January 19, 2026
Rural Health Roundtable, Ending Gaza Conflict Stage 2, Defiance Has Consequences, FLOTUS On AI, Religious Freedom Day, And More
By S.E. Gunn, PhD - All News Pipeline
On January 16, 2026, the White House released the Fact Sheet President Donald J. Trump Celebrates the Great, Historic Investment in Rural Health celebrating the historic investment in rural healthcare established by the OBBB (discussed in my July 7, 2025 ANP Article) and the latest state funding awards to improve rural healthcare (discussed in my December 31, 2025 ANP Article). The Fact Sheet touts these programs as providing unprecedented funding levels for rural healthcare transformation programs. President Trump views these steps as correcting the mistakes of the past and as delivering lower healthcare costs and improved access to healthcare in rural communities.
On January 16, 2026, the White House released the Statement on President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict announcing that the plan is entering Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict (discussed in my October 2, 2025 ANP Article) which was officially signed October 13, 2025 (and discussed in my October 14, 2025 ANP Article) with the creation of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) which will be led by Dr. Ali Sha’ath. The article reminds us that President Trump and his Administration are fully committed to supporting this transitional framework to bring peace to the region.
On January 16, 2026, the White House published the article Minnesota’s “Sanctuary” Defiance Has Consequences and we are beginning to see what those consequences are from the DOJ investigations into Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and AG Ellison to the recent announcement that the 11th Airborne Division of the Army has been put on alert status over the increasing unrest in Minnesota.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 16, 2026
11th Airborne from Alaska alerted to do a warning order for deployment of 1500 troops to Minneapolis
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) January 18, 2026
Time to bring some Arctic Tough to the Insurrectionists pic.twitter.com/6ykzEtpqK7
On January 16, 2026, the Office of the First Lady published the statement First Lady Melania Trump Inspires America’s Children to be Curious, Use AI to Achieve their Career Ambitions advancing her mission of helping today's children understand and use AI effectively at a conference in partnership with Zoom Communications. She gave the following speech:
Thank you, Mr. Yuan, Zoom’s leadership in the TechEd space is unmatched. Your support directly advances my mission to prepare America’s next generation to use AI to enhance their education, and ultimately their careers. Indeed, this is an incredible time.
We are living in the Age of Imagination. The Age of Imagination is a new era, powered by artificial intelligence, where one’s curiosity can be satisfied almost magically, in seconds. You are fortunate to have the capability to fulfill your dreams through the power of learning, with AI serving as the primary engine for creative exploration.
History reminds us that curiosity is the driving force behind every great achievement. The world’s greatest minds – our writers, architects, scientists, and painters – all had endless interest about human nature, and they all questioned that which was yet to be answered. Are you ready to produce your own movie? Do you want to build the next Dress to Impress empire? Have you ever wondered how to become the next master artist? Create your own song? Every giant, at some point in time, questions the status quo. Their singular vision pushes humanity in a new direction.
Artificial intelligence is changing today’s world, and your curiosity should serve as the driving force. For the first time in history, the young girl dreaming of becoming a fashion designer and the young boy who wants to stand-up his cool animated superhero series can do so, from their own home. Artificial Intelligence provides all the tools needed to implement your creative vision – today. You can develop movie characters, scripts, fashion, music, art – the entire ecosystem. All with AI. But, what do you need to start? You need to harness your Imagination. In the new AI era, the most powerful skill is knowing what to ask, why it matters, and how to think beyond the first answer.
I encourage you to be stubbornly curious, think outside the box, and question everything. Creators must stretch their minds to think differently. The world of possibility is endless, and AI is extending the conceptual in ways never dreamed of before. In the past, memorization unlocked opportunity. Today, your curiosity will open new doors to meaning, innovation, and leadership. But we must remember, although artificial intelligence can generate images and information, only humans can generate meaning and purpose. Deep thinking, patience, and staying curious are where purpose begins.
Today, I urge you to take action: use AI to unlock new parts of your imagination. Lead with your ideas, stay sharp, but remember – never surrender your thinking to AI. Choose to let your imagination drive your intellectual progress. But never use AI as a quick solution. Be intellectually honest with yourself – use AI as a tool – but do not let it replace your personal intelligence. Pursue understanding with passion like no generation before. Make an impact. Knowledge is power. Nobody can take it away from you. Good luck and wishing you a successful year ahead!
The Layoff Tracker 2026 – Recent Layoffs update:
- January 16, 2026: Ericsson announces proposed headcount reduction in Sweden. App 1,600 positions could be impacted.
- January 15, 2026: Thomas Storey Fabrications Group will layoff 100 employees as the Union calls for transparency.
- January 14, 2026: Bajaj Mobility AG to cut 500 jobs as part of global rightsizing initiative.
- January 13, 2026: BP proposes over 200 job cuts at Whiting refinery as contract talks begin.
President Trump's Presidential Actions published in the Federal Register (FR) to date:
- 227 Executive Orders
- 116 Proclamations
- 99 Presidential Orders, Memoranda, Determinations, Permits, and Notices
Memorandum Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States signed January 7, 2026 (discussed in my January 8, 2026 ANP Article) was published in the FR on January 16, 2026.
EO 14374 Establishing a Second Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Long Island Rail Road Company and Certain of its Employees Represented by Certain Labor Organizations signed January 14, 2026 (discussed in my January 15, 2026 ANP Article) was published in the FR on January 20, 2026.
Proclamation 11002 Adjusting Imports of Semiconductors, Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, and Their Derivative Products into the United States signed January 14, 2026 (discussed in my January 15, 2026 ANP Article) was published in the FR on January 20, 2026.
Proclamation 11001 Adjusting Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Their Derivative Products into the United States signed January 14, 2026 (discussed in my January 15, 2026 ANP Article) was published in the FR on January 20, 2026.
LAWFARE lawsuit tracker to date: There have been no updates to the LAWFARE Tracker since January 12, 2026.
On January 17, 2026, the White House published America 250: Presidential Message on the Birthday of Benjamin Franklin (who was discussed a Patriot of the Day in my August 1, 2025 ANP Article). The Presidential Message highlights that Benjamin taught himself how to read and write; was a passionate innovator (inventing the lightening rod and bifocal glasses); harnessed electricity; created the first public library; created the first volunteer fire department; printer (Poor Richard's Almanac); and served as Postmaster General.
Benjamin contributed to the creation of our Republic in a variety of ways: Ambassador from the Pennsylvania Assembly to England; delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress; helped draft and signed our Declaration of Independence; served as principal negotiator and signer of the 1783 Treaty of Paris effectively ending the Revolutionary War; and signed the US Constitution. Benjamin is one of only 6 men who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution (the others being George Clymer, Robert Morris, George Read, Roger Sherman, and James Wilson). President Trump writes:
Benjamin Franklin is often remembered as the “First American”—a title that reflects a life devoted to curiosity, industry, and the cause of human freedom. His intellect and character helped shape an American identity grounded in courage, self-reliance, and civic duty. Franklin gave the young country confidence and direction, demonstrating how knowledge and public service could advance the cause of liberty. His legacy endures in our institutions, our Constitution, and the very character of our Republic—a testament to how one man’s ideas and actions can echo through the history of a nation for 250 glorious years. Happy birthday, Benjamin Franklin!
On January 16, 2026, President Trump signed the Proclamation Religious Freedom Day, 2026 honoring our ancestors who sailed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1620 searching for religious freedom (personally, I am a descendant of Isaac Allerton on my maternal side). The ship arrived November 19, 1620 at Cape Cod hook (Provincetown Harbor) due to strong winter seas, setting anchor on November 21, 1620. Of the original 102 passengers and about 30 officers. Before setting anchor, the Mayflower Compact was signed by 41 if the remaining 101 passengers. The Compact is presented in modern sources as being:
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
Religious Freedom Day is a commemoration of the Virginia General Assembly's adoption of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786. This statute became the basis for the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The statute reads:
An act for establishing religious Freedom.
Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free;
That all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and therefore are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being Lord, both of body and mind yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do,
That the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time;
That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions, which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical;
That even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor, whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing from the Ministry those temporary rewards, which, proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind;
That our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry,
That therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages, to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right,
That it tends only to corrupt the principles of that very Religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments those who will externally profess and conform to it;
That though indeed, these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way;
That to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own;
That it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order;
And finally, that Truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them:
Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities. And though we well know that this Assembly elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of Legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare that the rights hereby asserted, are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right.
Religious Freedom Day is commemorated via a proclamation by the current President of the US, with the first proclamation being issued in 1933. This is not a federal holiday nor has it been codified into law.
President Trump reminds us that faith is endemic to our nation from the establishment of the Jamestown Colony between 1606 and 1610 to the Pilgrim's arrival at Plymouth Rock in 1620 and through every period of both war and peace since. Religious faith has shaped the character, laws, and spirit of our Nation. President Trump writes:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2026, as Religious Freedom Day. I call on all Americans to commemorate this day with events and activities that honor our Nation’s proud history of religious freedom, and I especially encourage families to gather at places of worship to praise Almighty God for the blessings of liberty He has bestowed on our great country.
I note that our US Constitution and Bill of Rights were not made for a religion where the "religion" and the "government" are the same thing. Nor was it made for a "religion" that allows the adherents of said "religion" to behead those who refuse to convert to that "religion," lie to non-believers, kill those who leave the "religion," grown men marrying little girls and raping them when the girl reaches age 9, and other atrocities performed in the name of the "religion." The fact that elected politicans are being allowed to take their oath of office with a hand on the "holy book" of a "religion" like this is a travesty.
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‘Dangerous, Derogatory, Harmful, Unreliable!’
Those are some of the exact words used by Google’s censors, aka 'Orwellian content police,' in describing many of our controversial stories. Stories later proven to be truthful and light years ahead of the mainstream media. But because we reported those 'inconvenient truths' they're trying to bankrupt ANP.
