My mom cares, deeply. She taught me to, too. She writes these little snippets on Facebook, which is owned by Meta, Zuckerberg, who is part of the problem. So I’ve encouraged her to post here, on independent media. Read, share, and she might come back and write here more. ~ Waylon, founder of Elephant Journal [pro-tip: click her bio to read and support her other Mindful Snippets]

During his inaugural address, Trump suggested that the US was a continuously expanding empire ruled by billionaire plutocrats. (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were sitting with his Cabinet in the audience.) Trump’s speech included references to “manifest destiny,” saying under his presidency the US will “expand our territory.”

Waxing fondly over our settler-colonial past, which did its best (worst) to exterminate the Indigenous People who were here first, Trump vowed to take control of the Panama Canal! Soon after he began spouting about acquiring Greenland from Denmark and making Canada, our dear ally, the 51st state!

At the same time he has pulled out of UNRA, creating a greater world humanitarian crisis, and now has imposed “tangible and significant consequences” on those responsible for the International Criminal Court (ICC) “transgressions.” The ICC has condemned these new sanctions by Trump and pledges to continue its work, saying to its member states that Trump is attempting to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.”

Which indeed it seems he is! Trump’s order is a response to the arrest warrants that ICC issued last year for Israeli PM Netanyahu and his former defence minister Gallant—who both used starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza and contributing to the death of more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children. Along with that warrant was one for the Hamas’ military chief.

EU’s 27 leaders criticized Trump’s decision, especially since both the US and Israel are not members of the Court and do not recognize its authority. The Hague-based Court said it stands firm by its personnel, and pledges to “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world…We call on our 125 States Parties, civil society and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights.”

The ICC specifically mentioned “its personnel” because Trump said the US would impose “tangible and significant consequences” on those responsible for ICC “transgressions”—meaning the US would not allow ICC officials, employees, and relatives to enter the US!