Wake Up Right - May 22, 2025

Author

Wake Up Right
May 22, 2025

Good morning, Wake Up Right fam! Yesterday, I told you that passing President Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending and tax bill would be a test of his “raw political power.”

This morning, Trump flexed it. 💪 And the House passed it. ✅ 

We’ll break the bill down in tomorrow’s newsletter and preview the challenges it may face as it makes its way over to the Senate.

  • 🪙 Bitcoin hit a new record high $111,000

  • 🪦 Virginia Dem Rep.Gerry Connolly dead at 75

  • 🚜 John Deere pledges $20 billion to expand US operations

  • ✝️ On this day in 337, Constantine is 1st baptized Roman emperor

Trump confronts South African president over country’s ‘White genocide’

President Donald Trump pressed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa over his country’s violence against White Afrikaner farmers — calling it a "genocide.”

Glossary: Afrikaners are white South Africans whose ancestors came from Europe — mainly from Dutch settlers.

The details: During their Oval Office meeting, Trump played a video showing South African politician Julius Malema and thousands of supporters chanting “Kill the Boer” —a phrase referring to white farmers.

  • Trump said: “When they take the land, they kill the white farmer… and nothing happens to them. I don’t know how it can get any worse.”

  • Ramaphosa denied any official policy targeting Afrikaners and called the chant a fringe issue.

Back up: In January, Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to take property from White landowners without compensation.

Zoom out: Trump has backed Afrikaner refugee settlement in the United States, with 59 already given asylum.

Is there a White Genocide? Not literally. Whites aren’t being killed en masse. But they are forced to live in a country where the government and the majority of its citizens are increasingly hostile and systemically racist against them. And there are hundreds of first-hand accounts from White South Africans of violence against them and their families. This is why roughly 70,000 are looking to seek asylum in the U.S.

Start learning AI in 2025

Keeping up with AI is hard – we get it!

That’s why over 1M professionals read Superhuman AI to stay ahead.

  • Get daily AI news, tools, and tutorials

  • Learn new AI skills you can use at work in 3 mins a day

  • Become 10X more productive

Israeli embassy staffers killed by man shouting ‘Free Palestine’ in D.C.

Two Israeli Embassy staffers were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum last night by a man shouting “Free Palestine” — days before the couple was to be engaged.

The details: Just after 9 PM, the gunman, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, opened fire, killing Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim as they left the American Jewish Committee ACCESS Young Diplomats Reception.

The killer: Rodriguez was seen pacing outside the museum before opening fire. After killing the couple in cold blood, he fled inside and was arrested while screaming, "Free, Free Palestine" — a common chant among leftists who oppose Israel.

The couple: Lischinsky and Milgrim were "a young couple about the be engaged" according to Israel's ambassador, who also shared that the young man had "purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing" next week in Jerusalem.

President Trump commented on the attack, writing on Truth Social:

  • “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!”

The FBI and D.C. police are treating the shooting as a hate crime and an act of terrorism.

Real talk from G: The shooter’s use of “Free, Free Palestine” — a slogan chanted at many protests and on college campuses — paints a vivid picture that this killer was radicalized by the rhetoric.

[Source: CNN, NY Post]

📜 President Trump's tax and spending bill cleared a critical hurdle last night, as the House voted to advance it to begin debate that should lead to a final vote today. Read more.

✈️ President Donald Trump has officially accepted Qatar’s $400 million Boeing 747 jet gift to be refitted as Air Force One. Read more.

💉 The Biden regime knew about the potential risks of myocarditis from the COVID vaccine, but actively took steps to downplay them, according to a scathing Senate report. Read more.

🏳️‍⚧️ The U.S. Army plans to update the records of transgender service members to reflect only their sex at birth. Read more.

🎞️ LA Mayor Karen Bass issued an order to boost Hollywood film production after Trump proposed 100% tariffs on foreign-made movies for national security. Read more.

🤖 Jony Ive, the former Apple exec who designed the iPhone, is joining forces with OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT. Read more.

🇮🇱 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has “probably” killed Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza. Read more.

🤡 A federal judge ruled the Trump administration must maintain custody of illegal immigrants deported to South Sudan [some are murderers] in case he decides the removals were unlawful. Read more.

🚀 The U.S. successfully launched a 4,200-mile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test to showcase the readiness of its nuclear arsenal. Read more.

✅ ICE arrested an illegal immigrant who caused a deadly DUI crash, killing a Minneapolis mother, despite local authorities refusing to honor an ICE detainers not once, but twice. Read more.

🎥 This is the video Trump made the South African president watch. Watch.

🎥 James O'Keefe releases first-ever look INSIDE Epstein's island temple. Watch.

🎥 Total POS: Guy knocks over waiter's tray on purpose. Watch.

🎥 Wow, Marco RUBIO demolishes Rep. Jayapal over student visas. Watch.

🎥 Chris Cuomo slams his former CNN colleague Jake Tapper over new book. Watch.

🎥 Former Bernie staffer explains why AOC and Bernie are not the answer Democrats need. Watch.

🎥 Trump embarrassed “terrible” NBC reporter in front of the world. Watch.

🎥 Stephen A. Smith TORCHES Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who went to El Salvador to cry for an MS-13 gang banger. Watch.

* indicates it’s a sponsored partnership.

Shop the Wake Up Right store!

About two months ago, I was at a butcher in my neighborhood and saw a diagram of a cow, with all the cuts of meat labeled. And that gave me an idea for a t-shirt:

DOGE Butcher Shop — but instead of the cow, we use a pig. And the cuts of meat in the diagram represent all the waste, fraud, and abuse being butchered by the Trump admin.

Over the last few weeks, I worked with a really talented graphic designer who brought it to life. And on Friday I got a sample in the mail and I’m happy to say, it came out better than I’d hoped.

Also, my wife told me I had to mention that the t-shirt it’s printed on is Comfort Colors. Apparently, they’re well-known for high-quality materials. I just chose them because they are printed in the U.S. and made with 100 U.S. cotton.

If you love this newsletter and want to rep the Wake Up Right fam, you can do so with the link below!