Giovanni Bellini Pietà 1474
Oval O.
President @realDonaldTrump is the Commander-in-Chief
pic.twitter.com/O91xt4bm1t— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2025
Watch this carefully. Very important.
pic.twitter.com/wdM3XdbrH1— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2025
Miller
NOW – Stephen Miller Exposes Freeloaders Cashing In on America’s Defense Handouts |
“This is a president who unashamedly, boldly, puts America’s interests first. What a sigh of relief to American citizens who have watched Washington give everything away forever.”
Stephen… pic.twitter.com/FPih55g9Kl
— Overton (@overton_news) February 28, 2025
Elon
Elon Musk: "If the ship of America sinks, we're all going down with it. This idea that people can escape to New Zealand or some other place is false. If the central pillar of Western civilization, that is, America, falls, the whole roof comes crashing down”. pic.twitter.com/pmykXlqAHs
— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 28, 2025
FBI
Jesse Watters on the debacle surrounding Epstein today:
"So who is in charge of the New York FBI field office?"
"Who’s withholding Epstein documents from the Attorney General?"
James is running the show. The guy who emailed his whole staff to "dig in" after Trump took office."… pic.twitter.com/r8Qk1hDRMt
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 28, 2025
Beck
https://twitter.com/i/status/1895238883631399286
Wyoming
True
pic.twitter.com/dQp3Kzp1iS— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2025
McCarthy
KEVIN MCCARTHY: ELON IS MAKING AMERICA STRONGER
“I did not think it was possible for the Democrats to even get worse messaging than when they attacked the cuts at USAID on the transgender operas in other countries.
But now they want to attack Elon while they drive his Teslas.… pic.twitter.com/9OfgW3YSHT
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 28, 2025
Well, that was some great theater. In the shadows it also showed the huge and growing gap between the US and Europe today. Europe will lose that one too. They have no leadership… All they can think of doing is continuing a fight they lost years ago, just like Zelensky. The reason they’ve been able to keep up the pretense is … the US lurking in the background. Now it’s no longer there. Cue collapse.
“.. Zelensky is not ready for peace as he sees Washington’s involvement in negotiations on the Ukraine conflict as a bargaining chip..”
“Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.”
• Zelensky Not Ready For Peace – Trump (RT)
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is not ready for peace as he sees Washington’s involvement in negotiations on the Ukraine conflict as a bargaining chip, US President Donald Trump has stated, following their meeting on Friday. Trump made the remarks in a social media post after receiving Zelensky at the White house, where the two were expected to sign an agreement granting Washington access to Ukraine’s natural resources. Zelensky’s visit to the White House was cut short after he got into a heated exchange with Trump and US Vice President J.D. Vance. Trump accused Zelensky of “disrespectful” behavior during the talks in the Oval Office.
“We had a very meaningful meeting…” Trump wrote, adding “Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.” Trump went on to say that Zelensky “is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.” “It’s amazing what comes out through emotion…” the US president stated. He reiterated that he wants peace, adding that Zelensky “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”
“Let me tell you… you saw what I saw today. That was not a man that wanted to make peace”, he said. “And I’m only interested if he wants to end the bloodshed.”
• Trump Names Conditions For Resuming Talks With Zelensky (RT)
President Donald Trump has outlined his expectations for any future engagements with Vladimir Zelensky, emphasizing that further negotiations depend on a clear commitment to peace. Speaking to reporters after a tense meeting with Zelensky at the White House on Friday, Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of “overplaying his hand” and failing to demonstrate a genuine desire to end the conflict with Russia. “We re looking for peace”, Trump stated. “We re not looking for somebody that’s going to sign up a strong power and then not make peace because they feel emboldened… He’s looking to go on and fight, fight, fight. We re looking to end the deaths.”
“You saw what I saw today. This is a man that wants to get us signed up and keep fighting. And we’re not doing that, not for this country”. According to Trump, continued US military assistance would only strengthen Zelensky’s position, making him less inclined to negotiate peace. “We’re not looking for somebody that’s going to sign up a strong power and then not make peace because they feel emboldened”, Trump said. “We re not looking to go into a 10-year war”. Trump reiterated that a ceasefire should be the immediate priority, suggesting that Zelensky was unwilling to consider one. He also noted that, unlike Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems willing to make peace, and insisted that US policy should focus on de-escalation rather than prolonging hostilities.
When asked whether he had explicitly told Zelensky to leave the White House, Trump declined to answer directly. “I think you know the answer to that”, he said, adding that “Zelensky wants to come back right now, but I can’t do that”. Summarizing his position, Trump made clear that the US would not continue to back Ukraine unless Zelensky took steps toward peace. “Let me tell you… you saw what I saw today. That was not a man that wanted to make peace”, he said. “And I’m only interested if he wants to end the bloodshed.”
X thread to show the conversation was going fine for half an hour … until it got out of hand. Which is the only part most people will have seen.
• Ukraine Should Probably Go With New Leadership At This Point (Hanania)
I watched the entire press conference with Zelensky. There was 40 minutes of discussion up to the argument. Most people saw at most the last ten minutes. The whole video gives the proper context. When I first watched the argument without the proper context, I thought it was possible that Trump and Vance ambushed Zelensky or were even trying to humiliate him. That’s not what happened. You had 40 minutes of calm conversation. Vance made a point that didn’t attack Zelensky and wasn’t even addressed to him, and Zelensky clearly started the argument.
In the first 40 minutes, Zelensky kept trying to go beyond what was negotiated in the deal. When Trump was asked a question, it was always “we’ll see.” Zelensky made blanket assertions that there would be no negotiating with Putin, and that Russia would pay for the war. When Trump said that it was a tragedy that people on both sides were dying, Zelensky interjected that the Russians were the invaders. For his part, Trump made clear that the US would continue delivering military aid. All Zelensky had to do was remain calm for a few more minutes and they would’ve signed a deal. The argument started when Trump pointed out that it would be hard to make a deal if you talk about Putin the way Zelensky does.
Vance interjects to make the reasonable point that Biden called Putin names and that didn’t get us anywhere. The Zelensky/Trump dynamic was calm and stable. It was when Vance spoke that Zelensky started to interrogate him. Throughout the press conference to that point, everyone was making their arguments directly to the audience. Zelensky decided to challenge Vance and ask him hostile questions. He went back to his point that Putin never sticks to ceasefires, once again implying that negotiations are pointless. Why on earth would you do this? Then came the fight we all saw.
Zelensky was minutes away from being home free, and he would have had the deal and new commitments from the Trump administration. The point Vance made was directed against Biden and the media, taking them to task for speaking in moralistic terms. This offended Zelensky, and that began the argument. I’ve been a fan of Zelensky up to this point, but this showed so much incompetence, if not emotional instability, that I don’t see how he recovers from this. The relationship with the administration is broken. Ukraine should probably go with new leadership at this point.
“Military supplies could be halted “in response to remarks” by Vladimir Zelensky at a meeting with Trump in the White House and “his perceived intransigence in the peace process..”
• US May Halt All Military Aid To Ukraine – WaPo (TASS)
US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine, The Washington Post wrote citing sources. Military supplies could be halted “in response to remarks” by Vladimir Zelensky at a meeting with Trump in the White House and “his perceived intransigence in the peace process,” according to the publication. The decision, if made, would apply “to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority,” an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, was quoted as saying.
Earlier on Friday, Zelensky met with Trump at the White House. Their televised exchange suddenly unraveled into a shouting match, with Trump scolding Zelensky for being disrespectful to the US, and Vice President JD Vance saying that Zelensky had never thanked the country for all the support provided to Kiev. A news conference scheduled to follow the meeting was canceled, and the Ukrainian delegation left the White House earlier than planned. Bilateral talks and the scheduled signing of the deal on Ukrainian mineral resources were thwarted.
That’s how out of sync Europe is.
• EU’s Kallas Calls For ‘New Leader of Free World’ (RT)
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has suggested that the United States can no longer act as the “leader of the free world,” after President Donald Trump publicly scolded Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky for his disrespect and ingratitude toward the American people. The meeting between Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday descended into an openly hostile exchange. Zelensky was asked to leave the White House early without signing an agreement that would have granted the US rights to Ukraine’s natural resources, or holding a joint press conference. In response to the scandal, Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and former Estonian prime minister, took to X to express her support for Zelensky, writing, “We stand by Ukraine.”
“We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor [sic],” Kallas wrote. “Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.” Kallas previously accused Trump of adopting “Russian narratives and talking points” about the Ukraine conflict, and expressed concern over what she described as Washington’s shift away from its longtime European allies. She also pushed back against criticisms of democracy in the EU made by Vance at the Munich Security Conference – remarks that Trump praised as “brilliant.” “I refuse to accept that criticism, because it’s just simply not true,” Kallas said.
In recent weeks, Trump has made several critical statements about Ukraine’s leadership, describing Zelensky as a “dictator without elections” and suggesting that Kiev bears responsibility for allowing the hostilities to escalate in 2022. “I have empowered you to be a tough guy, and I do not think you would be a tough guy without the US,” Trump told Zelensky on Friday. “But you are not acting at all thankful, and that is not a nice thing… What you are doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.”
Russian target practice.
• Starmer Insists On Deploying British Troops To Ukraine (RT)
The UK and EU must be involved in a peace settlement in Ukraine, which includes putting boots on the ground, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said following talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The US has recently initiated peace talks with Russia, sidelining both the EU and UK. Starmer met with Trump at the White House on Thursday, where they discussed a plan to reach an enduring peace in Ukraine. ”The European countries, including the United Kingdom, need to play a full part in that,” Starmer said in an interview on Fox News. London will play “a leading part,” he insisted, whether it’s “troops on the ground… or possible air, maritime work” together with the EU. The UK and France have previously said they are prepared to deploy peacekeeping troops to Ukraine to secure any peace deal with Russia.
Trump has indicated, however, that Washington has no plans to send US forces to support a European-led peacekeeping mission, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be trusted to not breach the eventual agreement. Moscow has opposed the deployment of unauthorized troops to Ukraine, warning that without a UN mandate, they would be considered legitimate targets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the idea of deploying foreign troops to Ukraine is being pushed primarily by France and Britain, suggesting that this is meant to “further fuel the conflict and stop any attempts to cool it down.” The Foreign Ministry also accused the EU and UK of embarking “on a path of militarism.” Britain has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine since the conflict escalated three years ago, providing substantial military aid and implementing stringent sanctions against Russia. As of February, London has committed nearly $10 billion in military assistance to Kiev.
“..a sort of agent provocateur enabling those with the money and the guns to send extravagant amounts of both into the sinkhole of corruption over which Zelensky presides without the worry of domestic revolts.”
• Chihuahuas, Not Dobermans (Patrick Lawrence)
I have never been much for schadenfreude: It is always best to occupy one’s mind with worthier matters. But I cave to temptation as Volodymyr Zelensky, the puffed-up buffoon who has paraded flamboyantly across the world stage as a hero these past half-dozen years, is publicly cut to size as President Donald Trump gets on with the business of ending the proxy war Zelensky has cynically sold to the Western world’s lumpen liberals while presiding over the monstrously corrupt, Nazi-infested regime in Kiev. Let us sneer, let us snicker as the air hisses out of Zelensky’s balloon. This thieving som-a-gom bears front-line responsibility — along with his masters, of course — for the deaths of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers somewhere in six figures and the ruination of the country and the citizenry to which he purports to dedicate himself.
Donald Trump’s démarche toward Russia and a determination to end the Ukraine war he shares with President Vladimir Putin, leave Zelensky marooned on an island made of out-of-date propaganda ops. And now we find Europe’s neoliberal elites, having war-mongered their way into the Ukraine morass because the Biden regime told them to do so, wandering on the beaches with him. As of Trump’s Feb. 12 telephone call with Putin and the Munich Security Conference, held in the Bavarian capital Feb. 14–16, the Continent’s leaders and their repellent mascot have been left holding a very big bag. Zelensky’s fall is significant but was a matter of time. Europanic, as I call it, is the big news of the week. This shapes up to be more fun than a rerun of an old Terry Southern movie, supercilious hypocrites with their pants down in every scene.
Zelensky has been the papier mâché creation of others since he was plucked from a sit-com and re-costumed to succeed Petro Poroshenko, a chocolate magnate — Is there not a serious pol anywhere in Ukraine? — who moved into the presidential palace after the U.S.–cultivated coup 11 years ago this month. He, Zelensky, was financed by one of Ukraine’s countless megacrooks and coached by American image-crafters during the craven chicanery of his presidential campaign back in 2019. As readers may recall, the propaganda got so far out of hand after Russia began its military intervention three years ago that Biden regime ideologues, with corporate media dutifully parroting the trope, had the great broad masses believing Zelensky was “a 21st century Churchill.”
Tell me, I recall thinking, somebody please tell me they are not serious. In his now-famous dismissal of Zelensky last week, Trump marked him down as “a modestly successful comedian.” Sometimes even what we quaintly call reality has its appeal. As Max Blumenthal astutely observed in The Grayzone the other day, Trump had it wrong when he charged in his contra–Zelensky broadside that the Ukrainian president started the war in Ukraine. No, he provoked it. I like the distinction. The modestly successful comedian has effectively served — very effectively, indeed — as a sort of agent provocateur enabling those with the money and the guns to send extravagant amounts of both into the sinkhole of corruption over which Zelensky presides without the worry of domestic revolts.
With the regularity of a seasonal TV series, Zelensky would bleat that Ukraine needs more weapons, Ukraine needs more money and Ukraine needs it all now. I especially liked it when he would bark that Western leaders — President Joe Biden, the Europeans — were sloughing off their responsibilities. The impudent, scolding tone: You had to appreciate this. That wasn’t meant for Biden or any of the trans–Atlantic clients. I have had a hunch all along that the Biden White House, which acknowledged daily telephone contacts with Zelensky, rehearsed him regularly as to what to say, when to say it and how desperately to make the assigned point.
No, Zelensky’s pleading-and-complaining routines, at times so rude Biden’s people told him to throttle back, were meant for the American and European publics — a perception management op to keep the blue-and-yellow flags drooping off millions of balconies and front porches. Zelensky was a professional showman and his was a showman’s work. His other job was fully to harness Ukraine’s neo–Nazi fanaticism — in the political sphere, in the military — while dressing it up to look like a presentable democracy worthy of all the billions of taxpayers’ money wastefully lavished upon it. And so to the bout of early-onset schadenfreude.
“If Trump had not won the election, pedophilia would have been legalized in the Kamala regime. Indeed, it is likely that Democrat judges would have legalized marriage between women and dogs as “freedom of choice.”
• A Trump-Putin Accord? (Paul Craig Roberts)
Why is it that American liberal Democrats and Europeans are so disturbed that Trump is moving the United States toward normal relations with Russia instead of maintaining a hostile approach to Russia based on proxy wars, sanctions, and endless propaganda? We know why the think tanks and university faculties supported by the military/security complex are upset–their incomes are at stake. But why the Democrats and Europeans? The answer will have to wait until another occasion. This column addresses readers’ questions about the many varied conflicting reports about a Trump-Putin deal. What are my expectations, readers ask, for the Trump-Putin meeting about the conflict in Ukraine? I am pleased that readers think I have been sufficiently correct over the years for my analysis to be of interest.
The outlook for the resolution of the conflict and for a final end of the Cold War is good, but never forget the adage that “there’s many a slip between cup and lip.” First of all, neither leader wants the war. Putin did everything he could to avoid war. He devised the Minsk Agreement which kept the breakaway Donbas republics in Ukraine. He begged for a mutual security agreement and was cold-shouldered. He was forced to intervene in Donbas by Washington, a conflict for which Russia was unprepared. Putin has fought the conflict in the least effective way possible in order to counter the Western propaganda that he had “invaded Ukraine” and Europe would be next. Trump regards the orchestrated conflict the American Zionist neoconservatives created with Russia as a stupidity that is in the way of profitable business between the US and Russia and as a stupidity that is leading to the rise of BRICS and the denial of American business relationships with a large part of the world.
A war leader is the last thing Putin is, a job for which he has no talent. Trump favors business uber alles. So a deal is the most likely outcome. Moreover, statements from Trump, Putin, Lavrov and other officials have created such expectations of an end to the conflict that it is now almost impossible not to deliver a mutually acceptable outcome. Even proxy wars are expensive, and Trump and Musk are committed to reducing the US budget by $1 trillion. That can’t happen with the US shipping hundreds of billions of dollars into Ukraine. Putin and Lavrov remain open for Russia being a part of the Western world. Although Putin was forced by Washington’s aggression to revive Russian nationalism, his heart, like many of his generation, is for Russia to be a part of the Western world.
Perhaps Putin is lost in the past and does not recognize the spiritual and moral corruption into which the Western world degenerated under liberal leadership. If Trump had not won the election, pedophilia would have been legalized in the Kamala regime. Indeed, it is likely that Democrat judges would have legalized marriage between women and dogs as “freedom of choice.” The question before us is: Can Trump and his government, a capable collection of talent, restore American principles or have our principles been so destroyed by decades of university, media, and entertainment propaganda, and by judicial rulings and unconstitutional regulatory rules that have left the American system too far gone to be resurrected?
Straight from the White House site. No matter what anyone else may say, America liked what it saw. Duly noted. Compare it to Kallas calling for a ‘New Leader of Free World’. Different worlds if not universes.
• Support Pours In For President Trump, VP Vance’s America First Strength (WH)
Today, President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance made clear to the world that the United States will not be taken advantage of — a sentiment echoed by the cabinet and members of Congress from across the country.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “Thank you @POTUS for standing up for America in a way that no President has ever had the courage to do before. Thank you for putting America First. America is with you!”
Sen. Lindsey Graham: “I’ve never been more proud of President Trump for showing the American people — and the world — you don’t trifle with this man … He wanted to get a ceasefire. He wants to end the war and Zelenskyy felt like he needed to bait Trump in the Oval Office.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem: “I am so proud of our Commander-in-Chief. Thank you President @RealDonaldTrump and @VP for standing up for America. We will not tolerate the political games and disrespect of America. America is back.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth: “Amen, Mr. President.”
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent: “Thank you, President Trump, for standing up for the American people and our nation on the global stage.”
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum: “Thank you @POTUS for standing strong for America while working to end the killing abroad.”
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins: “American leadership is back — in the Oval Office — and on the world stage. FEARLESS. BOLD. RELENTLESS. We will save America.”
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy: “Thank you @POTUS for standing up for the United States. The American people will not stand for disrespect of our President, Oval Office, or our generous taxpayers. Peace is only accomplished through strength and our allies need to understand that.”
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner: “President Trump is standing up for forgotten Americans, not endless foreign wars. Biden’s legacy — increased homelessness, record high interest rates, all-time highs to buy a house, and Americans footing the bill. That ended January 20th. The American people are behind @POTUS.”
Sen. Jim Banks: “Thank you President Trump for standing up for America!”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn: “Thank you President Trump and VP Vance or standing up for America.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty: “The United States of America will no longer be taken for granted. The contrast between the last four years and now could not be more clear. Thank you, Mr. President.”
Sen. Josh Hawley: “Remember: the U.S. Senate has repeatedly and for years voted BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine with no strings attached and with no true oversight. It’s time for some ACCOUNTABILITY.”
Sen. Jim Justice: “Glad to have a @POTUS and @VP in charge that absolutely put America FIRST.”
Sen. Mike Lee: “Thank you for standing up for OUR COUNTRY and putting America first, President Trump and Vice President Vance!”
Sen. Bernie Moreno: “Finally we have a President who will speak the TRUTH and stand up against Washington’s endless wars. American taxpayers have been funding this war, it’s time to stop the killing and stop risking World War 3!”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin: “Under this President— the greatest, freest, and most generous nation on Earth is putting America First. I’d encourage anyone who has a problem with that to reevaluate their priorities.”
Sen. Rick Scott: “Thank you President Trump for standing up for America.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt: “It’s about time we have leaders who say what the American people are really thinking and prioritize the core national interests of America. The American taxpayer is tapped out, and President Trump and VP Vance are spot on.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville: “Thank you Mr. President and Vice President Vance for putting America first”
Majority Leader Steve Scalise: “President Trump is fighting for PEACE around the world and is putting America First as our best negotiator—he’s the only one to get Russia to the table to consider a serious and lasting peace agreement with Ukraine.”
Chairwoman Lisa McClain: “President Trump inherited this war. He has said from the beginning he wants to bring peace. @POTUS is a strong leader, and I know his negotiations will bring a deal together.”
Rep. Andy Biggs: “Gone are the days of foreign leaders walking all over us and snubbing their noses at America’s generosity. There’s a new President and Vice President in town. World leaders would be wise to humble themselves.”
Rep. Tim Burchett: “Job well done by @realDonaldTrump and our VP @JDVance. Give respect to get respect.”
Rep. Mike Collins: “Thank God we finally have a @POTUS who is willing to put America FIRST. Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Rep. Eli Crane: “America First. Thank you, President Trump and Vice President Vance.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw: “If you are the leader of a country in a dire situation with no path to peace without American support, do not come into the Oval Office and argue with the President of the United States in public. Just a word of advice.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde: “President Trump and Vice President Vance are standing up for the AMERICAN PEOPLE. Our great country will NOT be taken advantage of or disrespected.”
Rep. Byron Donalds: “This is what putting the AMERICAN PEOPLE FIRST looks like. Thank you @realdonaldtrump and @JDVance for standing up for our nation.”
Rep. Brandon Gill: “America First in action. Thank you, @realdonaldtrump and @JDVance, for prioritizing our people and for promoting peace!”
Rep. Lance Gooden: “President @realdonaldtrump and Vice President @JDVance will never allow the United States to be disrespected or taken advantage of. America First, always!”
Rep. Paul Gosar: “Thank you, Mr. President and Vice President. The days of the USA getting pushed around are clearly over.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “President Trump and Vice President Vance will put America First every single time. Putting Zelensky in his place while he disrespects the U.S. in the Oval Office is exactly what American leadership should look like. This is what We The People want to see!”
Rep. Pat Harrigan: “America’s priorities come first. @POTUS and @VP made it clear—Ukraine’s interests are not America’s interests. We’ve spent hundreds of billions with no accountability, no clear objectives, and no plan for peace. It’s time to put America first and end this war.”
Rep. Mark Harris: “Thank you, President Trump and Vice President Vance, for boldly defending America’s interests. This is PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH”
Rep. Diana Harshbarger: “The act displayed by Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was nothing short of a massive show of disrespect for the Trump Administration and the American people. Despite this, President Trump and Vice President Vance are holding the line and trying to end this conflict peacefully. God bless them both.”
Rep. Wesley Hunt: “You do NOT blame the people fighting to save your country! America leads—no more excuses!”
Rep. Nancy Mace: “Peace through strength live from the Oval”
Rep. Thomas Massie: “Is this the end of Zelensky’s presidency? He hitched his wagon to Biden and the deep state. They lost and now he doesn’t seem to be playing his cards well.”
Rep. Brian Mast: “American won’t be taken advantage of and America won’t be taken for granted. Thank you, President Trump and Vice President Vance for standing up for America.”
Rep. Addison McDowell: “AMERICA AND THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER ALWAYS COME FIRST”
Rep. Mary Miller: “What has happened in Ukraine is a travesty. Joe Biden threw “gas on the fire.” Ukraine lost an entire generation, and Americans hundreds of billions in tax dollars. We thank God for giving us strong leadership. Thank you @POTUS and @VP for putting America’s interests first, and working to end this terrible war.”
Rep. Riley Moore: “It is amazing to have a President and VP who put America First! Thank you President Trump and VP Vance for fighting for our country and our people!”
Rep. Troy Nehls: “President Trump and Vice President Vance are standing up for the American people. This is America First leadership on display. Thank you POTUS and VP!”
Rep. Ralph Norman: “THIS is strong leadership that is ensuring we put the American people FIRST. Thank you @realDonaldTrump and @JDVance for standing up for our nation.”
Rep. Andy Ogles: “This is what it looks like to stand up for America.”
Rep. Mike Rulli: “You don’t have the cards!”
Rep. Keith Self: “TOUGH and FAIR. The world is witnessing American leadership back in the White House. Thank you President Trump and Vice President Vance.”
Rep. Victoria Spartz: “Zelensky is doing a serious disservice to the Ukrainian people insulting the American President and the American people – just to appease Europeans and increase his low polling in Ukraine after he failed miserably to defend his country. This is not a theater act but a real war!”
Rep. Greg Steube: “Ridiculous grandstanding by Zelensky in the Oval Office. The United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to defend Ukraine. And this is the thanks the American people get? It’s time to end this war.”
Rep. Marlin Stutzman: “TRUMP IS THE GREATEST NEGOTIATOR AMERICA HAS EVER HAD! AMERICA IS BEING MADE GREAT BEFORE OUR VERY EYES!”
Rep. Andy Weber: “America FIRST. Strong, unapologetic leadership on the world stage is BACK!”
Rep. Joe Wilson: “I agree with President Trump that Ukrainian soldiers have been unbelievably brave! Critical Minerals Deal a major step forward toward ending the war responsibly. More sanctions on Russia & arms for Ukraine create maximum leverage for FULL land swap Art of the Deal!”
Trump was forced to meet all these guys he didn’t want to see, Macron, Starmer, Zelensky. All three wanted to talk only about war. Trump had enough. He wants peace, he wants to talk to Putin.
• Trump Wanted To Cancel Zelensky Meeting – French Media (RT)
US President Donald Trump was reportedly reluctant to host Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky this Friday. A French diplomatic source, cited by BFMTV on Thursday, suggested that while the White House had planned to cancel the meeting, the decision was reversed after Zelensky called French President Emmanuel Macron and asked him to intervene. Zelensky is visiting the US for a signing ceremony regarding an agreement on rare earths and other natural resources – which Trump has described as repayment for American aid to Ukraine. According to a draft text published by Ukrainian media, cabinet-level officials will finalize the document with their signatures. Asked about Zelensky’s potential visit earlier this week, Trump said, “I hear that he is coming on Friday. Certainly, it’s OK with me, if he’d like to.”
Macron visited the US on Wednesday, reportedly aiming to dissuade Trump from distancing the US from the Ukraine conflict. The Trump administration has stressed that American troops and NATO will not be involved in post-truce security arrangements. Insiders, as reported by Politico, dismissed the Macron-Trump meeting as “a waste of time.” The minerals deal emerged from Zelensky’s proposal for the US to benefit from Ukraine’s resources, which led to tensions after he refused to sign an initial offer from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Zelensky publicly challenged Trump, a tactic criticized as counterproductive by associates of the US president. Trump blasted Zelensky, calling him a “dictator without election” with low public support.
The document set to be signed on Friday outlines a framework agreement at the government level, declaring both nations’ intentions to establish a special fund for investments in Ukraine. Many crucial details were omitted, pending a separate document that is reportedly incomplete. Zelensky has said the terms have improved significantly. “Though it does not include all the security guarantees that Ukraine would like to see, I wanted it to include at least one sentence about them, and it does,” he told reporters. The draft text states that the US supports Kiev’s pursuit of security guarantees.
The minerals deal serves as a sufficient guarantee for Ukraine, Trump stated on Thursday. Hosting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he told journalists, “It’s a backstop… I don’t think anybody’s going to play around if we’re there [in Ukraine] with a lot of workers.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the potential US-Ukraine deal on rare-earth minerals “doesn’t concern” Moscow, adding that Russia has “significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine” and is ready to work with the US in developing rare-earth mineral deposits, including in “our new historical territories.”
“I also don’t see clearly how we will curb the crime that would inevitably flood into Hungary along with it..”
• EU Membership For Ukraine ‘Unthinkable’ – Orban (RT)
Admitting Ukraine into the EU would be an “unthinkable” act, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated, adding that accession to the bloc by Kiev could have severe economic and security consequences for Hungary. Speaking in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban said that while he would not rule out Ukraine joining the bloc in principle, doing so under the current circumstances would be virtually impossible. “One thing I can say for sure: here and now, this is unthinkable,” he said. He argued that Ukraine’s membership in the EU “would ruin us,” adding that “first, it would destroy Hungarian farmers and Hungarian agriculture. Second, it would subsequently ruin the entire Hungarian national economy.”
Beyond economic concerns, Orban claimed that Ukraine’s accession would lead to an influx of crime into Hungary. “I also don’t see clearly how we will curb the crime that would inevitably flood into Hungary along with it,” he said. “I cannot think of a single argument that would justify Ukraine’s accession from Hungary’s perspective.”Orban has been a consistent critic of Ukraine’s integration into Western institutions, although he argued in 2023 that the EU could sign a five- to ten-year strategic partnership agreement with Kiev to bring it closer to the bloc. He has also pushed back against Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, warning that its accession could escalate tensions with Russia, and suggesting that the country should instead remain a “buffer” between Moscow and the West.
Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022, shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia. In June 2022, it was granted candidate status.However, Ukraine faces significant hurdles before joining the bloc, as full membership requires the unanimous approval of all EU nations. In addition, the EU has demanded that Ukraine implement a comprehensive set of governance reforms, fight rampant corruption, and harmonize its legislation with EU law. EU officials have never set a definitive timeline for Ukraine’s accession, although former European Council President Charles Michel suggested that Ukraine could join the bloc by 2030, provided it meets all the conditions.
“..aiming to reduce the number of diplomats and embassies while focusing on Washington’s immediate interests..”
• Trump Planning Sweeping Cuts To State Department – Politico (RT)
US President Donald Trump is planning an overhaul of the State Department, aiming to reduce the number of diplomats and embassies while focusing on Washington’s immediate interests, Politico reported on Thursday, citing sources and internal documents. According to the outlet, the Trump administration is aiming to prioritize transactional government agreements safeguarding US security and investment interests. This approach, however, involves scaling back on traditional “soft power” tools, including initiatives purportedly advancing democracy across the globe.The new strategy would reportedly involve staff cuts and embassy closures. While the exact number of missions to be shut down remains undetermined, Politico sources claimed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on board with the policy, with discussions suggesting at least a 20% cut in State Department staffing.
An unnamed official told Politico that the State Department’s Executive Secretariat had reached out to several key US agencies, including the Pentagon and the CIA, with a request to rank US embassies based on their importance to their operations. Politico also obtained a list of potential consulates slated for closure, including facilities in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil. In some cases, the closure of diplomatic missions would mean the remaining facilities would cover a wider geographic area. Several State Department bureaus focusing on education, environment, and scientific affairs could also face major cuts or closure. The Economic Affairs Bureau is expected to remain, aligning with Trump’s focus on transactional diplomacy. The Consular Affairs Division, responsible for visas and assisting Americans abroad, is also expected to remain one of the pillars of the department, but could experience some staffing cuts.
Trump has already issued an order on reforming recruitment for the State Department, with Politico suggesting this would help create a more “pliable” and easier-to-fire staff. A former senior State Department official cited by the outlet cautioned that this could deter diplomats from expressing dissenting opinions, potentially undermining the decision-making process. Tom Shannon, an ex-State Department official, argued that the Trump administration’s approach would “dramatically shrink the ambit of American diplomacy… [and] the purpose and the practice of our diplomacy and return it, if not to the 19th century, at least pre-World War II.”
Politico also cited critics of the overhaul, who warned that the reforms could have long-term detrimental effects on US foreign policy, particularly in the face of the rivalry with China. The Trump administration has said it seeks to reduce government spending, combat bureaucracy, and fight corruption within the country’s agencies, citing high national debt, with the campaign being spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The US leader has already cracked down on the US Agency for International Development (USAID), portraying it as the epitome of a wasteful agency run by “radical left lunatics.”
“.. influence the Wisconsin vote in order to give the Democrats the upper hand in Congress..”
• Soros Trying To Derail Trump’s Plans – Musk (RT)
Elon Musk has backed claims that Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros is spending millions of dollars in an attempt to block US President Donald Trump’s political agenda. The accusation comes after the US Republican Party narrowly passed a budget blueprint on Tuesday in the House of Representatives, leading to concerns that the outcome of an upcoming race for a seat in the Wisconsin Supreme Court could shift the balance of power. On Thursday, former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker claimed in a post on X that Soros has been trying to influence the Wisconsin vote in order to give the Democrats the upper hand in Congress.
“Do the math. The vote on Tuesday night was 217-215. George Soros is pulling millions into the WI Supreme Court race because a 4-3 liberal majority will redraw Congressional districts to squeeze out 2 GOP seats,” Walker wrote. “This is how he blocks the Trump agenda. We can’t let that happen,” he added. Musk agreed with Walker on Friday, writing that derailing Trump’s agenda “is exactly [Soros’] goal.” The Wisconsin Supreme Court race features two candidates: Susan Crawford, who is backed by the Democratic Party and has received donations from Soros, and the GOP’s Brad Schimel – a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and former Republican attorney general who has been supported by Musk.
Soros and Musk have both invested significant sums into the respective candidates and both sides have accused each other of trying to buy a seat on the Supreme Court. Crawford has criticized Musk’s involvement in the race, suggesting that the billionaire was trying to further an “extreme agenda.” Meanwhile, Schimel has expressed concerns over Soros’ influence, citing his support for “very dangerous ideas” such as defunding the police. According to a survey conducted by the Institute for Reforming Government late last month, Schimel is leading in public opinion polls, with 40% of registered voters supporting the GOP candidate compared to 35% saying they would vote for Crawford. Another 23% of respondents said they were still undecided.
“There is no official tally for the total firings and layoffs to date. Still, a review of various reports suggests that it is at least 20,000 people, with an additional 75,000 people accepting deferred resignations, bringing the total affected to nearly 100,000.”
• Musk, White House Respond to Reports of 21 DOGE Employees Resigning (ET)
Trump adviser Elon Musk and the White House have criticized media reports about 21 civil service employees resigning from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Feb. 25. DOGE, created by Trump by renaming the existing United States Digital Service (USDS), is tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal operations. Reducing staff numbers and limiting hiring are also part of the targeted cost-cutting efforts. In a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained and reported on Feb. 25 by The Associated Press (AP), the 21 staffers said they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” they wrote. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
Musk, who leads DOGE, responded to the AP report on social media platform X, calling it “fake news” and “propaganda.” “These were Dem political holdovers who refused to return to the office,” the businessman wrote. “They would have been fired had they not resigned.” In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was dismissive of the mass resignation. “Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits, and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years,” Leavitt said. “President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers.” In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, Harrison Fields, the White House principal deputy press secretary, said the issue was an example of inaccurate reporting.
“Democrats and the mainstream media have once again gone off the deep end with their breathlessly inaccurate reporting on President Trump’s widely popular mission to rid the federal government of waste, fraud, and abuse,” Fields said. “DOGE has effectively become part of the USDS as a component of the White House, and any leftover career bureaucrats who don’t align with the President or DOGE are neither advised nor welcomed to be a part of this never-before-seen mission to make the government more efficient.” Musk and DOGE have been hit with multiple lawsuits seeking to stymie its operations.
Musk also recently drew criticism after the Office of Personnel Management sent an email to government workers over the weekend asking them to provide a bullet-point list of their accomplishments, with Musk commenting on social media that those who do not respond will face termination. There is no official tally for the total firings and layoffs to date. Still, a review of various reports suggests that it is at least 20,000 people, with an additional 75,000 people accepting deferred resignations, bringing the total affected to nearly 100,000.
Small world.
• From Epstein To Diddy: Spotlight On James Comey’s Prosecutor Daughter (ZH)
Speaking Jeffrey Epstein and things being kept under wraps (more on that later), a prosecutor with a famous last name quietly joined the sex trafficking case against Sean “Diddy Combs late last year… In a thinly covered news story from December that’s suddenly relevant again (read on), New York Prosecutor Maurene Comey – whose father James Comey famously refused to prosecute Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information & then participated in the Russia collusion hoax – joined the prosecution against Combs. The younger Comey has previously worked as lead prosecutor on both the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases, as well as that of former Epstein cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione. More on that below… Combs is currently facing multiple serious legal charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for purposes of prostitution.
These charges stem from allegations that, from at least 2008 to the present, the impresario led a criminal enterprise aimed at exploiting and abusing women, protecting his reputation, and concealing his conduct. The alleged crimes encompass sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice. Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors have been made. Last October, attorney Tony Buzbee announced he was representing 120 individuals accusing Combs of sexual misconduct; 25 of these accusers were minors at the time of the alleged incidents – while he’s also been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in a New York City hotel in 2005 and a 17-year-old boy in 2008 who aspired to be on the reality TV show “Making the Band.”
According to former dancer Adria Sheri English, who claimed she was “pimped out” by Diddy, the embattled rapper would hold sex-crazed “freak offs” that often took place away from the “main party” but were kept a secret. In addition to dozens of celebrities, including Jay-Z, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Usher, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams, several famous politicians are alleged to have attended Diddy’s extravagant parties, including:
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Kamala Harris
Donald Trump
Sen. Cory Booker
Andrew Cuomo
Al SharptonHow many of these figures were at the ‘main party’ vs. the ‘freak off’ rooms is unknown, however questions have been raised over whether Diddy was running an blackmail operation similar to what Epstein is suspected of. As an aside, it’s hilarious we pretend the NSA and various public / private international agencies and ‘security firms’ don’t have access to precise GPS location information (possibly in real time) and know exactly whose mobile devices were in proximity to alleged victims’ cell phones, etc. According to a TMZ documentary about the Diddy raid “They have 250 cameras they took from his houses. A lot of people may be running from that tape,” said rapper Mark Curry, a former Bad Boy Records artist. TMZ executive producer Charles Latibeaudier said that Combs was “allegedly obsessed with recording everything that went on in his home.”
“I don’t think it’s just celebrities that are going to be shook,” said Combs’ former bodyguard, Gene Deal. “He had politicians in there. He had princes in there. He also had a couple of preachers in there.” And so it suddenly becomes very interesting that the daughter of James Comey is now involved in the prosecution. Is she handling depositions? Or determining which witnesses are involved in the case? Maurene Comey became a US attorney in the Southern District of New York in 2015. In 2019, when she was just 30-years-old, Comey became one of the lead prosecutors in the Jeffrey Epstein case before he was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019.
Two years later, she became one of three lead prosecutors in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner in crime and daughter of suspected Mossad operative Robert Maxwell. Before becoming a US attorney, Comey clerked for US District Court chief judge Loretta Preska of the SDNY – who notably oversaw a long-running defamation case filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against Maxwell. Comey was also involved in the case of Nicholas Tartaglione, a former NYPD officer who was convicted of killing four men in 2016, and who was briefly Epstein’s cellmate in the Manhattan Metro Correctional Center. Tartaglione claims to have helped Epstein after ‘finding him unconscious’ (and totally not trying to kill him) prior to Epstein’s actual death.
“It may be time the FBI’s New York field office gets paid a visit in the style it’s very well accustomed to doling out.” Mike Benz
• The Dog Probably Ate It (James Howard Kunstler)
Turns out new Attorney General Pam Bondi was a little off the mark earlier this week when she said the Jeffrey Epstein files were sitting on her desk. Actually, it was a six-hundred-pound tar-smeared hairball with a gift tag that read: “To Pamela Jo from her Friends in Blobville, good luck untangling this!” Well, she did tell Fox News host Jesse Waters that the thing sitting on her desk was “disgusting.” As promised, those Epstein files were released on Thursday — a measly two-hundred pages — to much chagrin and embarrassment for all, since the material turned out to be the same old lists and flight logs that every blogger and his uncle has already put out on the Web for years — say, what . . .? But then the plot thickened later in the day when AG Bondi said a whistleblower informed her that the New York office of the FBI and their counterparts in the Southern District of NY (Manhattan) DOJ offices were hiding “thousands and thousands” of pages evidence and other stuff (videos? photos?) they had been sitting on for years.
AG Bondi quickly fired off a letter to brand-new FBI Director Kash Patel demanding that the New York FBI office deliver all that stuff to Washington by eight o’clock in the morning today (Friday). If you were Mr. Patel, rather than waiting until morning, wouldn’t you just take a twilight ride up the Jersey Turnpike from Blobville to the Big Apple with an FBI swat team and bust into both the FBI and DOJ offices there. . . and maybe frog-march a few federal employees onto the street like so many grannies caught praying in front of an abortion mill? Of course, I am writing this a few hours before the Friday morning deadline. So, for now there are only the ancillary considerations in this fast-developing denouement to the longest and slowest-running case of trans-national fuckery in world history. Some little details do stick in one’s craw.
For example, Maurene (spelled that way) Comey, daughter of fired FBI director James Comey has been a lead US attorney out of the SDNY in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell and the more recent case against Sean (“Diddy”) Combs — both cases revolving around grand-scale sexual depravity among world-class celebrities. Note, too, that the SDNY was the origin point of more recent janky cases brought against Mr. Trump in the 2024 runup to the election.And, as independent investigator Mike Benz points out, Bill Barr was USAG in 2019 when Jeffrey Epstein was finally busted, stuffed into the Manhattan federal lockup, and promptly (shall we say, conveniently) turned up dead a few days later (putting aside the known irregularities involving the disposal of his body and the pathology reports about the cause-of-death).
Did you notice that no one was ever disciplined for that? Not the two guards on the floor that night who claimed they fell asleep. Not the warden of the jail who failed to check whether the security cameras were working (they weren’t) on his most important prisoner’s cell? Nor did Bill Barr ever answer for that, or for some other capers — such as sitting on Hunter Biden’s laptop in the fall of 2019 when Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee held preliminary hearings to consider impeaching President Donald Trump over his inquiring phone call to V. Zelenskyy in Ukraine. The laptop, you surely know, was stuffed with deal memos and emails about the Biden family’s ex-officio financial shenanigans in Ukraine that surely would have amounted to exculpatory evidence and was withheld from Mr. Trump’s lawyers through the entire psychodrama of the impeachment and trial in the Senate.
“The whole electoral farce in Romania – complete with the demonization of election front-runner Calin Georgescu – revolves around the upgrading of the Mihail Kogalniceanu base, which will become the largest NATO military base in Europe..”
• Baltic/Black Sea Power Games and Red Lines In A “Strange War” (Pepe Escobar)
No one ever lost money betting on the batshit crazy “policies” of the ferociously yapping Baltic chihuahuas. Their latest power play of sorts is a drive to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake. The notion that a bunch of Russophobic sub-entities have what it takes to expel the Russian superpower from the Baltic Sea and pose a threat to St. Petersburg does not even qualify as cartoonish. Yet that is indeed part and parcel of NATO’s re-configured obsessions, as their warmongering “vanguard” has been relocated to a London-Warsaw-Baltic chihuahuas-Ukraine axis. What kind of black hole rump “Ukraine” will turn out to be after the end of the war – which may not even happen in 2025 – remains to be seen. What’s certain is that in the case of a Ukraine exit – whatever the modalities – enter Romania.
The whole electoral farce in Romania – complete with the demonization of election front-runner Calin Georgescu – revolves around the upgrading of the Mihail Kogalniceanu base, which will become the largest NATO military base in Europe. So, once again, this is all about the Black Sea. NATO wreaking havoc in the Black Sea carries way more savory prospects than NATO via chihuahuas monopolizing the Baltic Sea. Ilya Fabrichnikov, a member of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, has published a remarkable essay essentially focusing on the Black Sea (this is a short version on the Kommersant daily). Fabrichnikov convincingly argues that from an European – UE/NATO – angle, what really mattered in Ukraine was “to move its borders, along with its military, political and economic infrastructure, close to Russia’s, to put under full control the strategic Black Sea trade corridor – which easily stretches further north along the Odessa-Gdansk route – in order to more conveniently and quickly explore the economic spaces of Asia and North Africa, and to begin dictating its terms to Russian supplies of oil, gas and other resources needed by the European economy.”
As this focused power play instrumentalizing Ukraine is unravelling in real time, a replacement is needed – even as warmongering Eurocrats keep peddling their Orwellian “peace is war” dementia non-stop, complete with a non-stop tsunami of sanctions and renewed promises of avalanches of weapons to Kiev. This is a classic Brussels vassals affair – even as the toxic Medusa von der Lugen as head of the EC and Rutti-Frutti as the new head of NATO were essentially appointed by Washington and London. Collectively, Europe has pumped way more military-political funds into black hole Ukraine than the Americans. The reason is simple. For Europe there’s no Plan B apart from that mirific “strategic defeat” of Russia. The EU/NATO Black Sea power play would make it even more imperative for Russia to connect with Transnistria. The only one who can answer whether this is part of the current planning is of course President Putin.
Rogan Elon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1895561803683283100
https://twitter.com/i/status/1895567181083254978
Heart
He has a wonderful heart. pic.twitter.com/AeLmzfagv9
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) February 28, 2025
Path
Sometimes it may not be right to do what everyone else does for success …
Trust your own chosen path … pic.twitter.com/OPv8FWDv8Q
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) February 27, 2025
Duckling
https://twitter.com/i/status/1895211300126613606
Best friend
Dog playing with his new best friend
pic.twitter.com/SgQhpO8uF1— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 27, 2025
Leopard
If cloud leopard not friend why make friend sounds pic.twitter.com/HfUReoQ6iX
— why you should have an animal (@ShouldHaveAnima) February 28, 2025
Sing for them
Have A Blessed Day Everybody. You Are Loved. pic.twitter.com/opkaEHKVO8
— Axel Vasa (@SummmertC) February 27, 2025
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