
Vincent van Gogh Pollard willows at sunset 1888

Dugin summarizes the confusion about what Trump said-and what he meant.
Maybe I am wrong but I read strange Trump’s pro-Ukrainian post a bit differently. I see here farewell to Kiev. Trump meant: ok, if you (Zelensky and European NATO) are so powerful and Russia is so weak as you pretend: come and fight them. Alone. Without me. I ll sell you weapon.
— Alexander Dugin (@AGDugin) September 24, 2025
Putin: "Sometimes it seems to me that if tomorrow USA tells the EU ‘we’ve decided to hang all of you’, the EU just ask whether they can use EU ropes." pic.twitter.com/fChqtiDEZi
— Russian Market (@runews) September 25, 2025
https://twitter.com/RussiaIsntEnemy/status/1970832546666873108
A Terrifying speech from the EuroFuhrer Von Der Liar.
She plans to essentially outlaw dissent in the EU, flood the already biased and lying Client media with Cash, and own the narrative completely with her "Democracy Shield"
Dark and Dangerous days ahead for Europe pic.twitter.com/WjWlSM2RkS
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) September 25, 2025
At the WEF 2025, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presented a vision for the digital future that should send a chill down the spine of every free citizen. Framed as a solution to online harms, his proposal is, in reality, a blueprint for a panopticon of digital control,… pic.twitter.com/QK9V8QEU8w
— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 24, 2025
https://twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/1971097416729493723
WORLD EXCLUSIVE BOMBSHELL: Senior DOJ Epstein Investigator Reveals ‘Epstein Was CIA’ — Confirms ‘R-pes Occurred While Bill Clinton Was on the Plane’ — Says of President Trump, "He’s Protecting a Lot of Other People… He’s Not Protecting Himself, Because There’s Nothing There"… pic.twitter.com/nsokVW8ejz
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) September 24, 2025


This will not be easy. Everyone involved in Russiagate, including Obama, Brennnan, Clapper, FBI, CIA, will throw in their weight behind Comey. Because if he goes down, so will they.
• Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted (Margolis)
Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice, marking a dramatic development in one of the most politically explosive feuds in modern American history. The move comes just days after President Donald Trump publicly demanded his Justice Department act “now” to pursue Comey and other political rivals, escalating what critics already describe as a clear weaponization of federal law enforcement. The charges stem from Comey’s congressional testimony back on September 30, 2020, when he defended his handling of the Russia probe. Prosecutors allege that he lied to lawmakers about his management of that investigation, though the case has long been seen as shaky at best.
Even Justice Department officials acknowledged deep misgivings. Several prosecutors questioned whether there was sufficient evidence to sustain charges at trial and warned of the obvious ethical concerns attached to such a politically targeted case. “No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on X. “We will follow the facts in this case.” Reporters asked Trump earlier in the day about a potential indictment.
“Well, I can’t tell you what’s gonna happen because I don’t know yet,” he said. “Very professional people, uh, headed up by the attorney general and Todd… Todd Blanche, and, uh, Lindsey Halligan who’s a very smart, good lawyer, very good lawyer. Uh, they’re gonna make a determination. I’m not making that determin—I think I’d be allowed to get involved if I wanted … but I don’t really choose to do so. I can only say that, uh, Comey’s a bad person, he’s a sick person. I think he’s a sick guy actually. He did terrible things at the FBI and, uh, but I, I don’t know. I have no idea what’s gonna happen.”
The way Comey not only tried to destroy General Flynn and his family by framing him, but later mockingly bragged about it, remains one of the most disgraceful abuses ever committed by an FBI director. He deserves prison for that alone. pic.twitter.com/nQ32z8wr8u
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) September 24, 2025
UPDATE, 9:12 PM EST: President Trump reacted to the indictment in a post on Truth Social. “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI,” Trump wrote. “Today he was indicted by a Grand Jury on two felony counts for various illegal and unlawful acts. He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Current FBI Director Kash Patel also released a statement reacting to the indictment.
“Today, your FBI took another step in its promise of full accountability. For far too long, previous corrupt leadership and their enablers weaponized federal law enforcement, damaging once proud institutions and severely eroding public trust. Every day, we continue the fight to earn that trust back, and under my leadership, this FBI will confront the problem head-on,” Patel said in a post on X. “Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose.” Patel added, “Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account – no matter their perch. No one is above the law.”
The preemptive false framing of a potential James Comey indictment as a political hit is being driven by leaks from inside DOJ and/or the U.S. Attorney’s Office in EDVA. Kash and his team must launch a full-scale leak investigation into who’s behind it and chase it to the end. https://t.co/BwRCtzRuAe pic.twitter.com/rkylq5Wp1L
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) September 25, 2025

“..after media inquiries into the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Page wrote “if they start digging deep, we are screwed.”
• Strzok Out: Former FBI Agent Loses Free Speech Case (Turley)
I previously discussed the free speech lawsuit of Peter Strzok, expressing skepticism over his claims that the Justice Department violated his First Amendment and privacy rights in firing him. On Tuesday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed and dismissed the lawsuit. The FBI fired Strzok in 2018 after an investigation into thousands of his texts with bureau lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair.Strzok was a key player in Crossfire Hurricane, the investigation into the now debunked Trump-Russia collusion allegations. Shortly before the 2016 presidential election, he texted Page to assure her “that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected,” adding that they “can’t take that risk.”
He added that they had it all in hand because “It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.” He also showed animus for Trump’s supporters, writing to Page “Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support…” Recently disclosure material showed that, after media inquiries into the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Page wrote“if they start digging deep, we are screwed.” U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson noted how Strzok’s filings were filled with “considerable indignation,” but noted that “Each of the FBI officials deposed maintained that given plaintiff’s rank and his role in the two investigations, and the appearance of bias that permeated the messages, the situation was unprecedented, and there were no comparators.”
She ruled that “the FBI’s imposition of the sanction of termination comported with the Constitution.” She dismissed the case after finding that “the Court finds that there is no genuine dispute of material fact that would preclude the entry of summary judgment in the defendants’ favor and that plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment should be denied.” It is not surprising that Strzok’s filings showed “considerable indignation” given his signature texts and emails. What was missing was considerable support for his legal claims. He could appeal but this shellacking is unlikely to be reversed.

“..more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros.”
• New York Times Reports DOJ Is Investigating George Soros (Tim O’Brien)
The New York Times is reporting that a “senior Justice Department official” has directed “more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros.” Soros is the notorious Democrat donor and billionaire mastermind behind a lot of the Left’s attempts to gain power and control in America. Now it appears we may get a peek behind that curtain. According to the Times report, its reporters had the chance to view a copy of the DOJ official’s memo detailing a list of charges that could be filed against Soros’s Open Society Foundations. These include racketeering, arson, wire fraud, and providing material support for terrorism.
The report says that DOJ department heads seem to be taking orders from President Trump so “that specific people or groups be subject to criminal investigation — a major break from decades of past practice meant to insulate the Justice Department from political interference.” Oddly, after all the lawfare thrown at Trump since 2020, the Times has the gall to characterize this as “a major break from decades of past practice meant to insulate the Justice Department from political interference.” This comes amid hints that an indictment of former FBI chief James Comey is in the works, as noted by Stephen Kruiser in “The Morning Briefing.” Are good things starting to happen? The Times says the investigation of Soros is just the latest in the DOJ’s moves against “Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies.” Perceived? Really?
The “Old Gray Lady” also added Letitia James’s names to the list of those “perceived enemies.” I’m no lawyer, but I’d say there’s more than perception going on here. These are all people who verifiably tried to jail and break Trump mentally and financially, and they lost. What’s worse for them is they now seem to have given Trump and his DOJ a breadcrumb trail to follow as they investigate. The Times says the DOJ official who made the directive is a lawyer in the office of Deputy Todd Blanche. That lawyer is Aakash Singh. The Times says he sent the directive to “U.S. attorney’s offices in California, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Maryland, among others.” According to the Times, Singh referred to a report from an organization called Capital Research Center, “which monitors liberal money in politics.”
Singh requested that DOJ prosecutors “determine if the allegations were enough to justify opening criminal cases.” Included in the DOJ directive, reportedly, is mention of the Open Society Foundations’ alleged funding of an organization that has been described as a front group for terrorism. Before closing out its story by running cover for Soros, the Times referred back to a social media post Trump made in August in which he said Soros “should be charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.” That noise you hear is the sound of a boatload of $2,000-per-hour attorneys hopping planes to get started on mounting their counter-offense to the DOJ’s action. And so it begins.

If you fly close to the border, a mistake is easily made. It’s a thin line.
• If NATO Shoots Down A Russian Plane It Would Be War, Ambassador Warns (ZH)
The below interview exchange between CNN’s warmonger in chief Christiane Amanpour and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is a perfect illustrator of why NATO countries in eastern Europe and the Baltics are now hyping recent Russian drones incursions into European airspace. There is a new dangerous drive to ‘confront’ Russia, potentially sparking WW3, at a moment Ukraine forces continue steadily losing ground along the front lines…
CNN's Amanpour: Türkiye shot down a Russian jet 10 years ago, and did not suffer consequences necessarily.
Ursula von der Leyen: It is a principle of NATO and Article 5.
Amanpour: What is taking you so long? Is it time now to punch back in the nose?
Ursula von der Leyen: It is… pic.twitter.com/772aWwWFKk
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 25, 2025
Amanpour wants NATO and the EU to “punch back” against Russia and hit it “on the nose” – even though this chickenhawk armchair general herself will never fight this conflict. Von der Leyen assured Amanpour that the option of shooting Russian aircraft out of the sky is “on the table” – following last week’s alleged drone and jet incursion incidents which took place in Poland, Romania, and Estonia. In each instance jets were scrambled from the NATO countries. “My opinion is we have to defend every square centimeter of the territory,” von der Leyen told the CNN correspondent. “That means if there is an intrusion in the airspace, after warning, after being very clear, of course the option of shooting down a fighter jet that is intruding our airspace is on the table.”
President Trump could potentially veto such a drastic action if formal consultations were held, but it does present the highly dangerous scenario of a NATO member choosing to ‘shoot first, consult later’ if airspace is violated. Russian Ambassador to France, Alexey Meshkov, has said in a fresh interview with the RTL news channel published Thursday that if NATO shoots down a Russian plane this “would be war”. He warned: “You know, there are many NATO planes that violate Russian airspace, deliberately or not, but it happens quite often. They are not shot down afterward.” He didn’t follow with any specific example of this, however.
BIG: Russian Ambassador to France, Alexey Meshkov:
If NATO shoots down a Russian plane, it would be WAR.
How else can it be described?
Source: RTL pic.twitter.com/RjemfNuMDY
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 25, 2025
Meshkov further in the remarks denied accusations that Russian warplanes have been deliberately entering NATO countries’ airspace. The biggest instance was Estonia’s allegation that three Russian MiG-31 jets violated Estonia for 12-minutes over the Gulf of Finland last Friday morning. Currently, there’s been a lot of speculation over where President Trump stands in all of this. He has made comments which appeared to downplay the drone and jet incursion incidents, but he’s also this week at the UN encouraged Ukraine’s Zelensky to seek to take back all territory currently held by the Russians. He has previously repeatedly said that the world must avoid WW3 with Russia at all costs, and has sought to improve US-Russia bilateral relations of late.

Smart.
• Good Luck Wish To Kiev Sparks Alarm In Europe Over Trump’s Ukraine Policy (RT)
European officials believe US President Donald Trump is scaling back Washington’s role in the Ukraine conflict and preparing to put the blame for a potential Ukrainian defeat on NATO allies, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. In a surprise move this week, Trump said Kiev could achieve its territorial aims against Russia and wished “good luck” to Ukraine and its European supporters. “This is the start of a blame game,” one European official told the newspaper. Another said Trump is “building the off ramp” so he can pin the conflict’s outcome on others. A third described Trump’s good-luck wish as “tantamount to a handover note,” according to the FT.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa told the outlet that Trump’s rhetorical shift reflected new intelligence, internal White House deliberations, and European pressure in recent weeks. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that “Trump and America will be with us to the end of the war.” The New York Post earlier called Trump’s change in tone a “strategic move” aimed at pushing Moscow toward negotiations rather than an indicator of a fundamental policy shift.
Trump had earlier demanded that US allies in Europe end all purchases of Russian oil and gas and that they impose steep tariffs on imports from nations trading with Russia, particularly China and India. Hungary has said it will continue buying Russian crude. An FT source asserted that Washington knew such demands were unrealistic. Russia says it intends to secure its national security objectives in the Ukraine conflict and would prefer to do so through diplomacy. Moscow has accused Kiev of refusing to negotiate in good faith. Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that Kiev agreed to resume direct talks with Moscow this year partly to avoid appearing to oppose Trump’s mediation efforts.

“..the president’s remark was only an attempt “to get under Putin’s skin,” and [..] he “doesn’t suggest that he’s going to do anything about it.”
• Trump Trying To Get Under Putin’s Skin – Former US Diplomat (RT)
US President Donald Trump’s description of Russia as a “paper tiger” is a jab at his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, not a signal of renewed support for Kiev, former US envoy Kurt Volker has said. He added that Trump remains focused on striking a deal with Moscow and making money. After months of saying Ukraine has “no cards to play,” Trump shifted his rhetoric on Tuesday following a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the UN General Assembly. He wrote on Truth Social that Ukraine is “in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back” with European and NATO support. He also called Russia a “paper tiger” facing an economic crisis, saying “this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
Volker, who served as Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine during his first term, told Bloomberg that the president’s remark was only an attempt “to get under Putin’s skin,” and that he “doesn’t suggest that he’s going to do anything about it.” He stressed that Trump still wants to reach a deal with Putin, adding that the president’s statements are an attempt to shift the burden of supporting Kiev onto Western Europe. The White House also said the administration’s policy remains unchanged and called Trump’s sharp rhetoric a “negotiating tactic” to pressure Moscow.
Moscow has dismissed Trump’s “paper tiger” comments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is a “real bear,” not a paper tiger, and that the economy has adapted to sanctions and continues to supply the military despite difficulties. He reiterated Moscow’s openness to talks but noted that Kiev’s battlefield situation is worsening and urged Ukraine to negotiate. Zelensky hailed Trump’s remarks, telling Fox News they show that America will stand with Ukraine. Ukrainian opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko criticized Zelensky for treating Trump’s words as a commitment, claiming the US president is actually disengaging. He warned that this misinterpretation could lead to new offensives costing more Ukrainian lives.

“Trump, he said, was effectively telling Ukraine and the EU: “You deal with it. I hope you can do it. Good luck!”
• Trump’s Praise Of Ukrainian Military A ‘Strategic Move’ To Entice Talks (RT)
US President Donald Trump’s sudden shift in tone on the Ukraine conflict – asserting this week that Kiev can achieve its territorial goals against Russia – is an attempt to push Moscow toward negotiations, the New York Post reported on Wednesday, citing White House sources. For months, Trump and his administration had argued that Ukraine would need to relinquish some of its territorial claims to secure a US-brokered peace deal. However, his week he reversed course, dismissing Russia as a “paper tiger” that Kiev can defeat and claiming his view is based on “getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia military and economic situation.” The Post described the comments as a “dramatic pronouncement,” reportedly prompted by “new US intelligence that shows the Kremlin is spiraling toward economic ruin and battlefield defeat.”
The newspaper said Trump’s assessment of Ukraine’s ability to retake territory was intended as a “strategic move” to draw Russia to the negotiating table. It provided no details on the intelligence behind the claim. Unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden, Trump has resisted sending large amounts of direct US military aid to Ukraine and has instead urged European NATO members to buy American weapons for Kiev’s forces. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky interpreted Trump’s statement as a commitment that “America will be with us to the end of the war.” Opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko, however, argued Zelensky was misreading the message and warned it could prompt a costly new offensive. Trump, he said, was effectively telling Ukraine and the EU: “You deal with it. I hope you can do it. Good luck!”
Trump has long had a contentious relationship with the US intelligence community, at times disregarding its assessments when they conflicted with his policies. In June, he brushed aside testimony from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, after using the opposite claim to justify support for US and Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities. Responding to Trump’s comments this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia has traditionally been seen as a bear rather than a tiger, and that there is “no such thing as a paper bear.”

“..long accused European leaders of prolonging the conflict to avoid admitting that their years-long policy toward Moscow has failed..”
• European NATO Nations ‘Warmongering’ – Jeffrey Sachs (RT)
European NATO members’ increasing hostility toward Russia is undermining the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, American economist Jeffrey Sachs said on Wednesday. He pointed to a draft peace agreement reached by Russia and Ukraine during 2022 talks in Istanbul that was later abandoned by Kiev after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraged the Ukrainians to pursue a military victory instead. “Unfortunately, the Europeans are in an absolute state of warmongering, which is also very dangerous,” Sachs told TASS from the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“What could be peace continues with war. And this is a failure of American politics and failure of European politics,” Sachs said.A longtime critic of Western approach toward Russia, Sachs has argued that US and European actions helped drive tensions over Ukraine to boiling point. He expressed skepticism about US President Donald Trump’s efforts to mediate a settlement, saying Washington’s diplomatic team lacks scale and expertise. “There should be professional, detailed, skilled negotiations to get to actual detailed solutions,” he said, adding that Trump is “not a details person” and “not even stable.”
After months of saying Kiev would need to make concessions to achieve peace, Trump shifted tone this week, dismissing Russia as a “paper tiger” and suggesting Ukraine could achieve all of its territorial goals with European funding.Moscow has rejected that assessment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quipped that Russia is a bear and “there is no such thing as a paper bear.” Russian officials have long accused European leaders of prolonging the conflict to avoid admitting that their years-long policy toward Moscow has failed.

Ukraine to invade Russia?!
“His comments reflect the opinion of his special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg…”
And when you’re done, can you do China too? Thanks!
• Trump: Ukraine Can Retake All Territory Captured by Russia, + More (Antiwar)
President Trump claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine could retake all of the territory Russian forces have captured since the February 2022 invasion and may be able to “go further,” suggesting he’s willing to back the idea of a Ukrainian invasion of Russia. “After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” the president said in a long post on Truth Social.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,” the president added. Trump said that Russia looked like a “paper tiger” and that Ukraine was “getting better.” His comments reflect the opinion of his special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who recently claimed the US could “kick Russia’s ass” and insisted Ukraine could win the war despite Russia’s continued gains in eastern Ukraine and its clear manpower advantage.
Trump said in his post that Ukraine could “be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!” The president also claimed that Russia and Putin were in “big” economic trouble, though there’s no sign that threats of new US sanctions or tariffs will have any impact on the war. “In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!” the president said at the conclusion of his post. Trump’s comment that the US will continue to supply “weapons to NATO” refers to the new initiative under which US allies are providing the funds for US weapons that will be shipped to Ukraine.
Reuters reported last week that the Trump administration approved the first weapons packages that will be drawn from US military stockpiles under the initiative, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). Trump has justified his continued support for the proxy war, which he pledged to end while on the campaign, by pointing to the fact that NATO countries are now funding US weapons shipments. But the US recently approved a cruise missile deal for Ukraine that will be partially funded by the US, and the Trump administration has continued arms shipments that were previously approved by President Biden.

“So, here is the “peace president” urging two-bit countries that cannot fight their way out of a wet paperbag to, in effect, declare war on Russia.”
• Is the Kremlin Deluding Itself Into WW III? (Paul Craig Roberts)
John Helmer and I agree that President Trump has lost control over foreign policy to his advisors. That Trump has lost control is clear from Trump’s reference to Russia as a “paper tiger” and his statement that he believes that Kiev is “in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back and might be able “to go further,” suggesting invasion of Russia, if the EU and NATO continue to support Ukraine. Russia, Trump says, is in “BIG economic trouble” and that “this is the time for Ukraine to act.” This is the neoconservative line, and Trump’s advisers have used it to lasso Trump. The peaceful solution seems to be off the table. Kremlin spokesman Peskov indicates that Russia continues to prefer delusion to reality by announcing that Moscow remains open to seeking a peaceful resolution to the hostilities.
While Trump mocks Russia, Peskov stresses that Putin “highly values” Trump’s efforts to mediate the Ukraine conflict and describes the Trump-Putin relationship as “warm.” If Trump’s advice to Ukraine that it is time to win all of Ukraine back from paper tiger Russia, and perhaps invade Russia as well, is evidence of a warm relationship with Putin, what would be the words that describe a cold or hostile relationship? President Trump echos my expressed opinion since early 2022 of the thoughtless, indeed, mindless–Trump calls it “aimless”– way Putin has mismanaged the conflict with Ukraine. By refusing to see the obvious–that the conflict was a real war that Russia needed to quickly win before the West got deeply involved and widened the war–Putin created the impression in the West that Russia was either unwilling or unable to fight. One consequence is that President Trump dismisses Russia as a military power:
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, [recovering] the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.” Trump’s comments reflect the opinion of his special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who recently claimed the US could “kick Russia’s ass” and insisted Ukraine could win the war despite Russia’s continued gains in eastern Ukraine and its clear manpower advantage. Some analysts suspect that Putin has been bamboozled by his pro-Western central bank director who convinced him that the Russian economy is not capable of fighting a real war.
Regardless, it is clear from Trump and Kellogg’s attitudes and the plots of the neoconservatives that Washington does not take Russia seriously as a military power. The strategic blunder Putin has made most likely leads to nuclear war. Trump again showed that the US military/security complex has already taken over US foreign policy. There is no more. Trump talk of normalizing relations with Russia. Instead, there is Trump talk of shooting down Russian aircraft. Estonia, little doubt bribed by the Zionist neoconservatives, falsely claims that Russian aircraft entered their air space. Asked about this at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City on September 23, President Trump said that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their airspace.
So, here is the “peace president” urging two-bit countries that cannot fight their way out of a wet paperbag to, in effect, declare war on Russia. Of course, Putin being averse to war, might pretend it didn’t happen, as is his wont. There seems to be no end that Putin won’t go to in order to avoid the fact that he is at war with the Western world. He has said that the West is at war with Russia a time or two, but he has never acted as if he believed it. There is no evidence that Putin does. Putin allowed Israel to trick Syrian air defenses repelling an Israeli attack to shoot down a Russian aircraft without doing anything about it, so Estonia and the West can expect likewise. They can shoot down all the Russian aircraft they wish, and Putin will say it didn’t happen, just as he said the US/Ukrainian attack on Russia’s strategic bombing forces was merely an act of terrorism, not an act of war.
In 2015 Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft without consequences. Putin almost never holds any attack on Russia accountable. He even allowed his incompetent central bank director to hand over $300 billion to the West without firing her. Putin and his foreign minister, Lavrov, keep relying on Western good will which simply does not exist. Countries that stand aside of Israel’s genocide of Palestine, as Russia also does, have no concept of good will. Russia dispute’s Estonia’s claim, but facts don’t matter in the West. What matters are agendas and their success. The agenda is to do in Russia, and everything Putin does helps to do in Russia. My concern is that at some point even Putin will fight, and that is when we get nuclear war.

X.
“Europe’s combination of acute military weakness and financial emergency makes the breakdown of Washington’s Atlantic Alliance inescapable.”
• War Debt and Delusion (Doug Macgregor)
In his latest post to TRUTH SOCIAL President Donald Trump claims that with more dollars, euros and missiles, Ukraine could still regain all its lost territory. President Trump’s statement is a mixture of sentiment and self-delusion, not strategy. Few wars in modern times have been wrapped in so many illusions as this one. The number of Ukrainian Soldiers killed in action (KIA) exceed 1.7. million. The numbers of wounded in action (WIA) are unknown, but anecdotal evidence suggests most of the WIA are seriously disabled. The ongoing mobilization of Ukrainian men in their late fifties and early sixties is not evidence for resilience but of exhaustion. Without constant flows of dollars and euros the Ukrainian State and Society would collapse in a few days.
Very soon, the globalist ruling class in Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin will raise the question, “Who lost Ukraine,” as though it was ever theirs to lose. However, this time, Americans will ask how Washington insiders, Lobbyists, and the sprawling military-industrial-congressional complex persuaded President Trump to imitate President Biden; to prolong, even widen the war in Ukraine instead of ending it? Contrary to popular belief in the West, Russia was never a wobbling power held together by propaganda. Measured in purchasing power, the war has helped Russia to become the world’s fourth-largest economy. Russian factories are humming night and day, producing shells, missiles, and drones at rates the West cannot match.
Not only is the Russian economy thriving, sanctions meant to break its economy have instead pushed global trade eastward and cemented Moscow’s ties with Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Instead of a paper tiger, Russia looks more like an impregnable fortress. Meanwhile, de-dollarization is advancing rapidly. For the first time in 30 years, foreign central bank gold reserves exceed U.S. treasuries. The dollar’s share of global reserves has already dropped from 72 percent in 2000 to about 58 percent in 2024 according to the International Monetary Fund. In economic terms, Americans are on the losing side in this conflict. The fiscal situation in Britain, France and Germany is equally precarious, with spending levels and deficit trajectories that are unsustainable.
For the globalist leaders in Europe who opened their countries’ borders in 2015 to hostile invasion and de-industrialized their countries to follow Washington into the war against Russia the cost is even higher. Their rendezvous with unrest and bankruptcy will come soon, long before Washington reaches the same destination. Unfortunately, Trump’s words confirm the truth that the war in Ukraine really is Washington’s and NATO’s war against Russia. The stark truth makes it much harder for Moscow to compromise with the West. More important, the truth justifies wider Russian military mobilization and deepening ties with Beijing, New Delhi, and Tehran. Europe’s combination of acute military weakness and financial emergency makes the breakdown of Washington’s Atlantic Alliance inescapable.

“But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products,” he said. “Think of it, they’re funding the war against themselves.”
• Slovakia Sides With Hungary Against Trump’s Russian Oil Phase-Out (ET)
Slovakia has pushed back on U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands to curb Russian oil imports, aligning itself with Hungary. “We don’t have any other options which could be sustainable and also for the price to be reasonable,” Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar told Reuters during an interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24. “It takes time to diversify this. So that’s why we are calling for some kind of empathy.” He said that sanctions had not worked to change the course of the Russia–Ukraine war, which started in 2022. Since then, the European Union has managed to reduce much of its reliance on Moscow’s energy, but has yet to turn off the taps.
Hungary and Slovakia are the two EU members that still mostly depend on Russian oil delivered via the Druzhba pipeline. Both countries are keen to keep Russian supplies flowing despite EU efforts to diversify supply. According to Russian news agency Interfax, Russia supplied 4.78 million tonnes of oil to Hungary via the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline in 2024 and 956,000 tonnes in January–February 2025. In his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 23, Trump criticized NATO members for continuing to buy Russian energy. “But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products,” he said. “Think of it, they’re funding the war against themselves.”
According to Hungarian news site Telex, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke by phone with Trump on Sept. 25 about Russian oil and other issues. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Sept. 24 that the country will not stop buying Russian oil. “We are a landlocked country,” Szijjarto told ATV television in an interview on Tuesday evening from New York, where he was attending the U.N. General Assembly. “It would be great if we had access to the sea; we could build an oil refinery or an LNG terminal on the coast and cover the entire world market. But that’s not the case.” The EU is keen to ramp up its Moscow energy decoupling. It had previously planned a phase-out by Jan. 1, 2028, but Trump has repeatedly urged the bloc to end Russian energy purchases more quickly.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sept 19 on X that the new proposal aimed “to speed up the phase-out of Russian liquefied natural gas (to be complete) by 1 Jan 2027.” On the same day, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote that the bloc wants to end Russian fuel dependence “for good.” “So we are banning imports of Russian LNG into European markets. It is time to turn off the tap. We are prepared for this,” she said. “We are now going after those who fuel Russia’s war by purchasing oil in breach of the sanctions. We target refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies in third countries, including China.”
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Sept. 24 that the United States is “the largest producer of oil and natural gas by far” and is “all in.” “Europe was a major oil and gas producer,” he said. “They just throttled their own production, drove up prices, pushed out their industries, and became dependent on Russia and others for their own resources. At least they should have depended on the United States or the allies. So we are pro-energy in the U.S. and abroad.”

“So, it’s a big target on our side. And they can pierce the veil of protection by just getting identifier numbers from our seniors or Medicaid recipients or others..”
• DOGE Uncovered the Biggest Health Care Heist in American History (Taft)
What if I told you that cartels and other bad actors from around the world conspired to undermine the integrity of the health care system in the U.S. and came way too close to succeeding? If you didn’t hear about the bust of 324 people; the U.S.-based cartel shell medical supply companies; the pill mills pushing opioids; the doctors on the take; or how law enforcement captured many of the bad guys at the U.S. border and airports as they rushed to escape, that’s understandable. The feds revealed this potential $14.6 billion “depth charge” planted inside the Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance programs in June, while most people were away on summer vacation.
Why did transnational organizations go after these particular programs? “Criminals go where the money is,” Acting Health and Human Services Inspector General,Juliet Hodgkins said at a news conference about “the largest health care fraud takedown in American history.” There’s more than $1.4 trillion spent by these government programs per year, and the bad guys have tried, by hook or by crook, and even with the aid of AI, to set into motion plans to steal nearly $15 billion. They got away with just shy of $3 billion before they were caught, and their other frauds were frozen in their tracks.
If this bust looks to you like it had Elon Musk’s old Department of Government Efficiency fingerprints on it, you’d be right. Using AI and law enforcement tactics, the DOGE team worked with HHS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid, and an all-hands-on-deck array of federal agents from the DEA, FBI, and health care agencies to track down all fraud leads, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As a result, the feds are setting up a healthcare data fusion center to detect where fraud spikes are occurring in near real time.
“DOGE is involved,” Oz told reporters in June. “The president has been very clear that he wants this fraud, waste and abuse crushed. That’s the word that’s used.” He continued, “DOGE is not just about cutting waste and fraud within government. [It] has been actively involved at CMS in helping us address places where fraud is existing that we never thought to look.” Oz said these bad guys were sophisticated and used state-of-the-art methods to rip the government programs blind. [T]hat’s how we’re being attacked now, and it’s not done by small-time operators, as you’re hearing about and you will read about. These are organized syndicates who are designing to hurt America.
And why do they hurt our health care system? Well, CMS is probably the largest target of all, responsible for about $1.7 trillion dollars of disbursements. So, it’s a big target on our side. And they can pierce the veil of protection by just getting identifier numbers from our seniors or Medicaid recipients or others. According to the DOJ, overseas cartel thieves set up a sophisticated network of medical supply companies that “submitted more than $10 billion in fraudulent healthcare claims to Medicare.” The bad guys used stolen identities of at least one million Americans found in data breaches and sold on the dark web to make the reimbursement requests. It’s unclear if the thieves used the unique Medicare and Medicaid identifying numbers to steal the money.
Other scams used a network of Phoenix-based sober living houses to demand government payments for people who never got addiction treatment at the facilities. The facilities, run by ProMD, received $560 million before the feds caught on to the scam. In Atlanta, medical professionals ordered skin grafts for dying patients who didn’t need them. By the time the grift was discovered, they’d scammed Medicare out of $760 million. People from as far away as Estonia have been arrested. Seven people were found trying to scuttle over the southern U.S. border but were stopped before they got away. Another bunch were caught trying to leave the country from U.S. airports.
The bad actors from Russia, Pakistan, and Eastern Europe used the American health care system like their “personal piggy bank,” the Department of Justice’s Acting Criminal Division leader, Matthew Galeotti, said. He said that “this was a staggering breach of trust” and they “will prosecute these criminals as aggressively as we would any drug dealer because that’s exactly what they are.” Musk, who stepped away from the White House after a rift with President Donald Trump, is the one who conceived and executed the DOGE project, and he’s a damned American hero. Let’s give that guy a medal for saving American taxpayers yet another tranche of billions.

“The “Trump recession” Democrats were counting on just isn’t happening.”
• So Much for the ‘Trump Recession’ Democrats Really, Really Wanted (Margolis)
Democrats spent the 2024 campaign warning that Donald Trump would wreck the economy. Voters rejected that doomsday pitch and put him back in the White House. Ever since, Democrats have predicted collapse at every turn. In their telling, America was always either on the brink of recession or already in one — all because of Trump. But reality keeps stubbornly getting in the way. Instead of crashing, the economy keeps climbing. The latest Commerce Department report shows second-quarter GDP growth didn’t just top expectations — it crushed them. On Thursday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its third and final estimate of second-quarter growth, and the results blew through the doomsday chatter from the left. The economy expanded at a robust annualized rate of 3.8% from April through June, far above the 3.3% forecast and higher than the initial estimate of 3.0%.
Consumer spending, long a key barometer of economic strength, also came in hotter than analysts had anticipated. Services in particular saw a strong revision upward, led by transportation, financial services, and insurance. Goods spending wasn’t as strong overall, thanks to a downward revision, but Americans still put plenty of money into motor vehicles and parts. For all the media chatter about consumer pessimism, the numbers show just the opposite: Americans are spending, and they’re spending big. “Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, which is the sum of consumer spending and gross fixed private investment, was revised up by 1 percentage point to a gain of 2.9% in the second quarter.
The growth in the second quarter follows a GDP contraction in the first quarter that was revised downward from a contraction of 0.5% to 0.6%, which leaves GDP growth in the first half of 2025 at an annualized rate of about 1.6%. BEA attributed the upturn in the second quarter to a decrease in imports and an acceleration in consumer spending, which were partly offset by a decline in investment.” The BEA diagnosis was clear: The rebound came from fewer imports, meaning we’re consuming more domestic product, alongside accelerating consumer spending. Yes, business investment and exports slipped, and critics will point to that as a weakness. But the headline growth speaks for itself: The economy is expanding solidly in the face of a hostile media narrative and constant warnings that disaster is just around the corner.
That difference between media spin and reality is no accident. Democrats have been rooting for decline. They want voters to feel pain so they can pin blame on Trump. They predicted doom during his first term, and they are doing it again now. But just like before, stubborn facts are undermining their narrative. The latest GDP revision isn’t just an economic data point. It’s more evidence in the case that their favorite talking point — Trump’s policies guarantee recession — is collapsing. And there’s even more good news. New jobless claims fell sharply to 218,000 last week — well below expectations and the lowest level since mid-July. Economists had predicted 235,000, but Trump’s economy once again crushed the forecasts. Even better, continuing claims also declined to 1.926 million, showing that not only are fewer people filing for unemployment, but more are getting back to work.
The reality is this: The American economy under Trump in 2025 is growing, powered by consumers who are proving more resilient than the experts and pundits give them credit for. The “Trump recession” Democrats were counting on just isn’t happening.

How to measure success: “..irregular arrivals to the country in the year to June 2025, up 27% on the year. An estimated 88% arrived on small boats.”
• Trump ‘Racist, Sexist and Islamophobic’ – London Mayor (RT)
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has fired back at US President Donald Trump, after he called him a “terrible” leader and raised fears about Sharia law overtaking the city. During an address at the UN on Tuesday, Trump sounded the alarm about soaring migration in many Western countries, arguing that “Europe is in serious trouble” and is being “invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before.” He singled out London as an example, “where you have a terrible mayor, a terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to Sharia law, but you’re in a different country, you can’t do that.”
Speaking to BBC London, Khan claimed that Trump “has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic and he is Islamophobic.” He also defended London’s reputation, which has been listed as the 16th most dangerous city in Europe, according to the Numbeo Crime Index. ”We’re often the No.1 city in the globe when it comes to culture… foreign investment… sports, when it comes to the ability of people to fulfil their potential. I’m really proud we are the greatest city in the world,” he said, adding that under Trump, a large number of Americans chose to move to his city.
The UK has been struggling with high migration for years, with more than 49,000 registered irregular arrivals to the country in the year to June 2025, up 27% on the year. An estimated 88% arrived on small boats. According to the 2021 census, around 15% of London residents (more than 1.3 million) identified as Muslim. Migration policy tensions spilled onto the streets of London on September 13, when the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally – led by activist Tommy Robinson – drew an estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people, according to the Metropolitan Police. During clashes between protesters and law enforcement, 26 officers were injured and at least 25 arrests were made.

It made them billions. That should be their fine. Except there won’t be any fine, because they worked with the government..
• Google Admits Censorship in Coordination with the Biden Admin (Turley)
Recently, I wrote a column about Meta’s restoration of free speech protections after the company admitted to censoring users on platforms like Facebook. The company also revealed that it was pressured by the Biden Administration to conduct such censorship. Now, Google has taken the same step in restoring a number of YouTube accounts and pledging to show greater respect for free speech. Google made the disclosure in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH): “Reflecting the Company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect.”
This is another major victory for free speech. Google specifically acknowledged past political censorship and stated that it “values conservative voices on its platform.” The company, for the first time, admitted that it yielded to comprehensive pressure from the Biden Administration to censor Americans. It acknowledged that the Biden censorship pressure was “unacceptable and wrong” and pledged to resist such pressure in the future. Meta has substantially reduced censorship by replicating the approach of Elon Musk at X. These changes are a testament to Musk’s legacy in the restoration of free speech on social media. As I previously noted, we need companies like Facebook and Google. These are companies that are big enough to stand up to the European Union (EU) and its unrelenting campaign against free speech.
The censorship on Google and YouTube had a harmful impact beyond the loss of free speech. It suppressed opposing views on Covid policies from the efficacy of masks to the need to shutdown our schools. The very figures claiming to battle “disinformation” were suppressing opposing views that have now been vindicated as credible. It was not only the lab theory. In my recent book, I discuss how signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration were fired or disciplined by their schools or associations for questioning COVID-19 policies. Some experts questioned the efficacy of surgical masks, the scientific support for the six-foot rule and the necessity of shutting down schools. The government has now admitted that many of these objections were valid and that it did not have hard science to support some of the policies.
While other allies in the West did not shut down their schools, we never had any substantive debate due to the efforts of this alliance of academic, media and government figures. Not only did millions die from the pandemic, but the United States is still struggling with the educational and mental health consequences of shutting down all our public schools. That is the true cost of censorship when the government works with the media to stifle scientific debate and public disclosures. The disclosure is also a blow to many Democratic members of Congress who long attacked witnesses, including myself, who testified against the coordinated censorship by corporate and government officials. Before the release of the Twitter files, members insisted that there was no evidence of such coordination. Some still deny such coordination despite multiple companies now confirming it.
The greatest challenge, however, still lies ahead for these companies. The EU remains the greatest threat to free speech facing Americans. After Musk purchased X with a pledge to restore free speech, figures like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded that the EU use its infamous Digital Services Act to force X to censor Americans. The EU has threatened Musk with confiscatory fines that could surpass $1 billion, according to The New York Times. The Trump administration has warned the EU about its efforts to censor Americans. Meta and Google can now join X in creating a formidable corporate alliance for free speech. For the first time, the free speech community might have a coalition of government and corporate allies that could stand up to the EU.
There will likely remain a degree of mistrust from the free speech community towards these companies after years of censorship and stonewalling. However, we also need to accept our allies where and when we can find them. Free speech is in a free fall in Europe and many on the left are encouraging similar censorship laws for the United States. We need these companies and should support them as they take meaningful actions in favor of free speech. So bravo, Google, bravo.




You probably don't know who David Milstein is. Here's why you should.
My latest in @RStatecraft (link below) pic.twitter.com/wjYpRWbd5C
— Connor Echols (@connor_echols) September 24, 2025
https://twitter.com/Chicago1Ray/status/1970895008942424316

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


