video is expected to share more details on the project as filming progresses, and will release plans when finalized, Fox News Digital has learned. 

"We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. 

The announcement comes just weeks before Mrs. Trump will return to the White House as first lady of the United States of America. 

It also comes months after the release of her first-ever book, "Melania." The memoir presents an intimate portrait of Melania Trump and includes personal stories and family photos she had not previously shared with the public. 

"Melania" has been at the top of the New York Times’ best-selling list since its release to the public. 

In November, just days after President-elect Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States, Mrs. Trump also rolled out a digital photography series to highlight her life on the 2024 campaign trail and at home. 

Trump told Fox News Digital in an interview last year that if she had the privilege to serve as first lady again — which she will, beginning on Jan. 20, 2025 — she would continue to prioritize initiatives focused on the well-being and development of children to ensure they have the "support and resources they need to reach their full potential." 

First Lady Melania Trump visits the Children’s Inn at National Institutes of Health on Valentine’s Day on on February 14, 2020 in Bethesda, Maryland. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

"My focus would continue to be creating a safe and nurturing space for children to learn, grow and thrive," she said.  

During the first Trump administration, Mrs. Trump hosted virtual roundtables on foster care as part of her "Be Best" initiative and focused on strengthening the child welfare system. She worked with members of Congress on legislation that secured funding for grants awarded to youth and young adults currently or formerly in foster care to help pay for college, career school or training. The bill ultimately was signed by then-President Donald Trump in December 2020.

Since leaving the White House, the former first lady has also created special edition Non-Fungible Tokens. A portion of those proceeds also went toward her initiative "Fostering the Future" to secure educational opportunities and scholarships for children in the foster care community.

Former President Donald Trump is joined by his wife Melania Trump following his address at the Republican National Convention, on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

"Fostering the Future" students are currently enrolled in multiple colleges and universities across the country, with areas of focus primarily on technology and computer sciences. 

"Writing my memoir has been an amazing journey filled with emotional highs and lows," Mrs. Trump told Fox News Digital last year. "Each story shaped me into who I am today." 

She said that "although daunting at times, the process has been incredibly rewarding, reminding me of my strength, and the beauty of sharing my truth." 

The Featured Legacy Makers

To view "Celebrating African American Resilience and Excellence Across Generations" which features multiple Legacy Makers, visit that section of the National Black Republican Association website.

What a delightful surprise I experienced when I did a Google search, using the title of my book, and discovered that, in addition to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as numerous other booksellers around the county, Walmart is selling my book! Above is the updated image of my book that features the award symbol.

For those who are interested, you can see the Google search at this link.

Celebrating African American Resilience and Excellence Across Generations. Featured Legacy Maker Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.

GUION STEWART BLUFORD JR. (Born 1942) is an Aerospace Engineer who became the first African American to travel into space in 1983. A former Air Force officer and fighter pilot, he made four trips to space. In 1978, he was one of 35 individuals selected from 10,000 applicants in NASA’s first competition to become space shuttle astronauts. On August 30, 1983, he rode into Earth orbit on the Challenger Space Shuttle Mission. By the time he retired from NASA in 1993, he had spent more than 28 days in space over four missions and was later inducted into the United States Astronaut Hal of Fame.

Celebrating African American Resilience and Excellence Across Generations. Featured Legacy Maker Mae C. Jemison

MAE C. JEMISON (Born 1956) is an Astronaut and Doctor who became the first African American woman to travel in space with the Endeavour Space Shuttle Mission on September 12, 1992. She applied for the astronaut program at NASA in 1987 and was one of the 15 people chosen out of over 2,000 applications. She left NASA in 1993 after serving as an astronaut for six years. Jemison is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. She has been inducted into the Texas Science Hall of Fame, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the National Medical Association Hall of Fame, and the International Space Hall of Fame.

'Rules for Thee' Alert! NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Is Apparently Exempt From Her Own 'Climate Laws'

By Doug P. | Twitchy.com

Meme Screenshot

Late last month we told you about New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to make residents of her state rediscover the joys of walking by making fuel unaffordable. Hochul's new plan would basically make fossil fuel companies pay for any kind of damages that New York Democrats feel like blaming on climate change, because they sell the fuel that gets burned by vehicles, thereby making the weather worse, or something. 

Energy companies won't want to be based in New York after this: 

New York state will fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate under a bill Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law on Thursday.

The law is intended to shift some of the recovery and adaptation costs of climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas and coal companies that the law says are liable. The money raised will be spent on mitigating the impacts of climate change, including adapting roads, transit, water and sewage systems, buildings and other infrastructure.

Hochul will make fossil fuel companies pay for their contributions to the "climate crisis," but guess who won't be made to pay for her contributions?

From the New York Post:

Gov. Hochul — who recently approved a controversial law that will force oil, natural-gas and coal companies to pony up $75 billion for carbon emissions allegedly contributing to global warming — has taken at least 30 flights aboard private jets since 2021, state Board of Elections records show. 

The $415,000 tab was picked up by her campaign committee, records show. 

“It’s very wasteful, especially for an elected official. There is no reason why any elected official in New York should be taking a private jet. Nearly everywhere in New York or upstate has a [commercial] airport that will take you anywhere in the country. New York is one of the most well-connected places on the planet,” said a local pilot experienced in private aviation. 

Hochul flew with two private-airline companies, Zephyr Jets and Apollo Jets, in the last four years. It is unclear what the destinations were, but no flight cost less than $5,000 while her most expensive was trip was billed Jan. 17 for $38,594.00, records show.

"Fossil fuels for me but not for thee" is a familiar mantra from these hypocrites. 

If these people want the rest of us to believe there's a "climate crisis" they should first act like they believe it.

The "climate crisis" nonsense is all about trying to force the private sector pay for their own refusal to balance a budget.

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RELATED ARTICLE

Here’s Proof That Environmentalism Doesn't Motivate the ‘Green Energy’ Industry

By Matt Margolis | P J Media.com

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file

It’s hard to imagine anything more misguided than cutting down a state forest to build a solar panel farm. Yet, that’s exactly what Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is moving ahead with, as it plans to clear 420 acres of state forest near Gaylord, Mich., for solar energy development. 

According to MLive, this project comes ”as the DNR faces dwindling revenues from hunting and fishing licenses, and Michigan falls behind building enough renewable energy fast enough to risk not meeting a key state climate goal – 100% clean energy by 2040.”

Apparently, the solution to meeting absurd and arbitrary climate goals is to chop down thousands of trees. As a kid, I remember learning about the devastating consequences of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Apparently, if you slap some solar panels on the cleared land, it's suddenly okay. Who knew?

This decision raises serious questions not only about the environmental trade-offs but also about the underlying motivations driving such an absurd policy.

How much more evidence do you need that the green energy industry isn’t actually motivated by environmentalism? Clearing forestland — a vital resource for carbon sequestration and wildlife habitats—to install solar panels is the very definition of counterproductive. Forests play a critical role in offsetting carbon emissions, yet the DNR seems content to sacrifice this natural climate defense for the optics of a “green” project.

And let’s not pretend that the DNR is oblivious to these trade-offs. Officials, including Scott Whitcomb, expect backlash, and for good reason. This is a glaring contradiction to Michigan’s own Healthy Climate Plan, which advises against land-use changes that increase greenhouse emissions. But the DNR insists this project is worth it because of its proximity to a major power transmission line, minimizing the need for new infrastructure. In other words, convenience is being prioritized over environmental integrity.

In fact, there is already ample evidence that this project will not have a net benefit for the environment.

Deforesting land for renewable energy has become the focus of recent scientific study. Evidence from both Harvard University and Chinese researchers shows the loss of carbon-dioxide gobbling forests for solar installations results in a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions – the air pollution which fuels the accelerating climate crisis.

That means it’s counter-productive to the climate fight to clear cut forests, even for renewable energy sources which don’t pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. That’s simply how good forests are at turning carbon-dioxide into oxygen through natural photosynthesis.

This plan is nothing short of an environmental and policy disaster. Cutting down forests to make way for solar farms isn’t just counterproductive — it lays bare the flawed logic of so-called “green” initiatives that ignore the broader environmental impact. Forests are irreplaceable for carbon sequestration and biodiversity, and sacrificing them for the sake of optics undermines the very climate goals these projects claim to support.

If Michigan were truly committed to sustainability, it would prioritize repurposing already-developed land or exploring less destructive renewable energy alternatives. Instead, the state is gambling away its natural heritage for short-term political wins and financial convenience. This isn’t just shortsighted; it’s reckless.

Such projects raise serious questions about the motives behind the green energy industry and the politicians who champion these initiatives. Are they driven by genuine environmental concerns, or is this another case of profit and politics masquerading as progress? Michigan’s residents deserve better than empty promises and misguided policies. This plan demands nothing less than firm, vocal opposition.

Celebrating African American Resilience and Excellence Across Generations. Featured Legacy Maker Benjamin Banneker

BENJAMIN BANNEKER (1731 - 1806) was a Mathematician, Astronomer, and Author. He is celebrated for assisting with surveying the land that became America’s National Capital, Washington, DC. His almanacs were published between 1792 and 1797, and included astronomical calculations, as well as opinion pieces, literature, medical information, and tidal information useful to fishermen. As a result of his almanac writings, he had the opportunity to exchange letters with Thomas Jefferson about black achievements. Banneker became one of the most famous African Americans in early United States history.

Law Professor Nails Why Judge Merchan Is Sentencing Trump on January 10.

By Matt Vespa | Townhall.com

Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP, File

President-elect Donald J. Trump will be sentenced on January 10, but there will be no jail time, not that was ever a concern. The laws and statutes got so contorted that even CNN’s Elie Honig, the network's chief legal analyst and former assistant US attorney, couldn’t defend it, aptly calling it a total disaster of a case. In essence, Trump only got convicted because Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team perverted the rule of law. 

Law professor Jonathan Turley nailed why Judge Juan Merchan wants to get this wrapped on January 10. It’s to give the liberal media the talking point they’ve salivated over for months: Trump is a convicted felon, and now he’s being sworn in as one on Inauguration Day: 

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Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley

Judge Merchan just set Trump for a sentencing shortly before his inauguration. As some of us predicted, he is indicating that he will impose an unconditional discharge without jail or probation. The sentence will finalize the case and allow for an appeal. However, it would also label the President-elect a convicted felon just before he is sworn into office. It is the final cathartic act for lawfare warriors. We will also finally be able to see an appeal of his case. While there are low expectations for the New York court system, the sentencing will allow the full array of alleged errors by Merchan to be placed before appellate judges.

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It’s a consolation prize for the anti-Trump lawyers who tried repeatedly and failed to nail Mr. Trump. Bragg’s team even tried to postpone sentencing until 2029, which was laughably transparent. That was never going to happen. Then again, Turley added that when an appeal is filed, which is likely, all of Merchan's reported misdeeds will be laid bare. Trump’s communication team didn’t hold back, with Steven Cheung, incoming White House communications director, taking a blowtorch to the judge: 

Today’s order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence. This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed. President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts. There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.

The best part is that no one cares that he’s a convicted felon. No one. He won. Kamala lost, and the Democrats lost. Deal with it.  

We do not care because the actual crook is leaving, half brain-dead, but he’s leaving.

BREAKING: We Have a Speaker, On the First Vote

By Jennifer Van Laar | RedState.com

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

After the 119th Congress convened Friday morning, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was again elected Speaker of the House - on the first ballot. GOP conference chair Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan gave a speech nominating Johnson, while Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), House Democratic Caucus Chair, nominated Hakeem Jeffries.

The vote was not without drama. Initially, Johnson received 216 votes to 215 votes for Jeffries; three representatives (Massie, Norman, and Self) voted for others. After about 30 minutes, Johnson, Norman, and Self exited the chamber, presumably to talk about how to move their votes to Johnson's column.

About 20 minutes after that, Norman and Self changed their votes to Johnson, bringing his total to the magic 218 number.

After the chaos surrounding the continuing resolution battle in December, numerous GOP members proclaimed a change in House leadership was needed. As of Friday morning, roughly a dozen GOP members were undecided on whether they'd vote for Johnson or not, while GOP whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) said he was confident that Johnson had the votes to win. By the time the vote began, that number had allegedly been whittled down; Reps. Eli Crane and Greg Steube told CNN as they entered the House chamber that they were going to vote for Johnson, and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) signaled that she, too, would vote for Johnson.

President-elect Donald Trump was especially vocal in his endorsement of Johnson, aiding in whipping votes by calling Republican holdouts - a marked departure from his actions in 2023, when now-former Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker after 15 rounds of voting. From CNN:

“I think the speaker will do very well. He’s a fine man. He’s a very fine individual, he’s religious, he’s smart, he’s strong. Everybody likes him. Everybody respects him,” Trump said in a brief phone interview.

The president-elect confirmed CNN’s reporting that he had been in touch with Republican holdouts, including GOP Rep. Chip Roy. When asked what he was telling these Republicans, Trump said he wasn’t “telling them anything.”

“I’m just saying, Look, we had the greatest presidential election. We won the popular vote by millions of votes. We had a great, we had a great election, and it would be nice to cement the election with an election here. I mean, that would just be a big, beautiful exclamation point,” he said.

Fox News' Bret Baier reported immediately before the vote that Trump did not reach out Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who emphatically stated that he was a no vote on Johnson.

As my colleague Joe Cunningham wrote, there were never really any alternatives:

Critics within the party who oppose Johnson have floated names like Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and Tom Emmer as potential replacements. But here’s the problem: none of them have the necessary votes to secure the speakership. This lack of alternatives underscores the practicality of keeping Johnson at the helm. Attempts to oust him would only plunge the House into chaos, a scenario Republicans are keen to avoid with pivotal legislative priorities looming.

But not only do they not have the votes, they have also come out and endorsed Johnson - so the speculation that they are potential rivals seems absurd.

With that, Donald Trump secures a key victory ahead of confirmation battles in the Senate.

Celebrating African American Resilience and Excellence Across Generations. Featured Legacy Maker Sarah Boone

SARAH BOONE (1832-1904) was an Inventor and became one of the first African Americans to receive a patent. She acquired her patent on April 26, 1892, for her ironing board improvements that consisted of a wooden board with collapsible legs that made ironing clothes neatly possible. She was inspired to make this invention because, as a dressmaker, she had difficulty ironing the bodies of women’s garments and sleeves, using a table or a plank between two chairs that was the normal practice.

The National Nightmare Is Ending

By Victor Davis Hanson

Trump Invictus is now liberated!

Après Biden, “L'audace, l'audace, encore l'audace, toujours l'audace”!

To paraphrase mixed French 18th-century memorable quotations: after Biden, follows not the deluge, but now daring, and still more daring, and always more daring.

Why?

A combination of two self-evident truths.

Joe Biden’s inept administration proved an ungodly disaster, not just for America but for the West as well, who looked abroad for a stronger America but found it weaker.

And second, Trump Invictus is now liberated—“In the fell clutch of circumstance/I have not winced nor cried aloud,/Under the bludgeonings of chance/My head is bloody, but unbowed.”

He is without worry over another election, or a discredited and defanged media (“so doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons”), much less a third Nancy-Pelosi contrived  impeachment.

Instead, he stalks indomitable, after failed de-balloting capers, failed lawfare vendettas, and failed two assassination attempts. To quote Shakespeare of his recent visit to Notre Dame and the once hostile Euro crowd who now mobbed him, “He doth bestride the narrow world /Like a Colossus, and we petty men /Walk under his huge legs and peep about /To find ourselves dishonorable graves”.

In sum, our weakest president is to be followed by our most audacious.

Biden’s bumbling arrogance nearly destroyed the American military in Kabul. It ruined Western deterrence. It showered the creepy Taliban with a multibillion-dollar new windfall arsenal.

His lies, his incompetence, and, yes, his narcissism demoralized Americans and our allies, but at least ensured he would never reach 50 percent approval again.

What immediately followed from the Kabul nightmare was as bad or indeed worse: two theater-wide wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, appeasement of Iran, hammering of Israel, a nonexistent US border, 12 million illegal aliens, the hyperinflation of staples, the weaponization of the executive branch, Third-World lawfare, looting and shoplifting legitimized, spiking crime contextualized, and printing trillions of debased dollars normalized.

Biden sought to turn the once preeminent US military into a cruel cultural woke joke.

The trainwreck of the last four years was force-multiplied by Biden’s own feebleness, masked by the most scandalous media-politico conspiracy of suppresson of it in US history.

But now there is a giddy sense that restoration and normalization are not just possible but on the horizon.

The truth now is set free, and it smothers the old lying denials about the origins of COVID, about the truth of diversity/equity/inclusion, about the naked greed of the Biden family syndicate, about the dementia of Joe, about the chauvinism of three sexes, and about the joy and momentum of the fracking, gun-toting, MacDonald’s veteran and border hawk Kamala Harris.

No one fears or listens to the now defenestrated frauds and tiring dissimulators: the Bidens, a Fauci, Mayorkas, Garland, Milley, Austin, Jean-Pierre, Comey, Brennan, Clapper, or McCabe—and their old lies that Hunter is brilliant, Biden is fit as a field, no gain-in-function viruses, a bat caused COVID, the border is secure, Chinese army generals are more trustworthy than Trump, the laptop was Russian, Trump is a Putin puppet, and always their nauseating “I can’t recall”, “ I don’t remember”,  “I have no recollection”, and “I am not at liberty to say”.

Our allies are feeling more confident, our enemies scared.

The idea of an impending deterrent and reliable Trump administration has terrified Iran and helped collapse Syria. Israelis buoyant. Not so Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

In anticipation, the dollar reigns, the stock market stays strong.

Even Trump’s traditional enemies, whether on Wall Street, Silicon Valley, or in corporate board rooms are whispering that they secretly are delighted with their old nemesis’s dream of more and cheaper energy, less government regulation and taxation, and confidence again that everything is now possible when a government says an exhilarant yes to dreams rather than a crabby no to them.

Suddenly the woke bullies are on the run. The porous border really can be closed; illegal alien gangs and criminals will be sent packing.

The Left now invokes no Logan Act. They are instead relieved that the President-elect is now the virtual President—and their guy is gone.

Biden yelps now that his sins were not doubling down on them and sinning even more when he had the chance.

In other words, the recently impossible is not just possible again, but likely!

Each of us, at least for this brief window of opportunity, again feels, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

Make America Great Again Victory Rally at Capital One Arena

Join President Trump at Capital One Arena for a victory rally you'll never forget!

Event Details:

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Starts at: 03:00 pm (US/Eastern)

Doors Open: 11:00 am

Capital One Arena

601 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20004

You may only register up to (2) tickets per mobile number per event. All tickets are subject to first come first serve basis.

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE TICKETS.

It will be President Trump’s final rally before he is sworn in a second time as US President.

The Terrorist Who Attacked New Orleans Was Recently Radicalized and Went Insane in His Final Months.

By Matt Vespa | Townhall.com 

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The FBI Houston office stated a developing situation in the area. As it turns out, they were cordoning off the trailer home of the New Orleans attacker, Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, who killed 15 people on New Year’s Day. He drove a Ford truck through a crowded area on Bourbon Street and opened fire on innocent bystanders before being taken down by police. He had an ISIS flag hanging on his vehicle, and reports show that he was recently radicalized. 

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Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 @kristina_wong

“The terrorist who killed at least 10 people…was an American-born military veteran who was living in a run-down trailer park where he kept sheep and goats in the yard — just blocks away from the local mosque.”

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CLICK HERE TO READ THE ALL OF THIS ARTICLE.

Two Terror Attacks Linked?

By Ed Morrissey | HotAir.com

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Two different cities. Two different modus operandi. Two different outcomes, for that matter. But could the mass murder in New Orleans and the bizarre apparent bombing in Las Vegas be connected?

Investigators apparently don't believe in coincidences:

The Colorado Springs resident suspected of detonating a Tesla Cybertruck in front of a Las Vegas hotel and the Texas man accused of driving a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans served at the same military base, sources told Denver7 Investigates.

Authorities were investigating the link as a possible connection between the two New Year's Day attacks, those sources said.

Matthew Livelsberger is accused of renting a Cybertruck in Colorado Springs, driving it to Nevada and packing it with firework mortars and gas cans before exploding it in front of the Trump International Hotel in Vegas Wednesday morning, killing himself and injuring seven others. Shamsud-Din Jabbar is suspected of plowing through a crowd of New Year’s revelers in the French Quarter hours earlier, killing at least 15 and injuring dozens more in an attack that sent shockwaves through a famous New Year's destination the morning of a scheduled College Football Playoff game.

Did they know each other while serving at the same base, reportedly Fort Bragg? Investigators will have to answer that question, as well as whether they remained in contact. Since both perps died in their own attacks, getting their communications records should be easier for law enforcement, including computers, cell phones, and social-media footprints. However, bear in mind that Fort Bragg (as well as most other such bases) routinely houses tens of thousands of troops at any one time, so it's very possible that the two men never came into contact at all, even if housed there in the same period.

Andy Ngo did a little digging into Livelsberger's background: 

Livelsberger is also a U.S. Army veteran, like the New Orleans ISIS terror suspect. Livelsberger's LinkedIn is no longer online but there are ghost remnants of his background:

• Special forces intelligence sergeant

• Defense analysis and strategic studies degree from Norwich University

First question: Are we sure this is the perp? It seems to me that a special-forces sergeant would know how explosives work and could construct a more effective IED than a Cybertruck filled with camping gas containers and fireworks mortars. Even the Oklahoma City bomber knew how to do that, while lacking specialized training and field experience.

Assuming the identification is accurate, though, Livelsberger's resumé doesn't appear to overlap much with Jabbar's background:

Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

Claims that Jabbar served in the military began to emerge on social media in a video showing a man by the same name discuss his military experience in a 2020 YouTube post.

 Jabbar was also five years older than Livelsberger, so their overlap may be even more tenuous. It's not impossible that these two engaged while in the Army and worked together on these terror attacks, but so far there aren't any obvious connections except to the resort to terrorism.

There is another potential point of overlap, though: Both men used the Turo system to rent the vehicles they used as weapons in their terror attacks. This still could be a coincidence, however. Turo is a "peer to peer" rental service, a version of AirBnB but for vehicles rather than residences. Presumably, villains of this sort would consider Turo less regulated and intrusive than traditional car rental services and therefore preferable in case they survived their plots. Anyone planning a malevolent use of their vehicles might also find a vehicle more suited for purpose than would be available through traditional rental agencies. 

The Army base link looks more promising, but the two attacks also have significant dissimilarities. Jabbar made his purpose clear in both the style of attack and the use of an ISIS flag on his weapon of choice. Livelsberger's purpose seems much less clear, so much so that one has to wonder whether he meant to detonate the explosives at that particular time and place. The juxtaposition of the Tesla Cybertruck and the Trump resort looks like a political message, but one much different than Jabbar's. 

Speaking of which, Elon Musk has decided to be as transparent as possible about the details of the attack. His Tesla platform gets a prodigious amount of real-time information from its vehicles, data that Musk used to tamp down speculation about a battery-system failure ... and to brag about the construction of the Cybertruck:

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Elon Musk @elonmusk

The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. 

Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.

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Nick Sortor @nicksortor

🚨 #BREAKING: Las Vegas Police release new video of the exploded Cybertruck outside of the Trump Hotel, showing explosive ordinances in the back

Police credited the lack of damage to the Trump Hotel to the strength of the Cybertruck, as it remained mostly intact.

“The explosion went up and out.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO.

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I'm not a fan of the Cybertruck's look, but after this incident, no one can doubt its design and construction. You can't blame Musk for pointing that out under these circumstances.

But assuming Livelsberger is the perp, he did choose the Cybertruck, and must have had a reason to do so, because it is an unusual choice for a rental and even more so for the purpose of a terror attack. One has to imagine that Livelsberger intended to send a message with both the vehicle and the location of the attack (assuming the detonation there was no accident), and that lends itself to a political motive that's more domestic and less involved with religion or foreign policy. Nevertheless, that still makes it an act of terrorism, even if the only fatality it produced was that of the terrorist himself.

Still, there are too many coincidences here to feel as though there are no connections at all between the two attacks within the same 24-hour period. Let's hope law enforcement can conduct a thorough and competent investigation of both and then be honest about what they find. So far, the FBI's off to a bad start on both counts in New Orleans. 

Celebrating African American Resilience and Excellence Across Generations. Featured Legacy Maker Lonnie G. Johnson

LONNIE G. JOHNSON (Born 1949) is an Inventor, Aerospace Engineer, and Entrepreneur who Invented the “Super Soaker,” in 1989, a hugely popular pump-action water toy gun that was added to the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2015.

Johnson joined the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to the Strategic Air Command, where he helped develop the stealth bomber program. In 1979, Johnson joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working as a systems engineer for the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn, before returning to the Air Force in 1982. 

After his military career, he became president and founder of Johnson Research and Development Co., Inc., a company that focused its efforts on developing a new generation of rechargeable batteries to provide greater energy in a smaller form. In addition to working on batteries, Johnson and his team are developing the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC), an engine that converts heat from solar energy into electricity more effectively than current technology.

Gun Control Is Racist

By John Stossel | Townhall.com

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Media scream, "Too many people have guns!"

Second Amendment activist Maj Toure says more people should carry guns.

"Everybody should be walking around," he says in my new video, "like, 'Oh man, I left my gun in the house. Let me go back and get it.' It should be as normal as a cellphone."

Activists and some politicians want gun control.

Toure says, "All gun control is racist!"

All?

"It was literally started to stop Black people from having the means to defend themselves."

He's right. In the 1600s, American colonies had rules against Blacks owning guns.

"It's a good thing we don't like being told what human rights we have," says Toure. "I'm an American. I go by the Constitution."

Few Americans know that anti-slavery hero Harriet Tubman carried a gun most of the time.

"She needed to," says Toure. "If it wasn't for strong women like Harriet Tubman, liberty-minded people saying, nah, (slavery) is not cool, not OK, a contradiction of the Founding Fathers, what they wrote down (not what they all did, but what they wrote down). She wouldn't have had the bravery to oppose that during a time when opposition meant death. More people should think about that right."

What about today? I ask, "Is gun control still racist?"

"Absolutely!" he says. "Look at the outcome. Take California ... (you have to get) a state-issued license to carry. If you live in Oakland, Compton, in Los Angeles County, the chances of you getting a license, even though the Second Amendment is clear, it's very little. But if you live in Brentwood, Orange County, Beverly Hills, the issue rate for that license to carry goes up. Which one of those areas is more predominantly Black and brown people?"

Similarly, "Who's arrested more for firearms possession? Black and brown folks ... the outcome being this group of people being disproportionately impacted by the racist practice of gun control."

That's why he started "Black Guns Matter," to encourage responsible gun ownership in Black and brown communities. His group runs firearms training classes.

"The narrative that anyone with a firearm is a bad guy is pervasive. Especially if you are in an urban environment and if you happen to be Black. ... White folks don't (have) to articulate their position in the same way. ... Black Guns Matter speaks to the problem.

"We saw that you guys are lying to the people. You're telling this group of people, no, that's not for you. Nowhere in the Second Amendment does it say anything about race. Government does not grant or take away these rights. So, for me it was more about informing. Black Guns Matter is about education. When you see that your people (have) been lied to, you (are) a sucker if you don't inform them."

A recent Pew study found roughly 24% of African Americans own guns now.

Toure says that's not enough, "Every American should be exercising their human right to self-defense. ... If the trend, which is true, continues, that there are more firearms owners, safe and responsible firearms owners, that means less crime. I absolutely want more people to have firearms ... catchphrases like: 'An armed society is a polite society.' Absolutely ... We need to give all Americans that level of empowerment. And with that empowerment comes responsibilities. That's why we present (Black Guns Matter) classes for everyone for free. We go over grip stance, side alignment, sight picture, general nomenclature ... safety."

"Should there be any rules?" I ask. "Should untrained people have to take a class?"

"No," he says. "I don't rely on the state to determine what's safe. Most law enforcement officers don't train. These are rights. The Bill of Rights are rights granted by your creator, not granted by government. ... A part of this culture is being safe and responsible and getting training. We can do that. ... So, no, the state is not in control of that. We are, 'we the people.'"