China’s Trump Card, Problems From Mass Migration, Bulgaria Set to Join the Euro

Fusion is the energy of the future—and always will be, as the saying goes. Fusion power is the almost magical solution to our energy problems, and it always seems just tantalizingly out of reach.

Who will make it work on an economical basis first? The U.S.? China? Our main story today shows the surprisingly strong focus Germany’s new government has put on fusion energy. Could it become the world leader for the most important technology of the future?

[BRIEF]

China’s Trump card: China’s domination of rare earth metals is giving it a crucial edge in its trade war with the U.S.

China is supposed to have eased restrictions on rare earth metals as part of its 90-day tariff truce. However, it is slow-walking approvals of mineral exports. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that major U.S. carmakers are weeks away from shutting down. Ford already had to pause production of the Ford Explorer for a week due to these shortages. Rare earth minerals are critical for electric motors, so they’re essential for electric vehicles. But even more traditional vehicles need electric motors for windshield wipers, power windows and power seats.

U.S. could relocate some of its manufacturing to China to try to get around the restriction—the opposite of what President Trump is trying to achieve. They would incur extra tariffs, but it may be the only way for them to get their metals.

Last week, Mr. Trump said China had “totally violated its agreement with us.” Yesterday, he wrote that Xi Jinping is “very tough, and extremely hard to make a deal with!!!” He has said that he would like to talk with Xi soon.

Axios wrote, “The trade war has exposed just how deeply the U.S. economy is at the mercy of an accident of geology.” But that’s not true. America has plenty of rare earth minerals, it just chooses not to mine them. Environmental regulations make them very expensive to obtain, but even companies that believed they could mine them more cleanly were blocked. In 2023, the Biden administration put a 20-year ban on mining in the Superior National Forest, blocking access to Minnesota’s massive mineral wealth. Other projects are stuck in bureaucratic limbo.

Fixing this will take time. Mines have to be built and opened. And China has used its dominance to develop refining techniques that the West doesn’t have.

The Bible warns of a sinning America being besieged—cut off from essential goods from around the world. This is just a small taste of what China and others will soon do to the nation if it doesn’t repent.

Immigration to the U.S. is down, but the problems caused by mass migration remain. First the good news: U.S. murder rates are down 20 percent so far this year, according to data published by the White House on Tuesday. Migration control and deportations are just part of that figure, of course.

But this weekend’s attack in Boulder, Colorado, carried out by an Egyptian in the country illegally after overstaying his visa, shows the danger that remains. A Biden-appointed judge blocked the deportation of the attacker’s wife and five children, yesterday, all of whom are in the U.S. illegally although the attacker had filed an asylum claim for himself and his family.

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker said that Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups probably took advantage of the Biden border chaos to send in sleeper agents, the Daily Mail reported today. Around 400 suspected terrorist group members are known to have entered the country.

Two Chinese scientists were arrested for smuggling a toxic fungus that could be used as an “agroterrorism weapon,” the FBI announced on Tuesday. Fusarium graminearum can infect grain and rice crops, and cause vomiting, liver damage and reproductive problems in people and animals. Yunqing Jian received funding for this kind of research in China before moving to work at the University of Michigan. Her boyfriend has also done research on the fungus and had articles such as “Plant-Pathogen Warfare Under Changing Climate Conditions” on his phone.

“The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals—including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party—are of the gravest national security concerns,” said U.S. attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. “This case is a sobering reminder that the ccp is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences … putting American lives and our economy at serious risk,” said fbi Director Kash Patel.

To address some of the dangers of migration, President Trump announced a new travel ban yesterday barring entry for nationals from 12 countries—including Afghanistan, Iran and Haiti—with those from seven other countries—such as Venezuela, Laos and Cuba—facing tougher restrictions.

“The border crisis is the result not of incompetence but of treason,” we wrote last year. “The UN and various drug cartels bring migrants to the U.S. border, but it is radical, Obama-connected U.S. officials who open the border.” Read our article “Exposed: The United States Invasion Route” to learn about the agenda behind it.

Bulgaria is set to join the euro after the European Central Bank and European Commission announced that it had met all the requirements yesterday. Eurozone finance ministers will vote to confirm this on July 8, paving the way for Bulgaria to adopt the currency on Jan. 1, 2026.

The Bulgarians aren’t so keen, with 43 percent in favor of adopting the currency but 50 percent opposed. Most would like a referendum on the issue, but the Constitutional Court opposes that, saying that as an EU member, Bulgaria is obligated to join now that the conditions have been met.

Bulgaria’s accession cements the EU’s—and therefore Germany’s—control of the Balkans. It is also a major vote of confidence in the euro at a crucial time when it could take over reserve currency status from the dollar. In 2002, Stratfor wrote: “Germany is seeking to reassert itself at the center of Europe, and the Balkans play a big part in that strategy. It is an area where Germany can expand its military reach without frightening either itself or its neighbors. Berlin also would like to build on its ties with Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Bulgaria to pull both Southern and Eastern Europe under its wing as the EU expands.” The strategy worked: Germany dominates the Balkans.

IN OTHER NEWS

China is supplying vital materials and equipment to at least 20 Russian arms factories, according to Ukrainian intelligence. Our In Brief has more.

German Chancellor Merz will meet with President Trump at the White House later today. Many in Germany fear a hostile reception, like the one Ukrainian President Zelenskyy received. All Europe will be watching for indications on how Germany and America will get along.

Trump discussed Ukraine’s drone attack on Russia for the first time in a Truth Social post yesterday. He discussed the attacks with Putin and said, “It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”

Another tell-all book: Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “the French lady” to Trumpet Daily viewers, announced she would be the latest to publish a tell-all book about the Biden administration. It’s yet another sign of the fracturing on the left and diminishing power of Barack Obama.

Israel’s near miss: 14 out of 15 members of the UN Security Council voted for a motion yesterday calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza. Fortunately for Israel, the one country to vote against it—the U.S.—holds a veto, so the resolution failed to pass. Dorothy Shea, acting U.S. envoy, said, “We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza.” Yet everyone else voted in favor of the motion, showing how isolated Israel has become.