I don’t know enough about how much ICE was active before Trump, but I saw a report the other day that ice spending has risen rapidly to over a billion dollars and they are recruiting by offering a $50,000 up front incentive for new recruits.

It's a lot more that $1Billion. ICE was allocated $74.85Billion for 4 years; Border Security was allocated $64.73 Billion ($46.55 billion for the border wall; $18billion for additional staffing and surveillance technology). A billion was added to the Defense Dept's budget for help with border operations.

The number of deportations was above average in 2025 (at around 600K), unless you count the number of self-deportations - which was a whopping 1.6million (see this). These are cases where immigrants accepted a cash incentive to voluntarily leave.

Thanks for the clarification, I couldn’t remember the figures, but knew it was a lot.

So the Orange Emperor is gifted a Nobel Peace Prize medal by Maria Corina Machado, leader of the Venezuelan opposition, which had been awarded to her. Never mind that the Committee says that in no way such honours can be transferred! The Emperor will grasp the opportunity. Even though he’s basically disenfranchised Machado after snatching Maduro, declaring that she ‘lacks popular support’. (Oh well, I guess he’s saved the Venezuelans the trouble of having an election as he obviously knows ‘the will of the people’ better than they themselves.)

But what an unbelievably gauche and classless gesture, accepting someone else’s Nobel. With Trump, there’s never any bottom.

I also got surprised when I watched it on the news. There are no limitations for Trump when we talk about classless gestures, indeed.

However, I understand the movement of Machado – she tried to "woo" him with the aim of finding a way to be recognised as the legitimate candidate for the Venezuelan government. This says a lot about her. She is ready to drop off many of her things just to finally start addressing and solving the big social issues of Venezuela. The problem is she (and her nation) depends on one of the biggest twats that the Americans have ever voted for.

She is ready to drop off many of her things just to finally start addressing and solving the big social issues of Venezuela. — javi2541997

True. No slight on her. But then Trump is like ‘thanks lady, now go away.’ I bet the Nobel Committee is less than impressed.

I agree.

He truly believes that everything can be obtained by the "art of the deal," as he would say, even when some things are valueless. It is frustrating that the near future of a country depends on this kind of traffic.

, , yes, Maria Corina Machado is playing trump almost as well as does Putin.

But what's so galling is the casual way Trump has brushed off any legitimacy of her claim to be the rightful president of Venezeula, 'because the people don't like her.' When it is common knowledge that Maduro lost and stole the last election. But then, losing and then stealing an election is all part of the Trump playbook, right? Probably it means the current regime is more tractable to bribery and coercion, which is why Trump wants to keep them. The whole thing is a disgusting cesspit of robber-baron colonialism.

The whole thing is a disgusting cesspit of robber-baron colonialism. — Wayfarer

That an enthusiastic Trump just bloated out. Just like he has now said that he isn't so keen to have the midterms anymore.

It's going to be interesting to see just when Americans have been humiliated enough by Trump.

Is it when he cancels the midterms? When he grabs even more power?

Btw, has anybody noticed how Greg Bovino looks like Colonel Lockjaw from the "One Battle after Another", the role acted by Sean Penn? Bovino is so close to the film's fictional character. Named just as an "Commander-at-Large" by Kristi Noem and operating outside the command structure of the Border Patrol and reporting directly to the secretary of Homeland Defense, it is a bit similar to the movie.

The movie was made in 2024 and the story is from a 1990's book, so Bovino inspired the movie. Perhaps it has been the other way?