Far-right political pundit Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by ICE in Louisiana.
TMZ reports that Yiannopoulos, who reportedly works as a spokesperson and legal liaison for Kanye West, was detained at an airport, and is now being held in a detention facility.
Far-right commentator, Trump administration confidant, and bigot Laura Loomer took credit for Yiannopoulos’s arrest and detention, claiming on X that she “was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally where he incited violence against President Trump and worked for Marjorie Traitor Greene.”
“When Milo called for me to be assassinated, I reported him to ICE and the FBI. I told you all that Milo was an illegal alien. He was detained in Louisiana by @ICEgov,” Loomer posted. “Milo is going to be deported back to the UK where he can live among the Muslims he has recently chosen to embrace. Today is a great day for America.”
Yiannopoulos has oddly been supportive of Muslims in recent months on his X account, a reversal of his history of bigotry towards Islam and its adherents. That has put him at odds with Loomer, who speaks proudly of her Islamophobia, and the two publicly feud online. Loomer has boasted about getting people deported by the Trump administration before.
The British-born Yiannopoulos has a long history of racism, white nationalism, and controversy. He used the 2014 Gamergate online harassment campaign to build up his right-wing following, later working as a Breitbart editor under Steve Bannon. He was depicted singing “America the Beautiful” with a group of neo-Nazis and white supremacists including Richard Spencer at a Dallas, Texas, bar in 2016, who cheered him on with the Nazi “Seig Heil” salute.
Yiannopoulos’s stature was diminished in 2017 when video clips circulated of him defending pedophilia, specifically “consensual” sex between adults and 13-year-old boys. He lost a book deal, had to resign from Breitbart, and lost an invitation to speak at CPAC. Now, depending on how his immigration case goes, he could be deported to the United Kingdom.
President Trump has his sights on taking over two Pacific island countries: Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
The president posted a picture to his Truth Social account Thursday night labeled “U.S. Territories,” showing the flags of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands along with multiple U.S. territories. The image also included a map of the Strait of Hormuz, labeled “new.”
The Marshall Islands were occupied and administered by the U.S. during World War II, and Congress granted the islands their independence in 1979. Micronesia also was occupied by the U.S. during the war, gaining its independence in 1990. Both have a Compact of Free Association with the U.S., which means they get financial assistance and access to certain U.S. government programs, such as the U.S. Postal Service and National Weather Service.
Why Trump is claiming them along with the Strait of Hormuz (which the U.S. doesn’t actually control) isn’t clear. Perhaps the president doesn’t understand the CFA arrangement, which also allows the U.S. military to operate in the territories, and thinks that means that they are part of the U.S. And for some reason, his picture didn’t include Palau, another country in the Pacific Ocean that is also part of the CFA with the U.S.
In Trump’s second term, his administration has hurt relations with Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, failing to adequately staff U.S. government positions dealing with the countries, such as the Joint Economic Management and Financial Accountability Committee as well as the Joint Economic Management Committee.
Why is Trump claiming these island countries now, especially considering that he hasn’t achieved his dream of taking over Greenland? The CFA ensures a close relationship just short of total U.S. control anyway. Trump’s pointless, braggadocious post isn’t likely to improve relations with the Marshall Islands or Micronesia. Even with the CFA, the Trump administration’s neglect could push them closer into the orbit of a big power in the region: China.
The Trump administration has made it abundantly clear that refugees are not welcome to the United States—unless they’re white South Africans.
Beginning October 1, each white South African entering the country as a refugee could receive $4,500 in aid from the federal government, according to insiders who spoke with The Washington Post. That’s almost double the $2,425 currently afforded in cash support to refugees, as outlined by the State Department.
