Enemy within
The Trump administration appears to be taking a multi-faceted approach to removing the ENEMY WITHIN America. It’s not just one thing - it’s everything at once. They are flooding the zone and I’m loving it. We don’t have a minute to waste.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms. At least when they’re wearing a uniform you can take them out.”
President Trump called America’s current situation “a war from within” and declared it was time for the armed forces to shift focus from overseas campaigns to internal threats in America’s cities - and for the entire weight of US law enforcement to be put behind the removal of the CRIMINAL AND ILLEGAL ENEMIES WITHIN in America.
I said this years ago and was mocked for suggesting that our enemies had infiltrated our country (just like the Barbarians of old did to Rome) and were right here on American soil.
I can’t cover all the crime-fighting initiatives in one newsletter - but here are a few highlights.
This week, Stephen Miller spoke to law enforcement in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside Director of War Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The event was part of the Trump administration’s rollout of the “Memphis Safe Task Force,” a multi-agency crime crackdown initiative involving federal law enforcement, local police, and National Guard troops.
Due to the success of President Trump’s crime cleanup in DC - where homicides are down 53%, robberies are down 57%, carjackings are down 75% in just 6 weeks - they are now planning to use the same approach nation-wide in crime ridden Democrat-run cities. WOOHOO! No matter what you hear from the fake news - even liberals in blue cities want to feel safe!
Here are the top 10 most dangerous cities in America - based on 2024 statistics for violent crime rates. You can now take DC off this list - and Memphis soon…
Miller’s remarks were directed at Memphis police officers, federal agents, and military personnel, emphasizing the need for aggressive action against crime in the city.
Miller told the officers: “I see the guns and badges in this room. You are unleashed. The handcuffs you’re carrying, they’re not on you anymore, they’re on the criminals. And whatever you need to get it done, we’re gonna get it done. We’re not adjusting. We’re redefining how crime is fought. Without apology, without mercy. The idea that there is a square INCH of block in this city where a citizen doesn’t feel safe is unacceptable. NOT ONE BLOCK IN MEMPHIS SHOULD FEEL UNSAFE — That Era is OVER”.
“We are about to provide you with a level of support that you cannot even imagine. The federal troops are not going to be ‘sitting behind a desk with a keyboard.’ We’re sending in real cops, with guns and badges, to go out with you on the street every single night making arrests.”
“Every resource we have—federal, state, and local—we are going to use to dismantle their networks without apology and without mercy. This is the United States of America — and all that [violent] bullshit is done! It’s over. This isn’t just a task force. This is an all-of-government, unlimited support operation. ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE, Department of War, every resource we have.”
“This is Memphis, this is the US of America, and all that bullshit is done. It’s over, it’s finished.”
“Everything we have, we are going to bulldoze the criminal element of this city and thereby liberate all the law-abiding citizens in this city.”
“The gangbangers that you deal with, they think that they’re ruthless, they have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they’re tough; they have no idea how tough we are. They think that they’re hardcore; we are so much more hardcore than they are, and we have the entire weight of the US government behind us. What do they have? They have nothing behind them. So we are gonna win, they’re gonna lose.”
“To the guns and bats in this room, you are unleashed. The handcuffs you’re carrying? They’re not on you anymore, they’re on the criminals.”
“These are people who have taken down drug cartels, kingpins, the worst criminal offenders in the United States, standing with you shoulder to shoulder to shoulder. All we ask from you is to show up at roll call every single night with your brothers and sisters in the federal government, and to go out and get the criminals off the street. And if you do that, I pledge to you, we will liberate this city from the criminal element that has plagued it for generations.”
“President Trump makes a decision, this team behind me today executes.”
The speech followed the task force’s first two days of operations, which Bondi reported had yielded 53 arrests and the seizure of 20 illegal firearms. This multi-agency group includes federal agents from the FBI, ATF, DEA, and ICE, partnering with local Memphis police, prior to the anticipated arrival of the National Guard in about two weeks.
On October 1, 2025, the Memphis Safe Task Force, comprising 13 federal agencies including the FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE, and National Guard, deployed hundreds of officers for nightly patrols targeting gangs, drug cartels, and gun violence in Memphis, Tennessee. In the first 48 hours, the operation resulted in 53 arrests, the seizure of 20 illegal firearms, and the recovery of a missing juvenile from a murder suspect’s home. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House adviser Stephen Miller addressed personnel, pledging unlimited federal support under President Donald Trump’s directive to address Memphis’s violent crime rate, which is nearly seven times the national average.
Not only that, but ICE and the FBI are working on another operation to find, arrest and deport illegals and criminals committing immigration fraud and election fraud - all over America.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in collaboration with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI, conducted Operation Twin Shield in Minneapolis-St. Paul between September 19 and 28. The effort was described as “the first of its kind targeted surge of fraud detection and deterrence activities.”
During the operation, USCIS officers focused on over 1,000 cases “that had fraud or ineligibility indicators,” and conducted over 900 site visits and in-person interviews. Officers found evidence of “fraud, non-compliance, or public safety or national security concerns in 275 cases—44 percent of cases interviewed.”
In other words - almost HALF of the immigrants in the Twin Cities are ILLEGAL or committing IMMIGRATION FRAUD or WELFARE FRAUD or ELECTION FRAUD. Ask Ilhan Omar - she knows!
In addition, Bondi’s DOJ is suing AG Keith Ellison & cities of Minneapolis & St Paul for releasing criminals & aliens back on Minnesota streets!
In Portland, home of Communist Antifa, Trump has declared Portland as “war ravaged” and ordered authorities to arrest Antifa terrorists - IN SPITE of obstruction from the local Communist authorities.
The Democrat Governor of Oregon and the Police Chief of Portland all appear to be CONSPIRING with Antifa against America. Just like Minneapolis, where Ilhan Omar and Keith Ellison and Tim Walz do the same! Now, Antifa is actually attacking conservative reporters for reporting the truth and the Portland police leadership refuse to protect them.
https://x.com/Baklava_USA/status/1973571704791453818
https://x.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1973819445916184848
The Communists on the Portland City Council actually train illegals and terrorists on how to evade arrest while committing crimes against America. The Communists of the Minneapolis City Council do the same!
Earlier this week, Pete Hegseth gave a similar speech to the military about the “war on crime” and the invasion within - to 800 Generals in Virginia. Here are some highlights but it’s worth watching the entire speech:
HEGSETH: “To ensure peace, we must prepare for war.
From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit not because we want war, no one here wants war, but it’s because we love peace.
Our number one job, of course, is to be strong so that we can prevent war in the first place. The president talks about it all the time. It’s called peace through strength. And as history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace are those who are willing to wage war to defend it.
We have a sacred duty to ensure that our warriors are led by the most capable and qualified combat leaders.
For too long, we have simply not done that. The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things.
For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons, based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts.
Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the woke department. But not anymore.
The Trump administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics.
No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.
As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that shit.
Underneath the woke garbage is a deeper problem and a more important problem that we are fixing and fixing fast. Common sense is back.
Every parent deserves to know that their son or their daughter that joins our ranks is entering exactly the kind of unit that the secretary of war would want his son to join. Think of it as the Golden Rule test. Jesus said do unto others that which you would have done unto yourself. It’s the ultimate simplifying test of truth.
The new War Department golden rule is this: do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit. Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or under trained troops or alongside people who can’t meet basic standards, or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in, in a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting? The answer is not just no, it’s hell no.
This means at the War Department first and foremost we must restore a ruthless, dispassionate and common sense application of standards. I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons platform or task or under a leader who was the first but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high. If not, they’re not standards. They’re just suggestions, suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed.
When it comes to combat arms units, and there are many different stripes across our joint force, the era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings leadership ends right now. At every level, either you can meet the standard, either you can do the job, either you are disciplined, fit and trained, or you are out.
And that’s why today at my direction -- and this is the first of ten Department of War directives that are arriving at your commands as we speak and in your inbox. Today, at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only. Because this job is life or death. Standards must be met. And not just met. At every level, we should seek to exceed the standard, to push the envelope, to compete. It’s common sense and core to who we are and what we do. It should be in our DNA.
I’m also directing that warfighters in combat jobs execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral age normed male standard scored above 70 percent.
It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are.
So, whether you’re an airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year every year of service.
Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense, and most units do that already, but we’re codifying it. And we’re not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching, real hard PT and as -- either as a unit or as an individual.
This also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave.
We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans. And that’s why today, at my direction, the era of unprofessional appearance is over.
No more beardos. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done. Simply put, if you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test or don’t want to shave and look professional, it’s time for a new position or a new profession.
War does not care if you’re a man or a woman. Neither does the enemy, nor does the weight of your rucksack, the size of an artillery round or the body weight of a casualty on the battlefield who must be carried. This -- and I want to be very clear about this. This is not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world.
But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender-neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. So be it. It will also mean that weak men won’t qualify because we’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.
As we all know, this is you versus an enemy hell bent on killing you. To be an effective lethal fighting force, you must trust that the warrior alongside you in battle is capable, truly physically capable of doing what is necessary under fire.
Third, we are attacking and ending the walking on eggshells and zero defect command culture. A risk averse culture means officers execute not to lose instead of to win.
And that’s why today, at my direction, I’m issuing new policies - I call it the no more walking on eggshells policy. We are liberating commanders and NCOs. We are liberating you. No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints. No more repeat complainants. No more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting. No more legal limbo. No more sidetracking careers. No more walking on eggshells.
Of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formation since 1948. The same goes for sexual harassment. Both are wrong and illegal. Those kinds of infractions will be ruthlessly enforced. But telling someone to shave or get a haircut or to get in shape or to fix their uniform or to show up on time, to work hard, that’s exactly the kind of discrimination we want.
We are not civilians. You are not civilians. You are set apart for a distinct purpose. So, we as a department need to stop acting and thinking like civilians and get back to basics and put the power back in the hands of commanders and NCOs, commanders and NCOs who make life and death decisions, commanders and NCOs who enforce standards and ensure readiness, commanders and NCOs who in this War Department have to look in the mirror and have to pass the Golden Rule test, my kids, your kids, America’s sons and daughters.
These directives are designed to take the monkey off your back and put you, the leadership, back in the driver’s seat. Move out with urgency because we have your back. I have your back, and the commander in chief has your back.
The new compass heading is clear. Out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies and the Milleys, and in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs and the Pattons. More leadership changes will be made, of that I’m certain, not because we want to but because we must. Once again, this is life and death.
The leaders who created the woke department have already driven out too many hard chargers. We reverse that trend right now.
Finally, as President Trump rightly pointed out when he changed the department name, the United States has not won a major theater war since the name was changed to the Department of Defense in 1947. One conflict stands out in stark contrast, the Gulf War. Why? Well, there’s a number of reasons, but it was a limited mission with overwhelming force and a clear end state.
But why did we execute and win the Gulf War the way we did in 1991? There’s two overwhelming reasons. One was President Ronald Reagan’s military buildup gave an overwhelming advantage, and two, military and Pentagon leadership had previous formative battlefield experiences. The men who led this department during the Gulf War were mostly combat veterans of the Vietnam War. They said never again to mission creep or nebulous end states.
The same holds true today. Our civilian and military leadership is chock full of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who say never again to nation building and nebulous end states. This clear eyed view all the way to the White House, combined with President Trump’s military buildup, postures us for future victories if, and we will, and when we embrace the War Department.
And we must. We are preparing every day. We have to be prepared for war, not for defense. We’re training warriors, not defenders. We fight wars to win, not to defend. We fight to win. We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy.
We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.
A few months ago, I was at the White House when President Trump announced his liberation day for America’s trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another liberation day, the liberation of America’s warriors, in name, in deed and in authorities. You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.
We are not an army of one. We are a joint force of millions of selfless Americans. We are warriors. We are purpose built not for fair weather, blue skies or calm seas. We were built to load up in the back of helicopters, five tons, or Zodiacs in the dead of night, in fair weather or foul to go to dangerous places to find those who would do our nation harm and deliver justice on behalf of the American people in close and brutal combat if necessary.
You are different. We fight not because we hate what’s in front of us. We fight because we love what’s behind us. You see, the Ivy League faculty lounges will never understand us. And that’s okay, because they could never do what you do. The media will mischaracterize us. And that’s okay, because deep down they know the reason they can do what they do is you. In this profession, you feel comfortable inside the violence so that our citizens can live peacefully. Lethality is our calling card and victory our only acceptable end state.
In closing, a few weeks ago at our monthly Pentagon Christian prayer service I recited a commander’s prayer. It’s a simple yet meaningful prayer for wisdom for commanders and leaders. I encourage you to look it up if you’ve never seen it. But the prayer, it ends like this.
And most of all, Lord, please keep my soldiers safe, lead them, guide them, protect them, watch over them. And as you gave all of yourself for me, help me give all of myself for them. And amen.
I’ve prayed this prayer many times since I’ve had the privilege of being your Secretary, and I will continue to pray this prayer for each of you as you command and lead our nation’s finest. Go forth and do good things, hard things. President Trump has your back and so do I, and you’ll hear from him shortly. Move out and draw fire, because we are the War Department. Godspeed.”
MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!
My work is free and supported by your generous donations. Thank you to all who have donated in the past. I truly appreciate your generosity!
If you like my work, you can fund me by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack, donate by credit card here or you can send me a check to Peggy Tierney, PO Box 242, Spooner, Wisconsin 54801- or just send me a note or a card! I love hearing from you.
You can find and search over 1000 of my free newsletters at my website here.