Trump battles against censorship as European soccer shuns Israel: a review of current events

Speech beat: Trump v. the Censors

President-elect Donald Trump’s “first major policy statement since his landslide victory outlines his plan to restore free speech,” cheer the Washington Times’ editors. Trump “said he intends to sign an executive order on Jan. 20 banning federal employees from doing anything that impedes lawful speech,” like “the FBI, Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security worked closely with social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to remove content.” He’s vowed to “identify and fire anyone who participated” and to “pull the plug on government funding for nonprofits and universities that contribute in any way to the ‘authoritarian project’ to blacklist citizens.” This shows “Trump knows how to get things done this time. Democrats won’t know what hit them.”

Foreign desk: European Soccer Ostracizes Israel

Ahead of “this week’s big international soccer match in Paris” between the French and Israeli national teams, “Israel’s national security council has warned Israelis against attending the game,” groans Commentary’s Seth Mandel. It “raises wider questions about the attempts to exclude Israelis from international sports competitions.” A European football “policy has been in effect since soon after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre,” under which “fans of Israel’s national team and its premier club team must travel out of the country to attend any of their games.” Since “some teams’ home cities” are “refusing to host” Israeli teams for security reasons, “it’s far from unthinkable that teams will start refusing to play” Israeli teams altogether. “The easiest solution would be for anti-Zionist protesters to just, you know, not be violent,” but we should expect continued escalation.

Conservative: Nix ‘Environmental Justice’ Agenda

As Team Trump looks to reverse “pernicious” Biden policies, its “environmental-justice agenda belongs high on the list,” argues City Journal’s James B. Meigs. It’s “a Trojan horse designed to smuggle unpopular progressive social goals into broadly supported environmental programs.” The “vague” rules of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, for instance, could force “contractors to hire expensive unionized labor” or issue grants to “community activist groups,” diverting funds from true environmental needs. And EJ rules tie up “every federal agency,” while laws like the Inflation Reduction Act lets EPA funnel federal money to “far-left groups,” such as one that asserts climate justice travels through a “free Palestine.” In short: “The environmental-justice paradigm” is the “real enemy of environmental progress.”

From the right: To Reverse Biden’s Border Crisis

“Variations in wording aside, when Trump talks about mass deportation, he is talking about the mass deportation of criminals,” explains the Washington Examiner’s Byron York. His team “will seek to deport quickly those illegal immigrants who are deemed national security threats” or have “criminal records,” and prioritize the estimated 1.35 million to 1.6 million who’ve already been “ordered removed.” As for the “many more millions,” Trump could “rely on a document known as the Mayorkas Memorandum,” which identifies noncitizens who unlawfully enter the country as security threats. “If Trump were to apply” that policy, he’d “have a basis to reverse a significant part of the Biden border rush.”

Mideast watch: Draining Iran’s Swamp

“Iran’s leaders must be wondering if they’ve ‘poked the bear’ (i.e., Donald Trump) for the last time,” sneers Merrill Matthews at The Hill of Tehran’s “scheme to assassinate” the president-elect. It’s proof that “the Iranian swamp needs to be drained, and Trump might just do it.” Plotting to assassinate a US presidential candidate is “an act of war.” Yet “it’s doubtful the outgoing Biden will do anything.” Trump will likely take “decisive action, including coordinating with Israel, taking whatever steps are necessary to neutralize Iranian belligerence.” This will “have a deterring effect on other bad actors,” like Russia and China. And “perhaps with the aid of Europe and Israel,” Trump will “drain the swamp in Iran.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board