The News Cycle is almost impossible to track these days. At least, to do so fully.

That’s where we come in.

In the Badlands News Brief, the Badlands Media team hand pick news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community with some Badlands flavoring to help wash it down.

This week’s items are brought to you by our friends at A Bit of Whimsy Boutique. Please support the America First sponsors who make this work possible.

Now, onto the news from the Weekend that Was …

Trump Picks J.D. Vance As Running Mate

48 hours after being shot through the ear at a campaign event, Donald Trump has announced J.D. Vance as his running mate.

"After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Full statement:

After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio. J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association. J.D.’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….

Vance, 39, had emerged as the front-runner earlier in the day after sources said that Marco Rubio and Gov. Doug Burgum had been finalists. Both were told on Monday that they were out of the running.

Earlier in the day, Vance was seen leaving his home in a motorcade, fueling speculation that he was the pick. — ZeroHedge

Our Take: Prognostication is a part of the game, and it's a fun part.

Here's the thing: we're in an Info War, and by definition, Donald Trump and American patriots have significantly more information than any of us do ... and, we think, than our/their enemies do.

Trump has made his decision.

It's not hopium to suggest it's automatically the right one; it's merely the end result of having observed the most masterful and intricate information dissemination (ie: awakening) operation in world history, which he symbolically heads with the backing of US Military Intelligence.

If JD Vance is the guy behind the guy ... he's the guy.

Additionally, reverse indicators are my personal favorite direction-finders in the Info War, and there's at least one interesting example where it concerns the JD Vance pick:

Amidst all the chaos from this weekend's events, the MSM adopted a posture largely of paralysis where it concerns Donald Trump himself, and even paused their Panic Pattern surrounding #OurBoyBlue, Joe Biden.

That said, they DID NOT hold their fire where it concerns JD Vance, as he was the most prominent American political figure to not only support Trump in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, but to go one step further by boldly proclaiming that irresponsible media, Dem and Biden Admin rhetoric were responsible for cultivating a sociopolitical environment that made said attempt not only possible, but probable.

With the benefit of hindsight, these attacks on Vance look like attempts to poison the well on his announcement to the normie hivemind.

Game Theory's a bitch ... if you're on the wrong side of it. —

Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. meet following assassination attempt of former president

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Donald Trump Monday morning, two days after the former president survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

The two presidential candidates reportedly met and spoke just leading up to the start of the Republican National Convention, scheduled to start Monday and hours before Trump announced his Vice President pick as Ohio senator J.D. Vance.

Trump survived the attempt with only a minor injury while one other person was killed and two others wounded.

Secret service personnel quickly rushed Trump from the stage with blood dripping on his face after gunshots rang out at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by Secret Service agents. — USA Today

Our Take: Who is running things at DHS? Kennedy has been requesting Secret Service since he entered the race, and he has been stonewalled by the Biden Administration.

On Monday, in the wake of the failed assassination attempt, President Trump called for Kennedy to have access to protection, and it was granted damn near instantly.

Mayorkas is attempting to downplay the development, claiming that Biden authorized security for Kennedy both ‘prior to and after’ Saturday’s attempted assassination.

Cool story, bro, but Kennedy having USSS protection hasn’t been announced until now.

Obviously, I’m not voting for Kennedy but, unlike the left, that doesn’t mean I want him harmed. As a reminder, ‘One Job’ and ‘We Missed’ were trending on X shortly after Trump was shot.

Many times since Saturday, I’ve recalled the DPH guys’ discussion about the desired outcome of the assassination attempt. The gist: Unless the lone gunman story is true, which it never is, the cabal wanted to explode 45’s head on live TV and traumatize the nation to neutralize the rising populism.

They desire a scare event, and it’s unlikely they’ll stop short, so I’m grateful that Kennedy now has a protective detail. Just make sure they secure the perimeter. —

ANDREW NEIL: I'm starting to think an enemy operative has infiltrated the Democratic party! Here's what insiders tell me Trump is doing to KEEP Biden in the race

The Democratic Party leadership has either been infected by a death wish — or infiltrated by agents of President Putin with a mission to ensure Donald Trump's victory in November.

How come? Think about it.

What's the biggest issue in American politics this summer? Why, Joe Biden's age and his fitness to serve a second term, a matter on which 80 percent of Americans have already concluded he's unfit.

And what's the issue Democrats continue to obsess over, their inability to come to a firm conclusion — should he go or should he stay — guaranteeing that it stays front and centre of every media outlet in every news cycle? Why, the President's fitness to run again and rule for another four years, of course.

The Democrats are doing Trump's work for him. — The Daily Mail

Our Take: Do you know what my favorite part of this whole timeline is? The thing that must keep our enemies awake at night, staring at their ceiling?

The allegation that Donald Trump colluded with Vladimir Putin is likely... true.

(Just not for the reasons they claim.)

The morons in the corporate press are finally figuring it out, but too little, too late. A convergence of consciousness is upon us, and my hope is that it will catapult humanity into the next epoch.

Accelerate.

(And yes, Biden is our guy, whether or not he realizes it.) -

Trump Rewrites RNC Speech to Focus on Unity as Biden Calls for Calm

In the wake of a shocking assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, both Republican and Democratic leaders are calling for a reduction in political tensions.

The former president has decided to dramatically alter his Republican National Convention (RNC) speech to focus on national unity, while President Joe Biden delivered an urgent address from the Oval Office urging Americans to reject political violence.

The suspected gunman, now identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by the Secret Service. A rally attendee, 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore was also killed during the incident.

The injured victims, identified as 57-year-old David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, are currently in stable condition. Trump sustained a minor injury when a bullet grazed his ear during the attack.

In an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner, the former president revealed his change of heart regarding the content of his upcoming convention speech. "The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger," Trump said, adding that it would have primarily targeted President Biden's policies. "Honestly, it's going to be a whole different speech now." — Newsweek

Our Take: I've said it before and I'll say it again: in order for Donald Trump and patriots to usher the United States into a new era of prosperity and idealism, he can't be seen as a conqueror, but a unifier.

We're getting a preview of how that grand central theme is going to be imprinted into the Collective Mind. Very slowly, and then all at once.

Trump is known as a fighter, to those who love him and to those who've been programmed to hate him by the Deep State cretins that truly fear what they've already branded the 'Retribution Term,' and this weekend, by getting up and calling for strength and unity after taking a literal bullet for this nation, Trump solidified his standing as America's champion.

And yet ... the most difficult war to wage and win is one not just for peace, but OF peace.

We in the MAGA movement have the power to change and reform this nation, but we're resolved to do it the right way.

Trump is the Peacemaker. And the Unifier.

Just as he is our Champion, we are his. —

The Trump trade is in full swing as markets react to the attempted assassination of the former president

The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is already influencing markets as investors place bets on trades set to benefit from a second Trump term.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the price of bitcoin increased by 2%. Those gains extended to 4% on Monday morning.

Trump has come out strongly in favor of bitcoin this year and is set to headline the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville later this month with a speech.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group soared 48% on a massive trading volume of 13 million shares in Monday's premarket trading session. Shortly after the opening bell, the stock pared that gain by about 28% to trade at $40 a share.

Tesla stock was also higher on Monday by about 4%.

If Trump is reelected in November, it could have mixed results for the electric-vehicle industry. But analysts have described the company as a Trump trade, and the EV maker was largely higher as its CEO, Elon Musk, endorsed Trump over the weekend.

"I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk said Saturday on X. — Business Insider

Our Take: The markets are calling a Trump win in November. I mean, honestly, it seems like every indicator and analyst is already calling the contest for 45. Make that 47.

As I catch up on the news from Monday, having been otherwise engaged, it sure seems like the tides are turning. All the news seems good.

The docs case is finished.

Jack Smith is illegitimate.

RFK was finally granted protection.

The VP debates are going to be fire.

And Bitcoin bumped as well.

As the establishment tries to figure out how to process what’s happening to their carefully crafted couping, I’m sitting here wondering what is coming next.

I won’t find out until after 5pm tomorrow, but whatever it is, I’m pretty sure nothing can stop it. —

Morning Joe and The Daily Show cancel Monday editions after Trump assassination attempt

MSNBC and Comedy Central have cancelled Monday airings of Morning Joe and The Daily Show following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on Saturday.

Trump, 78, was struck by a bullet in the right ear during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening.

The bloodied former president was rushed from the stage by Secret Service agents. He was treated in hospital for minor injuries.

A rally-goer was killed and two others critically injured. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20,was shot dead by snipers from his perch on a rooftop outside of the event’s security perimeter. — The Independent

Our Take: The Deep State Archipelago is splintering & collapsing under a web of indecision and informational paralysis.

Most of the core theories in the Truth Community revolve around our believe that a coordinated criminal cabal of collectivists have been attempting to wage war on American patriots (and citizens,) for generations, and that Donald Trump has been targeted specifically because of the existential threat he poses to them.

This coordination hasn't just run along clandestine layers of the war, but informational layers, with the Media Industrial Complex deploying narratives at the direct behest of the deeper layers of the criminal insurgency poisoning our lands.

In the wake of the Attempt, it's becoming more obvious than ever that the media is devolving into a series of rhetorical bunkers when they should ostensibly be firming up their narrative positions.

Why so silent this week? Why so confused?

They've been cut off from each other. They've been siloed.

The System is dying. —

Burkina to Withdraw Mining Permits from Countries Refusing to Sell Military Equipment to Nation

Burkina Faso will withdraw mining permits granted to companies from countries that refuse to sell military equipment to the African nation, announced the country's leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, during an address to the nation.

"Some [powers] have refused to sell us [military] equipment, have blocked the equipment we have bought from certain countries because they have the license for certain components," President Traore said, adding that "these powers mine minerals in Burkina Faso." — Sputnik

Our Take: It would seem that African nations are behaving the most logically of all nations, actually acting in their own best interest.

Recently, we reported on Zambia driving the Pentagon out of their country, and outlawing the US dollar—which the State Department was likely using to try and destabilize their country. (Back in February, the Zambian Kwacha was reported to the strongest of any African currency.)

I explained that story to CannCon on Badlands Daily, which you can listen to here:

Yesterday, Jon Herold and I hosted Daily, and I shared a white paper commissioned by the EU earlier this year, which was ostensibly intended to vilify Russia's activities in Africa. They provided some pretty compelling graphics about the Wagner Group's interests and actions in Africa. Note that the graphic shows that Wagner has both a military presence and economic interests in Burkina Faso, and is engaging in military psyops in the country, along with the Russian government.

There was also a graphic showing the distribution of military agreements Putin has signed with African nations since 2015, the proportion of military imports those countries are bringing in, and denotes recent coups against the respective governments.

So now we have Burkina Faso withdrawing the mining rights from France—their longtime colonial oppressor—because France refuses to sell them military equipment. That makes perfect sense to me. It's also worth noting that Burkina Faso, along with neighbors Niger and Mali, withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year, and just last week announced that they are creating the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This is a significant development, since ECOWAS was formed in 1975—spearheaded by western influence—because the 15 member-nations who joined kept experiencing military coups and economic instability. (Wonder why?) Oddly enough, joining ECOWAS didn't solve any of these problems—it only made them worse.

This last graphic is my own creation, and shows visits made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov just last month. That's a very aggressive travel itinerary for two pretty important men in Russia's government. And when you consider their roles, it's hard not to connect the dots to the newly formed AES. —

BONUS ITEMS

Federal judge dismisses Trump classified documents case over concerns with prosecutor’s appointment

A federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

Hours later, special counsel Jack Smith’s office said it would appeal the order, which could result in it eventually being overturned by a higher court. But for now at least, the dismissal by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon brings a stunning and abrupt halt to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted.

Though the case had long been stalled, and the prospect of a trial before the November election already nonexistent, the judge’s order is a significant legal and political victory for Trump as he recovers from a weekend assassination attempt and prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week. — AP News

To the World, Trump 2.0 Looks Even More Likely Now

Foreign diplomats have long watched America’s increasingly toxic politics with intrigue if not outright dread. The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has some of them now predicting that he will likely win the presidential race this November — and that more U.S. political violence is on the way.

These assessments, no doubt being rapidly typed into classified cables to send to superiors back home, are not made willy-nilly. For diplomats from countries friendly with the United States, the conclusions are especially unnerving, because instability in America could mean instability everywhere.

Diplomats’ words also carry particular weight: It is their job to watch other nations’ politics closely, and they help shape how their governments react.

In conversations with such envoys from three continents, it became clear to me that their main takeaway feels almost inescapable after an assassin’s bullet apparently grazed and bloodied the Republican candidate’s ear on Saturday.

“The shooting makes Trump’s victory in the election more likely,” one Latin American diplomat said.

“It is a powerful drive for that,” admitted a senior European diplomat.

“It sealed his victory,” an African diplomat predicted. — Politico

We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.

As always, if you have any thoughts on these news items or the MANY others swirling in the digital ether, drop into the comments below to share them with your fellow Badlanders.

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