BRUSSELS – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has delivered one of the starkest warnings heard in Europe since the end of the Cold War, telling EU leaders that the continent must be ready for the possibility of a large-scale war with Russia within the next five years.

Speaking at a closed-door meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels, later confirmed by several officials present, the former Dutch prime minister dropped the cautious language that usually shapes NATO messaging.

“We are no longer in a grey zone,” Rutte said, according to sources. “Europe has to rearm at a speed and on a scale not seen since the 1930s, or we risk facing a war we are not prepared to fight, and almost certainly not prepared to win.”

The remarks mark a sharp shift in tone from the alliance. For nearly two years, NATO leaders have argued that extensive military aid to Ukraine would be enough to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking any NATO member. Rutte’s warning suggests that faith in that assumption has weakened inside the organisation.

Three senior diplomats who attended the meeting told reporters, on condition of anonymity, that Rutte shared new intelligence suggesting Russia is rebuilding its armed forces far faster than Western officials expected, despite heavy losses in Ukraine.

These assessments indicate that Moscow could have a conventional force, able to conduct operations against the Baltic states and carry out sustained long-range strikes across Europe, by around 2029 or 2030.

Dangerous Complacency

“Russia isn’t just swapping one destroyed tank for one new tank,” Rutte reportedly told ministers. “They have moved their whole economy onto a war footing. Their defence sector now produces more artillery shells in a single month than the entire European Union turns out in a year.

If we don’t match that kind of effort, the balance of power will shift firmly against us.”

Rutte singled out Germany, France, Italy, and Spain for pointed criticism, accusing them of “dangerous complacency” over defence spending and arms procurement.

He praised Poland, the Baltic states, and the Nordic countries for moving quickly to raise their military budgets and bring back or strengthen conscription, but warned that, taken together, Europe remains “woefully unprepared” for a high-intensity conflict.

The most sensitive moment came when Rutte spoke about the possible impact of a second Donald Trump term in the White House. “We must plan for every scenario, including one where America is distracted or decides not to honour Article 5,” he said, referring to NATO’s mutual defence clause.

The remark caused clear unease among several southern European ministers, some of whom later described it in private as “unhelpful scaremongering”.

After the meeting, Rutte softened his language in public but did not back away from his main message. “Europe must be ready to defend every inch of allied territory, with or without outside support,” he told journalists outside the European Council building.

“That takes money, political courage, and a deep change in how Europeans think about security. The time of peace dividends is over.”

NATO Target Spending

His warning comes as several European governments are already, albeit slowly, increasing defence budgets. Germany said last month that it will hit NATO’s target of spending 2% of GDP on defence by 2027, three years later than it had initially pledged.

France has promised to raise its defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030, while Poland already spends more than 4%. Security analysts say that even these higher figures still fall well short of what would be needed to narrow the gap with Russia’s growing arsenal.

Experts interviewed by Reuters said that Rutte’s five-year timeline is “completely realistic”. Dr Claudia Major, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said Russia’s ability to absorb huge losses and keep expanding its defence industry has “shocked” many Western intelligence services. “They are not just rebuilding,” she said. “They are innovating and growing at a scale we have not seen since the Second World War.”

As Europe moves into 2026, facing weak growth, political division, and public fatigue over the war in Ukraine, Rutte’s comments set out a stark choice. Either the continent rearms quickly at great financial and political cost, or it risks becoming exposed to Russian pressure, or even direct military attack, within a few years.

For now, his warning appears to have prompted at least some immediate reactions. Late on Wednesday, the defence ministers of Spain and Italy announced fast-track reviews of their military procurement plans. The European Commission also confirmed that it is putting together a proposed €100 billion “ReArm Europe” loan package, which EU leaders are expected to debate next month.

Whether Europe can find the unity and determination to act before the window closes has now become the central security question facing the continent.

Related News:

Trump Calls European Leaders Weak, Warns Over Mass Migration

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Federal watchdogs and members of Congress are pursuing “pass-through” fraud within Small Business Administration (SBA) diversity programs, many of which expanded significantly during the Biden administration’s “equity in procurement” strategy.

A major accountability effort is unfolding across federal contracting. Evidence suggests widespread deception and misuse within the SBA’s primary diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These programs saw rapid expansion under the previous administration’s focus on equitable procurement.

The central issue in the emerging controversy surrounds the 8(a) Business Development Program. This decades-old initiative aims to provide federal contract preferences to firms owned by people considered “socially and economically disadvantaged.”

Lawmakers and investigators assert that the program, which granted over $40 billion in contracts in Fiscal Year 2024, became a way for large, unqualified corporations to misuse taxpayer money. They allegedly used small, disadvantaged businesses as facades.

Fraud Becomes Widespread

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler suggested the current issue worsened due to the Biden administration’s “aggressive priority for DEI over merit in federal contracting.” This crisis follows several years of warnings from the SBA’s Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The situation escalated after two recent, highly publicized incidents provided strong evidence for critics.

The first was a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation in June. It revealed an alleged $550 million bribery plan spanning a decade. The scheme involved a former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracting officer and three company owners who took advantage of the 8(a) program.

This was followed in October by an undercover video. The footage reportedly showed a senior official from a large 8(a) firm, ATI Government Solutions, admitting to defrauding the program to obtain multi-million dollar, sole-source contracts.

The SBA subsequently suspended ATI, a Native-owned enterprise, from receiving new federal contracts. The firm faced allegations that it operated as a “pass-through,” subcontracting almost all of its work while keeping a minor fee.

This action clearly violated the rules meant to protect the program’s integrity. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent immediately ordered the suspension and cancellation of all Treasury contracts with ATI Government Solutions, which totaled more than $253 million.

Treasury and SBA Begin Broad Audits

The new Trump administration quickly ramped up its enforcement efforts.

Treasury Secretary Bessent announced a comprehensive, department-wide audit. The review targets approximately $9 billion in contracts awarded through preference-based programs. Bessent stated the department “will not tolerate fraudulent misuse of federal contracting programs.” According to the Treasury, many of these contracts were granted during the Biden administration’s equity push.

In a related move, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler ordered a full review of all 8(a) contracts across every federal agency. Loeffler has already directed the agency to reduce its contracting goal for disadvantaged businesses to the legal minimum of 5 percent, down from the Biden-era high of 15 percent.

Loeffler said, “Evidence indicates that the 8(a) Program, initially designed for ‘socially and economically disadvantaged’ businesses, has become a pass-through vehicle for rampant abuse.”

In an unparalleled action, the SBA sent letters in early December to all 4,300 current 8(a) participants. The letters demand that firms submit extensive financial records by January 5, 2026, or risk being removed from the program. This massive request for documentation signals the administration’s strict policy against widespread program misuse.

Congress Calls for Immediate Business Program Suspension

Congressional reaction to the alleged waste of taxpayer funds has been immediate and strongly critical across both parties.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, is leading the legislative response. Just this week, Ernst sent letters to 22 federal agency heads. She pushed them to voluntarily cease all sole-source 8(a) contracting. She also urged them to conduct detailed reviews of all sole-source and set-aside 8(a) contracts dating back to Fiscal Year 2020.

“Despite concerns with the 8(a) program, Joe Biden opened the floodgates to fraud,” Ernst told reporters. “I have found evidence of alarming, potentially fraudulent 8(a) awards made across government that need to be investigated. The program must be halted at every agency while a thorough review is conducted to ensure taxpayers are not being ripped off by con artists.”

Ernst criticized the “sloppy oversight and weak enforcement measures.” She claimed these failures permitted “8(a) participants to act as pass-through entities, snagging unlimited no-bid deals with little transparency.”

Constitutional Hurdle Approaches

Beyond the extensive fraud allegations, the legal standing of the DEI-based contracting programs themselves faces a serious constitutional challenge.

A new major lawsuit, filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) and the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), seeks to invalidate a core SBA regulation. This rule creates a “rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage” for people belonging to specific racial and ethnic groups. Plaintiffs argue this mechanism, which was adopted across dozens of Biden-era programs, is a “code word for race discrimination.” They contend it violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

Federal courts have already ruled against using this presumption in several federal programs, including parts of the 8(a) program. Under the new administration, the DOJ formally informed Congress that it will no longer defend the presumption in certain Department of Transportation programs. This suggests a major policy shift that could end race-based preferences throughout the federal government.

The convergence of massive fraud accusations and a growing constitutional crisis has made the SBA’s diversity programs a central focus of the administration’s commitment. This commitment is to eliminate what it calls “radical and wasteful” DEI-based contracting and to root out waste. The sheer number of contracts now under examination, along with the threat of legal action for firms that fail to comply, suggests this cleanup operation is just beginning.

Trending News:

Trump’s Calls European Leaders Weak, Warns Over Mass Migration

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is facing one of the biggest welfare fraud scandals in American history, with federal officials warning that theft from state and federal aid programmes could top $8 billion.

The alleged fraud, centred on schemes that targeted food assistance, housing support, and services for vulnerable families, has highlighted serious gaps in oversight under Democratic Governor Tim Walz. As the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) ramp up investigations,

Tim Walz is under intense pressure for refusing to accept responsibility and instead pointing to federal Covid-era rules and partisan attacks.

What started as a few reports of oddities in child nutrition spending has grown into what prosecutors now describe as the largest Covid fraud case in the country. Shell companies, many reportedly linked to Minnesota’s Somali-American community, are accused of billing for services that never happened, then spending the cash on luxury cars, high-end goods, foreign transfers, and possibly terror-linked transactions.

So far, 78 people have been charged and more than 50 convicted, while the needs of vulnerable children and families were pushed aside in favour of yachts, mansions, and designer labels.

How the Fraud Grew

At the centre of the scandal is the Feeding Our Future case, involving a nonprofit that grew at astonishing speed during the Covid pandemic. The group received federal child nutrition funds that were distributed by the Minnesota Department of Education and meant to pay for meals for low-income children.

Instead, operators are accused of submitting invoices for millions of meals that never existed, with some sites operating as little more than paperwork mills pretending to serve food at $4.50 per fake meal.

DOJ documents outline how the fraud spiralled once rules were loosened in 2020. As pandemic emergency measures relaxed checks and documentation, Feeding Our Future’s annual budget jumped from about $3.4 million to around $200 million.

Insiders at the state agency flagged odd claims as far back as 2019, but meaningful action lagged. A 2022 state audit condemned officials for “creating opportunities for fraud” by brushing aside glaring warning signs, such as meal counts that made no sense and sites listed in strip malls with no proper verification.

The problems were not limited to food programmes. Similar scams cropped up in Housing Stabilization Services (HSS), a scheme created to keep older people and people with disabilities from becoming homeless. Launched in 2020 with a forecast cost of about $2.6 million, it exploded to $104 million in payments by 2024, with investigators now saying most of that money was fraudulent.

Some providers allegedly scraped names from rehab centres, then billed Medicaid for bogus counselling that never took place, pocketing about $61 million in just the first half of 2025. Another group is accused of netting $14 million through false claims for autism therapy, exploiting families desperate for real support.

Unemployment benefits were also hit. During the height of the pandemic, officials say roughly $500 million went out in fake jobless claims. The Centre of the American Experiment’s Minnesota Scandal Tracker now records more than $1.2 billion in confirmed losses since Walz took office in 2019. Even so, whistleblowers and some lawmakers now talk about a much higher figure.

Representative Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) has repeated concerns that the true total could reach $8 billion, which she said is “growing by the day”. That would exceed the state’s entire annual corrections budget and comes straight from programmes meant to help the poorest residents.

Critics, including former fraud investigator Kayseh Magan, blame political caution for the slow response. They argue that leading Democrats in Minnesota felt uneasy about targeting fraud in the Somali community, which numbers around 80,000 people and has political influence in the state.

Magan, himself Somali-American, has said it is “uncomfortable and true” that most defendants come from his community, while stressing that the offenders represent a small group exploiting the system. Photos showing convicted offender Abdul Dahir Ibrahim smiling alongside Walz and Representative Ilhan Omar have fuelled public anger and strengthened claims that cosy political relationships gave scammers cover.

Tim Walz’s Pushback: “I Take Responsibility for Putting People in Jail”

Governor Tim Walz, once marketed as an easy-going everyman, has become the political face of the scandal. On NBC’s “Meet the Press“, when asked about his responsibility, Walz replied, “Certainly, I take responsibility for putting people in jail.”

The remark has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. An anonymous account claiming to speak for 480 staff members at the Minnesota Department of Human Services called him “100% responsible” and accused his administration of ignoring alarms and punishing whistleblowers.

Walz’s defence has not convinced many sceptics. He has described Minnesota as a “well-run” state with “generous” programmes and has pointed to strong rankings in education and health coverage to argue that the system works overall, even with major fraud cases. Records and court filings tell a different story.

In 2020, a judge reprimanded state officials for cutting off payments to Feeding Our Future without proper procedure, a decision that delayed tougher action. Later, federal authorities asked the state to hold back on some moves to avoid tipping off targets. Even so, state audits have still faulted Walz’s team for earlier failures and poor controls.

On 3 December, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) opened a formal inquiry and demanded documents from Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison by 17 December. His letter accused the administration of a “cover-up”, citing reports of retaliation against staff who tried to expose fraud.

Comer asked, “What did your administration know, and when?” The U.S. Treasury is also looking at whether money stolen from welfare schemes might have moved to al-Shabaab through hawala networks, a type of informal money transfer, raising fresh concerns about national security.

Walz insists he has nothing to hide and says he welcomes review of the state’s actions, but he has attacked Republican critics for what he describes as anti-immigrant motives and election-year tactics. In a state where Somali voters have helped deliver key wins for Democrats, the political risks are obvious.

Some critics say that focusing on accountability could upset a core voting bloc. Social media is full of anger, with one user writing, “Walz’s Elmer Fudd act isn’t fooling anyone, this happened on his watch.”

Federal Investigators Move In: FBI and DOJ Take the Lead

With trust in state oversight weakening, federal agencies have stepped in as the main force tackling fraud in Minnesota’s welfare system. Since raids on Feeding Our Future sites began in 2022, the FBI and DOJ have brought charges against 78 people tied to that network alone. As recently as August 2025, three more defendants pleaded guilty to about $2.4 million in fake claims.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson described the situation as a “far-reaching fraud crisis swamping Minnesota” and praised FBI financial experts for piecing together complex chains of shell companies and bribes.

In September, eight more individuals were indicted in the Housing Stabilization Services case after a joint investigation by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said, “Criminals selfishly defraud these programmes, depriving vulnerable Minnesotans,” as investigators tracked stolen money into luxury goods from brands like Louis Vuitton and into foreign business accounts.

In one instance, a defendant is accused of washing about $1.38 million through personal bank accounts.

The investigations are still active and expanding. FBI Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston has promised that investigators are “steadfast in holding accountable those who steal from underprivileged children.”

With questions mounting about possible links to al-Shabaab through hawala transfers, former counterterrorism officials have warned that yes, Covid fraud can feed into extremist networks abroad. Figures in former President Trump’s orbit have seized on the scandal, with ICE raids in Somali neighbourhoods and public comments painting Minnesota as a “fraud hub.”

Pressure on the Somali Community

Minnesota’s Somali community, which has become a central part of life in Minneapolis over the past three decades, now finds itself caught in the middle of a national controversy. Community leaders condemn efforts to “demonise an entire group fleeing civil war”, a line Walz echoed during his NBC interview.

Representative Ilhan Omar, who has faced renewed scrutiny for her connections to some involved figures, told CNN that “these Covid programmes were set up so quickly,” arguing that rushed design and weak controls opened the door to abuse.

Inside the community, tensions are rising. Some Somali Americans say they feel treated as suspects simply because of their background, while others demand a tougher response to those who exploited public trust. Social media comments show how raw the debate has become. One user ranted, “At least 75% of the Somali community on welfare, Walz, Omar, Ellison taking cuts?”

Right-wing commentators have linked the scandal to “open borders and expansive welfare”, while analyst David Asman and historian Victor Davis Hanson have accused Walz of refusing to speak plainly about the scale and nature of the problem.

Tim Walz’s Future in Doubt

As federal investigations press forward and new details emerge, the scandal is reshaping Minnesota’s political outlook. Walz is expected to seek re-election in 2026, but opponents already see an opening. Republicans frame the saga as proof that Democrats have turned Minnesota into a “failed state”.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has used the case to hammer home a simple message, asking voters which party they trust with their tax money. Media figures have joined in, with Meghan McCain calling for Walz to resign and calling the welfare scandal “one of the greatest frauds in American history.”

Efforts to claw back stolen funds have moved slowly. So far, only a small part of the billions believed to be lost has been recovered. Policymakers are talking about new guardrails, such as tougher background checks for providers, real-time data tracking, and dedicated fraud units with more independence.

For now, though, many Minnesotans feel punished twice, once when the money was stolen, and again as the state tries to repair broken systems using the same taxpayers’ funds.

The sense of betrayal runs deep. Posts on X warn that “what we uncover will shock America,” and many residents say their faith in state government has sunk to a new low. While lakes and natural beauty still define Minnesota in the public imagination, trust in public institutions seems to sink further every week.

Whether Governor Walz will take full responsibility for what critics call an £8 billion disaster, or continue to argue that federal rules, courts, and political enemies tied his hands, remains at the centre of the fight. Federal agencies keep filing cases, new defendants keep appearing in court, and public outrage continues to grow. For now, the scandal shows no sign of fading from view.

Related News:

Tim Walz’s Weak Racism Fears Cost Minnesota Taxpayers Over $1 Billion