Look -- The MSM Says The Loud Part... Softly (Or, Not At All). Leaves Out Key Info, For US Citizen Travelers, Today. Yikes.

Ahem. By long-standing, undisputed federal statutes, my US Passport must be accepted at all US airports --as my valid travel ID.

There can be no "add-on" (a/k/a junk) fees assessed -- just because Tangerine wants everyone to get a "Real ID", and submit to his cronies' biometric monitoring.

I will never pay for a Real ID. Nor will I ever procure one.

I will keep my US Passport up to date, and will travel the globe with it -- long after Trump is gone from the world stage. I enourage others to do the same. So. . . why the rant?

Today, the WSJ.com and ABC.com (and others) are reporting that starting in February 2026, TSA at many US airports will attempt to charge an added $45 fee, for passengers without a Real ID -- those flying with "just" a State issued driver's license. What the stories omit. . . is that if you have a passport, the TSA must accept that as evidence of identity for all domestic (and international) travel. Damn -- e.g., see here:

. . .Travelers going through airport security checkpoints without a REAL ID or passport will face a $45 fee starting Feb. 1, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.

This fee is part of the agency’s next phase of the REAL ID implementation process and will require individuals to verify their identity through a biometric or biographic system if they don’t have a compliant form of identification before they’re permitted to cross through the checkpoint.

The announcement follows a proposed rule published in the Federal Register last month, but the agency increased the fee from its previously proposed amount of $18. . . .

Stand on -- and insist on -- your rights. Your passport grants you all the privileges you need. Do not pay added (junk) fees. Especially not to. . . Trump and Musk (who clearly each want to collect and monetize the data streams from Real IDs). Onward.

नमस्ते