Beltway Insider: Trump, Venezuelan Earthquake, Death Toll Rises, European Heat Wave, Etan Patz, Independence Day

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Saturday, 27 June 2026 16:21

Written by Janet Walker

The Trump Administration has pledged a whole of government response to the earthquake ravaged Venezuelan nation, but three days later the promised aid has not arrived proving Mr. Trump's assurances to the South American country are empty.

The President's job approval rating, according to The New York Times for the period ending June 27, 2026, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President remained consistent at 38% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president has decreased by 1% to 58%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Trump Weak Response to Venezuelan Earthquake

President Trump, who promised to step in and "run" the nation of Venezuela, after capturing the nation's president Nicolás Maduro, and failed in his responsibility as the twin earthquakes that struck the region on June 25, leaving wide swaths of unrecognizable rubble and burying hundreds of thousands

The shocking doublet earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale and followed immediately by a higher and one thousand times more powerful, 7.5 quake shook buildings from the foundations, and instantly killed an unconfirmed total, although to date, 1430 deaths have been attributed to the quake with upwards of 30,000 still missing.

The relatively shallow quakes the first which occurred at 6:00 PM (local time) struck at a depth of 14 miles, and the second, more deadly quake occurred 38 seconds later, at a depth of six miles. The deeper the quake the less possibility of surface damage. When earthquakes are shallow, the possibility for catastrophic damage increases. The doublet, which is essentially two earthquakes of equal or greater magnitude occurring within a short range of each other and having a similar wave pattern.

"This could have happened because Earth's crust displacement in the first earthquake fault increased stress on the second earthquake's source fault," said Mark Quigley, a professor of earthquake science at the University of Melbourne in Australia. "The passage of seismic waves from the first earthquake could have rattled nearby faults already prone to a rupture," The Wall Street Journal reported.

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Aid Delayed Amidst Overwhelming Death, Destruction

For those buried under tons of concrete, steel, and debris, the critical 72 hour window is rapidly closing. Desperate family members, and community leaders are digging with hand shovels, and any equipment possible in hopes of recusing beloved family members still trapped. With every victory, the news for hundreds of others is devastating.

"The United States was among several countries to offer help. Given the severe damage at the main international airport — one of its runways was cracked — "we'll have to rely on the Department of War to deploy assets there," Rubio said, referring to the Defense Department. Among the resources expected to be deployed was the USS Fort Lauderdale, already at sea in the region with sailors, Marines and aircraft aboard, according to an official familiar with the matter," The Washington Post reported.

Utilizing a USS Navy Warship as a central hub for military assigned to assist, in times of national disaster or foreign aid assistance is common practice for the U.S. military. During the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the decommissioned USS Intrepid, was enlisted to house investigators and other government personnel as hundreds of agents were deployed to Manhattan.

While the U.S. Southern Command announced the military have arrived in waters near Venezuela and will begin supporting relief and live-saving efforts. Additional military personnel are being transported to aid impacted Venezuelan communities.

The United States is not the only nation answering the call, and many have arrived more expeditiously.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emeritus, China, Qatar, Columbia, Turkey, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Panama, Cuba, India, and South America, have all pledged teams, cadaver dogs, medicine, field hospitals, and funding to assist the Venezuelan government with the current immediate effort of finding survivors amidst the cataclysmic devastation, and assisting with the immediate needs confronting the nation after the worst natural disaster to strike in decades.

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Unapparelled Devastation

Satellite images of the area surrounding the epicenter of the twin earthquakes, in the La Guaira region near Caracas, reveal entire neighborhoods have vanished leaving only foundations and mounds of rubble. The twisted metal, steel, and blocks of cement have created towering debris pile has building, hotels, apartment complex pancaked into each other trapping residents, workers and guests.

The La Guaira region along the coastal area, suffered more damage during the second quake, while the first quake produced an expanded region of shaking.

With more than 7 million Venezuelans directly affected by the twin earthquakes, in human toll, the earthquakes will be the most devastating the nation has ever experienced. The U.S. Geological Survey issued a Red Alert for the devastating twin earthquakes using their PAGER model, a prompt assessment automated system, they estimate a 59% probability that the final death toll will exceed 10,000, with an additional 17% probability that fatalities could surpass 100,000.

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An Economy Already Devasted

Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriquez is hoping to impress President Trump, and as soon as possible following the earthquake appeared in to calm the people, hoping to appear to have this unapparelled catastrophe under control.

"The Trump administration wants to showcase that its new partnership with Rodríguez can deliver what Nicolás Maduro's government couldn't: stability, effective disaster relief and a more-functional Venezuelan state. Trump has repeatedly praised her for doing a "fantastic" job, and portrayed Venezuela as a country on the road to recovery," The Wall Street Journal reported.

However, in the critical 72 hour window following the devastation, in addition to the 7 million directly affected, neighborhoods, the most vulnerable, and already experiencing immediate needs assistance, were largely left on their own. There were no first responder services, storehouses of emergency equipment and supplies were looted by government officials prior to the earthquakes.  Hospitals were overrun, the nation's infrastructure had been failing before the quakes, now they are crippled.

As we have seen repeatedly with the Trump Administration withholding is his go-to strategy when forcing allies and enemies to submit to his demands. There is no doubt he will do the same with Venezuela, as its rich oil reserves hold the power to desperately needed funding, especially now in the face of billions needed to rebuild.

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Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from each new variants.

For the 7 days ending June 27, 2026, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 4,014 to 779,235,461. The total worldwide death toll did not increase over the past seven days increased by 42 to 7,115,381 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated June 7, 2026, from the World Health Organization).

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Supreme Court Uphold Etan Patz Conviction

The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of Pedro Hernandez, found guilty of murdering six year old Etan Patz, after luring him into the bodega where he worked, while the child walked two blocks from his Soho Manhattan home to the bus stop in 1979.

Hernandez, who spoke very little English, had been allegedly troubled for many years with guilt over an incident that he explained to several people, including those in his prayer group, of murdering a child. When he was questioned by police, both before and after he was read his rights, and understood those rights he made the same confession.

The dedication of the Manhattan Das office is admirable. In 2012, more than a decade after the child was declared legally dead, then DA Cyrus R. Vance brought the case to trial. It ended with a hung jury. The case was retired under newly elected DA Alvin A. Bragg, who secured a conviction.

"But in appeal after appeal, Mr. Hernandez's lawyers have continued to fight to reverse his conviction. The decision last year had been their biggest success — until it was reversed after the office of Alvin L. Bragg, the current Manhattan district attorney, took the matter to the Supreme Court," The New York Times reported.

Finally, with the conviction upheld by the Supreme Court justice has been served.

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European Heat Wave

Europe is baking. A sweltering early summer heat dome has stalled stubbornly over much of western Europe shattering records from Switzerland to Germany. More than 60 deaths have been attributed to the heat wave in France, with 40 from drowning, 18 from health related issues, and four toddlers died locked inside vehicles.

Unprecedented health measures were mandated in France, where French President Emmanuel Macron banned the sale of alcohol and the public consumption of it to aid the overwhelmed medical services.

"Parts of Central and Eastern Europe will begin to experience severe heat on Friday, according to MeteoAlarm, a European early warning system. Dangerously high temperatures were forecast for Zurich, Prague, Vienna, Belgrade and the Croatian coast, among other places. This heat wave would "not have been possible" without global warming caused by humans, scientists affiliated with World Weather Attribution, which analyzes extreme weather events, said in a report," The New York Times reported.

Youth Pastor Charged with Murder, Commit Suicide

A devasting accident in August of 2006, left a young Youth Pastor, David Vander Meer, a widow. His wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, 29, had somehow slipped off the side of a cliff in Utah's Mt. Zion National park and falling over 1200 feet to her death.

This week, nearly twenty years later, Vander Meer was arrested by the U.S. Marshalls Service, in Las Vegas, Nevada and charged with the murder of his wife. After receiving a tip from a minister associated with Vander Meer, the case was reopened. Authorities discovered Vander Meer was a serial pedophile, grooming members of his church's youth group to engage in sexual or other illegal activities.

"The pastor had been engaged for years in what an investigator for the attorney's office described in an affidavit as an "inappropriate sexual relationship" with a member of his youth ministry that began when she was underage. Mr. Vander Meer had told her that they could be together only if his wife were "not alive," according to the affidavit, which identified the girl only as "SH,"' The New York Times reported.

While in police custody in Clark County, Nevada, Vander Meer committed suicide.

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Independence Day: America at 250

As Americans gather across the nation to celebrate Independence Day, this year, America turns the ripe old age of 250. Old age never looked so good. Even as America continues to struggle with great political and ideological divides, it remains the greatest nation in the world. Leaders, good and bad, will come and go, pundits will laud and discount, scandals will be exposed, and through it all Americans, if we have learned anything in the last fifteen years, are a resilient people.

We have weathered a terrorist attack on our shores, a global recession, second only to the Great Depression of the 1930s, a pandemic so devasting the more than 1 million Americans and 7 million around the world died. We have had economic hardships, unrest, an attempted siege on the Capitol Building, and still we have prospered.

We, as a nation, as grown into ourselves, we know what we want. We understand the divides were meant to dissuade the people and yet, they became what affirmed our beliefs. We have seen what failing to participate can bring about and we, the people, each of us, in our small towns and large cities, those of us who are dedicated to a more perfect union, must help our nation, at 250 years old, cross the great divide.

Historians will dissect the last 250 years, marking the horrors of World Wars as a turning point, the defeat of Germany, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the years of turmoil, death, murders, and upheavals as society in the 20th century travailed as it birthed a new chapter in the book of democracy.

So, this Independence Day, amidst the celebrations and fireworks pause to think about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we could be free to fail, to fall, to rise again, and think about the future and our responsibility to ensure the more perfect union increases daily.

For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.