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Debt Rattle September 16 2025

Sep 162025
 
 September 16, 2025  Posted by at 10:25 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  62 Responses »


Charles Burchfield In a Green Dale 1917

 

• Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Supercharges Turning Point USA (ZH)
• Top German Football Club To Question Player Over Sympathy For Charlie Kirk (RT)
• Trump Claims He Will ‘Have To Do All The Talking’ For Putin and Zelensky (RT)
• Macron Admitted NATO Behind Ukraine Conflict – Jeffrey Sachs (RT)
• NATO Downing Russian Drones Over Ukraine Will Mean War – Medvedev (ZH))
• EU Plotting Maidan-Style Coup In Serbia – Moscow (RT)
• Polish Drone Incident To Escalate Ukraine Conflict – Finnish Politician (RT)
• Western Europe Hides Its Terrible Condition Behind ‘Threats From East’ (TASS)
• ‘Unite the Kingdom’ : A Good Cause With An Elephant In The Room (Marsden)
• China Warns US Over Russian Oil Threats (RT)
• AfD Party Is Once Again Achieving Record Results In Eastern Germany (RMX)
• Bessent Hails Trump For ‘Breakthrough’ With China In TikTok Talks (Cradle)
• As Supreme Court Set to Return, What to Expect in Trump Cases (Dorman)
• Beginning of Panic Rate Cut Cycle – Ed Dowd (USAW)
• Tesla Soars After Musk Buys Billion Dollars Worth Of Stock (ZH)

 

 

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1967621921283117446


https://twitter.com/BoLoudon/status/1967662295561220120


https://twitter.com/AutismCapital/status/1967238275065926020

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1967375298606871027

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1967800438402543818

Tulsi
https://twitter.com/saras76/status/1967377277030912401
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1967380533962326508

Jennings

 

 

 

 

Missing a few things, like Trump suing the New York Times. Also, lost Strategic Culture and Sputnik due to renewed Russia bans.

What is in my head: I’m sure Trump has gotten a terrible blow from what happened to Charlie Kirk, including blaming himself. He thought the world of Charlie.

 

 

“..over 32,000 inquiries in the last 48-hours to start new campus chapters..”

• Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Supercharges Turning Point USA (ZH)

Charlie Kirk’s grieving widow, Erika, delivered one of the most powerful speeches by any woman in recent memory last Friday, just days after her husband was assassinated by what has been described as a “radical left ANTIFA-adjacent creep” with a transgender partner. The FBI’s investigation has widened its focus to a Marxist-aligned militant group calling itself the “Armed Queers.” Erika emphasized to the nation, “If you thought my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you have just unleashed across this entire country.” On Sunday, Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show, announced that in the past two days, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has received over 32,000 inquiries from individuals interested in starting new campus chapters nationwide.

https://twitter.com/AndrewKsway/status/1967106572695597566

“I wanted to share a paise report from TPUSA. The organization has received over 32,000 inquiries in the last 48-hours to start new campus chapters. To put that in perspective, TPUSA currently has 900 official college chapters and around 1,200 high school chapters, with a presence on 3,500 total. Charlie’s vision to have a Club America chapter (our high school brand) in every high school in America (around 23,000) will come true much much faster than he could have ever possibly imagined,” Kolvet, who is also a TPUSA spokesman, wrote on X. Google Search trends confirm Kolvet’s claim, with searches “How to start a Turning Point chapter” erupting, along with, and not surprisingly, “Church Near Me”…

Kirk’s TPUSA represented a counter-revolution to the Marxist/globalist/Democratic Party’s takeover in schools that has brainwashed an entire generation of young people into leftist radicals. What’s clear is that Democrats brand anyone with dissenting opinions as “fascists,” “Nazis,” and “racists,” and that kind of labeling – straight out of the Communist playbook – ultimately led to Kirk’s political assassination. Now, based Americans are waking up to the woke mind virus, and this counter-revolution is about to be supercharged.

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What got him investigated is writing this:

“Celebrating the murder of a husband and a father of two, a man who peacefully stood up for his beliefs and values, is really evil and shows how much we really need Jesus Christ,”

• Top German Football Club To Question Player Over Sympathy For Charlie Kirk (RT)

German football giant Borussia Dortmund will internally review the social media activity of its midfielder Felix Nmecha, after he caused a stir online by expressing his sorrow over the murder of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, several local outlets have reported. On Friday, Nmecha posted a black-and-white photo of Kirk in his Instagram stories with a caption: “Rest in peace with the Lord.” The post reportedly drew largely negative reactions on social media. The footballer then changed the caption, focusing on Kirk’s family. “Celebrating the murder of a husband and a father of two, a man who peacefully stood up for his beliefs and values, is really evil and shows how much we really need Jesus Christ,” Nmecha wrote in a follow-up post.

He also responded to online criticism by saying that “it is humane to express condolences and that… should not be condemned.” The footballer also stated that he did not agree with Kirk on “some issues” but “different political positions… are perfectly okay.” Eventually, Nmecha deleted all his posts. The German SID sports news outlet reported on Friday that the club would review the posts and seek a dialogue with the player, adding that no punishment was planned for him. However, German tabloid Bild noted the same day that Nmecha’s contract has an “Instagram clause” which states that he could face millions of dollars in penalties for social media posts violating the club’s values.

The incident drew attention of US-based billionaire Elon Musk, who reposted a call for Borussia’s representatives to be barred from travelling to the US for the 2026 FIFA World Cup if they “continue to persecute” Nmecha. Kirk, 31, was killed while addressing students at a college in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday. Many people openly cheered his assassination online. US President Donald Trump vowed to pursue not only Kirk’s murderer but also what he called the “radical left” networks that fuel political violence.

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All he has to do is get out of the way.

• Trump Claims He Will ‘Have To Do All The Talking’ For Putin and Zelensky (RT)

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is possible but would be hard to arrange because “they hate each other,” US President Donald Trump has said. He claimed that he would need to “intervene” to bring the two leaders together. Trump met with Putin for a summit in Alaska last month, after which he pledged to prepare a meeting between the Russian president and Zelensky. Speaking to reporters on Sunday during a visit to the memorial of slain activist Charlie Kirk, Trump claimed the hatred between Putin and Zelensky was “unfathomable,” adding he believed he would “have to do all the talking.” The US president also claimed to have “stopped seven wars,” and admitted he thought the Ukraine conflict would “be an easy one for me, but this has turned out to be tough.”

While no Putin-Zelensky meeting has been confirmed, Trump indicated that talks could take place “relatively soon,” without giving details on the potential format. “We’re going to get it worked out one way or the other,” he said. “So I’m going to have to get involved.” Putin has said he is ready in principle to meet Zelensky and suggested the Ukrainian leader could travel to Moscow for negotiations. Kiev has rejected the idea, saying it would not accept “deliberately unacceptable proposals.” At the same time, the Russian president has raised doubts about the legitimacy of Zelensky’s position and whether talks would be “meaningful.” Zelensky’s presidential term expired last May, but he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law.

Putin has also said reaching agreements with Kiev on key issues would be “practically impossible.” He has noted that even with political will there were “legal and technical difficulties” tied to territorial disputes. The remarks referred to Crimea and other regions that voted to join Russia in referendums in 2014 and 2022.Moscow has repeatedly said it is ready for peace negotiations with Kiev if the “reality on the ground” is taken into account. It has also said it would agree to an immediate ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew its troops from the new Russian regions or halted mobilization and Western arms deliveries.

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“I just want everyone to know this,” Sachs said, adding that he is “disgusted” by the French president.”

“..there is an easy way to peace” which involves Ukraine committing to neutrality and NATO halting its eastward expansion.”

• Macron Admitted NATO Behind Ukraine Conflict – Jeffrey Sachs (RT)

French President Emmanuel Macron has privately admitted that NATO is the driving force behind the Ukraine conflict, prominent American economist Jeffrey Sachs has said. Macron, along with other Western leaders, has repeatedly claimed that Russia launched its military operation against Ukraine in 2022 without provocation and has insisted that Moscow is solely responsible for the conflict. However, speaking during a foreign policy debate with the Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano, Sachs recalled that when Macron awarded him the Legion of Honor in May 2022, the French leader privately told him “exactly the opposite of what he says publicly” and admitted that “NATO was causing this war.”

“I just want everyone to know this,” Sachs said, adding that he is “disgusted” by the French president. Sachs further condemned Western European leaders, describing them as warmongers who “just want to go to war.”= The economist emphasized that the Ukraine conflict had actually begun in 2014, when the US “actively participated in a violent coup” that overthrew the government in Kiev. “That’s what started the war,” Sachs said, noting that in the following years Washington helped build the Ukrainian army into the largest in Europe. He added that as Russia sought peace, then-US President Joe Biden rejected Moscow’s overtures and vowed to “crush” Russia with sanctions. Sachs argued “there is an easy way to peace” which involves Ukraine committing to neutrality and NATO halting its eastward expansion.

He suggested that US President Donald Trump might be open to such an approach, but claimed that “now it’s Europe who’s filled with warmongers that continue the war,” singling out Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Moscow has long maintained that Kiev’s NATO aspirations were one of the root causes of the conflict and has repeatedly described the confrontation as a Western-led proxy war against Russia. Russian officials have nevertheless signaled readiness for a peace deal, provided it addresses Moscow’s security concerns and the new territorial realities. However, they have repeatedly noted that neither Kiev nor its European backers appear to be genuinely interested in a settlement.

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Declaring a no-fly zone over land you don’t control…

• NATO Downing Russian Drones Over Ukraine Will Mean War – Medvedev (ZH))

Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has once again issued a firm warning to the Western military alliance backing Kiev, saying that if NATO countries begin shooting down Russian drones over Ukraine during the ‘special military operation’, this will put Moscow at war with NATO. The words come dangerously after the last week has seen Russian drones allegedly breach Polish and Romanian airspace – both NATO member’s along the alliance’s ‘eastern flank’. Moscow has rejected accusations that it intentionally sent these drones, which were by and large ‘decoy’ UAVs amid broader drone waves targeting inside Ukraine. “Seriously, implementing the provocative idea of Kiev and other idiots to create a ‘no-fly zone over Ukraine’ and allowing NATO countries to down our drones will mean only one thing: NATO’s war with Russia,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram Monday.

He additionally remarked the “powerful European initiative ‘Eastern Sentry’” amuses him as it “seems to be all that remains of the ‘coalition of the willing’.” Over the weekend, a pair of Russian drones were observed and tracked in Romania’s airspace, near Ukraine’s southern border, the Romanian military said. A pair of F-16s were scrambled, but the pilots refrained from firing on them and they exited back to Ukraine territory. The former Russian president also made comments aimed at Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. He is visiting Ukraine. “An Estonian defense minister has arrived in Kiev. He is threatening. The smaller the country, the more aggressive and foolish its leaders tend to be,” Medvedev noted.

All the while, Ukraine has continued its cross-border drone attacks on Russian territory. Belgorod oblast authorities said two women in a village near the border with Ukraine were killed in such an attack Monday morning. Three other people were injured and a vehicle was destroyed, following a night where anti-air defenses were able to intercept six of the inbound drone wave. The hawks keep pushing for more muscle and present delusional views on the current status of the conflict… Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in fresh remarks Monday painted a picture of NATO and Russia already being in a de facto state of war. “NATO is at war with Russia. It is obvious and does not require any additional proof,” he told a press briefing. “NATO is de facto involved in this war. NATO provides both indirect and direct support to the Kiev regime. Therefore, it can be said with absolute certainty that NATO is at war with Russia.”

https://twitter.com/RussiaDirect_/status/1967411196686213328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1967411196686213328%7Ctwgr%5Ef3cc1e2f899c6a9e9eb5a0a4683fbae4c437807d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fwestern-countries-downing-russian-drones-over-ukraine-will-mean-war-nato-medvedev

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“Brussels plans to exploit the anniversary of the Novi Sad disaster on November 1 to intensify pressure.”

• EU Plotting Maidan-Style Coup In Serbia – Moscow (RT)

The EU is seeking to orchestrate a Ukraine-style ‘Maidan’ in Serbia by fueling the violent protests that have swept the Balkan country since late last year, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said. The unrest erupted in Serbia in November 2024 after a roof collapse at the railway station in the city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The incident triggered public backlash, with activists accusing the government of corruption and demanding accountability. The list of demands later expanded to holding snap elections and the resignation of President Aleksandar Vucic. The latter has branded the protesters “terrorists” seeking to “bring down the state” under foreign influence. In response to public pressure, the Serbian authorities also agreed to some concessions, including the resignation of several ministers and the publication of documents related to the Novi Sad canopy collapse.

In a statement on Monday, the SVR said that the unrest is “largely a product of EU subversive activity,” adding that the main goal of Brussels is to bring “a compliant and loyal… leadership to power in one of the largest countries in the Balkans.” The agency said EU efforts had radicalized youth, pushing them “from peaceful protests to more revolutionary methods of struggle and violence.” It argued, however, that attempts to reproduce a Western-backed “color revolution” in Serbia were faltering due to “patriotic sentiment, the unifying influence of the Orthodox Church, and memories of NATO aggression and the bombing of the country.”

According to the SVR, Brussels plans to exploit the anniversary of the Novi Sad disaster on November 1 to intensify pressure. It claimed EU institutions were “brainwashing” Serbian youth with promises of a “bright European future” while using supposedly independent media outlets as vehicles for influence. The goal, the SVR said, is to mobilize protesters and stage a “Serbian Maidan,” referring to a series of Western-backed protests in Ukraine in 2013-2014 that resulted in a coup that ousted President Viktor Yanukovich. EU officials have said they are closely monitoring the situation in Serbia while denouncing what they describe as excessive use of force by law enforcement.

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“European party of war.”

• Polish Drone Incident To Escalate Ukraine Conflict – Finnish Politician (RT)

Recent allegations of a Russian “drone incursion” into Poland benefited both Brussels and Kiev by potentially escalating the Ukraine conflict, Euroskeptic Finnish politician Armando Mema has claimed. In an interview with RT on Monday, Mema argued that the incident served the EU’s interests by justifying a “tremendous” increase in military spending and reinforcing the alleged “Russian threat.” He described Brussels’ rhetoric as “dangerous” and expressed doubt that Moscow was behind the episode. ”I don’t think personally it is Russia that sent the drones into Poland. I think this is a desperate attempt by the [Ukraine’s Vladimir] Zelensky regime to escalate” and take the conflict to “another level,” said Mema, a former candidate for the European Parliament and a member of Finland’s national conservative Freedom Alliance party.

Poland has claimed its military tracked at least 19 violations of its airspace by Russian drones, calling the incursions “deliberate” and “unprecedented.” European leaders, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, have pledged solidarity with Warsaw. Moscow rejected the accusations, insisting that Poland’s claims lacked evidence and were being hyped up by what it called the “European party of war.” Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, several EU and NATO leaders have warned that Russia could attack the bloc within the coming years. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such predictions as “nonsense.”

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“..raise more money to support the Kiev regime and drive themselves deeper into an absolute abyss, into a whirlpool of the machination they have designed themselves,”

• Western Europe Hides Its Terrible Condition Behind ‘Threats From East’ (TASS)

The West is creating an alleged threat from the East to mask its own domestic economic problems, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “This is being done because the situation in Western Europe is catastrophic from the economic point of view, from the point of view of the reckless venture around Ukraine they have plunged into. They need to continue imposing this Russophobia and Belarusophobia,” she told reporters.

According to Zakharova, they have to “invent new theses” to keep this Russophobia and Belarusophobia afloat. “They are trying to intimidate their own population by pseudo-aggressive actions from the East to raise more money to support the Kiev regime and drive themselves deeper into an absolute abyss, into a whirlpool of the machination they have designed themselves,” she said.

In this context, she drew attention to Poland’s policy in recent years. “I think this is absolutely evident that Warsaw has adopted an extremely aggressive and destructive position – this is not mere animosity but practical actions against Belarus,” she noted, referring to the closure of the Polish-Belarusian border. The recent incident with drones, in her words, was yet another Warsaw’s provocation. “Regrettably, this was not the first and probably not the last one,” she added.

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“Starmer clearly understands that either the migrants go, or he does.”

• ‘Unite the Kingdom’ : A Good Cause With An Elephant In The Room (Marsden)

Call me cynical, but am I the only one who gets side-eye strain every time another anti-immigration protest takes over London’s streets? At this point, it feels less like a grassroots uprising and more like a recurring stage play. But who’s the director? Yes, yes, we know there’s a problem. Our overlords know it too. That’s why they don’t even bother anymore to pretend that they’re “managing” it. Instead, they’re desperately trying to sweep the whole mess under a rug and hoping that nobody notices the bulge.Just a decade ago, the idea of British politicians ringing up African nations like, “Hey lads, we’ve got a few too many imports. Want to warehouse them for us until we figure out what the hell we’re doing?” would’ve been unthinkable. But that’s exactly what the Rwanda deal was. A political yard sale of asylum seekers. And now the EU has been trying to copy the trend.

Outsourcing responsibility is the new badge of enlightened statesmanship. The EU can’t agree on what time to break for lunch, but when it comes to dumping migrants on poorer nations, suddenly it’s kumbaya time. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer had tried clinging to the ideological fantasy of the establishment left: looking out across Britain and seeing a beautiful rainbow of cultures, conveniently airbrushed of crime stats and housing shortages. When he took office last year, he smugly declared his Tory predecessors’ deportation plan “dead and buried.” Oh, how quickly the corpse has been exhumed! Now he is floating the idea of “return hubs” in foreign countries for asylum seekers. Why the U-turn? Maybe it has something to do with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party currently polling at 35% – a record 15-point lead over Starmer’s Labour. Self-preservation always trumps virtue signaling.

And nothing shifts a politician’s priorities like the sound of voters measuring you for a political coffin. Starmer clearly understands that either the migrants go, or he does. The luxury of “demographic suicide” policies only exists when your population is oblivious enough to shrug and go back to scrolling. That’s no longer the case in Britain. Or Canada. Or France. Or Germany. Basically, anywhere leaders tried to play open-border humanitarians while voters footed the bill in more ways than one. And right on cue enters Tommy Robinson, forever reinventing himself as Britain’s last line of defense, while somehow always landing face-first in the donation jar. This time, he’s pretending to haul the entire nation up the escalator of destiny by the handrail. Over the weekend, his “Unite the Kingdom” rally drew an estimated 110,000+ people. He called it “the spark of a cultural revolution in Great Britain.” Sure, Tommy. Surf that grift wave.

But here’s the thing that I can’t unsee. Robinson and his crew are sustained by pro-Israel donors. The Observer recently reported, for instance, that Jewish-American tech billionaire, Robert Shillman, has bankrolled him and his colleagues through “fellowships.” Shillman’s hobby appears to be funding anyone who can bang the anti-Islam drum loudly enough to double as PR for Israel. He has also backed folks like the late Charlie Kirk, who was honored at the weekend’s rally.

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“..Putin warned the West against speaking to economic powers such as China and India in an “unacceptable” tone, citing their vast populations and strong domestic political systems.”

• China Warns US Over Russian Oil Threats (RT)

China has condemned US efforts to pressure G7 and NATO countries to impose tariffs on Beijing over its purchases of Russian oil, warning that it will retaliate if its interests are harmed. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for pressure on Russia’s trading partners to stop buying its oil, saying it could help end the Ukraine conflict. The Financial Times reported last week that Washington had asked G7 finance ministers to consider 50-100% secondary tariffs on Chinese and Indian imports tied to Russian oil. Trump has also urged the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods from Beijing and New Delhi as part of a joint effort to pressure Moscow.

Asked on Monday about US actions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters it was “fully legitimate and lawful” for Beijing to maintain normal economic, trade, and energy cooperation with all countries, including Russia. Lin added that Washington’s request was “a typical move of unilateralism, bullying, and economic coercion.” “Facts have proven that coercion and pressure win no hearts and minds, still less will they solve anything,” the diplomat stated. He added that China’s position on the Ukraine conflict remained “objective and just,” emphasizing dialogue and negotiation as the only viable solution.

Lin said Beijing “firmly opposes” being targeted with “illicit unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction,” warning that if China’s rights and interests are harmed, it will “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard our sovereignty, security and development interests.” The FT also reported that EU officials have begun early talks on possible secondary sanctions against China over its purchases of Russian oil and gas, but want US backing before moving ahead. Since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, Russia has become a major supplier of oil to both China and India. During a recent visit to Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West against speaking to economic powers such as China and India in an “unacceptable” tone, citing their vast populations and strong domestic political systems.

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Just call them a threat to democracy and ban them..

• AfD Party Is Once Again Achieving Record Results In Eastern Germany (RMX)

Another poll has recorded a record result for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), this time in the eastern German state of Thuringia, which shows the party receiving 37 percent of the vote. The poll comes shortly after the AfD received a record result in another east German state, Saxony-Anhalt. The poll, from Insa, shows AfD has improved its result by 4.2 points from its Sept. 1, 2024, results, when it finished in first place in Thuringia with a large lead.

The other poll in Saxony-Anhalt, conducted by Infratest dimap, recorded a shockingly high result of 39 percent for the AfD. Both polls are rippling through the German establishment, which appears powerless to challenge the AfD through democratic means. In turn, calls for a ban are growing louder and more shrill as more and more Germans line up behind the policies presented by the AfD.

Currently, the state of Thuringia is led by Minister-President Mario Voigt, who came in second after the AfD in the 2024 elections. In fact, the CDU was 12 points behind, receiving 25 percent. However, a governing coalition arose of the CDU, BSW and SPD, which allowed them to secure a majority. The party is also dependent on the Left Party. It appears that a large number of voters from the left-wing BSW have jumped to the AfD, with the party falling from 15.8 to 9 percent, and the SPD is at 7 percent. Together, this coalition would only have 41 percent, a drop from its 45.5 percent in the state election.

The AfD has seen a sharp surge in support in the west of Germany, but it still retains its highest share of support in the east of the country. This could one day translate into the AfD holding power in some of these states, but in nationwide elections, the eastern states have a far smaller share of the population compared to the west.

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“The ADL was founded in 1913 to defend a Jewish businessman who raped and murdered a 13-year-old girl, Mary Phagan.”

• Bessent Hails Trump For ‘Breakthrough’ With China In TikTok Talks (Cradle)

A deal has been reached between Washington and Beijing to keep TikTok accessible in the US, the White House announced on 15 September, after years of negotiations that began under US President Donald Trump’s first term. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to finalize the framework agreement. “President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him, we shared it with our Chinese counterparts,” Bessent stated. “Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to include the deal today.” The deal was reached during US–China trade talks taking place in Spain. Since coming to office in January, President Trump has implemented stiff tariffs on imports from China and other nations.

“We were very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese and completely respects US national security concerns, and that’s the deal we reached,” Bessent said. “And of course, we want to ensure that the Chinese have a fair, invested environment in the United States, but always that US national security comes first.” A bipartisan bill passed by Congress during the term of former US president Joe Biden banned TikTok in the US unless its China-based owner, ByteDance, divested its stake in the US assets of the social media company. The bill was passed after Anti-Defamation League (ADL) chief, Jonathon Greenblatt, complained that Israel had a “TikTok problem.” After the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza in 2023, videos highlighting Israel’s massacres of Palestinian women and children regularly went viral for US users of the app.

The ADL was founded in 1913 to defend a Jewish businessman who raped and murdered a 13-year-old girl, Mary Phagan. The organization now functions as a front for Israeli intelligence in the US. “Protecting Americans from TikTok’s political influence would be a gain to Israel’s standing with its most important ally,” wrote Cole Aronson in the Jewish Review of Books. “One month after the 7 October Hamas attack, TikTok videos with hashtags like #freepalestine were watched by Americans about 50 times more than pro-Israel ones,” Aronson stated. Trump has extended the deadline for reaching a TikTok deal several times. The app was blocked in the US on 18 January, one day before the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act went into effect. But Trump signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of the law for 75 days to restore access to the popular social media app among US users.

Trump extended the deadline again in June. The US president advocated for banning TikTok during his first term, but changed his stance after crediting the app for contributing to his election victory in 2024. In July, TikTok hired a “proud” American Jewish woman who previously served in the Israeli army as its new “hate speech manager,” the Jerusalem Post reported. Erica Mindel was appointed to the position of Public Policy Manager, which involves developing and driving the company’s policies on censorship. Before joining TikTok, Mindel worked as a contractor for the US State Department. She worked for Deborah Lipstadt, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.

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Grab bag.

• As Supreme Court Set to Return, What to Expect in Trump Cases (Dorman)

Months of litigation related to Trump administration policies have made it likely the Supreme Court justices will wrestle with limits on executive power in their upcoming term. Months after President Donald Trump took office, his policy on birthright citizenship prompted the Supreme Court to issue a landmark ruling on judicial authority and the nation’s separation of powers. The ruling opposed lower courts’ imposition of so-called nationwide injunctions, which block a policy on a nationwide basis. The justices did not, however, resolve underlying constitutional arguments surrounding birthright citizenship.

That issue and other Trump policies could return to the Supreme Court, which has used its emergency docket to offer more tentative decisions on blocks by lower courts. If and when the justices give those issues more thorough consideration, it could result in landmark decisions on constitutional law. The Supreme Court’s new term is expected to start in October when the justices return for oral arguments.

Tariffs
The ability to impose tariffs is a power typically understood as reserved for Congress under the Constitution. It’s unclear, though, whether Congress effectively delegated that power to the president in a law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Supreme Court has already agreed to hear arguments in November over that issue. An appeals court said in August that Congress didn’t delegate that power, but delayed its ruling until October.

The eventual decision could have major economic consequences, altering the balance of trade and revenue inflows for the United States. In August, the United States reported a record $31 billion in revenue under tariffs that Trump implemented.= Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month that the Trump administration has backup plans in place in case the court rules against it. Similar to some of Trump’s immigration cases, this issue raises questions about courts intervening in sensitive, ongoing diplomatic negotiations.

Immigration
The 14th Amendment has been interpreted in recent decades to allow birthright citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants. However, after ruling on the preliminary issue of nationwide injunctions, the Supreme Court could reconsider that interpretation and one of its 19th-century precedents. The Trump administration’s eventual appeal will likely force the Supreme Court to confront competing interpretations of the 14th Amendment. Other cases could revisit how far Trump’s authority extends as the chief executive of the nation’s laws. A series of legal disputes has developed over the way that Trump views his authority to deport individuals under laws passed by Congress. One of those is the Alien Enemies Act, which allows the president to remove certain individuals during an invasion.

Trump invoked this law to deport suspected members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang. While the Supreme Court has addressed whether the detainees received adequate due process, the justices have yet to rule on whether gang members perpetrated the type of invasion that would allow deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. Many lower courts have ruled that Trump invalidly invoked the law, with a recent appeals court ruling teeing up a potential Supreme Court challenge. Other immigration-related cases could also return, such as the administration’s attempt to deport people to “third countries” or those other than their home nations.

That question popped up more recently in yet another case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was returned to the United States after an order from a district court judge. Other cases could revisit Trump’s attempt to remove temporary protected status or parole for migrants who would otherwise be subject to deportation.

Spending
In an attempt to reduce excess spending, the Trump administration has attempted to freeze or cut disbursements related to gender, foreign aid, and a wide variety of other issues. And despite months of litigation over cuts, the court system seems far from resolving the legality. That’s in part because the Supreme Court keeps sending the cases back to lower courts with rulings more about the judges’ authority than Trump’s. In at least two cases, the Supreme Court has agreed with the administration’s argument that challenges to Trump’s spending cuts should have been brought in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rather than a regular district court.

The Supreme Court indicated as much in April when it allowed Trump to freeze millions of dollars’ worth of education-related grants. It later reaffirmed that position in an August decision that focused on health grants. That decision, however, was limited, and the justices sharply disagreed over which aspects of a district court’s block on Trump should be removed. Besides the question of jurisdiction, debate has emerged over how much discretion Trump has in canceling outlays of those funds.

Federal Officials
Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook has again raised the prospect that the justices could rule on the president’s ability to remove high-ranking federal officials. While the Supreme Court has allowed many of Trump’s firings to proceed, they’ve yet to issue a full-throated explanation of his authority to do so. The litigation could ultimately prompt the Supreme Court to revisit a precedent known as Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which was decided in 1935 and has been cited by multiple lower courts in their support of fired federal officials. That decision and others limited the president’s ability to fire officials depending on how much executive authority those officials exercised.

Trump’s victories have signaled that those judges may be misinterpreting Humphrey’s and the Constitution by not giving the president more deference. In May, the Supreme Court indicated that members of the Federal Reserve Board, like Cook, could enjoy more protection than heads of other agencies. A majority of the justices had allowed Trump to fire the heads of two labor boards and disputed the officials’ attempts to compare their agencies to the Federal Reserve. According to the majority, the “Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.” Cook’s firing also included a more detailed explanation from Trump as to why he fired her, raising the prospect that the Supreme Court could judge what is an appropriate cause of termination.

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“It’s such an egregious 7 standard deviation. 3.4 standard deviation is the chance of lightning hitting you at least once in your lifetime.”

• Beginning of Panic Rate Cut Cycle – Ed Dowd (USAW)

Former Wall Street money manager and financial analyst Ed Dowd of PhinanceTechnologies.com had a storied Wall Street career. He got out of Enron and Lucent long before they crashed and burned. A few of the many other more recent correct calls Dowd has made include: interest rates topping and heading lower (they did), housing tanking and going lower (happening now), massive fraud propping up the Biden economy with illegal immigration (20 million brought in by Biden Admin) and the BLS just restated job creation numbers for 12 months ending in March. The restatement revealed an eye popping 911,000 jobs were fake. Dowd said just after the 2024 election that “Trump inherited a turd of an economy.”

Now, Dowd says, “Trump has to deal with a turd of a disaster.” On the phony jobs number alone, Dowd says, “You could say this is statistical fraud or bureaucratic incompetence. Let’s say it’s both. It’s such an egregious 7 standard deviation. 3.4 standard deviation is the chance of lightning hitting you at least once in your lifetime. It’s not likely. 7 deviation is suggestive of fraud–full stop.” All the frauds propping up the Biden economy isn’t causing inflation now–just the opposite. Dowd says, “The housing market is rolling over because people can’t afford them. What was keeping a floor in the housing market were rents by the illegal aliens. That’s all going the wrong way. Trump is deporting people, and we closed down the border. Our housing report that we put out a month ago . . . all the indicators are rolling over, and we are going to have a housing recession. We are going to see inflation go lower because housing is 36% of the economy. We expect to see a sub 2% print on inflation.”

What about the Fed cutting interest rates next week? Dowd says, “They cut rates in the Great Financial Crisis starting in 2007. Our stock market did not bottom until 2009. This is the beginning of what I think is the ‘panic rate cut cycle.’ We are going to see the Fed cutting rates all the way down into this asset deflation that we see coming in this panic rate cut cycle. Cutting into slowing growth does not cause assets to reinflate. They are behind the curve, and they are going to be cutting all the way down as we deflate.” Dowd still likes gold and says his clients are acquiring gold and land, not crypto. He also says there are big problems coming in the not-so-distant future from China and Europe. Dowd says his forecast of the world going into a “very deep recession” will come true soon.

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“..what better way to mint $100 billion in market cap than with just $1 billion in stock purchases?”

• Tesla Soars After Musk Buys Billion Dollars Worth Of Stock (ZH)

Tesla shares are on the verge of a technical breakout – something that unhinged Democrats (CC: Tim Walz) must be absolutely furious about – after a new SEC filing revealed that Elon Musk went on a Friday shopping spree, snapping up roughly $1 billion worth of stock. The move has boosted Tesla’s market cap by $100 billion, a savvy squeeze on the shorts. According to a newly filed SEC document, Musk purchased 2.5 million shares through a series of trades valued at about $1 billion.

The billion-dollar purchase comes as shares broke out of an ascending triangle on Friday and are now trading near record highs. As of Monday morning’s premarket trading, the stock was up 8.3% around the $428 level. While Elon’s purchases could be tied to creating momentum to break shares to the upside, we must remind readers that the purchase comes days after Larry Ellison briefly surpassed Musk to become the world’s richest person, following a massive jump in Oracle’s stock. We dared Musk to come up with something even more outrageous than Ellison…

And, oh boy, did he.

Here’s the latest from the Bloomberg Billionaire Index (as of Friday’s close).

Musk clearly enjoys the title of being the world’s richest – and what better way to mint $100 billion in market cap than with just $1 billion in stock purchases? Now does Ellison have a trick or two of his own…

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Shiong

 

 

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Debt Rattle July 20 2025

Jul 202025
 
 July 20, 2025  Posted by at 9:43 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  52 Responses »


Saul Leiter Man with flowers, NY 1950s

 

• Obama Admin Engineered The Russia Hoax To Undermine Trump (Margolis)
• China’s Economic Demise And Its Impact On The US (Lance Roberts)
• Zelensky May Not Last Much Longer – Seymour Hersh (RT)
• Zelensky Wants Personal Meeting With Putin (RT)
• Putin and Trump Need To Meet – Orban (RT)
• Putin, Trump and Xi Could Meet In September – The Times (RT)
• Trump Toughens Stance In EU Trade Talks – FT (RT)
• Trump Issues New Threat To BRICS (RT)
• Trump’s Ultimatum To Russia Is Bluster and Bluff (SCF)
• DOJ Asks Court To Unseal Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Testimony (JTN)
• The Epstein Enigma (James Howard Kunstler)
• And It’s One, Two, Three, What Are We Fighting For? (Pepe Escobar)
• Russia Will Target Multinational Forces in Ukraine (Kyle Anzalone)
• The World Woke Up (Victor Davis Hanson)
• Red, White, and Bitcoin (Beirne)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1946637936180736461

https://twitter.com/BarronTNews_/status/1946621370105790687

https://twitter.com/PU28453638/status/1946338084833923411


Clint
https://twitter.com/ProudElephantUS/status/1946291703469466044

Comey

PDB

 

 

 

 

Tulsi Gabbard nuked the entire US political system with her report on Friday. It will take time for it to sink in. She doesn’t merely accuse Comey and Brennan, she says former president Obama is guilty of treason. An accusation lifted at Trump many times over the past 10 years of course, but the difference is Tulsi brings the receipts. Even then, it will be hard to get the MSM to report on all the court cases we will see, in anything like a neutral fashion. If only because the media, too, will be among the accused.

• Obama Admin Engineered The Russia Hoax To Undermine Trump (Margolis)

Fox News Digital has uncovered damning evidence that the Obama administration deliberately “manufactured and politicized intelligence” to push the now-debunked Russia election interference narrative, despite contradictory assessments from within the intelligence community itself. According to newly declassified documents that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released Friday, there’s “overwhelming evidence” that Barack Obama and his national security inner circle went to work immediately after Donald Trump’s stunning 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton. Their goal? Lay the foundation for the Trump-Russia hoax that would consume the nation for years. This wasn’t a matter of bad judgment; it was a calculated operation to delegitimize Trump’s presidency before it even began.

“Documents revealed that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community consistently assessed that Russia was ‘probably not trying…to influence the election by using cyber means,’” the report reveals. “One instance was on Dec. 7, 2016, weeks after the election, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s talking points stated: ‘Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. presidential election outcome.’” Fox News Digital obtained a declassified copy of the Presidential Daily Brief, which was prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, with reporting from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, State Department and open sources, for Obama, dated Dec. 8, 2016.

“We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure,” the Presidential Daily Brief stated. “Russian Government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states.” But the brief stated that it was “highly unlikely” the effort “would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result.” “Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes,” it stated. Declassified documents reveal that the FBI raised serious concerns about a 2016 Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), which claimed that Russia was trying to undermine the U.S. election.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence had assessed that Russia’s efforts were likely aimed at sowing doubt in the process — not disrupting it — and noted that cyberattacks on election infrastructure failed to cause any real impact. Internal FBI communications show agents pushed back, drafting a formal dissent and warning the brief shouldn’t move forward until their objections were heard. As a result, the brief’s release, originally slated for Dec. 9, 2016, was delayed following “new guidance” from ODNI. “It will not run tomorrow and is not likely to run until next week,” wrote the deputy director of the Presidential Daily Brief at Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose name is redacted. The following day, Dec. 9, 2016, a meeting convened in the White House Situation Room, with the subject line starting: “Summary of Conclusions for PC Meeting on a Sensitive Topic (REDACTED.)”

The meeting included top officials in the National Security Council, Clapper, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, among others, to discuss Russia. The declassified meeting record shows that Obama administration officials agreed to recommend sanctions against members of Russia’s intelligence agencies — if their cyber activities met the legal threshold under an executive order targeting foreign cyber interference. But that wasn’t all. Following the meeting, then-DNI James Clapper’s executive assistant instructed intelligence agencies to produce a new assessment “per the president’s request,” specifically aimed at detailing how Moscow allegedly tried to influence the 2016 election. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence would lead the effort, with help from the CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS, effectively setting the wheels in motion for the Trump-Russia narrative.

The story confirms what many long suspected: Obama-era officials deliberately leaked false claims to the media about Russian interference in the 2016 election, pushing a narrative they knew wasn’t supported by actual intelligence. According to documents obtained by Fox News Digital, a Jan. 6, 2017, Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) was politically weaponized, contradicting prior assessments and burying evidence that Russia lacked both the intent and ability to hack the election. Officials revealed that the ICA suppressed internal dissent — such as FBI and NSA skepticism about Russia’s role in the DNC leaks — and was based on debunked sources like the Steele Dossier. Despite this, the flawed report triggered a chain reaction: media smears, the Mueller investigation, two impeachments, and deep damage to U.S.-Russia relations. Intelligence officials now say this entire operation was designed to delegitimize President Trump and overturn the will of the voters.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard called the plot “a treasonous conspiracy” to subvert the Constitution and called for full accountability. She confirmed that all related documents have been handed over to the DOJ. Meanwhile, former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for their roles in pushing the phony narrative. As President Trump put it: “I think they’re crooked as hell… maybe they have to pay a price for that.” This wasn’t the work of a few rogue officials freelancing their partisan vendettas; it was a coordinated effort that implicates the highest levels of the Obama administration, including Barack Obama himself. The declassified documents lay out a damning paper trail: Obama was personally briefed on intelligence that debunked the Russia-collusion claims, yet his team deliberately buried those facts, rewrote assessments at his request, and fed a false narrative to the press that ultimately ignited a multi-year witch hunt against his successor.

This was no accident. It was a deliberate abuse of power, an attempt to sabotage the incoming president before he even took office, all under the guise of “protecting democracy.” From Obama to Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Rice, and Lynch, this wasn’t just dirty politics; it was a subversion of the peaceful transfer of power. And now, with criminal investigations underway and the full truth coming to light, we know that the real election interference operation wasn’t run from Moscow — it was orchestrated in Washington, D.C., at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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“This particular real estate bubble, which is unprecedented in magnitude, is bursting. This creates deflationary pressures and undermines the value of collateral supporting large portions of China’s shadow banking system.”

• China’s Economic Demise And Its Impact On The US (Lance Roberts)

Few are as candid and historically accurate as hedge fund manager Kyle Bass when identifying structural breaks in the global economy. In a recent interview, Bass painted a grim but telling picture of China’s economic condition, warning: “We are witnessing the largest macroeconomic imbalances the world has ever seen, and they are all coming to a head in China.” While China has long been touted as the next great economic superpower, its recent trajectory reveals a far different story, one marked by policy missteps, systemic financial rot, and a rapidly eroding growth engine. Bass didn’t mince words either: “China’s economy is spiraling with no end in sight.” China’s GDP deflator, the broadest measure of prices across goods and services, continues to decline as economic activity erodes.

For investors around the globe, this isn’t just a regional concern; it’s a seismic macroeconomic event that will ripple through capital markets. The implications are significant for U.S. investors because when global economies falter, especially one as large and interconnected as China’s, capital doesn’t just vanish. It moves. That movement will significantly impact U.S. assets as flows transfer back into U.S. dollars and Treasury bonds. This global repositioning of capital isn’t merely a symptom of market volatility; it reflects a profound reevaluation of risk in the face of deteriorating confidence in China’s financial system. We must examine what’s breaking in China to understand why this matters so profoundly. Bass emphasized that the issue’s core lies in the real estate sector, which accounts for roughly 30% of China’s GDP.

This massive share of economic activity is under severe strain, with property developers defaulting, sales volumes collapsing, and home prices declining across major cities. However, this should be unsurprising as, after the financial crisis, we wrote many times about the mass overbuilding of “ghost cities” that were responsible for China’s growth at the time. However, the “bullwhip” effect of that massive overbuilding was inevitable. “They’re sitting on 60 to 70 million vacant homes. It’s a Ponzi scheme that is finally collapsing.” – Kyle Bass. This particular real estate bubble, which is unprecedented in magnitude, is bursting. This creates deflationary pressures and undermines the value of collateral supporting large portions of China’s shadow banking system.

Adding to the concern is the Chinese Communist Party’s refusal to implement reforms that would bring greater transparency, capital discipline, and market-based corrections. Rather than allow markets to clear, Beijing is opting for control through capital restrictions, state intervention, and increased surveillance of financial activity. “China is experiencing a slow-motion banking crisis, and capital is doing everything it can to escape.” – Kyle Bass. That capital flight is inevitable and, as noted, will significantly impact the U.S. economy and financial markets. This exodus of domestic and foreign capital will reshape the global macro landscape. We recently discussed that the “Death of the Dollar” narrative was vastly exaggerated. While that post goes into more detail, there are five primary reasons why the dollar will remain the reserve currency of the world:

• Lack of a viable alternative currency
• Strength of the U.S. economy
• Network effects and global financial inertia
• Limited scope of de-dollarization efforts
• Resilience amid policy changes.
Most importantly, the dollar dominates the composition of global currency transactions.

China’s economic collapse only exacerbates the world’s dependence on the U.S. dollar for trade and storing reserve assets to support that trade. In times of crisis, investors don’t seek yield; they seek safety. Despite the U.S. running its fiscal imbalances and maintaining high levels of debt, the U.S. dollar and Treasury bonds remain the world’s premier safe havens. There is no alternative with the same depth, liquidity, and perceived security.

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From a Sputnik piece on the same topic: “..the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine has been a “total bust,” as Ukrainian pilots have only managed to learn how to take off, not how to land.”

• Zelensky May Not Last Much Longer – Seymour Hersh (RT)

The political future of Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky appears increasingly uncertain, according to officials in Washington cited by legendary journalist Seymour Hersh. The prospect of the politician being replaced by former armed forces commander Valery Zaluzhny is reportedly growing amid waning domestic support and mounting frustration in Washington. Zelensky suspended national elections under martial law and opted not to step down after his presidential term officially ended in 2024. His former top military commander, who was dismissed earlier this year and later appointed ambassador to the UK, has reportedly long been considered a potential successor. “Zelensky is on a short list for exile, if [US] President Donald Trump decides to make the call,” the veteran reporter wrote on Friday.

One US official familiar with internal discussions suggested that if Zelensky refuses to step down — which they believe is the most likely scenario — he may ultimately be removed by force. Zaluzhny is currently seen as the most credible successor to Ukraine’s leader, according to “knowledgeable” officials in Washington cited by Hersh, who added that the “job could be his within a few months.” Zelensky’s popularity, which soared to 90% in the early months after the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, has steadily declined due to battlefield setbacks and ongoing economic difficulties. The latest polls suggest that only 52% of Ukrainians still trust him, while around 60% would prefer he not seek another term.

Western media outlets have recently shifted their tone, with some portraying Zelensky as increasingly authoritarian. Others have reported that officials in Washington believe “it’s time for an election and new leadership.” Russian officials have also raised concerns about Zelensky’s legitimacy, arguing that any international agreements signed under his leadership could be legally challenged. While Moscow has expressed a willingness to negotiate with Zelensky, it remains skeptical of his authority to finalize any lasting deal.


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Putin has zero reason to meet.

• Zelensky Wants Personal Meeting With Putin (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has once again called for a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying this is the only way to secure a lasting peace. Moscow considers this pointless until the countries’ delegations find some common ground. Putin offered in May to resume direct negotiations – from the point at which Ukraine unilaterally abandoned talks in 2022. However, Zelensky challenged him to come and meet in Istanbul personally. Ukraine eventually agreed to send a delegation amid reported pressure from Washington, and since then the sides have held two rounds of talks, resulting in prisoner exchanges but no breakthrough toward ending the conflict.

The talks stalled in June after Kiev dismissed Moscow’s peace proposals. It later declared the process “exhausted” and indicated it had only taken part to avoid appearing dismissive of US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic initiative. On Saturday, Zelensky stated that the “pace of negotiations must be increased,” offering to hold a new round of talks next week – and once again demanded a personal meeting with Putin. “A meeting at the level of leaders is needed to truly ensure a lasting peace,” he said, adding: “Ukraine is ready.” Zelensky’s presidential term expired last year, but he has cited martial law, which he imposed, as grounds for remaining in office. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently accused the Ukrainian actor-turned-politician of pushing for a personal meeting with Putin to reaffirm his political legitimacy, claiming he “is insanely afraid of being forgotten, of becoming unnecessary for the West.”

Despite Zelensky’s dubious legal status, Putin previously said he is open to a potential meeting – but questioned Zelensky’s authority to sign binding agreements. “I am ready to meet with anyone, including Zelensky. That’s not the issue,” the Russian president stated in June. “The question is different: Who will sign the documents?” According to Moscow, legal authority in Ukraine now resides with the parliament, not with Zelensky. On Tuesday, Ukrainian lawmakers once again extended martial law and general mobilization for another 90 days, with just a single dissenting vote.

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“Everyone says they want peace, but there’s still war. That means someone is lyin..,”

• Putin and Trump Need To Meet – Orban (RT)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called for an in-person meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, describing it as the only realistic path to ending the Ukraine conflict. In an interview with the Ultrahang YouTube channel published on Thursday, Orban called Trump “the man of peace” but voiced skepticism about the sincerity of other Western governments and officials in Kiev. “Everyone says they want peace, but there’s still war. That means someone is lying,” he said, accusing some parties of having a vested interest in prolonging the bloodshed. “They want the war to continue, no matter what they say.” A deal won’t come from Kiev. It must come from Washington and Moscow. Until then, there will be no peace.

“The conflict will not stop until the Russian and American presidents sit down at the negotiating table,” Orban added. He expressed hope that such a meeting could lay the foundation for a broad agreement addressing not only Ukraine, but also global trade and arms control. Earlier this week, Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Putin and threatened Moscow’s trade partners with “severe” secondary tariffs if no diplomatic progress is made within 50 days. Budapest has consistently criticized efforts to arm Kiev and opposes its EU and NATO ambitions, warning that it prolongs the conflict at growing cost to European economies and taxpayers.

Trump has indicated that Washington will no longer fund Kiev’s war effort, but has allowed other NATO members to continue purchasing US-made weapons for Ukraine. Since returning to office in January, Trump has held several phone calls with Putin and has alternated between assigning blame to Moscow and Kiev for the lack of progress. In May, Ukraine agreed to resume direct negotiations with Russia under pressure from Washington. However, talks stalled after two rounds, with Kiev declaring the process “exhausted” and indicating it had only participated to avoid appearing dismissive of Trump’s diplomatic initiative. Moscow has said it remains committed to achieving its core objectives in Ukraine but prefers a diplomatic solution. The Kremlin has expressed hope that, despite his public statements, Trump is also applying private pressure on Kiev.

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That would be great. If Trump doesn’t get all braggadocious about his part.

• Putin, Trump and Xi Could Meet In September – The Times (RT)

US President Donald Trump could meet his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, at an upcoming event marking the 80th anniversary of victory over imperial Japan in World War II, The Times has reported. China has announced plans to honor the date with a military parade in Beijing in September, and Moscow has confirmed that Putin will attend. The Soviet Union, China and the US cooperated in the fight against Japan during World War II. Both analysts and ordinary Chinese have called on Xi to “seize the opportunity,” invite Trump and host a three-way summit during the upcoming victory celebration, The Times wrote on Friday.

“Why not align Trump’s visit with the September 3 commemoration?” Renmin University of China Professor and popular Chinese opinion leader Jin Canrong told the Guancha news outlet last month. “If the leaders of China, the US, and Russia were to stand together during the military parade, it would be a great positive signal to the world,” he suggested. According to The Times, Beijing “tacitly encouraged speculation” on the subject by refusing to deny a report by Japan’s Kyodo News released last month, which claimed that the decision to invite Trump had already been made. Relations between Washington, Beijing, and Moscow have soured in recent years over the Ukraine conflict, accusations of Chinese cyber warfare, and what the US describes as “unfair” market practices.

Since the start of his second term in January, Trump has moved to thaw diplomatic ties with Russia and pushed for a settlement in the Ukraine conflict. However, on Monday, he expressed exasperation with the pace of the talks and threatened 100% secondary tariffs on Russian trading partners if the hostilities aren’t resolved within 50 days. Trump has also reignited a trade war with Beijing, which earlier this year rattled global financial markets. The tit-for-tat tariff standoff peaked with 145% US duties on Chinese imports and 125% retaliatory levies from Beijing. Tensions appear to have eased following a trade deal last month under which China relaxed restrictions on key rare earth mineral exports.

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Brussels has nothing.

• Trump Toughens Stance In EU Trade Talks – FT (RT)

US President Donald Trump has ramped up his demands in trade talk with the EU and is pushing for a minimum tariff of between 15% and 20% in any deal with Brussels, the Financial Times reports, citing informed sources. The negotiations between Brussels and Washington have been underway since early April, when Trump announced a set of measures aimed at protecting American manufacturers he called the ‘Liberation Day.’ They included a blanket 10% tariff on all imports from the EU and most other US trading partners. The duties have been put on hold pending the talks, but the US president warned that they would grow to 30% if no deal is reached between Washington and Brussels by August 1. The tariffs would be applied on top of the existing sector-specific duties, such as 50% on steel, aluminum duties and 25% car imports levies introduced by the US earlier this year.

The Trump administration is hardening its stance in talks with the EU in order to test the bloc’s “pain threshold,” the FT said in an article on Friday. According to the paper’s sources, the president was also “unmoved” by an offer from Brussels to reduce the 25% car tariffs and wants them to stay as they are. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic provided a “downbeat” assessment of his recent discussions with the Americans during the meeting of the bloc’s ambassadors on Friday, two people briefed on the matter said. An EU diplomat has told the paper that if Trump insists on 15% to 20% duties, the EU would be forced to retaliate. Brussels has prepared several packages of counter-tariffs against Washington, but delayed their implementation until August 1.

“We do not want a trade war, but we do not know if the US will leave us a choice,” the source said. A second EU diplomat stressed that “the mood has clearly changed” in Brussels in favor of retaliation, adding that “we are not going to settle at 15% percent.” Washington has so far largely avoided retaliation for its tariffs, while collecting a record high of $64 billion in customs duties in the second quarter of 2025, according to the US Treasury.

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For now, this is simply about the reserve currency. Stop the threats and they will let you keep it.

• Trump Issues New Threat To BRICS (RT)

President Donald Trump has claimed that BRICS is “fading out fast,” while warning that any attempts by the group to challenge the US dollar will be met with a harsh economic backlash. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump denounced what he called BRICS’ attempts to weaken the dollar. “They wanted to try and take over the dollar, the dominance of the dollar… And I said, anybody that’s in the BRICS consortium of nations, we’re going to tariff you 10%.” Trump stressed that Washington will spare no effort to preserve the dollar’s hegemony. “The reserve currency is so important. You know, if we lost that, that would be like losing a World War.” Washington “can never let anyone play games,” Trump said, adding that he has decided to “hit them [BRICS] very, very hard.” “If they ever really form in a meaningful way, it will end very quickly,” he said.

Trump also claimed his threat to impose 10% tariffs on imports from the BRICS had completely derailed the group’s summit in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month. “They had a meeting the following day and almost nobody showed up,” he said. However, the BRICS summit featured broad participation at the highest level. While China’s President Xi Jinping was absent from the meeting, his country was represented by Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Russian President Vladimir Putin was also absent, but addressed the summit remotely. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, as well as leaders from Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE attended in person.

In October, Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated that the share of national currencies in trade among BRICS countries has reached 65%, with the share of the dollar and euro plunging below 30%. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that BRICS countries are exploring dollar alternatives “to shield themselves from US arbitrariness.” However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said that BRICS has never been meant as a rival to the US, although warning that “the language of threats and manipulation… is not the way to speak to members of this group.”

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“Resolving a conflict like Ukraine requires deep historical understanding and genuine commitment to due diligence.”

• Trump’s Ultimatum To Russia Is Bluster and Bluff (SCF)

What’s behind Trump’s angry ultimatum to Russia this week? The short answer: failure and frustration. Donald Trump promised American voters that he would end the Ukraine war in 24 hours upon his election in November 2024. Six months into his presidency, Trump has failed to deliver on his boastful promises. This week, Trump flipped his pacemaker image by pledging billions of dollars worth of new American weaponry to Ukraine. He also issued a warning to Russia to call a ceasefire within 50 days or else face severe secondary tariffs on its oil and gas exports. The tariffs, quoted at 100 percent, will be applied to nations purchasing Russian exports, primarily Brazil, China, and India. The latter move indicates that the U.S.-led proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is really part of a bigger geopolitical confrontation to maintain American global hegemony.

In any case, Moscow dismissed Trump’s ultimatum. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow would not comply with pressure and that Russia would not back down from its strategic goals in Ukraine to counter NATO’s historic aggression. It is clear that Trump and his administration have failed to understand Russia’s strategic position and the root causes of the conflict. Trump’s supposed diplomacy is seen to operate on a superficial basis more akin to showbiz, with no substance. He wants a peace deal with Russia to show off his vaunted skills as a business negotiator and to grab the limelight, headlines, and adulation.

Resolving a conflict like Ukraine requires deep historical understanding and genuine commitment to due diligence. Moscow has repeatedly stated the need to address the root causes of the conflict: the expansion of NATO on its borders, the CIA-sponsored coup in Kiev in 2014, and the nature of the NATO-weaponized Neo-Nazi regime over the past decade. Trump and his administration have failed to appreciate Russia’s viewpoint. Thus, expecting a peace deal based on nothing but rhetoric and vacuous claims about “ending the killing” is futile. It won’t happen.

This failure, based on unrealistic expectations, has led Trump to adopt an increasingly bitter attitude towards Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. Ironically, Trump has accused Putin of duplicity and procrastination when, in reality, it is Trump who has shown no serious commitment to resolving the conflict. Now, with chagrin and bruised ego, Trump has reacted with frustration over what are his own failings by issuing ultimatums to Russia. Trump’s 50-day deadline for a Russian response to his demands has a similarity to the 60-day deadline he threatened Iran with, after which he carried out a massive bombing attack on that country. Trump’s aggression towards Iran has turned out to be a fiasco and failure. Threatening Russia is even more useless.

This proclivity for threatening other nations has the hallmark of a Mafiosa megalomaniac. It is also causing Trump to lose support among his voter base, who believed he was going to end “endless wars.” It’s shambolic. Biden’s war is becoming Trump’s war because, at the end of the day, it is the U.S. imperial deep state that rules. Trump’s mercurial switch from professing peace in Ukraine to ramping up the promise of weapons shows that his previous aspirations were always hollow and contingent on other interests. It seems that the 47th American president did not want peace after all. What was driving his apparent desire to end the conflict in Ukraine – what he deprecated as “Biden’s war” – was simply to cut American financial costs.

2016

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“..related to the late financier’s alleged “client list,” which the administration says does not exist…”

• DOJ Asks Court To Unseal Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Testimony (JTN)

The Justice Department on Friday afternoon formally asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury testimony related to the prosecution of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s directive on Thursday. Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to file the request in a Truth Social post, where he criticized the news media for its focus on the administration’s handling of the Epstein case. Bondi vowed to do so. The Justice Department claimed in its filing that the release of the additional information in the case was “a matter of public interest.”

“The public’s interest in the Epstein matter has remained,” the filing reads. “Given this longstanding and legitimate interest, the government now moves to unseal grand jury transcripts associated with Epstein.” The department said it will file a similar motion in the case against former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, CNN reported, though Trump did not direct the publication of testimony in her case. The Trump administration has faced heavy backlash for its handling of the case, particularly related to the late financier’s alleged “client list,” which the administration says does not exist.

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Epstein is so last week…

• The Epstein Enigma (James Howard Kunstler)

Do you detect the signs of Rope-a-Dope in Mr. Trump’s recent blasts against the Epstein mess? It must be obvious that anything he says will be violently opposed by his Democratic Party enemies. So, now he’s got them slavering for release of the Epstein files, whatever they are, or rather, whatever’s left after former FBI Director Christopher Wray & Co. curated them, shall we say. (They had many years to get it done.)

I’m not the first to point out that the president’s most rabid enemies ignored the Epstein case during the entirety of “Joe Biden’s” four-year ectoplasmic visitation in the White House. (They were up to their eyeballs siccing Fani Willis, Letitia James, and Alvin Bragg on Trump.) “Squad” stalwart Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said the other day that she was “too busy” to delve into Epstein. Everybody else from Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to Jamie Raskin (D-MD) just barfed up word salad on MSNBC to excuse themselves for overlooking the matter. But since Mr. Trump affected to quash the whole psychodrama in the harshest tones, they’ve got all the time in the world to pore over Epstein docs. Well, maybe they’ll get what they asked for.

So, yesterday, the president ordered AG Bondi to release the grand jury testimony that has been under seal for years and years, and she has promised to do that today, Friday, July 18, subject to the court approval, meaning it could invite a months-long legal battle. Gawd knows what’s in there, but at least it was kept out of Christopher Wray’s clutches. So, it’s separate from the videos and other stuff alleged to be in the FBI possession. Many say, not altogether convincingly, that the names of “victims” and witnesses must be protected. There’s much confused public controversy as to whether girls allegedly trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were children or young adults (who would be middle-aged now), and that issue is apparently separate from whatever commercial “child porn” was in the FBI’s Epstein file cabinet that AG Bondi has referred to.

Anyway, Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure says: “Disclosure is permitted to government attorneys or personnel (including state or tribal officials) deemed necessary to assist in enforcing federal criminal law, such as in complex investigations involving organized crime or public corruption.” The current state of the Epstein scandal looks a little like a ruse by Mr. Trump to hang his enemies out to dry and sell them the clothes-line to do it with. In all their garish attempts to get Trump, the Democrats have only ended up Wile E. Coyote’d every single time. Why would this round be any different?

Meanwhile, Naomi Wolf by way of Eric Weinstein has come up with quite an original view of what Jeffrey Epstein was about in the strange role he played among the so-called elite. I will link to her recent substack entry below this blog so you can see for yourself. For Ms. Wolf, it was all about the Silicon Valley “network” of tech moguls, their vast power and influence, and an effort by this group, using Epstein as a broker, to steer science generally in the direction that benefited them and their companies. Epstein served as a middleman between politicians, the weapons industry, the big research universities (all those grants!), and linked intel services such as CIA, Mossad, and MI6.

This is what Eric Weinstein means when he describes Epstein as “a construct.” He was less a person than a function. Epstein cultivated the “list” of elite scientists, tech entrepreneurs, academics, and movie stars with lavish parties and trips to his various compounds in Manhattan, Florida, the US Virgin Islands, and his New Mexico ranch — all in the service of building this tech-and-science network that would become a gigantic mutual aid-and-allegiance society advancing the interests of themselves and their institutions. In the process, certain goodies in the form of young ladies groomed in the sexual arts were made available. Some members of this elite network indulged and some did not, the theory goes.

Read more …

Pepe travels a lot, but his mind is stuck in place.

• And It’s One, Two, Three, What Are We Fighting For? (Pepe Escobar)

All of you Vietnam vets and draft resisters will recognize where this column’s headline is coming from. Oh yes, this ain’t the late 1960s anymore, so it’s time to revamp it – no AI needed – and expand it: from now on, be assured everyone in the wild, wild West will be forced to fight and/or endure three overlapping NATO wars.

War number 1
It’s Europe v. Russia, of course. Not proxy anymore: hot ‘n nasty, direct. Considering the advanced rottenness of the whole Ukrainian front, new fronts are already proliferating: the South Caucasus; clandestine ops in the Baltic Sea; MI6 recruiting frenzy across Central Asia; fresh terrorism ahead in the Black Sea, especially Crimea. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson succinctly nailed it: we are already on WWIII. Actually we are already deep in the extended preamble to WWIII. Circus Ringmaster in D.C. and the billionaires/donor class behind him are of course clueless. Re-reading Keynes – The Economic Consequences of the Peace – is an absolute must like never before. History does repeat itself. Yet this ain’t 1914 or 1935; now nuclear weapons may come into play.

The Kremlin and Russia’s Security Council are very much aware of the high stakes. In his recent interview to Kommersant, Sergei Shoigu even rolled out some key NATO numbers to stress the threat Russia faces: over 50,000 tanks and armored vehicles; over 7,000 combat aircraft; over 750 warships; 350 military and civilian satellites; an immense offense (italics mine) budget. Well, what sly Shoigu did not say is that when push comes to shove, it only takes Mr. Khinzal, Mr. Sarmat, Mr. Zircon and Mr. Oreshnik to deliver a few strategic business cards to paralyze the whole NATO machinery in a matter of minutes.

War number 2
It’s the Empire of Chaos v. Iran in West Asia, with Eretz Israel as much as proxy as a lead actor. The Circus Ringmaster – whose only “strategy” is to concoct shady deals to enrich himself and shysters in his close circle – dreams of an Israeli-centric West Asia, a toxic crossover of the Abraham Accords 2.0 with the IMEC corridor, creating, as Alastair Crooke defined it, “a business-led West Asia, centered on Tel Aviv (with Trump as its de facto ‘President’), and via this business connectivity corridor, be able “to strike further beyond – with the Gulf States penetrating into BRICS’ south Asian heartland to disrupt BRICS connectivity and corridors.”

Using the Arabs against BRICS won’t cut it even with MbZ in the UAE and MbS in Saudi Arabia, who have both realized the business scam will only work if there is real peace in Gaza; some sort of humanitarian solution for the Palestinians; and rebuilding the Gaza strip. The death cult in Tel Aviv will never allow any of the above: their plan is to kill them all, steall all their land, and eradicate their culture. And as the genocide goes on – totally legitimized by the NATO sphere – the death cult keeps bombing anything in sight, perpetrating the balkanization of Syria, and expanding Eretz Israel.

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And the countries that send the forces will use it as a casus belli.

• Russia Will Target Multinational Forces in Ukraine (Kyle Anzalone)

The Russian Foreign Ministry said any troops from third countries deployed to Ukraine will become targets. European nations have discussed plans to send their soldiers to Ukraine if a ceasefire with Russia is reached. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained that any country that joins a coalition of the willing and deploys troops to Ukraine will become targets. “We have repeatedly stated that a deployment of armed forces of other countries in Ukraine under any pretense would be absolutely unacceptable,” she said. “We regard this as preparations for foreign military intervention. We will consider these so-called ‘multinational forces’ as legitimate military targets,” she added.

Several European countries have said they would be willing to join a “coalition of the willing” to deploy soldiers to Ukraine after a ceasefire with Russia is reached. Earlier this month, UK Defense Minister John Healey said, “The prime minister has always been clear that he’s ready to put troops into Ukraine to help reinforce a ceasefire.” “The coalition of the willing” is an infamous phrase used by the George W. Bush administration to try to sell the Iraq War. Moscow says it is unwilling to enter into a ceasefire with Ukraine and is seeking a permanent end to the conflict that addresses the Kremlin’s security concerns.

Multiple leaks throughout the war have exposed that a small number of American and NATO troops are inside Ukraine. However, Europeans are now discussing a large-scale deployment meant as a deterrent to a future Russian invasion. The escalating support for Kiev has led some in the Kremlin to argue for Moscow to take a more aggressive position against Ukraine’s Western backers. Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian President and current deputy head of the National Security Council, suggested launching preemptive attacks. “What is happening today is a proxy war, but in essence it is a full-fledged war,” Medvedev, who is now a senior Russian national security official, told the Tass news agency.

“We need to act accordingly. Respond in full. And if necessary, launch preventative strikes.” However, Medvedev also acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ruled out attacking more European countries. “Let me remind you that our president stated unequivocally: Russia does not intend to go to war with NATO or ‘attack Europe’. Such claims by Western politicians are utter nonsense.” He continued, “I would also like to add that this kind of drivel is deliberately injected into the information space to destabilize an already difficult situation. It is yet another front in the West’s open war against us.”

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Anything written before Friday is old.

• The World Woke Up (Victor Davis Hanson)

In less than six months, the entire world has been turned upside down. There is no longer such a thing as conventional wisdom or the status quo. The unthinkable has become the banal. Take illegal immigration—remember the 10,000 daily illegal entries under former President Joe Biden? Recall the only solution was supposedly “comprehensive immigration reform”—a euphemism for mass amnesties. Now, there is no such thing as daily new illegal immigration. It simply disappeared with commonsense enforcement of existing immigration laws—and a new president. How about the 40,000-50,000 shortfall in military recruitment? Remember all the causes that the generals cited for their inability to enlist soldiers: generational gangs, obesity, drugs, and stiff competition with private industry? And now?

In just six months, recruitment targets are already met; the issue is mostly moot. Why? The new Pentagon flipped the old, canceling its racist DEI programs and assuring the rural, middle-class Americans—especially white males—that they were not systemically racist after all. Instead, they were reinvited to enlist as the critical combat cohort who died at twice their demographic share in Iraq and Afghanistan. How about the “end of the NATO crisis,” supposedly brought on by a bullying U.S.? Now the vast majority of NATO members have met their pledges to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense, which will soon increase to 5%. Iconic neutrals like Sweden and Finland have become front-line NATO nations, arming to the teeth. The smiling NATO secretary-general even called Trump the “daddy” of the alliance.

What about indomitable, all-powerful, theocratic Iran, the scourge of the Middle East for nearly 50 years? Although it had never won a war in the last half-century, its terrorist surrogates—Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis—were supposedly too dangerous to provoke. Now? Most of their expeditionary terrorists are neutered, and their leaders are in hiding or dead. Iran has no air force, no real navy, no air defenses, and no active nuclear weapons program. Its safety apparently depends only on the mood of the U.S. or Israel on any given day, not to fly into its airspace and take out its missiles, nuclear sites, generals, or theocrats at will. What happened to the supposedly inevitable recession, hyperinflation, stock market collapse, unemployment spikes, and global trade war that last spring economists assured us would hit by summer?

Job growth is strong, and April’s inflation rate is the lowest in four years. GDP is still steady. The stock market hit a record high. Trade partners are renegotiating their surpluses with the U.S. It turns out that staying in the U.S. consumer market is the top priority of our trading partners. It seems their preexisting and mostly undisclosed profits were large enough to afford reasonable U.S. symmetrical tariffs. For now, news of tax cuts, deregulation, “drill, baby, drill” energy policies displacing Green New Deal strangulation, and $8-$10 trillion in potential foreign investment has encouraged—rather than deterred—business. Then there were our marquee elite universities, whose prestige, riches, and powerful alumni made them answerable to no one. And now, after the executive and congressional crackdown on their decades of hubris?

Supposedly brilliant university presidents have resigned in shame. The public has caught on to their grant surcharge gouging. Campuses have backed off their arrogant defiance of the Supreme Court’s civil rights rulings. They are panicked about the public exposure of their systemic antisemitism. They are scrambling to explain away their institutionalized ideological bias and their tawdry profit-making schemes and mass recruitment of wealthy foreign students from illiberal regimes. So, the mighty Ivy League powerhouses are now humbling themselves to cut a deal to save their financial hides and hopefully return to their proper mission of disinterested education. What happened to the trans juggernaut of sex as a social construct and its bookend gospel that biological men could dominate women’s sports?

People woke up. They were no longer afraid to state that sex is binary and biologically determined. And biological men who dominate women’s sports are bullies, not heroes. Where are the millionaire-scamming architects of Black Lives Matter now? Where is the “DEI now, tomorrow, and forever” conventional wisdom? Where is professor Ibram X. Kendi and his $30,000 Zoom lessons on how to fight racism by being racist? They have all been exposed as the race hustlers they always were. Their creed that it is OK for supposed victims to be racist victimizers themselves was exposed as an absurd con. So, what flipped everything?

We were living in an “emperor has no clothes” make-believe world for the last few years. The people knew establishment narratives were absurd, and our supposed experts were even more ridiculous. But few—until now—had the guts to scream “the emperor is naked” to dispel the fantasies. When they finally did, reality returned.

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“.. it is just the latest chapter in a 2,600-year story of value, trust, and human ingenuity..”

• Red, White, and Bitcoin (Beirne)

Bitcoin may feel futuristic, but when you peel away its digital veneer, it is just the latest chapter in a 2,600-year story of value, trust, and human ingenuity. Having reached record highs, Bitcoin has been making headlines as nations declare strategic stockpiles and corporate America embraces the new asset class. Why now? The answer lies in a pattern as old as civilization itself: When governments corrupt a currency, people innovate their way to something better. As the saying goes, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” When the first coin clanked into existence in 600 B.C., it was not merely a gold and silver alloy stamped with the face of the Lydian king.

It was a financial revolution. For the first time, people could move past the inefficiencies of barter and instead use a medium of exchange to trade. But this value was not in the sparkle; it was the individuals’ collective understanding that these coins have worth. The integrity of that system has waxed and waned over the ensuing millennia, typically driven by governmental spending policies. The silver-backed Roman denarii enabled the empire to flourish, but as subsequent emperors diluted its value – reducing their silver content to fund wars and build grand palaces – citizens lost faith in their currency. When Emperor Nero reduced silver content from 98% to 83% in A.D. 64, Romans began hoarding old coins and rejecting new ones. By A.D. 260, the denarius contained just 5% silver. Inflation spiraled and commerce crumbled, contributing to the eventual fall of the empire.

The United States has battled currency crises since our nation’s birth, but unlike Rome, America has consistently innovated solutions along the way. After we declared independence from Britain, the Continental Congress printed the nation’s first paper money. Called “Continentals,” it was backed by neither gold nor silver – simply by belief in its value. While gold and silver are at least relatively scarce metals that constrain supply, paper can be printed. And that is precisely what the first U.S. government did. Desperate to pay troops and buy supplies necessary to wage the Revolutionary War, Congress turned to making more Continentals. Bills flooded the market, driving down value as Americans questioned whether the new nation could honor its promises.

In 1777, one patriot complained to his father as inflation spiked by an estimated 200%, writing, “America has much more to fear from the effects of large quantities of paper money than from the operations of British Generals.” Prices climbed so rapidly that George Washington himself came to refuse Continentals as payment. In fact, it became common to describe something of little value as “not worth a Continental.” The currency became such a laughingstock that sailors paid in the bills would sew them onto their clothes and parade through town to mock it. But rather than crumble like the Roman Empire, the U.S. innovated: This currency crisis was a driving force that led our Founding Fathers to scrap the American government under the Articles of Confederation and draft our current Constitution.

This change represented more than political reform – it was monetary advancement, shifting from discretionary to rule-based money. The new U.S. government adopted a bimetallic standard in 1792, which tied the value of dollars to both gold and silver. The country eventually simplified its approach by shifting to a de facto gold standard in 1834, which lasted until 1971 when President Nixon abandoned it in favor of fiat currency. Like the Continentals before it, the dollar has since been backed by belief in its value: full faith and credit of the U.S. government. And then came the 2008 financial crisis. Lehman Brothers fell, banks wobbled, and the public? They started asking: “What is money?”

It was then, from the digital shadows, that an anonymous figure – Satoshi Nakamoto – dropped a whitepaper like a patriot dropping a leaflet on the eve of the Revolutionary War: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. No emperors. No banks. Just math, cryptography, and an unbreakable record called the blockchain. A new kind of trust was born – not in a ruler, but in code. What was initially viewed as an interesting hypothetical idea was quickly put to real-world use. Users beget more users. Trust grows. Entrepreneurs dream. It’s a full-blown historical saga unfolding in real time.

Bitcoin has risen above the other cryptocurrencies it inspired, in large part due to its scarcity: no longer could an Emperor add bits of cheap copper to silver coins or Congress print more paper because it is hardcoded that only 21 million Bitcoin will ever exist. Further, all Bitcoin transactions are verified by a decentralized network of approximately 20,000 individuals’ computers across the world, all checking one another beyond politicians’ control. In an age of runaway government spending, investors have turned to those scarce Bitcoin that no government can dilute. A decentralized system that guards the people from government domination – how American is that!

It is no coincidence that Bitcoin has skyrocketed to a $2 trillion valuation just as the U.S. national debt has reached record highs. Researchers debate how long fiat currencies last on average throughout history, with some placing time of death at between 27 and 35 years. Since the U.S. has been off the gold standard for over 50 years, history suggests the dollar is poised for decline. People are simply asking the age-old question: What is money, really? As trust is shaken in paper money due to inflation and ballooning federal spending, many are turning to innovation. Even nations themselves have begun to set up strategic reserves. In fact, the United States is the largest known state holder of Bitcoin – once again positioning America at the forefront of monetary evolution.

As John Adams advised in 1787, “All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from the defects of the Constitution, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.” It is incumbent upon Americans to arm themselves with knowledge and engage in the age-old American tradition of challenging broken systems with better ideas in the pursuit of liberty.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Aaron Siri
https://twitter.com/newstart_2024/status/1946312859824099353

Letterman

CBDC

lipitor

Yellowstone

 

 

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Debt Rattle June 30 2025

Jun 302025
 
 June 30, 2025  Posted by at 9:12 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  40 Responses »


Paul Gauguin Van Gogh painting sunflowers 1888

 

• China’s Economy Spirals With No End in Sight, Says Kyle Bass (ET)
• Canada Hands Big Win To Trump, Suspends US Tech Firm Tax (JTN)
• Elon Musk Escalates Attack On Trump’s Mega Bill (RT)
• Iran Could Rebuild Nuclear Program Within Months – IAEA Chief (RT)
• No Weapons-Grade Enrichment In Iran – Foreign Ministry Spokesman (RT)
• Top Economist: Trump May Have ‘Outsmarted All of Us’ on Tariffs (Margolis)
• One-World Government Greater Threat Than AI, Climate Change – Peter Thiel (ZH)
• Serbian Protesters Claim Blocking Traffic in 18 Cities Nationwide (Sp.)
• West Starts to See It Can’t Inflict Strategic Defeat on Russia – Lavrov (Sp.)
• Justice Kagan’s Own Words Come Back to Haunt Her on Injunctions (Margolis)
• Elie Mystal’s MSNBC Meltdown Over Trump Is One for the Ages (Margolis)
• MSM Claims MAHA “Threatens To Set Women Back Decades” (ZH)
• Baltic Sea’s WW2 Chemical Legacy Demands Russia-NATO Cooperation (RT)

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your donations overnight. Don’t stop now!

 

 

 

 

Trade deal
https://twitter.com/ThePatriotOasis/status/1939334146050183536

NO

Never

 

 

AOC

 

 

Dmitry Orlov: NATO is DONE

 

 

Snowden

 

 

 

 

Take Bass seriously. He is no fool, and he does have a reputation to care about.

• China’s Economy Spirals With No End in Sight, Says Kyle Bass (ET)

Communist China is grappling with the most severe economic crisis in its history, a downturn that the regime will not recover from, according to Kyle Bass, founder and chief investment officer of Hayman Capital Management. “There is nothing that is going to bail China out of their economic spiral. They’re having a real estate crisis, a banking crisis, a youth unemployment crisis, and now they need to be worried about their current account,” Bass said in an interview on EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” that aired on June 26. Bass said U.S. tariffs and declining trade threaten China’s economic advantage, which is its trade surplus with the United States.

China’s exports to the United States plunged by 35 percent in May compared to a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. “China’s once bright spot is now in question,” Bass said. “I actually am surprised it’s not down more.” China has also been hit hard by capital flight. In 2024, Bass said, China experienced a massive outflow of both foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio investment totaling about $500 billion, pointing to the gap between its trade surplus of about $980 billion and its current account surplus of about $420 billion. China is also facing unsustainable debts. When combining China’s sovereign debt and local government financing debt, Bass estimated that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio should be roughly 350 percent, which he said is difficult to manage considering the various economic challenges.

Another indicator of China’s financial crisis is the performance of China’s bond market, Bass said. As of June 27, the yield on China’s 10-year sovereign bond is approximately 1.64 percent, compared to 4.26 percent for the U.S. 10-year Treasury “So the Chinese government is pretty good at lying about whatever they want to lie about, but the bond market kind of tells the truth, and the bond markets telling you that China is in an economic winter,” Bass said. China’s economic troubles have persisted for several years, highlighted by the collapse of major real estate developers Evergrande and Country Garden, which marked the onset of the current property crisis in 2021. In February, the national unemployment rate reached 5.7 percent, the highest in two years, while the youth jobless rate topped 16.9 percent.

Adding to the concerns, consumer prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, while industrial profits decreased by 9.1 percent compared to a year earlier, underscoring deepening deflatory pressures in the world’s second-largest economy. Despite China’s economic struggles, the United States continues to rely on China for certain imports, particularly rare earths and pharmaceutical ingredients. According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States imported 70 percent of its rare earths from China between 2020 and 2023. In the face of China’s leverage over these items, Bass said that the United States retains the ultimate “trump card” through its control of the global dollar system. “They don’t have the ability to purchase things around the world in yuan or RMB because no one accepts a currency they don’t trust or that doesn’t trade,” Bass said.

Bass stated that the United States should signal to Beijing its intention to sever China’s access to the dollar system, the very moment the regime initiates military action against Taiwan. “Deterrence is something that we should all be engaging in to try to stop China from being militaristically belligerent with Taiwan,” Bass said. “That is a better first move on our part than sending carrier strike groups of our brave men and women into the Taiwan Strait in a kinetic conflict with China … tens of thousands of our men and women will die if that happens.” The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims Taiwan as a renegade province, intent on annexing the island, though the regime has never exercised authority there. Taiwan is a de facto independent nation with its own democratically elected government, military, constitution, and currency.

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Canada/Carney comes with a whole new tax, retroactive to 2022 no less, that would cost US firms billions. Trump reacts by suspending trade talks, and Canada suspends the tax. Thinking: oh well, no harm done. But trust has been hurt gravely, while Carney’s hands are still empty. What were/are they thinking?

• Canada Hands Big Win To Trump, Suspends US Tech Firm Tax (JTN)

Canada announced Sunday night it was suspending a tax on U.S. technology firms that had caused President Trump to suspend trade negotiations between the two nations, handing a major victory to the American president. The Canadian government said it was suspending enforcement of the tax that was due to be collected starting Monday, saying the action was taken “in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States.” Prime Minister Mark Carney informed the Trump administration of the decision, and the two sides plan to resume trade talks on or about July 21. Trump had called the tax on technology firms an “attack” on America, and suspended trade talks Friday in an effort to pressure Canada.

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“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!”

• Elon Musk Escalates Attack On Trump’s Mega Bill (RT)

Billionaire Elon Musk launched a renewed attack on US President Donald Trump’s budget bill on Saturday, calling it “utterly insane” and warning that it would hurl America into “debt slavery” and destroy millions of jobs. The dispute between the two men who were once close allies turned ugly earlier in June over Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s outburst came hours before Senate Republicans narrowly advanced the bill in a 51-49 procedural vote, with Vice President J.D. Vance on standby to break a potential tie. Musk took to X to condemn the legislation, writing, “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!”

In a series of posts, he accused the bill of favoring “industries of the past” – likely a jab at fossil fuel subsidies – while undermining future-focused sectors like renewable energy and tech. Musk claimed that the bill’s $5 trillion debt ceiling hike would put the US in the “fast lane to debt slavery,” citing polling data that suggests GOP voters oppose the bill over fiscal concerns. After leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk criticized the bill’s deficit impact, calling it a “disgusting abomination.” Trump retaliated by accusing Musk of having sour grapes over lost electric vehicle subsidies – a reference to federal incentives that had benefited Tesla. Musk escalated by insinuating that Trump had ties to late financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, while Trump considered cutting SpaceX contracts. Later, Musk apologized, and Trump suggested that he could forgive him.

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“So you cannot disinvent this. You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have.”

• Iran Could Rebuild Nuclear Program Within Months – IAEA Chief (RT)

Iran could resume uranium enrichment within months, despite recent US and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear facilities, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has stated. In an interview with CBS News released on Sunday, Grossi said the strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, inflicted “a very serious level of damage,” but some of the assets are “still standing.” “The capacities they [Iran] have are there. They can have, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” he added, while acknowledging that even the Iranians likely do not yet know the extent of the damage.

According to the IAEA chief, Iran maintains a significant industrial capacity. “Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology, as is obvious. So you cannot disinvent this. You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have.” Grossi went on to say that concerns about Iran’s nuclear program cannot be put to rest through a military solution. “I think this should be the incentive that we all must have to understand that… you are not going to solve this in a definitive way militarily. You are going to have an agreement,” he said, expressing hope that IAEA inspectors would soon have access to the country’s nuclear sites again. Iran has barred the inspectors from its nuclear facilities, accusing the agency of distorting facts in a recent report, which Tehran claims served as justification for the Israeli and US strikes. Grossi responded by saying: “Really, who can believe that this conflict happened because of a report of the IAEA? And, by the way, what was in that report was not new.”

The comments come after a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, during which the US and Israel conducted airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. US President Donald Trump claimed the strikes “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities and warned of further attacks if Iran pursues nuclear weapons. Several US media outlets have suggested, however, that the damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was limited. Tehran has denied that it has plans to produce a nuclear weapon and maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, stressing that it wants to reserve the right to enrich uranium for civilian use.

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“Please, you can go through the reports by the IAEA and show me one single clue or evidence of Iran’s nuclear program deviating from peaceful purposes.”

• No Weapons-Grade Enrichment In Iran – Foreign Ministry Spokesman (RT)

Iran has no plans to obtain nuclear weapons but reserves the right to enrich uranium for civilian use, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told RT on Saturday. He condemned recent Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities as dangerous and unprovoked. Baghaei dismissed Israeli claims that Tehran had been secretly developing nuclear weapons, which were cited as justification for the attacks. Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) support Iran’s position, he added. “I think Iran has made it clear for the past two or three decades that it is not seeking nuclear weapons,” Baghaei said. “There has never been weapons-grade enrichment in Iran. Please, you can go through the reports by the IAEA and show me one single clue or evidence of Iran’s nuclear program deviating from peaceful purposes.”

“It is a matter of fact that Iran’s nuclear program remains totally peaceful,” he stressed. The spokesman referred to remarks by the global watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, who stated earlier this month that the agency has found no evidence of “a systematic effort” by Iran to develop nuclear arms. Baghaei also voiced frustration with the IAEA for not strongly condemning the strikes. “What is expected from the IAEA and its Board of Governors is to remain loyal to their responsibilities and mandates by condemning, unambiguously, the US and Israeli regime’s attacks on our nuclear facilities,” he said.

He further defended Iran’s right to enrich uranium under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). “The US is offering a very dangerous interpretation of the NPT – that developing states have no right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It is not acceptable for any responsible, decent member of the NPT,” Baghaei said. Earlier this week, Iran’s parliament passed a bill to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, accusing the agency of providing “a pretext” for the attacks.

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“..even some of the most respected voices in economics are forced to admit that Trump’s tariffs have delivered results that the so-called experts said were impossible.”

• Top Economist: Trump May Have ‘Outsmarted All of Us’ on Tariffs (Margolis)

Donald Trump has a knack for making the so-called experts look foolish, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the ongoing debate over tariffs. The political and economic elite have ridiculed Trump’s approach, insisting that his tough stance on trade would backfire, cause a recession and cripple the U.S. economy. Yet despite all the apocalyptic predictions, the economy hasn’t gone south, and predictions of a looming recession have been quietly walked back. Recently, a prominent anti-Trump economist admitted what many on the right have been saying from the beginning: Trump’s tariff strategy wasn’t the reckless gamble the media made it out to be.

Instead, it was a calculated move designed to protect American workers, revive domestic manufacturing, and put America’s interests first. A prominent Wall Street economist who had slammed President Trump’s tariffs earlier this year now says that the president may have “outsmarted all of us” with his controversial trade policies. Torsten Sløk, chief economist at investment giant Apollo Global Management, said that while the uncertainty surrounding trade policy has already started to weigh on the economy, Trump could lower tariffs on most of the US trading partners while using the levies to boost federal revenue.

Sløk suggested in a recently posted analysis that the administration’s approach may be more strategic than previously thought. The optimistic outlook stands in stark contrast to his earlier position. In April, Sløk warned that Trump’s tariffs could trigger a recession by summer, particularly harming American small businesses and potentially halting the flow of goods from China to the US, leading to layoffs and a broader economic slowdown. Let’s be honest—Trump’s critics never gave him a fair shake. They scoffed at his insistence that America was getting fleeced by China and other trading partners. They dismissed his warnings about the hollowing out of our industrial base. They mocked his promise to bring jobs back to the heartland. But now, even some of the most respected voices in economics are forced to admit that Trump’s tariffs have delivered results that the so-called experts said were impossible.

Now, economists such as Sløk have egg on their faces. “Extending the deadline one year would give countries and US domestic businesses time to adjust to the new world with permanently higher tariffs,” Sløk writes. “It would also result in an immediate decline in uncertainty, which would be positive for business planning, employment, and financial markets.” He added, “This would seem like a victory for the world and yet would produce $400 billion of annual revenue for US taxpayers. Trade partners will be happy with only 10% tariffs and US tax revenue will go up. Maybe the administration has outsmarted all of us.” The reality is that Trump’s tariffs leveled the playing field. For decades, American workers have been forced to compete with countries that exploit cheap labor, ignore environmental standards, and manipulate their currencies.

The globalist consensus—championed by both parties in Washington—left our factories shuttered and our communities devastated. Trump dared to challenge that consensus, and the results speak for themselves. Manufacturing jobs have made a comeback. Wages for blue-collar workers have risen. And, perhaps most importantly, America has regained leverage on the world stage. Trump’s willingness to use tariffs as a bargaining chip forced our trading partners to the negotiating table and secured better deals for American workers. Trump’s approach wasn’t about starting trade wars for the sake of it—it was about restoring American strength. He understood that economic power is national power, and he wasn’t afraid to use every tool at his disposal to protect American interests. The fact that even his critics are now coming around to his way of thinking is a testament to his vision and leadership.

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Just as people are saying Peter Thiel is the biggest threat.

• One-World Government Greater Threat Than AI, Climate Change – Peter Thiel (ZH)

In a wide-ranging interview on the future and global existential risks, billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel raised alarms not only about familiar threats like nuclear war, climate change, and artificial intelligence but also about what he sees as a more insidious danger: the rise of a one-world totalitarian state. Speaking to the New York Times’ Ross Douthat, Thiel argued that the default political response to global crises—centralized, supranational governance—could plunge humanity into authoritarianism. Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, shared his worries using examples from dystopian sci-fi stories. “There’s a risk of nuclear war, environmental disaster, bioweapons, and certain types of risks with AI,” Thiel explained to Douthat, suggesting that the push for global governance as a solution to these threats could culminate in a “bad singularity” – a one-world state that stifles freedom under the guise of safety.

Thiel critiqued what he described as a reflexive call for centralized control in times of peril. “The default political solution people have for all these existential risks is one-world governance,” Thiel observed, pointing to proposals for a strengthened United Nations to control nuclear arsenals or global compute governance to regulate AI development, including measures to “log every single keystroke” to prevent dangerous programming. Such solutions, the investor warned, risk creating a surveillance state that sacrifices individual liberty for security.

Drawing on historical and philosophical analogies, Thiel referenced a 1940s Federation of American Scientists film, One World or None, which argued that only global governance could prevent nuclear annihilation. Thiel juxtaposed this with a Christian theological framing: “Antichrist or Armageddon?” In both, the billionaire said he sees a binary choice between centralized control and catastrophic collapse. Yet, Thiel questioned the plausibility of a charismatic “Antichrist” figure seizing power through hypnotic rhetoric, as depicted in apocalyptic literature. Instead, he offered a modern twist: the path to global control lies in relentless fearmongering about existential risks.

“The way the Antichrist would take over the world is you talk about Armageddon nonstop,” Thiel explained. The billionaire contrasted this with earlier visions of scientific progress, like those of 17th- and 18th-century Baconian science, where the threat was an evil genius wielding technology. Presently, Thiel argued, the greater political resonance lies in halting scientific advancement altogether. “In our world, it’s far more likely to be Greta Thunberg than Dr. Strangelove,” he quipped, invoking the radical Swedish climate activist as a symbol of anti-progress sentiment. On AI specifically, Thiel struck a balanced tone, tempering both utopian and apocalyptic predictions. “One question we can frame is: Just how big a thing do I think AI is?” he asked himself. “My stupid answer is: It’s more than a nothing burger, and it’s less than the total transformation of our society.”

Thiel compared AI’s potential impact to the internet in the late 1990s, suggesting it could create “some great companies” and add “a few percentage points” to GDP, perhaps boosting growth by 1% annually for a decade or more. However, the billionaire expressed skepticism that AI alone could end economic stagnation, viewing it as a significant but not revolutionary force. While Thiel expressed nuanced views on artificial intelligence, his venture capital firm, Founders Fund, is aggressively backing the technology. Namely, it recently led a $600 million investment in Crusoe, a vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider. “The biggest risk with AI is that we don’t go big enough. Crusoe is here to liberate us from the island of limited ambition,” Thiel said at the time.

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Organic or Soros? They call for civil war.

• Serbian Protesters Claim Blocking Traffic in 18 Cities Nationwide (Sp.)

Student protesters in Serbia reported blocking roads and traffic interchanges in 18 cities in the country on Monday night. On Saturday evening, the ultimatum expired that student protesters and opposition supporters issued to the authorities on June 25, demanding that they set a date for early parliamentary elections and remove the tent city of the president’s supporters in front of the Serbian parliament, the Assembly. On Sunday, they added a third demand — the release of all detained participants in the protest action from June 28 to 29. On their social networks and on a website dedicated to the protests, the students listed 24 locations in Belgrade where they blocked traffic until their demands were met, and 18 cities in Serbia from Subotica in the north to Zajecar in the southeast of the country, where they set up pickets on roads and interchanges.

Government agencies have not yet issued a statement on this matter; on social networks, protesters are distributing videos of blocked roads, often using garbage containers and other improvised materials. Earlier, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that 48 interior ministry employees had been injured during the riots in Belgrade on Sunday night, and 77 people had been detained. According to Dacic, 22 people sought emergency medical care, two of them with serious injuries. Radio and Television of Serbia reported the detention of eight more suspects in crimes against the constitutional order on Sunday. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that no fatalities during the riots in Belgrade on Sunday night was “only a miracle.”

Protesting students and opposition supporters threw firecrackers and various objects at a police cordon near the park in front of the Serbian presidential administration on Saturday evening, and heavily equipped police used tear gas, batons and pushed the crowd back. According to police director Dragan Vasiljevic, the police were forced to use physical force after demonstrators tried to break through the cordon for 5-6 minutes. The Serbian Interior Ministry reported on Saturday that a protest in Belgrade demanding early parliamentary elections had gathered 36,000 participants. Protesters in Belgrade called for the destruction of Serbia in a civil war, the parliament’s speaker and former prime minister Ana Brnabic said on Sunday night.

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“..are openly trying to return to the days when France and Germany wanted to conquer Europe, primarily the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union..”

• West Starts to See It Can’t Inflict Strategic Defeat on Russia – Lavrov (Sp.)

The West probably starts to understand that it will not be able to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday. “We have very close ties in all areas, and they are of particular importance, especially in the current very difficult and radically changed international situation, when we are witnessing an unprecedented confrontation between our country and the collective West, which has decided once again to go to war against us and inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, using the Nazi regime in Kiev as a ram. The West has never been able to do this, and it won’t work this time. They’re probably starting to figure it out,” Lavrov said during his meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev.

Russia is open for honest efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but it is not ready for scheming, which is the preferred approach of some European leaders, Sergey Lavrov said. “As [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has said recently, we are ready to defend a just settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We are open to honest work, but we are not ready for the kind of scheming that some European leaders have been forcing us to engage in,” Lavrov said after a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lack common sense and are trying to reestablish France’s and Germany’s control over Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Lavrov commented on Merz and Macron’s op-ed for the British newspaper, in which the two said that “the main source of instability for Europe comes from Russia” and called on Europe to arm itself. “I believe that these quotes alone are enough for a person who has some understanding of what is happening in Europe and follows events to understand that these people have completely lost common sense and are openly trying to return to the days when France and Germany wanted to conquer Europe, primarily the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union,” Lavrov said. Sergey Lavrov said that he had discussed labor migration with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Zheenbek Kulubaev, adding that Russia expected migrant workers to comply with the rules of stay.

“We attach great importance to the compliance with the rules of stay by foreign citizens in our country… We are interested in the influx of migrant workers, and our Kyrgyz friends are also interested in making the people, who go to work in Russia, feel at ease. Do achieve this, it is necessary that everyone regulate their status,” Lavrov said. Sergey Lavrov said that he had discussed the situation in Iran and Ukraine with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Zheenbek Kulubaev. “Of course, special attention was paid to the situation in the Middle East, the Palestinian problem, and the situation around Iran,” Lavrov said. Lavrov expressed Russia’s gratitude to Kyrgyzstan for its position on Ukraine.

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“This can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stuck for the years that it takes to go through a normal proces..,”

• Justice Kagan’s Own Words Come Back to Haunt Her on Injunctions (Margolis)

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., released Friday, finally put the brakes on the reckless abuse of nationwide injunctions by lower courts—and has Democrats in full meltdown mode. The left’s favorite judicial weapon just got neutered, and the hypocrisy is impossible to ignore. The liberal wing of the court didn’t do itself any favors, either. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent was so horrible that Justice Amy Coney Barrett felt compelled to call it out in the majority opinion. But Justice Elena Kagan’s credibility also took a direct hit. In a stunning display of judicial flip-flopping, Kagan’s own words from 2022 have come back to haunt her, exposing the left’s all-too-familiar habit of changing the rules when it suits their political objectives.

Nationwide injunctions have been the left’s go-to tactic for derailing conservative policy at the stroke of a single judge’s pen. Under Trump, district judges from deep-blue enclaves repeatedly issued sweeping orders to block administration policies nationwide at an unprecedented pace, no matter how tenuous the legal grounds. Despite all the apocalyptic rhetoric, there’s no doubt that the left’s current position on nationwide injunctions is purely political—and Justice Elena Kagan accidentally proved it. How? Well, Justice Kagan, who dissented in this case, was singing a very different tune just a couple of years ago. Back in 2022, when President Biden was in the White House and conservatives were the ones seeking relief from his executive orders, Kagan was openly skeptical of nationwide injunctions. “This can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stuck for the years that it takes to go through a normal process,” she said.

That’s not some out-of-context paraphrase—it’s her own words, on the record. Fast forward to 2025, and suddenly Kagan’s skepticism has evaporated. Now that Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office, she’s all-in for the same judicial overreach she once panned. It just goes to show you who the real partisans on the court are. They aren’t adhering to any particular judicial philosophy or the Constitution, they care only about whether a particular ruling hurts or benefits the Democratic Party. This isn’t just about one justice’s hypocrisy. It’s a window into the left’s broader approach to power. When they control the levers of government, they demand deference and restraint from the courts. When they’re out of power, they want unelected judges to act as a permanent veto against any policy they dislike. It’s not about the Constitution or the separation of powers—it’s about maintaining their grip on the bureaucracy by any means necessary.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc. is a must-needed correction, that frankly, should have been bipartisan. It restores a measure of balance and puts an end to the judicial free-for-all that has plagued our system for far too long. And if Justice Kagan and her allies are upset, maybe they should reread their own words from just a few years ago. Consistency, after all, used to be a virtue. But in today’s Democratic Party, it’s just another casualty of the endless war for power. The Supreme Court just restored the rule of law—and the left can’t handle it.

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Trump aims to murder Canadian journalists?!

• Elie Mystal’s MSNBC Meltdown Over Trump Is One for the Ages (Margolis)

Elie Mystal’s latest outburst on MSNBC’s airwaves wasn’t just over the top—it was an embarrassing display of unhinged, irrational fearmongering. Speaking with host Ali Velshi, Mystal launched into a bizarre hypothetical that quickly devolved into the kind of wild-eyed rant you’d expect from a late-night Internet forum, not a supposedly serious political analyst on national television. Though I guess since this was MSNBC, it makes sense. “Imagine Donald Trump wants to do something illegal to you, Ali Velshi. Imagine that he wants to murder you,” Mystal began. “Imagine that he and Stephen Miller release an entire policy explaining about how they can murder Canadian journalists who are working in America because they’re taking the jobs from real American journalists, right?” The absurdity of the scenario was matched only by Mystal’s apparent belief that this was a reasonable way to discuss a Supreme Court ruling.

He continued, painting a picture where Velshi, upon learning of this imaginary murder plot, goes to court to stop Trump and his “plan to murder me.” According to Mystal, the court would agree with Velshi, issuing an injunction to prevent his assassination. “And so, you’re like, ‘Great, awesome!’ And you go home. And then Pat Kiernan shows up and he’s like, ‘What about me? I’m also a Canadian journalist.’” The parade of Canadian journalists supposedly fearing for their lives grew as Mystal added, “Ashley Banfield shows up too, ‘I’m also the, a Canadian, what, what about me?’” The legal logic here is as tortured as the scenario itself. Mystal claims the courts would tell these other journalists, “Well, I can’t help you ’cause Ali Velshi is the one who sued.” He insists that every individual would need to file their own lawsuit to avoid being murdered by the president—an assertion so detached from reality it borders on performance art.

“And while the Supreme Court is deciding who the Ali Velshi can’t be murdered, uh, injunction applies to, guess what? Donald Trump starts murdering people. That is the upshot of yesterday’s decision,” Mystal declared, as if the highest court in the land had just greenlit a presidential killing spree. He then tried to tie this fevered fantasy back to the actual ruling, claiming, “Donald Trump has declared that he is going to do an unconstitutional thing, and various people have been able to secure the court’s order that he cannot do the unconstitutional thing to them. And basically, what the Supreme Court has said is that, ‘Well, you had said something about um, um, um, Jimmy, but you didn’t say anything about Consuela, so we’re gonna deport Consuela while the Supreme Court figures it out.’ That is what the court said.”

This isn’t legitimate legal analysis. It’s barely coherent political commentary—more a cartoonish distortion of facts and law, aimed at stirring fear and outrage instead of informing or persuading. The Supreme Court’s decision, regardless of your view on it, did not authorize murder, nor did it claim that only individual lawsuits can protect against government overreach. Keep in mind, Trump’s executive actions have consistently fallen within established executive authority. If they hadn’t, left-wing groups wouldn’t have needed to shop around for friendly judges willing to block his policies. Mystal’s tirade perfectly illustrates how hyperbole and hysteria have replaced sober, reasoned debate in some media circles. Mystal’s performance was not just embarrassing—it was a disservice to anyone seeking to understand the real implications of Supreme Court decisions. Instead of offering insight, he chose to indulge in moronic hypotheticals that insult the intelligence of viewers and trivialize serious legal issues. If this is the standard for legal commentary on cable news, it’s no wonder public trust in the media is at an all-time low.

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Our women can only be free if we poison ourselves.

• MSM Claims MAHA “Threatens To Set Women Back Decades” (ZH)

An increasing number of Americans are abandoning processed foods and taking control of their own food supply chain—planting backyard gardens and sourcing meat, eggs, dairy, and pantry staples directly from local markets and farms. The trend, which is gaining momentum under the “Make America Healthy Again” movement—and even noted by Goldman—reflects a broader push for food independence and a return to community-based sourcing. Not everyone is on board with MAHA — especially not the feminist journalists at SELF (owned by the corporate media company Condé Nast), who recently penned an article that reads like a hit piece against MAHA. Erica Sloan’s critique of MAHA is that food independence is unrealistic and burdensome for women in the modern progressive world.

In her article titled “How the MAHA Food Agenda Threatens to Set Women Back Decades,” Sloan writes… But it’s what MAHA isn’t saying that’s most important: Stoking so much fear around these vital industries implies that Americans—more specifically, the mothers of America—need to find a different way to feed their families. “Women do a disproportionate share of the kind of work that the MAHA movement is asking people to do, which is to grow their own food, to prepare all of their food from scratch, and to avoid processed food and even packaged foods,” Norah MacKendrick, PhD, associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University and author of Better Safe Than Sorry: How Consumers Navigate Exposure to Everyday Toxics, tells SELF. Even today, with approximately 60% of women working outside the home, women still spend about two hours more on housework daily and cook more than twice as many meals a week as men do. The implication that our current food system is inherently unsafe just stands to pile on the labor.

“In order for a family to eat a diet of mostly homegrown or even just homemade meals… that’s going to be a lot more work for women and mothers especially,” Dr. MacKendrick says. It’s an ideal that the MAHA moms have already embodied—and that would be not only unrealistic but unfair to expect from all American families. Decades?

The angle that Sloan uses to bash MAHA via a quote from some woman in acemedia is entirely flawed, that’s because MAHA doesn’t force anyone to grow their own food or make everything from scratch—it simply raises awareness about the systemic failures of Big Food and Big Pharma and empowers families to reclaim control where possible. Some folks plant gardens, while others buy from local ranchers and farmers. The movement calls for informed choices and better public policy—not a return to the primitive 1800s—or is asking women to live like the modern-day Amish. Heaven forbid women to cook from scratch for their families! More nonsense from the PR journalist … MAHA’s villainization of food processing just adds the burden of cooking from scratch to women’s plates. The journalist concluded the article with this: “Processed and ultraprocessed items are also functional necessities for many, and can spark joy. And again, some of them have positive nutritional value.”

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Cooperate? But Russia!

• Baltic Sea’s WW2 Chemical Legacy Demands Russia-NATO Cooperation (RT)

Recovering ammunition still buried on the Baltic Sea floor after World War II must be an international effort rather than a unilateral action by any one nation, an expert has told RT. Germany recently completed a pilot project to recover the sunken munitions, prompting concerns about potential implications for the environment. An estimated 1.6 million tons of wartime ammunition, primarily left by Nazi Germany, are scattered across the seabed of the North and Baltic seas. While most of them are conventional shells, some 40 tons contain deadly chemical agents, such as mustard gas, phosgene, and other compounds. The munitions have been deteriorating over the decades and now pose a hazard to the marine environment and, potentially, to coastal areas.

The recovery and disposal of the munitions must be organized through an international effort to minimize the risks of a major environmental catastrophe in the Baltic, Bernhard Trautvetter, a German publicist and peace activist, believes. “The question was how to deal with the recovery of these poison time bombs for the biosphere of the Baltic Sea. Of course, due to the corrosion of these vessels, there is a danger for the fish and the plants, and other countries,” Trautvetter told RT on Sunday. The NATO states of the Baltic region, as well as Russia, which has access to the waterway through its Kaliningrad enclave and the St. Petersburg area, must join forces to “pull this time bomb out of the world,” he added.

Berlin launched a recovery project in 2023, starting the work in Lubeck Bay. The pilot phase concluded in April of this year. The German authorities declared it a success yet admitted some adjustments were needed for areas with a high density of discarded ammunition. Russia has long raised concerns over the toxic legacy of World War II in the Baltic, calling for an international recovery operation. However, Moscow was effectively left out of this effort due to its souring relations with the West.

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Kookaburra

Alu cats

Happy
https://twitter.com/IndiaTales7/status/1938917738224984129

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle June 12 2025

Jun 122025
 
 June 12, 2025  Posted by at 9:53 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  58 Responses »


Balthus Girl at the window 1955

 

• US On High Alert In Anticipation Of Potential Israeli Strike On Iran (ZH)
• LA More Than Insurrection, It’s Bolshevik Revolution – Larry Klayman (USAW)
• The PR War Over the Riots (Pinsker)
• Gavin Newsom Humiliated Himself, and It Was Awesome (Margolis)
• The Anti-ICE Riots Are Electoral Suicide for the Dems (Margolis)
• Medinsky Slams NATO’s Rutte, Suggests History Book to Clarify Ukraine’s Past (Sp.)
• Zelensky’s Refusal To Compromise Will Lead To More Territorial Losses: Medinsky (ZH)
• Donald Trump Responds To Elon Musk’s Late-Night Apology (NYP)
• Trump Claims Deal With China ‘Is Done’ (RT)
• Vaccine Expert and Covid Shot Critic Robert Malone to Advise CDC (PJM)
• Hungary Sues European Commission Over €1 million-a-day Migrant Fine (RMX)
• Germany Hemorrhaging Industrial Jobs (RT)

Rogan
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1932494036314595509

 

 

Tucker Carlson Interviews Jeffrey Sachs

 

 

 

 

Where exacttly is the US interest in this?

• US On High Alert In Anticipation Of Potential Israeli Strike On Iran (ZH)

Is something brewing amid US-Iran tensions, given the stalled nuclear negotiations and ratcheting accusations, demands, and counter-demands? The State Department has ordered all embassies within striking distance of Iranian assets – including missions in the Middle East but also Eastern Europe and Northern Africa – to convene emergency action committees (EACs) and send cables back to Washington about measures to mitigate risks. The Associated Press also adds that the US Embassy in Baghdad is preparing to order all nonessential personnel to leave due to potential regional unrest. “We are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies,” said a State Department official who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive security matter.

“Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our Mission in Iraq.”Meanwhile the WaPo – a conduit for the deep state – writes that “the United States is on high alert in anticipation of a potential Israeli strike on Iran, with the State Department authorizing the evacuation of some personnel in Iraq and the Pentagon green-lighting the departure of military family members across the Middle East.”The heightened security environment comes as President Donald Trump expresses dimming hopes of achieving a deal with Iran that would restrict its nuclear program and forestall a potentially cataclysmal new military confrontation in the Middle East.“I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made,” Trump told the New York Post.

In recent months, U.S. intelligence officials have grown increasingly concerned that Israel may choose to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities without the consent of the United States. Such a move would almost certainly scuttle the Trump administration’s delicate nuclear negotiations and prompt an Iranian retaliation on U.S. assets in the region.

As GMI summarizes the latest situation: “The IDF have elevated their operational readiness. In response, the United States has mirrored this posture, anticipating potential Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. A senior diplomat, speaking to the Washington Post, stated: “We think it’s more serious than any other time in the past.” The U.S. State Department has directed all embassies within Iranian strike range—including several in Europe, to immediately convene Emergency Action Committees and transmit updated risk assessments to Washington.The Trump imposed deadline on Iranian nuclear negotiations expires tomorrow, June 12th. U.S. officials speaking to Axios now assess it is increasingly unlikely the sixth round of talks in Oman will proceed as scheduled on Sunday.

General Kurilla, Commander of U.S. Central Command, has postponed his scheduled testimony before Congress due to mounting tensions across the Middle East. U.S. Central Command, the military headquarters overseeing the region, is working in close coordination with State Department counterparts and allies to maintain a constant state of readiness to support numerous missions at any time, the official added.“We are watching and worried,” said one senior diplomat in the region. “We think it’s more serious than any other time in the past.” Both oil and gold prices spiked on the alarming headlines which suggest new regional conflict could be imminent, with Israel poised to act…[..]Meanwhile, Iran has urged the United States to prioritize a negotiated solution, with its mission to the United Nations saying that “diplomacy — not militarism — is the only path forward.”

“Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and U.S. militarism only fuels instability,” the Iranian mission warned in a social media statement. President Trump has definitely expressed his preference for negotiated solution, but Iran insists that it be able to keep enriching uranium, at least at low levels, as a matter of national sovereignty. Iran and the United States are tentatively scheduled to hold a sixth round of direct talks in Oman on Sunday between U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with discussions between their technical teams. But people familiar with the planning said Wednesday that it is possible that talks may not happen.

Trump has described the negotiations, which began in April, as heading in a positive direction and has said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on any military plans. But on Wednesday, Trump said he was “less confident” that Iran would agree to U.S. demands that it completely shut down its nuclear enrichment program. “They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame,” he said. He has frequently said that Iran would never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and threatened military action if an agreement is not reached.

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Klayman sounds extreme, but at the same time he’s no idiot.

• LA More Than Insurrection, It’s Bolshevik Revolution – Larry Klayman (USAW)

Renowned attorney Larry Klayman predicted on USAWatchdog months ago that there would be full-blown, legal civil war happening in the court system. With 272 cases and counting filed against the Trump Administration, that prediction has proven spot-on. Klayman also predicted months ago that violence from the “rabid Left” would not only increase but “explode.” The LA riots prove another bullseye for Klayman. What Klayman is seeing is far more than some violent protests on the West Coast. Klayman warns, “This is a very dire period. We knew this was coming. This is more than an insurrection, this is a Bolshevik style revolution. It’s not just Bolsheviks, but it’s every conceivable leftist radical group.

This is financed, undoubtedly, by people like George Soros. . .. Karen Bass is a DEI affirmative action mayor in Los Angeles. She was going to be Biden’s second choice to be vice president, God forbid. . .. They are using her. The Left is using her, and they are using Newsom and others. They want there to be some kind of tragedy in LA. They want there to be some kind of Kent State where someone gets killed. They want one of these protesters to be killed by the National Guard or by the military. This will be a flash point to carry forth this Bolshevik revolution. They want to take this county down to ground zero. This is what they are trying to do. They want to destabilize the country and bring these radicals out.”

Klayman goes on to say, “There is, undoubtedly, foreign money involved probably from communist China, Iran and North Korea. There is probably money coming from the Left with Soros and others. They want this country at a point that is destroyed, and then they take control. That is their motivation. That is what happened in Russia when they had the Bolshevik Revolution. That’s what happened in China with Mao. This is a plan. This is a playbook. This is why we need to push back, and that is why President Trump needs to crush this right now to make an example of this. Frankly, he should have Governor Newsom arrested, and he should have Karen Bass arrested. They are inciting violence, and they are fomenting revolution. . .. We are under attack, and President Trump needs to declare martial law.”

Klayman says the riots in LA are not a sign of Trumps failure as a President, but it is a sign of his success. Klaman explains, “They are making their move. We predicted this several months ago. It was just a matter of time, and it built and built and built, and now they see Trump, regardless of these judges . . . and they see Trump is at the point of possibly succeeding. So, they are going to do a number on the President of the United States. . .. Iran is not going to give way, and they are going to continue to enrich uranium. They know, ultimately, we will be backed into a corner, and we are going to have to attack them. This is a last-ditch effort to try to eliminate President Trump and try to weaken our country before that occurs.”

Klayman says the so-called autopen scandal of the Biden Administration will reveal that pardons were sold by staff. Klayman contends this is something Trump did not do in office the first term or this term. Klayman says, “The whole system is corrupt. It is a pay-to-play system. . .. The American people were sold out. I doubt there was not much of anything that was approved by Joe Biden.” In closing, Klayman says, “This is a do or die life experience. Today it’s LA, tomorrow it’s going to be coming to your hometown and your neighborhood.”

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Americans don’t need another George Floyd. Been there done that.

• The PR War Over the Riots (Pinsker)

It’s a PR war, boys and girls: Strap on a helmet and report to duty. Our first battlefield is the People’s Republic of Los Angeles. (Alas, beautiful, glamorous Tinseltown has gone from swimming pools and movie stars to foreign flags and public defecation. Pro Tip: If you see any “bubblin’ crude” on the streets of L.A., for God’s sake, please don’t touch it.) But Los Angeles won’t be the last battlefield. These protests are gonna be like acne on a teenager’s face: They’ll be poppin’ up all over the place. And that part of the news cycle is (largely) out of our hands. Whenever you’re dealing with mass protests, mob violence, and nationalized vigilantism, there’s an element of unpredictability.

All it takes is the “right” martyr — on the right platform — and the storyline will morph into something we cannot anticipate. It could happen at any moment. That’s dangerous, because PR experts are MUCH better day two, day three, and day four thinkers. Nine times out of 10, the quality of our thoughts dramatically improves when we have more time to consider all the angles. (It’s something I’ve told clients repeatedly: If you wanna know my thoughts on day one, I’ll certainly tell you — but the more time I have to think about something, the more likely it’ll be that I’ll come up with something better.) This means that if the dominoes start falling in rapid succession, neither side will wait for a thoughtful, measured PR response. Instead, emotions will take over. The loudest, most passionate voices will prevail. That exponentially increases the probability of unforced PR errors.

This is a high-risk, high-reward gamble for both sides. It’s blackjack at the Bellagio with cranberries. For Gov. Gavin Newsom, the well-coifed Californian with presidential aspirations, the L.A. riots are his audition tape. He has the most to lose — but also the most to gain. Finally, after patiently awaiting his turn, he’s exactly where he wanted to be: At the tip of the political spear. There’s a leadership vacuum in the Democratic Party, and I’m not just talking about that cute little catfight at the DNC. Too many bigwigs blew their credibility over Joe Biden’s now-obvious mental decline. Guys like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) can’t lead the masses because the masses no longer believe them. The closer you were to Biden, the worse it was for your credibility. It’s why Kamala Harris is adrift in the wilderness.

But Newsom was all the way in California. He’s ideally suited to close the (coloring) book on Biden, rebrand the Democratic Party, and slap a coat of fresh paint on American liberalism. At least, that’s his sales pitch. Even before the riots, Newsom was selling himself as the solution to the Democratic Party’s “manhood problem.” As we noted about his podcast strategy: Typically, when a Democrat has presidential aspirations, you’d expect him to book podcast guests with liberal thought leaders — people such as Obama, Oprah, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, or Rachel Maddow. That would be the smartest, fastest way to not only communicate to your base that you’re “one of them,” but to also let them know that all the top thought-leaders believe in you, too.

But that’s not at all what Newsom is doing. Instead, his first three guests were Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage, and Steve Bannon! And in the process, he’s making a novel argument to the Democratic base: we can’t beat MAGA unless we have a candidate who can talk to their side, and I’m the only MAN who can do it. He’s not running on representation; he’s running on persuasion. He’s not saying he “looks like America”; he’s saying he can persuade the rest of America. Most specifically, the Americans that the Democrats have left behind: men.

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It’s time for law and order. What do you think got Trump elected?

• Gavin Newsom Humiliated Himself, and It Was Awesome (Margolis)

Let’s talk about a day that California Governor Gavin Newsom would probably like to erase from memory. Tuesday was an absolute trainwreck for the Golden State’s fearless leader, marked by technical blunders, shameless begging, and a string of outright lies that would make even the most seasoned politician blush. If you thought Newsom’s leadership couldn’t sink any lower, buckle up, because this was a masterclass in humiliation. Riots are tearing through the city over federal immigration enforcement, yet Newsom can’t even bring himself to condemn the violence. Instead, he’s pointing fingers at President Trump while dodging accountability for the mayhem on his watch. He thinks this is going to be his ticket to the Democratic nomination for president in 2028, and potentially the White House.

The real disaster unfolded when Newsom decided to play big shot with a televised address to bash Trump. Desperate for airtime, he stooped to groveling at the feet of Fox News’ Sean Hannity, practically begging for coverage. Hannity even aired the pathetic plea on live TV. “Governor Newsom just texted me and was asking me whether or not we will be taking some of his press conference at the bottom of the hour…” Talk about embarrassing—California’s governor reduced to texting a conservative host for a spotlight. Sad! But the humiliation didn’t stop there. When the moment finally arrived for Newsom to spew his anti-Trump tirade, the audio feed spectacularly failed. That’s right—his grand speech, meant to be a scathing takedown, was reduced to garbled nonsense that no one could hear.

Even when the audio situation was fixed, Newsom sounded hoarse and unhinged, like a man on the verge of a meltdown. If this was his attempt to look like a leader, it was a catastrophic flop. The technical difficulties turned his address into a punchline, ensuring his message—whatever it was—fell on deaf ears. And what about the content of that ill-fated speech? Pure fiction. Newsom ranted about federal agents allegedly jumping out of unmarked vans to “grab people” in a “heavily Latino suburb” and raiding businesses, claiming a pregnant U.S. citizen and a 4-year-old were detained. “Families separated, friends, quite literally, disappearing,” he croaked, painting a dystopian picture straight out of a Hollywood script. Conveniently, he offered zero evidence for these wild claims, and couldn’t explain how any of these allegations justify burning up cars, assaulting police officers, and looting businesses.

And let’s not forget his attempt to rewrite history by claiming California handles unrest “regularly” with its own law enforcement—until, of course, Trump supposedly swooped in to ruin everything with tear gas, rubber bullets, and National Guard deployments. Newsom even had the audacity to call the deployment of 2,000 Guard members “illegal” and a “brazen abuse of power,” accusing Trump of inflaming the situation “on purpose.” As we’ve explained before, the power of the president to federalize the National Guard has been long established. This wasn’t just a speech—it was a flailing performance packed with lies, tech glitches, and the pathetic spectacle of Newsom groveling for airtime from a network he usually sneers at. He tried to cast himself as California’s last line of defense, but what the country saw was a dishonest, unsteady politician who can’t even handle a live broadcast, let alone a crisis. And if Newsom thinks he can ride these anti-ICE riots into a successful presidential campaign, he’s got another thing coming.

Support for the Trump administration’s deportation efforts is also strong. A Napolitan News Service poll conducted by RMG Research, Inc. shows that 58% of registered voters back the effort to remove illegal immigrants, while opposition has dropped to just 37%. Even more telling: just weeks ago, 40% said the administration’s actions had gone too far; now it’s down to 36%. The longer this issue stays in the headlines, the worse it gets for the left. Meanwhile, the attempt to rebrand the Los Angeles riots as a noble protest is falling flat. A recent YouGov poll shows that only 36% of Americans support the anti-ICE demonstrations, compared to 45% who oppose them. Even more damning is the partisan breakdown: 58% of Democrats back the protests, but just 34% of independents and a paltry 15% of Republicans do. On the other side, 73% of Republicans and 41% of independents disapprove. That’s a landslide rejection outside the far-left bubble.

And just when you think it couldn’t get worse for Democrats, it does. Even legacy media outlets like CBS News and CNN are reporting that key voting blocs are breaking with the left and embracing Trump’s immigration agenda. What’s more, a once-reliable Democrat constituency is now shifting dramatically in the other direction, dealing the party a blow that it never saw coming. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings from one of the most accurate pollsters of the 2024 election show that Trump’s approval ratings over the past few days remain in positive territory.

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“73% of Republicans and 41% of independents disapprove. That’s a landslide rejection outside the far-left bubble.”

• The Anti-ICE Riots Are Electoral Suicide for the Dems (Margolis)

Democrats are committing electoral suicide. By rushing to defend the violent anti-ICE riots that erupted in Los Angeles and are now spreading across the country, they’ve staked their political fortuneson the side of lawlessness and chaos. Instead of condemning the violence, Democrat leaders have tried to spin it as a noble act of protest. But the public isn’t fooled. A flood of new polling shows just how badly this gamble is backfiring and exposes a party that is completely detached from the values of everyday Americans. The numbers don’t lie. A majority of likely voters are siding with President Donald Trump and his decision to deploy the National Guard and federal military to restore order in Los Angeles. According to a new InsiderAdvantage national poll, 59% of voters approve of the move, while just 39% disapprove — a striking +20 approval margin that makes clear where the country stands.

While the media wrings its hands and Democrats clutch their pearls, the American people are siding with law and order. Voters aren’t clamoring for more chaos, criminality, and attacks on federal officers; they want safe streets, laws that are enforced, and illegal immigrants sent home. They’re demanding order, not excuses. Support for the Trump administration’s deportation efforts is also strong. A Napolitan News Service poll conducted by RMG Research, Inc. shows that 58% of registered voters back the effort to remove illegal immigrants, while opposition has dropped to just 37%. Even more telling: just weeks ago, 40% said the administration’s actions had gone too far; now it’s down to 36%. The longer this issue stays in the headlines, the worse it gets for the left.

Meanwhile, the attempt to rebrand the Los Angeles riots as a noble protest is falling flat. A recent YouGov poll shows that only 36% of Americans support the anti-ICE demonstrations, compared to 45% who oppose them. Even more damning is the partisan breakdown: 58% of Democrats back the protests, but just 34% of independents and a paltry 15% of Republicans do. On the other side, 73% of Republicans and 41% of independents disapprove. That’s a landslide rejection outside the far-left bubble.

And just when you think it couldn’t get worse for Democrats, it does. Even legacy media outlets like CBS News and CNN are reporting that key voting blocs are breaking with the left and embracing Trump’s immigration agenda. What’s more, a once-reliable Democrat constituency is now shifting dramatically in the other direction, dealing the party a blow that it never saw coming. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings from one of the most accurate pollsters of the 2024 election show that Trump’s approval ratings over the past few days remain in positive territory.

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They’re trying to invent a Ukrainian past.

• Medinsky Slams NATO’s Rutte, Suggests History Book to Clarify Ukraine’s Past (Sp.)

A top aide to Vladimir Putin has told the NATO general secretary to read a history book after he claimed Ukraine had independence 900 years ago. Vladimir Medinsky, Russian presidential aide and head of the Russian delegation to peace negotiations with Kiev in Istanbul, ridiculed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s comments about Ukraine in the 12th century.mIronically, Rutte used the same speech to demand that Putin come to the talks, “not this historian who now appears twice in Istanbul and tells us again about the history of Russia and Ukraine since the 12th century.”The chief negotiator retorted that he was ready to send Rutte a textbook to help him understand that Ukraine did not exist in back then.

“He spoke about the need for Russia to change its negotiating team on Ukraine, claiming that ‘some historian’ is lecturing about 12th-century Ukraine,” Medinsky told the Third International Forum of Education Ministers.”I know that Mr Rutte studied history at university, but I would definitely send him a medieval history textbook, because he would certainly learn from it that Ukraine didn’t exist in the 12th century,” he added.The third International Forum of Education Ministers, “Shaping the Future,” is taking place in Kazan from June 11 to 12. The forum is organized by the Ministry of Education of Russia, the government of Tatarstan and the “My History” Foundation for the Support of Humanities.

Forum participants will discuss global trends and challenges in education, digital transformation and innovation, the role of AI and online learning, inclusive education, the role of educators and the quality of education, the development of national education systems and international cooperation.One of the topics of discussion will be Russia’s experience in running children’s centers. Education ministers will hold a teleconference with participants of the Artek international summer camp which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

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“With Russia, it’s impossible to fight a long war,” Medinsky said..”

• Zelensky’s Refusal To Compromise Will Lead To More Territorial Losses: Medinsky (ZH)

While this should come as no surprise to observers of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Kremlin has put Kiev on notice that its continued unwillingness to compromise at the negotiating table will only lead to more and permanent territorial losses. This was the latest warning conveyed by Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who has been leading the Russian delegation in Istanbul talks. He actually spoke to The Wall Street Journal, conveying the warning, while making clear that Russia will never relent until Putin’s war aims are achieved, and defense of Russia’s sovereignty and stability can be assured.

The WSJ interview began as follows: “Now, Vladimir Medinsky is drawing on his view of history again as he tries to convince Ukraine that it would be better off unwinding its integration with the West and embracing Moscow’s terms for peace. “With Russia, it’s impossible to fight a long war,” Medinsky said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, citing Russia’s 21-year war with Sweden in the 18th century as evidence that the country prevails in protracted fights. “We want peace,” he continued. “But if Ukraine keeps being driven by the national interests of others, then we will be simply forced to respond,” he added. That’s when Medinsky also “warned that a lack of compromise from Kiev would only lead to more territorial losses,” WSJ wrote.

As yet, Ukraine’s President Zelensky hasn’t so much as offered recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, and certainly he’s far away from saying the same of the annexed territories in the Donbass, where some fighting still exists. This week it’s become clear that Russian forces are advancing into Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, which is a first in the three-year-plus long war, marking a significant territorial escalation amid stalled peace talks. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the advance serves as a warning to the Zelensky government to accept “realities on the ground.” Medinsky’s words given to a major American publication are clearly another major warning along the same lines.

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Soon best buds again, but Trump is the clear boss.

• Donald Trump Responds To Elon Musk’s Late-Night Apology (NYP)

President Trump is feeling good about Elon Musk’s apology after the former “first buddy” admitted late Tuesday he had gone “too far” in his personal attacks on the commander-in-chief. “I thought it was very nice that he did that,” the president told The Post in a brief phone conversation Wednesday morning, but didn’t say whether he was willing to let bygones be bygones with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.Musk, 53, went off on Trump in a series of social media messages this past Thursday, at one point claiming the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without his help and suggesting the president was responsible for preventing the release of files on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein due to his past association with the late financier.

“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote late Tuesday after previously deleting his post about the Epstein files. The president has expressed openness to potentially burying the hatchet with Musk — who he accused last week of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and being bitter about both leaving his special government employee position and the House GOP removing electric vehicle tax incentives from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Trump told CNN on Friday that Musk was “crazy” — and threatened on Truth Social to look into revoking his company’s federal government contracts.
But the president also told The Post on Friday that “nothing surprises him” — not even his onetime ally turning against him.

Trump told Post columnist Miranda Devine Monday that he doesn’t “blame” Musk for the blow-up that started with the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) figure’s criticisms of the Big Beautiful Bill — but maintained that he’s “a little disappointed.”“Look, I have no hard feelings,” Trump said. “I was really surprised that that happened. He went after a bill that’s phenomenal. …He just — I think he feels very badly that he said that, actually.”When asked whether he would ever go back to a regular relationship with Musk, Trump told Devine’s “Pod Force One” podcast: “I guess I could, but we have to straighten out the country.” “And my sole function now is getting this country back to a level higher than it’s ever been. And I think we can do that.”

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So who won?

• Trump Claims Deal With China ‘Is Done’ (RT)

Washington has finalized a long-sought trade deal with Beijing, US President Donald Trump announced on social media on Wednesday. The agreement is still awaiting his final approval and that of Chinese President Xi Jinping, he added. Tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalated in April, when Trump imposed broad new tariffs targeting over 90 countries, including China, citing trade imbalances. Beijing retaliated, triggering a standoff that pushed tariffs up to 145% by the US and 125% by China. Following breakthrough negotiations in Geneva last month, both sides agreed to temporarily suspend most new tariffs, pending further talks. However, each side has since accused the other of violating the Geneva terms and stalling talks on key issues, such as export controls.

”Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. The full details remain unclear, although the US leader outlined some key points. ”We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. Relationship is excellent!” Trump wrote. “Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities.” Neither the White House nor Chinese authorities have commented on Trump’s announcement.

Commenting on Wednesday after two days of talks in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters a framework deal had been reached, calling it “meat on the bones” of the Geneva agreement. He cited China agreeing to lift restrictions on rare earth exports and Washington easing certain export bans “in a balanced way,” but offered no further details. China’s vice commerce minister, Li Chenggang, also confirmed a trade framework had been reached “in principle” pending approval from both leaders. The new round of talks followed a phone call between Trump and Xi last week, which the US president described as “very good.”

Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets, critical for modern technology, were high on the London talks agenda. The US had previously criticized Beijing for delaying the removal of export controls on the resources, essential for manufacturing products such as smartphones and electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Washington limited China’s access to US semiconductors and other technologies linked to artificial intelligence. It remains unclear if the restrictions will be lifted under the new deal.The two sides face an August 10 deadline to finalize a broader trade deal or possibly see tariffs return to the triple-digit levels imposed in April.

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Where he belongs.

• Vaccine Expert and Covid Shot Critic Robert Malone to Advise CDC (PJM)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. caused hysteria at Pharma-funded leftist media outlets and among Democrat politicians this week by canning all 17 Biden-appointed members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). Malone is one of the eight replacements appointed so far.“Thank you for the honor of serving my country in this way, @SecKennedy. I will do my best to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor,” Dr. Malone posted in response to RFK’s announcement. HHS and its excessive number of dependent agencies, including the CDC and NIH, are still undergoing major reforms since the Trump administration came into office and Kennedy took over. It became obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic that there was a lot of corruption and dishonesty going on in the top levels of federal healthcare agencies, and Kennedy’s desire to address that made him switch parties to support Donald Trump during the 2024 election campaign. Now the Make America Healthy Again effort is moving full speed ahead.

Kennedy’s new announcement explained that following his firing of the panel, he carefully selected eight replacements so far who he believes will help restore public trust in government vaccine policy: I’m now repopulating ACIP with the eight new members who will attend ACIP’s scheduled June 25 meeting. The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense. They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations. The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well. I’m proud to announce ACIP’s new members.

The new members, besides Malone, are Cody Meissner, MD; James Pagano, MD; Vicky Pebsworth, OP, PhD, RN; Michael A. Ross, MD; Retsef Levi, PhD; Martin Kulldorff, PhD, MD; and Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD. Kulldorff also garnered fame and became the target of leftist hate for vocally criticizing Covid lockdown policies as unnecessary and harmful responses to the virus. We haven’t forgotten the tyranny, extremely damaging policies, and injurious vaccines of the COVID-19 pandemic. This total replacement of the vaccine advisory panel is an excellent step in the right direction toward ensuring more honesty, objective science, and transparency at one of the most influential government entities.

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The EU implodes itself.

• Hungary Sues European Commission Over €1 million-a-day Migrant Fine (RMX)

The Hungarian government has launched a legal challenge against the European Commission’s decision to impose a daily €1 million fine over the country’s refusal to accept illegal migrants. György Bakondi, the chief security advisor to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, announced on Wednesday that Budapest will file a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice. Appearing on TV2’s “Mokka” program, Bakondi said Hungary will not comply with the European Union’s new Migration Pact, which he described as “a clear call for illegal immigrants to be allowed in.” He emphasized that Hungary remains committed to its sovereignty and national security, and refuses to be pressured into taking in individuals who entered the bloc unlawfully.

The lawsuit will be led by a team of lawyers with what Bakondi called “a serious reputation,” including two former members of the European Court of Justice. Hungary’s resistance to EU migration policy is not new. In 2015, the country faced a surge of more than 400,000 illegal border crossings within two months. In response, the government implemented border fences and legal restrictions to halt the flow. Officials credited these measures with preventing the emergence of terrorist threats, no-go zones, and the overburdening of public services.

In a national referendum in 2016, 98 percent of those who voted rejected the proposal to allow the European Union to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary without parliamentary approval. The referendum had a 44 percent turnout, under the 50 percent threshold required to be considered valid. The Orbán administration had already signaled its intent to take legal action against Brussels back in December, setting aside 600 million forints (approximately €1.5 million) to fund the court battle. Hungary has consistently pushed for a rethinking of the EU’s asylum policy, including relocating asylum processing to centers outside of EU territory. Orbán reiterated this stance on Monday during a speech at a Patriots for Europe rally in France.

https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/1932108808765227049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1932108808765227049%7Ctwgr%5E5e8eafe6fad1143880641748c01bbba28062cb8a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Frmx.news%2Farticle%2Fhungary-sues-european-commission-over-e1-million-a-day-migrant-fine%2F

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Self-immolation. Curious to watch. Living next doors to them.

• Germany Hemorrhaging Industrial Jobs (RT)

Germany’s industrial sector has lost more than 100,000 jobs over the past year as the country’s economic downturn drags on, according to analysis shared by the German Press Agency (dpa). The report published last week, based on analysis by consultancy EY, shows the German auto sector accounted for around 45,400 net job losses, making it the hardest-hit segment of the economy. At the end of the first quarter, German industry employed 5.46 million people, down 1.8% or 101,000 jobs from a year earlier, according to the study based on data from the Federal Statistical Office.Since the pre-pandemic year 2019, the number of industrial employees has slumped by 217,000, a 3.8% decline. The sector had reached a record high of around 5.7 million jobs in 2018.

According to Jan Brorhilker, managing partner at EY, industrial companies are under enormous pressure. “Aggressive competitors, such as those from China, are pushing down prices, key sales markets are weakening, demand in Europe is stagnating at a low level, and the entire US market is a major question mark,” he said. “At the same time, companies are struggling with high costs – for example, for energy and personnel.”Brorhilker warned that at least 70,000 additional jobs could be lost by the end of the year. Companies, particularly in machinery and automotive manufacturing, have launched cost-cutting programs to cope with the challenging market conditions. In the automotive sector, which is grappling with declining sales, growing competition from China, and the shift to e-mobility, nearly 6% of jobs were cut over the past year, the report said.

By the end of March, employment in the industry had dropped to around 734,000. Significant job losses were also recorded in metal production and the textile industry, with employment in both sectors falling by more than 4%. The crisis in Germany’s industrial sector has reignited debate over the country’s attractiveness as a manufacturing base, with observers warning of creeping deindustrialization. According to experts, the decline reflects the economic fallout from severing ties with Russian energy. After the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and sanctions, European gas prices quadrupled year-on-year, placing severe strain on both industry and households. However, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has adopted a firm stance against Russia, vowing to “increase pressure” on Moscow and weaken its “war machine” through further sanctions. His government recently pledged an additional €5 billion ($5.6 billion) in military aid to Ukraine.

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Malhotra
https://twitter.com/toobaffled/status/1932751502030090477

 

 

Lori

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle May 23 2025

May 232025
 
 May 23, 2025  Posted by at 10:09 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  34 Responses »


Max Ernst Untitled 1913

 

• Trump Rejected Idea Of ‘Unconditional’ Ukraine Ceasefire – WSJ (RT)
• Putin Isn’t Ready To End War In Ukraine, Trump Told Allies In Private (ZH)
• EU Sanctions Ukraine’s Elected Opposition Leader (RT)
• The EU Is An Addict, And Sanctions On Russia Are The Drug (Marsden)
• No Agreement On Ukraine Talks In Vatican – Kremlin (RT)
• EU To Roll Back Ukraine Trade Perks (RT)
• Ukraine Wants Fixed Percentage of EU’s GDP (RT)
• Russia Set On Creating ‘Buffer Zone’ In Ukraine – Putin (RT)
• China Is Hardly the Economic Juggernaut Many Western Analysts Believe (Moran)
• MAHA Scores Big Wins Below Radar (Jennifer Galardi)
• Alberta Signals To Trump It’s Ready For New Pipelines, Partnership (JTN)
• Kash Patel Shuts Down the Deep State’s Nerve Center (Victor Davis Hanson)
• Trump Admin Blocks Harvard From Enrolling International Students (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Scott

Doug


Musk
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1925315302591442996

Rubio

Tucker

Jon

Trust

 

 

 

 

He understands why Putin does. This was Zelensky’s and then the EU’s, big unmovable point.

• Trump Rejected Idea Of ‘Unconditional’ Ukraine Ceasefire – WSJ (RT)

US President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected demands by EU officials that negotiations on the Ukraine conflict should result in an unconditional ceasefire, the Wall Street Journal has reported citing sources. Following a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Trump held phone calls with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and British PM Keir Starmer. The European leaders reportedly insisted that Trump should apply more pressure on Putin and demanded that the next round of talks on resolving the conflict must end with an unconditional truce.

Trump, however, reportedly indicated that he did not like the use of the term “unconditional,” particularly in the context of discussing measures to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The WSJ claimed that the European leaders “eventually agreed to drop their insistence on the adjective.” Over the past few weeks, Russia has announced several limited ceasefires, specifically to observe holidays such as Orthodox Easter and Victory Day. Moscow and Kiev also relaunched direct peace talks in Istanbul, Türkiye last week, marking the first time the two sides sat together since Ukraine unilaterally abandoned negotiations in 2022.

However, Kiev, as well as its Western backers, has continued to insist on a 30-day unconditional ceasefire. Moscow has repeatedly rejected the demand, arguing that a number of issues have to be addressed before such a measure can be agreed. The Kremlin has indicated that it is open to the idea of a ceasefire in general, but has demanded guarantees that Ukraine wouldn’t exploit the truce to rearm and regroup its forces only to resume hostilities at a later date. Russian officials have also stressed that Moscow would prefer to work towards establishing a long and just peace that would resolve the root causes of the conflict rather than negotiating short-term tactical pauses in the fighting.

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Nonsense.

• Putin Isn’t Ready To End War In Ukraine, Trump Told Allies In Private (ZH)

European leaders have been alarmed in the wake of their May 19 conference phone call with President Trump, as they believe he’s prepared to given Putin a free hand in Ukraine, and is unwilling to impose more sanctions or further confront Moscow in a muscular way. He has also reportedly conveyed that the war is not my problem and that Russia and Ukraine will have to settle it on their own. He reportedly informed European leaders, which had included French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – that Putin is not ready for peace in Ukraine because he believes he is winning the war.

“On a call Monday, President Trump told European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t ready to end the Ukraine war because he thinks he is winning, according to senior European officials familiar with the conversation,” The Wall Street Journal, which is the first to reveal the statements, writes. “European leaders had long believed this—but it was the first time they were hearing it from Trump, these officials said. It also ran counter to what Trump has often said publicly, that he believes Putin genuinely wants peace,” the report continues. They hope with this admission that Trump will escalate in support of Ukraine, but he has remained resistant to this pressure. And of course, this isn’t what his voters want, nor is it (escalation) the majority position of the American people.

The White House has frequently said that it assesses Putin is genuine about seeking peace, in pushback to critics – including in Kiev – who say the Kremlin is just using the talks to stall as the Russian military makes slow advances on the ground, and further weaken Ukraine’s front lines. The result is that Europe and Kiev want Trump to ramp up support to Kiev and punish Russia, which would lead to escalation in the war, but Trump is refusing to go along with this strategy: One of the officials, who was on the call, said Trump began the discussion by saying, “I think Vladimir does not want peace.” Although Trump appears to have come around to the idea that Putin isn’t ready for peace, the officials said, that hasn’t led him to do what the Europeans and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been arguing he should do: double down on the fight against Russia.

This elicited surprise among the Europeans, who concluded that Trump seems relatively content at what he’s been hearing from Putin in phone calls. Another key line from the WSJ report focuses on Trump’s rejection of an ‘unconditional’ ceasefire in Ukraine:Some of the Europeans on the call Monday insisted that the outcome of any talks at the Vatican must be an unconditional cease-fire. But Trump again demurred, saying he didn’t like the term “unconditional.” He said he had never used that term, although he used it when calling for a 30-day cease-fire in a post on his Truth Social platform on May 8. The Europeans eventually agreed to drop their insistence on the adjective. Or to put it another way, Trump simply understands how negotiations work in reality and that Putin holds the cards and Zelensky isn’t holding much, if any.

All of this is also a simple acknowledgement that of course Putin doesn’t want peace which does not result in the Russian-speaking eastern territories being under the Russian Federation, as well as Crimea. Moscow certainly isn’t interested in a truce deal which still results in NATO military infrastructure right on its door step. Putin has long warned that NATO expansion means that another war would have to be fought in the future, even if the current Ukraine conflict ends. The current mainstream media framing of Trump’s efforts are intent on painting him as a Kremlin-sympathetic compromiser, when really he’s just recognizing the reality of the Russian perspective, combined with the realization the West can’t really do anything about it (short of military escalation which risks nuclear confrontation).

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Interfere in elections? Brussels?

• EU Sanctions Ukraine’s Elected Opposition Leader (RT)

The EU has sanctioned exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk as well as 20 other individuals and six entities on accusations of being involved in what it described as “Russia’s destabilizing actions abroad.” Moscow has repeatedly rejected claims of meddling in internal affairs of the bloc’s member-states. Medvedchuk, who has been blacklisted by the EU since May 2024, was slapped with additional curbs on Tuesday when the European Council announced its 17th round of sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict. The restrictions against the former leader of Ukraine’s banned Opposition Platform – For Life party and the others included an assets freeze in the EU and a ban on entering the bloc or transiting its territory, the council said in a statement.

The EU claims that Medvedchuk and his associates Artyom Marchevsky and Oleg Voloshin, who have also been sanctioned, “controlled Ukrainian media outlets and used them to disseminate pro-Russian propaganda in Ukraine and beyond.” “Through secret financing of the Voice of Europe media channel – also listed today – and his political platform Another Ukraine, Medvedchuk has promoted policies and actions intended to erode the legitimacy and credibility of the government of Ukraine, in direct support of the foreign policy interests of the Russian Federation and disseminating pro-Russian propaganda,” the statement read.

German bloggers Thomas Roeper and Alina Lipp, as well as Turkish journalist Huseyin Dogru, the founder of AFA Medya company, are also among those added to the sanctions list. Medvedchuk used to be the head of the largest opposition faction in the Ukrainian parliament. But after the escalation between Moscow and Kiev, he was branded a traitor and arrested. The 70-year-old businessman and politician spent months in detention before being handed over to Moscow in a prisoner swap in September last year. He has remained in exile in Russia since then, with his Ukrainian citizenship revoked and his party branded illegal, along with a dozen groups that opposed the government of Vladimir Zelensky.

Moscow has on many occasions denied accusations of interfering in the electoral processes and internal affairs of EU nations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously accused the bloc of “switching from propaganda to direct persecution of media outlets and journalists based on political, ethnic and cultural grounds.”

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“..Russia’s “shadow fleet,” which – minor detail – delivers oil to countries outside the EU, so the EU, in all its usual brilliance, can then buy it at a markup from middlemen countries.”

• The EU Is An Addict, And Sanctions On Russia Are The Drug (Marsden)

What’s going on between the US and the EU right now over Ukraine feels like you and your buddy agreeing to go skydiving on a dare. You count “1-2-3-jump,” and leap – only to realize your friend’s still up in the plane. That friend is US President Donald Trump. And the EU parachute looks like it was stitched together with recycled climate summit lanyards and blind optimism. Emphasis on “blind.” On May 19, a German government spokesman assured the press that Washington would be joining the EU in yet another round of sanctions on Russia. But fast forward to today, and Brussels has leapt out of the plane solo while Trump is still standing at the hatch, waving goodbye and checking the minibar. And Berlin seems to be pretending not to notice – at least for the purpose of keeping up appearances.

“Europe and America are very united on this point: We will closely support Ukraine on its path toward a ceasefire… We agreed on this with [Trump] after his conversation with Putin,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz tweeted. Translation: The EU went, “Hey Trump, we’re slapping more sanctions on Russia. Cool with that?” And Trump probably thought, “Oh, you mean the sanctions that nuked your economy, dried up your trade, and left you addicted to overpriced American LNG? Be my guest, Einsteins.” Sure enough, Trump has since made it clear he’s not feeling another sanctions round. The vibes are off. He’s not jumping. But if the EU wants to swan dive into its own economic crater, well – godspeed. “Because I think there’s a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you could also make it much worse,” Trump said.

Trump keeps saying that he wants peace and trade with Russia – the exact opposite of Brussels’ Cold War cosplay. But let’s be honest: would the EU even be playing sanctions hardball if it hadn’t been cheered down that road by the Biden administration? Highly unlikely. Trump sees the whole mess as a Biden boondoggle – a “European situation.” What’s more interesting is how Team Trump is framing this not as a retreat, but as the dawn of a “peace first” presidency. One that’s allergic to forever wars. Secretary of State Marco Rubio even suggested that God’s on board. “We have a president of peace,” Rubio said at a recent Trump-hosted event, before recounting a chat with a Vatican cardinal for Pope Leo’s papal mass. “You know, it’s very unusual for us. We have an American president that wants peace, and it’s some of the Europeans that are constantly talking about doing war stuff.”

Trump, Rubio, J.D. Vance, they’re all singing the same tune: get a peace deal done pronto, or the US checks out. Ukraine and Russia can slug it out without Uncle Sam in the ring. And Europe? It can handle its own geopolitical hangover, assuming it can still stand up straight. Meanwhile, Brussels is starting to realize its wallet has limits. That whole “whatever it takes” energy? It’s starting to sound more like “whatever we can still afford.” Ursula von der Leyen even admitted it. “Over the past five years, our budget has punched above its weight. And we must also see now… we have reached the limits of what is possible.” Translation: The ‘check engine’ light on the EU economy has been blinking for a while, and now the dashboard’s on fire.

But never mind that – they’ve just pulled the trigger on yet another sanctions round. The 17th. And there’s already an 18th bullet getting loaded in the chamber. Because if you miss the target 17 times, the 18th is going to be the charm, right? This time, they’re targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet,” which – minor detail – delivers oil to countries outside the EU, so the EU, in all its usual brilliance, can then buy it at a markup from middlemen countries. Also not Russian? The ships themselves. And many of the newly sanctioned companies, which are in places like China (the EU’s top trade partner), Serbia (an EU candidate), Türkiye (the EU’s refugee babysitter), the UAE (gas hookup), Vietnam, and Uzbekistan. Way to win hearts and minds. Taking the long way around in sticking it to Putin, by ticking off the rest of the world.

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Looks like theater.

• No Agreement On Ukraine Talks In Vatican – Kremlin (RT)

There are currently no formal agreements on holding negotiations between Moscow and Kiev in the Vatican, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, noting that there is no set location at all for the next round of talks. His comments come after the Wall Street Journal claimed on Wednesday, citing sources, that Russian and Ukrainian delegations are allegedly set to meet in the Vatican sometime in mid-June. On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Pope Leo XIV had confirmed his willingness to host the talks. Peskov, however, has stressed that such a decision must be made by all parties involved and stated that “so far, no decision has been made on the location of further negotiations.”

Last week, Russia and Ukraine held their first round of direct negotiations since Kiev unilaterally abandoned peace talks in 2022 in Istanbul, Türkiye. After the meeting, both sides agreed to hold a massive prisoner exchange and to conduct further negotiations.According to media reports on what was discussed during the negotiations, Kiev allegedly reiterated its demands for an immediate ceasefire, which the Russian side declined. Moscow has repeatedly cited concerns that the truce would be exploited by Ukraine to rearm and regroup its forces.

Meanwhile, according to Reuter’s sources, Moscow reportedly requested during the talks that Kiev withdraw its troops from all Russian territories, including the four former Ukrainian regions which officially became part of Russia following public referendums in September 2022: the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Kerson Region and Zaporozhye Region. Previously, Moscow also demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Kursk Region, where Kiev had launched an incursion last year. However, the region was recently fully liberated by the Russian military and was visited earlier this week by President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Peskov noted that the Russian leader also has plans to visit the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics, but noted that it will still take some time until these trips could be realized.

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“..the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area..”

• EU To Roll Back Ukraine Trade Perks (RT)

EU member states have approved the reimposition of import quotas on Ukrainian agricultural goods, European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari has said, as cited by Euroactiv. The current duty-free trade regime is set to expire on June 5. Brussels abolished tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural produce following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The bloc adopted special regulations, known as Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs), aimed at enabling grain and other farm products from Ukraine to reach global markets. However, the influx of cheap Ukrainian produce into Eastern European countries sparked widespread protests among local farmers, particularly in Poland.

The latest move, endorsed by a majority of EU nations at a meeting on Thursday morning, introduces a set of “transitional measures” that will phase out the ATMs and reimpose certain trade controls. Some restrictions have already been reintroduced over the past year, targeting commodities such as oats, sugar, and eggs. The selective reinstatements came in response to months of protests in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and other countries neighboring Ukraine, where farmers said they could no longer compete with tariff-exempt goods.

Politico previously reported, citing a draft act, that the EU was considering replacing ATMs with revised limits under Ukraine’s existing trade framework with the bloc, known as the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), rather than extending the measures on a yearly basis.Commenting on the latest news, the chair of the Ukrainian Parliament’s economic affairs committee, Dmitry Natalukha, told Euractiv that halting the ATMs could cost Kiev more than €3 billion ($3.4 billion), which he said is equal to around 70% of the country’s projected total economic growth for the current year.

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How about a fixed percentage of US GDP too?

• Ukraine Wants Fixed Percentage of EU’s GDP (RT)

Ukraine has proposed that EU member states allocate a fixed portion of their GDP to fund the country’s armed forces. The bloc’s leaders have pledged continued military support for Kiev despite a policy change by US President Donald Trump, who aims to mediate a truce. Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko outlined the proposal during this week’s G7 finance ministers meeting in Canada, according to a Facebook post published on Thursday. “What we are proposing is partner participation in funding Ukraine’s Armed Forces, which would effectively integrate them into Europe’s defense structure,” he wrote. Marchenko added that the cost “would represent only a small share of the EU’s GDP” and could be distributed among countries willing to join the initiative.

Kiev wants to launch the new scheme in 2026, with contributions counted toward NATO defense spending targets.Marchenko’s appeal comes as Ukraine struggles with rising fiscal pressure and an uncertain outlook on foreign assistance. On Tuesday, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said the country’s 2025 budget includes a shortfall of 400–500 billion hryvnias ($9.6–12 billion) for financing its armed forces. Fellow lawmaker Nina Yuzhanina warned that military support was at a critical level and called for sweeping domestic budget cuts to redirect resources. Ukraine’s mounting debt has also raised alarm. Total state debt is approaching $171 billion, with public debt nearing 100% of GDP.

Earlier this month, Marchenko said the country would be unable to repay foreign creditors for the next 30 years but intends to continue borrowing. Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, Ukraine has received billions in military, financial, and humanitarian aid and loans from the US, the EU, and other donors. Brussels’ approach has drawn criticism from some EU member states, including Hungary and Slovakia. The US, Ukraine’s largest donor, has moved to recoup its financial aid to Ukraine by signing a natural resources deal with Kiev. The agreement, pushed by Trump, grants the US preferential access to Ukrainian mineral resources without providing security guarantees.

Trump, who has repeatedly called for a swift resolution to the conflict, has pledged to mediate a truce rather than expand military support. Ukrainian lawmakers have warned that the military aid package approved under former President Joe Biden will run out by summer, and no talks on further US deliveries are currently underway. Russia has consistently condemned Western arms shipments to Ukraine, declaring that they will only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome, while also being an additional economic burden for ordinary taxpayers.

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It will be theirs. The rest will have to accept it.

• Russia Set On Creating ‘Buffer Zone’ In Ukraine – Putin (RT)

The Russian military has been tasked with creating a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. The president made the remarks during a government meeting dedicated to the situation in Russia’s border regions, including Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk. Additional measures to support their residents were also discussed. “It has been decided to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border. Our armed forces are actively solving this task now. The enemy’s firing positions are suppressed, the work is going on,” Putin stated.

The idea to create “a certain cordon sanitaire” in Ukrainian-controlled territory along the border was first floated by Putin last March. The president said Moscow could ultimately be “forced” to create such a zone in order to protect civilians in the border regions from Ukrainian long-range strikes. Russian troops would create a “security zone that would be quite difficult for the adversary to overcome with its weapons, primarily of foreign origin,” if and “when we consider it appropriate,” Putin stated at the time.

Putin’s announcement comes in the wake of an indiscriminate Ukrainian strike on the Kursk town of Lgov that left at least 12 civilians wounded, including two children. According to interim Kursk Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein, the attack targeted an area near the Kursk-Rylsk highway where the route enters the town. Media reports indicated the strike involved at least three projectiles fired by a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. Over the past two days, Kiev conducted a massive long-range drone attack even deeper into Russia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 485 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs were downed across the country in the past 48 hours. At least 63 of the drones were intercepted in Moscow Region, while the largest number were stopped over Orel Region, the military said.

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“.. they are held back by a system that outsources labor-intensive manufactured goods like clothing and electronics to other parts of Asia, leaving people in the hinterlands. It’s how Chinese companies maintain market share while keeping costs at rock bottom.”

• China Is Hardly the Economic Juggernaut Many Western Analysts Believe (Moran)

China is the original riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. A country striving for modernity but feudal in its treatment of its citizens, Beijing’s economic identity is a combination of Communist orthodoxy and crony capitalism. As you might expect, the two don’t work well together. On the outside of the riddle, China is booming, the people are subservient and happy, and the government is looking to the future with confidence. This is the picture the Chinese Communists paint for the world to see. The reality is much different. China is being crushed by debt, has become dependent on high levels of debt, and has created a bubble in several sectors, like housing and household goods. One noted Chinese economist said in 2019, “Basically, China’s economy is all built on speculation and everything is over-leveraged.” He was proved right when the massive overbuilding of housing caused the market to collapse in 2021.

“As a result, tens of millions of apartments have no residents, millions have been sold but not finished, and those that are inhabited are declining in value,” writes Wessie du Toit in Persuasion. Consumer spending in China is its Achilles’ heel. China makes more than enough goods to dominate world markets, but the 1.2 billion Chinese are lagging in how they spend their money. The country is so dominant when it comes to making and building things because the state has structured the economy to prioritize massive investments in housing, infrastructure, and manufacturing. Many Chinese firms are effectively subsidized to one degree or another, and frequently produce more than China or the world wants to buy. The nation’s warehouses bulge with unsold stock, its urban lots with abandoned cars and share bikes, all casualties of ill-conceived government schemes. The problem, aside from waste, is that these investments have long yielded diminishing returns in terms of sustainable economic growth. China has therefore become dependent on growing levels of debt.

“Rather than pumping cash into more railways, cars, and factory machinery, the government should try to raise the spending power of Chinese consumers, creating domestic demand for goods and services,” writes du Toit, quoting Chinese economists. However, the Chinese economy can’t manage a drastic change that would dramatically shift spending priorities toward consumers. Debt is the silent killer, and the Chinese are careening toward a massive debt bomb. Du Toit reports that “government sector debt, including local government financing vehicles and associated funds, stood at 124% of GDP in 2024, while China’s total debt was measured at 312% of GDP.” By contrast, U.S. debt is at 125% of GDP. It, too, is climbing precipitously and could rival China if we don’t get a handle on government spending.

It’s not just the debt that’s pulling China down. Ordinary Chinese have paid a steep price for the state’s focus on infrastructure and industry. Household income has lagged behind economic growth, and, despite having a communist government, China’s welfare services remain meagre. Social spending is kept down in part by the hukou system of residency permits, which denies China’s vast army of rural migrant workers access to healthcare and unemployment insurance, pension benefits, or schooling in the cities where they toil. Putting aside basic questions of justice, households in such circumstances do not provide a lot of demand for goods and services, since they have to save to insure against hardship and debt.

Nearly 70% of the Chinese people still live in rural areas. While the conditions of the Chinese peasants have improved remarkably in the last 50 years, they are held back by a system that outsources labor-intensive manufactured goods like clothing and electronics to other parts of Asia, leaving people in the hinterlands. It’s how Chinese companies maintain market share while keeping costs at rock bottom. How is China able to hide its economic deformities so effectively? Part of its success is encouraging Western myopia. If such flaws in the Chinese model are underappreciated in the West, it is partly because the authorities hide them from view.

The China Daily does not devote a lot of space to the country’s failings, with the exception of President Xi’s never-ending anti-corruption drive within the Party (an initiative that has naturally been more successful at removing potential opposition than actual corruption, which remains endemic). There is a certain shimmering quality to a great deal of what the outside world sees of China. International agencies such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) give glowing assessments based on the Potemkin projects they are shown. Before he became paramount leader, Xi’s major gig was the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a spectacle so successful at laundering China’s reputation that, when I visited the capital more than fifteen years later, it was still being celebrated in museum exhibits.

“China is a tanker that looks impressively shipshape from a distance, with the captain and his lieutenants standing proudly on the bridge, while below deck sailors are desperately pumping water and plugging holes to keep the vessel afloat,” to quote a metaphor used by the historian Frank Dikötter. Does this weakness make China more dangerous as its economy slides into crisis? China wouldn’t be the first nation to go to war to distract from economic problems and domestic unrest. It already has a ready-made adversary in its “Lost Province” of Taiwan. It’s not like it hasn’t warned the world about getting Taiwan to submit. One way or another, China will have to face its economic demons.

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“Congressman DeLauro, you say that you’ve worked for 20 years on getting food dye out. Give me credit! I got it out in a hundred days!”

• MAHA Scores Big Wins Below Radar (Jennifer Galardi)

The past couple of weeks has seen a lot of drama within the Make America Healthy Again movement. Much of the commotion surrounds President Donald Trump’s new Surgeon General nominee, Dr. Casey Means along with her brother, Calley, a special adviser to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A few members of the wider MAHA coalition have cited concerns over their involvement in biotech companies, while others condemn their lack of emphasis on vaccines. Predictably, the far-left media is having a field day, running stories better suited to the E! network than serious media outlets. Amidst all the distractions, however, major MAHA wins are flying under the radar.

Not only did the FDA mandate that three of the most controversial food dyes be removed from processed food, but the agency will also be conducting a post market review of all added food chemicals. In a recent press release, the FDA announced measures to “increase transparency and ensure the safety of chemicals in food.” According to the press release, the FDA will roll out a modernized, evidence-based prioritization scheme for reviewing existing chemicals, initiate a final, systematic post-market review process, and expedite its review of chemicals currently under review.

Barely any legacy media outlet covered these stories, much less applauded them. In a contentious hearing before the House last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had to toot his own horn to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who was blasting Kennedy for his consolidation efforts at HHS. “Congressman DeLauro, you say that you’ve worked for 20 years on getting food dye out. Give me credit! I got it out in a hundred days!” He repeated his now popular charge, “There’s no such thing as Republican children or Democratic children. There’s just kids and we should all be concerned with them.”

In response to the changes at the FDA, many companies are fast-tracking efforts to comply with new standards. Recently, Tyson Foods announced it will be eliminating petroleum-based dyes by the end of the month. In addition, last week Kennedy ordered the FDA to conduct a complete review of the popular abortion pill, mifepristone. According to insurance data, one in ten women experienced a serious adverse event within 45 days of taking the pill, including sepsis, infection, and hemorrhaging. According to the report, “the real-world rate of serious adverse events following mifepristone abortions is at least 22 times as high as the summary figure of “less than 0.5 percent” in clinical trials reported on the drug label.

The FDA plans to introduce a new review system for future vaccines that would require placebo testing, a huge victory for MAHA supporters. FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary signaled his support for the move. “We want to see vaccines that are available for high-risk individuals,” Makary said. “And at the same time, we want some good science. We want some good clinical data.”The agency is focusing on the good data it already has. Years of failed COVID policy preceded years of underreported mRNA side effects and needless injections. Finally, health officials are doing something about it. On May 20, Makary, along with Dr. Vinay Prasad, announced that federal agencies will no longer recommend COVID shots for children and teenagers.

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Make them an offer.

• Alberta Signals To Trump It’s Ready For New Pipelines, Partnership (JTN)

Amid high-stakes U.S. trade negotiations and internal secession rumblings, Canada’s energy-rich province of Alberta is signaling to President Donald Trump it is ready to move further from China and embrace new partnerships and pipelines with America. “It turns out that China is not developing the way we thought,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told Just the News in an exclusive interview Thursday night. “They’re not becoming a more democratic jurisdiction, and they’re using capitalism against us to hollow out our various industries. So I think that there has been a lot of re-calibration that has had to happen about our relationship with China, and certainly the U.S. president is causing us to have that rethink,” she added. Smith is Canada’s most prominent conservative after liberal Mark Carney won the election last month to become its new prime minister.

During a wide-ranging interview with the Just the News, No Noise TV show, she addressed the impact of Trump’s tariffs, the growing movement within her province to hold a vote on seceding from Canada and its more liberal provinces, and the disappointment and harm former President Joe Biden created when he canceled the Keystone pipeline that ran between the two nations. She said she believed it was possible for Alberta to strike a new energy partnership and build new pipelines to the United States even in the midst of a tariff dispute between the U.S. and Canada so that both countries could capitalize on the energy-thirsty Artificial Intelligence revolution and to expand North America’s booming liquefied natural gas exports to Europe.

“We’re looking to see if we can normalize our partnership, so that we can get into talking about what those new pipelines might look like,” Smith said of the relationship with Trump. “Not only would we be able to have, I think, a bitumen heavy oil pipeline that would link our heavy oil to the heavy oil refining capacity in the US Gulf Coast, but also the opportunity for us to continue to provide additional supply of gas so that it can feed some of the European markets.” Top oil and gas executives in Canada and the United States confirmed Alberta’s top industry would love to get past any tariff issues and begin building pipelines southward. “It’s being talked about behind the scenes,” Mike Rose, the CEO of Tourmaline Oil, told Just the News when asked about new oil and gas pipelines that would traverse Canada and the United States.

“We can increase our exports of natural gas, certainly, and Canada is just about to enter the world LNG market,” Rose explained. “We’ve been shipping gas to the Gulf Coast for over two years now, to the liquefaction complex down there, and then AI on both sides of the border is an added sleeve of demand that, to be fair, I don’t think you know really, most of us on the producing side were thinking about two years ago.” Brendan McCracken, CEO of the natural gas company Ovintiv, said Americans are uniquely positioned to further grow their ties to Alberta because they are allowed to buy Canadian oil and natural gas at a huge discount compared to other countries. “Looking over the past several years, the interconnectedness of our energy systems has meant that the U.S. gets Canadian oil at about a 20% discount and Canadian natural gas at up to a 60% discount to global prices,” he said. “So it’s been a really powerful part of the economic engine for Americans.”

Pete Hoekstra, the new U.S. ambassador to Canada, said while much work needs to be done with Carney to get a deal, he is optimistic one will be reached, in part because the Alberta-American energy alliance makes so much sense. “For much of the last four or five months, the only thing that you’ve heard in Canada is people being very critical of the United States and not talking about the economic strength of the relationship benefiting both countries,” Hoekstra said, praising Smith’s focus on the benefits of the US-Canada relationship. “Prosperity for our people and confronting the threat from China — it’s an important message for all Americans to hear, but also for all Canadians to hear,” he said.

Smith signaled one advantage Trump and his energy-friendly policies hold with Alberta: many in her province chafed at the impact of liberal policies over the last decade, from Biden canceling the Keystone pipeline to ex-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate agenda holding back energy production. “There’s been a lot of damaging policies that have come in that have chased away tens of billions, indeed hundreds of billions of dollars worth of investment,” she noted, saying such economic repression has driven a growing number of Albertans to seek a vote to secede from Canada. “America’s production has grown dramatically, whereas Alberta has stayed stagnant, and that’s because of the policies of the federal government,” she continued. “… So I think that that is at the heart of some of the frustration that you’re seeing. I believe that we can make Canada work. That’s what I’m working towards.”

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The past 10 years have been unbelievable.

• Kash Patel Shuts Down the Deep State’s Nerve Center (Victor Davis Hanson)

Recently, Kash Patel, who’s been under fire by the Left in a variety of ways, the new FBI director, he announced that he is shutting down the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., where there’s about 1,500 employees, as I understand it. There was a lot of outrage. But remember that this was not his original decision. It was the decision during the Biden administration of then-FBI Director Christopher Wray that this 50-year-old building was unsuitable. It was decrepit. But what was more interesting, in addition to thinking he was going to shut down the building, we don’t know where he wants to relocate the headquarters. I would prefer—I think some of you—if he put it in Kansas City or somewhere away from the proverbial deep state in Washington. He also said he didn’t understand, of the 35,000 employees, why a third were in Washington. Washington, as dangerous as it can be, does not account for a third of all crimes.

So, he’s trying to disperse or recalibrate the FBI. And are we going to lament the closure of that office and what it represents symbolically? I don’t think so. Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, was the head of the Special Counsel’s Office. Remember that? And he had the dream team—the all-stars, a hunter/killer team—with the Left. He was almost giddy about that they were gonna get President Donald Trump on Russian collusion. Forty million dollars, 20 months later, they didn’t find anything. We found all sorts of improprieties within that investigation. Andrew Weissmann and others cleaned their cellphones so that no one could see their text messages. We had Peter Strzok and Lisa Page dismissed from the investigation because of their notorious and now infamous tweets.

We had Robert Mueller go before the House Intelligence Committee and claim that he didn’t know what the Steele dossier was nor what Glenn Simpson’s Fusion GPS was. That was impossible. Those were the two catalysts that prompted his own appointment. His successor was James Comey. He’s in the news right now for that weird tweet where he said he was walking on the beach and he saw “8647”—get rid of Trump; or maybe, you know, kill Trump; or whatever “86” can mean, it can mean a lot of stuff—and he didn’t understand it. But he’s also got a novel coming out right now about a supposed right-wing celebrity who threatens people and then something happens to the people he threatened. Was this a stunt for his book? I don’t know, but it’s in line with his character.

He went before the same House Intelligence Committee on 245 occasions. He pled either “I don’t know” or “I can’t recall” or “I don’t have that information” or “I shouldn’t give you that information.” Two hundred and forty-five times.

He was the one that set up Michael Flynn and bragged about how naive Michael Flynn was not to have an attorney when he sent agents in to ambush him on the Logan Act. My gosh, nobody ever invokes that. He was the person who lied to Donald Trump and said, “We don’t have an investigation of you, Mr. President.” And then he went out and recorded that conversation. He did have an investigation. And then he had a third party leak it to The New York Times. He was the one who hired Christopher Steele. He was an FBI contractor. They used the Steele dossier, which was fraudulent, to get FISA court warrants to, I think, unproperly and unlawfully spy on people like Carter Page. That same office gave us Kevin Clinesmith, the FBI lawyer who doctored a FISA email to spy on Carter Page.

That same office then gave us the successor to James Comey, interim Director Andrew McCabe. He lied four times, the inspector general said, to federal authorities and three of them were under oath, which was a basis for his firing. He was followed by Christopher Wray. Why was he spying on parents at school board meetings? Why was he spying on what they called “radical-traditional Catholics”? Why did they go after abortion protesters, but not in the same way people who were protesting pro-life? And why did they do the Mar-a-Lago raid? Why did they go in there with props and special files and scattered the files on the ground, where they were not there when they came, and then take pictures of them and add a little “classified”?

Why did they take away 13,000 documents? And out of the 13,000 documents, they only found 102 that were classified, 0.007%. I could go on with Christopher Wray. This is what he gave us. He had the chief counsel, James A. Baker, of the FBI working with Twitter and Facebook to suppress news of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The laptop was authenticated by Christopher Wray’s FBI. They kept it silent while 51 supposed intelligence authorities said that it was Russian disinformation. Why didn’t the FBI say, “No, it’s not. We’ve authenticated it for over a year”? Why? Why? Why? Add it all up—Mueller, Comey, McCabe, Clinesmith, Christopher Wray, Strzok, Page—and I think it’s been a very good but overdue thing to close down that Washington office and close a sad chapter in the history of a once-great agency.

Read more …

Harvard wants to be a state within a state.

• Trump Admin Blocks Harvard From Enrolling International Students (ZH)

Harvard is having a really bad year. From feds yanking billions in grants, to House Republicans alleging ties to the Chinese military, to President Trump threatening their tax-exempt status, to detained embryo-smuggling scientists (and most of that’s just this month), the university has now been blocked from enrolling international students – which constitute nearly 1/3 of Harvard admissions. “I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked,” according to a letter sent to the university by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, which they promptly shot over to the NY Times. The university has 72 hours to hand over requested information. The decision followed a back-and-forth in recent days over the legality of a wide-ranging records request by the Department of Homeland Security.

According to Bloomberg, existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status, the notice reads. In April DHS threatened to block Harvard from enrolling international students if the university refused to hand over detailed records about the student body containing “relevant information” on student visa holders who have been involved in “known illegal” or “dangerous” activity. “It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee,” Noem wrote in an April letter. “The United States government understands that Harvard University relies heavily on foreign student funding from over 10,000 foreign students to build and maintain their substantial endowment.”Harvard dug in last month following the Trump admin’s demands – with president Alan Garber saying in a statement “No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

Concurrently, a federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of international students nationwide while a court case challenging previous terminations is pending. The order by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland bars the government from arresting or incarcerating the plaintiffs and similarly situated students; from transferring any of them outside the jurisdiction of their residence; from imposing any adverse legal effect on students and from reversing the reinstatement of the legal status until the case is resolved. Students can still be arrested for violent crimes. -AP According to White, the government’s actions “wreaked havoc not only on the lives of Plaintiffs here but on similarly situated F-1 nonimmigrants across the United States and continues do so.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Save lives
https://twitter.com/McCulloughFund/status/1925566982893584424

pharma
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1925655708067824041

Exempt

4 Page
https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1925707962800017758

Destroyed
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1925582182590095507

Manholes
https://twitter.com/dom_lucre/status/1925711166640197641

Lamb

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle May 10 2025

May 102025
 
 May 10, 2025  Posted by at 10:04 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  42 Responses »


Samuel Peploe Beach scene 1907

 

• America Humbled (Arthur Schaper)
• Hyperbole, Lies, and Delusions (Richard Porter)
• Trump Says “80% Tariffs On China Seems Right” (ZH)
• Fear Of Economic Collapse Forced China To Negotiate With Trump (ZH)
• Trump Delinks Saudi Nuclear Energy Deal From Israel Normalization (ZH)
• Putin and Trump Exchange Greetings On Victory Day – Moscow (RT)
• Germany To Declare Immigration Emergency (RT)
• Hungary Prepares for Battle Over EU’s Plan to Phase Out Russian Energy (Sp.)
• Putin ‘Doing Whatever Possible’ For Ukraine Peace – Kremlin (RT)
• Slovak PM Fico Slams Western ‘Iron Curtain’ In Talks With Putin (RT)
• UK Hits Russia With ‘Largest Ever’ Sanctions Package (RT)
• Poetic Justice Came for Letitia James, and It’s Glorious (Margolis)
• Going Around. . . Coming Back Around (James Howard Kunstler)
• Chris Cuomo Nails Why Dems Are Trying to Destroy John Fetterman (Matt Vespa)
• Ric Grenell Drops Some Reality on Kennedy Center Performers (Lower)
• Sources Say the Biden Crime Family Is Going Broke (Margolis)
• DNI Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Intel Community Leaks to Media Allies (CTH)

 

 

 

 

“He looks very old. He looks as if his first pet could have been a dinosaur.”
https://twitter.com/LangmanVince/status/1920594476948496894

Stock

Patterson

RFK


https://twitter.com/AutismCapital/status/1920607028852240726

We’re talking pedophilia now, child porn.

JD walk away

 

 

 

 

The first two pieces would usually be more background, but I brought them forward- for good reasons.

“After decades of drift and decline, a humbled America turns to Trump—renewed, resolute, and ready to reclaim its purpose under God.”

“Ulysses has come home. He has finished off all the suitors, he has his wife Penelope, and the gods are smiling at him. He learned his lesson. He gets it.”

• America Humbled (Arthur Schaper)

The United States, the American people, Donald Trump, and even myself: we have all been humbled over the last four years—or the last sixteen years … or even thirty years. And we needed it. More than thirty years ago, following the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States emerged as the leader of the pack in a once-bipolar world. The Soviet Union collapsed, socialism sloughed off, free enterprise became commonplace as the solution to all our problems, and the liberal democratic process was winning. “It is the End of History,” Francis Fukuyama (arrogantly, short-sightedly) prophesied.Of course, history didn’t stop, and we had lessons to learn. Some suggest that this fantasy of global liberalism came crashing down on September 11, 2001. Let’s not forget February 26th, 1993, when Islamic terrorists attempted to topple the World Trade Center by detonating the foundation of one tower to crash into the other.

Islamic terror replaced the adversarial communist regimes as our enemies. America was complacent, prosperous, and secure in its secular liberalism. Instead of remembering what made the West the best—the Gospel, our Judeo-Christian heritage, Biblical truth, our reliance on a Living Savior instead of humanist self-reliance—we got self-righteous and self-satisfied. “We beat the Russians! We are the only player on the world stage!” Thus, it seemed that there was nothing left to fight but ourselves. But that was never the case. Marxism’s vision of a stateless world dominated by class conflict never emerged, but Pan-Americanism would never work, either. An America-defined globalism not only offended other nations, but it also undermined the American citizen and the American experiment.

With an obsessive focus on free trade, cheap labor, and making money while ignoring national identity—borders, language, culture, faith, family, and freedom—Americans witnessed the wonders of the American dream turn into an elite fantasy that only the rich and politically connected could enjoy. We got arrogant, then fearful and angry; we stopped believing in what really made America great. We forgot who we are. We needed to be humbled. And what is humility? A biblical definition is apropos, I think: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)

American exceptionalism is a real thing. We the People of the United States should be proud of our heritage. That recognition does not justify American supremacism, however. Nor does it mean our safety, security, or sovereignty depends on what other countries do and believe. The United States embraced some humiliating defeats not just on September 11, 2001, but in the waning year of the George W. Bush administration, when risky financing and overextended loans inflated housing prices and unleashed the Great Recession. Instead of taking stock of where we were wrong, we went with a false messiah, Barack Obama, who chimed, “We are the change we have been waiting for.” But we were the ones who caused our own downfall. How could we make changes if we did not change?

From this self-righteous refusal to own our failures came the Occupy Movement, Black Lives Matter, and the re-radicalization of race. Obama long harbored bitter disgust for the United States, and he seduced the American public. Under the Obama Administration, humility was minimized and disparaged, for sure. One of the most repeated words in the 44th president’s speeches was “I.” It was all about him, and to hell with America. And the country was humbled for the worse. Obama called us all racist and insisted that we needed the government to run our healthcare. He exhorted us to flood our country with “undocumented immigrants” so that we could pay back for all the wrongs that American imperialism had caused. America fell into decline. Then came Trump, and with him the mantra “Make America Great Again.”

He talked about God restoring America’s previous glory. But was that something he could do himself? Not at all. In too many ways, his first term had some of the hallmarks of amateur hour. He surrounded himself with bad advisors, went with tired ideas, and didn’t transform the Art of the Deal into the Art of Governing. Election 2020, with COVID, George Floyd, massive spending, and a frustrating Congress, did not help matters. Americans still had not learned their lesson. We need God. We need biblical truth. We need to restore our Judeo-Christian heritage, our Anglo-American legal traditions, and our revolutionary legacy. America’s further humbling came under bumbling Joe Biden. Defined by Biden-Harris’ arrogant incompetence, suffused with dementia and DEI, America became weaker, worn out, and adrift, all while witnessing the left’s culmination of all their wishes. Obama got his third term.

Then Trump ran again. He faced challenges from the right because he hadn’t gotten the job done. Perhaps those challenges shaped his second-term determination. Then came a would-be assassin’s bullet, which changed the course of history in our favor. Trump has acknowledged, “God saved my life.” And why? “To Make America Great Again.” His second inaugural speech was all business, with a clear reliance on where his—and our—power comes from: God. Trump is a different man, acting like the president I wanted in 2016, whom I had anticipated DeSantis would be. Like Homer’s eponymous hero, Trump is a man of many turns, and he’s turning out real results. Ulysses has come home. He has finished off all the suitors, he has his wife Penelope, and the gods are smiling at him. He learned his lesson. He gets it.

President Trump 2.0 has accomplished much of what we had expected in 2017, and more. Trump now knows his limits, and he knows what he can—and must—do. That is true humility. If his supercharged successes continue, it makes all the disappointments, frustrations, and confusions of the previous six years worth the aggravation.

Read more …

This is important because so many people claim Trump “lies all the time”. He doesn’t. He speaks in hyperbole all the time, but that’s not the same as lying. “Like the country’s never seen..”, “Better than anyone’s ever imagined..” or “I’ll end it in 24 hours..”, that’s just a way of talking (“exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally”). And a 78-year old real estate developer will not change his way of talking. His vast majority of American voters didn’t demand it of him.

• Hyperbole, Lies, and Delusions (Richard Porter)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s speech in New Hampshire last week was greeted by the media as yet another stirring call to arms for the rudderless Democratic Party. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption – but I am now,” Pritzker thundered. “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.” Republicans protested that the governor came close to inciting political violence – and they have a point, given the attempts to assassinate Donald Trump, the dangerous attacks on Tesla, and the near-kidnapping of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

However, what Pritzker had to say in his speech before channeling Maxine Waters’ infamous call to harass Republicans should not be overlooked. It raises an important question: Is Pritzker delusional, a liar, or merely hyperbolic? Hyperbole, lies, and delusions are all forms of falsehoods, but of different magnitudes. The first are exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally. Trump himself is no stranger to this oratorical device. Lies are exaggerations or falsehoods the speaker wants others to believe – and, while shameful, are a too-frequent feature of modern political discourses. Delusions are false beliefs at odds with observable reality. Jerry Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” is an example of hyperbolic name calling. Seinfeld and his audience understood it was an exaggeration so grotesque that it was funny. No one thought the soup guy was actually a member of the SS. Jussie Smollett’s claim that MAGA bros assaulted him was a lie, albeit a calculated, elaborate, and harmful hoax. The Salem witch trials were the terrible consequence of a mass delusion.

So, is Pritzker channeling Seinfeld, Smollett, or Cotton Mather? “It’s wrong to snatch a person off the street and ship them to a foreign gulag with no chance to defend themselves in a court of law,” Pritzker said. “Standing for the idea that the government doesn’t have the right to kidnap you without due process is arguably the most effective campaign slogan in history,” he said before adding, “Today it’s an immigrant with a tattoo, tomorrow it’s a citizen whose Facebook post annoys Donald Trump.” He went on in this vein for a while: “Our retirees don’t deserve to be left destitute by a Social Security Administration decimated by Elon Musk.” “Our citizens don’t deserve to lose health care coverage because Republicans want to hand a tax cut to billionaires.” “Our federal workers don’t deserve to have, well, a 19-year-old DOGE bro called Big Balls destroy their careers.”

“Autistic kids and adults who are loving contributors to our society don’t deserve to be stigmatized by a weird nepo baby who once stashed a dead bear in the back of his car.” This is all absurd. Activists have brought hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of illegal migrants, as Democrats fight to keep criminals and gang members from being deported. Long-standing immigration laws set forth the process that’s due to non-U.S. citizens before they are deported – processes pursuant to which prior presidents of both political parties deported millions of non-citizens. There’s not the slightest suggestion that Republicans (who have been fighting Big Tech censorship) support criminalizing Facebook posts. To the contrary, Vice President J.D. Vance was widely criticized by Democrats for condemning Britain and Germany for criminalizing Facebook posts.

Not a single person receiving Social Security payments legally is losing their government pension. Improving efficiency, eliminating waste, and rooting out fraud protects retirees and strengthens the system. No American receiving health care legally will lose health care coverage. And preventing states (like Illinois) from providing health care to noncitizens under Medicaid will result in more funding to cover health care for U.S. citizens. There will be no tax cut for high earners in the budget reconciliation; the existing rate structure will be maintained. Trump is reducing federal employment through buyouts, layoffs, and dismissals to improve government efficiency (i.e., doing more with fewer workers) and to redirect government policy (i.e., eliminating DEI). In his speech, Pritzker also accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of nepotism.

That’s rich coming from the heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune who used inherited money to buy his way into office. In any case, it’s the opposite of nepotism for the scion of Democrat royalty to become a Republican leader. And Kennedy is trying to stop the autism epidemic, not shame autistic people. So, everything Pritzker said in New Hampshire was obviously false. What’s interesting to consider is: What does he, and what does his audience, actually believe about these topics? When asked by Jen Psaki on MSNBC about his speech, Pritzker replied with yet another apocalyptic fantasy: “We are in a perilous moment in this country,” he replied. “There is, I mean, tumult around everyone in this country. We have had our economic rights taken away, we have had our civil rights taken away, and it’s only been a hundred days.”

Consider further that in February, Pritzker – who helped build the Illinois Holocaust Museum – compared the new Trump Administration to the Third Reich, volunteering that he didn’t make the comparison to Nazis lightly. Put it all together, and it sounds like Pritzker is channeling Jussie Smollett, not Jerry Seinfeld. He’s not trying to entertain, and I think he knows better. He wants to frighten and anger people. He wants outrage, not knowing smiles. There’s a worst-case scenario, however. What if the governor of Illinois, and apparent 2028 presidential candidate, is delusional and believes his falsehoods? He wouldn’t be alone – and that’s even more scary. In a world in which many progressives believe Luigi Mangione is a hero, Pritzker’s lies in the cause of his ambition to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president are more outrageous – and more perilous – than Smollett’s lies to make himself a civil rights icon.

Read more …

Consensus appears to be the 50%-to-54% range. Trump leaves himself space with 80%. Because negotiations are ongoing. And 80 is way down already from 145.

• Trump Says “80% Tariffs On China Seems Right” (ZH)

President Trump posted on Truth Social, “80% Tariff on China seems right!” while noting that the final decision rests with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.The comment lends credibility to an earlier New York Post report suggesting the administration is considering cutting tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to a significantly lower baseline.Trump also said: “CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!” In markets, S&P 500 futures puked, then recovered some losses. Most of the overnight gains have been erased. Perhaps traders were expecting a higher percentage of tariffs to be removed ahead of Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s meeting on Saturday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Switzerland.

* * *
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart are set to begin the first round of trade talks in Switzerland on Saturday. Traders and analysts are looking to yesterday’s “breakthrough” U.S.-U.K. trade deal as a potential preview of what may be announced over the weekend or early next week—possibly signaling a peak in the ongoing trade war. According to a source familiar with the discussions, the New York Post reports that the Trump administration is weighing a plan to slash tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to between 50% and 54%. The same source said levies on neighboring South Asian countries would also be reduced to 25%. “They are going to be bringing it down to 50% while the negotiations are ongoing,” the source said, referring to tariffs on China.

Here’s more color from NYPost: Insiders said the 50%-to-54% range — down from the triple-digit level that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week “isn’t sustainable” this week — is in keeping with rates that were discussed last month when President Trump met with the bosses of the three biggest retailers in the U.S. Market participants are considering Thursday’s U.S.-U.K. trade framework as a potential preview of what to expect in upcoming trade announcements—not just with China but with dozens of other countries. The deal hints at broad tariff reductions and expanded market access for American exports, particularly in agriculture, energy, and industrial goods. However, as with the U.K. framework, a baseline 10% tariff appears likely to remain in place. Last week, Goldman offered some good news: peak trade war.

Earlier this week, Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius told clients, “The mood music with China has improved, and we expect the U.S. tariff rate on China to drop from around 160% to around 60% relatively soon. (China is likely to reduce tariffs on the U.S. by a similar amount.)”

Plus, the Milken Institute Global Conference attendees in Beverly Hills on Monday “warmed up” to the tariff environment. Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun—which manufactures retro toys like Tonka Trucks, Care Bears, and My Little Pony in China—told NYPost that “there will be an adjustment” in tariff policy “by the end of this week or next,” adding that it could begin a surge in orders from China. “We are hearing China at 50% to 54% and [other] Asian countries at 25%,” said Lawrence Rosen, chairman of New Jersey-based arts-and-crafts distributor Cra-Z-Art. During the US-UK trade deal, Trump told investors, “Better buy stocks now.”

Read more …

Not suprising. China maxed out its production capacity, and then lost its no. 1 client.

• Fear Of Economic Collapse Forced China To Negotiate With Trump (ZH)

Three weeks ago, when we first reported that as a result of the ongoing Trump trade war with China, “chinese factories are shutting down, laying off workers”, we said that as a result of this war of attrition in which the outcome of every incremental clash and battle will be used just as aggressively for media propaganda, “the fact that any marginal pain will be amplified as trade war weakness will mean that Beijing will do everything in its power to prevent the full extent of the shutdowns from being revealed.” Sure enough, last week the WSJ reported that whereas “not long ago, anyone could comb through a wide range of official data from China… then it started to disappear.” We detailed the unprecedented disappearance of Chinese “data”, fake as it traditionally may have been, earlier this week.

But while we had our theories why China quietly vaporized hundreds of data sets – naturally one wouldn’t be deleting the data if it was good, or could at least be massaged in a credible way – it was not until today when a Reuters report confirmed what we said from day one, namely that in the long run China’s economy has more to lose than the US, where the hit would be faster but would focus primarily on the market, and once the initial selloff shock wears off leverage would swing to benefit the White House. And just as we supposed, Beijing’s unprecedented propaganda campaign, it was the cracks in the economy that forced Xi to the negotiating. According to the Reuters report, “since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on China last month, Beijing had responded in kind. On state and social media, it posted images of Mao Zedong, lambasted “imperialists,” and sent a message: capitulation to bullies is dangerous, and it wouldn’t back down.”

But behind closed doors, China was quietly preparing to do just that, and Reuters reports that according three sources, officials had grown “increasingly alarmed about tariffs’ impact on the economy and the risk of isolation as China’s trading partners have started negotiating deals with Washington.” China’s reasons for deciding to negotiate, Washington’s letter on fentanyl, U.S. diplomatic challenges in Beijing, and the early outreach between the two sides are reported by Reuters for the first time, based on interviews with nearly a dozen government officials and experts on both sides. As usual, China’s diplomatic efforts had two faces, one for popular domestic consumption, and one for private engagement with the adversary, in this case the US. Sure enough, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that it reiterated that “China’s firm opposition to the U.S. abuse of tariffs is consistent and clear, and there is no change.”

It added that “the U.S. has ignored China’s goodwill and unreasonably imposed tariffs on China under the pretext of fentanyl. This is a typical act of bullying, which seriously undermines dialogue and cooperation between the two sides in the field of drug control.” In retrospect, the pretext may have been “fentanyl” but as we learn in a follow up report today from the WSJ, it was anything but a facade: according to the Journal, Xi Jinping is sending his top public-security aide to Switzerland as part of Beijing’s trade talks with Washington, signaling the importance of the fentanyl issue to bilateral relations. Wang Xiaohong, who is the minister of public security and a senior leader within the State Council, China’s cabinet, will be part of the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, a trusted aide to Xi and a gatekeeper to the world’s second-largest economy….

Xi has designated Wang, a close lieutenant, as the point person in Beijing’s recent discussions with Washington over how to address President Trump’s concerns about China’s role in the fentanyl trade, The Wall Street Journal has reported, helping pave the way for the weekend trade talks. So no, the US had not “ignored China’s goodwill”, and judging by Xi’s response, clearly the issue of fentanyl is a very serious one, and more importantly, one which will allow Trump to score a quick and easy victory over the weekend, one which will further demonstrate the Trump admin’s growing leverage in the ongoing negotiations. But back to the Reuters report, according to which China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday that China has full confidence in its ability to manage U.S. trade issues, adding that “the Trump administration’s approach cannot be sustained.” Once again, however, we learn that it was China’s approach which was far more unsustainable.

The trade war between the world’s two largest economies, combined with Trump’s decision last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp downturn in global growth. After Trump’s tariff salvo last month, China took a hard line in its public messaging. Beijing posted footage on its official social media feeds of a Chinese MiG-15 fighter shooting down a U.S. jet in the Korean War, with commentary: “China won’t kneel down, because we know standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive, while compromise snuffs it out.” The tone began to shift on April 30, when a state media-affiliated blog said the U.S. had “proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to discuss tariffs”, commentary which according to the White House was a lie.

Meanwhile, China was adamantly denying that there were any discussions taking place about trade talks, which was also a lie as just a day later we learned that discussions were in fact taking place ahead of this weekend’s trade talks. CSIS’s Kennedy said contacts between Chinese agencies, Beijing’s embassy in Washington and the Trump administration had been increasing in frequency in recent weeks. Some in-person interactions took place at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in late April, including with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which paved the way for the Swiss meeting, said Kennedy, confirming what we reported two weeks ago (see “Chinese Delegation Spotted Entering Treasury Department, Demands Photos Be Deleted: Report”.) More importantly, we also learn today that it was China that first reached out, more than a month ago.

After Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, Reuters reports that Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao quietly reached out to his U.S. counterpart, Howard Lutnick, but was rebuffed as not senior enough, according to one official familiar with the exchanges. While Trump has been pushing for direct talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China had originally rejected that idea as not in keeping with its traditional approach of working out the details first before the leaders sign any deal, according to public statements by both sides. Which is why after the original Chinese overture was shut down, both sides engaged in unprecedented diplomatic jingoism to deflect attention from the failure to pursue a diplomatic solution.

Read more …

Major development. Maybe Trump can show that Bibi is not the same as Israel. Bibi stands in the way of peace. Just like Zelensky.

• Trump Delinks Saudi Nuclear Energy Deal From Israel Normalization (ZH)

The United States is no longer linking negotiations for a Saudi nuclear energy program with a normalization deal for Riyadh to recognize Israel based on the Abraham Accords. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright in April while on a visit to Saudi Arabia mentioned a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement, even though the Saudis were insisting that there would be no normalized ties with Israel until it ceases Gaza military action, and allows for a Palestinian state. This was a first strong hint that the new administration was ready to delink the two issues. “Dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel would be a major concession by Washington,” Reuters now reports. “Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider U.S.-Saudi deal tied to normalization and to Riyadh’s goal of a defense treaty with Washington.”

This could pave the way for a Saudi nuclear deal breakthrough during President Trump’s visit next week. Wright explained, “For a US partnership and involvement in nuclear here, there will definitely be a 123 agreement … there’s lots of ways to structure a deal that will accomplish both the Saudi objectives and the American objectives.” As we detailed previously, US involvement in Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program would require a so-called “123 Agreement,” referring to Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954. This section outlines nine non-proliferation requirements designed to prevent the use of civil nuclear technology for weapons development or the transfer of sensitive materials. Washington appears to be readying an issuance of official permission regarding this key restriction. After all, Trump typically visits the Gulf while bearing ‘gifts’.

While the Joe Biden White House had sought a broader deal involving nuclear cooperation, security guarantees for the kingdom, and normalization with Israel, Wright’s April remarks focused narrowly on energy partnership. Saudi Arabia aims to expand renewable and nuclear energy as part of its Vision 2030 reforms. In addition to dropping the demand to normalize with Israel, the US has also nixed efforts to ink a US-Saudi mutual defense treaty with Riyadh. And crucially, these talks to approve a Saudi nuclear program are being advanced without consulting Israel. The Netanyahu government will no doubt reject the possibility of a future nuclear-capable Saudi Arabia.

Israel Hayom has written that “The president won’t be able to get approval to push forward a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia without the Israeli component,” according to an Israeli official. “He doesn’t have a Senate majority for any agreement that doesn’t include Israel or that moves forward without its consent.” As for other things Trump is expected to announce on his Gulf tour next week, he will likely to announce a series of new major arms deals with the kingdom. While during his first administration he visited Saudi Arabia very early on, the Saudis have appeared to be lower on the list of priorities this time around.

Bibi
https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1920594558636999134
https://twitter.com/Megatron_ron/status/1920559405411786795

Read more …

Via aides… Both have felt the irony of that. They should be able to just pick up a phone.

• Putin and Trump Exchange Greetings On Victory Day – Moscow (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have congratulated each other on Victory Day, an aide to the Russian president, Yury Ushakov, told journalists on Friday. The two leaders extended the greetings through aides, according to the official. The presidents shared “heartfelt words, mutual greetings on a common holiday, great holiday,” Ushakov told the Russian Channel 1 broadcaster. Washington has not officially commented on the matter. On Friday, Russia celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Soviet triumph in the World War II against Nazi Germany. The day was packed with military parades and other ceremonial events across the nation that paid tribute to the valor and sacrifice of the Soviet people during the war.

The celebrations in Moscow, including the military parade on Red Square, were attended by upwards of 30 foreign leaders, including those of China, Brazil, Egypt, Slovakia, Serbia, and Uzbekistan. US Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy skipped the event despite receiving an invitation, according to TASS. The Moscow parade was still attended by several US WWII veterans, who were invited alongside other foreign veterans, including from Mongolia, Israel and Armenia. On Thursday, Trump issued a public statement on the ‘Victory Day for World War II’. He described the victory over Nazism as “the Allied Powers’ triumph,” highlighting the role of the US and never mentioning the Soviet Union.

Earlier this month, similar statements by the US president drew criticism from Moscow. On Friday, during his speech at the annual military parade in Moscow, Putin stressed that Russia remembers the lessons of World War II and “will never accept the distortion of its events.” Since returning to office in January, Trump has pushed both Moscow and Kiev toward a truce in the ongoing conflict between the two nations but has recently voiced frustration over the lack of progress. On Thursday, he called for a month-long “unconditional ceasefire” amid a 72-hour Victory Day truce unilaterally declared by Russia. He expressed his hope that “an acceptable ceasefire will be observed” but warned that both sides would be held accountable if a ceasefire is reached but not respected.

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10+ years after Merkel f*cked it up.

• Germany To Declare Immigration Emergency (RT)

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will declare a national emergency to tackle the country’s issues with migration, Die Welt has reported. Merz, who was elected chancellor on Tuesday, said on his first day in office that his government would begin turning back illegal migrants at the border. Germany remains the top destination for asylum seekers in the EU. Last year, it received a quarter (over 237,000) of all asylum applications across the 27-member bloc. Berlin has already informed the ambassadors of neighboring countries about the chancellor’s decision to impose a national emergency, the paper said in an article on Thursday. The move would allow the German government to prioritize its own decisions over EU regulations, according to Die Welt.

In order to turn away migrants, Berlin will invoke Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which provides for “the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security” by member states. Germany has a 3,700km land border with nine countries, including Poland, Austria, France, and the Netherlands. They are all part of the EU’s Schengen area, which allows passport-free travel for most EU citizens and many non-EU nationals.

On Wednesday, Germany’s newly appointed interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, told journalists: “we will control the borders more strictly,” which will lead “to a higher number of rejections” of asylum applications. The goal is to “send a clear signal to the world and to Europe that the policy in Germany has changed,” he explained. In a letter seen by Bild, Dobrindt instructed the head of the Federal Police to disregard a 2015 directive from then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, who allowed more than a million migrants into the country at the height of Europe’s 2015-16 refugee crisis.

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This can’t go on forever. The EU must go.

• Hungary Prepares for Battle Over EU’s Plan to Phase Out Russian Energy (Sp.)

The EU executive is considering bypassing Hungary in the vote on its plan to phase out Russian energy imports by relying on a “qualified majority,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday. “We need to gather allies, to prepare legally. There really is a plan to bypass a unanimous decision and pass it by a qualified majority,” Orban told Kossuth Radio. Hungary is gearing up for an uphill battle in the coming weeks and months to ensure that Hungarian households are not forced to pay twice as much for power and utilities, Orban said. Orban estimated that Hungary would have to pay about 2 billion euros ($2.23 billion) more for energy than it does now if the European Commission gets its plan to abandon Russian energy imports adopted by the Council of the European Union.

A qualified majority requires at least 15 out of 27 EU member states representing at least 65% of the total EU population to support the proposal. On Tuesday, the Commission presented a project on ending Russian energy imports to the EU by the end of 2027. The Commission intends to submit a legislative proposal in June to ban all imports under new Russian gas contracts and existing spot contracts. This ban could come into effect by the end of 2025. Remaining imports of pipeline gas and LNG from Russia under long-term contracts could stop by the end of 2027.

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Vance et al may pretend that the past 3 years never happened, but they did. Putin does what he can inside the new paradigm, not some old one. He can’t, it would be like time travel.

• Putin ‘Doing Whatever Possible’ For Ukraine Peace – Kremlin (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “doing whatever is possible” to pursue peace in the Ukraine conflict, but has no other choice than to continue its military operation as long as Kiev refuses to hold talks with Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, Peskov said Ukraine “is trying to escape from negotiations” despite declaring that it is ready for a ceasefire. However, Moscow believes a truce will only give Kiev the opportunity to regroup its battered troops. ”Ukraine will continue their total mobilization, bringing new troops to [the] front line. Ukraine will use this period to train new military personnel and to give a rest to their existing ones. So why should we grant such an advantage to Ukraine?”

Another issue, he said, is arms shipments from the West, which should be ceased during a truce. “Otherwise, it will be [an] advantage for Ukraine.” “President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means,” Peskov said. “But having no peaceful and democratic means at hand, we have to continue [the] military operation.” The Kremlin spokesman went on to say Moscow is hopeful that US President Donald Trump could play a role in mediating the conflict. Trump, he suggested, could help “bring a little bit more flexibility and a little more political will and wisdom to [the] Kiev regime.”

Russia offered a 72-hour ceasefire from midnight May 8 to midnight May 11 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Moscow described the offer as a humanitarian gesture aimed at paving the way for direct peace talks without preconditions.Ukraine has dismissed the overture as “manipulation” and demanded a 30-day ceasefire instead. Russian officials have said the pause would allow Ukraine to regroup and strengthen its military. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine has launched thousands of attacks of various kinds, including four cross-border incursions into the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod.

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“There is a huge desire to build a new Iron Curtain in various forms..” “We will do everything to ensure that we can shake hands through this curtain.”

• Slovak PM Fico Slams Western ‘Iron Curtain’ In Talks With Putin (RT)

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin after attending the Victory Day parade on Red Square and other festivities marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. During talks at the Kremlin on Friday evening, Fico criticized what he described as a new “Iron Curtain” being imposed by Western nations, calling the obstacles he faced en route to Moscow due to airspace restrictions by some EU member states “a childish joke.” “There is a huge desire to build a new Iron Curtain in various forms,” Fico said, according to a Kremlin transcript. “We will do everything to ensure that we can shake hands through this curtain.”

Amid systematic desecration and destruction of World War II memorials in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe, Fico reaffirmed Slovakia’s commitment to preserving Soviet memorials – and proposed erecting a monument to Marshal Ivan Konev, a Soviet commander involved in the liberation of Czechoslovakia during the war. Putin welcomed Fico’s efforts to restore “long-standing ties between Russia and Slovakia that were effectively frozen” by the previous government in Bratislava, “which strictly followed the collective line of the West.” The Russian president noted that those in the EU who tried to prevent Fico from attending the event in Moscow “have once again been convinced that it is better not to do this… You achieve your goals no matter what.” Fico also expressed skepticism about the EU sanctions on Russia, arguing they harm the bloc more than Moscow. He stressed Slovakia’s interest in maintaining pragmatic relations with Russia, particularly in the energy sector. He noted that Slovakia’s nuclear power plants are not compatible with fuel from Western suppliers and warned that halting Russian gas and oil imports could destabilize the country’s energy infrastructure.

The Slovak prime minister’s visit drew condemnation from Brussels, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen describing his attendance as “regrettable.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “unthinkable” for an EU leader to stand alongside Putin at the celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Fico maintained that his presence in Moscow was a gesture of respect for the Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defeat fascism. “For me, it was a moral obligation to come here and commemorate,” he said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as heroes for defying EU pressure. “These days… it is simply an act of heroism – showing one’s sovereign will to pay tribute to the memory of Victory Day, despite blatant, frenzied pressure,” Peskov said.

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Feels like it’s from 1999 or thereabouts.

• UK Hits Russia With ‘Largest Ever’ Sanctions Package (RT)

The British government has announced its “largest-ever” sanctions package against Russia, according to an official statement. The measure aim to deal a blow to the Russia’s oil transportation network and reduce Moscow’s energy revenues. The announcement was timed to coincide with Russia’s celebration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on Friday. London, one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters – providing it with military and tactical support and billions in cash – has long claimed that Moscow poses a threat to the UK’s national security. Various British governments have implemented over 2,000 sanctions against Russian individuals and entities, since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict over three years ago. “The threat Russia poses to our national security cannot be underestimated. To ramp up the pressure on Putin, I’m announcing the largest package of sanctions yet,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X.

The new measures blacklist up to 100 oil tankers that the West claims are part of a Russian “shadow fleet,” older vessels operating outside Western insurance systems. According to London, the vessels have carried more than $24 billion worth of cargo since the start of 2024. The EU and the US have also targeted Russian shipping and a 17th European sanctions package that would blacklist another 150 ships is expected to be approved later this month. Moscow has dismissed the restrictions as a “futile” gesture that will not harm the Russian economy, but instead drive-up energy costs and inflation across Europe. Russia’s oil revenues have remained robust thanks to non-Western buyers, such as China and India. Last month, the Russian Embassy in London urged the British government to stop “theatrical and short-lived gestures of hostility towards Russia.”

The UK has also accused the vessels of posing a threat to critical undersea infrastructure, such as telecommunications cables and oil and gas pipelines, dismissed by Moscow as “hastily concocted fantasy stories.” London’s tough sanctions rhetoric comes as Britain, along with the EU, is being sidelined from the peace process around Ukraine. A key London meeting on the conflict was downgraded last month after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled his attendance. US President Donald Trump has also floated the idea of a possible partial lifting of restrictions on Moscow as part of a possible peace settlement.

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“She campaigned on a promise to bag Donald Trump on something. She didn’t even bother to name what it was. She literally campaigned… on the promise that she would nail him on anything, and then she filled in the violation later.”

• Poetic Justice Came for Letitia James, and It’s Glorious (Margolis)

On Thursday, we reported that federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James over allegations of mortgage fraud. Later, during a Fox Business interview about these charges, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told host Elizabeth MacDonald that “the karma is crushing here.” During the segment, Turley pointed to contradictions in James’ defense strategy that he believes mirror accusations she previously made against former President Donald Trump. “These all have to be combed out,” Turley explained when asked about the seriousness of the charges. “The James defense team is saying that there were contradictions that were corrected, that, for example, that home was the primary residence of the other signatory.”

According to the referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, James is accused of falsifying records to obtain favorable loan terms on two properties: a Brooklyn brownstone she’s owned since 2001 and a Virginia home purchased in 2023. The case is now being handled by U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III, whose office in New York’s Northern District is leading the investigation. Pulte stated that James “appears to have falsified records” to meet lending requirements and secure better mortgage terms. Turley noted that James’ defense relies on an argument that financial institutions should have conducted their own due diligence, a standard she outright refused to grant Trump in her own case against him. “It’s an ironic defense because they’re saying, ‘Look, if the bank simply looked into this on their own, they could see that these were more units than just four, that this was not the primary residence of James,'” Turley stated.

He continued, “That’s a type of understanding and leeway that she refused to allow to Donald Trump. She insisted that everything that was… signed in his name… really are bound legally to him. And so, they said you have an obligation to make sure everything filed was absolutely accurate.” Turley did not hold back in his assessment of the situation, suggesting a certain poetic justice was at play. He reserved his strongest criticism for what he characterized as the most significant contradiction in James’ position. “The greatest irony, of course, is to hear her counsel and her spokesperson say, ‘You know, this is just wrong because Trump campaigned on moving against his enemies,'” he said.

This defense strategy particularly struck Turley as hypocritical, given James’ own campaign rhetoric when running for attorney general. “For those of us who have covered this litigation for years, having those words come out of the mouths of James’ staff really is breathtaking,” he emphasized. Turley recalled James’ previous statements during her campaign, noting, “She campaigned on a promise to bag Donald Trump on something. She didn’t even bother to name what it was. She literally campaigned… on the promise that she would nail him on anything, and then she filled in the violation later.” Naturally, we’ve come to expect that Democrats have one set of rules for themselves and another for everyone else. In their version of justice, Democrats commit the crimes—and Republicans serve the time.

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“I hope Ed Martin’s 1st assignment at DOJ is to investigate Thom Tillis’ corruption.” — Rogan O’Handley (aka’ DC Draino’ on X)

• Going Around. . . Coming Back Around (James Howard Kunstler)

The funny part is that this swarm of Jacobin botflies from Norm Eisen to Sen. Thom Tillis thought (and acted) as if Ed Martin was the only MAGA lawyer capable of uncovering the steaming pile of seditious poo festering, lo these many years, in the DC federal district (i.e., the Swamp). Like, get rid of Ed and our troubles are over. Really? Don’t you suppose that there are dozens of other capable, patriotic, seasoned lawyers, seething over the corruption that is Swamp crime, who can effectively occupy the office of US Attorney for the District of Columbia?

The second funniest part is apparently the Jacobins thought that Ed Martin would just skulk off into the gloaming like a whipped dog and be gone — when, in fact, Mr. Trump folded him at once into three jobs in the Department of Justice that don’t require confirmation by the Senate, and will allow him to attend to exactly the same set of grave problems afflicting this republic from a position of power. Mr. Martin will now serve as Director of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney reviewing the legitimacy of “Joe Biden’s” auto-pen signing of important documents — meaning, he’ll have the power to bring cases on his own and make criminal referrals to the US Attorney for DC.

You must also imagine that in his 100-plus days as Interim US Attorney for DC, Mr. Martin assembled quite a portfolio of evidence around the manifold blob wrong-doings of the past decade, but especially the treachery of the J-6 / 2021 blob operation at the US Capitol, and the ensuing cover-up of all that, including the intel community’s role in it, the perfidy and perjuries of Chris Wray, Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and others, and the gong show of lies and villainy that was the House J-6 committee chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), (with remedial support from Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin, and, backstage as always, lawfare ninjas Norm Eisen, Mary McCord, Marc Elias, Ben Wittes, and Andrew Weissmann).

On the ostensible defeat of Ed Martin’s nomination, the president instantly turned around and installed Jeanine Pirro as Interim US Attorney for DC. Before retiring into a career as a TV talking head, Ms. Pirro was a Westchester County, New York, judge, and then elected District Attorney, so she knows how to work criminal cases. The interim appointment runs 120 days. In theory, Mr. Trump can appoint a new Interim US Attorney every 120 days, and keep rotating them until the cows come home — each successive one with the same support staff of assistant US attorneys underneath, the same cases ongoing, and the same trove of evidence catalogued.

All of which is to say, the blob officials and lawfare stormtroopers are mistaken to think that their ongoing circus of legalistic monkey business has somehow gained immunity from appraisal, investigation, and prosecution by de-railing Ed Martin. The cases themselves are bigger than any one particular US attorney and have a momentum of their own as the nation struggles to overcome the organized assault on the law itself that lawfare represents.

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“He’s someone we can work with, and that makes him MAGA in the eyes of the Left, which is insane.”

• Chris Cuomo Nails Why Dems Are Trying to Destroy John Fetterman (Matt Vespa)

I’m not a fan of Chris Cuomo, but he has become more sensible since he left the confines of CNN. It’s funny how he, Chuck Todd, and others seem to be making more sense now that they don’t have to kowtow to the hyper-left-wing sensibilities of their former employers. They’re not red-pilled, but they dish out some decent takes now and then. Cuomo nailed why Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is being targeted for destruction. He’s not a crazy person. He’s pro-Israel, focused on working Americans, and understands the realities of the 2024 election. You can’t scream about Trump 24/7 and block all his nominees. His side lost, and there were consequences. The former CNN host pointed out that’s the irony here: that Fetterman is being ‘canceled’ for trying to rebuild the party into one that can win elections:

Fetterman has been reaching across the aisle too much for them. The senator crushes Hamas and campus protests, which, as we all know, is a pet project of the radical left. He met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago — that’s a huge sin. And he worked with Republicans on passing the Laken Riley Act and voted for 10 of Trump’s cabinet picks. And now the senator is saying that Trump has keyed in correctly on the most important concern in our country: Helping the majority do better when it comes to workers and economic benefits. New York Magazine released a lengthy article that attacked the Pennsylvania Democrat, describing him as reckless, a quasi-conspiratorial thinker, and one who is not taking his mental health seriously. It was a textbook case of character assassination.

“Democrats, this is why you lost. You can’t cancel everyone who doesn’t hate the right and play by your stilted rules of purity,” Cuomo added. He’s right. I’m not going to endorse Fetterman. I wouldn’t vote for him if I were a Pennsylvania resident, but should he survive, it’s not a devastating loss. He’s someone we can work with, and that makes him MAGA in the eyes of the Left, which is insane.

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Trump’s envoy for the hardest cases. “Warn them that there are real-world consequences for their emotional virtue signaling–and let the chips fall where they may.”

• Ric Grenell Drops Some Reality on Kennedy Center Performers (Lower)

To paraphrase something my colleague Susie Moore stated in an earlier piece about the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals providing much-needed guidance to lower courts on a miniscule group of the barrage of cases against President Trump and his administration, we continue to follow the saga of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Readers likely remember the brouhaha by progressives near the beginning of Trump’s new term when he announced he was kicking off some of the board members and appointing himself the new chair of the famed arts venue. Although a few days later, the president named former U.S. ambassador to Germany and U.S. Envoy for Special Missions, Ric Grenell, as interim executive director.

During CPAC 2025, Grenell addressed the poor state of the Kennedy Center’s finances, sharing that Pres. Trump likely has the same concerns about the organization’s ability to “Make Art Great Again,” as Grenell put it in the interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns. I think, I don’t know for sure, but I think the frustration President Trump has is that the Kennedy Center has no cash on hand. No reserves. And they have been paying for the salaries with the debt reserves. While taking around more than 40 million dollars in public money. You can’t have that. If you’re going to take public money, then you get to have public input.

So, what we’re gonna say at the Kennedy Center, first of all, we gotta clean up the financial situation. We have to do the big productions that the masses and the public want to see. We want to have really big programming. And my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell included one tidbit that leftists went wild over before Grenell cleared it up–and it relates to Thursday’s story: Grenell also cleared up some misinformation about an artist who supposedly dropped out from performing on the Kennedy Center stage because Trump took over the center and installed Grenell. Grenell made it known that some of these decisions were made before Trump took over, and the decision to drop the act was based on the performance not producing adequate ticket sales.

He also hinted that the Center will have a special Christmas show. Maybe we’ll get more details on that in the coming months. Anyway, earlier this week, some performers in the traveling cast of “Les Misérables” who were slated to take part in an upcoming charity fundraiser/performance at the Center threatened to boycott it … because Pres. Trump is set to appear. On Wednesday, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ric Grenell just laid out the “Les Miz” performers, according to industry publication Variety. First, it seemed this was the first time he had heard the “rumor” about the controversy, then he added, “But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund intolerance.” He stated that it shows who isn’t “professional” in the performance company, and that any producer thinking of hiring any of these performers might be inspired to think again. Here’s his full quote:

“Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed,” Grenell added. “In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.” He continued, “The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoy a performance together.” This is exactly how Republicans need to handle this sort of childish wokeness from the “resistance” to America First principles and all things Trump. Let’s keep on this path. Warn them that there are real-world consequences for their emotional virtue signaling–and let the chips fall where they may.

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The whole family lived large. Now income has dried up.

• Sources Say the Biden Crime Family Is Going Broke (Margolis)

Aww, now isn’t this nice? The Biden crime family is facing a serious cash crunch now that its patriarch is out of power and the influence-peddling machine has ground to a halt. As we previously reported, on Thursday, Joe and Jill Biden made a live appearance on “The View” in New York City, and according to Mark Halperin, the move is part of a broader effort to rehabilitate Joe Biden’s image after a disastrous first 100 days back in private life. “There’s a story in Politico today that says they’ve hired the former Pentagon spokesperson to manage the Biden comeback,” Halperin said. “Joe Biden wants to be out there… He wants to speak out against Donald Trump. He wants to defend his reputation.” Halperin also noted that Politico is reporting the Trump administration plans to release audio of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, the one that led Hur to describe Biden as “an elderly man with a poor memory.”

]But Halperin offered a blunt insight from someone close to the family: “I talked to someone very familiar with the Bidens, and I think they’ve pointed out something that I’m gonna say now, that to me, is the explanation, or at least part of the explanation, which is Biden Inc. has collapsed.” He didn’t sugarcoat the financial rot. “All those Biden grandkids had a lavish lifestyle, which they very much liked. Hunter made hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars. Joe, as a former president, is not in a position to get the same kind of paid speeches, corporate boards, book deals.” “Wait, wait, wait! The paintings aren’t worth a lot?” Sean Spicer quipped. “The grift is over,” Spicer observed. “The big guy’s not getting his cut anymore, and that’s a problem. I get it; they’ve lived a very lavish lifestyle. There’s the beach house. I gotta imagine the property taxes aren’t cheap. Uh, they’re used to a certain lifestyle, but not just them. To your point, the whole family was coming from one source and they lost their USAID funding basically.”

Of course, we all know the “source” was the global network of influence built while Joe Biden was vice president and continued into his presidency. But that operation doesn’t function without power, and now, without it, the Bidens are scrambling to find new income. “They were pulling in $10 million a year, maybe more,” Halperin estimated. “What’s Biden Inc. pulling in today?” That really puts Biden’s decision to seek a second term into perspective, doesn’t it? Spicer was just as candid: “No one wants to know what he thinks. Number two, he doesn’t know what he thinks, and that’s a bigger problem.” Even Biden’s future prospects as a paid speaker are bleak. “You don’t think the Washington Speakers Bureau looked at him and said, ‘That guy needs to be flown all over the country giving $800,000 speeches’?” Halperin asked sarcastically.

Spicer replied, “No. I think they looked at him and said, ‘We’ll get back to you after the company retreat.’” As for the prospects of a presidential library — a traditional source of prestige and fundraising — Halperin was blunt: “He’s not a good fundraiser, and the donors are not currently in love with him.” So the Biden crime family is out of gas, out of influence, and running on fumes. The free ride is over — and the scramble for relevance (and revenue) has begun.

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“.. the politicization of our intelligence community needs to end—to even begin to start to earn the trust of the American people..”

• DNI Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Intel Community Leaks to Media Allies (CTH)

One of the least understood dynamics about how the DC silos operate, pertains to review and investigative work done by government officials into government misconduct. In essence, special counsels, special investigators and appointed special prosecutors do not look at government activity if that activity can be framed as political. The silos protect themselves from external review. As a consequence, the only administrative review of government misconduct happens when the silos look internally at their own agency. In this short video below Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard outlines that 11 internal investigations are ongoing to target Intelligence Community officials, staff and employees who are leaking classified information to the media. After the internal review, the DNI then sends (criminal) referrals to Main Justice and the FBI if warranted. Currently three criminal referrals have been sent to the FBI/DOJ as eleven investigations continue. WATCH:

TRANSCRIPT … […] “as I said, the politicization of our intelligence community needs to end—to even begin to start to earn the trust of the American people. The actions that we’ve taken—unfortunately—there continue to be significant leaks coming out of the intelligence community. Not only my organization, but the CIA and others—again, by those who are very directly trying to undermine the agenda and actions of President Trump. Once again, the President who was elected by the American people with an overwhelming mandate. The way that we start to end this is by bringing about transparency and accountability. In these cases, we conducted our own internal investigation.

In three cases, we referred them to the Department of Justice. As you know well, Matt, sometimes—or historically—we could refer things to the Department of Justice, and they would sit on a desk somewhere or get lost in the paper shuffle. And you end up having to wait and you wonder, Well, is anything ever going to happen? Well, I can tell you, with the leadership we have there now, not only has there been action taken, but they have been actioned by the FBI and are going through immediately to investigate these cases with the intent of bringing about prosecution. We have 11 other internal investigations ongoing now within ODNI, and we intend to continue to carry them out to completion—to hold those who are illegally leaking classified information, trying to undermine the President, politicizing intelligence—hold them accountable. Because this has got to end.”

DNI Tulsi Gabbard is following a frustratingly slow process. However, if she is successful the DC apparatus will target her for removal.

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https://twitter.com/NicHulscher/status/1920925406829703262

Fauci

EPIC
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1920899852776489123

Burkina


https://twitter.com/Joe__Bassey/status/1920244279655481686

Jews

Greenwald

Solar
https://twitter.com/ryankatzrosene/status/1920683016583520573

Throw
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1920830164415447378

Lamp
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1920859565396009418

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle May 7 2025

May 072025
 
 May 7, 2025  Posted by at 9:30 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  64 Responses »


Felix Vallotton Verdun 1917

 

• Bessent Says US Is Negotiating With 17 Out of 18 Major Trade Partners (JTN)
• Bessent and USTR Greer Will Meet Chinese Trade Counterparts in Switzerland (CTH)
• Chinese Exporters Dodging US Tariffs – FT (RT)
• China May Cave to Trump on Tariffs Soon (Matt Margolis)
• The EU Zombie Uses Trump as Cover to Further Feed on Citizens (NC)
• The Death of Old Europe (von Hoffmeister)
• Canada’s War on… Canada (Solway)
• Canada: A Post-Election Autopsy (Solway)
• The Trump-Iran Deal, Explained (Victor Davis Hanson)
• $373M in DEI Funding at US Universities in Four Years (Salgado)
• OpenAI Blinks: Scraps For-Profit Plan After Outside Pressure (ZH)
• (None Dare Call It) Treason of the Judiciary (Miele)
• SCOTUS Rules On Trump’s Ban On Transgenders In The Military (Downey Jr)
• President Trump Sends Message of Support for Ed Martin as DC Attorney (CTH)
• This One Judge Keeps Getting Trump Cases, and It’s No Accident (Matt Margolis)
• America First Legal sues Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (JTN)
• The Treaty That Kept India And Pakistan In Check Is Gone. Now What? (Chopra)

 

 

 

 

Big as it gets

Carney

Ritter
https://twitter.com/SMO_VZ/status/1919507173295718879

Orban
https://twitter.com/PM_ViktorOrban/status/1919730442808307869

Levine

Sharia

Fico
https://twitter.com/GlobalDiss/status/1919724917135646990

Catherine Austin Fitts talked about it

 

 

 

 

“I would be surprised if we don’t have more than 80% or 90% of those wrapped up by the end of the year,” he continued. “That may be much sooner. I would think that perhaps as early as this week, we will be announcing trade deals with some of our largest trading partners.”

• Bessent Says US Is Negotiating With 17 Out of 18 Major Trade Partners (JTN)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday testified to Congress that the United States is in the process of negotiating with 17 of its largest trading partners. The secretary told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government that they have received good offers from the countries they are currently negotiating with, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Bessent did not give a specific timeline for when trade deals would be reached, but said he expects most deals will be reached by the end of the year, according to Fox Business.

“There are 18 very important trading relationships. We are currently negotiating with 17 of those trading partners,” Bessent said. “China – we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet. “Approximately 97% or 98% of our trade deficit is with 15 countries, 18% of the countries are major trading partners, and I would be surprised if we don’t have more than 80% or 90% of those wrapped up by the end of the year,” he continued. “That may be much sooner. I would think that perhaps as early as this week, we will be announcing trade deals with some of our largest trading partners.”

Bessent did not specify what countries they expect a deal with soon, or what the details of those deals would be. But he did state he believes the U.S. will see a reduction in the tariffs it’s charged by other countries. Hours after his testimony, officials indicated that formal trade negotiations with China could take place as early as Thursday, when the secretary travels to Switzerland. U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer is also expected to meet with Chinese trade officials in Switzerland. The testimony also coincided with Trump’s meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Canada and Mexico are two of the U.S.’s largest trading partners, along with China, Germany and Japan.

India
https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1919798852426858673

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A chance meeting! It allows everyone to save face…

• Bessent and USTR Greer Will Meet Chinese Trade Counterparts in Switzerland (CTH)

The media have been going bananas wondering when President Trump will begin negotiations with China. President Trump has been very clear that there is no need to open negotiations with China, but all discussions are welcome. Essentially the point is that tariffs will remain in place until Beijing gets to a point where they acquiesce to the reality of President Trump’s terms for reciprocal trade. The goal is to bring manufacturing back to the USA, not generate terms where manufacturing remains in China. The Chinese trade delegation is scheduled to be in Switzerland at the same time as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are scheduled to be there. Both Bessent and Greer announced today they will meet with their Chinese counterparts on the sidelines of their travel to Switzerland.

USTR Press Release – […] “At President Trump’s direction, I am negotiating with countries to rebalance our trade relations to achieve reciprocity, open new markets, and protect America’s economic and national security,” said Ambassador Greer. “I look forward to having productive meetings with some of my counterparts as well as visiting with my team in Geneva who all work diligently to advance U.S. interests on a range of multilateral issues. ”While in Switzerland, Ambassador Greer will also meet with his counterpart from the People’s Republic of China to discuss trade matters.”

Treasury Secretary Press Release – “During Secretary Bessent’s visit to Switzerland, he will meet with President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland, during which the Secretary will follow up on their recent meeting on the sidelines of the recent World Bank Group (WBG) – International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings. While in Switzerland, Secretary Bessent will also meet with the lead representative on economic matters from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). (link) As we previously noted, the Swiss are very interested in resolving their trade status quickly. The Swiss Franc is now at the highest point against the U.S dollar in decades. One franc is worth 1.21 dollars. This makes their exports cost even more. The Swiss government desperately needs to lower the value of their currency. The Swiss central bank has already dropped interest rates to 0.25% and is now contemplating negative interest rates as a result.

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Xi can’t deny knowing about it.

• Chinese Exporters Dodging US Tariffs – FT (RT)

Chinese exporters are using various methods to avoid steep US tariffs, including shipping goods through third countries to obscure their origin, Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing trade consultants, customs officials, and social media posts. The practice, known as “place-of-origin washing,” involves rerouting goods through countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea, and re-exporting them to the United States with new certificates of origin. The administration of US President Donald Trump recently imposed steep tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese goods, citing national security and trade imbalance concerns.

Chinese exporters fear that the tariffs will deprive them of access to one of their most important markets. According to the outlet, Chinese social media platforms are awash with ads offering “place-of-origin washing.” “The US must know of it,” one Malaysian salesperson has told FT. “It cannot get too crazy so we are controlling the amount [of orders we take].” According to FT, authorities in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand are looking into the alleged practice and are implementing measures to tighten origin checks. Chinese exporters typically sell goods “free on board” (FOB), transferring liability to buyers once the goods leave China, which complicates enforcement efforts, the outlet added.

The other reported circumvention method is mixing high-cost items with cheaper goods, so exporters can underreport overall values of shipments, the FT quoted a cross-border trade consultant as saying. There are intermediaries who reportedly offer “grey area” tariff workarounds to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Beijing has accused Washington of “economic bullying,” retaliating with 125% duties on all US imports and implementing export controls. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said last week that it was evaluating the possibility of trade negotiations with the US but reiterated that Washington must show “sincerity” by canceling its tariffs if it wants meaningful dialogue.

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“China’s social safety net is practically nonexistent. When Chinese workers lose their jobs, they’re completely on their own: no unemployment benefits, no food stamps, nothing. That’s why we’re seeing increasing unrest as workers demand back pay and protest unfair dismissals.”

• China May Cave to Trump on Tariffs Soon (Matt Margolis)

President Donald Trump’s tough stance on China is already producing results, and the evidence suggests that Chairman Xi Jinping will have no choice but to back down. The Chinese economy, long propped up by unfair trade practices, is starting to crumble under the weight of Trump’s strategic 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. Protests from furious factory workers in China demanding back pay are spreading across the country after President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports began impacting the communist nation’s economy. Unrest has been reported across the country as workers have taken to the streets protesting unpaid wages and challenging unfair dismissals following the closures of factories squeezed by US tariffs, according to Radio Free Asia.

Chinese industry leaders, meanwhile, are “extremely anxious” about the steep duties, with many telling factories and suppliers to halt or delay supplies, Wang Xin, head of an industry group representing more than 2,000 Chinese merchants told the Financial Times. The scale of the crisis is staggering. Goldman Sachs’ analysis indicates that 16 million Chinese jobs are at risk due to Trump’s tariffs. Chinese industry leaders are reportedly “extremely anxious” about the steep tariffs, which is likely an understatement given the mounting evidence of economic turmoil. “It’s not easy at the moment,” a 26-year-old toy factory worker told the FT. His employer, in the Chinese city of Zhejiang, mostly sells to the US, and management recently forced workers to take two weeks off unpaid in the face of the tariffs.

Last month, construction workers threatened to throw themselves off the buildings they were working on unless they received their unpaid wages in the northeastern city of Tongliao, Radio Free Asia reported. Elsewhere, a sporting goods factory in southern Hunan province also shut without warning last month, offering no compensation or social security benefits, leading hundreds of workers to go on strike, the outlet said. But here’s the key point that the mainstream media keeps missing: China’s social safety net is practically nonexistent. When Chinese workers lose their jobs, they’re completely on their own: no unemployment benefits, no food stamps, nothing. That’s why we’re seeing increasing unrest as workers demand back pay and protest unfair dismissals.

The Chinese Communist Party maintains its grip on power through economic growth and iron-fisted control. But when millions of workers take to the streets, even totalitarian regimes start to sweat. History shows that no government, not even one as powerful as China’s, can ignore the fury of its people indefinitely. Last month, Kevin O’Leary predicted that China’s economy would face serious pressure if the U.S. got tough on trade, which it has. He pointed out that millions of Chinese factory workers rely on American demand, and without access to it, China risks internal unrest or potentially economic collapse if the government prints money to keep people employed. This vindicates what Trump has been saying all along: China needs us far more than we need them. While some American companies are feeling the pinch from the tariffs, our diverse economy and robust worker protections provide a crucial buffer. China enjoys no such luxury. If Xi wants to stay in power, he’ll have to cave sooner rather than later.

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” It’s getting pushback from the European Parliament, but the fact is Ursula can do it anyways with minimal support from EU governments. She’s likely just waiting for the right moment.”

• The EU Zombie Uses Trump as Cover to Further Feed on Citizens (NC)

Donald Trump is the gift that keeps on giving for the western misleadership class. Any anti-democratic swindle on the EU wish list is now being sold as a remedy to the Orange Man. (And if it’s not Trump, it’s Russia). The US is no longer a reliable defense partner, they say. We must give more power to Brussels and send untold billions to weapons companies. The US is no longer a reliable economic partner, they say. We must increase competitiveness by weakening labor and empowering finance. The UK voters may have opted for Brexit, but London and Brussels are “defying Trump” with a “free and open trade” declaration that includes negotiations ‘on defense and security, fishing and energy, as well as a “common understanding” of which topics will be covered by intensive Brexit reset negotiations this year.’

The strange thing about these plans, however, is that they include reliance on US weapons and energy and alignment with US geopolitical and geoeconomic goals. Let’s focus here on how the EU is pressing ahead with plans to dramatically increase defense spending due to Trump Abandonment Syndrome. The EU Jazz Band Recent commentary by Rosa Balfour, director of Carnegie Europe, perfectly sums up these arguments. In a piece titled “Europe Tried to Trump-Proof Itself. Now It’s Crafting a Plan B” she explains why the EU has no choice but to redirect social spending towards the arms industry. Balfour’s romantic version of recent history starts on February 28. That’s when “the televised humiliation of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky” took place, and “Europe realized it could no longer rely on its longtime ally, the United States.” And here she is on the jazzy wreckage:

“The shocking depth and breadth of this realization cannot be overemphasized. Political leaders in European states, the European Union, and NATO displayed composure and coordination, but behind the scenes, the soundtrack was a frantic free jazz jam session with dramatic thuds and a long pause—the silence at the realization that the European comfort zone was over. And now, what are these composed and coordinated “political leaders” doing? They announce that Ukraine is Europe’s first line of defense, make grand plans for a “coalition of the willing,” and declare that Ukraine will become a “steel porcupine”. The coalition of the willing has fallen apart. The steel porcupine was ridiculed. And while those in the Kremlin likely aren’t losing any sleep, Europeans should be. That’s because, as Balfour writes, the European Commission “can play supporting roles by mobilizing financial resources and handling complicated in-house horse trading.”

That’s one way of putting it. The Commission is inching its way towards invoking emergency powers to push through parts of its rearmament slush fund. It’s getting pushback from the European Parliament, but the fact is Ursula can do it anyways with minimal support from EU governments. She’s likely just waiting for the right moment. Let’s look at the status of the European militarization billions. On March 19, the Commission introduced a 150 billion euro proposal — a first installment of what’s to be at least $900 billion— for establishing the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) through the reinforcement of European defence industry Instrument. It wants to move forward with it under Article 122 emergency powers which need only a qualified majority in the Council —as opposed to the usual consensus— which allows Ursula and friends to get around pesky vetoes from member countries.

The procedure for 122 is as follows: 1) the Commission proposes a Council measure; following which 2) the Council adopts the measure in line with [qualified majority voting]. No additional elements or participants are envisaged. This article allows the proposal to bypass parliamentary negotiations and go straight to the Council for negotiation and adoption. The Parliament’s role is reduced to submitting suggestions and requesting debates. How’s that for your democratic rules-based order? In an April 23 secret vote, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affair unanimously backed a legal opinion rejecting the Commission’s attempt to bypass it on a 150 billion euro rearmament fund. While it is a non-binding vote, it does signal opposition to Ursula’s plan, but it’s not some principled stand for the will of the people or any romantic notion like that.

No, it’s more about dividing up slices of the pie as European weapons industry lobbyists are increasingly active in Brussels and are trying to make sure their clients are rewarded. And so much of the feeble opposition is over getting a stronger “buy European” clause in SAFE (it currently requires 65 percent of war consumables and complex systems to come from within the EU, Ukraine, or EEA/EFTA states, which includes Turkiye and Norway. Why must Ursula’s commission sideline the Parliament and some member states in order to spend 900 billion on military purchases? They lay it out in their proposal. There’s the usual nonsense about Russia:

The EU and its Member States now face an intensifying Russian aggression against Ukraine and a growing security threat from Russia. It is also now clear that this threat will persist in the foreseeable future, considering that Russia has shifted to a war-time economy enabling a rapid scaleup of its military capabilities and replenishment of its stocks. The European Council therefore underlined, in its conclusions of 6 March 2025, that “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its repercussions for European and global security in a changing environment constitute an existential challenge for the European Union”. There’s also the Trump abandonment syndrome: At the same time, the United States, traditionally a strong ally, is clear that it believes it is over-committed in Europe and needs to rebalance, reducing its historical role as a primary security guarantor.

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” The disconnect between rulers and ruled has never been wider. The elites, ensconced in their Brussels bubble, continue to govern as if the people are an inconvenience, as if democracy means compliance rather than choice. The social contract is broken, and the backlash will only intensify.”

• The Death of Old Europe (von Hoffmeister)

The European Union, that grand and failing dream of technocrats, is dying. Its decline is not sudden or dramatic but a slow unraveling, a bureaucratic collapse in which every policy designed to sustain it only hastens its demise. It starves itself on the thin gruel of ideology – open borders dissolving nations into contested spaces, green mandates suffocating industry under the weight of unattainable standards, and a moralizing anti-Russian fervor that has left it isolated and energy-dependent. Once, Europe was the center of empires, the birthplace of civilizations that shaped the world. Now, it is a patient refusing medicine, convinced that its sickness is a form of enlightenment, that its weakness is a new kind of strength. The architects of this experiment still speak in the language of unity, but the cracks in the foundation are too deep to ignore.

Immigration was the first act of self-destruction, the point at which Western Europe’s ruling class severed itself from the people it claimed to govern. The elites, intoxicated by the rhetoric of multicultural utopia, flung open the gates without consideration for cohesion, for identity, for the simple reality that societies require more than abstract ideals to function. Cities have fractured into enclaves where parallel societies thrive, where police hesitate to patrol, where the native-born learn to navigate their own streets with caution. The promise was harmony, a blending of cultures into something vibrant and new. The reality is a quiet disintegration, a thousand unspoken tensions simmering beneath the surface. Politicians continue to preach the virtues of “diversity,” but the people – those who remember what it was like to have a shared history, a common language – are beginning to revolt. The backlash is no longer confined to the fringe. It is entering the mainstream, and the establishment trembles at what it has unleashed.

Then came the green delirium, the second pillar of Western Europe’s self-annihilation. Factories shutter under the weight of environmental regulations, farmers take to the streets in protest, and the middle class is squeezed between rising energy costs and stagnant wages. The climate must be saved, the leaders insist, even if the cost is economic ruin. Germany, once the industrial powerhouse of the continent, dismantles its nuclear infrastructure in favor of unreliable wind and solar power, only to return to coal when the weather turns unfavorable. There is a madness in this, a kind of collective hysteria where dogma overrides pragmatism, where the pursuit of moral purity blinds the ruling class to the suffering of ordinary citizens. The rest of the world watches, perplexed, as the EU willingly cripples itself for a cause that demands global cooperation – cooperation that is nowhere to be found. China builds coal plants, America drills for oil, India prioritizes growth over emissions, and the EU alone marches towards austerity, convinced that its sacrifice will inspire others. It will not.

And Russia – the great miscalculation, the strategic blunder that may yet prove fatal. Europe had a choice: to engage with Moscow as a partner, to integrate it into a stable continental order, or to treat it as an eternal adversary. It chose the latter, aligning itself fully with Washington’s confrontational stance, severing ties that had once provided cheap energy and economic stability. The pipelines are silent now, the ruble flows eastward, and Western Europe buys its gas at inflated prices from distant suppliers, enriching middlemen while its own industries struggle. Russia, spurned and sanctioned, turns to China, to India, to those willing to treat it as something other than a pariah. The Eurasian landmass is reconfiguring itself, and Europe is not at the center. The EU is on the outside, looking in, a spectator to its own irrelevance. The Atlanticists in Brussels believed they could serve two masters: their own people and Washington’s geopolitical whims. They were wrong.

In this unfolding drama, America and Russia emerge as twin pillars of Western civilization – different in temperament but united in their commitment to preserving sovereign nations against globalist dissolution. America, the last defender of the West’s entrepreneurial spirit and individual liberty, stands firm against the forces that would destroy borders and identities. Russia, keeper of traditional values and Christian heritage, guards against the cultural nihilism consuming Europe. Both understand that civilizations must defend themselves or perish; neither suffers the death wish that afflicts the Western European elites. And of Western Europe? It is a ghost at the feast, clutching its empty wineglass, muttering about “norms” and “values” as the world moves on without it. The European elites still cling to their illusions, still believe in the power of rhetoric over reality.

They speak of “strategic autonomy” while marching in lockstep with Washington’s wars, of “diversity” while their own cities become battlegrounds of competing identities, of “democracy” while silencing dissent with bureaucratic machinery and media censorship. The voters sense the decay. They rebel – in France, where Marine Le Pen’s supporters grow by the day; in Italy, where Giorgia Meloni’s government rejects the EU’s dictates on immigration; in Hungary, where Viktor Orbán openly defies the liberal orthodoxy. Yet the machine grinds on, dismissing every protest as populism, every objection as fascism. The disconnect between rulers and ruled has never been wider. The elites, ensconced in their Brussels bubble, continue to govern as if the people are an inconvenience, as if democracy means compliance rather than choice. The social contract is broken, and the backlash will only intensify.

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“Carney’s globalist net-zero platform will be sufficient to bring Canada to its knees without ever having to confront a political adversary.”

• Canada’s War on… Canada (Solway)

Canada is walking down a dangerous path. In a recent episode of “The Winston Marshall Show,” Steve Bannon has warned that “Canada could become ‘the next Ukraine’ if Russia or China presses territorial claims in the Arctic. “There’s no money there to defend anybody,” Bannon said, arguing that the United Kingdom, Canada’s historic security partner, “can’t defend itself.” Bannon suggested that Ottawa has only “two, maybe three years to act before external pressures harden.”

Bannon’s warning about Canada becoming a second Ukraine seems a gross exaggeration. Yet we recall that both Trudeau père and Trudeau fils were enamored of Communist China, that China has interfered in Canada’s elections favoring the Liberals, that Mark Carney is beholden to China to the tune of hundreds of millions in loans and “over $3 billion in politically sensitive investments with Chinese state-linked real estate and energy companies,” and that Canada hosted the Chinese military for tactical training in cold-weather warfare. Carney, a man of no charisma and less common sense for all his parenthetical savoir faire and encapsulated expertise, has already said that Canada’s friendly relationship and customary economic partnership with the U.S. is at an end. Meanwhile, an impoverished Canada will need generous amounts of foreign aid and may conceivably get it from China, in exchange for military bases and Canada-China cooperation in the Arctic.

As of this writing, Carney is in Washington for talks with Donald Trump. (Note, Trump is not in Ottawa for talks with Carney.) As Managing Editor for the Saskatchewan Standard, Christopher Oldcorn reports, Carney warned that any new deal “must be negotiated on our terms.” Trump was not impressed, telling Fox Business, “I’m not sure what he wants to see me about, but I guess he wants to make a deal.” Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick added, “They have their socialist regime, and it’s basically feeding off of America.” Carney is out of his depth, and Canada is in for a shock. Should a deal eventually emerge, it will not be on Carney’s terms.

At present, Canada reminds me of that preposterous knight in the Monty Python classic “The Holy Grail,” who continues pugnaciously challenging his antagonist even after he has lost both his arms and both his legs in the fight. This does not suggest that Canada is not a dangerous stump, and that it does not pose a threat to the U.S., for its alignment with China might conceivably mean a fentanyl-producing, militarily powerful, economically belligerent antagonist encroaching on its Arctic perimeter and entrenched along the 4,000-mile undefended border with the U.S. I would not put such recklessness past Carney as he labors diligently to turn Canada into a plebiscitarian sinkhole, deprived of political virility, reduced to penury and dependent for its survival on a foreign enemy.

I don’t see the U.S. engaging in open warfare with Canada, which Bannon considers a possibility. The scenario is far-fetched. Canada is not Ukraine; it is Lower Slobbovia. If you run a podcast called a “War Room,” you are prone to flights of fancy. This is not 1812, and America does not need to fire a single shot. It can batter Canada economically into submission with a stroke of the president’s pen despite China’s axial influence. America needs nothing that Canada has to offer, says Trump, neither cars, energy, lumber, etc. But it is also clear that the U.S. will not tolerate a Chinese presence on its northern border. For all his absurd bluster and his putting a Canadian slant on things, little man Carney will have to listen up.

Regrettably, Canada has become what Christopher Rufo, applying a well-known psychological personality concept, calls a “Cluster B society,” where “ideology replaces competence as a marker of distinction,” focusing on emotional excess, self-image, and dramatic posturing and leading to what psychologist Andrzej Lobaczewski calls a “pathocracy.” In a syndrome of this nature, Rufo laments, “The spontaneous life and beauty that are the fruits of a more balanced society will be snuffed out by grim commissars administering a Cluster B pathocracy. Our self-governing regime would be over.” Welcome to Canada and its preening prime minister.

Indeed, Canada is now foolishly engaged in a costly, surreptitious, self-harming skirmish with the U.S, which it could have avoided with a soupçon of maturity. The issue was never in doubt. To begin with, Canadian unity is fractured. There is little to no chance of gluing the pieces back together again and presenting a united front as a negotiating partner. It is at a distinct economic disadvantage in the so-called tariff war should Trump move to erase Canada’s $200 billion trade rip-off that helps to keep the country afloat, as Justin Trudeau himself admitted. Carney’s globalist net-zero platform will be sufficient to bring Canada to its knees without ever having to confront a political adversary. For the truth is that Canada is at war with itself. And it does not matter if it wins or loses, since it amounts to the same thing.

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“What Canada was, is not as important as what Canada is, and what it is becoming.” —Jason Stephan

• Canada: A Post-Election Autopsy (Solway)

As a result of the Liberal victory and the installation of Mark Carney as prime minister of Canada in the April 28, 2025, election, the country is now speeding down the Trans-Canada highway to certain destruction. Carney, of course, is a global financier, a promoter of centralized government control, a lover of censorship, and a climate change apostle who doubles as a trustee of the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change and Finance. He carries three passports, Canadian, Irish, and British, and has spent the last decade out of Canada, which obviously makes him the ideal candidate for the prime ministership, Canadian to the bone. He is, in fact, the spitting image of the Canadian psyche, a small man, slack-faced, awkward in comportment, grim and humorless, rag doll-like in his person. The fit is almost providential.

As one commenter put it, “Carney looks the part… the funeral director of Canada.” The question that is making the rounds is how the Liberal Party managed to erase a 20-point deficit in the polls and shrug off three terms of social and economic devastation that have seen the country plummet toward third-world status while at the same time elevating the most unprepossessing choice possible to the prime minister’s office. Is the nation brain-dead? Does it have a death wish? Is it merely greed for government largesse? What are the factors that have contributed to Canada’s accelerating decline? There are several possibilities, acting singly or in concert. Donald Trump: When Trump began trolling Canada with his 51st state bagatelle, he proved once again that Canadians have no sense of humor.

Canadians, by and large, with thank-the-Lord saving exceptions, are an earnest, priggish, self-massaging, unexciting people of limited intelligence who, like most of a leftist bent, cannot recognize a joke, especially when brandished by an American. What former New York Post correspondent Emma Jo-Morris says of the media seems largely true of the Canadian electorate: “The media isn’t biased because it’s liberal; it’s biased because it has no concept of reality. The people who make media content are incapable of separating their own self-worship from objective truth.” Of course, being Liberal and having no concept of reality amount to the same thing. So Canadians took Trump seriously and got their hackles up, huffing and puffing and strutting and posturing. But when Trump launched his tariff fusillade, this was a bridge too far.

Canadians girded themselves for war like a mighty gnat prepared to crush an elephant rather than adopt the grown-up approach of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who visited Trump and proposed a negotiated settlement. This was Mark Carney’s and the Liberals’ gold-plated opportunity to rally a subfusc Canadian electorate to a losing cause and scrub the Conservatives’ favorable poll numbers, leading ultimately to an electoral victory that will likely destroy the country. Indeed, Canada is more ragged than it ever was. What was once a Hudson Bay blanket is now a patchwork quilt. The New Democratic Party: After years of propping up the Liberals, leader Jagmeet Singh and the NDP came crashing down. The Party lost not only its longtime leader but also its official party status.

Its 25 parliamentary seats were reduced to seven. It is likely that many of the lost 18 seats defected to Carney’s Liberals, putting them over the top, good enough for a minority government, just three seats short of a majority. There is speculation that some or all of the remaining NDP rump may follow suit, giving the Liberals the majority government they desperately crave. Biased Coverage: The Canadian media and paper press are basically no different from their Pravda-like American cousins, trafficking in lies, innuendoes, suppressions, and outright interference in the electoral process. This is their stock-in-trade. With only a few outliers like Rebel News, the Western Standard, and two or three others, the press has become a vast and undifferentiated propaganda network for the Liberal machine, flush with Liberal plugola. Canada’s public broadcaster, the CBC, is supported by an annual $1.4 billion grant, which Carney has promised to inflate and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre had threatened to eliminate. The sequel was predictable.

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Can’t conquer Iran, Victor. Start there. Or Yemen.

• The Trump-Iran Deal, Explained (Victor Davis Hanson)

Just recently, the Houthis, that is the terrorist organization that controls half of Yemen and has been hit hard by the United States for its interruption of maritime commerce in the Red Sea and its serial attacks on Israel, has been—I guess you would say—neutered. Its port facilities, its airport, a lot of its missile depots, its command and control have all been neutralized. But yet, here they are with a vestigial force. They just sent a missile, not just into Israel, but into Israel’s international Ben Gurion Airport. It almost hit one of the terminals. Didn’t kill anybody. But it made a huge crater right on the periphery of the airport grounds. And for some reason it was not intercepted by Israel’s tripartite missile defense system. Let me add another incident. Just recently, almost at the same time, four more terrorists were arrested in the United Kingdom for organizing Iranian-inspired terror against citizens of Britain. And of course, we remember that Iran was involved in an effort to assassinate President Donald Trump.

What am I getting at is, we’re right in the middle of negotiations with Iran. Donald Trump feels that they are historically vulnerable. The Assad regime, their lifeline to the Arab world, is gone. Kaput. Vanished. They can’t use the Damascus airport to airlift weapons for Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been reduced dramatically in its effectiveness. Hamas is—I don’t know what you’d call Hamas. It’s living underground among the rubble of Gaza. And then, of course, the Houthis, as I mentioned, have been attacked. Israel has demonstrated that it can penetrate, at will, the supposedly formidable air defenses of Iran. The United States, in addition, is building up its strategic bombing force—in Diego Garcia and in areas that can reach Iran—with the capability of dropping these 20,000 to 30,000-pound bunker busters. We have two carriers that will soon be assembled near there.

What am I getting at again? The pressure is all on Iran. Militarily. Diplomatically. Economically. Socially. Culturally. What do I mean by that? Culturally, there is about 30% to 40% of the country are non-Farsi Persian speakers. And they’re very restive, angry. Power outages. The regime is unpopular. It’s diverted billions of dollars to these terrorist appendages that now didn’t pay off, that they’re defunct. And so, Donald Trump thinks that he, with this maximum pressure, putting this crushing oil embargo—which by the way, former President Joe Biden lifted—that he can bring them to negotiations one last time. Personally, I don’t think he can. Nothing that that regime has ever said is accurate. Nobody in the MAGA movement wants an optional war in the Middle East. But they will have nuclear weapons, perhaps in a year. So, what is the likely scenario? The likely scenario is they will lose face if they negotiate away their nuclear weapons.

That is the only lever they have over Western powers now that their terrorist children are all gone. So, I don’t think they’re gonna make a deal. They’re gonna delay, delay, delay; lie, lie, lie; use the Houthis. And they are playing with fire because once Donald Trump gives them an opportunity for a peaceful way out of their dilemma—that is they can negotiate an end to their nuclear program. They don’t need nuclear power. They have the fourth-largest fossil fuel reserves in the world. They have enough energy for themselves and for export for an endless amount of time. And yet they still are working on this nuclear project, not for peaceful energy generation, but to have a nuclear deterrent. And so, what we should look for in the next few months is that an exasperated Trump administration will finally throw up its hands and say, “You can’t deal with these people, but they’re not gonna get a nuclear weapon.”

At that point, one of two things will happen—I should say one of three things. Israel will hit back because of the Houthis’ attack on its airport. And that could come sooner or later. Or the United States will intervene. I don’t think it’ll intervene on its own. Or there’ll be a joint Israeli-American operation. But by the end of the year, I don’t think Iran will have a nuclear deterrent. And then we’re gonna be watching a mystery unfold. If it should be hit, and if it should lose its nuclear potential, what will be the reaction of the Iranian people? Will they be angry that their national sovereignty has been attacked? Or will they be delighted that this 50-year hated regime is now gone and they don’t have to spend money on these Arab terrorist groups that have brought them no profit? That’ll be something to see. And I think we’ll see it at the end of the year.

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“Decades after the civil rights movement, academia is obsessed with fixating not on intelligence, qualifications, or content of character, but rather on skin color..”

• $373M in DEI Funding at US Universities in Four Years (Salgado)

Educayshun has become mere propaganda at hundreds of American schools and universities. In fact, Defending Education has identified a staggering $373 million in DEI funding since 2016 across more than a hundred institutions of higher learning. Defending Ed investigated 130 colleges and universities across 44 states and Washington, D.C. to date, identifying 281 diversity, equity, and inclusion funds (DEI). These include scholarships and programs based around race and sexual “identity.” Defending Ed warned that, while many universities and colleges have now officially ended DEI programs under Trump administration pressure, in many cases, the programs have simply been renamed or gone underground for the time being. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for example, simply retitled its “Office of Diversity and Inclusion Fund” to be the “Community and Belonging Support Fund.”

Just add more pablum for a surface-level makeover. From the Defending Ed website: “To date, we have been able to track down over $373,344,424 in donations to fund institution DEI programs, scholarships, and offices. While some of the funding has been tracked down via “Day of Giving” style campaign webpages, the vast majority of the money has been traced through university announcements, webpages, and reports. The information contained in this report primarily covers the years from 2021 to present with one or two exceptions noted below. Decades after the civil rights movement, academia is obsessed with fixating not on intelligence, qualifications, or content of character, but rather on skin color.

This is a vast disservice to students of all ethnicities, and has turned our institutions of higher learning into little more than propaganda machines. Defending Ed also provided examples of some of the DEI projects and funds. The University of Michigan “raised over $98,665,269 for a wide range of DEI initiatives and funds, including scholarships for first-generation students” and established a “George Floyd Memorial Scholarship.” According to a 2023 University of Delaware report, the university was able to raise $21 million to expand its diversity, equity, and inclusion programming.

One of the funds included in the donor haul was it’s “Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, or JEDI, Fund” which states that support “helps provide programs, resources and opportunities to cultivate educated and empowered individuals who not only understand the origins of societal challenges related to equity and social justice but also have the tools to create solutions to address them.”… The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of the Arts and Architecture includes its “Anti-racism Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” program which includes the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund. Meanwhile, the University of California, Berkeley fundraised $186,420 for “Increasing Diversity and Opportunity at Cal” during a 2025 campaign. These universities need to be exposed and their federal funding cut off so long as they continue to promote racist DEI.

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Altman doesn’t dare to go up against Musk? it’s not just them anymore. It’s people seeing endless profit vs people seeing endless trouble.

• OpenAI Blinks: Scraps For-Profit Plan After Outside Pressure (ZH)

In a blog post overnight, the OpenAI Board revealed that its nonprofit arm would retain control of the chatbot company following backlash over its attempt to restructure into a for-profit business. “We made the decision for the nonprofit to retain control of OpenAI after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California,” the OpenAI Board wrote in a blog post. Last fall, OpenAI’s Sam Altman was preparing to overhaul the company’s structure and transition to a for-profit business—an effort that sparked a heated legal battle with co-founder Elon Musk, who sought to keep OpenAI ‘open’. The board provided new details about OpenAI’s evolving structure:

OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, and is today overseen and controlled by that nonprofit. Going forward, it will continue to be overseen and controlled by that nonprofit. Our for-profit LLC, which has been under the nonprofit since 2019, will transition to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)–a purpose-driven company structure that has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission. The nonprofit will control and also be a large shareholder of the PBC, giving the nonprofit better resources to support many benefits. Our mission remains the same, and the PBC will have the same mission.

“We want our nonprofit to be the largest and most effective nonprofit in history that will be focused on using AI to enable the highest-leverage outcomes for people,” Altman wrote in a letter to employees. He also provided details about OpenAI’s evolving structure: OpenAI’s nonprofit will remain in control of the organization after discussions with civic leaders and attorneys general from California and Delaware. The for-profit LLC will convert to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)—a mission-aligned model also used by other AI labs like Anthropic and X.ai.

This move replaces the old capped-profit structure with a simpler equity-based model, but does not represent a sale. The nonprofit will retain oversight and become a major shareholder in the PBC, giving it more resources to advance AI for broad societal benefit. A new nonprofit commission will help guide efforts to ensure AI supports public good in areas like health, education, science, and public services. OpenAI says this new structure will enable it to make faster and safer progress toward its mission of democratizing AGI. Meanwhile, Marc Toberoff, lead counsel for Elon Musk in the ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI, told Bloomberg via email that Altman’s decision to scale back for-profit plans “changes nothing.”

“OpenAI’s announcement is a transparent dodge that fails to address the core issues: charitable assets have been and still will be transferred for the benefit of private persons, including Altman, his investors and Microsoft,” Toberoff said. In March, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers blocked Musk’s request to stop Altman from restructuring OpenAI into a for-profit company. This led the judge to expedite a trial for this fall. Given “the public interest at stake and potential for harm if a conversion contrary to law occurred,” Rogers said, adding that an expedited trial later this year would be on “core” claim that OpenAI’s structure conversion plan is unlawful and “potentially the interrelated contract-based claims.” Earlier this year, a Musk-led group offered to purchase OpenAI for around $100 billion, a bid that was quickly rejected.

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“Now, at long last, we can see the fruit of the corrupt tree sprouting in our court system, where judges help illegal immigrants escape through the back door of the courtroom, where other judges demand the return of deported gang members or halt the deportation of antisemitic radicals, and where every effort to put America first is ruled unconstitutional..”

• (None Dare Call It) Treason of the Judiciary (Miele)

Thursday, April 24, was a day like any other day—the sun came up, the sun went down, and President Donald Trump was hit with at least three nationwide injunctions by federal district court judges. That’s just the way it goes if you are a president who wants to take back America from the entrenched left-wing bureaucracy and restore common sense to government before it is too late. The danger of the bureaucracy was predicted by Julien Benda in his 1927 book “The Treason of the Clerks,” which warned of the danger of the intellectual class adopting political passions that had previously been the sole domain of the masses. We see this most distinctly today in the federal bureaucracy, which I dare say has the greatest concentration of degree-holders from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia (and the like) of any sector in the nation, other than the incestuous universities themselves.

The treason that Benda described was the loss of independence of thought and dispassionate reason by intellectuals, and the accompanying subservience of intellect to political passions. During Trump’s first term, I wrote a column describing the danger that Benda had foreseen: Benda wrote at the beginning of the age of mass communication, and yet he already saw that “political passions have attained a universality never before known. … Thanks to the progress of communication and, still more, to the group spirit, it is clear that the holders of the same political hatred now form a compact impassioned mass, every individual of which feels himself in touch with the infinite number of others, whereas a century ago such people were comparatively out of touch with each other and hated in a ‘scattered’ way” …

It seems that we are now living out Benda’s worst nightmare—an age of manipulation of the masses by those who think they know better—whether you call them the “deep state,” the “opposition party,” “the national elite,” “the entrenched bureaucracy,” or just “the establishment.” And for the past 10 years, they have turned their hatred on Donald Trump. Without rhyme or reason, they fight him on every reform and arm themselves with invented scandal and fake news. Now, in Trump’s second term, we see that the bureaucracy has a close ally in the judiciary—not one judge, but multitudes that aim to preserve the status quo of liberal governance. If that wasn’t clear before April 24, there was no room for doubt after the day was filled with one court ruling after another telling Trump to “stand back and stand by” rather than to exercise his lawful power as president.

Here’s what tumbled out of the judicial branch that day: – A federal district court judge in California blocked Trump’s executive order that would have denied federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that limit or forbid cooperation with federal immigration authorities. – A Washington, D.C., judge blocked the Trump administration from following through on the president’s executive order requiring that voters in federal elections show proof of citizenship when registering. – A district judge in New Hampshire blocked efforts to defund public schools that utilize diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Not to be outdone, judges in Maryland and Washington, D.C., essentially issued the same order, giving added protection to one of the least popular programs ever shoved down the throat of American citizens. At the time, those were the latest of more than a dozen nationwide injunctions issued by unelected federal judges who appeared more interested in preserving and protecting left-wing shibboleths than the Constitution.

Also in courts across the nation that week were attempts by judges to reject Trump’s authority as commander in chief to ban transgender participation in the military, to deny Trump the right to strip security clearances from law firms that he says put national security interests second to political partisanship, and stop the administration’s efforts to eliminate federal news services such as Voice of America that engage in anti-American propaganda. Those are all in addition to the several injunctions issued relative to Trump’s promised reform of the immigration system to expedite deportation of illegal immigrants, especially those who have a criminal history or are members of international gangs. If that seems normal, it isn’t. There were only six nationwide injunctions during the eight years of the George W. Bush presidency, and only 12 during the Barack Obama presidency. That increased to 14 under President Joe Biden, which was surpassed by Trump in the first nine weeks of his second term when 15 such injunctions were issued.

Of course, Trump should be accustomed to such judicial abuse. In his first term, there were 64 injunctions against his policies, a staggering 92.2% issued by Democrat-appointed judges. Julien Benda would have clearly recognized the “political passions” that had supplanted the disinterested intellectual rigor we once expected of our judges. Yet because of our habituated respect for the separation of powers, none dare call it the treason of the judiciary. That of course is a reference to the 1960s tract “None Dare Call It Treason” by John A. Stormer. Stormer took on the country’s intellectual elites, blaming them for working against the interests of the nation by tolerating or quietly promoting communism. The left-wing elites of the day laughed it off as another right-wing conspiracy theory, but as time has passed it’s become clear that there was indeed a long-range effort to corrupt our institutions with Communism 101—reducing social acceptance of religion, turning education into indoctrination, and infiltrating government with the intelligentsia that thinks American values are outdated.

Now, at long last, we can see the fruit of the corrupt tree sprouting in our court system, where judges help illegal immigrants escape through the back door of the courtroom, where other judges demand the return of deported gang members or halt the deportation of antisemitic radicals, and where every effort to put America first is ruled unconstitutional. Fighting back against the overreach of the judiciary must be Trump’s No. 1 priority as he seeks to restore sanity to the federal government. Because the most important principle of constitutional law that is being decided in the next few months is whether the president is truly the chief executive or whether he serves at the pleasure of left-wing judges who put political passion ahead of national interests. In the ultimate irony, the case must be decided by nine men and women in black robes, the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fate of the nation’s future hinges on whether they will seek justice impartially or be swayed by partisan rancor. Unfortunately, it’s an open question.

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“After Trump’s triumphant return to the White House, he appointed Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense. Since then, recruitment numbers have exploded, after years of the number of recruits tumbling..”

• SCOTUS Rules On Trump’s Ban On Transgenders In The Military (Downey Jr)

The Supreme Court issued a brief order on Tuesday allowing the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people in the military to proceed. Though the order was unsigned, the usual suspects, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, locked arms and said they would have denied the Trump administration’s request to pause the lower court’s order. Several years after the Biden administration chased warriors away from the military by mandating the COVID vaccine and also encouraging transgender people to join through DEI initiatives, the Supreme Court paused a decision by U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle, located in Seattle, who suggested that Trump’s decision to ban transgender soldiers was unconstituional, claiming that it was “unsupported, dramatic and facially unfair.”

“A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,” Trump’s decree stated. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, located in San Francisco, refused to put a hold on Judge Settle’s decision. The ruling is sure to set off a dumpster fire of liberal whining, crying, and protests, not to mention another reason the left will complain that “Trump hates the LGBTFBI crew.” Shortly after taking back the White House, Trump issued a directive stating that people with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria would no longer be allowed to serve in any branch of the U.S. military. Under the Biden administration, many transgender people chose to join the military, some of whom opted for costly gender reassignment surgeries. Trump also released a directive stating that federal funds would no longer be spent on such surgeries.

Another important factor to keep in mind regarding Trump’s decision to keep out transgenders, the woke, and people hired and promoted through DEI initiatives is the very real notion that woke military members would be more likely to fight fellow Americans when told to do so, as some news media pundits are inclined to believe. It is unknown how long it will take to purge the military of transgender service members who pretend to be a gender other than that which science deemed them at birth. Left-leaning news sites, like Reuters, are reporting the story and suggesting that it is an attack against people who do not agree with the “gender they were assigned at birth.”

The decision is just the latest in a wave of Supreme Court victories for President Trump. The exact number of service members currently suffering from gender dysphoria is unknown, but some believe there are as many as 14,000 transgender people throughout all five branches of the military, though a senior-level member of the Defense Department suggested that there may be only 4,240 who are currently serving. After Trump’s triumphant return to the White House, he appointed Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense. Since then, recruitment numbers have exploded, after years of the number of recruits tumbling during Joe Biden’s single four-year presidential term.

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“..If the nomination is not successful by May 20th, there is a scenario where DC Judge James Boasberg could appoint the U.S. attorney. Mary McCord is smiling.”

• President Trump Sends Message of Support for Ed Martin as DC Attorney (CTH)

President Trump has sent a message of support via Truth Social on behalf of Ed Martin to be confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the important Washington DC office. Multiple ‘republican’ members of the Senate do not support the nomination. If the nomination is not successful by May 20th, there is a scenario where DC Judge James Boasberg could appoint the U.S. attorney. Mary McCord is smiling.

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Ed Martin is going through the approval process to be U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. According to many but, in particular, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., his approval is IMPERATIVE in terms of doing all that has to be done to SAVE LIVES and to, MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN. This is a passion for Ed, more so than for almost anyone that I have seen. One of the reasons that I was so successful in winning the 2024 Presidential Election is my commitment to Health, and helping to Make America Healthy. The Cost of the Chronic Disease Epidemic has gotten out of control over the past four years of the Biden Presidency. We are going to take our Country BACK, and FAST. Ed Martin will be a big player in doing so and, I hope, that the Republican Senators will make a commitment to his approval, which is now before them. Ed is coming up on the deadline for Voting and, if approved, HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. When some day in the future you look back at your Vote for Ed Martin, you will be very proud of what you have done for America and America’s Health. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The Republican opposition group to Ed Martin is the traditional element of the party who stand against the basic principles of what the MAGA movement is all about.

“Via CNN – […] Trump and his allies have a short window to get Martin over the finish line. If Republicans don’t confirm him by May 20 when his interim position expires, there would be a new process to play out in picking a new nominee. One option could be US District Judge James Boasberg appointing someone to become DC’s top prosecutor. Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee, has presided over a number of high-profile cases challenging Trump policies, drawing the ire of the president and his allies. After this story published on Monday evening, Trump posted about Martin’s confirmation battle on Truth Social writing that his “approval is IMPERATIVE.” Top Justice Department officials, who had preferred another candidate for the job, have had to caution Martin about some of his public activities since taking on the job on an interim basis, sources briefed on the matter told CNN.

Despite growing blowback on the nomination, allies of Trump and Martin have made clear that the president has so far been thrilled with Martin’s job performance. “Martin is President Trump’s favorite US Attorney,” one source familiar with his nomination process previously told CNN. . On top of Trump’s direct calls to GOP senators, 23 Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday urging them to move forward on Martin’s confirmation, according to a copy shared with CNN. Trump ally Charlie Kirk also posted on X over the weekend about the need to successfully confirm Martin. DOJ officials who may have wanted someone else for the job have come to terms with the fact that he is Trump’s pick and are doing everything they can to help get him confirmed, sources briefed on the matter told CNN.

Martin has successfully implemented Trump’s “law and order agenda” and been a “fantastic U.S. Attorney for D.C.,” said Alex Pfeiffer, White House principal deputy communications director. “The White House looks forward to his continued success in the role. Ed has shown he is the right man for the job.” Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are expected to keep Trump’s nominee on track, despite diminishing odds Martin will advance to see a full Senate vote.”

Let us not pretend amongst ourselves…. In basic truth, both the democrats and republicans lost in the 2024 election. Donald Trump defeated the republican candidate, Ron DeSantis, and Donald Trump defeated the democrat candidate, Kamala Harris. As the second term of President Trump continues, the republican party will show increasingly obvious opposition to all of the policies and results coming from the MAGA agenda. In the background of our political dynamic the Republican apparatus is already having conversations about what comes next, after the MAGA infection identified as President Trump is removed. When we ask ourselves why President Trump’s agenda hasn’t been codified by congressional action, the honest answer is, because the MAGA policy is not supported by the Republicans in congress. Nothing about this dynamic is likely to change. The republican resistance is simply wearing a mask right now, and there are certain times when that mask slips. It has always been thus….

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Boasberg rules!

• This One Judge Keeps Getting Trump Cases, and It’s No Accident (Matt Margolis)

In a development that should send chills down the spine of every American who cares about the rule of law, Judge James Boasberg — you remember this guy, right? — has somehow ended up with case after case involving President Donald Trump’s second term. The D.C. swamp’s judicial machine continues its relentless assault on our duly elected president, with Boasberg emerging as its not-so-secret weapon. The so-called “random” assignment system has produced results that defy probability and reek of deliberate manipulation. The good news is that House Republicans are fighting back. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Darrell Issa (R-Calif), and Chip Roy (R-Texas) are demanding answers from Angela Caesar, the court clerk who oversees this suspicious case assignment system.

In a letter that Townhall obtained on Monday, they are demanding explanations for what any rational observer would recognize as a coordinated effort to undermine the Trump presidency. “Many of these nationwide injunctions have raised concerns that Article III judges are exceeding their constitutional authority by replacing the policy decisions of the duly elected President with their own preferences, eroding public trust in the integrity and fairness of our judicial system. Many high-profile cases challenging policy decisions of the Trump Administration have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (District Court),” the letter states. “As Congress considers potential legislative reforms to address the abuse of nationwide injunctions and adjust the national distribution and local assignment of cases challenging Executive Branch policy decisions, we write to request information about the District Court’s assignment of cases.”

Boasberg has been handed several significant cases within a remarkably short timeframe relating to the Trump administration. His docket now includes cases challenging the administration’s implementation of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations, as well as matters concerning administration officials’ use of the Signal app, both assigned less than two weeks apart. But that’s not all. The judge is also overseeing cases involving the Department of Government Efficiency and disputes over federal funding for programs allegedly violating civil rights laws (though the latter was dismissed at the plaintiff’s request). While the D.C. District Court’s local rules govern case assignments, the concentration of such politically sensitive matters under one judge has sparked legitimate questions about the process. The timing and clustering of these assignments demand closer scrutiny.

Last month, the House passed critical legislation aimed at restraining these activist judges who have abandoned their constitutional role in favor of political warfare. But is it too little, too late? The Left’s judicial assault continues unabated while the mainstream media yawns or actively cheers it on. The American people deserve to know: Who is pulling the strings behind these courthouse doors? How deep does this corruption go? Furthermore, will anyone be held responsible for the misuse of our judicial system against the President of the United States?

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“America First Legal, led by Trump’s powerhouse advisor Stephen Miller..”

• America First Legal sues Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (JTN)

The President Donald Trump-aligned legal group America First Legal Foundation on Monday sued Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, accusing him of acting beyond his scope as head of the U.S. Judicial Conference. The lawsuit was also lodged against Robert Conrad, who serves as the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, according to Fox News. The legal action accuses the men of operating beyond their scope of resolving cases or controversies, citing their cooperation with Congress in helping them investigate Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and a willingness to create or adopt a code of ethics for the court.

“Under our constitutional tradition, accommodations with Congress are the province of the executive branch,” the foundation said. “The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are therefore executive agencies,” which would be overseen by the president and not the courts. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden will preside over the case.

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Complex. Given their history and their nuclear status, they should never be allowed to come even this far. Call Xi.

“By Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retired), an Indian Air Force veteran fighter test pilot and is the former Director-General of the Center for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.”

• The Treaty That Kept India And Pakistan In Check Is Gone. Now What? (Chopra)

India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on the night of May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgram, Kashmir last month. New Delhi stated that it hit at least nine targets. “Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution,” the Indian government said in a statement. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif descried the strikes as a “cowardly” attack and said Islamabad “has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given.” Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated to military actions following the killing of 26 innocent vacationers in Pahalgam, Kashmir by Pakistan-backed terrorists in a Hamas-style terror attack.

Pakistan Army and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) links were established by India’s National Investigation Agency days after the mass killing. The public was angry, and sought appropriate revenge. A wide range of diplomatic and economic measures were announced by both nations following the attack. Remarkably, India has put the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance for the first time since the pact was inked by the two neighbors. Rejecting India’s move to suspend the IWT, Pakistan warned that any diversion of water will be treated as an ‘Act of War.’ Islamabad also said that it would hold “in abeyance” its participation in all bilateral agreements with India, including the landmark 1972 Simla Agreement.

Pakistan pledged a full-spectrum national power response to any threat against its sovereignty, put its armed forces on high alert, and began selective mobilisation. Most measures were quite expected. But by suspending the Shimla Agreement, Pakistan unwittingly handed over big advantage to India. What is the Shimla Agreement? The Shimla agreement between India and Pakistan was signed on July 2, 1972 at Barnes Court (Raj Bhavan) in the town of Shimla in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, between then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It was ratified on July 15, 1972 (by Pakistan), and August 3, 1972 (by India), and became effective the next day. The agreement had come in the wake of Pakistan’s comprehensive defeat in the 1971 war that split the country and created independent Bangladesh.

The agreement stated:“The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan are resolved that the two countries put an end to the conflict and confrontation that have hitherto marred their relations and work for the promotion of a friendly arid harmonious relationship and the establishment of durable peace in the sub-continent, so that both countries may henceforth devote their resources and energies to the pressing task of advancing the welfare of their peoples.” The document was meant to lay the foundation of a peaceful and stable relationship between the two nations. It was decided that the two countries are resolved “to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations or by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them.”

The treaty mandated that the two countries resolve issues bilaterally, and superseded the United Nation’s resolution on Kashmir. Perhaps more importantly, under the agreement, India and Pakistan established the Line of Control (LoC), previously called the Ceasefire Line, making it a quasi-border between the two nations. New Delhi succeeded in persuading Islamabad to change the name of the ceasefire line to the Line of Control (LoC), thus delinking it from the UN-imposed 1949 ceasefire line and highlighting that Kashmir was now a purely bilateral matter between India and Pakistan. The treaty clearly stated that Indian and Pakistani forces must be withdrawn to their respective sides of the “international border.” That in Jammu and Kashmir, the LoC resulting from the cease-fire of December 17, 1971, shall be respected by both sides without prejudice toward the recognised position of either side.

Neither side shall seek to alter it unilaterally, irrespective of mutual differences and legal interpretations. India returned around 13,000 square kilometers of land taken in battle on the western border but retained some strategic areas, including Turtuk, Dhothang, Tyakshi, and Chalunka in Chorbat Valley, covering more than 883 square kilometers, so as to facilitate lasting peace. Both sides further agreed to refrain from the threat or the use of force in violation of the LoC. The fact that there has only been one limited war since the agreement was signed reflects its effectiveness. Some Indian bureaucrats later argued that a tacit agreement to convert this LoC into a international border, was reached during a one-on-one meeting between the two heads of government. Pakistani bureaucrats have denied any such thing. Nor was that acceptable to Indian public.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Green
https://twitter.com/SteveLovesAmmo/status/1919731269673365609

Spike

OMG
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1919702279579455976

Elephant

Baby
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1919766603157406118

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle May 2 2025

May 022025
 
 May 2, 2025  Posted by at 9:59 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  41 Responses »


Piet Mondriaan New York City I 1942

 

• Trump Acts on Signalgate, Fires Mike Waltz (Margolis)
• China Assessing’ US Tariff Talks – Commerce Ministry (RT)
• Trump ‘Blundered’ On China Tariffs – Medvedev (RT)
• Trump Seeks Cooperation With Russia Instead of Confrontation (Sp.)
• US Ready To Spend Another 100 Days On Russia-Ukraine Peace – Vance (RT)
• US-Ukraine Deal ‘Important Step To End War’ – Rubio (RT)
• US Rejected Ukraine’s Security Guarantee Demands – NYT (RT)
• Kremlin On Minerals Deal: ‘Trump Has Broken The Zelensky Regime’ (ZH)
• Trump Has Forced Ukraine To Sell Itself For Aid – Medvedev (RT)
• Senate Republicans Block Rebuke Of Trump’s Tariffs (Pol.)
• Trump’s Opposition (Victor Davis Hanson)
• Europe Just Proved Trump Right About NATO (Green)
• Why a Strong Euro is an Economic Disaster for the EU (Sp.)
• Zelensky Sanctions Arestovich (RT)
• EU Will Never Recognize Crimea As Russian – Kallas (RT)
• Elon Musk Blasts Wall Street Journal’s CEO Search Report (ZH)
• Going to Kashmir…Just To Find Alice in Wonderland (Pepe Escobar)

 

 


Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks at the “Knowledge.First” event in Moscow, Russia, April 29, 2025.

 

 

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1917740754081808589

Tulsi

90%

100

Dolls

Tulsi Fauci
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1917957407323705752
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1917961395238309903

 

 

 

 

Waltz UN Ambassador, Secretary of State Rubio takes over National Security Advisor as well. Not perfect, but doable.

• Trump Acts on Signalgate, Fires Mike Waltz (Margolis)

The Trump White House just sent a clear message: accountability matters. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, are out at the National Security Council, Fox News confirmed Thursday. Additional departures are expected, and President Trump is slated to speak on the matter himself. Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman, came under scrutiny after The Atlantic published a report detailing how Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was erroneously included in a Signal group chat with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, discussing counterterrorism strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Though no classified information was divulged in the chat, Democrats pretended like the world had ended because of it and sought to use it to force the resignation or firing of anyone remotely connected to it. Their top target, of course, was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Waltz took responsibility for the inclusion of a journalist in the group chat, telling Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, “I take full responsibility. I built the group,” he said. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital earlier Monday when asked about reports claiming Waltz and others would be shown the door, “We are not going to respond to reporting from anonymous sources.”

Trump held a meeting with members of his cabinet on Wednesday following his 100th day back in office Tuesday, with Waltz attending the meeting. Following confirmation of Waltz’s ouster, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Fox News, “The National Security Advisor Waltz is out. He’s the first. He certainly won’t be the last.” Neither Hakeem Jeffries nor any other Democrat leader ever demanded accountability from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin—or anyone else—for the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. The deaths of 13 American service members apparently weren’t a big enough deal to merit accountability in the Biden administration. Nor was there accountability later, when Austin vanished for a week in a hospital without telling the White House. Silence. No outrage. No consequences. Just business as usual in Biden’s unaccountable administration.

Wong served as Waltz’s principal deputy national security advisor, who was detailed in the Signal chat leak as the staffer charged with “pulling together a tiger team” in Waltz’s initial message sent to the Signal group chat in March, the Atlantic reported at the time. […] Trump told the media April 3 that a handful of other National Security Council staffers had been let go following the Atlantic’s report on the Signal chat leak, which characterized the Trump administration as texting “war plans” regarding a planned strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Whether you agree with this development or not, the Trump administration is willing to hold its people accountable. Compare that to Joe Biden’s disastrous handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. In addition to the service members killed, billions in equipment were left for the Taliban, and our allies were blindsided. Yet not a single person in the Biden White House lost their job. No resignations. No demotions. No accountability. In fact, they patted themselves on the back and called it a success. That’s the difference. When President Trump sees a problem, he acts. He doesn’t protect insiders just because they’re part of the club. Accountability isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the standard. The swamp may not like it, and the media will no doubt spin it, but this is what leadership looks like.

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“..predict that formal talks will not be announced until after the US and China agree on the terms of a tariff deal privately.”

• China Assessing’ US Tariff Talks – Commerce Ministry (RT)

China is “assessing” US overtures to begin tariff negotiations, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday. According to the ministry, senior US officials recently reached out to Beijing through third parties with proposals to start talks. Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have risen since US President Donald Trump imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports last month as part of a wider effort targeting over 90 trade partners. Most of the new tariffs were paused for 90 days – excluding China – while a baseline 10% remains in place. Beijing responded with 125% tariffs on US goods and export restrictions. The ministry said China has taken note of recent US messages and is evaluating the possibility of negotiations, adding that while Washington has expressed interest in talks, trust would be undermined if unilateral tariffs remain.

“The US has recently sent messages to China through relevant parties, hoping to start talks with China. China is currently assessing this,” the ministry stated. Trump previously suggested that the tariffs could “come down substantially” and spoke about the potential for a “fair deal with China.” He also claimed that his administration was “actively” engaging with Beijing and that he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed on Fox News last week that Beijing was “reaching out” to Washington. China has denied this and accused the US of misleading the public.

In its statement on Friday, the Commerce Ministry reiterated that the US must show “sincerity” by canceling the tariffs if it wants meaningful dialogue. It added that China remains open to talks, but will not be pressured: “If we fight, we will fight to the end; if we talk, the door is open.” It stressed that Beijing will only agree to negotiations in good faith. “Saying one thing and doing another, or even trying to coerce and blackmail under the guise of talks, will not work with China,” the statement read. Analysts expect negotiations will begin soon, citing recent market volatility and the IMF’s downward revision of global growth forecasts due to trade uncertainty. Some observers, however, predict that formal talks will not be announced until after the US and China agree on the terms of a tariff deal privately.

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“..possesses enormous resources and a vast domestic market –factors that will enable its economy to withstand any amount of pressure..”

I don’t think so.

• Trump ‘Blundered’ On China Tariffs – Medvedev (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s misplaced tariff policies are hurting America’s allies but will fail to tank the Chinese economy, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. In early April, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on most of America’s trading partners, citing what he said was an unfair trade imbalance. After backlash overseas and a negative response from the stock market, he suspended most new duties for dozens of countries – except China – for 90 days pending negotiations.In a tongue-in-cheek post on Telegram on Labor Day, Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, argued that Trump deserved an “exemplary labor” award for “starting the tariff battle.”

The US’s neighbors, as well as its allies in Europe, were “suffering” and “crying” from the duties imposed by Washington, he wrote. “They are all in a really bad position, facing the need to bow down in a ritual known as ‘kiss my ass,’” the ex-president quipped. “China, on the other hand, possesses enormous resources and a vast domestic market –factors that will enable its economy to withstand any amount of pressure. This is where Trump made a blunder,” he added. “Trump’s approval ratings have dipped, while the ‘deep state’ is vigorously resisting him,” Medvedev wrote.

Beijing responded to tariffs of up to 245% on its goods by imposing tit-for-tat duties on American imports. “Bowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst – it only deepens the crisis,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said this week, warning that China “won’t kneel down.” Trump has defended his policies, doubling down on claims that Beijing was engaged in unfair trade practices. “They deserve it,” he said, responding to a reporter’s question about whether his tariffs were tantamount to an embargo.

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“President Trump has a very different view of Russia from his predecessors.”

• Trump Seeks Cooperation With Russia Instead of Confrontation (Sp.)

The first 100 days of US President Donald Trump’s second term in office have marked a profound shift toward searching areas of cooperation with Russia instead of confrontation, Rhode Island University Professor of Political Science Nicolai Petro told Sputnik. Trump officially took office as the 47th president of the United States on January 20. Upon entering the White House, the president and his team resumed direct contact with Moscow that has been cut off by their predecessors from ex-President Joe Biden’s team after the start of the conflict in Ukraine. “President Trump has a very different view of Russia from his predecessors. Rather than assuming that Russia’s interests must clash with American interests, he assumes that the two can find areas of cooperation, and that such cooperation has the potential to expand,” Petro said.

The expert described this as a “very profound shift” that is not shared by most of the American political elite and media, who continue to portray Russia as a threat to the United States. During the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, he had phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Russian and US officials held meetings in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Part of the renewed diplomatic push also includes visits by US Special Envoy Steven Witkoff to Russia and by Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev to the United States. So far, the sides have been actively working on resuming the normal operation of their respective embassies while also discussing the issue of resumption of direct flights between the US and Russia.

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“We’ve got the peace proposal out there and issued, and we’re going to work very hard over the next 100 days to try to bring these guys together.”

• US Ready To Spend Another 100 Days On Russia-Ukraine Peace – Vance (RT)

The Trump administration is prepared to dedicate another 100 days to mediating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, US Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News in an interview published on Wednesday. He said the US has made progress by getting both sides to present their ideas for resolving the conflict. “We’ve got this first step,” the vice president said, reflecting on the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term. “We’ve got the peace proposal out there and issued, and we’re going to work very hard over the next 100 days to try to bring these guys together.” Vance noted that before the Trump administration got involved, Moscow and Kiev “weren’t even talking – not to each other, not to anybody. They were just fighting.”

He added: “Now, the work of diplomacy is to try to sort of bring these two sides closer together,” pointing to the “very big gulf between what the Russians want and what the Ukrainians want.” During last year’s election campaign, Trump vowed to end the conflict “within 24 hours” of entering the White House – which he later described as an “exaggeration.” Since taking office in January, he has pressed both sides to reach a ceasefire and has recently shown frustration over the lack of progress. Although Russia praised Trump and his team for better understanding its position than the administration of former President Joe Biden, Moscow insisted that any comprehensive ceasefire must include an end to Ukraine’s mobilization and a halt to foreign weapons deliveries.

Both sides accused each other of violating the month-long energy truce brokered by Trump in March, as well as last month’s 30-hour Easter truce. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine drop its claims to Crimea and four other regions, and abandon its NATO ambitions. On Thursday, Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg, said Kiev had agreed to acknowledge Russia’s control over what it considers “occupied territories,” while stopping short of officially recognizing Russian sovereignty. However, Kiev has repeatedly stated that it will not cede any land to Russia.

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“According to Lavrov, “a [30-day] ceasefire in this situation is considered a precondition that will be used to further support the Kiev regime and strengthen its military capabilities.”

• US-Ukraine Deal ‘Important Step To End War’ – Rubio (RT)

The natural resource deal signed between Washington and Kiev is an “important step” toward ending the Ukraine conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed. The long-awaited agreement, which allows Washington to tap into Ukraine’s extensive mineral reserves in return for assistance with the country’s economic recovery, was signed on Wednesday. Notably, the document does not include any provisions for the US to offer security guarantees to Ukraine, despite this being “one of its initial goals,” as reported by Reuters. The New York Times indicated that the concept of security guarantees was dismissed by the US “early in the process.” In an X post on Thursday, Rubio thanked US President’s Donald Trump leadership, under which the deal was signed. Rubio called it “a milestone in our shared prosperity and an important step in ending this war.”

Negotiations for the agreement stretched on for several months, although both parties intended to finalize it during Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to the White House in late February. The televised meeting led to a tense confrontation during which Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of ingratitude and “gambling with World War III.” This comes as Washington is in talks with Moscow over a possible peace deal that would end the Ukraine conflict. Multiple media sources indicate that the agreement put forward by Washington entails the US recognizing Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea. Additionally, the proposal reportedly includes a “freezing” of the conflict along the existing front line and an acknowledgment of Moscow’s control over significant portions of four former Ukrainian regions that voted to join Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a halt to all military operations against Ukrainian forces from midnight on May 7 until midnight on May 10, stating that this is being done for “humanitarian reasons.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that Russia considers the ceasefire “the start of direct negotiations with Kiev without preconditions.” Zelensky branded Moscow’s three-day truce declaration a “manipulation attempt,” saying he wanted an immediate 30-day ceasefire instead. According to Lavrov, “a [30-day] ceasefire in this situation is considered a precondition that will be used to further support the Kiev regime and strengthen its military capabilities.”

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“When America is your friend and your partner, your nation is going to be better off. And there is a security component just in our presence..”

• US Rejected Ukraine’s Security Guarantee Demands – NYT (RT)

The US has rejected Ukraine’s request for security guarantees as part of a newly signed mineral resources agreement, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the talks. The nine-page deal, signed the same day after months of negotiations and published on Thursday by the Ukrainian government, gives Washington preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral projects, including rare-earth metals. It also establishes a joint investment fund to support Ukraine’s post-conflict reconstruction. Despite its scope, the final agreement contains no formal pledge of future US military support, a key demand from Ukraine during negotiations. Instead, it vaguely mentions a “long-term strategic alignment” and promises US backing for Ukraine’s “security, prosperity, reconstruction, and integration into global economic frameworks.”

One source told the NYT that the US dismissed the idea of providing Kiev with explicit security guarantees early in the talks. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce defended the agreement, suggesting that US involvement alone offers implicit protection. “When America is your friend and your partner, your nation is going to be better off. And there is a security component just in our presence,” she told Fox Business. Analysts told the NYT that the deal could help secure US President Donald Trump’s continued interest in Ukraine now that he is directly invested, and will potentially open the door to further discussions on military aid and a ceasefire with Russia. Still, critics argued that without binding guarantees, the deal’s impact may be limited if the conflict continues.

Ukraine’s parliament is expected to ratify the agreement within two weeks. The US has framed the deal as a way for Ukraine to repay past military aid – estimated at $350 billion by Trump, though Kiev claims the figure is closer to $100 billion and that the support was unconditional. The debt repayment clause, however, was dropped from the final text. After signing, Trump said the US could “in theory” recover “much more” than $350 billion through the deal. Commenting on the deal, deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the US has essentially “forced the Kiev regime to pay for American aid with minerals,” warning that all future military supplies will have to be paid “with the national wealth of a vanishing country.”

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“Now they will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country,”

• Kremlin On Minerals Deal: ‘Trump Has Broken The Zelensky Regime’ (ZH)

The Kremlin has said that what the newly signed minerals deal between Ukraine and Washington does is effectively force Kiev to pay for all future military aid. “Trump has broken the Kyiv regime to the point where they will have to pay for U.S. aid with mineral resources,” Medvedev, a former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, stated on Telegram. “Now they will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country,” he said of the Ukrainians. As of yet, the full contents of the newly inked deal, finalized and signed late in the day Wednesday, have not been revealed, but it gives the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and its natural resources like oil and gas, and will fund investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

But the Zelensky government was able to get something crucial dropped at the last minute. As CNN details, “Compared to earlier drafts, the final agreement is reportedly less lopsided in favor of the US and is not as far-reaching. It stipulates that future American military assistance to Ukraine will count as part of the US investment into the fund, rather than calling for reimbursement for past assistance.” President Trump’s initial reaction after the signing was seen in the following: Speaking Wednesday in a call with NewsNation, Trump said he made the deal to “protect” Washington’s contribution to the Ukrainian war effort. “We made a deal today where we get, you know, much more in theory, than the $350 billion but I wanted to be protected,” Trump said. “I didn’t want to be out there and look foolish,” he continued, voicing the administration’s longtime complaints that Zelensky only asks for “more and more” – and yet is still losing the war.

Meanwhile, the ceasefire process is still basically stalled, as neither side has backed off of their demands and conditions. President Zelensky has recently reiterated that he can’t even legally give up Crimea. However, Trump presidential special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg has told Fox News that Ukraine is ready to make territorial concessions, but wouldn’t see any ceded territory as a permanent situion. “Not de jure forever, but de facto, because the Russians actually occupy that and they’ve agreed to that. They know that if they have a ceasefire in place, which means you sit on the ground that you currently hold, that’s what they’re willing to go to,” the envoy said. “You have your line set, and they’re willing to go there,” Kellogg emphasized. But it’s clear the Kremlin sees this as an issue of sovereignty and permanence, given President Putin has described the four annexed territories and Crimea as “ours forever”.

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“Trump has finally broken the Kiev regime into paying for American aid with minerals..”

• Trump Has Forced Ukraine To Sell Itself For Aid – Medvedev (RT)

US President Donald Trump has forced Kiev to sell off Ukraine’s mineral wealth for continued military aid, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said. Washington and Kiev signed a long-anticipated deal on the joint extraction of Ukrainian natural resources on Wednesday, after months of contentious negotiations. Trump has advertised the agreement as a way to get back the roughly $350 billion he claims Washington has spent on support for Kiev in the conflict with Russia. The agreement does not mention security guarantees, which Ukraine previously insisted on. Instead, it focuses on future US aid, rather than paying back assistance provided to Ukraine in the past.

“Trump has finally broken the Kiev regime into paying for American aid with minerals,” Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a Telegram post on Thursday. “Now military supplies will have to be paid for with the national wealth of a disappearing country.” In February, Trump and Zelensky had a public spat in the Oval Office just as a deal was widely expected to be signed. After the meeting, the US president temporarily froze military aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev for around a month. The full text of the agreement signed on Wednesday has not been published, but available details suggest it is centered on a joint reconstruction investment fund. Ukraine is to contribute 50% of the revenue for new licenses for future resource extraction projects into the fund.

One potential difficulty with this deal is that as of now, Ukraine’s much-discussed rare-earths – highly sought-after metals used in high-tech production – are still largely untapped and need billions in investments to mine, the Washington Post wrote on Thursday, citing analysts. Additionally, a significant portion of the resources – according to old data from when Ukraine was a Soviet republic – is located in the Donbass region, a large part of which is now part of Russia, the WaPo said. In 2023, Forbes estimated Ukraine’s mineral wealth at roughly $15 trillion, with nearly half of this in Russia’s Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

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“Three Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the tariffs”,

..and Trump still wins. Forget beating him in the Senate.

• Senate Republicans Block Rebuke Of Trump’s Tariffs (Pol.)

Two absences in the Senate left supporters of the resolution short of a majority. A Democratic effort to rebuff President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs failed Wednesday, thanks to two absent senators. Senators voted 49-49 to reject the national emergency Trump used to impose tariffs of between 10 and 50 percent on many of the United States’ largest trading partners. It came on the same day the Commerce Department revealed that the economy shrank in the year’s first quarter, largely due to Trump’s trade policies. Three Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the tariffs: Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul was a cosponsor of the resolution with Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were missing from the vote, leaving supporters of the resolution short of a majority. Whitehouse was absent because he was returning from the Republic of Korea, where he represented the U.S. at a conference on protecting the ocean from threats like climate change, pollution and overfishing. McConnell, the former Republican leader, missed several votes Wednesday. “The Senator has been consistent in opposing tariffs and that a trade war is not in the best interest of American households and businesses,” said David Popp, a spokesperson for McConnell. “He believes that tariffs are a tax increase on everybody.” The vote was largely symbolic: The House has approved a rule to block a vote on the resolution and Trump has threatened to veto such a measure if it makes it to his desk.

And after the resolution failed, Republican leaders immediately forced a vote to table, or kill, it for good, and this time they brought in reinforcements: Vice President JD Vance arrived on Capitol Hill to break the tie. Still, the resolution’s failure hands Trump a victory as his administration tries to maintain support for the aggressive tariff platform among increasingly nervous Republicans. Paul said he felt the vote was more about the debate than the result, because he knew it wasn’t likely to clear Congress. “Most Republicans are just going along with it, but many of them are quietly still on the other side of this,” Paul said. “They just aren’t willing to say anything yet. But I think if we went through another quarter of negative growth and or another scare in the marketplace, I think there will be more visible voices against the tariffs.”

Yet even lawmakers who defended Trump’s tariffs acknowledged the uncertainty that has come with Trump’s attempts to upend the global trading order, an effort that has tanked consumer sentiment in the U.S. and spooked many businesses and investors. “I appreciate that many of us in this chamber have heard from constituents concerned about the economic impact of the tariffs,” said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee that oversees trade policy. “All of us are watching this issue closely and working with the administration to find ways to minimize its impact on Americans. We should also be working with the administration to address a shared objective: more opportunities for Americans in foreign markets and an end to discriminatory actions in foreign markets.”

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“..the media has taken it upon themselves to use the only strategy that the Democratic Party can come up with. And that is to attack Donald Trump..”

• Trump’s Opposition (Victor Davis Hanson)

At the end of the 100 days of the Trump administration, let’s just review for a moment the opposition to it. And it’s actually, if you think about it, a tripartite, a threefold opposition: pollsters, the media, and the Democratic Party and the institutionalized Left. The pollsters have President Donald Trump down four or five points. But when you actually look at the Rasmussen poll or Mark Penn’s poll, a Democratic centrist, Trump is almost even. And then when you look with greater clarity at The New York Times poll that has him way down, you see that only 37% of the people polled voted for Donald Trump. But Donald Trump won by almost a point and a half. Don’t you think it should have been, I don’t know, 51%-49%? So, they were deliberately, in the case of The New York Times, under-polling Trump supporters.

The same was true with The Washington Post. They polled over 2,000 people, but only 840 were identified as Trump voters. Shouldn’t that have been half? So, what am I getting at? We’re getting right back to what happened in 2016 when the polls were completely wrong. The same thing happened in 2020 when they overestimated former President Joe Biden’s strength by four or five points. And then, even in 2024, the NPR poll had—on the last day of the election—they had then-Vice President Kamala Harris winning by four points. The Des Moines Register had Iowa lost to Trump by three points. He won it by 12. So, what the pollsters are doing—not that Trump hasn’t lost some to the controversy over the trade wars—but the pollsters are trying to create momentum, fundraising, and jazz up opposition.

Then we turn to the media. The media’s in a fight with the Democratic Left now because of the scandal of Joe Biden. The Democratic Left is saying, “Well, you were a journalist. If you thought he was demented or cognitively challenged, why didn’t you report it?” But the journalists are saying, “We couldn’t get close to him. He looked OK for us because you had him in such a guarded environment.” In truth, they’re both guilty. Do you remember those press conferences by then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre? Did anyone ever hear one question on those daily or three or four times a week press conferences? “Miss Jean-Pierre, is Joe Biden cognitively able to navigate himself to the podium? What is the nature of his cue cards? Have you had a Montreal Cognitive Assessment of him?” There was nothing. It was a combination of the Democratic Party, the Biden insiders, and the media.

And here’s another point, very quickly. The media has gained a lot of influence and power in the opposition because there is no opposition on the Democratic Party. So, in lieu of an alternate agenda, the media has taken it upon themselves to use the only strategy that the Democratic Party can come up with. And that is to attack Donald Trump. Now, what do I mean by that? If you look at the Democratic Party and the Left in general, they have boxed themselves in. On the one hand, they have no institutional power; no ability to pass legislation, losing the House and the Senate; no presidency, White House; no executive orders. Ultimately, all of the cherry-picked district and circuit judges will be overturned by a largely conservative Supreme Court.

In lieu of actual power, then you look at what is the alternative. Maybe the alternative is a 1994 Newt Gingrich Contract with America, an alternate agenda: Yes, we can do better on the border than you can. Yes, we have a better foreign policy with Iran. There’s nothing. There’s no shadow government. There’s not a young Bill Clinton ascendant. There’s no young Barack Obama. There’s nobody. There’s no leaders. There’s no agenda. Nothing. It’s nihilism. And so, let’s look at the third element. Do they have a good old days? Can they say, “Donald Trump ruined things”? “They were so good under Biden. The border was—we liked it open. Twelve million, we could have got 20 million illegal aliens. Let’s go back to that. We had a wonderful retreat from Afghanistan. Picture perfect. We can do it again. The Iran—the theater war in Ukraine and Iran, that wasn’t our fault. Maybe it was inevitable. We had a really good inflation—we had a little hyperinflation of 9%.”

So, there is no alternative good old days. They can’t say Donald Trump wrecked something because they had wrecked the country. So, what are we left with? We’re left with Donald Trump wore a blue suit at the Vatican funeral. Donald Trump is a fascist. No. According to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, he is a Nazi. No. According to former Vice President Al Gore, he is a Nazi. No. According to members of the Congress, is he deserving a polite conversation? You have to use the F-word. Or maybe it’s the S-word. It’s smutty mouth, potty mouth video. What is the one principle that ties them all together? We’re gonna talk about that in the next video. But it’s about fear that Donald Trump’s first 100 days are not as chaotic and bad as they tell us. But we might be on the cusp of something that will be very, very successful and will ensure Donald Trump has a successful presidency.

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“..Europe “would struggle to put 25,000 troops on the ground in Ukraine”…”

• Europe Just Proved Trump Right About NATO (Green)

In a shocking-not-shocking exclusive report in The (UK) Times, Europe “would struggle to put 25,000 troops on the ground in Ukraine” as part of a postwar peacekeeping force. Defense Editor Larisa Brown “was given a rare insight into conversations between Europe’s defence ministers and military chiefs as they thrashed out plans for a ‘coalition of the willing’ force,” and the results are as disappointing as they are sobering. And you know how much I hate sobering. British defense chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin asked European defense ministers “if they could put together a 64,000-strong force to send to [Ukraine] in the event of a peace deal.” Britain offered up to 10,000 personnel, but even then, “defence ministers across Europe said there was ‘no chance’ they could reach that number and that even 25,000 would ‘be a push for a joint effort.'” This is not your father’s NATO.

During the Cold War, the British Army of the Rhine stood watch in West Germany for half a century with a force of 50,000 men — and the promise of swift reinforcements almost as quickly as the balloon went up. Today, all of European NATO couldn’t put a peacekeeping force in Ukraine of half that size without wheezing like an asthmatic with a sinus infection hiking up Kilimanjaro. NATO was always a little fractured and weaker than it should have been. Unlike the Warsaw Pact on the other side of the Iron Curtain, NATO members were independent nations, each with its own priorities and needs. Paris could complain about American “hyperpower” all it liked, but we didn’t send in the tanks — like Moscow would have — when France withdrew its forces from NATO command and ordered NATO troops out of France in 1966. We just made do.

And while Washington was correct to ask for more “burden-sharing” from our allies during the Cold War, it wasn’t as though they didn’t take the Soviet threat seriously. The West German Bundeswehr consisted of 10 battle-ready heavy Panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions, plus another division each of airborne and mountain forces — for a total of 38 combat brigades. That was just the Field Army. The Territorial forces consisted of reserve troops — older men called up to defend their cities, towns, and homes — amounting to another 450,000 soldiers. But here’s the rub. West Germany raised those forces from a population of 60 million with a GDP of $1.6 trillion in today’s dollars. Unified Germany has 80 million people, a GDP of $4.7 trillion, and a military of three divisions that are understaffed, under-trained, and unfit for combat.

The balloon went up more than three years ago in Ukraine, and yet the only substantial-sized NATO member seriously rearming is Poland. Milblogger CDR Salamander nailed it yesterday: “Europeans expect hundreds of thousands of Americans to immediately deploy to Europe to defend them against a nation with the GDP of Texas and a population 1/4th the size of European NATO.” This is from countries that admit they could barely muster 25,000 troops for Ukraine, even if their national survival depended on it. So when President Donald Trump complains that European NATO isn’t pulling its weight, he isn’t trying to destroy the alliance, as his critics claim. He’s warning of an existential threat to the alliance’s purpose and its members’ existence — and that America’s patience with perennial laggards is not unlimited. Nor should it be. And Europe’s defense ministers just admitted that, too.

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“..zero growth and recession for 3 years running..”

• Why a Strong Euro is an Economic Disaster for the EU (Sp.)

The euro has jumped in value almost 10% against the dollar since January. But before cheering at the thought of cheaper imports of Skippy peanut butter and Jim Beam whiskey, here’s what EU residents should know.
1. Stronger Euro = Weaker Exports
“For any country (or zone in the case of the euro) that is a strong exporter,” a strong currency “contributes to slowing exports and increasing imports, to the detriment of domestic production,” explains Jacques Sapir, veteran economist and director of studies at the Paris-based School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.
2. Monetary Union Trap
Unlike ordinary nations, which can depreciate their currencies at will to restore exports’ appeal, eurozone members are trapped by the monetary union, which offers “quite limited” room to maneuver for big producers or tourism-based earners benefiting from depreciation vs everyone else.
3. Another Hit to Eurozone Economy in Rough Shape
The euro’s growing strength is bad news for a bloc already:
• facing zero growth and recession for 3 years running
• cut off from the source of its export competitiveness: cheap Russian energy
• facing brutal trade competition from the US and China.
4. Tariff-like Effects
“With the dollar depreciating by around 10% since mid-January, it is as if the US has imposed 10% customs duties on European products while subsidizing their exports to the eurozone by 10%,” Sapir says.
5. Tariff Wars Add to Uncertainty
“Major economic players abhor uncertainty…As long as these negotiations last, no one knows what the tariff levels will be and therefore how attractive the American market will be, whether for production or investment,” the economist says.

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If there are elections, he’ll run. If they let him.

• Zelensky Sanctions Arestovich (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has announced sanctions against his former top adviser. Alexey Arestovich has frequently criticized both Ukraine’s leadership and its military strategy in its conflict with Russia. Arestovich was among several Ukrainians mentioned in a decree released by Zelensky’s office on Thursday. Penalties imposed include asset freezes, restricted trade and financial transactions, travel, and the revocation of state awards. Arestovich served as an adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine between 2020 and January 2023. He resigned in controversy after claiming that a Russian missile hit a residential building in the city of Dnepr only because it had been downed by Ukrainian air defenses. Following public outrage and accusations that he had discredited the Ukrainian army, Arestovich backtracked, apologized, and submitted his resignation.

He has since become a prominent commentator on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, often presenting views that diverge from the official Ukrainian narrative. Last month, he suggested that Kiev should agree to cede land to Russia as part of a potential US-brokered peace deal, warning that any attempts to reclaim lost territories would only backfire. “Why should we give up four regions? So that in six months or a year we don’t lose another six or eight,” he said, referring to four former Ukrainian territories that in 2022 voted in public referendums to join Russia. Kiev has consistently refused to acknowledge any territorial losses, however..

Arestovich has also accused the Ukrainian leadership of corruption. He has claimed that Zelensky is personally involved in numerous graft schemes and that Kiev’s Western backers are well aware of his activities. He has also signaled that he wants to run for president of Ukraine. Zelensky, whose term expired last year, has refused to call new elections, citing martial law, which has been extended more than a dozen times. Addressing the sanctions, the ex-adviser predicted that the Ukrainian authorities would now try to limit his media reach by cutting off access to his YouTube channel from the country’s territory.

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War princess.

• EU Will Never Recognize Crimea As Russian – Kallas (RT)

The EU has reaffirmed its refusal to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has stated. Officials in Brussels are reportedly concerned that a possible peace deal negotiated by Washington and Moscow to end the Ukraine conflict would entail the US recognizing Crimea as part of Russia. The peninsula voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation shortly after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev. Speaking to the Financial Times on Thursday, Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, stated unequivocally, “Crimea is Ukraine,” underscoring that “no EU country would accept recognition of Crimea as Russia.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s suggestion that lifting sanctions imposed on Russia could be part of a peace deal has also alarmed EU officials, who fear it may prompt divisions within the bloc over maintaining its own sanctions regime, according to the FT. Kallas has warned EU states against following a US policy shift toward Moscow. She told the outlet that the EU is preparing a contingency plan to sustain economic pressure on Russia, should Hungary follow through on its threat to veto an extension of sanctions in July. She noted that this could include allowing national governments to adopt the sanctions individually or for Belgium to issue a decree to seize over $200 billion worth of Russian central bank assets frozen on Belgian soil.

Moscow has warned that seizing its assets would amount to “theft,” hinting at possible retaliatory measures against Western investments in Russia. The diplomat also emphasized that the EU could offer Ukraine financial support if the US withdraws, though military backing would be harder to replicate. “We are still working with the Americans and trying to convince them why the outcome of this war is also in their interest,” Kallas said. Last week, Moscow accused Brussels of obstructing US-Russian diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine conflict, working instead to prolong the hostilities. “Europe wants war, not talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Read more …

“WSJ’s Glazer and her co-authors chose to publish the story—despite receiving a denial from Tesla’s board before publication..”

• Elon Musk Blasts Wall Street Journal’s CEO Search Report (ZH)

Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming the board had begun searching for Elon Musk’s successor, calling the story “absolutely false.” Musk echoed the rebuke, slamming the story as an “EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS” by the legacy media outlet. “Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company,” Denholm wrote in a statement published on X via Tesla.

She emphasized, “This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published),” adding, “The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.” Musk chimed in, calling the WSJ story by Emily Glazer, Becky Peterson, and Dana Mattioli “an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors.”

WSJ’s Glazer and others cited anonymous sources to indicate that slumping vehicle sales and DOGE-related backlash had damaged the brand, prompting the board to search for a new CEO. Here’s an excerpt: “Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions. [..] The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The current status of the succession planning couldn’t be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning. Musk didn’t respond to requests for comment.[..]

Why WSJ’s Glazer and her co-authors chose to publish the story—despite receiving a denial from Tesla’s board before publication—underscores how legacy media spreads misinformation and disinformation. This is the landscape Musk—and top officials in the Trump administration—are navigating: a hostile leftist corporate media environment that pushes endless streams of misinformation and disinformation.

Read more …

“It’s as if the Anglo-Zionist axis is using Kashmir as a volatile lab for a series of live tests – including pushing nuclear powers to the brink of confrontation..”

• Going to Kashmir…Just To Find Alice in Wonderland (Pepe Escobar)

Two overarching taboos reign on the – now shattered – collective West:
• Can’t define the Ukraine regime as Nazi.
• Can’t condemn the psychopathological Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The taboos happen to be inextricably linked to the Forever Wars deployed non-stop by the Empire of Chaos/Zionist axis. Lesser Hybrid Wars though – even carrying the horrifying prospect of turning nuclear – are allowed to come and go. Especially if they are part of the current war on BRICS, a sub-section of the war of factions of the West against the Global Majority. So let’s go to Kashmir – to the sound of Jimmy Page’s hypnotic riff. Both India and Pakistan are escalating the war of decibels. Turkey is offering weapons – to Pakistan. Iran offered a mediator role: no takers. The motive for the war is as dodgy as they come. An all-male tourist bus packing a bunch of merry tourists is roaming around Indian-held Kashmir. Passengers include a just married 26-year-old lieutenant of the Indian Navy – but without his wife (what kind of honeymoon is that?)

Another passenger is Nepalese. The bus is attacked by shady splinter goons loosely affiliated with the Salafi-jihadi Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit. The Empire has been all over the Indian front. The current US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard was previously fully funded by Prime Minister Modi’s circles. Eyeliner-loaded VP J.D. Vance recently visited India – complete with family Taj Mahal photo op. Then Modi went to visit Saudi Arabia – invited by MbS. After the Kashmir bus terror attack, Hindutva fanatics went on a cyber-attack spree. The crude tactics spell out classic Divide and Rule. Double whammy: revamped weaponization of India, and destabilization of a key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) China front: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A thing of beauty: splitting BRICS from the inside.

None of that, of course, legitimizes the ghastly Pakistani military, which have thrown in jail, on spurious charges, the man who was trying to bring Pakistan to respectability: Imran Khan. It’s up, once again, to the adults in the room, any room – Russia – to de-escalate. This could be ideally performed inside the SCO – where both India and Pakistan are members, side by side with Iran. Moscow chose to take the initiative, by itself. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko met with both India’s Ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia, Muhammad Khalid Jamali. Russian terminology is essential: not only there was a call for both parties to “engage in constructive dialogue”. Moscow stressed, “we are ready to counter the global terrorist threat together.” The operative word is “global”. Delhi and Islamabad don’t seem to be getting the message – yet.

Kashmir as a volatile war lab An infernal machine is predictably on. It’s as if the Anglo-Zionist axis is using Kashmir as a volatile lab for a series of live tests – including pushing nuclear powers to the brink of confrontation. And all that dealt with casual insouciance – practically as a sideshow. Nothing coming from Sultan Erdogan and his intel apparatus could possibly be seen as trustworthy. In Syria, the MIT’s assets – the Headchopper Inc. congregated in Greater Idlibistan – ended up being installed in power in Damascus with their Zionist-friendly gang leader now posing as President. The comprador Yankee junta in Islamabad, for its part, may be facing the abyss – which in itself qualifies as auspicious news. In parallel, suspense accrues on whether Modi will show up for the Victory Day parade on May 9 in Moscow – and what he will tell his Russian hosts.

BRICS members Russia and Iran want the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) running smoothly to India sooner rather than later. The game gets even more complex when we see that the Iranian investigation is finally starting to consider that the horrendous explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port may have been an act of sabotage or an FPV strike. Extra pressure on China is a real motivator for setting up this war lab. Now Beijing not only needs to start worrying about an explosively renewed India-Pakistan front but also extra CIA/MI6 mischief pushing the Pak connection to Uighur Salafi-jihadis. There’s no chance in hell Delhi will really understand Beijing’s geopolitical predicaments. A perfect scenario for the Hybrid War gang. Meanwhile, at the BRICS front, at least there are some signs of rationality – coming, once again, from Grandmaster Lavrov.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/newstart_2024/status/1917807982898725100

Turns
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1917896792856727785

https://twitter.com/catturd2/status/1917586303337562559

Ice cream

Moore

Owl
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1917882423162896621

Ants
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1917999523122622651

https://twitter.com/NiallHarbison/status/1917901686397632739

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle April 25 2025

Apr 252025
 
 April 25, 2025  Posted by at 10:20 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  56 Responses »


Salvador Dali Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s Angelus 1933

 

• Trump: Russia’s Concession To Ukraine Is Not Taking The Whole Country (ZH)
• Trump Slams Zelensky Again (Margolis)
• Peace Will Come When Ukraine Withdraws From 4 Annexed Territories – Peskov (ZH)
• Russia Launches ‘Massive’ Missile Strike On Kiev, Leaving 9 Dead (ZH)
• Ukraine Preparing To Lose US Support – Bild (RT)
• Rubio and Witkoff Slam Politico Over ‘Fake Crap’ And ‘Fiction’ (RT)
• European Leaders Rejected US Proposal On Crimea – FT (RT)
• Russia Watches Western Europe Closely. It Has Reasons To Worry (Bordachev)
• Strategy Does Not Rhyme With Hypocrisy (Pacini)
• Russia Can Break Any Naval Blockade (Leiroz)
• Rubio and Trump’s Unfinished Business with ‘Bloated’ State Department (Devlin)
• ‘Coalition of The Willing’ Resolve Eroding – The Times (RT)
• Leading Liberals Call Upon Europeans to Resist the United States (Turley)
• China Dismisses Reports Of US Trade Progress As “Fake News” (ZH)
• The Method Behind the Madness of Trump’s “Tariff Wars” (Victor Davis Hanson)
• About the Judge Blocking Trump’s Election Integrity Order (Fred Lucas)
• UK To Greenlight Experiments To “Dim The Sun” In Bid To Stop Global Warming (ZH)
• EPA Head Demands Answers From Company Putting Sulfur Dioxide Into The Air (JTN)
• ‘Rewrite The Rules’ – Trump Store Teases Potential 2028 Reelection Bid (JTN)

 

 

 

 

Bessent

Tucker Massie
https://twitter.com/BryceMLipscomb/status/1915089434405491163

Hegseth

Racist

 

 

 

 

He’s completely right, but the story has been so distorted over the past three years that few people in the West will recognize that. Ukrainians claim that their army saved the country. But three years ago, in the initial invasion, Russia had Kiev largely surrounded. They retreated because they were tricked by Merkel et al into a “peace deal”.

Point of contention: “..the US will push Russia to acknowledge Ukraine’s right to maintain its military..” Seems doubtful. Russia already beat that military.

• Trump: Russia’s Concession To Ukraine Is Not Taking The Whole Country (ZH)

Reporters in the White House press pool challenged President Trump over some of his latest remarks regarding Ukraine and the possibility of peace. While in the Oval Office sitting across from Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump was asked what concessions Russia has “offered up thus far to get to the point where you’re closer to peace.” He quipped somewhat sarcastically, “Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country” — which he called a “pretty big concession.” Zelensky has made clear over the last few days that he’s not on board with Trump’s strategy, which has featured offering recognition of Russian ownership of Crimea as a key concession. These latest words from the US President yet again illustrate that he believes Ukraine has no chance of winning the war, and that he’s being a pragmatist and realist in seeking substantial concessions by Kiev.

When asked about whether the US might (again) cut weapons to Kiev and intelligence-sharing, Trump responded, “Let’s see what happens; I think we’re going to make a deal; ask that question in two weeks.” But Trump apparently plans to keep up the pressure on Moscow. A Thursday Bloomberg report says the US will push Russia to acknowledge Ukraine’s right to maintain its military and defense sector as part of any future peace deal. Steve Witkoff is expected to present the demand to Putin in the next upcoming round of negotiations. Among Putin’s key objectives in the war remains the ‘demilitarization’ of Ukraine.

Read more …

Crimea is -again- Russian, since 2014. But Zelensky says there isn’t even anything to talk about. Of course Putin gets tired of that. It’s not a serious conversation.

• Trump Slams Zelensky Again (Margolis)

President Donald Trump sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday after Zelensky rejected a U.S.-backed proposal that would have acknowledged Russian control over Crimea as part of a potential peace agreement. Amid ongoing efforts to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, Zelensky reaffirmed that Ukraine would not recognize Russia’s control over Crimea. It’s a firm stance, to be sure, but hardly unexpected given the circumstances. “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelensky said in a press conference. “There’s nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution.”

Trump, however, saw things differently, and in a post on Truth Social called his statement “very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion.” Trump continued, “Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?”

“The area also houses, for many years before “the Obama handover,” major Russian submarine bases. It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country. I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever. The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the “killing field,” and nobody wants that! We are very close to a Deal, but the man with “no cards to play” should now, finally, GET IT DONE. I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this Complete and Total MESS, that would have never started if I were President!”

The President’s remarks underscore the delicate balance required in international diplomacy. While Zelensky may be acting in what he believes is his nation’s best interest, Trump views his stance as a significant impediment to achieving a swift resolution. The Wall Street Journal has more: “Zelensky’s dismissal upends Trump’s latest gambit to halt the war in Ukraine—now in its fourth year—and casts new uncertainty on the future of the relationship between Kyiv and Washington, which Trump has made conditional on a quick deal. American officials had presented a series of ideas for ending the war, including the Crimea proposal, to Ukrainian officials last week and expected an answer on Wednesday at a summit in London, where Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials will gather. Zelensky said Russia should agree to a cease-fire before further talks to demonstrate “serious steps, and not childishness.” He said that Ukrainian officials meeting with U.S. and European officials in London would have a mandate to discuss a partial or full cease-fire, which Ukraine agreed to last month but Moscow rejected.”

A recent poll shows that while more Ukrainians are open to territorial concessions to end the war, rising from 8% in 2022 to 39% now, half the country still firmly opposes giving up any land. Even among those open to compromise, the idea of formally ceding Crimea remains politically untouchable in Ukraine. Officials have denounced the idea as a breach of international law and a dangerous precedent. Crimean Tatar lawmaker Tamila Tasheva warned that such a move would legitimize aggression and encourage future conflicts. Meanwhile, skepticism persists over whether Vladimir Putin is genuinely interested in peace, despite reports of productive talks with intermediaries like special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Read more …

Plus: No Nukes, No NATO, No Nazis. Nothing changed.

• Peace Will Come When Ukraine Withdraws From 4 Annexed Territories – Peskov (ZH)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has filled in a little bit more of the details in the wake of a Financial Times report issued Tuesday which said President Putin is offering to freeze the current battle lines for the sake of a peace deal. The significant concession came as a surprise to many, who asked what’s the catch. Peskov in Wednesday comments filled in the missing information, stressing that peace can be achieved if Ukrainian forces fully withdraw from territory in the four oblasts Moscow annexed in 2022. Financial Times wrote that “The proposal is the first formal indication Putin has given since the war’s early months three years ago that Russia could step back from its maximalist demands to end the invasion.”

Peskov in the fresh statement emphasized that Russia’s claim to the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia remain enshrined in its constitution. He was asked directly whether a Ukrainian withdrawal would end the war, to which he responded, “If Ukraine withdraws its troops from these four regions, then yes.” “According to the results of the referendums, these territories have entered the administrative borders of Russia. From our point of view, this is a de jure and de facto situation,” Peskov said. But so far Zelensky hasn’t even been willing to cede Crimea, despite the Russian-speaking population of the strategic peninsula long being firmly in Russian hands, also with its naval Black Sea fleet being stationed there since Soviet Times and throughout recent history.

President Trump said Wednesday that Ukraine “lost” Crimea years ago, and so it is “not even a point of discussion”. But Washington’s demands that Ukraine finally compromise on the issue has been rejected by Zelensky. Peskov commented on this too, expressing total agreement with Trump. “This completely corresponds with our understanding, which we have been saying for a long time,” he said. If the Ukrainian government did finally accede to Russia’s demands, it would lose 20% of its total territory, given this is about how much Russian forces currently occupy. The US is also said to currently be offering Ukrainian neutrality vis-a-vis NATO, alongside international recognition of Crimea as Russian territory. But talks have still not gotten off the ground, and the Trump admin is ramping up the pressure on Zelensky especially.

Read more …

Deaths updated to 12. If there really was such a massive strike, “center of Kiev, large-scale death”, there would be 12,000 deaths, not 12. Russia aims at infrastructure, not people.

• Russia Launches ‘Massive’ Missile Strike On Kiev, Leaving 9 Dead (ZH)

Amid stalled US-led peace talks, Russia launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine, including raining down ballistic missiles on the center of Kiev, unleashing large-scale death and destruction. At least nine people have been reported killed and over 70 injured in the capital city, in what was one of the largest and deadliest missile strikes on Ukraine in months. Some other cities, including Kharkiv, were also hit. Anti-aircraft systems began engaging inbound missiles and drones at about 1am local time. But after drones and missiles were able to make it through, several buildings – including a factory – and a house, as well as cars, were set on fire. BBC writes, “An apartment block was completely flattened during the attack and the windows of surrounding buildings were blown out and balconies ripped down.” “Russia has launched a massive combined strike on Kyiv,” Ukraine’s state emergency service announced on Telegram. “According to preliminary data, nine people were killed, 63 injured.”

President Trump early Thursday condemned the attack, saying he’s “not happy” with the Russian move. “Vladimir, STOP!” he wrote on Truth Social. “5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!” A large rescue effort has been underway given a missile head a densely populated area, with Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, saying of Svyatoshinsky district of Kiev, “Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins. The search will continue until everybody is got out. We have information about two children who cannot be found at the scene of the incident.” Ukrainian officials have cited that some 70 missiles and up to 150 drones were used against several cities in the devastating overnight attack. This new Thursday attack on the capital was the deadliest since last year’s July 8 attack on Kiev, which left 34 people dead and 121 injured.

It comes after the Zelensky government has expressed frustration that the White House should be more concerned and standing by Ukraine’s side, instead of holding bilateral talks toward diplomatic normalization with Russia. The latest Trump and Zelensky back-and-forth has focused on Crimea. Trump on Wednesday slammed the Ukrainian leader for rejecting a US proposal that would see Kiev give up all claims on Crimea. Trump pointed out that Crimea “was lost years ago” and that Zelensky has “no cards to play”. Zelensky then cited the 2018 “Crimea declaration” by Trump’s then secretary of state Mike Pompeo, which laid out that the United States “rejects Russia’s attempted annexation”. “There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine,” Zelensky had initially told reporters of the question of giving up Crimea permanently.

But Vice President JD Vance had also articulated while traveling in India, “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process.” He emphasized “The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.” Freezing the war now would certainly give Russian forces a huge advantage, given the immense territory in the East they now hold, and this is in large part why Zelensky is refusing such a deal.

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“..Kiev is now trying to renegotiate with Washington while simultaneously seeking support from its European sponsors..”

• Ukraine Preparing To Lose US Support – Bild (RT)

The leadership in Kiev is bracing for a “worst-case scenario” in which US President Donald Trump cuts off all American support, the German tabloid Bild has reported, citing anonymous sources within the Ukrainian government. Trump has reportedly increased the pressure on Ukraine to quickly accept Washington’s “final offer” to resolve the conflict. He has also warned that if negotiations between Moscow and Kiev stall, the US may “take a pass” and withdraw from its role as a mediator. “What is on paper and what is being signaled to us in the negotiations is unacceptable,” Bild wrote on Thursday, quoting a Ukrainian diplomat. “We are preparing for the worst-case scenario… and that means an end to US support,” another unnamed government insider told the paper.

The US president has been pushing for a resolution to the conflict, while also seeking a minerals extraction agreement with Ukraine to help offset the billions of dollars Washington has spent on military and financial aid. Trump temporarily halted military supplies and intelligence sharing with Kiev following a public dispute with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the White House in February. On Wednesday, Trump reiterated that Zelensky – who he once described as a “dictator without elections” – has been “more difficult to deal with” than Russian President Vladimir Putin. The remark came after Zelensky publicly rejected a reported provision of the US peace framework, insisting earlier this week that Kiev will not even discuss formally recognizing Crimea as Russian territory.

According to Bild, some officials in Kiev hope that Trump’s personal jabs at Zelensky were merely his way to apply pressure. “Our hope was that it was Trump’s negotiating tactic,” the outlet cited a Ukrainian government insider as saying. The report added that Kiev is now trying to renegotiate with Washington while simultaneously seeking support from its European sponsors. Kiev is still receiving weapons pledged by the previous US administration, but no new aid packages have been authorized since Trump took office, Zelensky said on Monday. His recent pleas for additional Patriot batteries and missiles have also gone unanswered.

Moscow has maintained that it is open to peace talks, provided its core security demands are addressed. It opposes any NATO presence on Ukrainian soil and has demanded that Kiev recognize Russia’s new borders and abandon its plans to join the US-led military bloc. Moscow has condemned the continued flow of Western weapons as detrimental to any lasting peace. The Russian government has also said it will not accept a temporary freeze of the conflict, which would only lead to renewed hostilities later on, citing Ukraine’s multiple violations of an Easter ceasefire and an earlier US-mediated moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure as proof of Kiev’s untrustworthiness.

Read more …

“Politico said Witkoff was the “main proponent” of the plan, allegedly due to a developing “friendship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his role as Trump’s envoy..”

• Rubio and Witkoff Slam Politico Over ‘Fake Crap’ And ‘Fiction’ (RT)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, have accused Politico of publishing “fiction” and “fake crap,” over a report by the media outlet on a potential Ukraine peace deal. In an article on Wednesday, Politico claimed that Washington is considering lifting sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline and “other Russian assets in Europe” as part of its peace efforts. Citing “five people familiar with the discussions,” Politico said Witkoff was the “main proponent” of the plan, allegedly due to a developing “friendship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his role as Trump’s envoy. The piece also claimed Rubio opposed the idea and quoted analysts warning it could hurt US LNG exports by reopening the EU market to Russian gas. Rubio was quick to respond, writing on X that the “piece of fiction” was “unequivocally false.” Witkoff responded with sharper language, calling the article “fake crap.”

Rubio and Witkoff are among the key figures in US-Russia discussions aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict. While the US-proposed peace framework has not been made public, reports suggest it could involve recognizing Crimea as Russian territory. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky recently dismissed any such proposals as “unconstitutional,” prompting Trump to accuse him of jeopardizing the peace process with “inflammatory statements” and warning that he could “lose the whole country” if he does not compromise.

US Vice President J.D. Vance echoed the sentiment, warning on Wednesday that Washington might “walk away” from talks unless Kiev and Moscow reach a deal soon, and stating that “both will have to give up some of the territory they currently own.” Russia has repeatedly said that the status of Crimea and the four other former Ukrainian regions that joined Russia after referendums is not up for negotiation. Moscow insists recognition of the “reality on the ground” is vital for lasting peace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned this week against relying on media reports regarding US-Russia talks, warning that “a lot of fakes are being published now, including by respected publications.” He advised the public to trust official sources instead.

Read more …

If a tree falls in a forest…

• European Leaders Rejected US Proposal On Crimea – FT (RT)

European leaders have rejected a US proposal to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea as part of a draft peace deal on the Ukraine conflict, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. European officials told the outlet that such a move could cause a rift within NATO and force Kiev’s backers to choose between sticking with Ukraine or siding with Washington. According to the report, US President Donald Trump’s team has presented Ukraine with a take-it-or-leave-it deal that includes Washington formally recognizing Crimea as Russian territory. US Vice President J.D. Vance has also suggested freezing the conflict along the current lines of control. A senior European diplomat told the FT that it would be “impossible” to accept the US proposal, while one EU official claimed that “Crimea and future NATO membership aspirations are red lines for us.”

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has also refused to even consider conceding Crimea, stating that the country’s constitution prohibits such a move. Trump has criticized Zelensky’s stance, calling it “very harmful” to peace negotiations and stating that “Crimea was lost years ago.” “He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” the US president wrote on social media this week. Officials cited by the FT said that if Trump unilaterally recognizes Crimea or lifts sanctions on Russia, it could trigger a severe split within NATO as well as the EU.

The Trump administration recently warned that the US could end its involvement in Ukraine peace talks if there is no progress soon, but also noted he has found it easier to negotiate with Russia than with Zelensky. Moscow has expressed appreciation for the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate a settlement of the conflict, and has indicated that it will maintain contact with Washington on the issue. At the same time, Russian officials have said that Kiev and its European backers don’t appear to want the conflict to end and are consistently undermining peace efforts.

Read more …

“The EU’s turn toward Russophobia is not strategic—it is compensatory. Western Europe’s global credibility continues to erode. The reason is simple: a lack of empathy and introspection. The continent views the world through a mirror, seeing only itself.”

• Russia Watches Western Europe Closely. It Has Reasons To Worry (Bordachev)

Western Europe is once again returning to a familiar role: a primary source of global instability. For Russia, this presents a critical question—should we simply turn our backs on the West and focus entirely on our eastern partners? Judging by the current trend in Russian foreign trade of Asian countries steadily taking a larger share, this conclusion may appear reasonable. Yet such a strategy, while tempting, is short-sighted. From antiquity to the present, Europe has often served as a destabilizing force. From the Greek island raiders who disrupted the Nile Valley civilizations, to modern Western European meddling in Africa and aggression in Ukraine, the continent has rarely chosen diplomacy over division. The dismantling of colonial empires and Western Europe’s post-war subordination to the United States softened this tendency. But today, old habits are re-emerging.

European political rhetoric may sound hollow, even absurd, given the continent’s dwindling economic and demographic weight. However, that does not make it less dangerous. Europe is no longer the heart of global politics, yet paradoxically remains its most likely flashpoint. Here, the possibility of a direct military clash between great powers remains disturbingly real. For Russia, Western Europe is a historical adversary, one that has long sought to dictate terms or impose its will. From Napoleon to Hitler, and now to Brussels’ bureaucrats, attempts to subdue or marginalize Russia have been met with fierce resistance. This enduring conflict defines much of our shared history. Today, facing its own developmental dead ends, Western Europe once again turns outward in search of a scapegoat. This time, the preferred solution is militarization, supposedly to counter a “Russian threat.”

The irony is obvious. The EU’s grand vision of integration is in disarray. Its socio-economic models are faltering. Britain, now outside the bloc, is no better off. Aging populations, failing welfare systems, and uncontrolled migration are stoking nationalist sentiments and pushing elites toward more radical postures. Finland, once neutral and pragmatic, now also leans into anti-Russian rhetoric to mask its growing internal malaise. Meanwhile, the institutions that once underpinned European unity are crumbling. The EU’s central structures in Brussels are widely viewed with disdain. National governments resist ceding further power, and the criteria for leadership within the bloc seem to have become cynicism and incompetence. For over a decade, the top posts have gone not to visionary leaders, but to pliable figures chosen for their loyalty and lack of ambition.

Gone are the days of Jacques Delors or even Romano Prodi, who at least understood the value of dialogue with Russia. In their place, we have figures like Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas, whose inability to achieve anything meaningful within the bloc leads them to seek relevance by provoking confrontation with Moscow. The EU’s turn toward Russophobia is not strategic—it is compensatory. Western Europe’s global credibility continues to erode. The reason is simple: a lack of empathy and introspection. The continent views the world through a mirror, seeing only itself. This solipsism, coupled with economic stagnation, makes it harder for its leaders to convert its shrinking economic advantages into geopolitical influence. Africa offers a telling case. France’s influence, once substantial in its former colonies, is rapidly vanishing. Local governments, tired of paternalistic lectures and ineffective policies, are turning instead to Russia, the United States, or even China to build new partnerships.

Even Western Europe’s relationship with the United States is entering a phase of uncertainty. As internal divisions grow in America, European elites accustomed to strategic dependence now find themselves increasingly anxious. They are unsure whether Washington will continue to shield them, or whether they will be left to face the consequences of their own miscalculations. This insecurity partly explains the EU’s heightened hostility toward Russia: it is a desperate bid for attention and relevance. Representatives of the new US administration have already hinted at the lack of real strategic contradictions with Russia. Such statements provoke panic in Brussels. Western European elites fear a US-Russia thaw that could leave them sidelined. They know Washington will not grant them independence in foreign policy, but they also fear that its patronage will no longer come with privileges.

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“Not even at Easter was it possible to have a little respite, because, ultimately, no one in the West really wants peace.”

• Strategy Does Not Rhyme With Hypocrisy (Pacini)

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, had called for an “Easter truce” on the occasion of the liturgical solemnity, celebrated this year throughout the Christian world. This was a sign of strong attention to the human dimension of war, too often forgotten in favor of journalistic narratives and the utility of politicians who profit from the blood of young people dying at the front, but also further proof of Russia’s willingness to find sensible and rational solutions to the conflict. Solutions that, once again, have been manipulated and exploited by the enemy. There is no peace even at Easter. In fact, Ukraine took advantage of the truce to turn the media narrative in its favor. The attack was twofold:

– In the media, Ukraine first accused Moscow of spreading falsehoods and, once the truce actually began (only on the Russian side), repeatedly accused Russia of continuing its attacks, repeatedly violating the truce. – The affair served to cover up and make people forget as much as possible about the events in Sumy, or Bucha 2025. – Strategically, Ukrainian soldiers tried to resupply some frontline positions and break through at some sensitive points, failing to do so but effectively firing on the enemy even though they knew it was a pause in the conflict. In Jus in bello, the law of war, a truce is a temporary suspension of hostilities agreed upon by the parties. When declared unilaterally by one party, it is not usually considered legally binding, but may nevertheless have practical and legal implications.

The Hague Convention of 1907, in Article 36, defines a truce as “the suspension of hostilities between the belligerents for a period fixed by them, either directly or through mediators.” Therefore, when only one party calls for a truce, there is no international legal obligation, but there is nevertheless a strong moral and political value, which generally demonstrates a clear willingness to respect and protect the needs and safety of civilians, as well as to attempt negotiation. There is always an open military risk. It is precisely the political nature of the affair that is strategically interesting. Kiev deliberately sabotaged the Easter truce because it is interested in continuing the military conflict. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported more than 50 attacks within the border areas with civilian casualties, including a 2-year-old girl in the Belgorod region. In addition to the bombing of Russian army positions, civilian areas in Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, and Lugansk were also attacked. On the global political scene, the unelected permanent president Zelensky has shown great hypocrisy, trying to manipulate Putin’s goodwill, but without success. The result is a demonstration of war mongering and a lack of humanity.

After the expiry of the “Easter truce,” Russian troops attacked the industrial zone of the “Storm” research institute in Odessa. The Russian Ministry of Defense also reported the detonation of an ammunition depot in the Kirzhach area due to a violation of safety regulations. Towards Sumy, Russian troops continued their offensive and liberated the Gornalsky monastery, also advancing into the fields towards Oleshnya. Towards Dzerzhinsky, Russian troops moved to fight on the outskirts of Dachnoye, partially surrounding Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the village. Fighters from the Russian Armed Forces’ 68th Tank Regiment are advancing north of Valentinovka and driving the enemy out of most of Sukha Balka. In terms of international politics, however, it is interesting to draw attention to what was announced by Donald Trump, who had planned to stop the war by Easter, or to obtain a truce of at least 30 days. None of this worked. The U.S. has once again confirmed that it is far from having any real capacity to intervene and influence the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

[..] On the EU/NATO side, Kaja Kallas chastised the U.S. for not using effective tools to put pressure on Russia, stating that “They have tools in their hands to actually put pressure on Russia. They have not used those tools,” and acknowledging that Russia is winning the game. She said that the EU, for its part, will never recognize the peninsula as Russian: ”Crimea is Ukraine. It means a lot to those who are occupied that others do not recognize this as Russian.” The EU therefore wants endless war with Russia under Washington’s umbrella, because it knows that Europe alone would not be able to survive a single day. Not even at Easter was it possible to have a little respite, because, ultimately, no one in the West really wants peace.

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“In the end, any blockade attempt will only amount to another strategic failure by the West — which continues to underestimate an adversary historically accustomed to resisting — and winning — when encircled.”

• Russia Can Break Any Naval Blockade (Leiroz)

The West’s hostile rhetoric against Russia has taken on increasingly aggressive tones, revealing a coordinated effort to isolate Moscow across all spheres — including the maritime domain. Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev recently stated that the European Union and the United Kingdom are currently preparing a naval blockade against Russia, a measure that constitutes a clear violation of international law and signals an unprecedented escalation in geopolitical tensions. More than a symbolic or diplomatic gesture, such a naval siege amounts to a declaration of economic and strategic warfare. Patrushev warned that Russia has more than enough means to respond to any provocation of this kind. He made it clear that, in the event of diplomatic failure, the Russian Navy would be authorized to take whatever measures are necessary to protect the country’s shipping.

First, it is necessary to understand what kind of “blockade” the West is planning to impose. In recent times, Western countries have threatened Russian vessels in various areas of the Atlantic Ocean, particularly in the Baltic Sea, which NATO increasingly treats as its own “lake” — while ignoring the military stronghold of Kaliningrad. Russian ships have also faced patrols and threats near ports and territorial waters of European nations, a situation that is becoming increasingly troubling. However, while there is still insufficient information to determine the West’s real intentions, it is essential to consider the possibility of a full-scale physical encirclement strategy. Although clearly impossible in a direct and frontal manner, such an idea could be pursued progressively through small-scale naval provocations along multiple routes close to Russian shores.

In this context, two key pillars would define Russia’s defensive strategy: the Arctic — where Moscow has built one of the world’s largest military infrastructures — and Russia’s colossal nuclear capability. Over the past decades, Russia has turned the Arctic into a strategic bastion. It now hosts not only highly equipped naval and air bases, but also alternative trade routes and power projection corridors — such as the Northern Sea Route, which is becoming increasingly viable with the melting of polar ice caps. Russia’s Northern Fleet, equipped with next-generation nuclear submarines and cruisers armed with long-range missiles, is strategically positioned to ensure the country’s maritime sovereignty and to prevent any logistical strangulation attempts. More than a defensive zone, the Arctic now functions as an offensive platform allowing Russia to project power not only across the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea, but also along European coastlines, if necessary.

The Western attempt to encircle Russia fails to consider this critical factor: Moscow is not bound by traditional routes, nor does it rely on the goodwill of European ports — its ability to break blockades is real and already operational. In parallel, Moscow is advancing an ambitious naval modernization program, incorporating autonomous systems, new operational doctrines, and a strategic posture that avoids the trap of an arms race but ensures regional superiority. Russia is not seeking direct confrontation, but it is prepared for it — across multiple domains, including the strategic one. And this is where nuclear deterrence comes into play — an element the West insists on ignoring or downplaying in its propaganda, but which remains the primary guarantor of Russian security. The nuclear doctrine of the Russian Federation is clear: in the face of an existential threat — even if not in the form of a direct nuclear attack —, the response may escalate to the use of nuclear weapons. This is not an empty threat, but a pillar of global stability — the same one that prevented direct conflict throughout the Cold War.

Russia’s strategic patrol submarines, many of them operating from Arctic bases, maintain a constant second-strike capability. Their warheads, dispersed and well-protected, ensure that any Western aggression can be met with devastating force. Thus, a naval blockade becomes not just a provocation, but a global risk — one that could trigger a conflict of unpredictable scale. Given this, it is up to the West to reflect on the consequences of its actions. London and Brussels may believe they can suffocate Russia with unilateral measures, but they deliberately ignore the military and geostrategic realities of the 21st century. The Russian Federation is not a vulnerable state; it is a fully capable power, ready to defend its vital interests — whatever the cost. The illusion of a successful naval siege says more about Western arrogance than about any Russian weakness. In the end, any blockade attempt will only amount to another strategic failure by the West — which continues to underestimate an adversary historically accustomed to resisting — and winning — when encircled.

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“Prior to Rubio’s arrival in Foggy Bottom, the State Department had 734 different offices, many with redundant tasks and responsibilities. Now, Rubio aims to decrease that number to 604 with the closure of 132 offices..”

• Rubio and Trump’s Unfinished Business with ‘Bloated’ State Department (Devlin)

If it hasn’t been made clear enough by now, President Donald Trump and his administration have unfinished business from his first term.That feeling is especially acute at the State Department. The first Trump administration’s plans to revive the American system were undermined by leakers and turncoats who sought to preserve the status quo. Such was the case at the State Department: When Trump proposed transformative cuts in 2017, the president faced resistance not just from deep state actors but from his own political appointees and Republicans in Congress. The four-year interregnum of President Joe Biden culminated in Trump’s return to Washington more powerful and more popular than ever. The mandate victory exposed just how wrong the establishment was in thinking the American people wanted Trump-lite—the American people wanted full-bodied Trump.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has brought that message to Foggy Bottom. On Monday, Rubio announced the most aggressive reorganization of the State Department in modern American history. This “comprehensive reorganization plan,” Rubio said in a statement, “will bring the department into the 21st Century.” Prior to Rubio’s arrival in Foggy Bottom, the State Department had 734 different offices, many with redundant tasks and responsibilities. Now, Rubio aims to decrease that number to 604 with the closure of 132 offices, according to a report from The Free Press. The nearly 20% reduction in State Department offices will come with the elimination of 700 civil service and foreign service employees. Beyond the closure of 132 offices, 137 offices will be consolidated into other divisions of the agency. Furthermore, the elimination of 700 foreign and civil service roles is just the tip of the iceberg, as Rubio has instructed his undersecretaries to produce plans within 30 days to slash their staff by 15%.

Some of the offices Rubio is looking to downsize employ thousands of people, thanks to the rapid growth of state department staffing over the last few decades. Prior to World War II, the State Department employed about 1,000. By 1946, the State Department had grown to 17,000 employees, somewhat understandable to meet the needs of the war and its aftermath. Today, the State Department employs around 80,000 people between foreign service, civil service, and locally employed staff. Cold War hires? No. In the year 2000, State Department employees numbered just over 30,000. In 25 years, the agency has nearly tripled in size. All the while, the Department of Defense has played an increasingly important role in international diplomacy at the expense of the State Department. Core State Department functions and efficacy have been undermined, due in no small part to over bureaucratization and left-wing capture that has diverted oodles of taxpayer dollars to liberal pet projects.

Rubio himself described the department as “bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition”: In the early days of Trump 1.0, the administration proposed a 28% cut to the State Department budget, with a $25.6 billion budget between the State Department and USAID. The proposal, Tillerson told State Department employees in an email at the time, “acknowledges that U.S. engagement must be more efficient, that our aid be more effective, and that advocating the national interests of our country always be our primary mission.” Those deep cuts failed to materialize, and Democrats were not solely to blame. Republicans in Congress opposed the plan, as well. Then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was “not in favor” of the cuts.

The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also said he was “very much opposed.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., went further, claiming Trump’s State Department cuts were “dead on arrival” and that “it would be a disaster.” Even Rubio expressed concerns at the time. Graham’s prediction turned out to be true: Republicans in Congress failed to deliver on the cuts that would have assisted Trump’s reform efforts. By 2021, the State Department saw a 2,000-person drop in foreign service staffers and still fewer reductions in civil service staff, but this was mostly credited to attrition and retirements. Now, Rubio is prepared to go farther than anyone in the first Trump administration—much less Rubio himself—imagined in 2017.

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“According to The Times, the UK-French plan was rolled back during talks in the UK capital on Wednesday.”

• ‘Coalition of The Willing’ Resolve Eroding – The Times (RT)

France and the UK displayed a weakening resolve to put boots on the ground in Ukraine, during recent talks in London, The Times has reported, citing anonymous sources.Defense chiefs from a number of European NATO states have been debating deploying forces to Ukraine as part of a self-titled “coalition of the willing.” The idea, led by France and the UK, was proposed as a means of providing Kiev with security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. Moscow has rejected outright the idea of troops from the US-led military bloc being deployed to Ukraine under any pretext. According to The Times, the UK-French plan was rolled back during talks in the UK capital on Wednesday.

“Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron of France have offered to deploy troops to Ukraine to keep the peace as part of a ‘coalition of the willing,’ but during talks in London sources told The Times there appeared to be a softening of the commitment,” the newspaper wrote on Wednesday. However, a defense source told the outlet that the UK is not prepared to abandon the plans entirely. Some European officials realise that Moscow would never tolerate the deployment of a force of NATO members’ troops to Ukraine, The Times reported. Russia has warned that it will consider such a troop presence as a NATO deployment, under the guise of peacekeepers or otherwise, and will treat it as a valid military target. Moscow has repeatedly stated that NATO’s eastward expansion and Kiev’s aspirations to join the military bloc are among the root causes of the Ukraine conflict.

The deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine could lead to a direct clash between the US-led bloc and Russia, setting off World War III, Russia’s National Security Council Secretary and former Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said. The troop deployment plan comes as EU states have floated a $840 [billion] militarization plan for the bloc, citing a perceived threat from Russia. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the EU’s continued flow of armaments to Ukraine, arguing that Western European nations appear more interested in prolonging the fighting rather than resolving the conflict diplomatically.

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“..the conference that declared “A New World Order with European Values.” Various Americans were present to reaffirm the worst about the United States..”

• Leading Liberals Call Upon Europeans to Resist the United States (Turley)

In his historic speech in Munich this year, Vice President J.D. Vance confronted the Europeans over their attacks on free speech, declaring “If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.” That is manifestly true, but it appears that there is something that certain Americans can still do for Europe. As the European Union ramps up its long-standing campaign against free speech, it is increasingly calling upon Americans to make the case against both free speech and the United States. The Europeans and globalists see the Trump Administration as a threat in the effort to create transnational governance systems. German diplomat Christoph Heusgen became emotional in responding to Vance, declaring “It is clear that our rules-based international order is under pressure. It is my strong belief that this more multipolar world needs to be based on a single set of norms and principles.”

American politicians and journalists quickly added their voices of condemnation. CBS anchor Margaret Brennan confronted Secretary of State Marco Rubio to suggest that Vance’s support for free speech was outrageous because he was “standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.” Brennan’s bizarre suggestion that free speech contributed to the death camps was amplified by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) who accused Vance of using “some of the same language that Hitler used to justify the Holocaust.” After the Munich speech, some of the leading anti-free speech figures in the world gathered at the World Forum in Berlin. I was one of the few speakers from the free speech community at the conference that declared “A New World Order with European Values.” Various Americans were present to reaffirm the worst about the United States as a nation descending into tyranny.

The two most celebrated figures were Bill and Hillary Clinton, who also criticized the current Administration. The appearance of Hillary Clinton was particularly chilling for the free speech community at the Forum. Clinton has been unrelenting in her attacks on free speech and is a favorite of globalists who want to create this new world order. After Musk bought Twitter with the intention of restoring free speech protections, Clinton called upon the European Union to use its infamous Digital Services Act to make Musk censor her fellow Americans. She has also suggested arresting those spreading disinformation. The EU did precisely that and is now threatening Musk with confiscatory fines unless he resumes the censorship of Americans and others. After returning from Berlin, I testified in the Senate Judiciary Committee and warned about the building threat to free speech from the use of the DSA.

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China sends out all sorts of people commenting. But Trump wants to talk to XI one-on-one. No “point person for the dialogue..” or anything like that.

Xi bets on Americans turning on Trump, if things get more expensive. But China, too, has domestic breaking points.

• China Dismisses Reports Of US Trade Progress As “Fake News” (ZH)

Wednesday’s equity market rollercoaster—sharp pops and drops—was driven by conflicting reports on headlines surrounding potential U.S.-China trade talks. Markets surged after a Wall Street Journal report suggested President Trump considered cutting steep tariffs on Chinese imports. But sentiment quickly reversed when Reuters poured cold water on the claim. Further declines followed after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified there had been “no unilateral offer from Trump” to reduce Chinese tariffs and that a trade deal could take two to three years to finalize. In the overnight hours, China demanded Washington remove unilateral tariffs before engaging in trade talks and rejected the claim that any negotiations had progressed.

“The US should respond to rational voices in the international community and within its own borders and thoroughly remove all unilateral tariffs imposed on China, if it really wants to solve the problem,” Ministry of Commerce’s spokesman He Yadong told reporters at a regular briefing on Thursday in Beijing. Yadong rejected any signs of progress in bilateral communications, indicating that “reports on development in talks are groundless.” He said Washington needs to “show sincerity” if both sides want to make a deal. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun also called any rhetoric coming from the Trump administration about deal progress “fake news” in a press conference.

The Trump administration’s softening stance—reported by the WSJ, which sent US equity markets higher early Wednesday—may signal a willingness by the US to de-escalate the trade war with Beijing in order to shift to the negotiating phase. Trump told reporters on Wednesday: “Maybe we’ll make a special deal, and we’ll see what it will be. Right now, [the tariffs are] 145%, that’s very high.” One day earlier, Treasury Secretary Bessent told investors at a closed-door meeting: “No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable, at 145% and 125%, so I would posit that over the very near future, there will be a de-escalation. We have an embargo now on both sides.” Alfredo Montufar-Helu, senior adviser at The Conference Board’s China Center, told the Shanghai Morning Post that “news today confirms China has no intention to reach out first with a proposal of its own.”

“The impasse in negotiations is driven by a very simple dynamic; no side wants to bear with the political costs of being seen as capitulating to the other side,” Montufar-Helu explained. According to Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, even if the negotiations between China and the US start immediately, reaching an agreement could take time, and mounting risks exist. The tariff war on both sides could soon unleash pain across global trade. “It takes time for trade negotiations to proceed between the US and other countries. This means the tariffs will hit global trade and economies for at least several months. It is not clear to what extent inventory build-up and pre-loading of trade in the past few months will help to soften the immediate damage. The question now is how bad trade and other macro data will be in China, the US and other countries,” Zhiwei said.

[..] Bloomberg reported last week that Beijing wants to see several things from Trump’s administration before trade talks begin, such as more respect and naming a point person for the dialogue. Neither side has announced any upcoming bilateral trade meetings despite Trump’s announcement this week to ease tariffs potentially.

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“..the EU people want to help the American Left, and one of the ways they think they can is to stonewall and watch the bond and stock market go down.”

• The Method Behind the Madness of Trump’s “Tariff Wars” (Victor Davis Hanson)

Where are we in the trade wars, the tariff wars? The stock market recently has recovered somewhat. We’re about where it was in August. I didn’t think it was too bad in August of 2024. It’s recovering 1% to 2%, on occasion. And why is that? Because Donald Trump has announced that JD Vance and his wife, who is of Indian legacy—her family was born in India—met with the Indian government officials, and there may be a trade deal. Japan has been talking with us. They both want—us and Japan—want a deal. Japan says we moved the goalpost. We say, “They’re not serious.” But there’s going to be a deal there. And more importantly, Donald Trump said he was willing to lower tariffs on China. Now the Left says, “Oh, he’s caving, he’s caving. This was all unnecessary.” You could interpret it that way. But it’s more likely “Art of the Deal.”

In other words, “We’re going to invade Panama,” but we’re not going to invade Panama. We just want Panama to let American companies run the exit and the entry to the canal—and that’s probably going to happen. “Canada’s going to be the 51st state.” No. It’s not going to be the 51st state. But Canada should defend themselves and pay 2% of their GDP, and they need to address a $65-$100 billion deficit. But, “We want to absorb Greenland.” No. We don’t. We want Denmark—a colonial power with this huge North American colony—we want them to help them a little bit. And indeed, they’re starting to put Greenland on their imperial flags, and they gave them a billion dollars, and the base is secure. And the Greenland people, 50,000 or so, will want U.S. security. So, that is the “Art of the Deal.”

And to get China to come and reduce its $300 billion trade surplus with the United States, Donald Trump talked about these huge tariffs. Now, he will talk down and we’ll probably get a deal in an “Art of the Deal” fashion. We saw that with NATO. He harangued them in 2018. They were furious. Said he might not come to their aid. They haven’t met their 2%, 2014 promises. And guess what? They started to spend more in defense. Timely so, because when the Ukraine war broke out, Europe had spent a billion dollars more on defense expenditure. And more importantly, they had Finland and Sweden, two of the most muscular of all the European nations in terms of munitions and defense readiness, now both part of NATO. That worked.

And I think the same thing is happening with trade. Here’s the dynamic: the Europeans detest Donald Trump more than they see their self-interest. In other words, they would rather be on the outside of these trade negotiations and punish Donald Trump than they would be with the Asian powers and make a deal and profit, mutually with the United States. And partly that’s because they’re akin to the American Left. And, as we saw with Jamie Raskin, a representative in the Congress, he said to each country, “If you cut a deal with this administration [the Trump administration] we’re going to remember that.” So, the EU people want to help the American Left, and one of the ways they think they can is to stonewall and watch the bond and stock market go down. And then they could come in later with more favorable concessions from the United States.

The problem with that thinking is that if India cuts a deal and South Korea cuts a deal—and now they’re talking about Japan, Taiwan, Australia—the Trump administration has already established, openly, transparently, that those countries that are first to cut a deal will get the most favorable terms. And so, the more people that come in and have a reciprocal agreement with the United States—I’m not saying it’s going to be parity. I’m not saying we’re going to get down to zero deficits—but if we cut this trillion-dollar deficit by half, that will be a considerable achievement. The Europeans, then, will see that they’re left out. And especially if we come to an accord in the next month or so with China—not that we’re going to be able to force China to have no tariffs on their part. But we might be able to lower them and then make them buy American products to reduce that $300 billion—If that were to be true, then Europe has missed the boat.

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Lawfare doesn’t rhyme with election integrity. The President can’t order fair elections, only Congress can.

“The Democratic National Committee and left-leaning nonprofit groups sued to block the order from being implemented, claiming it would cause voter suppression..”

• About the Judge Blocking Trump’s Election Integrity Order (Fred Lucas)

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked part of President Donald Trump’s executive order on election integrity. Kollar-Kotelly, who was appointed to the District Court for the District of Columbia by President Bill Clinton in 1997, has a history of left-leaning decisions on free speech, transgender policy, terrorist detention, and more recently, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The Democratic National Committee and left-leaning nonprofit groups sued to block the implementation of the order. Kollar-Kotelly granted the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary injunction and noted they are likely to prevail. “Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the states —not the president–with the authority to regulate federal elections,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote in the opinion.

“Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would effect many of the changes the president purports to order. And no statutory delegation of authority to the executive ranch permits the president to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.” The judge blocked provisions in the executive order to add documentary proof of citizenship to the standardized national voter registration form. She also blocked the portion of the order that requires federal agencies to assess citizenship before providing a federal voter registration form to people receiving public assistance. Trump’s order adds citizenship scrutiny to the national mail voter registration form, withholds federal grants from states that count mail ballots arriving after Election Day, gives states more access to a federal database to better verify voter registration lists, and directs the Justice Department to prioritize enforcing voting laws.

Trump’s order addressing voter registration lists is significant. As noted in my book, “The Myth of Voter Suppression,” states and localities across the United States have failed to update their voter registration lists to eliminate dead people, people who have moved, or people who are not citizens. Failing to update the voter rolls is a violation of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. The Democratic National Committee and left-leaning nonprofit groups sued to block the order from being implemented, claiming it would cause voter suppression. Here are six things to know about Kollar-Kotelly.

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Mass hysteria manifested in the flesh.

• UK To Greenlight Experiments To “Dim The Sun” In Bid To Stop Global Warming (ZH)

It’s a project reminiscent of the movie Snowpiercer, in which governments institute a global experiment to spray chemicals into the atmosphere to stop global warming and end up creating a new ice age instead. Once again reality is downstream from fiction as the UK is set to bankroll an experiment to “dim the sun”. This goal will be pursued in field trials which could include injecting aerosols into the atmosphere, or brightening clouds to reflect sunshine. The project is being considered by scientists as a way to prevent “runaway climate change”, despite the fact that there is zero evidence to support the claim of runaway climate change. Aria, the Government’s advanced research and invention funding agency, has set aside £50 million for projects, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Prof Mark Symes, the program director for Aria (Advanced Research and Invention Agency), said there would be “small controlled outdoor experiments on particular approaches”. “We will be announcing who we have given funding to in a few weeks and when we do so we will be making clear when any outdoor experiments might be taking place,” he said. “One of the missing pieces in this debate was physical data from the real world. Models can only tell us so much. Everything we do is going to be safe by design. We’re absolutely committed to responsible research, including responsible outdoor research. We have strong requirements around the length of time experiments can run for and their reversibility and we won’t be funding the release of any toxic substances to the environment.” One major area of research is Sunlight Reflection Methods (SRM), which includes Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) whereby tiny particles are released into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight.

Another potential project is Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) in which ships would spray sea-salt particles into the sky to enhance the reflectivity of low-lying clouds. Climate scientists say efforts to reduce carbon emissions are not working fast enough and that levels are “too high”, leading to irregular weather patterns and eventually the temperature “tipping point” in which an exponential crisis is created by heat creating carbon and then carbon creating more heat. The problem is that nothing in this theory is backed by causational evidence or the climate history of the Earth. In other words, climate scientists are siphoning up government grant money to create solutions to a problem that doesn’t exist. The vast majority of climate change theories are based on data collected since the 1880s – 140 years of data is a insignificant window of time in the long lifespan of the Earth’s climate.

When we look at the temperature data over millions of years, we find that today’s temps are near the lowest in our planet’s history (we just exited an Ice Age not long ago and climate scientists want us to believe it’s too hot).

When comparing millions of years of carbon data to parallel temperature data, it becomes clear that there is no correlation between carbon levels and global warming. This graph also proves that carbon and temperature levels can rise and fall independently of human industry and human industry’s effects on these patterns is negligible or non-existent.

There is also no data to prove correlation or causation between carbon emissions and extreme weather patterns. The entirety of the climate change theory is based on lab models with no corresponding examples in nature. It is pure hysteria. This makes the use of atmospheric manipulation by governments all the more disturbing. If they truly are trying to “dim the sun” for the sake of preventing global warming, then they are doing so based on a delusion. There is also the possibility that they know man-made climate change is nonsense and these experiments serve another purpose. In either case, they should be stopped. No one voted for politicians to blot out the sun (or to find a way to blot out the sun). No one gave them permission to pump particulates or chemicals into the sky. Their actions constitute a radical violation of the public trust.

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50 years ago, sulfur dioxide meant acid rain. Today it must save the world. This is far worse than mass hysteria. Stop these fools. Lock them up with Al Gore.

• EPA Head Demands Answers From Company Putting Sulfur Dioxide Into The Air (JTN)

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is demanding a company that deliberately sends sulfur dioxide into the air to combat global warming provide detailed information on its practices. Critics of the practice, which is called geoengineering, say it puts potentially harmful pollutants into the air and needs more oversight. The company Zeldin is scrutinizing, Make Sunsets, sells “cooling credits.” The credits pay to launch weather balloons made of biodegradable latex containing hydrogen and sulfur dioxide. According to the company, each $5 credit it sells offsets the warming impact of one ton of carbon dioxide for one year. Last year, the company posted on its X account videos of balloon launches. According to the Make Sunsets website, the company has sold 125,717 “cooling credits” since February 2023, delivered by 147 balloons.

As the balloon rises, the decreasing air pressure causes it to burst. They try to make the balloon burst above 66,000 feet, upon which they issue the “cooling credits.” Make Sunsets was founded by entrepreneur Luke Iseman and former account executive Andrew Song. The company is backed by venture capitalists Boost VC, Draper Associates, Pioneer Fund and unnamed “angel investors.” The company isn’t the only company looking at various approaches to geoengineering, nor is it a new concept. More than a decade ago, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates was lobbying governments and international organizations to back research into how sulfur dioxide could be used to counteract global warming.

Last year, The New York Times reported on an experiment by University of Washington researchers on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in Alameda, California. The researchers sprayed an aerosol of sea salt to brighten clouds and make them reflect more sunlight. This May, experts and advocates of geoengineering – also called solar radiation modification (SRM) – are gathering for a conference on the topic. The “Degrees 2025 Global Forum” features an agenda full of speakers from around the world. The interest in geoengineering is driven by claims that climate change is producing dangerous outcomes, which many experts dispute. With global emissions continuing to rise despite trillions spent pursuing “net zero” – which is balancing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere with the amount removed – geoengineering proponents say it’s a “Plan B” to stop global warming.

Critics of geoengineering say it’s potentially dangerous and possibly unnecessary. Steve Milloy, senior legal fellow with the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute and publisher of “JunkScience.com,” told Just the News that the balloons Make Sunsets is sending up are likely harmless because the scale of the operation is so small. To have any significant impact on global temperatures, Milloy said, the operation would have to put tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which would cause harm. “All this stuff is just kind of crazy because – well, it’s not kind of crazy, it’s just crazy. In the first place, it’s really not going to work. For it to work, you’d have to do it on such a scale that we would have acid rain again,” Milloy said.

During the 1970s and 1980s, acid rain became a widespread environmental concern, explored in situation comedies and news reports. Acid rain falls when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are emitted into the atmosphere and transported by wind and air currents. The two gases react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. They mix with water condensing in the atmosphere and fall to the ground. Dr. Matthew Wielicki, a geologist and author of the “Irrational Fear” Substack, explains in an article on geoengineering that beginning in the 1990s, the U.S. began implementing regulations aimed at sulfur emissions from diesel engines. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel was expensive and drove up the cost of shipping, which drove up the cost of everything, Wielicki explains.

Unlike carbon dioxide, which stimulates plant growth, sulfur dioxide, Wielicki wrote, causes genuine environmental harm, including soil acidification, forest degradation, infrastructure corrosion and severe aquatic ecosystem damage. “This tangible harm justified sulfur regulations,” Wielicki warns. “Yet now, geoengineering advocates want to intentionally pump sulfur into our atmosphere, ignoring decades of clear scientific evidence regarding sulfur’s proven environmental and health damage.” Just the News reached out to Make Sunsets to ask about the safety of their operation and Zeldin’s request for details about its operation, but didn’t receive a response. Make Sunsets co-founder Iseman told the MIT Technology Review the company is part entrepreneurial and partly an act of geoengineering activism meant to get attention. “We joke slash not joke that this is partly a company and partly a cult,” he told the Review. With the threat of climate change, he said, “It’s morally wrong, in my opinion, for us not to be doing this.”

In a press release, Zeldin said Make Sunsets is banned in Mexico, and it’s not clear the company has been in contact with state, local or federal agencies. Noting the potential environmental and respiratory health impacts of sulfur dioxide, the EPA states that the gas has been regulated since 1971. The EPA told Just the News that Make Sunsets is the only entity in the U.S. currently launching sulfur dioxide balloons with the intention of geoengineering. The agency gave the company a deadline of May 14 to answer its questions. In a letter to the company, the EPA warns that a failure to comply in a timely manner could result in monetary penalties. The EPA is asking Make Sunsets to provide information on the physical location of the company, the number of employees, its annual revenues and its expenditures for carbon credits. It’s also asking for detailed information on its balloon launches and their contents, including what gases they contain and how they’re sourced.

The agency is also asking about any communications the company has had with federal, state and local authorities, and any enforcement actions, such as consent decrees, related to air emissions that apply to Make Sunset’s operations. Milloy said that the science behind the cooling effect of sulfur dioxide is solid. Research has shown, for example, the 2001 Mount Pinatubo eruption lowered global temperatures for about 15 months after the eruption due to the cooling effect of the particles it put into the atmosphere. The problem with geoengineering, he said, is that lowering temperatures by increasing sunlight reflection will impact agriculture, in addition to acid rain. On a global scale, it could create all kinds of problems. “Do we really want the Chinese getting involved in this and trying to control our weather?” Milloy asked.

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“The future looks bright! Rewrite the rules with the Trump 2028 high crown hat..”

• ‘Rewrite The Rules’ – Trump Store Teases Potential 2028 Reelection Bid (JTN)

First son Eric Trump on Thursday shared a link to the Trump store that appeared to tease a third term for President Donald Trump, with hats and shirts that read “Trump 2028 (rewrite the rules).” The president has floated that there are ways for him to run for a nearly unprecedented third term, which has only been achieved by the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and which is now prohibited under the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. President Trump has not specified how he would be able to skirt the 22nd Amendment, except to acknowledge that Vice President JD Vance running, winning and then allowing Trump to be president is a possibility.

The Trump store website charges $50 for the Trump 2028 hat, and $36 for the shirts. “The future looks bright! Rewrite the rules with the Trump 2028 high crown hat,” a description of the item reads. “Fully embroidered with a snap closure in the back, this will become your new go-to hat.” One lawmaker, Tennessee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles, has suggested making it possible for presidents to serve three terms if they do not serve more than two terms back to back. This would allow Trump to seek a third term, because of the gap in his presidencies.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Autism
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1915205991664099623

 

 

 

 

Growth

 

 

Lions

 

 

Eco

 

 

Dressed
https://twitter.com/Suzierizzo1/status/1914901582140809390

 

 

Today I swung my front door wide open and placed my Remington 30.06 on the deck rail. I left six cartridges beside it, then left it alone and went about my business. While I was gone, the mailman delivered my mail, my neighbor across the street mowed his lawn, a girl walked her dog down the street, and quite a few cars stopped at the stop sign near the front of my house. After about an hour, I checked on the gun. It was still sitting there, right where I had left it. It hadn’t moved itself off the deck rail. It hadn’t killed anyone, even with the numerous opportunities it had presented to do so.

In fact, it hadn’t even loaded itself. You can imagine my surprise, with all the hype by the Left and the Media about how dangerous guns are and how they kill people. Either the media is wrong or I’m in possession of the laziest gun in the world. The United States is third in murders throughout the World. But if you take out just four cities: Chicago , Detroit , Washington DC and New Orleans , the United States is fourth from the bottom, in the entire world, for murders.

These four Cities also have the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S. All four of these cities are CONTROLLED BY DEMOCRATS. It would be absurd to draw any conclusions from this data – correct? Well, I’m off to check on my spoons. I hear they’re making people fat .

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle April 22 2025

Apr 222025
 
 April 22, 2025  Posted by at 9:56 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  46 Responses »


Edward Hopper The Lee Shore 1941

 

• Trump Wants Direct Talks With Xi – Politico (RT)
• China Is In Economic Dire Straits And They’re No Longer Able To Hide It (ZH)
• China’s Gray Trade Strategy Blunts Impact of US Tariffs (Gorrie)
• The Shanghai Spirit – China Will Take No Bullying (Pepe Escobar)
• Trump Wants Piece Of Russia Claimed By Kiev – WSJ (RT)
• Trump Slams Supreme Court Over Blocking Deportations (JTN)
• Do You Prefer White Liberal States To Hispanic States? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Trump Wants A Deal. Putin Wants Victory. Ukraine Will Get What It Deserves (RT)
• Putin Reacts To EU Threats On Victory Day (RT)
• Is a Coup Against Pete Hegseth Brewing at the Pentagon? (Margolis)
• Hegseth Slams Media Over Latest Smear Campaign: ‘Full of Hoaxsters’ (Margolis)
• US Senator Ron Johnson Says New 9/11 Investigation Could Happen (RT)
• Canada’s Conservatives See A Reversal of Fortune (JTN)
• Trump Administration Halts New York Offshore Wind Project (Wade)
• The UK Is Doubling Down On Wind Energy (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Rickards
https://twitter.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1914201957213814828

112
https://twitter.com/defense_civil25/status/1914296461870702669

O’Leary

Thiel

Tucker

 

 

 

 

Trump shuts down all potential communication lines between him and Xi. Except for those he wants. Direct line. Call me.

• Trump Wants Direct Talks With Xi – Politico (RT)

US President Donald Trump has stifled almost every channel of diplomatic outreach with China, aiming to deal directly with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, as the trade war between the two superpowers escalates, Politico has reported citing anonymous sources. The increasing tit-for-tat duties between the US and China is part of a broader US tariff campaign against more than 90 countries, said to be aimed at addressing unfair trade imbalances. While Trump has paused the hikes for most countries for 90 days, Beijing was excluded and faces a 145% tariff. China has retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods and restricted certain key exports. The US president is adamant about direct negotiations with Xi, and has stifled other diplomatic avenues, Politico wrote on Saturday, citing anonymous former US State Department officials and an industry official.

Trump has not authorized White House delegates to engage with Beijing, the outlet cited its sources as saying. In addition, the Senate has not confirmed a US ambassador to China, Trump has not nominated an official to lead a diplomatic effort, and Washington has thus far not reached out to the Chinese embassy, Politico reported. “The backchannels don’t work because President Trump doesn’t want them to,” Ryan Hass, former director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the National Security Council during the Obama administration, told the outlet. “Trump wants to deal directly with President Xi in the same way he has with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. Washington is waiting for Beijing to reach out and call first, CNN wrote earlier this month, citing anonymous officials.

“China wants to make a deal. They just don’t know how quite to go about it,” Trump has said. “They’re proud people.” Additionally, Washington intends to use negotiations over potential tariff exemptions to pressure US trading partners to curb their ties with China and ramp up pressure on Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing unnamed sources. In a statement on Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry stressed that it would retaliate against any country that takes such a deal “at the expense of China’s interests.”

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Memories of all the roads to nowhere and the giant empty apartment buidings a few years ago.

• China Is In Economic Dire Straits And They’re No Longer Able To Hide It (ZH)

Official economic data from any government is always treated with suspicion by anyone with common sense. The US, for example, witnessed some of the most egregious statistical tinkering imaginable under the Biden Administration, not to mention outright lies and propaganda from the establishment media on the health of the economy. To this day no one has been fired (or tarred and feathered) for hiding the reality of the stagflation crisis. Any government or corporate economist that called the threat “transitory” should be stripped of their financial prestige and banished to a cash register at Arby’s. And let’s not forget Biden’s misrepresentation of the labor market, portraying millions of new jobs for illegal migrants and visa holders as if they were jobs benefiting American citizens. In the US and across the western world, lying about the economy is generally seen by politicians as a temporary solution to secure reelection.

However, in China, lying about the economy is treated as a national security imperative. If there’s anything in the world that gives communists a feeling of existential dread, it’s the fear that their ideological enemies will discover proof that communism doesn’t work. The Trump Administration’s tariffs on China are not the initiator of the nation’s troubles, they are more a bookend to a process of decline that has been ongoing for years. Overall tariffs on Chinese goods currently sit at 124%, but some goods will be taxed as high as 245%. Trump has given a 1 month exemption on electronic parts and devices, perhaps to offer manufacturers like Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft time to arrange sourcing from alternative vendors. The problem for Chinese manufacturers is not just the tariffs but the uncertainty of timing and sudden changes to policy. They say no one is willing to make a big move on production or shipments until the trade landscape becomes more predictable. This means most Chinese factories are frozen in stasis.

Trump’s tariff actions are widely criticized by the media as erratic or poorly planned, but what they don’t understand is that uncertainty is the real leverage, not the tariffs. What seems like a spur of the moment decision or a sudden capitulation on Trump’s part can be highly effective at throwing foreign governments and corporations off balance. Globalism requires a perpetual status quo, change of any kind is like holy water to a vampire. Chinese shipments are on standby and orders are frozen. Nothing is moving. At bottom, China will not be able to survive tariffs on the current scale for long (a single year of 124% tariffs would crush China’s economy beyond repair). The US is 15% of China’s export market, which may not sound substantial but their next largest trading partner (outside of Hong Kong) is Vietnam at 4% of exports.

In terms of domestic buying, China is 11% of the global consumer market which is not too shabby, but compared to the US with its 30%-35% global consumer market share there is no chance that the Chinese will be able to fill the void domestically and stay afloat. But the situation is far worse than most people know… China has been suffering from a deflationary crisis since 2023. An uptick in exports during the pandemic was offset by the CCP’s draconian lockdowns. This was, essentially, fiscal suicide on the part of the government and China has been struggling ever since. Their property market has imploded, partially due to overbuilding through government subsidized infrastructure programs that flooded the market with poorly constructed homes and buildings that were then left to rot. Corporate defaults have run rampant and left investors with nothing.

There was some optimism that the government’s measures to end the crisis had been working to reinvigorate the market, but on Mar 31st, government-linked developer Vanke reported a record 49.5 billion yuan (S$9.1 billion) annual loss for 2024. It’s the company’s first full-year loss since its initial public offering in 1991, reigniting concerns about the sector and showing just how deep the problem runs. When these projects do finally see some progress it is often due to dangerously poor construction standards and subpar workmanship; what many now refer to as “Tofu Dreg” buildings. The deflationary spiral has been eating away at employment and has also resulted in numerous factories refusing to pay their workers on time (or at all). Unpaid wages are leading to frequent protests and a disturbing trend of factory fires. The government is limited in how it can respond to the problem. Stimulus is an option, but China’s overall non-financial debt is well over 300% of GDP already.

China’s attempts to hide the decay from the outside world are becoming less and less effective. With Chinese citizens able to access the internet beyond the “Great Firewall”, more and more videos are being leaked by people within the country who are tired of the misinformation. Again, the CCP views negative economic data as a national security threat and any citizen caught leaking this info could be subject to harsh punishment. Chinese citizens have taken substantial risks to get the truth out there. It cannot be stressed enough that the global economy is largely a farce, but China is closest to the edge of the cliff in terms of consequences and crisis. The interdependency of globalism has left many nations without the ability to weather a trade dispute and China’s survival is almost entirely based on steady exports to the west and the US in particular. Don’t let high paid TikTok and YouTube influencers fool you with videos of Chinese skyscrapers caked with LED lights or lavish parties with dancing robots. This is not the true China. Underneath the facade is a nation on the brink of disaster.

Read more …

China tries to export to US via Vietnam because of tariffs. Easy to shut down.

• China’s Gray Trade Strategy Blunts Impact of US Tariffs (Gorrie)

Is a new boom in deceptive trading practices taking shape in many parts of the world? As the U.S.–China trade war intensifies, it certainly looks that way. With U.S. tariffs reaching 145 percent on Chinese imports—at least at the time of this writing—Beijing’s new strategy seems to include the use of so-called gray trade to bypass American trade barriers. Gray trade involves rerouting goods through low-tariff countries, such as Vietnam, Mexico, or Malaysia, to conceal their Chinese origin and thereby reduce U.S. import duties. This sneaky tactic has surged as a response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, making China’s goods less competitive in the U.S. market due to their added cost.

Gray Trade Loophole Strategy The simple idea behind gray trade is to exploit loopholes in U.S. Rules of Origin, the trading guidance for determining a product’s country of origin for tariff purposes. Chinese goods, for example, will remain unassembled or may be about 90 percent manufactured before being shipped to an intermediary country. There, they undergo final production, assembly, processing, repackaging, or relabeling to qualify as originating from that country, rather than from China. For example, Chinese electronic parts may be sent to Vietnam, assembled into a product, and then labeled, “Made in Vietnam.” This enables China to benefit from the 10 percent tariff on Vietnamese imports under Trump’s 2025 reciprocal tariff regime, instead of the 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. It’s a perfectly sensible response by Beijing, and there’s no doubt that Chinese firms are rerouting goods through Vietnam, Mexico, and Turkey to exploit lower tariffs on goods sourced from those countries. A related tactic occurring in Mexico involves dividing goods into packages that are below the $800 tariff-free threshold for non-Chinese origins, a tactic called the “Tijuana two-step.”

China Has to Resort to Gray Trade But gray trade isn’t new or even unfamiliar to the second Trump administration. During Trump’s first term, Chinese solar manufacturers bypassed 30 percent tariffs by partnering with their neighbors in Southeast Asia. In 2025, tracing the movement and provenance of vast numbers of products is complex at best and nearly impossible at worst, making it a challenge to disrupt gray trade. It’s no mystery why Beijing is engaging in gray trade. With its exports to the United States accounting for 10 percent of its trade and supporting between 10 million and 20 million jobs, some experts say the world’s largest manufacturer faces an estimated 80 percent decline in its exports over the next two years, if the gray trade were to cease.

As domestic economic conditions decline due to the anticipated extensive trade tensions, China’s 2025 GDP projections have fallen from 5 percent to as low as 4 percent, potentially resulting in a 20 percent drop in GDP growth in just one year. With joblessness among its young people (ages 16 to 24) already approaching 17 percent, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) faces a growing resentment among its people. The Party would like to avoid an uprising by its younger generation. The gray trade has provided a much-needed cushion against the blow of the Trump administration’s high tariffs. For instance, according to official data, China’s exports surged by 12.4 percent in March, with exports to ASEAN increasing by 11.6 percent and exports to Vietnam climbing by nearly 19 percent.

Impact on Low-Tariff Countries But it’s not just China that gains from gray trade. Its low-tariff country partners also gain economically from gray trade but face risks, too. Gray trading partners, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico, profit from trade and processing fees, with some estimates on the social media platform X reaching as high as 10 percent. It’s worth noting that between 2017 and 2022, Vietnam replaced almost half of China’s lost market share in U.S. imports. However, gray trading partner countries risk the consequences of U.S. pushback, resulting in a delicate balancing act for these countries caught between gray trade with China and managing important trading relationships with the United States.

Economic and Geopolitical Implications Economically, gray trade preserves China’s U.S. market access for the moment, but it raises costs as intermediaries take their cut, with logistics costs also increasing. For U.S. consumers, it may delay steep price hikes, but won’t eliminate them. Geopolitically, Beijing’s retaliatory 125 percent tariffs on U.S. goods, plus adding barriers to U.S. beef and LNG imports, raise tensions even higher. CCP leader Xi Jinping’s recent visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia could have secured their gray trade hubs going forward.

But the impact of gray trade is perhaps deeper and wider than many may expect. On the one hand, it’s a reasonable response on China’s part to U.S. tariffs. But on the other hand, there are greater risks. The United States could expand tariffs or use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to close loopholes. That, too, may be a rational response by the United States, or it could make things worse. “The global trade system for the past ninety years is collapsing, leaving it difficult for people to forecast the economic impact and tell where the bottom for a market is,” Vincent Chan, a China strategist at Aletheia Capital Ltd., told Bloomberg. As new phases of U.S. trade policy and responses unfold, the biggest risk may be uncontrolled escalation in both tariff retaliation and other forms of retaliation. In short, the impact of the gray trade may be deeper and wider than many expect, and it could even lead to a global trade war, with its own far-reaching implications.

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Pepe is in China and in love.

• The Shanghai Spirit – China Will Take No Bullying (Pepe Escobar)

There could not be a more strategic place to spend these past Trump Tariff Tizzy (TTT) heady days than in Shanghai – China’s trade, commercial and cultural capital. From the top of the Jin Mao tower in the world class Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, an elegantly discreet art deco companion to the World Financial Center super-skyscraper – the trademark symbol of China’s economic power – it’s as if the spokes of a wheel radiated to the Bund and beyond tracking a ceaseless drive to counteract the absurd idiocy of the “Emperor of Tariffs”, relentless mocked across myriad Chinese social media platforms. I have had the privilege to transit from the Bund Financial Center, which hosts among others the Fosun Foundation – a bamboo-inspired architectural masterpiece – to the China Academy at the immaculate campus of Fudan University, where I shared a seminar with star professor Zhang Weiwei and a round table with top PhD students from several disciplines. Professor Zhang Weiwei is the foremost conceptualizer of China as a civilization-state.

The key theme of our seminar was the Russia-China strategic partnership, but inevitably the focus switched back and forth to the rationale behind the Emperor of Tariffs. The questions from the students were as sharp as they come. That was compounded with an in-depth interview for China Academy hosted by their CEO, the formidable Pan Xiaoli. A visit to the HQ of Guancha – the top independent new/analysis site in China, whose several channels in several different platforms reach an astonishing 200 million people – could not have been more timely. Guo Jiezhen, a research fellow from the China Institute, who was part of our round table at Fudan University, came up with one of the more astute analyses of what he describes as Trump’s “deranged money-making technique”.

While meeting with Guancha’s new editor-in-chief He Shenquan and discussing with hyper-competent international relations specialist Kelly Liu and Yang Hanyi – the China Institute’s communication officer – we watched together an exceptional podcast featuring PLA Colonel Wang Lihua, Gao Zhikai – Deputy Director of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) – and the always essential Li Bo, President of the Shanghai Chunqiu Development Strategy Institute. And that’s when Mao Zedong’s legendary 1960s formulation of the US as a “paper tiger” – quoted in everything from Latin American guerrilla slogans to Godard movies – resurfaced with full force. Wang Lihua picked up on what President Xi had told Putin at their landmark meeting at the Kremlin two years ago: we are right in the middle of changes not seen in 100 years. Wang: “This change cannot be changed all at once, and the trade war between China and the United States will not be resolved once and for all. This kind of friction and struggle, in the words of Chairman Mao, is ‘making trouble, failing, making trouble again, failing again, until destruction.’”

Wang wrapped up with what may encapsulate the general feeling in China, identified in every nook and cranny across Shanghai: “It is difficult for the United States to repair itself from within. Now the United States has to confront China and the whole world, and its strength is obviously not enough, so failure is inevitable. We are not afraid of a protracted war, because time is on our side.” China “not afraid of war”, however it may manifest itself, from hybrid to hot, is the consensus feeling in Shanghai, borrowing from the Maoist concept of “united front”, and espoused from academics and business leaders to residents of “model quarters” of the Maoist era still impeccably preserved – and with an eye for innovation (example: row after row of a.c. outlets to feed the array of electric bikes parked in the internal patios).

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Hard bargain.

• Trump Wants Piece Of Russia Claimed By Kiev – WSJ (RT)

The US intends to assert control over the Russian territory surrounding Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as part of a mediated agreement between Kiev and Moscow, according to the Wall Street Journal. The proposal is part of a reported package of options that the US expects Ukraine to respond to by the end of this week. Last Thursday, senior members of US President Donald Trump’s administration met with Ukrainian and European officials in Paris. One of their ideas aimed at facilitating a peace agreement between Kiev and Moscow involves designating the land around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) as neutral territory under US control, the newspaper reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources. The former Ukrainian region hosting the facility voted to join Russia in 2022, though Kiev has dismissed the referendum as a sham.

In March, Trump claimed that Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky had proposed that the US take ownership of his country’s nuclear power plants. Zelensky, however, refuted this assertion, stating that he and Trump only discussed potential US investments in the Zaporozhye NPP. Additionally, Washington has suggested recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea, not opposing Russian control over four other former Ukrainian regions, including Zaporozhye, and rejecting Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership, according to the WSJ. However, the list of proposals does not include any cap on the strength of the Ukrainian army or ban on troop deployments by European NATO members in Ukraine, the newspaper noted. If the US, its European allies, and Ukraine achieve a “convergence” this week, the package will be presented to Moscow, the WSJ reported.

Moscow has firmly rejected any proposed NATO presence in Ukraine and has asserted that the Istanbul agreement — a truce proposal negotiated in 2022 that includes limitations on the Ukrainian military — should serve as the foundation for a future peace accord. This plan was rejected by Kiev following intervention from then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Russia has accused the EU and the UK of attempting to undermine Trump’s mediation efforts in order to prolong the conflict in Ukraine. The US president has cautioned that his administration would “just take a pass” if the diplomatic effort becomes too challenging.

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“We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years..”

“What a ridiculous situation we are in..”

• Trump Slams Supreme Court Over Blocking Deportations (JTN)

President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the United States’ court system, including the Supreme Court, over their response to his efforts to deport illegal migrants, stating it is “not possible” to try every person who is in the U.S. illegally. The Supreme Court over the weekend temporarily blocked Trump’s latest round of deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Trump’s deportations have come under scrutiny after he removed hundreds of illegal migrants he accused of being gang members without due process. The president defended his actions in a post on Truth Social, claiming it would take “200 years” to try every illegal migrant, and slammed the Supreme Court for allegedly not wanting him to “send violent criminals and terrorists back to Venezuela.”

“I’m doing what I was elected to do, remove criminals from our Country, but the Courts don’t seem to want me to do that,” Trump wrote in the post. “My team is fantastic, doing an incredible job, however, they are being stymied at every turn by even the U.S. Supreme Court, which I have such great respect for, but which seemingly doesn’t want me to send violent criminals and terrorists back to Venezuela, or any other Country.” The president praised Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s dissent, stating the justice was right for wanting to “dissolve the pause on deportations.” “If we don’t get these criminals out of our country, we are not going to have a country any longer,” Trump insisted. “We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years. We would need hundreds of thousands of trials for the hundreds of thousands of Illegals we are sending out of the country. Such a thing is not possible to do.

“What a ridiculous situation we are in,” he concluded.

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“Millions of immigrant-invaders can enter America illegally, but they cannot be deported until they have had their day in court..”

“The deportation hearings, which will be shopped to Democrat district and appeal courts, will take years and will not be resolved until Trump’s term is over.”

• Do You Prefer White Liberal States To Hispanic States? (Paul Craig Roberts)

Like Trump’s on-off-on tariffs, the US Supreme Court’s rulings are off-on-maybe-we will see. Last week the Court overruled Boasberg and said that Trump had the authority to deport illegal aliens. But by the time last Saturday arrived, the Court had changed its mind and “paused” the deportation of illegal entrants. The Court now has decided that those who had entered the US illegally, thus committing a crime, had the right to challenge their deportation in US courts.Here is the Supreme Court’s ruling: “The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court.” Note the Court’s use of the word “putative.” The Court is saying that it is uncertain that the illegals are illegals. Once you have walked in, you are an American, right? That seems to be the Democrats’ position. What will the Court’s position be?

Amazing, isn’t it. Millions of immigrant-invaders can enter America illegally, but they cannot be deported until they have had their day in court. To be clear, what the US Supreme Court has ruled is that there will be no further deportations. The 16 or 30 million, or whatever the figure, illegal entrants are here to stay. The deportation hearings, which will be shopped to Democrat district and appeal courts, will take years and will not be resolved until Trump’s term is over. For decades American conservatives have thought that the most important reason to have a Republican president is Supreme Court Appointments, but now we see it matters not to have a Republican majority on the Supreme Court. The Court, whether Republican or Democrat, has no comprehension of American survival. The courts are preoccupied with grabbing power from the executive.

Just as the US took Texas, Colorado, California and the SouthWest from Mexico, the hispanics are taking it back with the aid of the Democrat Party and the US Supreme Court. And, of course, with the acquiesce of Republicans who are incapable of fighting. The question is: how much do we really care? Would you prefer to have white liberal Colorado, California, Arizona or Hispanic Colorado, California, and Arizona. I would prefer the Hispanics. They are more decent people than white liberals, and, unlike white liberals, they do not hate America. Perhaps the ignorant insouciance of the American courts will have the unintended result of replacing anti-American blue states with Hispanic states. It would be a huge improvement in the quality of America.

Read more …

Sergei Poletaev.

• Trump Wants A Deal. Putin Wants Victory. Ukraine Will Get What It Deserves (RT)

The Easter ceasefire has come and gone, with Russia and Ukraine trading accusations over thousands of violations as fighting resumes across the front lines – yet another reminder of how difficult it is to bring this war to an end. Amid the renewed hostilities, Donald Trump’s long-promised peace plan is colliding with geopolitical realities. Despite backchannel talks with the Kremlin and growing pressure from both allies and opponents, Trump has yet to produce a deal that doesn’t resemble capitulation – or undermine his own political standing. With a new offensive looming and patience wearing thin, the real question now is whether peace is still on the table – and if so, on whose terms.

The Relentless Push for Peace The fundamental difference between President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, is that Trump is genuinely trying to negotiate a meaningful peace with Russia. He has no interest in prolonging what he sees as a losing war inherited from Biden, and he’s determined to end it. But he also knows he can’t accept just any deal – he needs a version of peace that won’t look like a defeat. After all, his critics are ready to frame any compromise as his own personal Afghanistan.That’s the framework Trump is working within. What motivates Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t really a top concern for him. So, he sends a trusted confidant – Steve Witkoff – to explore the possibility of striking a deal with the Kremlin. In his meeting with Putin, Witkoff likely hears the same hardline message the Russian leader shares in public – and, reportedly, in private calls with Trump: lasting peace can only be achieved on Moscow’s terms.

At a minimum, that means reviving the Istanbul agreements with additional territorial concessions. At most, it involves Russia’s sweeping 2021 demands to redraw Eastern Europe’s security architecture and, in effect, reverse the legacy of the Cold War. It also seems Putin thinks he can secure at least his minimum objectives through brute force. Whether he’s bluffing or not, he’s clearly using the threat of escalation to pressure Trump. The message is implicit: Worried that Ukraine’s collapse will be blamed on you? There’s one way to prevent that – make a deal with me. In return, Trump could preserve face, gain economic wins like Nord Stream 2, and claim peace during his term. Meanwhile, Putin gets what he really wants: a thaw in US-Russia relations, an end to sanctions, and, crucially, legitimization of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. And if future conflicts arise, he’ll be in a stronger position. Not to mention, it would strike a blow against the globalists – an enemy both men seem to share.

That’s the pitch Putin’s been making, and by all indications, it’s what he and Witkoff discussed in their five-hour meeting. Witkoff, for his part, appears to be on board – he said as much during a Fox News appearance on April 15. But the final call rests with Trump, not Witkoff. And Trump faces a difficult challenge: even if he wants to make a deal, how can he ensure it sticks? It’s not just Ukraine and Europe trying to sabotage the talks – that was to be expected – but opposition is also coming from inside Trump’s own camp. Take Keith Kellogg, for example. He might tell Trump that Ukraine will never accept any such agreement. He could argue that Europe is fully aligned with Kiev and that if Trump really wants peace, he’ll need to get Putin to accept a European military presence in Ukraine. You want peace? Here’s the map – go make it happen.

Then there’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who may quietly but firmly advance the globalist view: any peace must be on Western terms, not Russian ones. He might even bring a fresh round of sanctions and another military aid package for Ukraine to the table. It’s a situation reminiscent of 2016. Back then, Trump had seemingly cordial relations with Putin but ended up expanding anti-Russia measures due to domestic constraints. Today, his political position at home is stronger – but so are the stakes.

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EU knows no shame.

• Putin Reacts To EU Threats On Victory Day (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commended the courage of European leaders who choose to come to Moscow for events commemorating the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II, despite pressure on them from EU officials.Last week, the bloc’s top diplomat and former Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, warned the leaders of EU member and candidate states against flying to Russia to take part, recommending instead that they visit Kiev to show solidarity with Ukraine. Other EU officials have reportedly threatened to derail membership bids for candidate countries whose leaders defy Brussels on the matter. Journalists asked Putin to comment on the reports after the All-Russian Municipal Service Award ceremony in Moscow on Monday.

“Those who are going to come to Russia have much more courage than those who are hiding behind someone’s back and trying to threaten others,” he replied.“In this case, [threatening] those who are going to celebrate the historical merits of people who gave their lives in the fight against Nazism,” Putin said. According to Kallas, participation in this year’s events in Moscow “will be not taken lightly.” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the only EU member state leader who has promised to attend, blasted the statement as outright “disrespectful.” “Is Ms. Kallas’s warning a form of blackmail or a signal that I will be punished?” he wrote on X last week. “The year is 2025, not 1939,” he added.

The president of EU candidate Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, similarly indicated that he would not change his plans in the face of pressure from Brussels. “I have not changed my decision… Eight months ago, I announced my visit to Moscow, publicly,” he said last week, according to Serbian media.Moscow has extended multiple invitations to this year’s landmark celebrations, including to the heads of China, India, and Brazil, as well as a number of other international leaders. Victory Day is one of the most important national holidays in Russia. The event is celebrated annually on May 9 to mark the 1945 triumph of the USSR over Nazi Germany and its allies, and to honor the estimated 26.6 million deaths the Soviet Union suffered in World War II. Around 18 million were civilian deaths.

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Recently Hegseth, JD Vance, Tulsi Gabbard and Susie Wiles voted against bombing Iran. Three Pentagon staff departed. This is the result. Usual suspects: NPR, NYT, Politico et al.

• Is a Coup Against Pete Hegseth Brewing at the Pentagon? (Margolis)

Something tells me that the liberal media is trying to force Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from the Pentagon. According to a report from Politico, the Pentagon has become a “chaotic” mess because of Hegseth’s alleged influence, and it’s becoming a problem for the administration. “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” the article claims. “President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.” It’s a claim so ludicrous that you almost have to appreciate the creative writing involved. What’s the evidence? A few anonymous complaints and a spin cycle that would make a laundromat envious.

John Ullyot, the writer of the article, claims that he’s a Hegseth supporter, yet the Pentagon recently asked him to resign. So I’m sure he doesn’t have an axe to grind. But let’s take a look at what he’s claiming anyway. According to Ullyot, the Pentagon “is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.” Curiously, to prove his point, he cites the “Signalgate” kerfuffle as evidence of the chaos, not the successful mission against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Despite his repeated claims of supporting Hegseth, his narrative sounds like it was lifted straight from the Democrat playbook. I suspect he leans on his supposed backing of Hegseth not out of conviction, but as a shield to lend credibility to what amounts to a repackaged left-wing hit job on the Pentagon.

“Yet even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” Ullyot writes. Let’s not pretend that this isn’t orchestrated. The timing is telling. Hegseth has been critical of the Biden administration’s dismal defense policies, exposing its failure to prioritize American security interests. And now, as if by magic, Politico drops a hit piece linking him to alleged dysfunction at the Pentagon by a “friend.” Give me a break. He sounds like the next Omarosa. We saw this play out during Trump’s first term, and it looks like it’s happening all over again — figures who claim to support the president suddenly breaking ranks “for the greater good.” But scratch the surface, and it’s clear that they’re serving as mouthpieces for the deep state, trying to create the very dysfunction and chaos they claim already exists.

It’s a classic tactic: create the chaos, then point to it as proof they were right all along. Ullyot claims that “There are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week, key Pentagon reporters have been telling sources privately.” Ahhh, sources. If anything, this article proves one thing: the left and their media enablers are running scared. So let’s call the situation what it is. Politico isn’t reporting the news; it’s trying to shape it. Hegseth stands for values that terrify the liberal elite: strength, accountability, and an America-first mindset. And that’s why the left is working so hard to undermine him, even if it means stretching the truth to the breaking point to create chaos.

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Hegseth survived phase 1. That emboldened him, also because it shows Trump’s trust and loyalty.

• Hegseth Slams Media Over Latest Smear Campaign: ‘Full of Hoaxsters’ (Margolis)

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth didn’t hold back when asked about the latest media-driven controversy involving internal Signal messages and supposed leaks from the Pentagon. Speaking during the White House Easter Egg Roll, Hegseth delivered a scathing rebuke of the press, accusing it of orchestrating a smear campaign using anonymous sources and recycled narratives. “What a big surprise,” Hegseth said, when asked about the so-called “Signal chat controversy.” “A few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax. They got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies — Pulitzers for a bunch of lies, and on hoaxes, time and time again.” Hegseth wasn’t finished. As reporters tried to pepper him with more questions, he tore into what he sees as the media’s standard operating procedure: relying on unverifiable leaks and turning them into politically motivated attacks.

“This is what the media does,” he said. “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.” “But it’s not gonna work with me,” he added defiantly. “Because we’re changing the Defense Department. We’re putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters, and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn’t matter.” Former Pentagon official John Ullyot, who was recently asked to resign, just penned a thinly veiled hit piece in Politico claiming that the Pentagon has descended into “chaos” and predicting that Hegseth’s ouster is imminent. The article leans heavily on anonymous sources and paints a conveniently damning picture that plays right into the hands of the deep state.

It’s a familiar playbook: pose as a concerned insider while amplifying the very narrative the left wants to push. The timing is no accident. These attacks are surfacing just as Hegseth is aggressively working to clean house, purge entrenched bureaucrats, and return the Pentagon to the control of actual warfighters. This isn’t genuine concern; it’s a coordinated attempt to take down an outsider who refuses to play by their rules. As the secretary stood alongside his father and his children, he reminded reporters what motivates him. “This is what we’re doing it for. These kids right here. This is why we’re fighting the fake news media. This is why we’re fighting slash-and-burn Democrats. This is why we’re fighting hoaxsters.” When one reporter tried to interject with another question, Hegseth cut through the noise.

“This group right here,” he said, pointing toward the assembled press, “full of hoaxsters that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind. And then you put it all together as if it’s some news story.” Despite the media’s coordinated efforts to generate controversy, Hegseth made it clear he isn’t backing down.“I’m really proud of what we’re doing for the president — fighting hard across the board,” he said before heading off to enjoy the Easter event with his family. “I’ve spoken to the president, and we are gonna continue fighting on the same page all the way.” In typical fashion, the media tried to create a scandal. But in Pete Hegseth, they’ve found someone unafraid to punch back.

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1914484235597176850

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24 years ago.

• US Senator Ron Johnson Says New 9/11 Investigation Could Happen (RT)

Republican Senator Ron Johnson has suggested that new congressional hearings into the September 11 attacks may be forthcoming, citing unanswered questions surrounding the official narrative and the handling of evidence. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners, crashing two into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. A third plane struck the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed due to fires ignited by debris from one of the nearby towers. During an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson published Monday, Senator Johnson questioned several aspects of the 9/11 investigation, including the collapse of Building 7.

“I don’t know that you can find structural engineers – other than the ones that have the corrupt investigation inside NIST – that would say that that thing didn’t come down in any other way than a controlled demolition,” he said. Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, also criticized the removal and destruction of physical evidence from the site, calling it “totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures.” “Where’s all the documentation from the NIST investigation? There are a host of questions that I want and I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened,” he added. When asked whether the public might see hearings on the issue, Johnson replied, “I think so.”

He further suggested that President Donald Trump, “being a New Yorker himself,” might have an interest in reopening the case: “What actually happened in 9/11? What do we know? What is being covered up? My guess is there’s an awful lot being covered up in terms of what the American government knows about 9/11.” Johnson also said he recently spoke with former Congressman Curt Weldon and plans to “work with him to expose what he’s willing to expose.” Earlier this month, Weldon urged Trump to appoint “people of impeccable integrity” to lead a commission to “study the facts” surrounding 9/11.

In an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, Weldon dismissed the label of conspiracy theorist, suggesting that the CIA and the government have long engaged in disinformation. “You know, what gets me is reporters who call people conspiracy theorists. Well, that’s all the agency does! They’re the ones who create the conspiracies,” he said. “They have whole courses for their agents on how to make people look like they’re conspiracy theorists.” The 9/11 Commission Report, released in 2004, remains the most comprehensive federal review of the attacks. However, critics have pointed to omissions and the continued classification of key government documents. Johnson also referenced a bipartisan effort with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in 2023 to obtain unredacted FBI files. “We wanted to get those answers, those documents for the families. Again, we didn’t get squat from the FBI,” he said.

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January: Conservatives polled 92.5%. April, 3 months later, they poll 38%. ¿Perqué? A very fertile breeding ground for TDS.

• Canada’s Conservatives See A Reversal of Fortune (JTN)

Before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down in favor of Mark Carney, Canada’s Conservative Party was expected to streamroll the national elections and overturn more than a decade of far-left liberal leadership. But under Pierre Poilievre, the Conservatives have seen their electoral prospects fall off a cliff as he has struggled to meet the moment and galvanize his supporters on a promise of tangible change. Betting markets currently hand Carney a 76.6% chance of winning the election, to Poilievre’s 23.3%. The figure represents a stunning reversal from mid-January, when Poilievre was assigned a 92.5% chance of winning. The Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s current polling shows Carney’s Liberal Party with 43.2% support, while Poilievre and the Conservatives trail with 38.0%.

Canada is a multi-party parliamentary democracy that often sees other blocs gain seats in its legislature, though no other party is expected to seriously compete for the premiership. Under CBC estimates, the Liberals have an 83% shot at an outright majority and a 13% shot at winning a plurality, while the Conservatives reportedly have a 2% chance of taking the most seats. “I have never seen a transformation of our voter landscape in Canada of that nature,” pollster Frank Graves told Politico. Adding to Poilievre’s own shortcomings is the ongoing tariff row between Canada and the United States, which has allowed the Liberals to own the nationalist angle while Carney’s status as a fresh face has let him shed much of Trudeau’s baggage. The Conservatives were the favorites to win as recently as mid-March. So why the massive flip? In short, Poilievre, Trump and immigration.

Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump criticized the trade relationship between Ottawa and Washington, suggesting that the Canadians enjoyed unfair advantages due to dubious practices to undercut American markets. “The dominant issue is, how do we negotiate future trade relationships with the United States and all those sorts of issues around tariffs,” Politico’s Graves said. “And [Carney] has a very large advantage on that.” While Trudeau was still in office, he traveled to Mar-a-Lago on a high-profile visit to address prospective tariffs. Trump later mocked Trudeau as the “governor of Canada,” leaning into his tounge-in-cheek rhetoric of making the country the 51st American state. Trudeau himself was widely lampooned in the Canadian media for seemingly surrendering his dignity to the American president.

After Trudeau resigned, however, Trump went further and announced reciprocal tariffs, which have seen Carney garner support for opposing them and triggered a nationalist Canadian response on the left to Trump himself. Trump’s nominal ideological link to the Conservatives as a fellow politician on the right, moreover, appears to have hurt the party’s image, despite Poilievre’s own criticisms of Trump and the tariffs. “It produced this really dramatic rise in national attachment, which is the main factor that propelled the Liberals to their elevated position,” Graves said of Trump’s goading.

Like many Western countries, Canada is struggling with an identity crisis amid mass immigration, notably from South Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh. Trudeau was comparable to President Joe Biden in allowing large numbers of migrants into the country. The sheer volume of migrants contributed substantially to an ongoing housing shortage in Canada and, like in America, overwhelmed public services. Immigration ranked among the leading contributors to Trudeau’s decline in popularity.

Though the issue may have stoked considerable frustration in the electorate, the Conservatives struggled to harness voter discontent about immigration and were hesitant to lean into deportations in the way that Trump did while campaigning for the White House. Poilievre has called for “moderate, reasonable levels of immigration” though he has made no commitment to specific immigration levels. In recent weeks, however, he has softened somewhat on the issue and issued statements more welcoming to immigrants, though that has come with some backlash. “Bring your culture, bring your traditions, bring your family, but do not bring foreign conflicts onto our streets,” Poilievre said this month. The clip went viral, attracting millions of views and thousands of comments, nearly all of which condemned the soft stance on immigration.

Though the Canadian Conservative Party occupies the right side of the Canadian aisle, as one would expect, they are far from the ideological siblings of the MAGA-dominated Republicans in the United States. Rather, under its current leadership, the Conservatives more closely resemble the GOP of Mitt Romney and so-called “RINOS.” Graves gave Poilievre credit for running a “disciplined campaign” but asserted he had not been able to pivot on his messaging in response to Trump, especially in light of a subset of his supporters liking the American president.

“They’ve tried a lot of things,” he said. “They’ve tried labeling Carney as another Trudeau. That’s not penetrating. They’ve tried going after him on an ethics issue. But in our testing on this stuff, they haven’t figured out a message that’s really resonating.” Poilievre used the approach of likening Carney to Trudeau as recently as Sunday, saying then that the only adjustments he made to the former prime minister’s platform were to “increase inflationary spending even higher.” “Canada can’t afford a 4th Liberal term of the same Liberals pushing higher taxes, higher spending, and higher inflation,” he posted. The election is set for next Monday. Canadian law prohibits publication on Election Day of previously unreleased polls as well as the release of “exit polls” before all polling stations are closed.

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“This halt is to remain in effect until further review is completed to address these serious deficiencies.”

• Trump Administration Halts New York Offshore Wind Project (Wade)

The Donald Trump administration has halted a massive New York offshore wind project as it conducts a financial and regulatory review of plans to erect towering turbines along the nation’s coastlines. The Interior Department issued an order earlier this week calling for the immediate halt of construction on the Empire Wind Project “until further review,” citing new information suggesting that the Joe Biden administration “rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.” “Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Management, which oversees federal offshore lease permits. “This halt is to remain in effect until further review is completed to address these serious deficiencies.”

The project’s developer, Norway-based Equinor, said Thursday that it was complying with the Trump administration’s order to halt the project but is considering a potential legal challenge. “Upon receipt of the order, immediate steps were taken by Empire and its contractors to initiate suspension of relevant marine activities, ensuring the safety of workers and the environment,” the company said in a statement. “Empire is engaging with relevant authorities to clarify this matter and is considering its legal remedies, including appealing the order.” Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted the decision, saying Empire Wind 1 already employs hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 “good-paying union jobs” as part of a growing sector that she claimed has “already spurred significant economic development and private investment.”

“This fully federally permitted project has already put shovels in the ground before the President’s executive orders—it’s exactly the type of bipartisan energy solution we should be working on,” she said in a statement. “As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.” New York’s Empire Wind is one of several offshore wind projects under development off the Atlantic coastline that could be impacted by the Bureau of Ocean Management’s review of federal leases. President Donald Trump had campaigned on a promise to end the offshore wind industry, arguing it is too expensive and hurts birds and marine animals. He previously issued an order suspending new leasing for wind projects in federal waters. Massachusetts is working with Rhode Island on three projects totaling 2,678 megawatts of offshore wind, which, when completed, will be capable of providing enough electricity to power more than 1.4 million homes.

In August, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $389 million to Massachusetts and several New England states for improvements to the power grid aimed at significantly increasing the region’s capacity for offshore wind. The Power Up New England plan—a collaboration between Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and several utilities—calls for expanding and upgrading the shared interconnection points for undersea cables that bring power from offshore wind turbines to the regional grid. But the push to develop wind comes amid increasing turbulence in the nation’s nascent green industry. Even before the Trump administration’s scrutiny of the projects, developers were scaling back—or in some cases backing out of projects—citing supply chain disruptions, higher construction costs and a lack of tax credits from the states and federal government. Some states, like New Jersey, have struggled to go it alone on offshore wind and have ended up scrapping some projects.

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Must be a different science.

• The UK Is Doubling Down On Wind Energy (ZH)

The U.K. is already a world leader in wind energy, having rapidly expanded both its onshore and offshore wind capacity over the last decade. Now, under the new Labour government, the U.K. hopes to expand its wind power sector even further through the massive expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm. This is expected to help the government progress towards achieving its net-zero carbon ambitions. In 2023, 46.4 percent of the UK’s electricity was generated using renewable energy sources, of which wind energy contributed 61 percent. Around 39.7 percent of the U.K.’s wind energy is generated onshore and the remaining 60.3 offshore. The U.K. constructed its first commercial onshore wind farm in 1991, generating 1 GW of wind capacity. In 2024, the U.K.’s wind energy capacity increased to 30GW, double that of 2017. The U.K. has 11,906 turbines, with 9,141 onshore and 2,765 offshore, consisting of 10 floating and 2,755 fixed turbines.

Approximately 32,000 people are employed in the U.K.’s offshore wind industry, a figure that is expected to increase to over 120,000 by 2030. The government also hopes to achieve 60 GW of wind capacity by the end of the decade, which could add as much as $58.5 billion to the economy. By the beginning of 2025, the U.K. had grown its offshore wind energy capacity to become the largest in Europe and second only to China, at 14 GW. In early April, the government approved plans to develop Rampion 2, an offshore wind farm with enough energy to power around 1 million U.K. homes. The expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm, off England’s south coast, would include the addition of 90 turbines to add 1.2 GW of capacity. The project is expected to create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase, which is scheduled to commence in 2026. The government decision on the expansion was expected to be delivered in February but it has been delayed while more information is collected from the project’s developer.

The wind farm is being developed by RWE as the majority shareholder (50.1 percent), a Macquarie-led consortium (25 percent), and Enbridge (24.9 percent). The electricity produced at Rampion will be transported to land via subsea cables. An underground cable will then deliver the power inland to a new substation at Oakendene near Cowfold before connecting it to the national grid at Bolney in Sussex. The wind farm is expected to be operational by the late 2020s. Danielle Lane, the director of offshore wind development U.K. and Ireland at RWE, stated, “We are delighted to receive the development consent order for the proposed Rampion 2 offshore wind farm. This is a key milestone in the development of the project, as Rampion 2 can play an important role in helping secure the U.K.’s energy supplies from our abundant wind resource and play a key role in supporting the U.K. government’s clean power ambitions.”

Since coming into power last July, the Labour government has gone full throttle on the deployment of green energy, with plans to double the U.K.’s onshore wind, triple its solar power, and quadruple its offshore wind power capacity by 2030. It has also announced plans to reduce the contribution of natural gas to the country’s electricity generation to just 5 percent by the end of the decade. Thanks to the development of a more friendly investment environment, in an event in October some of the world’s largest green energy companies pledged to invest almost $31.39 billion across the U.K., demonstrating that greater public investment in the sector is attracting higher levels of private financing.

U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, “The U.K. has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates. It’s time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good.” He added, “This project puts us within reach of our clean power offshore wind target,” Miliband said. “Through our plan for change, we’re getting on with delivering the clean energy and jobs Britain needs.” Last year was a record year for wind energy production, with onshore and offshore projects producing 83 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity across Great Britain, an increase from almost 79 TWh in 2023. In around 10 days in December alone, over 50 percent of Britain’s electricity production came from wind.

However, there are also less windy periods, where energy production is lower. This suggests the need for greater investment in battery storage technology to make the renewable energy source more reliable and help reduce the U.K.’s reliance on fossil fuels during low-production times.The U.K. is already a major onshore and offshore producer of wind energy, having developed several projects over the last three decades. The approval of the new Rampion 2 project is expected to put the country on track to achieve its end-of-decade climate goals, by decarbonising its transmission network. This is one of many clean energy projects the Labour government has announced over the last eight months, with the ambitious green transition agenda expected to attract high levels of private funding in the sector.

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Bhattacharya
https://twitter.com/plantparadise7/status/1914251645430489245

 

 

Makary

 

 

 

 

RFK
https://twitter.com/AVPac_US/status/1914432756815421626

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sagan

 

 

 

 

Goats

 

 

Cat

 

 

 

 

 

 

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