The International Edition: Poland, Hungary, South Africa, Azerbaijan, and more

The Washington Reporter is in Poland and Hungary this week; EU probed for meddling in Poland; how South Africa saw Trump’s Oval Office showdown, and more!

May 28, 2025

Let’s dive in.

1. INTERVIEW: One of South Africa’s richest men explains the “genius” behind Donald Trump’s Oval Office showdown with Cyril Ramaphosa

2. Heard on the Hill

3. EXCLUSIVE: Top Trump administration figures make their mark on Poland’s elections at the country’s first CPAC

4. EXCLUSIVE: EU-US Forum hosts Jason Miller for foreign policy panel in Budapest: “We can’t take these rights for granted”

5. SCOOP: European Union slammed for efforts that might "undermine" Poland's elections: "It's about power, control"

6. SCOOP: Azerbaijan could be President Trump’s next peace plan target

7. K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: Berkshire Hathaway-owned company CEO backs tax loophole that could benefit foreign companies and workers

8. OPINIONATED: Commissioner Jonathan Shell and Tate Bennet on how Trump’s trade policies are helping rural America, Heather Reams on blue hydrogen’s potential, and Bill Tarpley on how America can retake control of the skies

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INTERVIEW: One of South Africa’s richest men explains the “genius” behind Donald Trump’s Oval Office showdown with Cyril Ramaphosa

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN:

• South African businessman Rob Hersov spoke with the Washington Reporter following President Donald Trump’s now-viral Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa where, politically, the latter was made into a political example by the leader of the free world.

• Hersov explained why Trump was a “genius” to describe what is happening to South Africa’s white farmers as a “genocide,” even though he argued that the final stages of genocide are not happening in his home country… yet.

• Trump’s devastating meeting with Ramaphosa was undeniably great for television, but Hersov wants Americans to understand the importance of continued engagement with South Africa, and he has a trio of demands he’d love to see the Trump administration extract from his country’s left-wing government.

• Ramaphosa’s meeting with Trump went viral after the US president wheeled out a television to display the racist chants calling for the deaths of White farmers and rows of white crosses memorializing the victims in response to Ramaphosa’s denial of a genocide ongoing in his country.

South African businessman Rob Hersov denies any interest in running for president in 2029, when the strategically-significant country has its next major national election.

But he’s spent the past several years building a name for himself as the first South African to take on the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Party.

Hersov spoke with the Washington Reporter following President Donald Trump’s now-viral Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa where, politically, the latter was made into a political example by the leader of the free world.

Hersov explained why Trump was a “genius” to describe what is happening to South Africa’s white farmers as a “genocide,” even though he argued that the final stages of genocide are not happening in his home country… yet.

While Hersov noted that full-scale extermination of South Africa’s white farmers is not occurring, he compared the country to Germany in 1933.

“Who is in the red beret in South Africa today chanting to kill the Boers?” he asked, referring to Julius Malema, the leader of the radical communist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). “In 1933, those were the brownshirts jumping up and down, saying, ‘kill the Jews.’”

“That's my 1933 analogy, they have 10 percent of the vote, and Cyril Ramaphosa said ‘they've only got 10 percent of the vote. They're not a threat.’ South Africa is 60 million people,” Hersov said. “Ten percent is 6 million. That's a lot of people who want to kill white people.”

“Imagine if there was a country where white people would say, kill Chinese people, kill whatever,” he posited.

During Ramaphosa’s meeting, Trump played video after video of Malema and his supporters chanting about their bloodthirsty desires. Ramaphosa pleaded ignorance.

In Hersov’s assessment, “Ramaphosa’s team was confused.”

“They were embarrassed. They were humiliated by these ‘kill the Boer’ videos. But I'm just hoping that what comes out of it is what I want, which is a proper discipline, forcing them to do those three things I’ve laid out,” Hersov said.

Trump’s devastating meeting with Ramaphosa was undeniably great for television, but Hersov wants Americans to understand the importance of continued engagement with South Africa, and he has a trio of demands he’d love to see the Trump administration extract from his country’s left-wing government.

Heard on the Hill

• BYE, FELICIA: Palestinian terrorist and Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces, per an announcement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. Sinwar was the brother of the October 7 Attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar, and took control of the Palestinian terrorist organization after Israeli forces eliminated his brother last year.

• NO QUARTER FOR CENSORS: Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement that “foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans” will have their visas denied is a major win for lawmakers like Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), who have pushed for similar measures via the No Censors on our Shores Act.

• COMPEL THIS: Pro-woman athletic clothing brand XX-XY and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s compelled speech law requiring advertisers to use preferred pronouns for those who believe themselves to be another gender than their own. Rep. Riley Moore (R., W.V.) praised the move in a tweet on Wednesday, noting the Centennial State’s “crusade against the First Amendment continues.”

• BIG GET: CoreWeave, the cloud-based AI firm, made waves on the Hill by announcing Carl Holshouser will run the firm’s government affairs. Holshouser, formerly with TechNet and Visa, has deep relationships with both Dems and Republicans, and played an integral role in shaping tech legislation. CoreWeave’s stock rose 21 percent at the news of Holshouser’s hiring.

• MAKING CRYPTO MAINSTREAM: Vice President Vance calls for a clean passage of the Genius Act, a major priority for the Crypto community. Clean passage would mean not including controversial amendments, like the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA). This is a major setback for groups pushing CCCA.

EXCLUSIVE: Top Trump administration figures make their mark on Poland’s elections at the country’s first CPAC

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN:

• On the eve of Poland’s historic elections, top figures in the Trump administration and in the American conservative movement descended on Poland’s easternmost province with a simple message: Karol Nawrocki “needs to be” the next President of Poland.

• Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), made the declaration, echoing President Donald Trump’s famous speech in Warsaw from his first term, asking “does the west have the will to survive?”

• Andrew Lubelski, a Polish-American who runs the Republican Coalition, told the Washington Reporter that Poland’s 2025 presidential election mirrors many of the themes of America’s in 2024.

• Poland’s reigning Law and Justice Party, closely aligned with conservatives in America, has prioritized issues like combating illegal immigration and a close relationship with the Trump administration.

RZESZÓW — “Welcome to Davos without as many rich people,” Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) chairman Matt Schlapp said from the G2A Arena.

On the eve of Poland’s historic elections, top figures in the Trump administration and in the American conservative movement descended on Poland’s easternmost province with a simple message: Karol Nawrocki “needs to be” the next President of Poland.

Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), made the declaration, echoing President Donald Trump’s famous speech in Warsaw from his first term, asking “does the west have the will to survive?”

Trump knows, she said, “that the west has the will to survive,” in part because of countries like Poland. “Donald Trump is a strong leader for us,” she said, and Poland has the opportunity to elect its own Trump through Nawrocki.

Poland’s upcoming elections — which will be held on Sunday, June 1 — weren’t just on Noem’s mind. Poland can send the same “FAFO” message that Americans sent in 2024, Corey Lewandowski said, repeating similar themes to the crowd that helped propel President Donald Trump to the White House on multiple occasions.

“Walls work. Borders work. The rule of law is in place for a reason,” Lewandowski said.

“Poland is in the toughest neighborhood in the world,” he said. “Together, our nations can lead the way, showing the world that freedom isn’t just a word — it’s a way of life. Let’s commit to fight for that freedom.”

Those words weren’t just an applause line — both Noem and Lewandowski reaffirmed the importance of American troops to be at the proposed “Fort Trump” in Poland, which is a key priority for many in the country.

The remarks came at the first-ever CPAC in Poland’s history. The conference, which was attended by over 1,000 people, was hosted by CPAC in conjunction with Poland’s conservative news channel TV Republika.

While Trump was not physically present, his historic 2024 comeback was on the minds of many. Poland’s former Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszcza discussed how Napoleon used to be Poland’s model for victory — but now that Donald Trump is their model for victory.

EXCLUSIVE: EU-US Forum hosts Jason Miller for foreign policy panel in Budapest: “We can’t take these rights for granted”

by the Washington Reporter

THE LOWDOWN:

• The EU-US Forum, an organization that “exposes the threat of the extreme liberal agenda being peddled by the European Union and is working to reverse its harmful policies,” held a foreign policy panel in Budapest ahead of CPAC Hungary.

• During the panel, EU-US Forum board member Matt Mowers and senior adviser Joseph Grogan hosted a conversation with conservative communications legend Jason Miller where the trio discussed the economic and political relationship between America and the EU.

• Mowers referenced Vice President JD Vance’s recent speech in Munich in an interview with the Washington Reporter, saying that “everyone wants to talk about the special relationship between the U.S. and Europe, and it exists, but sometimes to have that relationship you have to have frank conversations about what’s going wrong.”

• Grogan said Wednesday’s event is an opportunity for the U.S. and other nations to “draw inspiration from one another to advance pro-family policies, common sense economics,” and more. He also noted that these policies, such as freedom of speech and religious freedom, “are all issues that unite people across both sides of the Atlantic.”

BUDAPEST — On the shores of the Danube River lies its Pearl: the grand city of Budapest. Sitting in the city’s gorgeous Castle District is the Four Seasons Gresham Palace — once the home of a life insurance company, the hotel served as the home of a critical conversation surrounding America’s relationship with European Union nations.

The EU-US Forum, an organization that “exposes the threat of the extreme liberal agenda being peddled by the European Union and is working to reverse its harmful policies,” held a foreign policy panel in Budapest ahead of CPAC Hungary.

EU-US Forum board member Matt Mowers and senior adviser Joseph Grogan hosted a conversation with conservative communications legend Jason Miller where the trio discussed the economic and political relationship between America and the EU.

Mowers referenced Vice President JD Vance’s recent speech in Munich in an interview with the Washington Reporter, saying that “everyone wants to talk about the special relationship between the U.S. and Europe, and it exists, but sometimes to have that relationship you have to have frank conversations about what’s going wrong.”

“And I think that’s where President Trump has really done an incredible job,” Mowers said. “Is having that type of honest, direct conversation with Europeans, saying that we have to have a true, fair-balanced economic and trade partnership.”

“That have to respect free speech, that you can’t just be using a digital markets act to try and go after US tech innovators,” Mowers continued. “That you have to have steady migration controls, otherwise people lose control of their own country, from this standpoint of both security and economic security, and you have to respect the will of the voters.”

Mowers said that respect toward the will of the voters is “something we haven’t seen” at the EU level and, in the cases of some countries, “even at the national level.”

“So I expect that at the end of the next four years, we have a stronger U.S.-European relationship, but it’s going to be a relationship that is built upon the fundamental idea of be honest with each other,” Mowers added.

SCOOP: European Union slammed for efforts that might "undermine" Poland's elections: "It's about power, control"

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN:

• HFAC chairman Brian Mast (R., Fla.) led a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, sounding the alarm that Poland’s government — which is currently controlled by Prime Minister Donald Tusk — is allegedly refusing “to release tens of millions of dollars in public campaign funding that PiS [the conservative party in Poland] is legally entitled to receive.”

• In the letter, Mast warned the move defies “a ruling by the Supervisory Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, a payment demand from Poland’s National Electoral Commission, and an opinion by Poland’s Ombudsman (Human Rights Commissioner) Marcin Wiące to release the money.”

• The European Commission itself is not spared by the Republicans in their criticisms either for what they call “selective enforcement” of its policies that could undermine the broader credibility of the European Union (EU).

• The lawmakers also noted that George Soros’s fingerprints may be all over this potentially improper interference, writing that on “May 15, an investigation by a leading Polish publication reported that a Polish NGO, which received funding from organizations funded by U.S. Democratic Party megadonor George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, facilitated the production of social media advertisements promoting Trzaskowski and discrediting his rivals, PiS-backed Karol Nawrocki and Confederation-backed Sławomir Mentzen.”

Top Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) want the European Union’s (EU) leadership to answer for a series of efforts “that may undermine the integrity of its democratic processes” ahead of Poland’s elections this weekend.

HFAC chairman Brian Mast (R., Fla.) led a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, sounding the alarm that Poland’s government — which is currently controlled by Prime Minister Donald Tusk — is allegedly refusing “to release tens of millions of dollars in public campaign funding that PiS [the conservative party in Poland] is legally entitled to receive.”

Congress’s findings echo what conservatives in Poland’s government have been claiming for years. Michał Moskal, a member of Poland’s parliament, told the Washington Reporter that “while the mainstream media remained silent, certain documents and patterns, which some of us took the time to examine closely, revealed a deeper truth: the EU’s idea of ‘democracy’ includes foreign-funded influence campaigns, as long as they benefit the liberal opposition.”

“Thanks to recent disclosures, including analysis that I and others shared, we now see the coordinated efforts between [Rafał] Trzaskowski’s camp [in Poland’s liberal party] and figures like Soros, Harris, and Obama’s circle,” Moskal continued. “Not speculation — documented fact.”

In the letter, Mast warned the move defies “a ruling by the Supervisory Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, a payment demand from Poland’s National Electoral Commission, and an opinion by Poland’s Ombudsman (Human Rights Commissioner) Marcin Wiące to release the money.”

“Further, by withholding these funds, the Tusk administration appears to be attempting to cripple PiS’s ability to compete fairly in the presidential election and violating the rule of law,” the lawmakers allege.

The European Commission itself is not spared by the Republicans in their criticisms either for what they call “selective enforcement” of its policies that could undermine the broader credibility of the European Union (EU).

“In February 2024 — after the Tusk government ousted and installed a new National Prosecutor without President Duda’s approval in reported violation of Polish law — the European Commission, under your direction, released $7.1 billion (€6.3 billion) of the funds it had been withholding from the PiS government despite the fact that the Tusk government had not yet implemented any of the ‘milestones’ the EU had demanded the previous PiS government complete for their release,” the Republicans wrote.

The problems in the runup to Poland’s elections also extend to Poland’s reigning liberal government as well.

SCOOP: Azerbaijan could be President Trump’s next peace plan target

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN:

• Trump’s desire for deals is impacting conflicts ranging from Russia to Israel to Yemen and beyond. One simmering conflict that is yearning for American involvement — and for Trump’s support in particular — is the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

• In an interview with the Washington Reporter, the head of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Policy Affairs Department Hikmet Hajiyev expressly asked for Trump to help the quarreling countries come to an agreement to resolve the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

• The case for a rapprochement with Azerbaijan is clear from America’s standpoint. Azerbaijan led the entire world in drilling for oil. The first-ever oil tanker, the Zoroaster, was launched out of Baku in the mid-1800s and the country continues to produce massive amounts of oil, while simultaneously rebuffing entreaties from both Russia and Iran, its closest geographic neighbors.

• Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Azerbaijan stood firmly on America’s side, allowing military aircraft to use its airspace. The former Soviet state was also the last military to officially leave Afghanistan, following Biden’s disgraceful and deadly withdrawal.

BAKU — President Donald Trump is the world’s leading peacemaker in his second term, and now his eyes are set on the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan.

Trump’s desire for deals is impacting conflicts ranging from Russia to Israel to Yemen and beyond. One simmering conflict that is yearning for American involvement — and for Trump’s support in particular — is the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In an interview with the Washington Reporter, the head of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Policy Affairs Department Hikmet Hajiyev expressly asked for Trump to help the quarreling countries come to an agreement to resolve the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Such a reset would be a welcome change to Hajiyev’s country, which underwent a “hard time” while President Joe Biden was in charge.

“We were not appreciated well,” he said.

Saul Anuzis, the President of the International Institute, told the Reporter that recent peace deals have shown that “worldwide, the Trump effect is real and positive.”

K-STREET, 10,000 FEET:

Berkshire Hathaway-owned Company CEO backs tax loophole that could benefit foreign companies and workers

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN:

• A company majority-owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is aggressively defending a tax loophole that could benefit foreign corporations at the expense of American workers, according to exclusive documents obtained by the Washington Reporter.

• The CEO of a brokerage company that is majority-owned by Berkshire Hathaway, wrote an email, obtained and verified by the Reporter, to a proponent of the loophole’s repeal that he “will be actively working with our client base and other friends in this space to fully discredit the theory and scoring numbers that you and your team have used.”

• The CEO claimed the term “double drawback” has been “debunked” by the courts in President Trump’s first term when, in fact, the courts only ruled that Congress had to act to close the loophole and that it could not be done solely through the Executive Branch.

• Buffett, a longtime Democratic megadonor, famously said that Trump’s 2017 tax bill “is not what I would have written,” has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into progressive campaigns while his company exploits a tax dodge that threatens American workers. He announced his upcoming retirement at the end of 2025.

A company majority-owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is aggressively defending a tax loophole that could benefit foreign corporations at the expense of American workers, according to exclusive documents obtained by the Washington Reporter.

The “double duty drawback” loophole for tobacco allows foreign companies to play a game that ultimately has the federal government refunding the federal excise tax on imported cigarettes. Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R., Ohio) has argued in the Reporter’s pages that the loophole “allows foreign tobacco companies to flood the U.S. market with cigarettes while receiving a refund to avoid federal excise taxes.”

However, the U.S. House of Representatives closed this loophole when it passed President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

The CEO of a brokerage company that is majority-owned by Berkshire Hathaway, wrote an email, obtained and verified by the Reporter, to a proponent of the loophole’s repeal that he “will be actively working with our client base and other friends in this space to fully discredit the theory and scoring numbers that you and your team have used.”

Brokers often receive a percentage of the check cut by the government back to the foreign manufacturer, which can create a financial incentive to maintain this loophole at the expense of the American taxpayer.

In the email, the brokerage CEO disputes the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) $12 billion estimate of how much this is costing the American taxpayer over 10 years, pointing to Berkshire Hathaway’s back-of-the-napkin math that shows lower excise tax collections of “less than $500 million per year.”

That would still be half a billion dollars that would help pay for Trump’s tax cuts, instead of benefiting wealthy foreign companies or Berkshire Hathaway.

The CEO claimed the term “double drawback” has been “debunked” by the courts in President Trump’s first term when, in fact, the courts only ruled that Congress had to act to close the loophole and that it could not be done solely through the Executive Branch.

OPINIONATED

Op-Ed: Jonathan Shell and Tate Bennett: President Trump’s Trade Wins Are a Boon for American Agriculture

by Jonathan Shell and Tate Bennett

In an era when rural America has too often been left behind by globalization, President Donald J. Trump’s recent trade deals are delivering long-overdue wins for the backbone of our nation: American farmers. His administration’s actions mark meaningful efforts to neutralize our growing agricultural trade deficit. With bold new policies and a renewed emphasis on fairness, President Trump is proving that agricultural producers are not just part of our economy, they are a top priority.

On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced his signature “Liberation Day” tariffs, which introduced a universal 10 percent baseline tariff on imports. This shift has leveled the playing field for American producers, long burdened by bad trade deals. For decades, foreign countries imposed steep tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods while flooding our markets with subsidized produce, meat, and grain. That is no longer the case.

Under President Trump’s leadership, countries that wish to access the lucrative American consumer base must now eliminate their unfair barriers to U.S. agriculture. This includes long-overdue reforms from key trading partners who have discriminated against our beef, pork, soybeans, and corn.

One of the most notable outcomes of late is the recent U.S. trade agreement with the United Kingdom and China’s removal of its Liberation Day retaliatory tariffs, and nowhere are the benefits of these trade deals more evident than in the field.

With Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins by his side, President Trump announced a historic trade deal, providing American companies unprecedented access to the U.K. market while bolstering U.S. national security. The U.K. agreement is a step toward leveling the playing field for U.S. dairy and wheat, and it is a win for farmers across the Heartland. This provides a much-needed diversification of export destinations for producers facing rising costs and uncertain global demand. The deal is great for corn farmers too. The U.K. will offer a preferential duty-free quota of 1.4 billion liters for U.S. ethanol. Moreover, the U.K. will remove the 20 percent tariff and establish a duty-free quota of 13,000 metric tons for U.S. beef, a historic opening of a new market for American cattle farmers and ranchers. Secretary Rollins embarked on a trade delegation visit to the U.K. following the announcement, where she emphasized the importance of eliminating non-tariff barriers, too, such as those related to differing regulatory frameworks.

Op-Ed: Heather Reams: Blue hydrogen is a new engine for American manufacturing and economic growth

by Heather Reams

President Donald Trump recognizes that American energy production is a cornerstone of our nation’s strength and prosperity. With strong leadership in the administration, the nation is on track to reassert U.S. energy leadership on the global stage. To achieve energy dominance, we must use every tool available to us — including innovative technologies shaping the future of energy such as blue hydrogen.

“Blue hydrogen” refers to hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage. This innovative energy source represents a powerful opportunity to achieve American energy dominance. America is uniquely positioned to lead in this sector, thanks to abundant, low-cost natural gas and cutting-edge carbon capture technologies already in use.

With consistent federal policy support, through the continued availability of the 45V tax credit for hydrogen, the U.S. has the capability to quickly scale a world-class blue hydrogen industry and outpace global competitors.

But there’s even more to like about blue hydrogen. Aside from the national security potential, a new study from CRES Forum highlights its massive strategic economic plus — from job creation and economic growth to export opportunities. The study indicates that a robust blue hydrogen sector would strengthen U.S. manufacturing, reinforce our natural gas economy and help decarbonize high-impact sectors like ammonia production, steelmaking, petroleum refining and long-haul transportation.

Over the next decade, blue hydrogen investments could support nearly 53,000 jobs during construction and 62,000 jobs each year once projects are operational. This could create $22.4 billion in output, $12.3 billion in gross domestic product, $1 billion in state and local tax revenues and $1.4 billion in federal tax revenues annually during operations. And as global demand for low-carbon energy resources continues to rise, clean hydrogen and hydrogen-derived products like ammonia could become major American exports.

Op-Ed: Bill Tarpley: How America can retake control of the skies

by Bill Tarpley

America has lost our long-held role as the world’s leader in aviation innovation and safety in recent years. It’s time for our comeback story.

Americans were the first to fly, the first to break the sound barrier, and the first to land a man on the moon. Today, that dominance is under threat, with an aging air traffic control system in urgent need of modernization, delays in the production of critical aircraft, and other issues dominating headlines across the globe in 2025.

Reclaiming America’s leadership in aviation production is a national imperative, and our company, Mammoth Freighters, is proud to be part of the comeback story the USA desperately needs. At Mammoth, we are building the future of commercial long-haul air freighter service, delivering the world’s most productive and cost-efficient freighter aircraft by converting Boeing 777 passenger planes into advanced cargo aircraft.

Air cargo is a critical pillar of the global economy, and its importance has grown dramatically with the rise of e-commerce. The demand for next-day and same-day delivery has made reliable, long-range freight aircraft more essential than ever.

Headquartered in Texas, our operations use nearly 100 percent American-made parts from suppliers in over 22 states. We’ve already created more than 600 high-quality jobs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and expect to exceed 1,000 DFW-area jobs as we scale, not to mention the thousands of jobs created across our domestic suppliers.

Our aircraft conversion operation is one of the few of its kind in the United States today and is a true Made in America business that aligns with the goals of American policymakers: reshoring advanced manufacturing, reducing our trade imbalance, and reclaiming U.S. dominance in global aviation.