Forlesia Cook Gives Passionate Defense of President Trump: “Get off his back, let the man do his job”…

February 19, 2026 | Sundance |

Forlesia Cook, a grandmother who lost her grandson to violence, delivered a brief and powerful testimonial supporting President Trump. Many naysayers, beyond just the DHS security issues, would be well-served to listen to her advice.

Mrs Cook spoke during a Black History Month reception at the White House, pushing back on claims that President Trump is racist. As noted by this passionate grandma, President Trump gave her a voice when others ignored her.

Cook’s 22-year-old grandson, Marty William McMillan Jr., was brutally murdered in cold blood in 2017 after meeting someone online. He left home to meet a woman he connected with on the Plenty of Fish dating app. He never came back. His remains were discovered months later on the side of a highway in Maryland, shot seven times {SOURCE}.

Grandma of Murdered DC Man Fires Back at Racism Claims Against Trump

2:03

https://youtu.be/ps_s590dQrA

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/02/19/forlesia-cook-gives-passionate-defense-of-president-trump-get-off-his-back-let-the-man-do-his-job/

>>24277669

President Trump Participates in a Black History Month Reception

The full event video is included below.

43:04

https://www.youtu.be/NS1xNWqJazY

19 Feb, 2026 13:11

European leaders told to ‘keep their mouth shut’ on nukes

Belgian Defense Minister TheoFranken has criticized public statements on nuclear deterrence as poorly timed and inappropriate

European leaders should keep their “mouth shut” on nuclear deterrence, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Franken said on Wednesday, calling out their public statements on the issue as particularly ill-timed and inappropriate.

Talk of Europe developing its own nuclear deterrent has intensified since Washington announced it would scale back security commitments to its European allies, focusing instead on homeland defense and containing China.

Commenting on X about a recent podcast interview with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Franken said: “Regarding nuclear deterrence, I really don’t understand why European leaders are so loose-lipped. Not wise. Please keep your mouth shut.”

Merz ruled out developing a domestic nuclear deterrent but said German fighter jets could potentially carry French and British atomic weapons. Both Germany and Belgium are signatories to the US nuclear sharing agreement, a Cold War-era arrangement that allows their air forces to deliver American nuclear bombs stationed in Europe in the event of a conflict.

NATO’s European members have cited what they claim to be the specter of Russian aggression to justify their renewed military buildup. Moscow has dismissed such claims as “nonsense” and baseless fearmongering.

The question of obtaining nuclear weapons is being discussed more in the German media and is gaining “advocates among politicians, MPs, the military officials and experts,” the Russian ambassador in Berlin, Sergey Nechaev, told RIA Novosti last week, calling the trend highly concerning.

Kay Gottschalk, a lawmaker from the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), said last month that Germany “needs nuclear weapons” since European nations can no longer rely on American protection.

The debate gained further traction last week when Polish President Karol Nawrocki said Warsaw needs to develop its own nuclear weapons program, adding that he is a “strong supporter of joining a nuclear project.” He does not know whether the government would actually do it, he added.

The last major nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia expired earlier this month, raising fears of an uncontrolled buildup of warheads among the world’s leading powers. Signed in 2010, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) capped deployed strategic warheads and launchers, established monitoring for both arsenals, and was extended once after its original 2021 expiration.

(They are so nuts they’d probably bomb themselves. Russia already knows they have them!)

https://www.rt.com/news/632771-franken-merz-nuclear-talk/

19 Feb, 2026 11:26

CIA knew about Kiev plot to blow up Nord Stream – Der Spiegel

“It’s good,” the US agency told Ukrainian saboteurs about the plan, according to a source

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) discussed a plan to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Seawith Ukrainian saboteurs, German outlet Der Spiegel has reported, citing sources in Kiev.

Berlin apparently believes the September 2022 explosions that crippled the key connectors that delivered Russian gas to Germanywere detonated by several Ukrainian frogmen who, possibly with the assistance of Poland, allegedly rented a small yacht, sailed into the Baltic and blew up the pipelines.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed deep skepticism over this German version of events, highlighting then US-president Joe Biden’s open threats to blow up the pipeline, the presence of NATO ships above the explosion sites in the weeks prior to the blasts and arguing that such an operation could not have been executed without direct government assistance.

According to the latest Der Spiegel report, Ukrainian agents told the CIA about a plot to destroy Nord Stream in spring 2022, during a series of meetings following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

The Americans “apparently liked the plan,” the Ukrainian sources told the outlet, and the two sides exchanged technical details about the operation, reportedly code-named ‘Diameter’.

The US agents “told our boys: ‘that’s good, that’s fine’” about the plan to target the pipelines, a person familiar with the conversations told the outlet, noting an impression that the US was willing to finance such an operation.

According to Der Spiegel,in early summer 2022, the Americans changed their stance, saying that they could not support the operation and would not provide moneyfor its execution, according to the report.

Der Spiegelclaimed that Washington then actively tried to prevent the sabotage of the pipelines, but the Ukrainians went ahead with the plan anyway.

In February 2022, then US President JoeBiden warnedthat in the event of an all-outmilitary conflict between Russia and Ukraine, “there will no longer be a Nord Stream. We will bring an end to it.”

A year later, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report claiming that Biden had given the order to destroy the pipelines.Hersh’s source claimed that US Navy divers mined Nord Stream using the cover of NATO drills. The White House called the report “complete fiction.”

Senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have previously pointed the finger at the US as the possible culprit behind the explosions. Washington had the technical means to carry out the operation andstood to gain the most from it, considering that the attack disrupted Russian energy supplies to the EUandforced a shift to more expensive American-supplied liquefied natural gas.

https://www.rt.com/news/632773-cia-ukraine-nord-stream/

19 Feb, 2026 10:39

Teen sent to orphanage after father drafted in Ukraine – media

A 14-year-old was reportedly sent to a facility after his dad was mobilized

A teenager from the central Ukrainian city of Krivoy Rog has been sent to an orphanage after his father was mobilized for military service, UNIAN news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the report,the 43-year-old man went to a military enlistment office to update his records. Recruitment officers reportedly confiscated his phone and locked him in a basement before processing him for the army.

When his 14-year-old son was unable to reach him,he contacted police in an effort to locate his father. Instead of being reunited, the teenager was placed in a state-run orphanage “pending clarification of the situation,” UNIAN said.

The boy’s mother moved to another country and is not involved in his upbringingbut has not been stripped of her parental rights, the agency said. The report added that acourt hearing to recognize the man as a single father was canceled after representatives of the guardianship authorities failed to appear.

The report comes as Ukraine’s forced mobilization campaign, widely known as ‘busification’, has sparked public outrage and violent street confrontations between draft officers and reluctant recruits.

Last week,a resident of Odessa attempted to cut off his own hand in an effort to avoid forced mobilization, Ukrainian news outlet Strana.ua reported.

According to the report, the man inflicted a serious injury on himself with an angle grinder, commonly known as a “bulgarka,”out of fear of being conscripted.

Ukraine’s recruitment drive has grown increasingly brutal amid its military setbacks and manpower shortages, with hundreds of documented cases of draft officers using force to seize men off the streets and multiple reports of deaths among conscripts.

Hungarian ForeignMinister Peter Szijjarto recently described the drive as an “open manhunt,” while Ukraine’s own ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, reported a 340-fold surge in complaintsagainst recruitment officials since 2022, calling the situation a “systemic crisis.”

Manpower shortages have plagued Kiev’s forces throughout the conflict amid mounting casualties. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov estimated in December that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 servicemen in 2025 alone, stripping it of the ability to replenish its ranks through compulsory mobilization.

https://www.rt.com/russia/632768-ukraine-forced-mobilization/

19 Feb, 2026 10:24

Bill Gates pulls out of India AI summit amid Epstein files fallout

The billionaire was due to deliver the keynote speech, but cancelled as pressure mounted over his ties to the late sex offender

Bill Gates has pulled out of a keynote speech at the AI Impact Summit in India amid mounting pressure in the South Asian country over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Gates arrived in India a few days before he was scheduled to speak, and has met top elected officials in the state of Andhra Pradesh to discuss projects implemented by his foundation.

Rumors began circulating on Tuesday that he would not speak at the event, prompting the Gates Foundation to insist that the billionaire, who divorced in the aftermath of his exposure as a close confidant of Epstein, would attend and address the summit.

However, it later retracted this statement. “After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address,” the foundation said on Thursday.

Allegations that Epstein knew Gates hid a sexually transmitted disease from his then-wife surfaced in the latest Epstein files – the trove of 3 million pages of documents, thousands of videos and 180,000 images from the Epstein Estate released by the US Justice Department.

The documents expose close relations between the notorious pedophile sex trafficker and prominent political, business, and tech leaders, including ex-British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, Bill Clinton and Gates.

A spokesperson for Gateshas called claims in the files“absolutely absurd and completely false.” The billionaire has said he “regrets” knowing Epstein.

“Every minute I spent with him, I regret,”Gates told Australia’s 9 News earlier this month. (Standard bullshit quote)

News of Gates making the keynote speech at the Delhi AI Summitinvited the wrath of several Indian opposition politicians and social activists. He has also been accused of using India as his “laboratory” for ongoing research.(they know)

Ankur Vora, president of its Africa and India offices of the Gates Foundation took the billionaire’s place at the summit.

On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for companies to emphasise child safety when developing AI models. “Friends, from the beginning we have to be more vigilant towards children’s safety,” he said. “Just like a school syllabus is curated, AI spaces should also be child safe and family guided.”

The Gates Foundation has said it is heavily investing in AI to improve global health, education, and development, focusing on equity in low- and middle-income countries. It aims to help health workers and reduce poverty.

https://www.rt.com/india/632765-bill-gates-pulls-out-of/

18 Feb, 2026 19:55

Zelensky used raid to threaten me – ex-Ukrainian army chief

Former General Valery Zaluzhny, considered a top presidential contender, has said the Ukrainian leader employed the security service against him

Former Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny has accused Vladimir Zelensky of attempting to intimidate him with a security service raid on his office using a bogus pretext in 2022.

Amid media reports of mounting tensions between the two men,the Ukrainian leader relieved the top general of his post in February 2024. Zaluzhny has since served as Ukrainian ambassador to the UKbut has managed to maintain considerable popularity at home. Opinion polls have consistently indicated that he would defeat Zelensky if presidential elections were held in Ukraine.

In an interview with the Associated Press published on Wednesday, Zaluzhny spoke publicly for the first time about the rift between himself and Zelensky. According to the agency, citing the former army chief,in September 2022 dozens of agents from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) raided his office to conduct a search on some improbable pretext. Zaluzhnydescribed the incident as an act of intimidation, noting that it came only hours after a “tense meeting”with Zelensky.

Zaluzhny told AP that he immediately called Zelensky’s chief of staff at the time,Andrey Yermak, and warned him that he would “repel this attack, because I know how to fight.”

The next low in relations between Zaluzhny and Zelensky came in 2023 as the Ukrainian military was preparing a counteroffensive against Russian forces, the AP report said.The general argued that the assault group should be concentrated into a “single fist” and advance toward the Sea of Azov.By contrast, Zelensky, whose position apparently prevailed, wanted Ukrainian forces spread out over a wider area, the agency claimed.

Kiev’s campaign proved a complete failure, with few territorial gains to show for the huge casualties incurred.

Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, but he has refused to call new elections, citing martial law. However, US President Donald Trump has recently urged him to hold a vote.

The former’s already flagging popularity was recently dealt a blow by a massive corruption scandal in Ukraine’s energy sector involving several of his close associates.

https://www.rt.com/russia/632745-ex-ukrainian-commander-zaluzhny-zelensky-raid-intimidation/

Sounds like sources are ready to get rid of Zelensky, he should leave now, because there are very few allies now.

18 Feb, 2026 13:57

Ukrainian disruption of Russian oil pipeline triggers emergency in EU state

Slovakia will dip into its strategic reserves to compensate for Kiev’s refusal to transit crude

Slovakia has declared a state of emergency following Ukraine’s decision to block vital Russian oil supplies to the country, TASR news agency has reported.

The state of emergency will be in effect from Thursday until September 30 at the latest, it added, citingKiev’s refusal to transit Russian oil to the countryand the ongoing blockade of the Druzhba pipeline network.

The Slovak government will release strategic oil reserves to ensure one month of operation for the country’s only refinery, in Bratislava, the agency wrote on Wednesday.

Slovakia will also import oil via Croatia’s Adria pipeline, an alternative route bypassing Druzhba, although that supply could take up to 30 days to reach the facility.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said the Czech government was also examining possibilities for supplying oil to Bratislava.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced after a government meeting on Wednesdaythat oil company Slovnaft was stopping the export of diesel to Ukraine, with all products now destined for the domestic market. (Aren’t all military equipment using diesel?)

He also previously stated thatSlovakia may stop supplying electricity to Ukraineover the suspension of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. According to him, Ukraine’s VladimirZelensky is refusing to cooperate on the issue.

While Ukraine has claimed the transit halt was caused by a Russian attack in late January, Slovakia and neighboring Hungary have insisted the pipeline is operational,but oil is not flowing due to a political decision in Kiev.

Fico saidon Sunday that Kiev had delayed the restart of oil flows in orderto pressure Budapest to drop its veto on Ukraine’s future EU membership. Orban has vowed to block any accelerated accession, warning that admitting the country would drag the bloc into direct conflict with Russia.

Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent on Russian crude and hold exemptions from EU sanctions allowing them to import Russian crude by sea if pipeline transit becomes impossible. On Monday,Budapest announced plans to invoke the temporary exemption and import seaborne Russian crude via Croatia.

https://www.rt.com/news/632733-slovakia-oil-emergency-druzhba-disruption/

18 Feb, 2026 19:58

US Justice Department issues new ‘Russiagate’ subpoenas – AP

President Donald Trump has demanded jail time for the spies who accused him of colluding with Russia

The US Department of Justice has reportedly issued a fresh round of subpoenas, as it continues to investigate the campaign by President Donald Trump’s opponents to undermine his 2016 victory with claims of “Russian interference.”

The move was reported by the Associated Press on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources within the Justice Department. According to these sources, the department is seeking documents compiled since January 2017, when US intelligence agencies issued a statement alleging that Russia conspired with the Trump campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

It is unclear whether the subpoenas will lead to any criminal charges.

The 2017 statement, issued jointly by all 17 US intelligence agencies, claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally “approved and directed” a cyber-warfare and influence campaign against the Clinton campaign. Controversially, it included in its appendices a summary of the so-called ‘Steele dossier’, a Democrat-funded report compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.

Steele’s primary source later admitted that he fed Steele a collection of “rumor and speculation,” and a report by White House Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Back in November, the Justice Department subpoenaed former CIA Director John Brennan and other officials involved in producing the January 2017 assessment. Brennan told a 2023 Congressional hearing that the CIA “was not involved at all with”the decision to include the Steele dossier in the assessment. Republican lawmakers claim that this was a lie, and referred Brennan to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution last October.

Trump has maintained for years that the ‘Russiagate’ investigation was a politically-motivated “witch hunt” designed to undermine his first term in office, and has demanded retribution against those involved. “What they did is a disgrace,” he told reporters last year. “They should be [arrested] because they’re crooked and they got caught.”

While the investigation began in 2017, the FBI used the Steele dossier a year earlier to obtain a warrant to wiretap Trump’s campaign. The Justice Department’s inspector general later found that former FBI Director JamesComey omitted key information when he was applying for the warrant, which would have resulted in its rejection.

https://www.rt.com/news/632749-trump-doj-russiagate-subpoenas/

The DOJ must have found more information and people involved.

19 Feb, 2026 14:25

Zuckerberg testifies in social media addiction trial

The Meta boss has claimed that Instagram doesn’t hook kids, but internal documents suggest otherwise

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has rejected allegations that his Instagram platform deliberately targets children and damages their mental health, in a trial that could open the floodgates to a wave of judgments against the social media giant.

Zuckerberg took the stand in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday. The plaintiff in the lawsuit, a 20-year-old California woman known as ‘Kaley’, alleges that she developed anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia after becoming addicted to Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms as a pre-teen.

Alphabet, which owns YouTube, is also named as a defendant in the case, while TikTok and Snap settled with Kaley out of court. Dozens of parents who blame these platforms for their children’s mental health problems or death by suicide attended the trial, and around 1,600 similar lawsuits are pending.

Zuckerberg denied deliberately designing Instagram to keep users scrolling,but was presented with internal documents revealing that Meta judged average time spent on the platform as a “milestone” for success. Healso denied targeting preteen usersin contravention of Instagram’s ban on under-13s.Again, he was shown internal documents that cast doubt on his defense.

“If we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens,” read a slide in a 2018 presentation.Another document from 2015 showed how an estimated 30% of 10-12-year-olds in the US were using Instagram, while anotherrevealed that Meta aimed to increase the amount of screen time 10-year-olds spent on the platform.

Zuckerberg claimed that he did not “remember the context” of the latter document, andadmitted that it is “very difficult” to prevent under-13s from lying about their age to set up accounts. Instagram only began requiring users to enter a date of birth in 2019. Previously, users were simply asked to confirm that they were over 13.

Meta’s lawyers argued that Instagram’s features –including ‘beauty’ filters mimicking the effects of plastic surgery – do not cause mental health issues by themselves. Kaley’s issues, they claimed, stem from her troubled childhood. In a statement released on Wednesday, a company spokesperson said that “the evidence will show she faced many significant, difficult challenges well before she ever used social media.”(pathetic argument)

However,Meta’s own researchers found that teens who claimed Instagram made them feel bad about their bodies were shown more “eating disorder adjacent content” than those who did not, Reuters reported in October. Just under half of USteens feel that social media use has a “mostly negative” impact on their mental health, a Pew Research survey found last year.

The Meta lawsuit comes amid a wider push for regulation of social media companies in the West. Multiple European countries – including France, Greece, and Spain – have announced plans to ban social media use by children younger than 15 or 16. These bans have been bundled with legislation punishing platforms for “hate speech” and “disinformation,” a move that the US has fiercely condemned.

(Why did META get medical experts to answer the questions instead of lawyers? Probably because doctors would tell the truth.)

https://www.rt.com/news/632784-zuckerberg-instagram-addiction-trial/

18 Feb, 2026 21:10

EU nation bans Chinese cars from military sites

The Polish armed forces has claimed the vehicles could pose a security risk and be used for spying

The Polish Army on Tuesday imposed a ban on Chinese-made vehicles, barring them from entering high-security installations. The modern,advanced cars are capable of “uncontrolled acquisition and use of data” and could be used for espionage purposes, it argues.

The army said the measure pertains only to high-security sites, while access to publicly accessible military locations, such as hospitals, garrison clubs, or libraries, will not be restricted.

The cars may still be allowed at the off-limits sites if certain functions are disabled and they comply with other safeguardsimplemented by the specific facility, the army explained.

The restriction is reminiscent of moves taken byseveral nations in recent years over fears that sophisticated Chinese-made vehicles could harvest data through their sensors and cameras, funneling it to their manufacturers. The latter, in turn, could share it with the Chinese government, some have argued.

No solid proof of malicious activities, however, has been presented by any of the nations that have clamped down on Chinese cars. Beijing has repeatedly denied allegations the automobiles or their components could be used for spying, dismissing such claims as “rumors” and “disinformation.”

Late last year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly ordered the removal of some 700 Chinese vehicles, mainly Chery Tiggo 8 Pro plug-in hybrids, which were being used by military officers.

The IDF reportedly gave in to concerns the cars could be sending data to China, including audio and video. Apart from recalling state-issued vehicles, the force also reportedly implemented a blanket ban, barring them from entering military installations.

https://www.rt.com/news/632747-poland-military-chinese-cars/

The US more proved and warned more than 8 years ago, that Chinese inserted spying devices in all US ships and equipment, were filled with spying devices. So it’s a fait accompli that it’s happening in the cars and everything else they send, like our TVs.