Daily Signal News

Like the Wild West hero who rides back into town just as the community is in peril, former Gov. George Allen has rejoined a fight he helped win in 2020, establishing a nonpartisan way to draw Virginia’s congressional districts. Now critics want to undo all that effort, and Allen sits down with Joe Thomas—whom he calls “Set ’Em Up Joe,” after the Vern Gosdin song—to take us inside the story.

Victor Davis Hanson breaks down the media hysteria over Iran, anti-Trump protests, and the stakes for 2026. After everything Donald Trump has taken on, will division hand Democrats the win?

President Donald Trump endured years of the most vicious, coordinated lawfare this nation has ever seen.  We overcame that unprecedented assault together in one of the greatest political comebacks in American history. But right now,  a lot of people in MAGA are losing perspective. Frustrations bubble up over pace or one decision that we find disagreeable, and suddenly we are nitpicking the man who stood in the arena while most people just watched.Are our temporary disagreements worth handing victory to the very people who weaponize the government against him? No, argues Drew Allen, Daily Signal California correspondent, on this week’s video commentary.

There are two wars being fought right now in Iran: a military one, which the United States is dominating on all fronts, and a political one, which is proving more difficult than the former. Why? President Donald Trump has a lot to contend with right now: the MAGA base, the crazy Democrat opposition, the midterms, the economy, the charge that he’s too influenced by Israel, and the general repulsion of the American people for anything to do with the Middle East, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words:” (00:00) Two Wars Framework (01:19) Why Not Decimate Iran (02:43) MAGA Base and Deterrence (04:30) Economy, Midterms, Israel (07:14) No Boots on Ground

The Left has spent every waking moment the last month trying to convince the public that the Trump administration’s so-called “war” in Iran isn’t legal. But they keep running into the same problem: Historically, they did the same thing, and on a much larger scale, argues Victor Davis Hanson on part 1 of his examination of the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:” “The war is legal, and the hysteria about it is media-driven, as a part of the left's ability to weaken the presidency.” (00:00) Is the War Legal? (02:00) Libya and Afghanistan Comparisons (04:40) Trump’s War Aims (06:36) Regime Change Debate (07:52) Military Wins vs Politics

While California Democrats thought they could swarm the gubernatorial general election ballot with Democrats and win, Republicans had other ideas.  As of now, Republican candidates Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton are leading the jungle primary neck and neck, with Bianco at 16% and Hilton at 17% approval rating, explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”(00:00) California Recall Shock (02:04) Jungle Primary Backfires (03:02) Newsom Record Under Fire (04:55) Wildfires And Rebuilding (05:40) Outmigration And Taxes (07:54) Fraud Exposé Smear (09:09) Boondoggles And Green Failures (09:59) Energy Refineries Gas Prices

The only consistent part of the Democrat Party agenda over the last decade is Trump Derangement Syndrome. Their inconsistent nihilism is at all time high: Within the same breath Democrats both mock Trump, saying that he “always chickens out” (TACO) of a fight but decry the U.S. operation to capture Nicolás Maduro and military strikes against the Iranian regime. Presumptive Democrat presidential primary nominee Gavin Newsom says he wants to punch Trump in the mouth.Sen. Cory Booker yells at ICE agents in airports as passengers waiting in line smile in the background. For the first time ever in U.S. history they took a former president to trial. What I'm getting at is there's no consistent message amongst the party of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words” (00:00) Democratic Nihilism Explained (01:29) Iran and Policy Whiplash (02:20) TDS and Unhinged Leaders (05:06) Collusion Hoax to Lawfare (07:39) Why the Party Changed

For all practical purposes, there is no longer a Democratic Party, at least as we’ve known it for 50 to 100 years. It is a full‑blown socialist revolutionary party. The players of that party who are running things are not even Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries. They’re people like Rep. Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico in Texas, Zohran Mamdani and Elizabeth Warren. What happened to Clinton‑era Democrats? Globalization and open borders would be a good place to start looking, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”

By all traditional methodology and criteria, Iran is now inert: naval and air forces eviscerated, missile defenses offline, and an army rendered largely useless, as no one is fighting on the ground. However, tactical success is not necessarily equivalent to strategic victory. It is hard to think of a single battle lost in Iraq or Afghanistan, yet the United States lacked a plan for strategic resolution in either theater. With this in mind, Iran’s current strategy is as follows: The mullahs can afford to lose their military because, ultimately, without U.S. troops on the ground, the regime will remain intact. This, and many other factors, begs the question: Where does Trump go from here? asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” “In other words, they're saying as long as we have oil, Kharg Island, and as long as we have these huge oil fields, when you get tired of pounding us into rubble, you're going go back to the United States. Israel's going go back and be q

Recent legislative actions by some Virginia Democrats threaten to undermine the reform Brian Cannon helped pass five years ago.   It was rare moment where both parties aligned to protect democracy in passing a bipartisan constitutional amendment in Virginia that aimed to remove politicians’ control over drawing district maps, explains the head of NoGerrymanderingVA.org, when he joined Joe Thomas, The Daily Signal’s Virginia correspondent, today.   “ I'm a democrat, and you and I probably don't vote the same way 90% of the time when we go into the voting booth, but I believe in your right to cast a meaningful vote in a free and fair election.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California is a state that God clearly favored. It has towering mountains, endless ocean coastlines, fertile valleys that feed half the country, tech trillions pouring out of Silicon Valley, Hollywood glamor that still captivates the world, and some of the richest farmland anywhere on earth. This place could literally print money if it wanted to. Instead, it has become the world’s most expensive homeless encampment that increasingly resembles a third world country with better Instagram filters. In California, local officials poured $37 billion into the largest open-air drug market in America, built the most expensive train set that never left the toy store, turned the fifth-largest economy in the world into a foreign oil–dependent, price-gouged, blackout-prone laughingstock, and lit the state on fire, quite literally. Yet, if you only listened to Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Sacramento Democrats over the past decade, you’d believe it’s all Donald Trump’s fault, argues Drew Allen on this special video comm

President Donald Trump has been the catalyst for a lot of the world’s current upheaval—Iranian threat decimated, Donroe Doctrine enforced in Latin America—and both members of his base and his opponents are making sure we know he’s to blame. Three quarters of these conflicts, however, are reaching a resolution, explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”  “There is a good chance they could turn out with the United States in a preeminent position that we haven’t seen since at least World War II.”

Europe is deathly afraid of a nuclear Iran, but it does not want to do anything about it. What explains this European schizophrenia? President Donald Trump has a simple, straightforward request of America’s so‑called European allies: While the U.S. uses all of its assets to disarm a common threat to the West, could they send a few ships to help patrol the Strait of Hormuz? By and large, the answer has been a resounding “no.” That is notable, Victor Davis Hanson points out on today’s edition of Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words, considering it was not too long ago that the United States set aside its own diplomatic interests to help Britain in its mission retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina. (01:16) Bases and Allied Reluctance (03:06) Missile Defense and NATO Burden (04:21) Why Europe Hesitates (08:25) The Final Irony

Immigration used to be the U.S.’ great strength but now that’s changing.  What’s new is illegal immigrants and naturalized citizens, who hate America but don’t want to leave, are going around and violently killing Americans, explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” “But how did we create it where we're getting people killing us and yelling Islamic sloganeering and championing Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran at the same time we're at war with them?… The answer is: Dr. Frankenstein created the Frankensteinian monster.” (00:00) Immigrants as Strength (00:39) The Ungrateful Immigrant (02:34) Recent Attacks and Radicalism (04:23) Why Assimilation Fails (08:06) Frankenstein of Immigration

A confidential FBI alert about a possible, unverified Iranian drone attack on California quickly faded after officials downplayed it. But the episode exposed far greater risks from embedded terrorists shielded by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary policies, lax border enforcement and reflexive anti-Trump posturing—threats that recent incidents and historical precedents show are already here and growing. The real danger is not from some far-off drone. It is from adversaries already here, protected by sanctuary policies and years of weak borders. California’s own history is a warning: 2015, San Bernardino: Fourteen people were murdered by a radicalized immigrant couple inspired by Islamist extremism. 2001, San Diego: 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar lived openly in the Golden State for months, receiving guidance at local mosques and planning their attack right under authorities’ noses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the second week of the so-called Iran war, and we’re told that it’s dragging on, we’re losing, and the Trump administration has no real success plan, or clear end in sight.    How is it then that Iran has no military, navy or leaders left, asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”   “When you look at Iran… it has no military left… All of these special contingents are under enormous assault: The command and control is destroyed, the missile defense is destroyed. And yet people say that it's unconquerable. It doesn't make any sense... So what's going on?” (00:00) Surreal Iran War Setup (02:17) Why Coverage Feels Missing (03:52) War Unity Then vs Now (05:06) Partisan Narratives and Protests (07:24) Outcomes and Alternate Reality

A PAC headed up by former Delegate AC Cordoza is under fire for sending mailers out last weekend with imagery of the civil rights movement of the 1960's.  Virginia State Speaker of the House Don Scott said, "The Civil Rights Movement should not be used as a political prop" (even as U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer called the SAVE Act "Jim Crow, 2.0").  A video ad put together by a group of Black Community leaders in the group "GateKeepersVA" has also been burning up social media and is driving more contributions to attempt to catch the Eric Holder backed pro-redistricting campaign's $20 million warchest. Virginia congressional candidate, and one of the people that put the ad together, Waverly Washington joins Joe Thomas, Daily Signal Virginia correspondent, to explain how a kid who once visited his father in prison became a West Point graduate, Army officer, and now a pro-Trump fighter for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following the initiation of Operation Epic Fury, there has been a lot of talk about a supposed MAGA split among Trump supporters. After all, the America First credo was no optional wars in the Middle East following disgust with the 20-year misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. But Iran is not Afghanistan or Iraq. This is a top-down, air-only military conflict whose stated mission objectives do not necessitate ground forces, and the MAGA base understands this, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “But nobody has ever seen a war in which one side destroyed the entire air force of the enemy, the entire navy of the enemy, and has got pretty much 90% of its ballistic missile arsenal nullified and probably 85% of the drones and decapitated the entire command and control of the military.”

Former President Barack Obama has a tendency to turn funeral eulogies into political messages. It’s not just Obama either. The Democrat party as a whole tends to attack President Donald Trump and promote Democratic policy positions whenever there’s an opportunity, explains Victor Davis Hanson in today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “The Democrats have a long history of using the venue of the funeral memorial service to hijack it and use it for political purposes… In 2002, they did that with the late Sen. Paul Wellstone. What should have been a memorial service turned into a four-hour campaign harangue.”(00:00) Funerals as Politics (02:12) McCain Funeral Flashback (03:38) John Lewis and Voting Agenda (05:24) Jesse Jackson and Hypocrisy Claims (09:47) Bigger Picture and Sign Off

It's rare for the U.S. to have a capable ally, but Israel is just that.   While the so-called big powers of NATO don’t have the air capability or the will to cooperate with its allies, Israel does, explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”   “We have a very strong ally in Israel.  We have some unreliable allies in our formal alliance. We should remember that before we start making accusations that the Jews or the Israelis are pulling the strings of American diplomacy and military decision making.”