Witkoff Archives - The Automatic Earth

Debt Rattle May 30 2025

May 302025

May 30, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:31 am Finance Tagged with: Hamas, Israel, Musk, tariffs on, tarriffs off, Witkoff 45 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Self portrait 1940

A lot goes wrong, a few things are alright. Day by day,

https://twitter.com/OCOCReport/status/1928224845516460226

Yes no no yes no yes no yes.

• US Court Blocks Trump’s Tariffs (RT)

The US Court of International Trade has ruled that President Donald Trump has no right to impose sweeping tariffs on imports under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). By invoking the legislation, the White House bypassed the need for congressional approval that would otherwise have been required to take such steps. In early April, the US president slapped a baseline 10% tariff on all imported goods, with higher rates for China, Mexico, Canada and the EU member states, citing trade imbalances. Trump has since suspended some of those measures amid ongoing negotiations. On Wednesday, the New York-based court sided with a number of small businesses that had filed lawsuits against Trump, arguing that he had overstepped his authority.

According to a statement issued by the court and quoted by US media, “the Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs.” However, the ruling does not affect any tariffs that Trump has imposed under different legislation, namely, Section 232 powers from the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This means that his 25% tariff on imported autos and parts as well as on all foreign-made steel and aluminum will remain in place. The court ruling has noted that the US president could still slap a 15% tariff on countries with which Washington has a substantial trade deficit for 150 days, with Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 granting Trump the right to do so.

The White House has filed an appeal, with US media suggesting that the US Supreme Court will likely be asked to settle the matter. In a post on X on Thursday, Stephen Miller, who serves as the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and as homeland security advisor, described the court’s decision as a “judicial coup” that has gotten “out of control.” There is a total of at least seven lawsuits, which argue that the IEEPA legislation does not authorize the use of tariffs, and that the trade deficit cited by Trump does not constitute an emergency as the US has run it for 49 consecutive years. Multiple states led by Oregon have filed similar lawsuits.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the global trade system in its current form has left the US “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered” by other nations. The Republican has also insisted that sweeping tariffs will help to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US.

Yes.

• Court Allows Trump’s Tariffs to Stay in Place

A federal appeals court has overruled an activist decision from earlier this week to allow President Donald Trump’s tariffs to stay in place — at least for now. Only yesterday, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled unanimously that Donald Trump‘s tariffs on dozens of countries had to be lifted. But that ruling has already been negated by a new court decision, fortunately. Isn’t it amazing how Trump‘s policies aimed at benefiting America are constantly being attacked by judges who didn’t give a hoot when the Biden administration repeatedly and egregiously violated the Constitution and other laws? At least this new decision makes sense. The Trump White House said in comments to Fox Business that the new ruling is definitely a win for Americans. “The Federal Circuit Court’s administrative stay on the Court of International Trade’s ruling is a positive development for America’s industries and workers,” stated White House spokesperson Kush Desai.

He added, “The Trump administration remains committed to addressing our country’s national emergencies of drug trafficking and historic trade deficits with every legal authority conferred to the President in the Constitution and by Congress. Regardless of the developments of this litigation, the President will continue to use all tools at his disposal to advance trade policy that works for all Americans.”For Our VIPs: The Education Department, Intellectual Silliness, and the Demise of Our Schooling. Fox Business provided more details, clarifying that the new decision delays rather than permanently overrules the previous decision:

In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted an immediate administrative state to the extent that permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade on Wednesday are temporarily stayed until at least June 9. After June 9, the court can issue an order of enforcement. The decision states: “The plaintiffs-appellees are directed to respond to the United States’s motions for a stay no later than June 5, 2025. The United States may file a single, consolidated reply in support no later than June 9, 2025.” Hopefully, another court will step in before June 9 to ensure the tariffs can stay in place.

What should be happening right now is that Congress should be working to ensure lots of spending cuts while the tariffs bring in more money to help cover the remaining costs that have already created over $36 trillion in national debt. But unfortunately, much of the judiciary seems hell-bent on helping Democrats destroy our republic.

The previous decision, now temporarily blocked, asserted that the executive has no power to impose tariffs. “The court holds for the foregoing reasons that IEEPA does not authorize any of the Worldwide, Retaliatory, or Trafficking Tariff Orders. The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the judges’ panel wrote. “The Trafficking Tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders.” Since Congress has delegated certain tariff powers to the executive branch, the court was being deceptive when it claimed that Trump did not have legal power to impose the tariffs. But a weaponized judiciary doesn’t care about legal reality; it cares about political ideology.

Merz has himself to prove.

• How to start a war with Russia in these easy steps: Just ask Merz’s Germany (RT)

If in a dark hole, dig deeper, especially even deeper than feckless German ex-chancellor Olaf Scholz. That seems to be Berlin’s new motto. Under Friedrich Merz’s new mis-management, the German government is clearly setting out to worsen its current abysmal non-relationship with Russia. That is a sadly ambitious aim, because things are already more dire than they’ve been at any point since 1945. But Merz and his team, it seems, are not satisfied with playing a key role in fighting a proxy war against Russia that has been a ruinous fiasco; not for the Russian economy, but for Germany’s. Even by February 2023, German mainstream media reported that the war had sliced 2.5 percent off GDP.

That, by the way, is a large figure in and of itself, but consider that between 2022 and 2024 Germany’s annual GDP growth (or, really, reduction) rate has varied between -0.3 percent (2023) and +1.4 percent, and it looks even worse.

And yet, instead of sincerely – and finally – trying to use diplomacy to end this war against Russia via Ukraine, Merz’s Berlin is now taking the risk of escalating the current mess into the nightmare of a direct military clash between Russia and Germany (and, hence, presumably NATO – though not necessarily including the US any longer). Such a confrontation would be devastating in a manner that Germans have not experienced for a long time, as even a recent German TV documentary had to admit, despite its obvious purpose to boost the country’s current re-militarization-on-steroids.

The single most obvious symbol of Berlin’s new, industrial-strength recklessness is the Taurus cruise missile, a sophisticated, very expensive weapon (at €1-3 million each) with a full name you will want to forget (Target Adaptive Unitary and Dispenser Robotic Ubiquity System) and, crucially, a maximum range of about 500 kilometers.

The government under Scholz, breathtakingly incompetent and shamelessly submissive to the US as it was, never agreed to let Ukraine have this weapon. For, in essence, two reasons: The Taurus, once in Ukraine, could fire deep into Russia, even as far as Moscow, and it is undeniable that it can only be operated with direct German help, which would bring about a state of war between Moscow and Berlin. Merz, however, has created a vague yet substantial impression that delivering the Taurus to Kiev is an option again.

Throughout this war – and its prehistory, too – Russia has been sending clear warnings about what such a war might entail: According to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, for instance, Germany is “already directly engaging” in the Ukraine War. But clearly, he, too, sees room for things to get much worse again, with, in his words, Germany “sliding down the same slippery slope it has already treaded a couple of times just this past century – down to its collapse.”

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman of President Vladimir Putin, has underlined that Merz’s statements, muddled as they were, pointed to a “serious escalation.” Less diplomatically, the head of Russia’s RT, Margarita Simonyan, has explained that German-Ukrainian Taurus strikes on Russian cities could provoke a Russian missile strike on Berlin. An important Russian military expert, meanwhile, has mentioned the possibility of a strike against Taurus production facilities in Germany.

Are these warnings any help? Of course, German politicians would not openly admit to being successfully deterred by Moscow, but it is a fact that Merz has abstained from following through on his implied threat of transferring the Taurus to Ukraine.

If he had wanted to do so, the visit of Ukraine’s leader Vladimir Zelensky in Berlin would have provided an excellent opportunity to close the deal. Yet, instead of the hotly desired cruise missiles, Zelensky has received something else: a demonstrative use of the German informal you (“du”), plenty of money (again), and a promise that Germany will help build long-range weapons in Ukraine. Considering that Moscow has just demonstrated its ability to strike such production facilities anywhere in Ukraine, that promise is the equivalent of a cop-out. For now at least.

That is a good thing. It avoids an immediate, extremely dangerous escalation. Yet Merz and his experts are naïve if they believe that there will be no Russian response to their declared intention to transfer German know-how to Ukraine so that long-range weapons can be made there.

For one thing, Moscow has just demonstrated its ability to strike Ukraine’s military industry. At the same time, even the Taurus is by no means off the table. Neither are Russian warnings about the catastrophic consequences of its use. The Russian Defense Ministry is confident that its air defenses could stop Taurus strikes, but also emphasizes that its special ability to fly far into Russia constitutes a problem in a class all by itself.

What is the new Berlin even trying to do here? Negotiations to end the war are ongoing, even if Merz claims the opposite. Russia is not, as he repeats, merely “playing for time.” In reality, the second round of the Istanbul 2.0 talks is now scheduled to go ahead, at least as far as Moscow is concerned.

The real problem for Western politicians like Merz is that Moscow is not willing to abandon its own interests or comply with unilateral demands backed up by threats.

Indeed, if a plausible Reuters report based on leaks is correct, Putin has outlined Russia’s conditions for a realistic settlement once again: unsurprisingly, they include a complete stop to NATO expansion, an at least partial end to sanctions against Russia and to attempts to fully seize frozen Russian sovereign assets, the genuine neutrality of Ukraine, and protection for its Russian-speakers.

Against this background, Merz’s recent sallies are only more puzzling: Russia is not weak but winning this war. A summer offensive may be close and make Ukraine’s situation even more untenable. But there also is a genuine opportunity to exploit negotiations that have been restarted so as to finally limit the losses to both Ukraine and the West.

Meanwhile, the reluctance of the US to reliably back up a hard course against Russia could permit the NATO-EU Europeans to explore constructive alternatives to the ongoing proxy war. Indeed, it should be their worst nightmare to be left alone with this conflict if Moscow and Washington should break through to a full détente.

The German economy will not thrive – even with a hail-Mary boost of debt-based military Keynesianism, as now launched by Merz – unless its relationship with Russia is reframed. Last but not least, Ukraine will not be rebuilt before there is a durable peace.

And Berlin’s response to all of the above? More of the same, but worse. Now, with the Taurus back on the options menu and open announcements to help Ukraine build, in essence, its own version of it, presumably under intense German coaching and packed with German technology, Kiev’s chances are not better and Germany’s position is more precarious. The probability of an escalation into a direct Russian-German war remains even higher than before Merz’s new initiative, and the probability of peace has been reduced. Call it a lose-lose.

• US Court Blocks Trump’s Tariffs (RT)

The US Court of International Trade has ruled that President Donald Trump has no right to impose sweeping tariffs on imports under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). By invoking the legislation, the White House bypassed the need for congressional approval that would otherwise have been required to take such steps.

In early April, the US president slapped a baseline 10% tariff on all imported goods, with higher rates for China, Mexico, Canada and the EU member states, citing trade imbalances. Trump has since suspended some of those measures amid ongoing negotiations. On Wednesday, the New York-based court sided with a number of small businesses that had filed lawsuits against Trump, arguing that he had overstepped his authority. According to a statement issued by the court and quoted by US media, “the Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs.”

However, the ruling does not affect any tariffs that Trump has imposed under different legislation, namely, Section 232 powers from the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This means that his 25% tariff on imported autos and parts as well as on all foreign-made steel and aluminum will remain in place.The court ruling has noted that the US president could still slap a 15% tariff on countries with which Washington has a substantial trade deficit for 150 days, with Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 granting Trump the right to do so.The White House has filed an appeal, with US media suggesting that the US Supreme Court will likely be asked to settle the matter.In a post on X on Thursday, Stephen Miller, who serves as the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and as homeland security advisor, described the court’s decision as a “judicial coup” that has gotten “out of control.”

There is a total of at least seven lawsuits, which argue that the IEEPA legislation does not authorize the use of tariffs, and that the trade deficit cited by Trump does not constitute an emergency as the US has run it for 49 consecutive years. Multiple states led by Oregon have filed similar lawsuits. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the global trade system in its current form has left the US “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered” by other nations. The Republican has also insisted that sweeping tariffs will help to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US.”>

• Ukraine Needed Western Help To Target Putin’s Helicopter – Scott Ritter (RT)

Ukraine must have relied on assistance from the West if it did in fact target a helicopter carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has told RT. Russian air defense division commander Yury Dashkin told the Russia 1 channel last week that Putin’s helicopter had been caught in the “epicenter” of a massive Ukrainian drone attack during a visit to Kursk Region on May 20. The intensity of aerial incursions “increased significantly” when the president was in the air, with 46 incoming fixed-wing UAVs being shot down in the area, he said. In an interview with RT on Wednesday, Ritter stressed that “if the Ukrainians drones actually targeted the Russian president, they did not do so in a vacuum… there would have been assistance provided by the West, which means that the West is targeting the Russian president.”

“If you read the Russian nuclear doctrine, this is a trigger for Russian nuclear retaliation or preemptive strikes. So, who is playing with fire here? It is not Vladimir Putin who is playing with fire. It is Ukraine and the West that are playing with fire,” he added. The former US Marine Corps major was referring to a comment by US President Donald Trump, who claimed earlier this week that Putin was “playing with fire.”The statement by Trump followed large-scale Russian strikes against Ukrainian military infrastructure, which Moscow said were retaliation for the intensification of drone attacks by Kiev on civilian targets inside Russia. According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, more than 2,300 Ukrainian UAVs have been intercepted over the past week above Russian territory, mostly away from the front line.

Ritter expressed concern that there is a split in the US administration between opponents of Russia and those who are in favor of improving ties with Moscow. But at the same time, representatives of both camps and Trump himself are no experts on Russia, he added. The US president “is a victim of basically the last words whispered into his ear before he goes to bed at night or the first words whispered into his ear when he wakes up in the morning… Trump is not well briefed [on Russia]. Look, this is a very dangerous situation,” Ritter warned.

And the beat goes on.

• Elon Musk Leaves White House But Says Doge Will Continue (BBC)

Elon Musk has said he is leaving the Trump administration after helping lead a tumultuous drive to shrink the size of US government that saw thousands of federal jobs axed. In a post on his social media platform X, the world’s richest man thanked Trump for the opportunity to help run the Department of Government Efficiency, known as Doge.The White House began “offboarding” Musk as a special government employee on Wednesday night, the BBC understands. His role was temporary and his exit is not unexpected, but it comes a day after Musk criticised the legislative centrepiece of Trump’s agenda. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote on X.

“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” The South African-born tech tycoon had been designated as a “special government employee” – allowing him to work a federal job for 130 days each year. Measured from Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, he would hit that limit towards the end of May. But his departure comes a day after he said he was “disappointed” with Trump’s budget bill, which proposes multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and a boost to defence spending. The SpaceX and Tesla boss said in an interview with BBC’s US partner CBS that the “big, beautiful bill”, as Trump calls it, would increase the federal deficit. Musk also said he thought it “undermines the work” of Doge.

“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.” Musk, who had clashed in private with some Trump cabinet-level officials, initially pledged to cut “at least $2 trillion” from the federal government budget, before halving this target, then reducing it to $150bn. An estimated 260,000 out of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce have had their jobs cut or accepted redundancy deals as a result of Doge. In some cases, federal judges blocked the mass firings and ordered terminated employees to be reinstated. The rapid-fire approach to cutting the federal workforce occasionally led to some workers mistakenly being let go, including staff at the US nuclear programme. Musk announced in late April that he would step back to run his companies again after becoming a lightning rod for criticism of Trump’s efforts to shake up Washington.

“Doge is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” Musk told the Washington Post in Texas on Tuesday ahead of a Space X launch. “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.” Musk’s time in government overlapped with a significant decline in sales at his electric car company. Tesla sales dropped by 13% in the first three months of this year, the largest drop in deliveries in its history. The company’s stock price also tumbled by as much as 45%, but has mostly rebounded and is only down 10%. Tesla recently warned investors that the financial pain could continue, declining to offer a growth forecast while saying “changing political sentiment” could meaningfully hurt demand for the vehicles.

Musk told investors on an earnings call last month that the time he allocates to Doge “will drop significantly” and that he would be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla”. Activists have called for Tesla boycotts, staging protests outside Tesla dealerships, and vandalising the vehicles and charging stations. The Tesla blowback became so violent and widespread that US Attorney General Pam Bondi warned her office would treat acts of vandalism as “domestic terrorism”. Speaking at an economic forum in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, Musk said he was committed to being the leader of Tesla for the next five years. He said earlier this month he would cut back his political donations after spending nearly $300m to back Trump’s presidential campaign and other Republicans last year.

They will agree because they want to.

• A Bill Can Be Big Or It Could Be Beautiful (ZH)

The trade negotiations between the US and China have “stalled” and may necessitate the intervention of the countries’ leaders, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said. In April, US President Donald Trump raised duties on Chinese goods to as high as 145%, citing what he described as an unfair trade imbalance. Beijing responded by hiking its own tariffs to 125%. Earlier this month, the two countries agreed to roll back or suspend most of the new duties for 90 days, pending further negotiations. Asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday to describe the current state of the talks, Bessent said, “I would say that they are a bit stalled.”

The treasury secretary added that more negotiations were scheduled for the coming weeks and that Trump could possibly speak by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the near future. “Given the magnitude and complexity of the talks, this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other. They have a very good relationship. I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table,” Bessent said.

On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overruled the suspension of tariffs ordered a day earlier by the Court of International Trade. The tariffs will remain in place until at least June 9. Bessent argued that it was “highly inappropriate” for the courts to interfere with the tariffs, given that the US Senate had declined to block Trump’s trade policies. “The president absolutely has the right to set the trade agenda for the US,” Bessent said. “Anything that the courts do to get in the way harms the American people – both in terms of trade and lost tariff revenue.”

China has condemned Trump’s tariffs as a tool to “advance US hegemonic ambitions at the cost of the legitimate interests of all countries.” “Tariff wars and trade wars have no winners. Protectionism harms the interests of all parties and is ultimately unpopular,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday.

“This is the end of the common European project. This is a departure from democracy. This is the precursor of a huge military conflict,”

• Fico Warns EU’s ‘Mandatory Political Opinion’ Spells Ends European Project (RMX)

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico delivered a stark warning to fellow European leaders during his speech at CPAC Hungary in Budapest on Thursday, declaring that the European Union’s attempt to impose a “mandatory political opinion” on its member states signals the collapse of the European project and a departure from democratic values.“The imposition of a mandatory political opinion, the abolition of the veto, the punishment of the sovereign and the brave, the new Iron Curtain, the preference for war over peace. This is the end of the common European project. This is a departure from democracy. This is the precursor of a huge military conflict,” he warned.Fico’s remarks came as he revealed both he and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had received threats from “a particularly nervous new German chancellor,” who warned them that if they did not fall in line with Brussels’ uniform view on military support for Ukraine and sanctioning Russia, “‘You will be punished.’”

“No one in a peaceful and democratic project should have the right to treat other EU member states in this way, regardless of their size and economic strength,” he said. Fico, a veteran of Slovak politics who survived an assassination attempt last year, framed his overall remarks as a defense of national sovereignty in the face of what he described as increasing aggression from Brussels and major EU powers. “I do not want to see our sovereignty and the national identity melt away in the generalist supranational, international structures, especially those in Brussels,” he said.While acknowledging his left-wing roots, Fico distanced himself from what he called the “Brussels kind” of social democracy, instead describing himself as a “rural socialist” focused on defending Slovakia’s traditions, Christian heritage, and national interests. “As a strong leftist, I have no problem spending the night with the people on the production line to support higher night shift allowances or wage increases,” he said.

Fico’s appearance at CPAC Hungary — and his warm praise for host Viktor Orbán — highlighted the growing alignment between parts of Europe’s left-wing populism and the nationalist right in opposition to Brussels orthodoxy. The Slovak prime minister repeatedly returned to the idea that the EU is moving away from its founding principles. He warned against abolishing the veto rights of member states and moving toward qualified majority voting on key issues such as foreign policy and defense, which he said would further erode national sovereignty.“We may have to expect unprecedented decisions such as, for example, the abolition of the right of veto of EU member states,” he said. “The time may indeed come when there will be punishments for having a sovereign opinion.”

On Ukraine, Fico reiterated his government’s refusal to send military aid, criticizing the European Commission’s strategy of isolating Russia as economically self-defeating and geopolitically reckless. “If they have no realistic response to the war in Ukraine today… they cannot continue in their nervousness by suppressing the sovereignty of individual member states on legitimate issues.” He ended his speech with a call to preserve diversity and sovereign decision-making within the EU. “Let our diversity, sovereignty, and national identity be our strength and not weakness,” he said.

It can wait a few weeks.

• US-Chinese Trade Talks ‘Stalled’ – Treasury Secretary (RT)

The trade negotiations between the US and China have “stalled” and may necessitate the intervention of the countries’ leaders, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said. In April, US President Donald Trump raised duties on Chinese goods to as high as 145%, citing what he described as an unfair trade imbalance. Beijing responded by hiking its own tariffs to 125%. Earlier this month, the two countries agreed to roll back or suspend most of the new duties for 90 days, pending further negotiations. Asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday to describe the current state of the talks, Bessent said, “I would say that they are a bit stalled.” The treasury secretary added that more negotiations were scheduled for the coming weeks and that Trump could possibly speak by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the near future.

“Given the magnitude and complexity of the talks, this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other. They have a very good relationship. I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table,” Bessent said. On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overruled the suspension of tariffs ordered a day earlier by the Court of International Trade. The tariffs will remain in place until at least June 9. Bessent argued that it was “highly inappropriate” for the courts to interfere with the tariffs, given that the US Senate had declined to block Trump’s trade policies. “The president absolutely has the right to set the trade agenda for the US,” Bessent said. “Anything that the courts do to get in the way harms the American people – both in terms of trade and lost tariff revenue.”

China has condemned Trump’s tariffs as a tool to “advance US hegemonic ambitions at the cost of the legitimate interests of all countries.” “Tariff wars and trade wars have no winners. Protectionism harms the interests of all parties and is ultimately unpopular,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday.

Witkoff.

• Israel and Hamas Agree To Gaza Ceasefire Proposal (RT)

Israel and Hamas have agreed to accept the latest ceasefire proposal put forward by the US, several media outlets reported on Thursday sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled his readiness to accept a roadmap presented by US special envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting with the relatives of hostages still in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Arab media later reported that Hamas had also accepted the deal to release the remaining Israeli hostages held in the enclave in exchange for a temporary truce. Haaretz newspaper quoted an anonymous Israeli official as saying that Washington’s proposal envisages the release of the remaining 10 living hostages and the return of 18 bodies held in Gaza by Hamas over the course of a week. In exchange, Netanyahu’s government would reportedly agree to a 60-day cease-fire.

The Jerusalem Post cited an unnamed source as saying that Hamas has reservations regarding Washington’s plan, and sees it as favoring Israel. The Islamist militant group is reportedly wary of the fact that the US would not provide a guarantee that the temporary 60-day ceasefire would be extended to become permanent. The latest developments have come amid an intensified Israeli assault on Gaza in recent days, including a fresh wave of airstrikes and a major ground offensive codenamed ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots.’Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that the military action will not cease until Hamas has been totally vanquished.

Mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, negotiations between the two belligerents have been going on for some time in Doha, albeit producing little progress so far.The current escalation began in October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 250 more. According to Palestinian authorities, the ensuing IDF military campaign has claimed the lives of more than 50,000 residents of the densely populated enclave.

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Debt Rattle May 19 2025

May 192025

May 19, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:35 am Finance Tagged with: AfD, Biden, Bongino, cancer, Durov, Epstein, Merz, oracles, Patel, Putin, Romania, Trump, Witkoff 53 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Composition “Peasants” 1906

• Witkoff Believes Putin Call Will Be ‘A Success’ (RT)

• EU Leaders Plan to Talk to Trump Before His Phone Call With Putin (Sp.)

• The Lesson of The Arrogant King and The Burning of The Oracles (Helmer)

• Presidential Candidates In EU States Call Trump ‘Symbol Of Freedom’ (RT)

• Pro-EU Candidate Wins Romanian Presidential Election Rerun (RT)

• Musk Hails Durov Over Rejection of French Political Censorship Request (RT)

• German Democracy Still Alive? Merz Speaks Out Against AfD Ban (RMX)

• Don’t listen to NATO – Russia to Ukraine (RT)

• Something Doesn’t Add Up About Biden’s Cancer Announcement (Margolis)

• Democrats and Journalists Still Avoid Biden’s Decline (Graham)

• Distrust and Accountability (Erickson)

• Patel&Bongino Tease New Russiagate Evidence, Say Epstein Killed Himself (ZH)

• Devin Nunes Discusses Likelihood of Success for Patel and Bongino (CTH)

• FBI Agents Beg Court To Destroy List Before ‘Shame’ Campaign (ZH)

• Weapons From Ukraine Will Flood Europe – Report (RT)

• House Republicans Advance “Big, Beautiful Bill” After Weekend of Talks (ZH)

• The USA, As We Knew It, Has Been Destroyed By The Supreme Court (PCR)

They all know
https://twitter.com/Juliesnark1731/status/1924143006644342845

Comey

pic.twitter.com/DTK3bBPp5Z

— 🇺🇸BellaLovesUSA🍊🇺🇸 (@Bellamari8mazz) May 17, 2025

Obama
https://twitter.com/LauraLoomer/status/1924092742889836977

BREAKING 🚨 President Trump exposed ABC Fake News and rubs his $16 Million Lawsuit win against them in their face

This is Trump at his best 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VherQt4e1I

— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) May 18, 2025

BREAKING: Biden Deputy Chief Of Staff Confesses In Undercover Video That Biden Was A Near Vegetable Over The Last Four Years & Was NEVER The President— He Goes On to Name Who the Real President Was! pic.twitter.com/Bm1hBNe8z7

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) May 19, 2025

Time to meet. Bring Lavrov, bring Rubio, bring Witkoff.

• Witkoff Believes Putin Call Will Be ‘A Success’ (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s upcoming phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be “very successful” and could help clear “some of the logjam” in peace negotiations over Ukraine, American special envoy Steve Witkoff has said. Trump announced he will speak with Putin on Monday, several days after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct negotiations in three years. During the talks in Istanbul on Friday, the sides agreed on a major prisoner exchange and to continue dialogue after each submits a detailed ceasefire proposal. Witkoff hailed the talks in Türkiye as “good achievements,” and reaffirmed that Trump would like to broker a stable ceasefire followed by a “final peace deal.”

“I believe that the president is going to have a very successful call with Vladimir Putin,” Witkoff told ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “They know each other. The president is determined to get something done here… If he can’t do it, then nobody can.” Asked whether Moscow’s terms were too harsh, Witkoff said the conflict was “very complicated” and that the sides must find compromises. “I think in a negotiation like this, people take positions,” he said. “The art here is to narrow that wide berth. And I think to some extent we’ve done that. Monday will go a long way towards identifying where we are and how we complete this negotiation.”

Trump also expressed hope that Monday will be a “productive day.” He added that he plans to speak with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and “various members of NATO” after his call with Putin. At the same time, he warned that Moscow could face “crushing sanctions” if no progress is made, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that Washington is determined to avoid “endless talks” without results. Moscow has rejected demands for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, insisting that talks must address the “root causes” of the conflict, including Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO – which Russia considers a threat to its national security. Putin has maintained that a lasting truce would require Ukraine to halt its mobilization drive, stop receiving weapons from abroad, and withdraw troops from Russian territory. He warned that Kiev would likely use a temporary ceasefire to rearm and regroup.

I bet Trump loves that. Not last week, not yesterday, no, an hour or so before he talks to Putin.

• EU Leaders Plan to Talk to Trump Before His Phone Call With Putin (Sp.)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he and other European leaders plan to talk to US President Donald Trump again, ahead of a possible phone conversation between the US leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We have agreed that in preparation for this dialogue we will talk again — four heads of state and government — with the US president,” Merz was quoted as telling reporters in Rome by the Bild newspaper. One can only hope for the further progress to be made, the German chancellor said, adding that he has already discussed the possible Trump-Putin call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

On Saturday, Trump said he was planning to speak by phone to Putin on May 19. On Friday, the Ukrainian newspaper reported, citing Volodymyr Zelensky’s spokesman, Sergii Nykyforov, that Zelensky and Merz, together with French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, held a telephone conversation with Trump on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in the Albanian capital of Tirana.

“Trump’s staff had left a four-hour gap in the timing of his flight back to Washington in order to meet with Putin in Istanbul on condition that Trump ordered Zelensky to leave Turkey beforehand and Putin agreed to a summit announcement of an immediate ceasefire. Zelensky was removed to Albania but the Putin’s ceasefire conditions remained unchanged..”

• The Lesson of The Arrogant King and The Burning of The Oracles (Helmer)

In the outcome, it’s the old story come true again. That’s the one in which Tarquin, the ancient Roman king, wanted the Cumaean Sybil to sell him the nine books of prophecies known as the Sybilline Oracles. When the king dismissed the Sybil’s price for the nine, she burned three and asked the same price for six. When the king held out again, she burned another three. In desperation, the king then paid for the three remaining at the price he had refused for the original nine.For two thousand years this has been known as the art of the deal. As if they didn’t know the story, on Friday the leaders of France, United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine and Poland (FUGUP) telephoned President Donald Trump and told him to keep fighting President Vladimir Putin until he accepts their price. FUGUP told POTUS to burn Putin until Russia will have nothing left to pay with.

Two leaks from the Istanbul meetings confirm what has happened. According to Oleg Tsarev’s account from the Russian side, the Russian delegation said they would agree to a ceasefire if the Ukraine withdrew its forces completely from the four regions – Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson. The Ukrainians refused. In reply, the Russians said that next time there will be five regions. According to a London newspaper’s leak from the British adviser to the Ukrainians, the Russian delegation said they would agree to a ceasefire only if the Ukraine withdrew its troops from the four regions, and Kiev refused, Russia would take two more regions – Sumy and Kharkov. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, had reportedly said that Russia “does not want war but is ready to fight for a year, two, three — no matter how long it takes. We fought with Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight? Perhaps someone sitting at this table will lose even more of their loved ones. Russia is ready to fight forever.”

Trump was sitting in his aeroplane flying north from Abu Dhabi, two hours and a thousand kilometres south of Istanbul when he got the call from FUGUP. The day before, he had told reporters ““we will be leaving tomorrow but you know, almost destination unknown because it could be here, it could be there, but probably we’re back to Washington DC tomorrow.” An hour before he took off, he said: “You know, they all said Putin was going, Zelensky was going, and I said, if I don’t go, I guarantee Putin’s not going. And he didn’t go…We’re going to get it done.” Trump added he would meet Putin “as soon as we can set it up. I would actually leave here [Abu Dhabi] and go [to Istanbul]… in two or three weeks we have a deal.”

As Russian forces accelerate their spring offensive west, north and south, burning what Trump, Zelensky and the Europeans have to fight over, the terms of the Russian deal are now far greater than Vladimir Medinsky, the Russian lead negotiator, accepted at Istanbul-I in March 2022 but were repudiated when he returned to Moscow. Before he set out for Istanbul-II last week, the consensus in Moscow was unanimous, as Putin demonstrated at his lengthy Kremlin session in the evening of May 14 with ministers, intelligence agency chiefs, and senior military commanders from the General Staff and from the front.

“Andrei Belousov [Defence Minister] and Valery Gerasimov [chief of the General Staff] also delivered reports. All commanders of the groups of armed forces in the special military operation zone reported on the situation in their respective sectors along the line of contact. The meeting participants conducted a detailed joint discussion of all reports. Based on these briefings, the President summed up the meeting results, set tasks and charted the negotiating position of the Russian delegation in Istanbul.” In Abu Dhabi, Trump’s staff had left a four-hour gap in the timing of his flight back to Washington in order to meet with Putin in Istanbul on condition that Trump ordered Zelensky to leave Turkey beforehand and Putin agreed to a summit announcement of an immediate ceasefire. Zelensky was removed to Albania but the Putin’s ceasefire conditions remained unchanged. Trump then abandoned his summit meeting plan; the record of his flight log was erased. He announced his personal success instead – “in two or three weeks”.

EU=no freedom.

• Presidential Candidates In EU States Call Trump ‘Symbol Of Freedom’ (RT)

A joint election campaign rally by Romanian election frontrunner George Simion and Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki have announced plans for what the former described as a “pro-MAGA” union at a joint rally the two held earlier this week in Poland. Supporters at the event chanted the name of US President Donald Trump. Both EU nations are heading into presidential elections this Sunday. Poland will hold the first round of voting, while Romania will see a runoff between Simion and Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. Speaking at the rally in support of Nawrocki in Zabrze on Tuesday, Simion vowed to reverse what he called an “anti-American change in Europe.” A critic of the EU who has been banned from entering Ukraine, Simion won the first round of the presidential election rerun in Romania on May 4 with more than 40% of the vote.

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1923568138706354538

His words prompted the crowd to begin chanting: “Donald Trump! Donald Trump!” The politician joined the chant and called the American leader “not just a person but a symbol of freedom.” Nawrocki, a conservative candidate who is supported by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, is currently polling second behind Rafal Trzaskowski, who is aligned with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition. Addressing the rally, he vowed to “build a Europe of values, a Europe of homelands, in which we will not allow the EU to centralize and turn Poland and Romania into provinces.” Nawrocki opposes EU and NATO membership for Ukraine, as well as financial aid for refugees, while supporting continued military assistance to Kiev.

Speaking to the magazine American Conservative a day after the rally, Simion stated that, together with Nawrocki, they “could become two pro-MAGA presidents committed to reviving our partnership with the United States.” He also vowed to “shift our focus to bilateral negotiations with the Trump administration” if elected. The rally prompted Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to claim on X that “Russia rejoices” at seeing Nawrocki standing together with “his pro-Russian Romanian counterpart George Simion.” Simion responded by posting an image of Tusk meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin back in 2010 and calling him “Putin’s man in Poland.” Moscow has never commented publicly about any ties with either Simion or Tusk. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier blasted the Romanian presidential election as “scandalous” after RT correspondent Chay Bowes was deported from the country right after arriving in the country to cover the vote.

• Pro-EU Candidate Wins Romanian Presidential Election Rerun (RT)

Pro-EU Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan has defeated Euroskeptic candidate George Simion in Romania’s presidential election rerun, according to the official tally. With more than 99% of ballots counted, Dan secured 54% of the vote in Sunday’s runoff, while Simion received 46%. Dan thanked his supporters for an “unprecedented mobilization.” “Starting tomorrow, we begin the reconstruction of Romania – a united and honest Romania, founded on respect for the law and for all its people,” he wrote on X. Simion, the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), did not initially concede defeat, claiming in a post on X on Sunday evening that he was “the new president.” However, he conceded several hours later and congratulated Dan.

“It was the will of the Romanian people. We will go all the way, even if it is hard to bear the bitter taste of defeat,” he said in a video address on Monday. “We may have lost a battle, but we will certainly not lose the war.” The pro-EU president of neighboring Moldova, Maia Sandu, congratulated Dan. “Moldova and Romania stand together, supporting one another and working side by side for a peaceful, democratic, and European future for all our citizens,” she said. The two countries share deep historical and cultural ties, with around 30% of Moldova’s population holding dual Moldovan-Romanian citizenship. Simion’s party has claimed that Moldovan authorities and media outlets waged an illegal campaign to mobilize support for Dan among voters living in Moldova. Chisinau has denied any interference in the election.

The election rerun was ordered after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results of the November vote, in which independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu came first with 23%. The authorities cited “irregularities” in his campaign, along with intelligence reports alleging Russian interference – claims Moscow has denied. Simion had condemned the annulment of the 2024 election results as a “coup d’état” and said that, if elected, he could appoint Georgescu as prime minister. During the first round on May 4, Simion received 41% of the vote, while Dan and former Senator Crin Antonescu each garnered around 20%.

https://twitter.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1924164565862129948

“..you can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections.”

• Musk Hails Durov Over Rejection of French Political Censorship Request (RT)

Elon Musk has voiced support for fellow tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov after the Telegram founder said he had rejected a request from the French government to block conservative political content on the messaging platform. Durov said Sunday that a Western European government had asked him to take down Romanian Telegram channels ahead of the country’s presidential runoff. He declined, arguing that, “you can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections.” Musk, the majority stake owner of the social media platform X, responded to Durov’s remarks with a brief post: “Hear, hear!” Following Durov’s statement, French authorities acknowledged they were the subject of the claims but denied making any such request. In a follow-up post, Durov identified the official involved as Nicolas Lerner, director of France’s domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI.

The controversy came as Romanian voters headed to polling stations on Sunday. The Romanian Foreign Ministry accused Russia of interfering in the election, although it offered no supporting evidence. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova remarked that the Romanian process could hardly be described as an election, and urged Bucharest not to soil foreign nations with its mess. In 2024, Romania’s Constitutional Court overturned the result of a presidential election after right-wing independent Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round. Reports linked the pro-Georgescu social media campaign to a government-affiliated consultancy firm allegedly aiming to divide right-wing voters. The case was cited by US Vice President J.D. Vance in a February speech in Munich as an example of EU nations undermining democratic norms. On Sunday, pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan defeated Euroskeptic George Simion in a runoff, securing the Romanian presidency by a single-digit margin.

Remember: Germany has very strict laws on domestic spying. They probably let the NSA do it for them. As if that’s legal.

• German Democracy Still Alive? Merz Speaks Out Against AfD Ban (RMX)

In recent months, a ban of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) appeared to be inching closer and closer, but now a key voice has clearly spoken out against such a move. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has now said that voting on an AfD ban in the Bundestag is not the right path, saying it “smacks too much of the elimination of political rivals.” He said he does not believe the current evidence is sufficient. He has even gone a step farther, stating that former Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, an SPD politician with far-left sympathies who wrote for Antifa Magazine, was wrong to classify the AfD as “confirmed” right-wing extremist in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) report. Critics indicate that she rushed the report out at the last minute of her tenure, despite the BfV having no president and despite a lack of any expert review, which she had previously promised would happen.

Speaking to Die Zeit, Merz said; “Working ‘aggressively and militantly’ against the free democratic basic order must be proven. And the burden of proof lies solely with the state. That is a classic task of the executive branch. And I have always internally resisted initiating ban proceedings from within the Bundestag. That smacks too much of political competition elimination to me.” When the BfV first labeled the AfD “certainly right-wing extremist,” calls came from the left, including the Greens, Left Party, and SPD, to immediately begin proceedings to ban the party in the Bundestag. Even a large portion of the CDU backed the move. Now, the BfV has temporarily removed the designation pending a court appeal, and as Remix News reported, this removal may have been in large part possible due to pressure from the United States. Merz also expressed his displeasure with Faeser’s move to release the report on her last day of work.

He told Zeit he was “not happy with the way this process is being conducted.” “The old government presented a report without any factual review, and it was also classified as confidential,” he added. As Remix News reported, the 1,100 page report contained only public statements from the AfD, and it has already been leaked and published by the German press. Remix News, in a report published earlier today, notes that the BfV is likely sitting on huge amounts of private surveillance data related to AfD members, but due to the unsavory mass surveillance methods used to obtain this data, it is likely withholding this from any official report. “I don’t know the content of this report, and frankly, I don’t want to know it until the Federal Ministry of the Interior has made an assessment of it,” said Merz. He said that it would take several weeks and even months for the interior ministry to make such an assessment.

“..the citizens of Ukraine should not allow the ‘NATO advisers’ to lead them off the true path of settlement into the ravine of other people’s interests again..”

• Don’t listen to NATO – Russia to Ukraine (RT)

Kiev would have a better chance of resolving the conflict with Russia if it resists malignant NATO influence that impedes peace efforts, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. Zakharova responded to remarks by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga about the results of the Istanbul meeting, which marked the first direct negotiations between Kiev and Moscow since 2022. The talks resulted in Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a major prisoner swap. The sides also agreed to exchange lists of conditions for a potential ceasefire and discuss a follow-up meeting. “If we put aside all the Russian nonsense, pseudo-historical statements, provocations, and so on, the bottom line is this: we managed to agree on the return of 1,000 of our people. These are 1,000 happy families. Even for this reason alone, all this made sense,” Sibiga said.

“All ‘this,’” Zakharova said, referring to the talks, “was proposed by Russia – by its president – and implemented by a delegation authorized by the head of state, which Zelensky mocked for a day.” She also noted that, if all the insults are put aside, Sibiga essentially acknowledged that the “Russian propositions have a certain sense.” “The main thing is that the citizens of Ukraine should not allow the ‘NATO advisers’ to lead them off the true path of settlement into the ravine of other people’s interests again,” Zakharova warned. Russia and Ukraine held direct peace talks in Istanbul in 2022, shortly after the escalation of the conflict. While the sides initially made progress and reached a tentative agreement – which included a Ukrainian commitment to neutrality – the talks later collapsed after Kiev unilaterally abandoned them.

Moscow later claimed the talks were derailed by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who advised Kiev to continue fighting. While Johnson has denied the accusation, David Arakhamia, who led the Ukrainian delegation at the time, admitted that the ex-prime minister played an influential role in the decision to stop the negotiating process. Since then, Russia has repeatedly accused Western governments of using Ukraine as a “battering ram” against Russia and pursuing the conflict “until the last Ukrainian.” It has noted, however, that the US began shifting its approach to the settlement under President Donald Trump.

It’s the timing.

• Something Doesn’t Add Up About Biden’s Cancer Announcement (Margolis)

On Sunday, news broke that former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 and metastasis to the bone. The announcement, made by Biden’s office, detailed that the diagnosis followed the discovery of a prostate nodule after worsening urinary symptoms a week prior. While the statement emphasized that the cancer is hormone-sensitive, offering hope for effective management, the timing and context of this revelation raise serious questions about transparency and political motivations. The key question I have is this: Did Joe Biden’s inner circle know about this diagnosis last year?

Obviously, questions about Joe Biden’s physical and mental health have been raised for years. Let’s be honest here. Joe Biden had access to top-notch health care while in the Oval Office—with a personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, who, back in 2023, described him as a “healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” We all knew that assessment was garbage. Would the same doctor who claimed Joe Biden was “healthy” and “vigorous” also cover up a cancer diagnosis until after the presidential election? Yeah, I think so. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but you better believe that I think it’s possible that he did. In fact, a clip of Biden saying he “had cancer” back in 2022 has gone viral in the wake of the revelation.

“And guess what—the first frost, you know what was happening?” said Biden. “You’d have to put on your windshield wipers to get, literally, the oil slick off the window.,” he said during a speech about climate change in Somerset, Massachusetts. “That’s why I, and so damn many other people I grew up with, have cancer. And why, for the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation.” A gaffe? A slip of the tongue? With the Bidens, anything is possible. Okay, let’s state the obvious: I’m not a doctor. Heck, I don’t even play one on TV. Okay, fine. I’ll get a doctor’s input. Fox News Senior Medical Analyst Dr. Marc Siegel says the presence of symptoms and bone metastases in Joe Biden’s case strongly suggests the cancer had been growing undetected for quite some time. That’s not just concerning—it raises serious questions about how such an advanced stage of disease went unnoticed, especially for someone with constant access to top-tier medical care.

Siegel pointed out that Biden’s age—82—is a major risk factor, noting that more than 80 percent of men over 80 have some level of prostate cancer cells in their bodies. “This is one of the cancers doctors specifically monitor in older men,” Siegel explained. Which begs the obvious question: Are we really supposed to believe that Biden, while in office, wasn’t being routinely screened for this? Come on. Not giving him a cognitive exam because they knew he’d flunk it is one thing; not screening him for something he was obviously at high risk for? That just doesn’t pass the smell test. So, now, you have to ask the question: why go public with this information now? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? Do you think it is mere coincidence that the announcement came just two days before the release of “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson?

Damaging excerpts have been released over the past few weeks, including one excerpt claiming that Biden’s aides were so concerned about his physical decline in early 2024 that they discussed the possibility of him needing a wheelchair if reelected. Then there was the release of the Hur tapes. It’s been a damaging week for Joe Biden and his legacy, and in the hours since his diagnosis was revealed, the usual statements of praise and support are flowing in. It all makes sense, doesn’t it? The book’s excerpts have painted a damning picture of Biden’s physical and cognitive state. And while it’s old news to those of us in conservative media, it’s getting serious widespread attention now. So, announcing a serious cancer diagnosis right before the book’s release could serve as a strategic move to shift the narrative, garner sympathy, and distract the public from the damaging information contained in the book.

Urologist Dr. Shusterman says it’s “unheard of” for someone with Biden’s level of care to not know he had prostate cancer 5–10 years ago.

It was a full-on coverup:

“It's very unlikely that someone could get annual checkups and not notice.”

“He is a former president, had… pic.twitter.com/L7tSGp9fPg

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 19, 2025

The book is out, but everyone will talk about his cancer. Timing.

• Democrats and Journalists Still Avoid Biden’s Decline (Graham)

The first excerpts of the Jake Tapper-Alex Thompson book on denying former President Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline have been posted, and you can already sense Democrats don’t want to deal with what they have done. The book’s title is “Original Sin.” Why the biblical title? The authors write: “The original sin of Election 2024 was Biden’s decision to run for re-election—followed by aggressive efforts to hide his cognitive diminishment.” There is more religious terminology. “It was an abomination,” one “prominent Democratic strategist” told the authors. “He stole an election from the Democratic Party; he stole it from the American people.” The condemnations here make sense, but they are far too narrow. Democrats as a whole failed to hold an actual primary election in 2024. Almost no one decided to challenge Biden, with the unforgettable exception of Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who ran explicitly on the issue of Biden’s inability to run for reelection and serve a second term.

Democrat state parties kept challengers like Phillips off primary ballots, and Democrats sought to strip Donald Trump off primary ballots. So the “stole an election” sermon ignores a lot of facts. The condemnation should obviously include the Democrat-allied media, who mostly ignored Phillips and his cause or told him he was foolish. They still don’t want to talk about this. Since the first previews in The New Yorker and Axios, where we learned Biden didn’t recognize actor George Clooney at a fundraiser and Biden aides pondered putting him in a wheelchair after the election, only NBC offered a short report summarizing the scoops. ABC, CBS and PBS ignored it. The “PBS News Hour” offered nine grieving minutes on a state law in Ohio gutting diversity, equity, and inclusive programs on campus, but nothing on Biden. These networks might still sound like NPR as it dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop in 2020. It’s a “pure distraction.”

The broadcast networks have displayed their shamelessly partisan reflexes, that on any issue that feels like a Trump talking point, they circle their wagons around Democrat die-hards. The “sin” here extends to these authors. If and when Tapper and Thompson engage with the national media in interviews, let’s guess there won’t be much pushback on their own demurrals and dismissals of Biden’s decline during his four years in office. Like many journalists, they’ll insist they didn’t avoid the issue—but that’s only because the voters told pollsters it was a problem. For his part, Tapper didn’t cover Biden trying to find a dead congresswoman in the audience in 2022, and he insisted Biden was “sharp” mentally when presidential contender Nikki Haley insisting on cognitive tests for elderly candidates. He disagreed with Republican critics after Biden’s yelling-Grandpa performance at the 2024 State of the Union address: He showed his age, but “he didn’t seem incapable of doing the job.”

Tapper didn’t want to be on the “wrong” side of the Bidens. Dylan Byers at Puck reported that at a Super Bowl party in 2018, Hunter Biden put his arm around Tapper and told him if they weren’t in public, “I would knock you out”. Hunter believed Tapper had reported on allegations of his rampant use of drugs and prostitutes that emerged from his divorce. Tapper assured Hunter that he didn’t report any of that—as if that’s a point of pride. Democrats and their media allies need to face a reckoning for their vast left-wing conspiracy to deny what everyone could see—that Biden was unfit to continue, even to the end of his term. This is especially ridiculous for networks like Tapper’s CNN, which repeatedly proclaimed that Trump was mentally unfit throughout his first term, pushing a 25th Amendment “solution” for him.

Jake Tapper Uncovers Startling Evidence That Biden’s Decline Was Covered Up By Jake Tapper https://t.co/g1DhhQpLaR pic.twitter.com/7exMeKNCTK

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) May 18, 2025

“This contradicts both the new Democrat spin that Biden began a rapid decline after 2022 and also the Tapper and Thompson revelations that the decline had started being noticed in 2019.”

• Distrust and Accountability (Erickson)

CNN’s Kasie Hunt interviewed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer the other day. She confronted him about allegations of a meeting with former President Joe Biden that should have raised alarms about Biden’s fitness for office. “We’re moving forward,” Schumer replied. He would not answer the question. Chuck Todd, speaking afterwards on CNN, said, “He is among the people responsible for this. The leaders of the Democratic Party, the staff of the White House—and I have to say I find everybody now talking to these authors—get out of here. Now you tell us?” He then referred to the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration as “catastrophic governance.” The American people began raising concerns about Biden’s fitness for office while Biden campaigned for the presidency in 2020. Polling in 2021 noted that a majority of the American public had concerns about Biden’s mental and physical frailty.

Former President Barack Obama’s speechwriter Jon Favreau now claims Biden declined after the 2022 midterms. New reporting from CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson notes Biden regularly had bad days before 2022, but as he aged, he got even worse. Democrats would have us believe it was stress related to Hunter Biden. But these same Democrats refused to release the audio of Biden’s interview with Special Prosecutor Robert Hur. The same reporters who now claim they were stunned and their sources would not be candid with them were the very same reporters who never fought for the release of the Hur audio and, in fact, treated the Hur report’s conclusion that Biden was not mentally fit to stand trial as a partisan statement. Axios’ Alex Thompson is one of the few reporters the Biden administration blackballed for regularly covering Biden’s decline.

CNN’s Tapper, for his part, told his colleague John Berman, “I’m not going to speak for anybody else, but knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years—and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough.” Comcast gave Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki her own show. She used her show to deflect from concerns about Biden’s decline. Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe told his audience on March 6, 2024, “F you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever.” This contradicts both the new Democrat spin that Biden began a rapid decline after 2022 and also the Tapper and Thompson revelations that the decline had started being noticed in 2019.

“Look, what we learned through our reporting is that starting in around 2019, 2020, there were two Bidens. There was a Biden that was perfectly workable, serviceable, seemed fine. And then there was a non-functioning one that couldn’t come up with names of top aides, that would lose his train of thought to an alarming degree. And that non-functioning Biden reared his head increasingly over and over,” Tapper told Berman. This gets back to Chuck Todd’s comments about Sen. Schumer. “Now you tell us,” he says. But what did they need to tell us? The American people were raising concerns in 2020 and 2021. It was the American press corps that insisted Americans not believe their lying eyes. It was voices on CNN and MSNBC that had Democrats on to insist the video of Biden being led off stage by Barack Obama had been mischaracterized by Republicans.

“Catastrophic governance” is how Todd characterized this opening of Trump’s new term. That, I suspect, gives us the answer to the big question—how could the press cover for Biden when the American people themselves knew something was wrong? Because, at that time, Biden was the only thing standing between the presidency and Trump. Now that he has lost, the truth can be told, except for the part of the press’ complicity in the cover-up. Americans did not need White House sources to tell them something was wrong. Only America’s top reporters did, and without those sources, they insisted until the bitter end that the public got duped by the GOP.

They need to explain.

• Patel&Bongino Tease New Russiagate Evidence, Say Epstein Killed Himself (ZH)

FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Fox News on Sunday, where the pair hinted at a “wave of transparency” on the horizon over weaponization of the DOJ by the Biden and Obama administrations. “You asked in the beginning how the FBI was weaponized,” Patel told host Maria Bartiromo. “Well, the FBI hijacked the constitutional responsibility of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General, and James Comey and others specifically decided what cases to prosecute and not prosecute. Don’t believe me? Go to the videotape in the Hillary Clinton investigation.” Cool, cool.”We don’t decide prosecutions, and neither does any agent or intel analyst. We have great partners under Attorney General [Pam] Bondi. We work with them and discuss the matter with them, but the prosecutorial decision is with them,” Patel continued.

No rush on those indictments and pre-dawn raids, guys. The pair also said they’ve uncovered additional details regarding the Obama DOJ’s Crossfire Hurricane (Russiagate) investigation, and are working with Congress on it – which for some reason they have to do before they can release it. Of note, Patel was previously the House Intelligence Committee’s lead Russiagate investigator. “They bastardized the process, they withheld and hid documentation and put it in rooms where people weren’t supposed to look,” he said. “That’s how vindictive and vicious the former leadership structure here was. Not only did they bastardize the FISA process and lie to the American public, they withheld and hid documentation and put it in rooms where people weren’t supposed to look,” Patel continued, adding “It’s a good thing we’re here now to clean it up, and you’re about to see a wave of transparency… Just give us about a week or two.”

Kash Patel & Dan Bongino say they uncovered new information pertaining to the Russiagate hoax and accountability is coming:

“I’m telling you and the American public that we have now found material and information and people who wanted to hide it from the world since we got in… pic.twitter.com/GyoGW2Ttcj

— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 18, 2025

In another segment, the pair insisted that pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein definitely killed himself. “You said Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. People don’t believe it,” said Bartiromo. “They have a right to their opinion,” Patel replied. “But as someone who’s been a public defender, a prosecutor, who’s worked in that prison system and been inside segregated housing——you know a suicide when you see one. And that’s what that was.” Bongino concurred, saying “He killed himself.”

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1924128234439844211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1924128234439844211%7Ctwgr%5E87a70587f03f5b008b4ef25a44ed1da9929a9db7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fpatel-bongino-tease-russiagate-accountability-wave-transparency-yet-insist-jeffrey

So, Epstein, whose cellmate moved out the day before he died, was able to kill himself right at the moment security cameras malfunctioned and his guards fell asleep. And other inmates reportedly heard “shouting and shrieking” from Epstein’s jail cell the morning he died. And some footage which was apparently recovered was deemed “too flawed for investigators to use.” And this was a photo of the ‘noose’ he used:

And coroner Dr. Michael Baden said his autopsy was more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicide. Right. Remember when Elon Musk told Joe Rogan he can’t dig too deep into government corruption or he’ll be wet work’d? Bongino’s reply to the above question has the same vibes.

https://twitter.com/InternetH0F/status/1896455529813139858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1896455529813139858%7Ctwgr%5E87a70587f03f5b008b4ef25a44ed1da9929a9db7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fpatel-bongino-tease-russiagate-accountability-wave-transparency-yet-insist-jeffrey

“..for Obama to take the nomination, the presidency and then eventually support Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election bid. Obama would appoint Clinton to Secretary of State, Hillary would then use her office to build wealth for herself and her family, and then HRC would exit the Dept of State to begin her presidential run.”

• Devin Nunes Discusses Likelihood of Success for Patel and Bongino (CTH)

Former HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes is a man very familiar with the Russiagate nonsense and the weaponization of the DOJ, FBI and CIA against candidate Donald Trump and later President Trump. Within this interview Nunes hits on a few good points, the most accurate is his focus on the motives and intents of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was installed as the cover-up operation for Crossfire Hurricane. However, Nunes gets a part of the origin a little askew and inaccurately framed. The original agreement between Clinton and Obama going back to 2008 was for Obama to take the nomination, the presidency and then eventually support Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election bid. Obama would appoint Clinton to Secretary of State, Hillary would then use her office to build wealth for herself and her family, and then HRC would exit the Dept of State to begin her presidential run.

John Podesta would enter the Obama administration as Hillary left in 2013. Podesta would look out for Hillary’s interests from his position inside the Obama White House. The Clintons and Obamas never fully trusted each other. Barack Obama would put all the mechanisms into place that would transition his administration into Hillary Clintons’. That was always the plan. In 2015 Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had a check-in meeting; just touching base to firm up the goals and objectives as Hillary began her campaign launch. Podesta left the White House to take up position inside the campaign, and Team Obama would maintain Clinton’s interests as planned without an insider.

All of President Obama’s appointments in after 2015, were essentially through the prism of assisting Hillary Clinton to win in 2016. Attorney General Loretta Lynch (tarmac meeting), Deputy AG Sally Yates, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and FBI Director James Comey were all part of that. Technically Hillary had eyes and ears all over the White House at the time, and with Hillary Clinton being a foregone conclusion per the expectations of Washington DC, everyone would fall in line during the transition from Obama to Clinton. Again, this was the general plan. Obama would show up in 2016 to campaign for Hillary and all would be seamless.The FBI was aware of the plan for transition from Obama to Clinton, hence their role in eliminating the threat later presented by the Clinton, as Secretary of State, laptop scandal and the subsequent issues of classified information.

Remember, Clinton’s motive as Secretary of State was to sell her position for material wealth; that’s why she used a personal email, maintained her own servers, and generally controlled how her activity could be monitored and tracked. [Also, she didn’t fully trust Obama] When the Clinton campaign launched the Russia Collusion dirty trick move against her opponent Donald Trump, originally using Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson, the role of the Obama administration was to facilitate the political hit, and at the very least not impede it. Hence, former CIA Director John Brennan briefing Barack Obama on the status of the Russia collusion hoax as it spread in 2016 via the Clinton campaign.

Specifically because President Obama was, by extension, now a participant in the Clinton created “Russia Collusion hoax,” and specifically because his administration officials were participants in the process (DOJ, FBI), when President Trump won the 2016 election. President Barack Obama was now exposed by the threat the operation represented. This context is the impetus for the January 5, 2017, Susan Rice memo. Following the surprising result in the 2016 election, the team around Obama was urgently framing plausible deniability. President Obama did not orchestrate the Russia Collusion hoax; he facilitated it by not interfering with his administration officials who were assisting Hillary Clinton. This is a very key distinction. President Obama knew what was going on, he was willfully blind as it was carried out. However, the mess and fallout from the extreme lengths his FBI and DOJ officials went eventually represented a threat to Obama.

Robert Mueller and all 19 of his Clinton-aligned Lawfare operatives, were put into place to cover-up the entire mess created within the Russia Collusion operation. Mueller +19 continued the Crossfire Hurricane operation, while the extreme Lawfare strategy was deployed against the Trump administration. That’s the short, encapsulated version. The Russia Collusion hoax was created by Hillary Clinton, spread to media through Fusion GPS and given the patina of credibility by the DOJ and FBI. President Obama facilitated the operation by not interfering in the operation, until it became a threat to him personally. Both the Obama and Clinton political teams supported and organized the Robert Mueller cover-up.

“..if they can be charged, we’ll charge them. But if they can’t be charged, we will name them.”

• FBI Agents Beg Court To Destroy List Before ‘Shame’ Campaign (ZH)

A group of FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigations asked a judge Thursday to destroy a Trump administration list containing the names of roughly 5,000 agents tied to the probes. Their move follows Ed Martin’s vow, as the newly appointed weaponization czar, to “name” and “shame” the thousands of agents who helped crack down on more than 1,000 Americans allegedly involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests. The anonymous agents told U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb that Martin’s public pledge signals the federal government plans to release the list. They first sued in February, asking the court to destroy or seal the roster.

Their Thursday filing came after Martin promised at a Tuesday press conference to hold the agents accountable for destroying the lives of more than 1,000 Jan. 6 defendants. “There are some really bad actors, some people that did some really bad things to the American people. And if they can be charged, we’ll charge them. But if they can’t be charged, we will name them. And in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are ashamed. And that’s a fact. That’s the way things work. And so that’s, that’s how I believe the job operates.”

The agents argue Martin’s rhetoric puts them in greater danger of retribution by the pardoned Jan. 6 defendants. “Mr. Martin’s statements represent new, relevant facts worthy of the Court’s attention while it considers Plaintiffs’ requested relief,” their filing claimed, according to Law and Crime. The agents are represented by a group of attorneys that includes Mark Zaid, who is also suing President Trump over revoked security clearances. Zaid is also representing former FBI agent Jamie Mannina in a defamation suit against journalist James O’Keefe, after O’Keefe released undercover footage of Mannina expressing his contempt for Trump.

“..some EU institutions continue to push for Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. Analysts say this could further weaken border controls and oversight mechanisms..”

• Weapons From Ukraine Will Flood Europe – Report (RT)

A massive influx of weapons from Ukraine will hit Europe’s black markets after the conflict with Russia is over, according to a new report by the Eurasia Observatory, which tracks the conflict’s long-term impact on organized crime. Western-supplied weapons and thousands of battle-hardened Ukrainian veterans are expected to fuel a wave of crime, arms trafficking, and instability across the continent – as talks between Moscow and Kiev to resolve the conflict raise hopes for a ceasefire – the document warns. ”Stockpiles of weapons, including heavy arms, are being amassed throughout Ukraine,” the report says. “Should the fighting stop, martial law in Ukraine will presumably be lifted, reducing the resources and powers of the state to police the civilian sphere – and opening up the field for organized crime to operate more freely.”

Kiev received over $363 billion (€326 billion) in NATO aid by February 2025, according to the Kiel Institute. Porous borders and weak oversight may fail to stop smuggled weapons such as rifles, grenades, and missile systems, according to the document. Earlier this year, US journalist Tucker Carlson claimed that the Ukrainian military was selling American weapons systems “on the black market, including to drug cartels.” Western media and officials have acknowledged that weapons sent to Kiev have ended up in criminal hands. Europol reported in April 2022 that arms were being trafficked from Ukraine into the EU for organized crime groups. Later that year, the Finnish authorities confirmed that these weapons had surfaced locally, with similar findings in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

By mid-2024, Spanish media reported gangs in southern Spain had acquired modern weapons allegedly smuggled from Ukraine. The return of Ukrainian soldiers skilled in sabotage, drones, and cyber warfare poses a threat, with the report warning that they could become a “valuable resource” for criminal networks in Europe. Corruption in Ukraine is a major concern, with the most recent estimate showing Ukraine will require $524 billion to repair the damage from the war. The report warns that criminals could exploit the process to launder money and gain influence.

Despite mounting concerns over arms trafficking and fraud, some EU institutions continue to push for Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. Analysts say this could further weaken border controls and oversight mechanisms. The report warns that without a coordinated long-term strategy, Western nations risk facing the fallout of a conflict that Moscow claims they helped fuel and now struggle to control. Russia has warned against Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine, saying they only serve to prolong the conflict and heighten regional security threats. It has also said the unchecked supply of weapons has resulted in a large number falling into the hands of organized criminal groups and extremists worldwide.

It’ll still take a while. Senate next.

• House Republicans Advance “Big, Beautiful Bill” After Weekend of Talks (ZH)

Following a Friday fracas on Capitol Hill which saw House Republicans fail to advance President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” out of the House Budget Committee, Republicans on said Committee did just that after several GOP deficit hawks relented. And while the bill still has a couple of stops before it can hit the House Floor, passage to the Senate could come as early as the end of this week. The measure passed narrowly, 17-16, with all Democrats opposed and four Republicans; Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma – voting “present” after voting “No” on the bill in a 16-21 vote just two days earlier. The sudden turnaround followed a weekend of furious negotiations that remain largely behind closed doors.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) met with fellow lawmakers shortly before Sunday’s vote and told reporters that there had been “some minor modifications,” several sources posted on X. Johnson said the bill, which includes making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and reforming Medicaid, is now “on track” for a House floor vote toward the end of this week.The vote was a big win for Johnson and Trump, coming just two days after Republican opposition torpedoed the bill’s first attempt at committee passage. Despite this procedural victory, the legislation must still clear the House Rules Committee and secure a vote on the House floor, where Republicans hold only a razor-thin majority, Axios reports. Norman, one of the Republicans who shifted his position, said he was “excited about the changes” in the works for the bill.

Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) confirmed during the Sunday night session that “most likely there would be some changes” to the measure before it reaches the floor – but he couldn’t comment on specifics or any side deals that might have been struck. The panel’s reversal came after it initially rejected the legislation Friday, setting off a scramble to renegotiate terms with holdout Republicans. One of the most contentious elements has been the GOP’s proposed Medicaid overhaul, with conservatives pushing for deeper structural changes and moderates raising concerns about the political risks.

Even if the package passes the House, Senate Republicans are expected to propose their own revisions. To that end, Johnson has also been working to secure buy-in from blue state Republicans by exploring a compromise on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap. On Friday, Trump did his usual shit-talking to pressure Republicans into line – posting on Truth Social; “We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!”

“..it is possible that they could save themselves if there was a massive violent uprising, but the people are too weak-minded and weak-willed..”

• The USA, As We Knew it, Has Been Destroyed By The Supreme Court (PCR)

“The Supreme Court has just ruled that the worst murderers, drug dealers, gang members, and even those who are mentally insane, who came into our Country illegally, are not allowed to be forced out without going through a long, protracted, and expensive Legal Process, one that will take, possibly, many years for each person, and one that will allow these people to commit many crimes before they even see the inside of a Courthouse. The result of this decision will let more CRIMINALS pour into our Country, doing great harm to our cherished American public. It will also encourage other criminals to illegally enter our Country, wreaking havoc and bedlam wherever they go. The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do. Sleepy Joe Biden allowed MILLIONS of Criminal Aliens to come into our Country without any “PROCESS” but, in order to get them out of our Country, we have to go through a long and extended PROCESS. In any event, thank you to Justice Alito and Justice Thomas for attempting to protect our Country. This is a bad and dangerous day for America!” — President Trump, Truth Social, May 16, 2025 at 5:59 PM

As I predicted, the liberal-left, committed as it is to the establishment of a Sodom & Gomorrah Tower of Babel, used the mindless judiciary to protect “rights” of non-citizens who broke the law by entering the country illegally. The judges defined the preservation of America in terms of defending “rights” for illegals who are not US citizens to use US courts to evade enforcement of US law. No one knows where these American rights of non-Americans came from, but the morons on the Supreme Court are defending them. The Supreme Court’s ruling against America in favor of illegal aliens reads like the babel of an insane asylum. Which is what the court is. Instead of standing when judges enter the courtroom, they should be pelted with rotten tomatoes and rotten eggs. There is no reason to respect them as they do not respect America and its Constitution. Most of them are activists for overthrowing traditional America.

The judiciary has also created a fourth branch of government, the civil service or executive branch employees, who the judiciary has now made independent of presidential control. So, five months into the presidential term, my prediction has come true that the Democrats, committed as they are to the replacement of white racist Americans with people of color, would use the courts to defeat the will of the people as expressed in the presidential election.

Americans do not realize, despite the over-abundance of evidence, that they have been in a civil war for many years. That a civil war was underway became completely and totally clear in 2016 and again in 2020 and again during the Biden regime’s illegal prosecutions of Donald Trump and falsely accused and incarcerated “insurrectionists.” That the US Department of Justice and federal courts could be used to imprison American patriots who protested a stolen presidential election demonstrated for even morons to see that the Democrat liberal-left was committed to overthrowing America.

Parents in every state had the evidence before their noses every day of the school year. In place of education, white kids were taught, and still are, that they are racists, along with their parents and grandparents, that they might have been born into the wrong body, that gender is unrelated to biology and determined by self-declaration. Parents who resisted sex change operations for their underage children risked losing them to seizure by Child Protective Services. Young kids were being sexualized at an early age, taught how to give oral sex and to copulate. The Democrats heavily into pedophilia are creating receptive children for themselves. Merit was abandoned as a basis for admission to quality schools for the gifted and as the basis for graduation, resulting in the destruction of the educational experience once offered to the gifted, people America certainly needs.

Corporations and even the military sidelined hiring and promotion for white heterosexual Americans in order to give illegal preference to DEI. Corporate advertising promoted, and still does, miscegenation. Democrat political jurisdictions permitted Antifa and Black Lives Matter to loot and burn white business areas of cities and refused to prosecute. Laws were passed that reduced the accountability of people of color for crimes. For these and many other reasons enough of the insouciant American population saw the light and responded by electing an American as president. It only took 7 Supreme Court justices and a sprinkling of Democrat federal district judges to defeat the American people’s uprising. Americans need to understand that the Supreme Court with its ruling has destroyed America.

A country that cannot defend its borders and that cannot deport illegal entrants is described in Jean Raspail’s The Camp of the Saints, a description of the fate that awaits white Americans, but Americans cannot stop scrolling their cell phones long enough to read a book that tells their future. If Americans understood what awaits them, it is possible that they could save themselves if there was a massive violent uprising, but the people are too weak-minded and weak-willed to save themselves even if they could face up to the threat. With my prediction that Trump’s agenda would be blocked proven true, I am encouraged to offer another prediction. The Democrats will steal the mid-term elections. The RINO Republicans, media, and judiciary will help them in order to get rid of Trump. Next, President Trump will be successfully impeached, and he and members of his government and supporters will be prosecuted.

White heterosexual Americans will be discriminated against in every aspect of life. All who protest will face charges. The United States of America is about to disappear. My backup prediction is that the American Establishment will override the Democrat liberal-left, because the ruling establishment sees Trump as an effective agent for their construction of an American neo-colonial empire consisting of Greenland, Panama, Gaza, and the Middle East. This opens up new avenues of plunder for the ruling elite. The destruction of American unity that the Democrat liberal-left has achieved plays into the hands of the elite as the absence of unity prevents constraints on their privatization of government. Now that I think about it, my backup prediction could well be the most likely one.

1933

Did you know that in 1933, Judea declared war on Germany before the H0locaust began? @KenOKeefe1TJP argues this historical event is far more significant than most realize. pic.twitter.com/OswuWV3PnL

— Red Pill USA (@Red_Pill_US) May 17, 2025

222

Doctor says Cholesterol protects you against Cancer pic.twitter.com/Glcy9AUBNz

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) May 17, 2025

China

If this is correct, it is fantastic from China. pic.twitter.com/WlMqdtA03X

— Kerry Burgess (@KerryBurgess) May 17, 2025

https://twitter.com/Mappy6984/status/1923933323983827214

VATICAN CITY—There are only a few Noble Women who are given the Privilege to wear White when meeting the Pope.

One such monarch granted the “privilège du blanc” is Queen Letizia of Spain (seen here). pic.twitter.com/H2iGEi8uJ7

— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) May 18, 2025

https://twitter.com/Ric_RTP/status/1924102595125100637

Mongolian girl has a laugh with her camel pic.twitter.com/Qqlvwcq8n4

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 18, 2025

I’m not crying, you’re crying. pic.twitter.com/gIPYv7KccI

— RyanFJBLGB🇺🇸🦅 (@RyanPatrick1991) May 18, 2025

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

Debt Rattle May 15 2025

May 152025

May 15, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:16 am Finance Tagged with: AI, Alien Enemies Act, Boeing, Istanbul, Kellogg, MBS, NDA, Qatar, Riyadh, Rubio, Trump, Von der Leyen, Witkoff 41 Responses »

Kazemir Malevich Floor polishers 1912

• Why China Will Win The Arms Race (Wolfgang Münchau)

• Russian Delegation Will Be Waiting For Ukrainians In Istanbul – Kremlin (RT)

• Zelensky Claims Ban On Russia Talks Doesn’t Apply To Him (RT)

• Zelensky’s Regime Only Stable When At War – Former Senior UN Official (RT)

• Rubio and Witkoff Will Travel To Istanbul On Friday – Reuters (RT)

• Trump Envoy Kellogg Reveals NATO Troop Deployment Plans For Ukraine (RT)

• US Opposes Zelensky Attendance At NATO Summit (RT)

• The Unraveling of The Old World Order And The Role of Russia (Bordachev)

• Russia Doesn’t Need Western Approval To Shape Global History (Lukyanov)

• Trump Shocks the World – Again (Spencer)

• Qatar Commits To “Largest Order Of Jets In The History Of Boeing” (NYP)

• Every Anti-Trump Economic Narrative Is Collapsing (Margolis)

• Trump Economy Defies ‘Gloom And Doom’ Expectations (Whedon)

• Federal Judge Says Trump’s Invocation of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal (ET)

• Average Americans Poised for Double-Digit Tax Cuts In 2027 (ZH)

• Court Rules On Von Der Leyen’s Secret Covid Vaccine Deal Messages (RT)

• Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Signed Oath to Conceal COVID Info (YN)

• A New False Tribunal Is In The Making (Stephen Karganovic)

This clip from Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia is spreading like wildfire on Arabic social media. Watch:

pic.twitter.com/UrLqpoTwNj

— Mohammad El Sahily – محمد الساحلي (@moesahily) May 13, 2025

WATCH: Emotional moment as President Trump says a final goodbye to his close friend Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, before boarding Air Force One to continue his Middle East mission in Qatar pic.twitter.com/Rwc5uZMpUO

— Overton (@overton_news) May 14, 2025

Tulsi

The DOGE has submitted a list of 163 Congress members to the IRS for an “immediate audit,” with sources indicating that 156 of them are Democrats. pic.twitter.com/mBxoLEbivX

— Tulsi Gabbard Intelligence Report (@TulsiGabbardDNI) May 13, 2025

Assange

Whispers of a Trump meeting spark intrigue in D.C.
Tuesday just got a whole lot more interesting. pic.twitter.com/CvRcIujg31

— April Color (@ColorApril) May 13, 2025

1940

The More You Notice pic.twitter.com/CY4m8cRb2j

— Machiavelli (@TheRISEofROD) May 14, 2025

Alex

In a fiery outburst, Alex Jones unleashed a torrent of truth, exposing what he calls the “sick, evil” agenda of globalist elites like Bono, Tony Blair, Bill Gates, and Bill Clinton. “These are sick, sick, sick people!” Jones declared, pointing to their World Economic Forum… pic.twitter.com/Wp6C7zqEnP

— Camus (@newstart_2024) May 13, 2025

“Russia. Kremlin. Putin. 25 years”

"Russia. Kremlin. Putin. 25 years".

What an impressive man.

Russia is the luckiest country in the world.

A film about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Part 3

This film is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Vladimir Putin's first inauguration. pic.twitter.com/aMarnUpjlx

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) May 13, 2025

Tucker Carlson interviews Ed Martin

“..a swarm of AI-powered drones..”

• Why China Will Win The Arms Race (Wolfgang Münchau)

When Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week, he will bump into some familiar people. Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Fink and Sam Altman will also be in Riyadh. I doubt they will spend much time talking about Gaza, or Iran. They are all there for the same reason: to talk about AI. The stock markets have currently put a high price on these tech companies. But AI is also commanding a high price from America’s foreign and security policy community: it will change the nature of warfare more profoundly than any other innovation we have experienced in our lifetimes. Ronald Reagan’s infamous Strategy Defence Initiative, also known as Star Wars, failed because the old technology could not deliver the precision that was needed. But AI could make it a reality and America’s concern is that China might get there first.

But America also worries that they are leading the charge with AI-powered drones. We think of drones as modern, but those used in the Russia-Ukraine war still need an operator. Imagine, then, if one side had AI-powered drones at their disposal? The West and Nato may be comfortable in their current — swiftly dating — military capabilities. But AI warfare is a completely new game. And China is already forging ahead in the two areas that will prove critical. The first is the supply of energy — which is vital to power large AI data centres. The West should be concerned by the sheer scale of the expansion of China’s energy capacity. China has a renewable capacity target of 2,461 gigawatts by 2030. The corresponding numbers for the EU and US are respectively 1,100 and 500 gigawatts.

For the Chinese, the heavy lifting will come from renewable sources, such as the world’s largest hydropower plant in Tibet, which will have an energy capacity roughly the size of Germany’s capacity today. Just from one single dam. This dam is not even included in China’s target number. AI is furiously energy-hungry. As the car industry has only recently found out, the electric car is not just an evolution — it is a different product. The same applies to anything reliant on AI. Germany’s Rheinmetall is a formidable producer of ammunition and tanks. They make the best tanks in the world. But they are old-school — the heavy-metal version of defence manufacturing. You don’t want to be in one of them when being attacked by a swarm of AI-powered drones.

And so, as China marches ahead, Europe’s absurd data protection regulations and AI regulation effectively criminalise the 21st century’s most important evolving business sector. The Financial Times reported that British soldiers were prevented from using signal jamming on the grounds that it violated GDPR. Europeans have, in general, no idea what damage they are inflicting upon themselves with their absurd data protection obsession. And no clue what it does to their security. In the gilded foreign policy salons of Europe’s capitals, you will not hear much about AI-drones, or satellite-based AI-missiles systems. It is as though AI has yet to be invented in the Western foreign policy universe.

China, meanwhile, has more energy than we do, puts serious money into AI, and is not regulating itself to death. Take 5G. While we Europeans struggle with it, the Chinese are already developing 6G — the technology which is needed to handle the communications for next generation manufacturing. This is the second critical area in which China is excelling: high-tech manufacturing. In the US and the UK, the prevailing view is that sophisticated countries should move into services and leave the shop-floor economy to upstarts like China. This is a story we have been telling ourselves for too long. And it is one that economists, in particular, don’t understand.

They think it is more efficient to let China do all the manufacturing, for the US to specialise in high tech and finance, and to let Europe be a museum. They are simultaneously oblivious to those voters who want real jobs, to the nature of 21st-century manufacturing, and to security concerns. The irony here is that the US understands the AI-service economy like no one else. And it still just about leads the world in research. But China has been able to catch up because all the new technology is open-source. As an anonymous employee at Google candidly admitted: “We have no moat, and neither does OpenAI.” Nor does the US. This is not a world of secret algorithms, or of industrial patents. The costs of entry are low — all you need is a bunch of desktop computers with a good graphics card. Anyone can join in. In the old world, the technology leadership meant that the US was years ahead of the competition. No more.

They should have arrived as I write this. Wonder what they talk about 🙂

• Russian Delegation Will Be Waiting For Ukrainians In Istanbul – Kremlin (RT)

Moscow will be sending a delegation for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday and expects Kiev to do the same, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev to find a lasting settlement to the conflict between the two countries. After his proposal was supported by US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who had previously ruled out any talks with Moscow, also expressed his readiness. Kiev earlier stated that the only official Zelensky would talk to is Putin. The Russian president has so far made no indication that he is planning to travel to Istanbul.

When asked by journalists on Wednesday if the talks in Türkiye were still on the cards, Peskov replied by saying: “Indeed, the Russian delegation will be waiting for the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15, that is – tomorrow.” “I can confirm once again that everything that the president said in his statement on May 11… remains relevant,” he stressed. Peskov declined to reveal the lineup of the Russian delegation that will travel to Istanbul. It will be announced “when we receive instructions from the president. So far, there have been no such instructions,” he explained.

On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that, during potential talks, Moscow wants to discuss “a sustainable settlement of the situation, first of all, by addressing the very roots of this conflict, resolving issues related to the denazification of the Kiev regime, ensuring recognition of the realities that have developed recently, including the entry of new territories into Russia.” Ryabkov refrained from making any forecasts on the outcome of discussions, but stressed that Moscow is committed to negotiating “seriously and responsibly.”

“The Ukrainian Constitution bars elections during wartime and requires that presidential authority pass to the speaker of parliament if no legal successor is chosen..”

• Zelensky Claims Ban On Russia Talks Doesn’t Apply To Him (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that a law he signed banning negotiations with Russia does not apply to him personally, after calling for a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky intends to travel to Türkiye later this week, where direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are expected to resume for the first time since Kiev suspended talks in 2022. He has insisted that Putin must attend the talks in person to prove that Moscow has a genuine interest in peace. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Zelensky rejected claims that his outreach contradicts Ukrainian law. A September 2022 decree, endorsed by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and signed by Zelensky, prohibits negotiations with Russia while Putin remains in office. The law was introduced as Kiev pursued a military victory in the conflict.

”It’s a Russian narrative that I cannot speak with Putin,” Zelensky said. “Nobody but me can conduct negotiations on sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, on our course.” Zelensky claimed in January that the ban was intended to prevent unauthorized negotiations by other Ukrainian officials, particularly to curb separatist influences and “shadow” negotiation channels. Russian officials have pointed to the law as evidence that Kiev is unwilling to engage diplomatically. The Ukrainian Constitution bars elections during wartime and requires that presidential authority pass to the speaker of parliament if no legal successor is chosen. Zelensky’s presidential term expired last year, yet he remains in power, dismissing opponents as Kremlin sympathizers for questioning his legitimacy.

Moscow has described Zelensky’s political status as an internal Ukrainian matter but cautioned that any treaties he signs could be challenged for lacking legitimacy. US President Donald Trump, whose administration has offered to broker a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow, has described Zelensky as “a dictator without elections.” The US has conducted multiple rounds of talks with Moscow and Kiev, promoting trust-building measures such as a 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure. Russia says its forces adhered fully to the plan, while accusing Ukraine of violating the partial ceasefire multiple times. US officials have called direct talks the next logical step in the Ukraine peace process. Senior American negotiators will reportedly observe the meeting in Istanbul. Kiev has urged its Western supporters to impose additional sanctions on Russia, should Putin decline to attend. Moscow has yet to confirm its delegation.

Interesting view.

“..should a peace accord be reached during the negotiations, “I don’t know how long the Zelensky regime will [last]. It may fall apart.”

• Zelensky’s Regime Only Stable When At War – Former Senior UN Official (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky’s regime enjoys relative stability only because of the conflict with Russia, and so may be reluctant to seal a peace agreement with Moscow, former director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergey Ordzhonikidze, has told RT. The untrustworthiness of the Ukrainian leadership will loom large for the Russian delegation during an expected meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Thursday, the veteran diplomat predicted on Tuesday. The talks were originally proposed last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who offered to resume direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev without any preconditions to reach a lasting settlement to the Ukraine conflict.

Zelensky has expressed his readiness to engage in dialogue with the Russian side, but has insisted that it be preceded by an unconditional 30-day ceasefire – a demand Moscow has repeatedly rejected. Zelensky has also said that he would only come to the meeting in Istanbul if Putin attends in person. Ordzhonikidze told RT that should a peace accord be reached during the negotiations, “I don’t know how long the Zelensky regime will [last]. It may fall apart.” “He obviously will have many internal problems because… he has some Nazi, fascist organizations that would [convict] him of betrayal,” he predicted, claiming that “it’s not a stable regime in the sense that it can be stable only during war.” The seasoned Russian diplomat also predicted that once Western leaders see Zelensky as a liability, they will get rid of him without a second thought.

History shows that months and in some cases even years of “homework” have underpinned successful negotiations. While overnight breakthroughs have also happened, much is determined by the level of trust between the parties concerned, Ordzhonikidze stressed. Ukrainian authorities have a poor track record in this respect, he told RT, citing the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, which were supposed to grant Donetsk and Lugansk regions special status within the Ukrainian state, but were never implemented. ”Obviously, we need a country that would act like a… guarantor of the… possible agreement, if any at all,” Ordzhonikidze stated, noting that even if some nation, most likely the US, assumes the role, there is not much room for optimism as to whether Kiev would honor any agreement.

“The first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years..”

• Rubio and Witkoff Will Travel To Istanbul On Friday – Reuters (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has said he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Istanbul on Friday, according to Reuters. Earlier this week, Trump announced that US officials would take part in the upcoming talks on the Ukraine conflict. The first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years are set to take place in the Turkish city on May 15. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume dialogue to find a lasting settlement to the ongoing conflict that would address its root causes. Witkoff made the remarks on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in Doha, where he and Rubio are accompanying Trump on a state visit to Qatar as part of a broader Middle East trip.

Trump said on Tuesday that Rubio and other US officials would join the talks in Istanbul. A White House spokesman later clarified to reporters that Rubio, Witkoff and US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg would attend the negotiations. Trump, who had previously suggested he might attend in person, told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar that his schedule would not allow it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would be sending a delegation and expected Ukraine to do the same. Kiev stated previously that Vladimir Zelensky would only talk directly to the Russian president. On Wednesday evening, the Kremlin named its delegation for the talks, to be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also headed the Russian side during negotiations in Istanbul in 2022.

Kellogg’s an fool. Dump him. “Russia has rejected the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine in any form..” And look at what Kellogg talks about: NATO troops in Ukraine. He’s like the anti-Witkoff.

• Trump Envoy Kellogg Reveals NATO Troop Deployment Plans For Ukraine (RT)

Washington is in talks with its European NATO allies about deploying military contingents to Ukraine as part of a possible post-conflict settlement, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg, has said. A group of European NATO member states has for months been seeking to muster a force to be deployed to Ukraine as part of a so-called “coalition of the willing,” purportedly in a post-conflict peacekeeping role. Russia has repeatedly warned it would treat any foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as legitimate targets, saying such a move could escalate the conflict. Speaking to Fox Business on Tuesday, Kellogg said troops from France, Germany, the UK, and Poland could be part of what he described as a “resiliency force.” “This is a force referred to as the E3, but it’s actually now the E4 – when you include the Brits, the French, and the Germans, and in fact, the Poles as well,” he said.

Kellogg added the troops would be positioned west of the Dnieper River, placing them “outside the contact zone.” “And then to the east you have a peacekeeping force, and what it would look like with a third party involved with that. So, you can actually monitor a ceasefire; we have this thing pretty well planned out,” he said. The remarks come as preparations are underway for possible direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. Kellogg and Steve Witkoff, another senior envoy for US President Donald Trump, are reportedly expected to attend. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed conducting negotiations without preconditions in Türkiye on May 15. Vladimir Zelensky said he was ready to meet Putin on Thursday, but insisted that any talks should be preceded by the start of a 30-day ceasefire.

Moscow has repeatedly ruled out this suggestion, saying such a pause would give Kiev an opportunity to regroup militarily and renew hostilities. On Monday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK, along with the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, issued a joint statement after talks in London. They pledged “robust security guarantees for Ukraine,” including “exploring the creation of a coalition of air, land, and maritime reassurance forces that could help create confidence in any future peace and support the regeneration of Ukraine’s armed forces.” Russia has rejected the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine in any form. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said it would pose a direct threat to Russia. Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu has warned it could trigger World War III, potentially involving nuclear weapons.

He has no business there at all.

• US Opposes Zelensky Attendance At NATO Summit (RT)

The US is against inviting Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to the NATO summit in The Hague next month, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous diplomatic sources. Kiev has long sought membership in the US-led military bloc – something Russia considers a fundamental threat to its national security. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly described the prevention of such a scenario as one of Moscow’s top objectives in the Ukraine conflict. Since assuming office in January, US President Donald Trump has on multiple occasions ruled out Ukraine’s accession to NATO in the foreseeable future. In its article, ANSA reported that “for now… a NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of leaders is not planned,” adding, however, that no final decision has been made yet.

According to the publication, Kiev could participate in some of the meetings on June 24-25, but only at the level of foreign and defense ministers. The Italian outlet reported that for the time being the only non-member states that have received invitations are Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. ANSA also reported that “at the moment, a very concise program is expected at the summit, in contrast to what has happened in recent years, to avoid possible friction with Donald Trump.” Zelensky joined NATO leaders for sessions of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the 2023 Vilnius Summit and the 2024 Washington Summit.

Also on Wednesday, Bloomberg quoted unnamed diplomats familiar with the matter as saying that membership for Ukraine will not be on the agenda during the upcoming gathering in the Netherlands, with the main focus expected to be on ramping up defense spending. The outlet similarly reported that the NATO summit in June will likely be shorter than the previous meetings.Speaking during a press conference last Friday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that “we never agreed that, as part of a peace deal, there would be guaranteed NATO membership for Ukraine.” He emphasized that Ukraine’s accession to the bloc had been agreed upon by its members, but “for the longer term, not for the peace negotiations ongoing at the moment.” Rutte noted, however, that NATO maintains close cooperation with Kiev with respect to military aid and personnel training.

“Western Europe, once a central pillar of global diplomacy, appears to be in the final phase of its strategic decline – a region now better known for procedure than power.”

• The Unraveling of The Old World Order And The Role of Russia (Bordachev)

The day is not far off when the very notion of “international order” will lose its former meaning – just as happened with the once-theoretical concept of “multipolarity.” Originally conceived in the mid-20th century as a way to balance power among great states, multipolarity now bears little resemblance to what its originators had in mind. The same is increasingly true of international order. In recent years, it has become commonplace to say that the global balance of power is shifting and that previous leaders are no longer able to maintain their dominant positions. This much is obvious. No group of states today is capable of enforcing its vision of justice or order upon the rest of the world. Traditional international institutions are weakening, and their functions are being re-evaluated or hollowed out. Western Europe, once a central pillar of global diplomacy, appears to be in the final phase of its strategic decline – a region now better known for procedure than power.

But before we join the chorus, lamenting or celebrating the end of one era and the start of another, it is worth asking: what exactly is “international order”? Too often, this concept is treated as a given, when in fact it has always been a tool – one used primarily by states with both the means and the will to coerce others into accepting certain rules of the game. Historically, “international order” has been imposed by dominant powers capable of enforcing it. But today, emerging players outside the Western sphere – nations like China and India – may not be particularly interested in taking up that role. Why should they invest their resources in a vague, abstract idea that primarily served the interests of others?

The second traditional purpose of international order has been to prevent revolutionary upheaval. In the current strategic environment, this function is largely fulfilled not by institutions or diplomacy but by the simple fact of mutual nuclear deterrence. The handful of states with major nuclear capabilities – Russia, the United States, China, and a few others – are enough to keep general war at bay. No other powers are capable of truly challenging them in an existential way. For better or worse, that is what guarantees relative global stability.It is therefore naive to expect new great powers to be enthusiastic participants in building a new international order in the traditional sense. All past orders, including the current UN-centered one, emerged from intra-Western conflicts. Russia, while not a Western country in the cultural or institutional sense, played a decisive role in those conflicts – especially the Second World War – and was central to the global architecture that followed.

In fact, one could argue that the current international order, such as it is, was a product of Russia’s intervention in a Western civil war. It’s no coincidence that at the 1815 Congress of Vienna, Tsar Alexander I behaved not as one of many European leaders, but as a figure set apart – an “arbiter of Europe.” Russia has always seen itself this way: too large, too sovereign, and too independent to be just another node in someone else’s system. This is a key distinction. For Russia, participation in international order has never been an end in itself, but a means to preserve its own unique position in world affairs. That is something it has pursued with remarkable persistence for over two centuries.

“..Russia has a far more productive engagement with many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America than with most in Europe.”

• Russia Doesn’t Need Western Approval To Shape Global History (Lukyanov)

The 9th of May Victory Day celebrations in Moscow once again captured international attention – despite the many other global events vying for the headlines. This wasn’t simply about pageantry or military symbolism. The Red Square parade was, as always, a statement: a public expression of one country’s position in the evolving global environment. Whether critics will admit it or not, events like this provoke reactions – and that in itself signals relevance. Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, the memory of that conflict is being viewed through new lenses. It was, undeniably, a world war – its consequences reshaped the international order. The creation of the United Nations was its most formal legacy, but the broader historical impact extended far beyond. The war marked the beginning of the end for the colonial system.

From the late 1940s onward, decolonization accelerated rapidly. Within three decades, colonial empires had all but disappeared, and dozens of new states emerged across Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. Their paths varied, but they fundamentally changed the structure of global politics. Looking back from 2025, one could argue that this wave of decolonization – driven by the global South – was no less historically important than the Cold War or the bipolar superpower confrontation. Today, the role of the so-called “global majority” is expanding quickly. These nations may not dominate the international system, but they increasingly form a vibrant, influential environment in which all global actors must operate. The presence of guests from Asia, Africa, and Latin America at this year’s parade in Moscow was a symbolic confirmation of that shift.

It signaled that the world has definitively moved beyond the Cold War structure, which framed international life around a North Atlantic-centric axis. Equally important was the fact that this reconfiguration was highlighted in Moscow – through Russia’s own initiative. It reflected not just commemoration, but transformation. A similar event is expected in Beijing in September to mark the end of the war in the Pacific theater. Together, these ceremonies highlight how the geopolitical center of gravity is gradually shifting away from its traditional Western base. As time distances us from the largest war in human history, its meaning doesn’t diminish. On the contrary, it reappears in new forms. Like it or not, memory has become a political force. It increasingly defines which community a country belongs to. Each nation has its own version of the war – and that’s to be expected. This isn’t revisionism. It’s the natural result of different historical experiences shaped under different conditions.

There will never be a single unified narrative of the past, and attempts to impose one are not only unrealistic but dangerous. The focus should be on finding compatibility between differing interpretations, not enforcing uniformity. Using memory as a political weapon erodes the foundations of peaceful international coexistence. This issue is particularly relevant for the global majority, which may one day voice its own historical claims more loudly – especially against former colonial powers in the West. In this context, the growing divergence between Russia and Western Europe over the legacy of the Second World War cannot be ignored. Efforts to preserve and defend Russia’s interpretation of the conflict are vital – not to convince others, but for domestic coherence and national identity. Other countries will write their own histories, shaped by their own interests. That cannot be controlled from the outside. The real issue is whether differing historical narratives can coexist. And on this front, it turns out that Russia has a far more productive engagement with many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America than with most in Europe.

“Just two-months ago, Ahmad al-Sharaa remained designated as an al-Qaeda terrorist by the United States Government, there was a $10 million-dollar bounty on his head. Yesterday, as Syria’s interim President, Ammad al-Sharaa shook hands with President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia.”

• Trump Shocks the World – Again (Spencer)

Trump has done it again. That much is clear. He has outmaneuvered and out-thought everyone else, and did what many others assumed to be impossible. But what exactly has he done? On Wednesday morning, during his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who from 2017 until January of this year, was known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani. Al-Sharaa was the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the “Syrian Liberation Group,” a Sunni jihad group that had been linked to al-Qaeda and was working to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In January 2025, HTS finally attained its goal. Assad fled to Russia. Al-Julani took control in Damascus and announced that he was establishing a regime that would respect the rights of all Syrians. He insisted that he had broken with al-Qaeda years before, and to signify that he was a new man, he shed his nom de guerre and reverted to his birth name. He trimmed his beard, took off his fatigues, and donned a suit.

Yet almost immediately, al-Sharaa’s attempts to construct a new image for himself foundered upon harsh reality. His forces were involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite sect. Since Bashar Assad was an Alawite, this sect was associated with the old regime. As recently as March 7, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that al-Sharaa was behind it: “Al-Julani took off his galabiya, put on a suit, and presented a moderate facade. Now, he has removed the mask, revealing his true face: a jihadist terrorist from the Al-Qaeda school, committing atrocities against the Alawite civilian population.” Al-Sharaa, however, condemned the killings and vowed to punish those responsible, even if they were his own men, saying: “Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all. We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us.”

How since is al-Sharaa? Is he still a jihadist, practicing Muhammad’s dictum, “War is deceit”? Or does he genuinely wish to establish a regime in Syria that will ensure the rights of all people? Donald Trump is giving him a chance to put up or shut up. Trump made it clear throughout the 2024 presidential campaign: he was determined to end the cycle of endless wars and establish a new era of peace. He repeatedly made it clear that this would involve challenging what the foreign policy establishment has long held to be unquestionable truths, and finding new ways to reach accords with previously hostile entities based on common interests. In many ways, Trump’s meeting with al-Sharaa is as momentous, and could be more momentous, than his first-term overtures to Kim Jong Un. The two meetings come from the same wellsprings: Trump is attempting to break longstanding logjams and end the status quo that the foreign policy establishment, both inside the U.S. and elsewhere, had come to take for granted.

NBC News reported Wednesday that Trump announced: “We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government, as you know, beginning with my meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa.” Yet he is not proceeding without asking certain things of al-Sharaa as well. NBC reported that he “encouraged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to recognize Israel’s statehood.”Trump explained to al-Sharaa that he had “a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country.” The president “urged the Syrian leader to sign on to the Abraham Accords.” He “also advised Sharaa to tell foreign terrorists to leave Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, help the U.S. prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State and assume responsibility for Islamic State detention centers in Syria’s northeast.” Trump declared that he wanted to give Syria “a chance at greatness.”

So Trump wants to make peace with old foes based on mutual economic interests. He is giving al-Sharaa a chance to demonstrate that he really is no longer a jihadi and wants to build a stable and prosperous Syria. It could happen. The global jihad, although it is ignored everywhere, continues nevertheless. It never goes away. Individuals and states, however, can and do put it aside for considerable periods in order to pursue other interests. A reminder of how difficult this will be, however, came in the fact that, as NBC noted, “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also present and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined by phone.” The presence of Erdogan on the phone was a reminder that al-Sharaa has been propped up by Turkish forces, and that many see his forces in Syria as a tool of Erdogan’s interests in restoring the Ottoman caliphate.

This is a matter Trump may well have to deal with before too long. Whether or not al-Sharaa is sincere in renouncing jihad, Erdogan seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, Trump’s attempt to create peace based on common interests and move beyond the present logjam is as welcome as it is audacious. Once again, Trump appears to be way ahead of everyone else, as he was when he established the Abraham Accords even as John Kerry was confidently telling the world that such a thing was impossible. The establishment will howl at Trump’s meeting; that’s only to be expected. The president, meanwhile, is moving ahead with astonishing vision, immense confidence, and considerable imagination. The peace and stability of the Middle East, and of the entire world, are riding upon his success.

Orders: $200 billion. Qatar GDP: $200 billion. “Qatar and the US also signed a commitment to generating $1.2 trillion worth of economic exchange..”

• Qatar Commits To “Largest Order Of Jets In The History Of Boeing” (NYP)

President Trump announced Wednesday that the Qatari government had committed to the “largest order of jets in the history of Boeing” — touting the transaction despite trashing the American company earlier this week for its slowness in delivering a new Air Force One. Trump said the oil and gas-rich monarchy, which has offered to provide the US president with a luxury “palace on wings,” committed to spending $160 billion on the planes as part of a broader $243.5 billion economic pledge. “We’re going to see some of it in action tomorrow…. it’s going to be an air fair,” Trump said during a meeting with the country’s leaders shortly after he arrived in the ultramodern capital on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Wednesday evening, at a state dinner in Trump’s honor, the president said that the investments could ultimately generate $1.2 trillion in economic activity.

“Working together, we can help the entire region unlock its potential,” Trump told his host, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “You have unbelievable potential here, such great, such rich land, such beautiful, magnificent — it’s just a magnificent place, and you’re unlocking its potential.” Moments earlier, the emir had said Trump’s decision to visit Qatar on the first major overseas trip of his second term “was no mystery.” “Yes, the United States is a superpower, boosting the largest economy and military force in history,” al-Thani said. “Meanwhile, Qatar is one of the smallest countries with one of the smallest populations, and as the Americans in the room know, DC is almost 7,000 miles away from here, but my friends, small nations have their own superpowers, resilience, nimbleness, and we are a powerful agent for peace precisely because of our size.”

A White House fact sheet describing the new business deals said that “Boeing and GE Aerospace secured a landmark order from Qatar Airways, a $96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines.” The release described the transaction as “Boeing’s largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order. This historic agreement will support 154,000 U.S. jobs annually, totaling over 1 million jobs in the United States during the course of production and delivery of this deal.” The reason for the discrepancy between the topline plane-sale figures cited by Trump and the fact sheet was not immediately clear. Trump hailed what he called a “very special relationship” with Qatar, even likening one royal to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling both men “tall handsome guys.”

Qatar, which hosts more than 10,000 US military forces at Al Udeid Air Base just outside Doha, has forged a close relationship with Trump dating to his first term, when American advisers helped broker a deal to end a Saudi-led blockade of the peninsular nation. Qatar has offered to give Trump a luxuriously upgraded Boeing 747-8 worth an estimated $400 million, drawing bipartisan pushback. That jet, currently parked in the US, won’t be presented during the visit, the White House says. Trump has repeatedly defended the proposed transaction, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Tuesday night: “We’re the United States of America – I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.” “Some people say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t accept gifts for the country.’ My attitude is, why wouldn’t I accept a gift?” the president added. “We’re giving to everybody else, why wouldn’t I accept a gift? Because it’s going to be a couple of years, I think, before the Boeings are finished.”

On Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “very disappointed” in the timetable for the delivery of two US-made jets, currently set for 2027 and 2028. “They’re way behind,” he said. “They were way behind, another mess that I inherited from Biden, and it’s going to be a while before we get them.” Qatar and the US also signed a commitment to generating $1.2 trillion worth of economic exchange in the years to come, without specifying details. Massachusetts-based Raytheon will receive $1 billion from Doha for access to the company’s counter-drone capabilities, making Qatar the first in the world to obtain Raytheon’s Fixed Site – Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aerial System Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS), dedicated to attacking unmanned aircraft.

Qatar will also pay San Diego-based General Atomics nearly $2 billion deal to acquire the company’s MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft system. The two countries also outlined future potential security deals amounting to $38 billion, according to a White House readout.“These new agreements and instruments aim to drive the growth of the U.S.-Qatar bilateral commercial relationship, create thousands of well-paying jobs, and open new trade and investment opportunities for both countries over the coming decade and beyond,” the administration said. On Tuesday, Trump signed deals securing $600 billion worth of investments with Saudi Arabia — with more agreements expected when the president visits the UAE for the final stop of his trip.

“The anti-Trump economic narratives haven’t just failed; they’ve completely collapsed.”

• Every Anti-Trump Economic Narrative Is Collapsing (Margolis)

Remember how the liberal media and Democrats warned that Donald Trump’s economic policies would bring about financial armageddon? How many times have they been proven wrong? I haven’t been keeping track, but they’ve been proven wrong once again. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. When Trump was president from 2017 to 2021, we experienced one of the strongest economies in our nation’s history until COVID hit. The liberal media spent four years trying to convince us that Barack Obama deserved credit for Trump’s economic success, and then it spent the last three years insisting that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris deserved credit for the post-COVID recovery. The media’s latest effort was to convince the public that Trump’s tariffs were going to cause prices to soar and send us into a recession. Even the liberal media has had to admit that that just ain’t happening.

“Prices climbed at an unexpectedly slow pace last month, offering a boost to President Donald Trump, whose aggressive trade policies have sparked fears of a resurgence in inflation,” Politico reported on Tuesday. “The Labor Department on Tuesday reported that prices rose at an annual rate of 2.3 percent, the smallest increase since early 2021. While price growth in so-called core sectors of the economy — which exclude volatile food and energy costs — remained elevated at 2.8 percent, April’s Consumer Price Index contained only scant evidence that Trump’s tariffs have meaningfully driven up the cost of living.” Even though tariff rates have fallen since the administration negotiated a temporary détente with China, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said Monday that the administration’s new taxes on imports are still “pretty high” and that she expects inflation to rise and growth to slow soon.

So far, that hasn’t happened. Few economists had expected that overall inflation surged last month. But there was broad anticipation that Trump’s levies on Chinese imports, steel and aluminum and certain Canadian and Mexican products had caused prices for apparel, electronics and other consumer goods to spike. If anything, the opposite occurred: The cost of clothing and new cars — two areas that were highly exposed to Trump’s initial levies — both fell. Similarly, inflation hit its lowest level since 2021. It certainly pained CNN to report that. And remember that recession experts told us was totally happening this year? JP Morgan is no longer predicting that it will happen. Of course, Politico was not only disappointed that the bad predictions of the Trump economy didn’t pan out, but it also lamented how this will embolden Trump.

“The CPI report will likely bolster the administration’s claims that grim forecasts for the economy have been overblown,” the paper groaned. The report will also amplify Trump’s calls for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. Powell and other Fed policymakers have warned that the rapid escalation of import costs may soon cause consumer prices to spike and that the central bank needs to keep inflation at bay.n And many economists still expect inflation to rebound in the coming months. Analysts at Citi say they expect the personal consumption expenditures index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — to climb by 3 percent by the end of the year. While that is less than their previous forecast for 3.5 percent inflation, it’s still well above the Fed’s annual target of 2 percent. The anti-Trump economic narratives haven’t just failed; they’ve completely collapsed.

Trump just announced a tariff deal offer from India. The big ones first, the rest will follow.

• Trump Economy Defies ‘Gloom And Doom’ Expectations (Whedon)

With April’s inflation report coming in below forecasts, the Trump economy appears to be defying analysts’ and politicians’ predictions of collapse in the wake of his “Liberation Day” tariffs and subsequent trade negotiations. As Trump adds more notches to his belt in deals with key trade partners, the stock market has rebounded to pre-tariff levels, even while many tariffs remain largely in place on major economies such as China and the UK. In April of this year, former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the developments of Trump’s tariffs point to “a loss of confidence in U.S. economic policy” and called the tariffs “the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy […] they are “doing immense damage.” Trump, on April 2, announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on nearly every nation, imposing a “reciprocal” rate calibrated to address the American trade deficit with each nation.

The tariffs far exceeded what analysts had expected, and the stock market was sent reeling for days. Trump himself reshared a video suggesting that he deliberately crashed the market to force an interest rate cut to allow the government to refinance its debt at a lower rate. Bond markets bucked at the move and Trump ultimately announced a 90-day pause on most tariffs to pursue trade agreements, though he left in place a 10% baseline and kept China’s above 100%. Markets gradually recovered, and major indices have since exceeded their April 1 closes. Boosting some of that movement have been trade deals with the United Kingdom and China, two of the biggest American trading partners. Both deals resulted in lower import tariffs on American goods and higher import tariffs on goods from those nations, marking net gains for the U.S. in Trump’s bid to rebalance trade.

Read together, multiple indicators suggest that the Trump economy defied expectations and that the trade policies did not adversely damage the nation’s overall economic health. If the trend continues, Trump will have fulfilled what politicians call “dinner table” issues for millions of Americans. Inflation fell to an annualized rate of 2.3% in April, down from the March figure of 2.4%. Analysts had expected it to hold steady. January’s inflation rate stood at 3.0%, and the figure has marked a steady decline since Trump took office. Inflation reached a high of 9.1% in July 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the issue was a leading factor in driving down President Joe Biden’s approval rating in subsequent years. Trump campaigned extensively on the issue, saying he would bring inflation down through energy production.

[..] After more than a month of negotiations, Trump confirmed last week that he had reached an agreement on trade with the United Kingdom, marking the first substantive deal since Liberation Day. “The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump said on Truth Social ahead of the formal agreement. The agreement left in place the 10% reciprocal tariff and subjected imported vehicles from the UK to a 25% tariff after the first 100,000. In 2024, UK automakers only exported 106,000 cars to the United States. In turn, the UK lowered its tariff rates on U.S. goods from 5.1% to 1.8%. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a phone cameo at the announcement, saying “there are no two countries that are closer than our two countries that now we take this into new and important territory by adding trade and the economy to the closeness of our relationship.”

The most aggressive — and widely reported — trade standoff came with China, as Trump left high tariffs in place even as he paused those on most other nations for 90 days. Boosting market sentiment, this week Beijing and Washington reached an agreement to substantially lower their tariffs, with the U.S. setting its rate at 30% for imported Chinese goods and the Chinese dropping theirs to 10%. “This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement republished by PBS. PBS added that “The ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries’ differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.”

“The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time. “And what had occurred with these very high tariffs … was an embargo, the equivalent of an embargo. And neither side wants that. We do want trade.” Trump on Tuesday signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and secured $600 billion in investment pledges during his trip to that nation. Another possible indicator of economic vibrancy is the pace of U.S. vacation travel. The American Automobile Association (AAA) this year expects a record 45.1 million Americans to travel for Memorial Day, according to a press release. The organization also predicted a 2% hike in air travel over the weekend.

Since January 2025, the U.S. economy has also steadily added jobs, including a gain of 143,000 in January and 177,000 in April. The unemployment rate has remained steady at 4.2%, with the Department of Labor reporting that the economy added 177,000 jobs in defiance of expectations. In March, the economy added 228,000 jobs. Bloomberg News reported that JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday dropped its recession call for 2025, saying “[t]he administration’s recent dialing down of some of the more draconian tariffs placed on China should reduce the risk that the US economy slips into recession this year.” JPMorgan’s Chief US Economist Michael Feroli was optimistic but guarded, saying “We believe recession risks are still elevated, but now below 50%.”

21 days’ notice, in English and Spanish. For gang members?

• Federal Judge Says Trump’s Invocation of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal (ET)

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that President Donald Trump validly invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March as part of an effort to deport Venezuelan gang members. More specifically, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines held that the gang—Tren de Aragua (TdA)—was engaging in the type of “predatory incursion” that the Alien Enemies Act mentions. In an opinion issued on May 13, Haines noted that TdA has been designated a foreign terrorist organization. That designation, she said, “heavily supports the conclusions … that TdA is a cohesive group united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the public safety of the United States.”Three other district court judges have ruled against the Trump administration, finding that a proclamation Trump issued in March misapplied the law. Each of those judges disagreed with Trump’s description of TdA as engaging in an invasion or predatory incursion.

Trump invoked the law in March, stating that TdA gang members had infiltrated the Venezuelan regime and invaded the United States, justifying their expedited removal. “Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens,” Trump’s March 15 proclamation reads. In a federal court in New York City, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein disagreed. On May 6, he found that TdA members “do not seek to occupy territory, to oust American jurisdiction from any territory, or to ravage territory. “In April, the Supreme Court intervened twice in related cases, but without ruling on whether the administration had properly invoked the Alien Enemies Act.

Instead, it halted some deportations in a brief order on April 19, and told the administration on April 7 that it must provide suspected gang members with notice that they are subject to removal, as well as an opportunity to challenge their detention. It specified that “the notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief,” which is a legal avenue for challenging one’s detention. Haines also issued an order on May 13 that stated the administration had provided insufficient notice to detainees. She said that the administration couldn’t remove a Venezuelan national who had brought the lawsuit in Pennsylvania unless it provided 21 days’ notice, among other things. Her order also required that the notice be provided in English and Spanish.

Too complex for senators and congress(wo)men.

• Average Americans Poised for Double-Digit Tax Cuts In 2027 (ZH)

A sweeping Republican tax overhaul proposal, estimated to deliver double-digit percentage reductions in tax bills for average-income Americans, is drawing mounting opposition in the Senate over its accompanying cuts to health care and clean energy programs – underscoring the internal divisions complicating Republican efforts to advance a unified economic agenda. According to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), households earning between $30,000 and $80,000 would see their federal taxes drop by approximately 15 percent in 2027 under the House GOP plan. Americans earning between $15,000 and $30,000 would see an even steeper 21 percent decline – at least initially. But those same low-income earners would see their tax bills rise sharply in later years unless extended, with increases of 12 percent in 2029 and 20 percent in 2030, the JCT found.

The report attributed some of those changes to proposed reforms of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a benefit for low-income workers that Republicans argue is vulnerable to improper payments. While the report’s topline numbers have fueled Republican claims that the proposal is middle-class focused, Democrats seized on the overall distribution of tax cuts in dollar terms, Politico reports. Taxpayers earning more than $500,000 are slated to receive an aggregate cut of about $170 billion in 2027 – nearly triple the $59 billion going to households earning $30,000 to $80,000. The proposal has already provoked heated exchanges in the House Ways and Means Committee, where lawmakers debated the fairness and sustainability of the tax package. Democrats derided the bill as a boon to the wealthy, while Republicans pointed to new breaks for tips, overtime, and seniors as evidence of its broader appeal.

The report is not a complete picture of winners and losers under Republicans’ plans. It doesn’t include a potential deal among lawmakers to further increase the SALT cap, beyond a proposed $30,000 limit. The report also only looks at the tax side of Republican plans, and does not account for changes in spending programs, like Medicaid. -Politico. “It’s a trick,” said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). “You do it temporarily so you can get through the 2026 election” and “then these benefits for children and elders and workers disappear, while the tax benefits for the ultra-wealthy soar.” Yet beyond the debate over tax cuts, the House plan is facing stiff resistance in the Senate for how it proposes to offset some of the revenue losses: by slashing Medicaid and rolling back key clean energy incentives passed under the Biden administration.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate found that the House bill’s Medicaid reforms could result in 8.6 million people losing health care coverage, largely due to new work requirements, cost-sharing mandates, and restrictions on how states finance their Medicaid programs. Several Senate Republicans voiced concern over the health care implications, especially for rural areas. “These are working people in particular who are going to have to pay more,” said Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), referring to new cost-sharing rules. He warned that changes to provider taxes – which states use to draw federal Medicaid dollars – could reduce coverage in his state and strain rural hospitals. “I continue to maintain my position we should not be cutting Medicaid benefits,” Hawley said. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), said the proposed treatment of provider taxes “would be very harmful to Maine’s hospitals,” echoing concerns raised by other senators from rural and Medicaid-reliant states.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), also pointed to the disproportionate burden that Medicaid cuts would place on states like hers, calling the issue a key sticking point in ongoing Senate discussions. In addition to health care, some senate Republicans are also wary of the House’s aggressive plans to unwind tax credits for clean energy and hydrogen development, incentives championed in the Inflation Reduction Act and credited with bringing manufacturing investments and jobs to red and purple states alike. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who faces a competitive reelection race next year, expressed concern over quickly ending climate initiatives – suggesting that the House language on energy tax rollbacks would need to be revised. “You can’t shock the markets by doing it all at once,” Tillis said of the proposed clean energy phaseouts. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) also flagged potential impacts to her state’s clean hydrogen initiatives, saying she would review the House’s plan to eliminate the 45V hydrogen production credit, which could affect nearly $1 billion in planned federal support for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub.

The House GOP plan is expected to pass narrowly along party lines, but Senate Republicans made clear this week that the legislation will require significant changes to win broader support in the upper chamber. “We are coordinating very closely with our House counterparts,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota. “We know they have to get 218 votes… but it’s likely we’ll have a Senate substitute.” As Republican leaders try to reconcile competing priorities — delivering tax relief, restraining federal spending, and maintaining political support in swing states — the path forward for the legislation remains uncertain. “How we navigate this,” said Murkowski, “is something we’re all trying to wander through.”

“The so-called “Pfizergate” decision comes as a major embarrassment for the EU chief..”

Like she cares. In reality, she’s now free to do it again.

• Court Rules On Von Der Leyen’s Secret Covid Vaccine Deal Messages (RT)

The European Commission wrongly denied the media access to secret text messages between its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the CEO of pharma giant Pfizer, exchanged during negotiations of a multi-billion dollar Covid-19 vaccine deal, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Wednesday. The so-called “Pfizergate” decision comes as a major embarrassment for the EU chief, who has responsibility for transparency and rule of law issues in the bloc. The case centers on a 2021 interview von der Leyen gave to the NYT in which she claimed she had been negotiating a deal for 900 million COVID vaccine shots with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla via sms messages. The NYT subsequently filed an access request for the messages, to which the EC claimed the texts, which have never been released, were not in its possession.

The court ruled that the EC “cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the Court to understand why those documents cannot be found.” It also criticized the Commission for failing to justify why the texts were not retained and to clarify how they were deleted. In response, the EC said it recognized the need for greater transparency and promised to issue a new decision with more detailed reasoning. It did not, however, commit to releasing the messages in question. The ruling can be appealed to the European Court of Justice. A similar CJEU judgment last July found that the EC lacked transparency in how it negotiated vaccine contracts with Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The deals, signed in 2020 and 2021 and worth approximately €2.7 billion ($3 billion), were shielded from disclosure to European Parliament members on the grounds of protecting commercial interests.

https://twitter.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1922564484838609364

Can’t make Trudy look bad!

• Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Signed Oath to Conceal COVID Info (YN)

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, and nearly 30 senior federal health officials signed a confidential oath during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, pledging not to release information that could “embarrass” the Trudeau cabinet, according to internal records obtained through Access to Information requests. The oath, revealed by Blacklock’s Reporter, was part of a broader secrecy policy within the Public Health Agency and other government departments including Health, Industry, Foreign Affairs, and National Defence. Internal communications from 2020 show that vaccine supply manager Alan Thom voiced concern about the widespread requirement for federal managers to sign non-disclosure agreements, noting, “at a certain point the Department of Public Works determined individual non-disclosure agreements were no longer needed… as we are all covered through our responsibilities as public servants.”

The confidentiality agreement emphasized that any “unauthorized disclosure of confidential information… may result in embarrassment, criticism or claims against Canada and may jeopardize Canada’s supplier relations and procurement processes.” Managers acknowledged their ongoing obligations under the Values And Ethics Code For The Public Sector, according to the documents. The oaths were signed shortly after the Trudeau administration secured billions in COVID-19 vaccine contracts with companies including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Medicago, and Sanofi. Dr. Tam, a longtime proponent of mass vaccination, oversaw public messaging during the rollout. The first mRNA vaccine to be approved in Canada was Pfizer’s BioNTech shot, authorized on December 9, 2020, followed closely by Moderna’s vaccine.

The approvals came after the Trudeau government granted vaccine manufacturers legal immunity from liability for adverse effects. Parliamentarians requesting to review those contracts were denied access. In response to growing reports of vaccine-related injuries, Canada launched its Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) in late 2020. As reported by LifeSiteNews, the program was created after legal protections were granted to pharmaceutical companies. A memo from Canada’s Department of Health now warns that VISP payouts are set to exceed the program’s original $75 million budget, prompting the federal government to allocate an additional $36 million. Despite dwindling public demand, the government continues to purchase new doses, even as its own statistics show widespread rejection of booster injections by Canadians. Compounding concerns, an inhalable mRNA vaccine—developed using fetal cell lines and funded by Ottawa—has now entered Phase 2 clinical trials.

Data from Statistics Canada also indicates that post-vaccine rollout, deaths attributed to COVID-19 and “unspecified causes” significantly increased, raising further questions about the long-term safety and effectiveness of the vaccine campaign. LifeSiteNews has compiled an extensive archive of research linking COVID mRNA injections to adverse events such as myocarditis, blood clots, and fertility issues. Additional findings highlight risks in children, while all currently available COVID shots have ties to abortion-derived fetal cell lines. With growing scrutiny over vaccine safety and government transparency, the revelation that Canada’s top public health officials signed agreements to avoid reputational harm to federal leadership adds another layer of controversy to the country’s pandemic response.

Oath

In Canada, officials had to sign an NDA to not reveal anything bad about the COVID vaccines, no matter how many people were killed.

That's the way science works.https://t.co/IxOOspCYho

— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) May 13, 2025

“..European puppet leaders are planning to establish a “special tribunal” within the framework of the Council of Europe to judge Russia for “aggression” and other alleged crimes in Ukraine..”

• A New False Tribunal Is In The Making (Stephen Karganovic)

Kaja Kallas’ delusional and laughably ill-timed announcement, made the day after Russia’s 9 May Victory Day triumph in Moscow, that European puppet leaders are planning to establish a “special tribunal” within the framework of the Council of Europe to judge Russia for “aggression” and other alleged crimes in Ukraine jogs some memories from the Hague. ICTY, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, is located there, as the new Tribunal Kallas has mentioned will also be. This writer had spent some of the most interesting years of his life there. An enduring memory is former Serbian and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was abducted by the vassal regime installed in his country after the October 2000 colour revolution and sent to the Hague to be put on trial. During his initial appearance in the courtroom, addressing the judges and Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, Milosevic referred to the court as a “false tribunal.”

That phrase stuck in my mind. Milosevic’s English was adequate, but it was not flawless. Hence the picturesque turn of phrase he used. Had he been more fluent in idiomatic English he would have called it a “phony” or “bogus” tribunal. Instead he translated what he meant to say directly from his native Serbian with a result that was more amusing than academically precise. But no harm was done. In fact, under the circumstances the glaringly unidiomatic locution made his profound point even stronger. Regrettably, Kaja Kallas has not disclosed technical details about the projected Tribunal which should be made available before the credibility of this venture can be properly assessed. There are several parameters that must be established before any such “court” can be taken seriously.

The first of these is a clear definition of the new judicial body’s mandate. It is not enough merely to say that it shall deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from the conflict in the Ukraine since February 2022. Whose crimes will be the subject of the court’s investigation and ultimately judgment? Kallas’ rationale behind the creation of this court raises serious issues in that regard. She refers exclusively to “Russian crimes,” a reference also echoed by EU Commission President Ursula van den Leyen and EU Rule of Law Commissioner Michael McGrath. Has no one else been observed committing crimes in Ukraine during the period under consideration, or perhaps going back a bit further, to 2014? If there are any lingering doubts concerning this matter, which directly impacts the Tribunal’s objectivity, they were settled by the clarification on the European Commission posted on its website:

“The Tribunal will have the power to investigate, prosecute and try Russian political and military leaders, who bear the greatest responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”

Plandemic

The Voices They Tried to Erase Will Be Heard

The moment is almost here.

On Thursday, May 15th at 6:00 PM CDT, the truth will be unleashed to the world.

You’re invited to experience the global online premiere of Follow the Silenced—a powerful, heart-wrenching documentary that… pic.twitter.com/HGW7fDRH1B

— PLANDEMIC (@Plandemic3Movie) May 13, 2025

Ed Dowd: If this is true in humans we have a potential gigantic demographic time bomb globally. Just halt the jabs and investigate.

Full article in comments.

“COVID-19 vaccines decreased the number of primordial follicles “the foundation of fertility” in female rats by up to 60%, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Vaccines. The authors said their results justify “further investigations into the… pic.twitter.com/VkPCG36wpP

— Dr. Kat Lindley (@KLVeritas) May 13, 2025

https://twitter.com/NicHulscher/status/1922329204336541772

Florida

CBS News warns that if we don’t stop burning ancient carbon, 25% of Florida will soon be underwater.

Oh wait, silly me, this was broadcast 43 years ago. pic.twitter.com/XtITXQAKAt

— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) May 13, 2025

Party

No body has ever had as much fun at a party as these two are having at this party. pic.twitter.com/PqBr4Mt0zl

— The Figen (@TheFigen_) May 13, 2025

Cats
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1922379741539017148

Owl

parakeet befriends an owl and compliments its feathers
pic.twitter.com/uk9AI5SJMc

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 14, 2025

Otomati

There is a food vending machine for cats in Turkey, the seagulls meow pretending to be cats
pic.twitter.com/F0mhnqY2Pg

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 14, 2025

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

Debt Rattle May 14 2025

May 142025

May 14, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:00 am Finance Tagged with: 747, AfD, DEI, illogical, Istanbul, Kellogg, lizards, nationwide injunctions, Netanyahu, Qatar, SCOTUS, secret delegation, speak english, Trump, Witkoff 53 Responses »

Marc Chagall Blue lovers 1914

• China Sent Secret Delegation To Washington 3 Weeks Ago To Negotiate Deal (ZH)

• Trump Not Going To Istanbul, Kremlin Downplays Direct Ukraine Peace Talks (ZH)

• Trump’s Top Officials Going To Türkiye For Russia-Ukraine Talks – Reuters (RT)

• Russia Continues To Prepare For May 15 Talks in Istanbul – Kremlin (Sp.)

• Not Talking To Putin Illogical – Witkoff (RT)

• How Our Country and Its History Were Stolen from Us (Donald Jeffries)

• Trump Can Still Lead Without a Third Term (Victor Davis Hanson)

• Trump Administration Is Exposing the Hubris of Institutional DEI (Stepman)

• EU Investigating MEPs Over Moscow Visit – Lawmaker (RT)

• Trump Torches Neocons, Emphasizes ‘Peace Through Strength’ Deal-Making (ZH)

• Netanyahu Blasts Media ‘Spin’, Says Trump Ties ‘Excellent’ (Cradle)

• Supreme Court Set to End Era of Nationwide Judicial Injunctions (Margolis)

• Here’s the Truth About the Qatar Jumbo Jet Story (Margolis)

• Labour and Tories are ‘Two Cheeks of the Same Backside’ – George Galloway (Sp.)

• UK PM Starmer Mercilessly Dragged For Telling Immigrants To Speak English (MN)

• US Pressure May Have Forced Germany To Drop Surveillance On AfD (RMX)

• Donald Trump Helped Ancient Russians Defeat Space Lizards (RT)

RT’s editor in chief erases Kellogg, says he needs a holiday. She’s right.

Keith Kellogg is one of the two men – along with Steve Witkoff – that Donald Trump has sent to Istanbul talks.

This morning on Fox, he proposed a ceasefire that will involve Russia retreating, a Coalition of the Willing contingent, and a "closing of the skies" over… pic.twitter.com/9Ajs3KmxBM

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) May 13, 2025

Debt based

"The biggest financial fraud is…we issue the currency with debt…We could issue the currency without debt."

"Lincoln tried…he ended up dead. Andrew Jackson tried…they tried to assassinate him…Kennedy had started to propose…no debt-based currency. Boom, he's dead."… pic.twitter.com/OAsRXMkEiz

— Sense Receptor (@SenseReceptor) May 12, 2025

New

The world we live in today pic.twitter.com/1o4CZXrlL5

— Friend Of Россия 🇷🇺 🇬🇧 (@FriendOfRussia) May 12, 2025

MacG

We must not go to war with Iran! pic.twitter.com/NR7gcgMJtY

— Douglas Macgregor (@DougAMacgregor) May 12, 2025

pic.twitter.com/TzFlqEyMDj

— Donna Barford (@DonnaBarford) May 12, 2025

This is not Islamophobia, this is truth. pic.twitter.com/tSv4hquMOH

— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) May 13, 2025

Why Trump offers asylum to white South Africans.
https://twitter.com/realMaalouf/status/1922044936406323432

Imran
https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1922229596012921088

Macron, Merz, Starmer, Zelensky:
“Russia is desperate for a ceasefire”
… 5 minutes later…
“We suggest a 30 day unconditional ceasefire and we will continue to arm Ukraine in the meantime.”
… 5 minutes later …
“We demand that Russia accept the ceasefire”
… 5 minutes later …
“It’s Russia who is losing and is desperate to rearm.
… 5 minutes later …
“Why is Russia ignoring our ceasefire demand?”

“While Vowing It Would “Never Talk To Trump”.

• China Sent Secret Delegation To Washington 3 Weeks Ago To Negotiate Deal (ZH)

Recall that on April 25 we reported something which no other US media outlet carried, namely that a “Chinese Delegation Spotted Entering Treasury Department” in a meeting shrouded in secrecy as China “Demanded All Photos Be Deleted.” Naturally, we suggested that this was an overture to China offering an olive branch to the Trump admin on US soil in hopes of reaching a trade deal, a speculation which the TDS-crowd fumed over. It turns out we were right, and as the FT writes, “the first meeting to break the US-China trade deadlock was held almost three weeks ago in the basement of the IMF headquarters, arranged under cover of secrecy.”

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who was attending the IMF spring meetings in Washington, met China’s finance minister Lan Fo’an to discuss the near complete breakdown in trade between the world’s two biggest economies, according to people familiar with the matter. The previously unreported encounter was the first high-level meeting between US and Chinese officials since Donald Trump’s inauguration and the launch of his tariff war. The Treasury declined to comment on the secret meeting. The talks culminated this weekend in Geneva with Bessent and He Lifeng, China’s vice-premier, agreeing a ceasefire that would slash respective tariffs by 115 percentage points for 90 days. All of the above is correct, except that the encounter was “previously unreported” – we reported here first on April 25 that on April 24 the Chinese were seen entering the Treasury department under a shroud of secrecy. :

Chinese Delegation Spotted Entering Treasury Department, Demands Photos Be Deleted: Report https://t.co/CRh07l2K1Z

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 25, 2025

The date April 24 is interesting for another reason: that’s the day Chinese state media vowed that it would not engage in trade talks without complete tariff surrender, with Yahoo News reporting that “China Slams the Door on Trump: No Trade Talks Without Total Tariff Surrender.” …

and at the same time also lying that there are “no negotiations with the Trump administration over tariffs”: And yet, amid all this propaganda, Beijing was secretly negotiating with the US just a few hundred feet from the White House, and the outcome would be the Geneva tariff deal which sent stocks soaring…. although anyone who had read our report and had put on a bullish trade long ago, would have made an absolute killing. Then again, one didn’t need the FT to confirm what we first reported three weeks ago: we could just listen to Chuck Schumer’s latest installment in his endless tirade of lies, and flip it…

https://twitter.com/Jules31415/status/1922125798414147706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922125798414147706%7Ctwgr%5E9e8434e4e35c0c33b0b8d94eda5fe8670580952f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fmarkets%2Faaaaand-its-gone

Zelensky is in the way.

• Trump Not Going To Istanbul, Kremlin Downplays Direct Ukraine Peace Talks (ZH)

The Kremlin on Tuesday affirmed that “the Russian side continues to prepare for the negotiations that are scheduled to take place on Thursday.” This after on Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume direct negotiations with Kiev, and proposed the Istanbul talks. Ukrainian President Zelensky then made a performative gesture – likely more meant to prove to the White House that he’s ‘willing’ – saying he’s ready to fly to Istanbul in person and urged Putin to do the same. Putin spokesman Dimitry Peskov when grilled by reporters on Tuesday downplayed the whole event, describing that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul later this week are merely “still possible”. As for revealing the line-up for the Russian delegation, and who is expected lead, Peskov said “we will announce it as soon as the president [Putin] deems it necessary.”

Despite some sensational recent headlines and statements, one thing we can be sure will not happen is President Putin’s personal presence. And per the latest from Reuters, President Trump is not going to be there in Turkey either (after on Monday he actually floated the possibility). “All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Turkey. This is the right idea. We can change a lot,” Zelensky had said. And Trump had responded by saying he was “thinking about actually flying over” – which would have to happen immediately on the heels of his big Gulf visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE. Zelensky has meanwhile insisted that any talks should be preceded by the start of a 30-day ceasefire – which Washington appears to be backing, but which the Kremlin has already rejected.

Really, all the talk of pushing to get Putin in Istanbul to negotiate in person was about generating mainstream media headlines like the following: Moscow worries that such a lengthy pause in fighting would only be used by Ukrainian forces to rearm and regroup along the front lines, at a moment they are exhausted and steadily losing ground. Peskov told reporters further, “[Western] Europe is, after all, entirely on Ukraine’s side. It cannot claim to have an unbiased approach… Its approach is not balanced, it is rather pro-war, aimed at continuing the fighting, which is in sharp contrast to the approach demonstrated, for example, by Moscow or Washington,” according to Russian media.

Take out Zelensky -and the Europeans- and you can get a Putin-Trump meeting.

• Trump’s Top Officials Going To Türkiye For Russia-Ukraine Talks – Reuters (RT)

US President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg to Türkiye this week to attend the potential talks between Moscow and Kiev, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. The talks, which are expected to be held in Istanbul on Thursday, were originally proposed last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who offered to resume direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev without any preconditions in order to reach a lasting settlement to the Ukraine conflict. Vladimir Zelensky has expressed his readiness to engage in dialogue with the Russian side, but has insisted that it be preceded by an unconditional 30-day ceasefire – a demand Moscow has repeatedly rejected. Zelensky has also said that he would only attend the meeting in Istanbul if Putin comes in person.

Trump has also supported the proposal to renew talks between Moscow and Kiev. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday ahead of his Middle East tour, the US President stated that he might even personally attend the negotiations in Türkiye, especially if Putin decides to attend. “I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen,” Trump said. “Don’t underestimate Thursday in Turkey,” he added. Moscow has not commented on the possibility of Putin traveling to Istanbul. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also has yet to confirm who would be representing Moscow during the talks, stating that the Russian president’s decision on the matter will be announced in due time.

According to Reuters, regardless of whether Putin, Zelensky or Trump decide to take part in the talks, Kellogg and Witkoff have been ordered to go to Istanbul on Thursday to attend the meeting. The outlet noted that the two senior advisers will not actually take direct part in the negotiations and will only play the role of observers. While it’s still unclear if the talks will actually take place and in what form, Peskov has stated that preparations for Thursday’s negotiations are underway. He has also ruled out the possibility of any of Kiev’s Western European backers taking part in the process, arguing that they are “entirely on Ukraine’s side” and “rather pro-war,” which excludes them from being considered “unbiased.”

Oh, they’ll be ready. Just not to give in.

• Russia Continues To Prepare For May 15 Talks in Istanbul – Kremlin (Sp.)

Russia continues to prepare for negotiations with Ukraine scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. “The Russian side continues to prepare for the talks, which are scheduled to take place on Thursday,” Peskov told reporters. The Kremlin will announce who will represent Russia at the Istanbul talks as soon as Russian President Vladimir Putin deems it necessary to announce this, the official added. Europe is entirely on Ukraine’s side and cannot claim a balanced approach in the negotiation process, Peskov added. “I suggest once again that you focus on the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin. If we talk in general about Europe’s participation in such a key negotiating process, then since Europe is entirely on Ukraine’s side, it cannot claim an unbiased approach, a balanced approach,” Peskov told reporters when asked whether there is a place for European leaders at the negotiating table in Turkiye.

Europe’s approach to Ukraine is aimed at continuing the conflict and contrasts with the approach of Moscow and Washington, the official added. Russia does not accept biased conclusions made regarding the MH17 crash case, Kremlin spokesman said. On Monday, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Council named Russia as responsible for the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Dutch cabinet said that the issue of compensation will be considered in the near future. “Our position is well known. You know that Russia was not a country that took part in the investigation of this incident. Therefore, we do not accept any biased conclusions,” Peskov told reporters.

“There is no deal without President Putin’s sign-off.”

• Not Talking To Putin Illogical – Witkoff (RT)

Isolating Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to help resolve the Ukraine conflict, senior US negotiator Steve Witkoff has said, calling the approach lacking in logic. Western nations have attempted to marginalize Moscow diplomatically since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, but Witkoff, speaking to Breitbart News last week, criticized that approach. He emphasized the necessity of including all major players in the dialogue. ”We need to talk to any stakeholders in this conflict,” Witkoff said in the section of the interview published Monday. “There is no deal without President Putin’s sign-off.” US President Donald Trump’s special envoy added that he found it difficult to “understand the logic” of those who oppose direct engagement with the Russian leader.

The Trump administration’s current stance is that Russian and Ukrainian officials must be brought together physically so that the US can “show them that the alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody.” The Trump administration’s current stance is that Russian and Ukrainian officials must be brought together physically so that the United States can “show them that the alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody.” Putin last week reiterated Moscow’s call to resume negotiations that Kiev abandoned in 2022, proposing that talks be held again in Istanbul. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and several European NATO members have insisted that Russia first agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, warning that failure to do so will result in further sanctions. Russian officials say such a pause would give Kiev an opportunity to regroup militarily and renew hostilities.

Putin has offered to restart negotiations as early as Thursday. Zelensky has said he will go to Istanbul that day and expects Putin to come too. Witkoff emphasized that the US could step back from its mediating role if progress is not made. “The president has issued an ultimatum to both sides” to begin direct talks, he said. ”I think if the US pulls back from this conflict… that’s a bad result for everybody,” he added. “It’s bad for the Europeans. It’s bad for the Ukrainians. I don’t think it’s good for the Russians. I think the Russians actually do want a peaceful settlement.” Moscow has urged a comprehensive agreement that addresses what it sees as the root causes of the conflict, including a promise by NATO to eventually admit Ukraine and discriminatory policies by Kiev toward ethnic Russians.

Paul Craig Roberts posted this piece on the popular statues of obese black women. I guess I have the author and title right, but I can’t be sure.

• How Our Country and Its History Were Stolen from Us (Donald Jeffries)

Recently, there has been a veritable epidemic of statues suddenly popping up all over the globe, depicting overweight Black females. This is decidedly odd, as the figures don’t represent a particular person of historical significance, but rather a modern “Woke” phenomenon of a brand of human being; the loud and proud Black woman.

[..] In New York City, there is now a twelve foot statue of an obese Black woman- sporting the distinctive hands on hip stance that has made them so beloved in America 2.0. The statue is nonsensically called “Grounded in the Stars.” As someone once said, if you want to gauge the health of a nation, look at its art. The statue provides a startling dose of “diversity,” in contrast to the statues of boring dead White guys Father Francis Duffy and songwriter George M. Cohan. This is the same New York City, of course, who over the past few years took down statues of Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. The message is; an anonymous Black woman is more culturally and historically significant to this country than the most brilliant of our Founding Fathers, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. If that isn’t a slap in the face to the millions who are still asleep, I don’t know what would be.

The first question that should be asked is; why this curious campaign to install statues of fictional Black women? Who started it? Who is behind it? I seriously doubt that leaders in Italy and the Netherlands abruptly determined, independent of each other, that homage should be paid to a demographic group that has zero historical ties to either country. Now, the motivation is obvious. To further promote Black people. Well, any Black people who aren’t questioning the disproportionate power of a certain ethnic/religious group, that is. And to further diminish the historical greatness of formerly hallowed White leaders. And what about the White women? Why doesn’t Pakistan erect a statue of a fictional girl in a bikini? You could have her staring at her cell phone if you want. Nonwhite countries need cultural “diversity,” too, don’t they? Where are the statues of antiwar icon Jeanette Rankin, our greatest historical figure who identified as female?

It’s hard to tell how many Black female statues there are. A few years back, there were reports of them springing up in Roanoke, Virginia, and South Boston. There were already at least six statues of Harriet Tubman scattered across this country. I doubt that there are six statues of White women collectively in America. The most featured female on U.S. statues is the Indian squaw (yeah, I know- that’s probably “hate speech”) Sacagawea, who has an impressive sixteen of them. I guess statues are kind of like presidential candidates; only nonwhite women need apply. And yet White women can’t stop applauding. They may well like fat Black statues even more than transgender athletes. Roanoke, Virginia, which featured Virginia Dare, the first child born in America, vanished without a trace. The city still exists, and despite being on the edge of nearly all-White Appalachia, its only two statues are of Black figures.

The statue of Robert E. Lee that stood in the U.S. Capitol was scheduled to be replaced by a 2021 decree, in favor of a sixteen year old girl named Barbara Johns, who led a student walkout in Prince Edward County in 1951. It was something to do with racism, which they tell us was all the rage back then. One thing you know for sure is that Johns was Black. Virginia has a statue of Mary Todd Lincoln’s Black dressmaker Elizabeth Keckly, but not of Honest Abe’s overly emotional wife. So this explosion of Black female statues is not really new. They were already overrepresented. As one typically absurd “Woke” spokesperson put it, this is an effort to “confront preconceived notions of identity and representation.” It’s inevitable that one or more statues of Black women with suitably fat asses will pop up somewhere, to memorialize the fine art of twerking. We would not want future generations to forget that.

This well organized campaign comes on the heels of laughable propaganda that “Black women built this country.” What? I can’t think of any group that had less to do with building this country. Well, maybe Hispanics. After all, they weren’t here then. The very term had yet to be invented. Or Muslims. No, it was almost exclusively White males who built this country, backed by hearty and supportive frontier wives, mothers, and daughters. But it’s “racist” to even say that. And on top of that, there is the even more head shaking “Shut up! A Black woman is speaking!” This ridiculous expression is parroted most enthusiastically by self-loathing White women. This kind of insidious programming goes well beyond conventional Stockholm Syndrome. White women are not literally being held captive by Black women. This is just one of the reasons why I maintain at least 1/3 of White women today are clinically insane.

If they expand their horizons, there are plenty of worthy flesh and blood candidates to consider. Queen Latifah is certainly fat enough, and at least has displayed her lack of acting skills in a good number of IMDB credits. Stacy Abrams? She lost an election and is still complaining about it. And I don’t have to tell you that they don’t come any obesier in the Black community than her. Oprah? Imagine how excited the White women would be! Their “girlfriend,” who manipulated them to high ratings, and then dropped their racial and sexual comrade Hillary like a hot potato when Barack Obama declared for the presidency. It would take some skill to get the majesty and scope of Oprah’s giant behind just right, kind of like the Venus de Milo from a dark universe. And if you want to be inclusive of non-obese Black women, there’s Kamala. Perhaps Jasmine Crockett. And Michelle Obama can represent….well, you know.

He just can’t be elected.

• Trump Can Still Lead Without a Third Term (Victor Davis Hanson)

You know, one of the most popular topics in the media is President Donald Trump is now a lame duck, even though he has basically a full term of four years. But if you read The Washington Post, even The Wall Street Journal, but especially The New York Times, the question is, can MAGA survive after Trump steps down? In other words, if I were to decode that, it was, “Please, please let’s end these crazy MAGA people because Trump won’t be around.” There’s arguments on both sides whether a popular movement can survive its creators. Obviously, the tea party from which MAGA drew a lot of its ideas as well as the candidacy of Ron Paul—the three candidacies, I should say—did not survive. Or it was incorporated or absorbed into MAGA. But it didn’t survive because it didn’t have a leader.

And when you look back at presidents of a party that have their own brand—Reaganism, for one example—they usually do not survive the tenure of the original president, even if the same party continues the administration. Ronald Reagan, he had a particular conservative strain of Republicanism that when he ran on two prior occasions, they said he wouldn’t be elected. He’s too conservative. Yet, when he stepped down, he proved that Reaganism was a very effective political ideology. And what happened? His handpicked successor, George H.W. Bush, almost as soon as he came into power, he said, “Read my lips. No new taxes.” And he raised taxes. And then you remember what he said? He said, “I want a kinder, gentler nation.” Nancy Reagan, the first former first lady, said, “Kinder and gentler than whom? Us?” So he didn’t really continue Reaganism.

Bill Clinton hit upon—I think partly with the input of Mark Penn, Dick Morris, Doug Schoen—a centrist Democratic way of government. Maybe it wasn’t as centrist as we think but it was pretty left-wing. But they were able to pass it off as centrist. It was a winning formula. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 to succeed him. And what did Barack Obama do? He repudiated Clintonism and the Democratic Leadership Council. And he went hard to the Left. And the result of that is we got a destroyed or an irrelevant Democratic Party. So, when Trump steps down, there’s all of these arguments, pro and con, that MAGA will or will not survive. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a very effective governor. He had a sweeping victory in 2022. He embraced the MAGA agenda. And his argument was, “You can have MAGA but without the Trump legal liabilities.” But he wasn’t able to capture the popular imagination.

I’ll leave you with one last thought. Donald Trump has been trolling the media. In March he said—they asked him, “Would you like a third term?” “Uh, no. You know, you can’t do it. But my lawyers are working on it. They’re looking at it.” What he meant was the 22nd Amendment that was passed in 1951, right before the ascension of Dwight Eisenhower—no president shall be elected for more than two terms. No president shall be elected twice. That was a Republican reaction. They controlled the Congress for two of the four terms of FDR. It’s kind of ironic because Dwight Eisenhower would’ve been elected a third time probably and beat John F. Kennedy if he could have run a third time. But his party had precluded that idea right before he became president.

A lot of presidents think about it. Every successful president, the topic comes up. It came up with Reagan. It came up with Clinton. Obama, remember, said, “I’d like to phone in a third term, if I didn’t have to do the work.” He also said he was lazy. He confessed to that. Maybe that was why. But here’s my point. Trump was not serious at the time. He just wanted to either troll the press and media or he wanted to dispel the idea that he was a lame duck and just throw it out there that maybe he could be president a third time. Because if you look at the language of the 22nd Amendment, it doesn’t say you can’t hold office twice. It says you can’t be elected. Perhaps he could get a vice president—he could run as vice president. The president could resign.

And then, he would take over and hold office three times but not be elected. That was all fantasy. He was never going to do that. No voter would vote for a president to step down. Here’s my point, again. Donald Trump was trolling and he knows what makes the Left angry and confuses. And the worst thing that they fear is a third term. But just this May—just recently he was asked that question again. He said, “Of course I’m not gonna run for a third term. And who’s going to be the standard-bearer? I don’t know. I don’t wanna pick them. But we have an obvious vice president who’s a firm believer in MAGA. And we have Marco Rubio, a successful secretary of state, who could also serve.”

But the point, again, is he raised the question, “Will this MAGA doctrine continue after I leave? Will there be sunshine after the sun is gone?” In other words, to use a simile. And he’s saying, “I’m gonna be around. I’m gonna be a senior statesman. I’m going to endorse somebody. And I’m gonna ensure that that person, by the force of my ex-presidency and influence, shall abide by MAGA doctrines.” So no, Donald Trump is not going to seek a third term. And yes, I think the MAGA ideology of the Republican Party will stay with us for the near future.

“This is the global elite smart set’s version of the gangbanger who sticks up a business and later posts pictures of himself on social media holding the gun in front of all the stolen goods..”

• Trump Administration Is Exposing the Hubris of Institutional DEI (Stepman)

Harvard University was likely in violation of civil rights law in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the school practically said so, proudly, on its public website. Now it is under federal investigation. The Washington Free Beacon’s Aaron Sibarium reported Monday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency created to enforce civil rights law, launched an investigation into Harvard in late April over whether the school was (or continues to be) unlawfully hiring based on race and sex. It reportedly discovered this information based not on some deep investigation into the workings of the school, but from Harvard’s own public website.

“In public documents now deleted from Harvard’s website but still publicly available on web archives, Harvard admitted that in a span of ten years, it went from 59% of ‘all ladder faculty’ being white men to 49%, comparing that decrease in white men to an increase in the ‘total women, nonbinary, and faculty of color’ (i.e., all faculty other than white men) from 41% in 2013 to 51% in 2023,” the EEOC reported. It wasn’t just a case of apparent discrimination in its recent hiring practices, the EEOC claims. According to the report, “Harvard touted its success in changing its faculty demographics, noting in 2023 that its numbers of women and ‘people of color’ tenured was up 24% and 33% over ten years, with the percentage of each group tenured since 2022 (just one year) at 46%.” The report included a long list of potentially discriminatory student training programs too.

The EEOC noted that these practices didn’t come to an end in 2023. Again, why does it think this? Harvard straight up said so on its website. This is the global elite smart set’s version of the gangbanger who sticks up a business and later posts pictures of himself on social media holding the gun in front of all the stolen goods. Harvard has some ‘splainin’ to do. And it couldn’t come at a worse time as the Trump administration has not only put a hold on billions of dollars in federal grant money over civil rights violations but has even threatened to pull the university’s tax-exempt status. The Daily Signal reached out to Harvard for comment about the investigation. A spokesperson for the school pointed to a statement by Harvard President Alan Garber. “Employment at Harvard is similarly based on merit and achievement. We seek the best educators, researchers, and scholars at our schools,” Graber said.

“We do not have quotas, whether based on race or ethnicity or any other characteristic. We do not employ ideological litmus tests. We do not use diversity, equity, and inclusion statements in our hiring decisions.” What’s remarkable about this investigation is how unremarkable Harvard’s actions were. For the last decade at least, elite institutions of all kinds have been leaning into diversity, equity, and inclusion to the point of openly saying this is a key metric for hiring decisions. This trend only accelerated during the George Floyd riots and the Great Awokening. Besides a few outlets like The Daily Signal, there was relatively little criticism of this practice by the legacy media. The Biden administration seemed to outright encourage it as it engaged in its own, vast federal DEI initiatives and hiring practices.

Apparently, few institutions questioned whether this was strictly legal and assumed the federal government would always support discriminatory hiring in the name of racial justice. Even law firms were apparently unconcerned about the potential repercussions of DEI hiring. The EEOC on Monday, according to The Federalist, launched a complaint against nearly 50 of the country’s top law firms, accusing them of discriminating against white applicants to a summer fellowship program in the name of diversity. Again, this didn’t come from any kind of deep investigation. It came from a public website where Sponsors for Educational Opportunity bragged that it was “the nation’s only summer internship program for pre-law students of color.”

The Trump administration made it clear virtually from Day One that it considered these practices illegal and that the Justice Department would investigate “unlawful discrimination related to ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) in the workplace.” That produced a counterrevolution overnight. Many businesses were quick to drop DEI the moment they thought it was safe to do so. The study that provided the foundation for most DEI hiring practices has already been soundly debunked. The advantage DEI gave businesses is that it kept well-funded left-wing activists and the federal government off their backs. Remove those fears and add to it the potential for lawsuits and it’s easy to see why Big Business has been quietly extinguishing DEI.

Big Business was quickest to bail out when it became clear the political winds were changing. That process became a stampede after President Donald Trump was elected as even the wokest companies have begun dropping DEI quotas after openly touting them for years. Higher education is a special case, especially the most elite universities. They don’t just embrace DEI as an ideology to stay on the good side of a regime. They are the originators of the idea, the home of the true believers who would rather find increasingly clever ways to discriminate rather than follow the law.

Q: who does the EU use for such investigations? They have no secret service.

• EU Investigating MEPs Over Moscow Visit – Lawmaker (RT)

A member of the European Parliament claims he and other lawmakers who recently traveled to Moscow are facing an EU investigation over their diplomatic outreach to Russia. Independent Cypriot MEP Fidias Panayiotou visited the Russian capital with other lawmakers during Victory Day celebrations, where he met with the chairman of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin. In a video posted to X on Monday, Panayiotou said his trip “was not liked at all in the European Parliament, and they have already started an investigation against us. ”Panayiotou has openly criticized the EU’s combative stance on Russia and the Ukraine conflict. He argues that Brussels should prioritize diplomacy over supplying weapons to Kiev.

During last Saturday’s meeting, Volodin lauded international dialogue that allows officials “understand each other and come up with decisions important for their peoples and states,” according to the State Duma’s website. Other guests at the Russian parliament reportedly came from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Serbia. The Moscow visit coincided with Russia’s Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The event drew 28 foreign leaders, including Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – both of whom ignored threats from Brussels should they go.

“I consider today’s trip to Moscow to be extremely successful,” Fico said, noting he held talks with senior officials from Brazil, China, and other countries on the sidelines of the event.Vucic, speaking from Moscow’s Red Square, said he was proud to represent Serbia – an EU candidate – at the ceremony, even though he expected to face personal consequences from the EU for his attendance. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised visiting foreign leaders who attended Victory Day celebrations, calling them “leaders not through their office, but through strength of character, convictions, and readiness to defend those convictions.”

“Trump also proclaimed that he ordered the cessation of US-Houthi hostilities in the Red Sea, after the Pentagon flexed its military might.”

There are different versions of that story. Some call it a humiliation.

• Trump Torches Neocons, Emphasizes ‘Peace Through Strength’ Deal-Making (ZH)

Some highlights of President Trump’s lengthy speech before the US-Saudi Investment Forum, wherein he frequently praised his Saudi host crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and advanced peace through deal-making…

Markets Rocking The stock market is “gonna go a lot higher.” He said “People should have listened. We’ve never had anything like this,” and he cited the “explosion of investment and jobs.” Business executives “weren’t that happy when they saw me,” a month ago, but changed their tune as markets rose,” Trump added. “We are rocking: The United States is the hottest country, with the exception of your country,” Trump said, pointing to MbS in the front row before him.

Saudi Arabia as Global Business/Tech Hub “Mohammed do you sleep at night? How do you sleep?” he said, addressing the crown prince. “Critics doubted it was possible, what you’ve done, but over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has proved the critics totally wrong.” “…Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves, the people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions and charting your own destinies in your own way.”

Silence befell the crowd as Trump said that it was his “fervent wish” that Saudi Arabia “will soon be joining the Abraham Accords” – but he ultimately conceded that the kingdom will do it in “it’s own time”. “It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us. And you’ll be greatly honoring me, and you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East. And I really think it’s going to be something special — but you’ll do it in your own time. And that’s what I want, and that’s what you want, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Iran put on Notice “In the case of Iran, I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don’t like permanent enemies. Sometimes you need enemies to do the job, and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated,” Trump said. He continued, “I want to make a deal with Iran. I can make a deal with Iran. I’ll be very happy if we’re going to make your region and the world a safer place.” He offered a “much brighter future” if Tehran will do a deal. “If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive, maximum pressure … and take all action required to stop the regime from ever having a nuclear weapon. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Lifting Sanctions on Syria “Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing in many years. That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade,” Trump said. “The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important — really an important function — nevertheless, at the time. But now it’s their time to shine,” he added. So I say, ‘Good luck, Syria.’ Show us something very special.” “Oh what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said [..]

Blasted NeoCons & Liberal Interventionists “In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far more nations than they built—and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies they did not understand,” Trump said. “The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad.” “In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that we must all hope will succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace.”

Gaza, Yemen “The people of Gaza deserve a much better future,” Trump said. “But that will or cannot occur as long as their leaders choose to kidnap, torture and target innocent men, women and children for political ends.” Trump also proclaimed that he ordered the cessation of US-Houthi hostilities in the Red Sea, after the Pentagon flexed its military might.

Bibi watches Trump in Riyadh and it makes him nervous.

BTW: I read Edan Alexander refused to meet with Netanyahu, but I see no details.

• Netanyahu Blasts Media ‘Spin’, Says Trump Ties ‘Excellent’ (Cradle)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that he has approved a negotiating delegation to travel to Qatar on Tuesday to participate in US-led prisoner exchange talks. The decision was announced after the embattled premier met with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee earlier in the day and spoke over the phone with US President Donald Trump. “I thanked President Trump for his assistance in the release of IDF soldier Edan Alexander. President Trump, for his part, reiterated his commitment to Israel and his desire to continue close cooperation with me,” Netanyahu wrote on social media.

“In my meeting with Envoy Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee, we discussed the last-ditch effort to implement the outline for the release of the hostages presented by Witkoff, before the fighting escalates. To this end, I have instructed that a negotiating delegation be sent to Doha tomorrow,” Netanyahu added. He also said he had informed his US allies “that negotiations would only take place under fire.” Netanyahu’s announcement came a few hours after he rejected reports that a rift exists between him and Trump, calling his relationship with the US president “excellent.” “These spins – most of them are born here [in Israel.] They’re born in a certain media outlet that’s trying to promote a certain candidate. And in order to promote him, they need to say: ‘Trump and Netanyahu are no longer,'” Netanyahu said in a video posted on his X account.

https://twitter.com/IhabHassane/status/1922014395682488515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922014395682488515%7Ctwgr%5E60727b8b582f72661326eb65488d00e38dbab088%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fnetanyahu-blasts-media-spin-says-trump-ties-excellent-dispatches-hostage-negotiators

This comes as Israeli-US captive Edan Alexander was released by Hamas on Monday evening. Officials from Washington reportedly informed Tel Aviv that his release will kickstart a new round of prisoner exchange talks. Alexander’s release reportedly prompted a partial stop in Israeli army operations inside Gaza. “A significant number of military operations have indeed been halted. There are no airstrikes in Gaza, aside from a few attacks, and no drone reconnaissance flights over the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Army Radio had reported Monday morning.

Set for Thursday. Not a done deal.

• Supreme Court Set to End Era of Nationwide Judicial Injunctions (Margolis)

The days of rogue district court judges hijacking executive authority may finally be numbered. On Thursday, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a consolidated case, Trump v. CASA, which challenges lower court rulings that blocked President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. Despite the constitutional authority granted to the executive branch on immigration matters, three district judges issued sweeping nationwide injunctions halting the order. Now, the highest court may have the chance to rein in judicial overreach and restore balance between the branches of government. Since President Trump began his second term, liberal judges have weaponized nationwide injunctions against his administration an astonishing 17 times in just the first few months — and that’s only counting through late March 2025. This is nothing new, of course.

Even Newsweek seems to believe that the court will side with the Trump administration. “In recent years, some justices have expressed criticism of universal injunctions. Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the court’s conservatives, argued in a 2020 concurring opinion that injunctions are “meant to redress the injuries sustained by a particular plaintiff in a particular lawsuit.” He said the “routine issuance of universal injunctions is patently unworkable, sowing chaos for litigants, the government, courts, and all those affected by these conflicting decisions” and that the court must address them. He also noted that nationwide injunctions mean that plaintiffs can shop around for the judge that is most likely to be sympathetic to their cause.”

“Because plaintiffs generally are not bound by adverse decisions in cases to which they were not a party, there is a nearly boundless opportunity to shop for a friendly forum to secure a win nationwide,” Gorsuch wrote. Even Justice Elena Kagan, one of the Court’s three liberal justices, has criticized broad nationwide injunctions and the blatant judge-shopping tactics used by plaintiffs to game the system.This shouldn’t be a partisan issue because Joe Biden’s outgoing Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogar, also filed a brief in December 2024 asking the Supreme Court to limit these broad orders despite knowing Trump would benefit from the decision. “In the Trump years, people used to go to the Northern District of California, and in the Biden years, they go to Texas,” Kagan said in 2022. “It just can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stopped for the years that it takes to go through the normal process.”

Let’s be honest: Nationwide injunctions were never about judicial oversight. They’ve been the left’s go-to tool for blocking President Trump’s agenda through activist judges. With just one ruling, any of the hundreds of district court judges in the country can nullify federal policy they don’t like. Now, the left is panicking. Without these judicial shortcuts, they’ll have to argue their cases on the merits instead of in front of cherry-picked friendly judges. Even Vox admitted these injunctions were “the core of the resistance.” But that era may be ending. The Supreme Court looks poised to rein in this abuse of power and restore constitutional balance. For anyone who believes in law, not lawfare, this moment can’t come soon enough.

“Qatar is offering the jet to the US military, not Donald Trump..”

• Here’s the Truth About the Qatar Jumbo Jet Story (Margolis)

The Democrats have been desperate to find a scandal to pin on Trump, and their latest attempt may be the stupidest yet.It was recently reported that the Trump administration is gearing up to accept a high-end Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the Qatari royal family—a luxury aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One during President Trump’s second term. Naturally, the left is already losing its mind, but here’s the reality: this is a win for taxpayers. In the wake of media hysteria over the offer from Qatar to provide the United States with an aircraft, Buzz Patterson, a retired Air Force pilot, White House military aide, and carrier of the nuclear football, has stepped in to inject a dose of reality—and firsthand experience—into the conversation. While critics scramble to paint the move as some kind of scandal involving President Trump, Patterson makes clear this is nothing new or scandalous, and absolutely nothing that warrants the breathless outrage.

“I’m going to try one last time,” Patterson began in a post on X. “The Qatar B-747 was built in the US by Boeing. They are offering a newer 747 to replace one of the two current AF-1s that have been flying for 40 years. Which are tired and need to be replaced.”That last point is key. The current Air Force One planes are aging relics that first entered service when Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Replacing them has been a long, slow, and—thanks to bureaucratic delays—frustrating process. Patterson, who served as a military aide during the Clinton administration and has flown on Air Force One over a hundred times, says the Qatar aircraft would simply help fill the gap until Boeing completes new replacements—something that won’t happen for years.

“This AF-1 will serve the sitting president, whether they be Republican or Democrat until Boeing gets their s—t together to complete the new, upcoming improved 747s that started under Obama, was renegotiated under Trump, and was completely ignored by the Biden administration,” he explained. “It’s looking like 2029 to 2030 for delivery at the soonest.” Critics have tried to turn this into a personal gift to Trump, but that’s not even remotely accurate. “Qatar is offering the jet to the US military, not Donald Trump,” Patterson explained. And the idea that this somehow jeopardizes national security is also off base. “They will get the aircraft and perform all of the security and the installation of the systems that AF-1 requires to safely move our president around the world. Not the Qatari’s,” Patterson explained. “And you and I will pay for that but not the $400 million the 747 would normally cost.”

I’m going to try one last time.

The Qatar B-747 was built in the US by Boeing. They are offering a newer 747 to replace one of the two current AF-1s that have been flying for 40 years. Which are tired and need to be replaced. The wing based at Andrews has also purchased…

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) May 12, 2025

In other words, the U.S. is saving money and getting a newer, U.S.-made aircraft to bridge the gap until Boeing finally delivers the long-overdue replacements. And contrary to the media’s alarmist tone, this sort of arrangement isn’t unprecedented. “The wing based at Andrews has also purchased aircraft from other countries in the past which are currently flying our VP and senior government officials. This is NOT new,” Patterson said. As for the predictable online conspiracies? Patterson dismissed them with a knowing smirk. “I love X but sometimes the ‘sky is falling’ conspiracy crap grows tiresome. A little knowledge goes a long way. Having flown on the current AF-1s 100 hundred [sic] times, I have intimate knowledge.” In short, the critics are wrong, the facts are clear, and the manufactured outrage is little more than partisan noise drowning out a perfectly rational, cost-saving move for the country.

“It’s like that moment in Orwell’s Animal Farm when the animals looked from man to pig and pig to man and they could no longer tell the difference..”

• Labour and Tories are ‘Two Cheeks of the Same Backside’ – George Galloway (Sp.)

Imagine that for a second — freezing your own pensioners while funding someone else’s war. This is the UK’s reality now, and no one from either of the two major British political parties is speaking up against this. “The Labour minister’s talk is indistinguishable from the Conservative ministers’ talk. It’s like that moment in Orwell’s Animal Farm when the animals looked from man to pig and pig to man and they could no longer tell the difference,” the former British parliamentarian George Galloway told Sputnik.

“Reform UK’s rise isn’t just a warning shot; it’s a referendum on Labour’s betrayal of the working class..”

Isn’t it treason to let your country be overrun?

• UK PM Starmer Mercilessly Dragged For Telling Immigrants To Speak English (MN)

In a jaw-dropping display of political hypocrisy, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared Monday that it is “common sense” that migrants should speak English, posting on X that “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English.” This from the same Labour leader whose government has overseen the harassment and even arrest of Brits for expressing similar sentiments, branded as potential “hate crimes” under draconian speech laws.

“Speak English”?

That’s literally a hate crime in your tyrannical fascist hell-hole, jackass.

Off to jail for you!

Bigot! pic.twitter.com/bVbvIMeAYz

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) May 12, 2025

It's a criminal act to say "if you want to live in the UK, you should speak English" in Britain (cf. Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s. 33, s. 50A), and UK police have issued warnings for asking someone to 'speak English' https://t.co/1fe47lV9Ne

— ib (@Indian_Bronson) May 12, 2025

While ordinary citizens face police scrutiny for daring to question unchecked immigration or cultural integration, Starmer now parrots the very rhetoric he once condemned, revealing a spineless opportunism that prioritizes political survival over principle. The irony is thicker than London fog: the man who championed open borders and vilified Brexit voters as xenophobes now postures as a defender of national cohesion, all while his Home Office fails to stem the tide of illegal Channel crossings.

You let the entire 3rd world invade your country.

It’s far too late for that

You already destroyed your own country by being a stupid leftist.

— Philip Anderson (@VoteHarrisOut) May 12, 2025

This brazen pivot comes as no surprise given the political earthquake shaking Starmer’s Labour Party. The recent local elections saw Nigel Farage’s Reform UK surge, capturing councils and seats with a platform unapologetically slamming mass immigration and woke orthodoxy. Reform’s gains, including a stunning Runcorn byelection upset, have sent Labour into a tailspin, with Starmer’s approval ratings tanking as voters flee to Farage’s turquoise tidal wave.

Polls show Reform’s favourability spiking, particularly among working-class Britons fed up with Labour’s elitist disconnect. Starmer’s sudden tough talk on immigration—complete with promises to slash net migration and impose stricter English language rules—smacks of a desperate bid to claw back voters defecting to Reform. But his words ring hollow, a cynical rebrand from a man who, as shadow Brexit secretary, campaigned for a second EU referendum and scoffed at concerns about immigration’s impact on communities.

The stench of Starmer’s double standards is suffocating. While he now preaches “integration” and “fair rules,” his government continues to coddle a system where dissenters are silenced and borders remain porous. Brits who’ve lost jobs, homes, or safety to the strains of mass migration watch as Starmer plays both sides—cracking down on free speech while failing to deport illegals. Reform UK’s rise isn’t just a warning shot; it’s a referendum on Labour’s betrayal of the working class.Starmer’s English language edict isn’t common sense—it’s a calculated flip-flop from a man terrified of Farage’s shadow, and it won’t fool a public fed up with two-faced elites.

The most common baby boy name in England is Muhammad. It's too late for this now. https://t.co/2fvyzUfU06

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 12, 2025

“Germany often relies on external partners to spy on its own citizens, as Germany features very strict privacy laws. The NSA is thought to be especially active watching Germans.”

• US Pressure May Have Forced Germany To Drop Surveillance On AfD (RMX)

Germany’s domestic spy agency has suspended authoritarian surveillance methods of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and U.S. pressure may have played a role. The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s powerful domestic spy agency, had labeled the AfD a “confirmed far-right organization” before suspending this designation last week. The main reason presented was that the AfD is appealing the designation in court and the agency would wait until this appeal is concluded to decide whether to keep the designation. However, Germany’s ally, the United States, immediately criticized the designation in some of the harshest language possible, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it “tyranny in disguise.” That was not all, though.

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the powerful U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, then asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (DNI) to suspend intelligence cooperation between the United States and Germany. According to Cotton, the German authorities’ politically motivated surveillance activities resemble methods used by dictatorships that are unbecoming of a democratic ally. “Rather than trying to undermine the AfD using the tools of authoritarian states, Germany’s incoming government might be better advised to consider why the AfD continues to gain electoral ground,” he wrote. This would have represented a drastic break between the two allies and even a threat to Germany’s national security, which raised the stakes in Germany’s authoritarian move to stifle the political opposition. Currently, the AfD is the largest opposition party in the country and for the first time ever, polled in first place last month.

The developments have also caused a major stir in Germany. Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, said American pressure was behind the BfV’s withdrawal of its designation label on the AfD. In addition, Joachim Steinhöfel, a lawyer defending freedom of speech, told NIUS that the move by the BfV is “a complete surrender by the German domestic intelligence service.” He also noted that U.S. influence was vital. “We also have to thank the Americans for exerting massive pressure,” he added. Germany often relies on external partners to spy on its own citizens, as Germany features very strict privacy laws. The NSA is thought to be especially active watching Germans. As a result, any U.S. withdrawal from intelligence sharing could have been disastrous for Germany.

The temporary removal of the designation was warmly welcomed by the AfD, as it gives the party breathing room. For one, a vote on the ban of the party has little chance of moving forward without the designation. Second, the designation offered the BfV the legal means to surveil the entire party and its membership without a warrant, including reading emails and chats, as well as flood the party with informants. Now, German intelligence is being forced to rethink its surveillance policy as political divisions grow. However, if the appeal court agrees with the BfV that the AfD can be labeled right-wing extremist, the same issue may rear its head again. It is unclear how long this appeals process will take, whether months or even years; however, there is a growing chorus from Germany’s left, as well as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), to ban the entire AfD party. If that happens, tensions between the U.S. and Germany could soar to new heights.

“This led to a wave of commercial spinoffs.”

• Donald Trump Helped Ancient Russians Defeat Space Lizards (RT)

Heroic Slavic warriors triumph over evil reptilian invaders to pounding phonk beats. These surreal showdowns have racked up millions of views and spawned a wave of spin-offs, including video games, comic books, and tabletop RPGs. What started as a mock academic lecture quickly turned into a full-blown cultural phenomenon – fueled in part by some deep-rooted medieval nostalgia. One of the most well-known stories in the Ancient Rus vs. Lizards mythos is ‘The tale of how the Russian hero Danila Trumpov drove the accursed Lizards from the Slavic States of America’. In this fictional legend, a Russian version of Donald Trump defeats a shadowy alliance of humanoid lizards, who are supposedly aided by Bill Gates. Trumpov wields imaginative techniques like the “Republican Egg Squeeze” and the “Texas Burger Bomb,” and even manages to sabotage the lizard lobbyists by replacing the dollar with the ruble.

In the end, the forces of Slavic justice prevail, and the Lizards are forced to retreat to the distant planet of Nibiru. This is just one installment in a sprawling fan-fiction universe created as a joke, but which has grown far beyond its origins. What began as light-hearted parody has developed into a full-fledged narrative world that mixes satire, absurdity, and pseudo-history – while also poking fun at the cult of Russia’s supposed ancient supremacy. In March 2023, a strange YouTube video appeared, starring an AI-generated character introduced as “Professor and four-time historian Alexey Sergeyevich Bagirov.” Speaking with an air of authority, the professor unveiled what he described as the long-suppressed truth of Russian history: that the ancient Rus civilization once stretched across nearly the entire Earth.

Bagirov’s lecture combined several familiar conspiracy tropes – claims of lost civilizations with advanced technology, an ancient war between humans and shape-shifting lizards, divine interventions by pagan gods, and secret documents allegedly hidden from the public. His arguments leaned heavily on loose word associations and “secret documents,” while the visuals featured intentionally janky PowerPoint slides with exaggerated animations, accompanied by loud, distorted background music. But the creators went further than simply remixing old conspiracies. They built a whole new mythological framework. According to Bagirov, the ancient Rus not only coexisted with dinosaurs – they were actually friends. He explains that the word dinosaur supposedly derives from the Old Slavic root dino, meaning “child,” and that the name of the Slavic pagan god Zavra identifies him as the “divine ancestor” of all dinosaurs.

In a follow-up video, Bagirov adds a central stylistic twist to the saga: the Slavic reinterpretation of all names and terms. He describes how dinosaurs played an important role in the daily lives of the Rus. Brachiosaurus Brachislav helped build houses and studied astronomy; Styracosaurus Stavrislav took part in mammoth hunts; and a pterodactyl named Pterodimir flew children to school. In the third video, Bagirov introduces the main villains: the Lizards from the planet Nibiru – an idea familiar to fans of post-Soviet conspiracy lore. In this universe, the Lizards are jealous of the glory of the Rus and want to destroy it. Their weapon is deception: they try to seduce the Rus with fake sciences – especially mathematics. To that end, they dispatch agents such as Euclid, Archimedes, Democritus, Plato, and others, each programmed with 2G radiation, to infiltrate the ancient region of Russo-Greece.

Through all this, Bagirov satirizes the genre of amateur pseudo-historians who emerged in the post-Soviet space – those who claim access to secret truths, reject mainstream science, and lean heavily on unverifiable legends or misreadings of historical texts. These theorists rarely seek real evidence, but often captivate audiences with promises of lost national grandeur and sinister enemies. Though clearly absurd, the videos resonated with viewers. The fictional characters were so outrageous, and the tone so deliberately ridiculous, that the series became far more popular than anyone had expected – perhaps even more than the creators intended.

The characters of the Rus and the Lizards soon found a second life in short-form video content. These clips featured AI-generated visuals, voiceovers in mock-serious tones, and of course, pounding phonk soundtracks. The volume of content rapidly multiplied, and the Rus vs. Lizards universe continued to evolve, layering in more absurdist and satirical details. In these stories, the source of the Rus’ supernatural vitality is the water of Lake Baikal – an intentional nod to the lake’s revered status in Russian culture and to pseudo-scientific beliefs about the mystical power of “charged water.” The Rus are portrayed as a global civilization, and this is reflected in the fictional renaming of countries: Australorussia, Egyptoslavia, the Slavic States of America, and more. These names parody pseudo-historians who try to rewrite history to suggest that Russia once ruled the entire planet.

Religion in the Ancient Rus universe is a hybrid of Orthodox Christianity and revived paganism. On the one hand, characters shout catchphrases like “You fiends, at least fear the Lord!”; on the other, they perform bizarre rituals to Perun and other old Slavic deities. This mashup reflects the worldview of certain fringe groups who, in recent decades, attempted to revive pre-Christian Slavic faiths – often blending them with nationalist ideology and pseudoscience. Aside from the irony and satire, the meme’s success was also driven by how visually compelling the characters were. They looked cool. Their armor, weapons, and over-the-top powers appealed to a younger audience, especially in meme format. This led to a wave of commercial spinoffs.

AI Theft
https://twitter.com/mrddmia/status/1922091193439228017

Musk
https://twitter.com/teslaownersSV/status/1921957388762112467

Musk

NEW: @elonmusk highlights Tesla’s Optimus robot, robotaxis, the Boring Company, and xAI—while announcing Starlink’s approval for aviation and maritime use—at the Saudi-U.S. investment forum.pic.twitter.com/lqHZWEzyDd

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) May 13, 2025

pic.twitter.com/Qpi7360M2y

— gorklon rust (@elonmusk) May 13, 2025

Makary

Trump Admin’s Aggressive Push to Slash Drug Prices: Will Big Pharma and Its Lobbyists Bend?

Dr. Marty Makary, FDA Commissioner, spoke forcefully about President Trump’s executive order demanding pharmaceutical companies lower drug prices significantly within 30 days. The order… pic.twitter.com/EqOrUX8eJT

— Camus (@newstart_2024) May 13, 2025

Giraffe

Father giraffe comes to see his newborn calf for the first time
pic.twitter.com/KPMYXUyOTK

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 13, 2025

Duck pool
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1922276219703181770

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Debt Rattle Easter 2025

Apr 202025

April 20, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:44 am Finance Tagged with: Alien Enemies Act, deportations, Easter, Eurofascism, Iran, Jesus, Merz, Moldova, Rubio, SCOTUS, Tesla, Trump, Witkoff, WWIII 22 Responses »

Edward Hopper The long leg 1935

• Opposition to ‘Eurofascism’ Driving US and Russia Closer – Spy Agency (RT)

• Russia Announces Easter Ceasefire (RT)

• European Union Bans Commemorating The Defeat of Nazi Germany (SCF)

• Trump Administration Plans To Send Envoy Witkoff To Russia Again – CNN (RT)

• Scott Ritter: Rubio’s Threats to Quit Ukraine Talks Look Like Sabotage (Sp.)

• US Threats To Quit Ukraine Talks Aimed at Kiev Rather Than Moscow (TASS)

• US Sets Timeline For Kiev To Agree To Ceasefire (RT)

• Germany Wants The UK To Hold Its Hand While It Starts WWIII (Marsden)

• Moldova Wages War On Christians To Please Its EU Overlords (Romanenko)

• Will Trump’s Tariffs Hurt GOP in Midterms? (Caldwell)

• US, Iran Agree To Enter Next Phase Of Nuclear Negotiations (JTN)

• Trump On Deported Migrant: ‘He’s Got MS-13 Tattooed’ On His Knuckles (JTN)

• SCOTUS Order Pauses Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act (Allen)

• SCOTUS Blocks Deportation of Alleged Venezuela Gang Members for Now (ET)

• SCOTUS Halts Venezuelan Deportations, 4th Circuit Upholds Garcia Order (Turley)

• Judge Blocks Trump’s Order Ending ‘X’ Gender Marker on Passports (ET)

• Tesla Continues to Reign Supreme Despite Leftist Violence (Blackmon)

90 days

4/20 deadline?
Easter timeline?
Tippy top.
Innsurection Act?

Who knows, but this clip is MORE than DASTING. pic.twitter.com/Q781OpE71U

— Joe Rambo (@BrainStorm_Joe) April 18, 2025

Cernovich
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1913298101915238458

Tish
https://twitter.com/LynneBP_294/status/1913223009462010142

DEI

KORNACKI: "We see this – white women with a college degree. The only group of white voters that is on the left… do you want to continue DEI programs or do you think they should be ended? White men, no degree? End it. White men with a degree? End it, they say. White women no… pic.twitter.com/l1Pm1wh8J1

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 18, 2025

injunctions

Bill Clinton: 12.3 million deportations – 0 injunctions

George W. Bush: 10.3⁰million deportations – 0 injunctions

Barack Obama: 5.3 million deportations – 0 injunctions

Donald Trump: 100 thousand deportations – 30 injunctions pic.twitter.com/JJ03nykKAn

— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) April 19, 2025

Left

“So we started looking at all political donations”

– State Department 94% went to the Left
– USAID 98% went to the Left
– National Endowment for Democracy 95% to the Left

International NGOs

– 95-98% went to the Left
– Catholic Relief Services 90% to the Left

“You look at the… pic.twitter.com/rOVUfgYQfi

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 20, 2025

Ireland

According to Eurostat data, there are 1,211,883 people living in Ireland who were not born here.

Almost 23% of the Irish population wasn't born here.

Add to that kids born to migrant parents and it's clear what's happening, the attempted erasure of the Irish people. pic.twitter.com/iF3KufWMlv

— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) April 19, 2025

Conor

Here it is folks, the full interview between Tucker Carlson and Conor McGregor.
pic.twitter.com/vDsnVdLYlk

— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) April 18, 2025

“.. work together to prevent “a new global conflict” and confront “possible provocations both from Ukraine and from the ‘maddened Europeans’..”

• Opposition to ‘Eurofascism’ Driving US and Russia Closer – Spy Agency (RT)

The US and Russia are natural allies against “Eurofascism” and the tyrannical tendencies prevalent in Western European countries, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said. The spy agency published a text on its website on Wednesday titled ‘Eurofascism, just as 80 years ago, is the common enemy for Moscow and Washington.’ The SVR argued that Europe has a “historical predisposition” to “various forms of totalitarianism that periodically produce devastating, global-scale conflicts.” It cited the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution and the “bloody actions” of Napoleon as examples. It also referenced the Charlemagne Division of the SS, made up of volunteers from Nazi-occupied France.

The agency credited French author Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, who collaborated with Nazi Germany, with introducing “the concept of Eurofascism… and its ideology.” According to the SVR, la Rochelle believed that “Eurofascism … [is] inherent not only to the Germans but to other European ‘societies’ as well.” The agency cited unnamed experts as saying that the current rift between the US and the EU facilitates a “situational rapprochement of Washington and Moscow.” “The United States is free due to the willingness of the ancestors of modern Americans to confront such dictatorships as the British Monarchy or the Jacobin Revolution,” it said. The SVR claimed that “conservative expert circles in the USA believe that the British elite … is very much inclined to commit the gravest crimes against humanity.”

“America felt the effect of similar inclinations of the British back in August of 1814, when the British troops occupied Washington, burned the Capitol and the White House,” the SVR claimed. The agency said that “foreign expert circles” are hopeful that Russia and the US will work together to prevent “a new global conflict” and confront “possible provocations both from Ukraine and from the ‘maddened Europeans’ traditionally urged on by Great Britain.” The statement was released as the US is attempting to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Russian officials said that, unlike the Biden administration, President Donald Trump and his team have shown a readiness to listen to Moscow’s positions and understand the root causes of the conflict.

It took just seconds for Zelensky to claim Russia was violating its own ceasefire. And that is the only newsbit broadcast all across the west.

• Russia Announces Easter Ceasefire (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary Easter pause in hostilities with Ukraine, which is slated to begin at 18:00 Moscow time on Saturday and last until midnight on April 21. The announcement came during his meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow. Putin expressed hope that Kiev would demonstrate goodwill and adhere to the ceasefire. ”At the same time, our troops must be prepared to respond to any violations or provocations by the adversary, to any aggressive actions,” he said. Putin stated that Ukraine’s reaction to the ceasefire would be a clear indicator of whether Kiev is sincerely willing to engage in negotiations to end the conflict. The president referenced the US-brokered 30-day energy infrastructure truce agreed to on March 18, accusing Ukraine of violating it.

“We know that the Kiev regime has violated the agreement on pausing energy infrastructure strikes more than a hundred times,” Putin explained. “Therefore, I ask you [Gerasimov] to remain extremely vigilant and prepared for an immediate and full-force response.” Shortly after Putin’s statement, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the ceasefire, calling on Kiev to reciprocate. ”The ceasefire is being introduced for humanitarian purposes and will be observed by the Russian Joint Group of Troops, provided it is mutually observed by the Kiev regime,” the ministry said. While Kiev did not immediately provide a clear response to Putin’s announcement, it appeared to reject the temporary truce. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky branded it an attempt to “play with human lives,” claiming that swarms of Russian kamikaze drones were detected in the country’s skies at 17:15 Moscow time.

The drones “in our skies show Putin’s true attitude to Easter and human lives,” Zelensky said in a statement. According to RT war correspondent Andrey Filatov, reporting from the Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) area in Donetsk People’s Republic, multiple violations of the ceasefire were observed within an hour of it taking effect. Ukrainian forces in the area have been actively using drones, mortars and heavy artillery, striking Russian positions with cluster munitions. Earlier this week, Moscow suggested a full long-term ceasefire with Ukraine was highly unlikely, given Kiev’s long history of broken promises and violations of previous deals.

Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters on Thursday, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said there are “big issues with the comprehensive ceasefire,” referencing the fate of the long-defunct Minsk agreements, as well as repeated violations of a US-brokered 30-day moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes. In the meantime, Washington has signaled that time is running out for finding a solution to the Ukraine conflict. On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was prepared to throw in the towel soon. “We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” Rubio stated.

In case you were wondering what the EU stands for. This should be hard to believe. Unfortunately, it is not.

• European Union Bans Commemorating The Defeat of Nazi Germany (SCF)

The European Union is warning European leaders not to attend the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow on May 9. Ostensibly, the rationale for such a ban is that Russia is allegedly waging a war against Ukraine and threatening the rest of Europe, according to the EU. That’s one way of seeing it. Another way of seeing the matter is that the conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war sponsored by the EU and NATO to defeat Russia, eight decades after Nazi Germany failed to do it. The Euro elites who have come to dominate policymaking share the same fascist mentality. No wonder, then, that they are against attending the 80th anniversary event in Moscow next month. They need to sully that event by way of covering up their despicable politics. The event marking the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascism in Europe is a massively important historical date for the entire world.

Eighty years ago, on May 9, 1945, the Soviet Red Army crushed the Nazi regime in Berlin thereby ending the most horrific war in human history. Up to 27 million Soviet citizens – perhaps more – gave their lives in the epic struggle to defeat Nazi Germany and its fascist European allies, including Vichy France, Italy, Hungary, Finland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Russia holds the honor of liberating Europe from the evil of fascism. By comparison, the other anti-fascist allies of the United States and Britain lost less than 5 per cent of the casualties that the Soviet citizens endured. It is fitting that many international leaders are attending the Victory Day parade in Moscow this year. They include China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi. Many others, however, will not be in Moscow, which is lamentable.

The American President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer should be present to pay respects to the soldiers and civilians who sacrificed their lives. Deplorably, the toxic politics that have poisoned relations between Western states and Russia have rendered such participation impossible. What is all the more appalling, however, is the explicit ban on European leaders attending the celebrations in Moscow. This week, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, issued a warning that any politicians who went to Moscow would face severe consequences. Kallas, who was formerly the prime minister of the tiny Baltic state of Estonia, was appointed last year as the EU’s most senior official on foreign policy. One of those defying orders is Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. He rebuked Kallas for daring to tell him, as the leader of a sovereign nation, where and where not to go.

He added: “I will go to Moscow to pay respects to thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia.” Fico was elected on a platform calling for friendly relations with Russia and an end to the NATO proxy war in Ukraine. He has consistently opposed sending more military aid to the Kiev regime. Last year, Fico survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot by a gunman motivated by pro-Ukraine politics. Of particular note, the European Union’s sanctions on politicians attending the Victory Day commemoration in Moscow are targeting candidate states joining the 27-member bloc. Kallas threatened that their candidacy could be cancelled. They include the Balkan nations of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, as well as Moldova and Georgia. Nevertheless, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic stated that he would be going to Moscow despite intense pressure from Brussels.

“We are proud of our struggle against fascism, and that was the key reason why I accepted the invitation”, said Vucic. He spoke, however, of the sinister leverage on his government. “It seems to me that the sky is about to fall on my head due to the pressure surrounding the trip to Moscow,” said the Serbian president, who added that his country was being destabilized by outside agitators. The unseemly controversy over the Victory Day parade in Moscow serves to highlight the growing malevolent tendencies of the EU. Increasingly, the bloc’s centralization of political power is becoming more authoritarian and hostile towards Russia. Any dissent among the EU members questioning the bloc’s support for the proxy war in Ukraine is ruthlessly suppressed with threats of political and economic sanctions.

The EU leadership, under Russophobic autocrats like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas, is implicated in suppressing elections in Romania, Moldova and Georgia to prevent parties that are calling for an end to the war in Ukraine and better relations with Russia. The recent dubious prosecution in France of nationalist politician Marine Le Pen, who has been critical of NATO’s proxy war, is another baleful example of the EU moving to crush dissent. It is startling how much the EU has come to operate like a fascist bloc. Policy decisions about funding a NeoNazi regime in Ukraine to fight a proxy war against Russia are being made by Russophobic elites with no democratic accountability.

This will be visit no. 4. Putin and Trump now know from each other what they want, not just what they say they want.

This is the first time that I see Witkoff saying a peace deal would include not only the recognition of Crimea as Russian, but also the other 4 regions.

• Trump Administration Plans To Send Envoy Witkoff To Russia Again – CNN (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s administration is planning one more meeting between special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior Russian officials to get Moscow on board with its vision for peace in the Ukraine conflict, CNN has claimed, citing an anonymous source. Witkoff has already met with Russian President Vladimir Putin three times this year as the US president tries to broker a ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow. In its article on Saturday, CNN further quoted its source as saying that Washington’s plan, which was reportedly presented to Ukrainian officials and several European leaders during a top-level meeting in Paris on Thursday, envisages a ceasefire along the current front line. The US government also supposedly signaled a willingness to recognize Crimea as Russian territory.

Commenting on his meeting with Putin in Moscow last Friday, Witkoff told Fox News on Monday that the nearly five-hour talks were “compelling” and that the Kremlin is seeking a lasting solution to the Ukraine conflict. Trump’s special envoy claimed that Moscow and Kiev “might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.” According to the US official, any potential peace deal would include the recognition of Crimea, the Donetsk, and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions as part of Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that while there were “no clear outlines of any agreement yet,” Moscow values the “constructive and substantive” contact with the US.

Witkoff’s remarks did not sit well with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, who on Thursday accused Trump’s envoy of “wittingly or unwittingly spreading Russian narratives.” He reiterated that Kiev will “never recognize any temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.” Russia has maintained that it is open to peace talks with Ukraine in principle, as long as its key security concerns are addressed. Moscow demands among other things that Kiev renounce its NATO aspirations and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.” The Kremlin has insisted it will not accept a mere freeze of the conflict.

On Saturday, President Putin announced a temporary Easter truce effective from 18:00 Moscow time through midnight on Sunday night. While he expressed hope that Ukraine would reciprocate, he also stated that the “Kiev regime has violated the agreement on pausing energy infrastructure strikes more than a hundred times.” Putin argued that Ukraine’s reaction to the ceasefire would be a clear indicator of whether Kiev is serious about wanting to achieve peace.

Trump cannot leave the talks. They’re his, after all. And it would lead to a Moscow-Brussels war, which would involve Paris, London, Berlin and … NATO. They will try to blackmail the US into that fight. Trump should simply say, beforehand, that he wants none of this to happen.

• Scott Ritter: Rubio’s Threats to Quit Ukraine Talks Look Like Sabotage (Sp.)

Marco Rubio warned Friday that the US could walk out of the Ukrainian peace process if progress is not made “within days.” A day earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Trump Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff of “spreading Russian narratives,” and claimed Witkoff has no “mandate…to speak about Ukrainian territories.” The US secretary of state’s remarks on potentially ending the US peace push in Ukraine signal dual frustrations: with Steve Witkoff’s influence over Ukraine policy, and with Russia’s demands for a lasting peace instead of a temporary ceasefire, military analyst and former Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik. “I think this is an effort by Marco Rubio to insert himself into the process, but I want to remind people that he doesn’t make policy, especially policy concerning US-Russian relations,” Ritter emphasized.

Ritter sees Rubio’s comments as an attempt to “create the atmosphere of a failed policy” to try to get the US to abandon its current policy on Ukraine, but doesn’t see President Trump accepting this position. Ritter also recalled that Rubio’s position in the Trump administration has forced him to pull a 180 degree turn on the traditional pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia posture he held throughout his career in the Senate. “Rubio’s statement actually empowers Europe and Ukraine in many ways because now all they have to do is drag this out. The key here is for Europe and Ukraine is to get the United States out of the peacekeeping business and hopefully get the US back into the war-fighting business, that is, to continue their proxy conflict against Russia. That doesn’t seem to be the policy direction that Donald Trump favors,” the observer stressed.

Ultimately, Ritter said, what the Ukraine crisis needs right now is diplomacy. “This requires the United States to put pressure on Europe, to put pressure on Ukraine. The Trump administration doesn’t seem to have the leverage necessary to achieve that. This is where Marco Rubio is supposed to be stepping forward to take the lead diplomatically to see the president’s will translated into actual policy that can be implemented. But Rubio doesn’t seem to be inclined to do this.” “So what I envision happening is, in a week or so, you’ll see Marco Rubio make a play with the Trump administration, with the president himself, to terminate America’s effort to bring this conflict to an end. But I don’t see Donald Trump accepting that. I see Donald Trump rejecting that advice and continuing to press forward and giving Steve Witkoff a chance to work with the Russians. But this is a process that if it continues, is going to take weeks, if not months, before you get the kind of detailed agreement necessary to allow Russia to accept a ceasefire,” Ritter summed up.

“..we’re just going to say, ‘You’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people.’

• US Threats To Quit Ukraine Talks Aimed at Kiev Rather Than Moscow (TASS)

Washington’s threats to walk away from the negotiation process on Ukraine are directed against the Kiev regime rather than Moscow, the Axios portal said, citing European officials. “Two European diplomats confirmed Rubio said Trump was losing his patience and might withdraw from the process if a deal wasn’t reached soon,” the portal wrote, adding that “three European diplomats felt Rubio’s comments were mostly aimed at the Ukrainians.” “A source close to the Ukrainian government also said it seemed Rubio’s comments were aimed at pressing Ukraine. The source was also concerned that a Trump withdrawal from the negotiations could lead to suspension of US military aid to Ukraine,” the portal noted.

The European diplomats pointed out that during talks in Paris, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has not mentioned “increasing the pressure on Russia.” “The impression was that Rubio and Witkoff are under a lot of pressure from Trump and they are channeling it to the other players,” a European diplomat said. According to Axios, Rubio said that US President Donald Trump had decided that “he has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this, and there are a lot of things going on in the world right now that we need to be focused on.” “We need to figure out <…> within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. If it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” the top US diplomat added.

Rubio told reporters in Paris that Trump may abandon his efforts to settle the Ukraine crisis if there is no immediate progress. “We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end,” he explained. Earlier, Trump himself did not rule out the US leaving the negotiations. “Now if, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, ‘You’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people.’ And we’re going to just take a pass, but hopefully we won’t have to do that,” he told reporters at the White House.

“..as early as next week..”

I think the talks will take much longer.

• US Sets Timeline For Kiev To Agree To Ceasefire (RT)

US President Donald Trump reportedly expects to “make a determination for a full and comprehensive ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia as early as next week. Both are to be presented with the final offer, the New York Post has claimed, citing an anonymous senior administration official. Trump has stated on multiple occasions that he wants to put an end to the Ukraine conflict as soon as possible. Since he assumed office in January, Washington and Moscow have been engaged in active diplomacy, holding several rounds of high-level talks. The newspaper quoted a source on Friday as saying that “this coming week in London, we want to make a determination for a full and comprehensive cease-fire.” The unnamed US official added that the “intent then is to have [discussions] with the Russians” and determine where Moscow and Kiev stand on this “final offer.”

According to the publication, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during their meeting in Paris on Thursday that Kiev is “90%” on board with Washington’s peace framework, which has yet to be made public. Ukraine’s remaining concerns mostly revolve around territories which Kiev claims as its own, but are in fact under Moscow’s control at present, the Post reported.Russia has demanded that Ukraine officially recognize the “reality on the ground,” while Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out such a scenario.

The media outlet further alleged that the US could offer Russia a “carrot”: the relaxation of sanctions and the potential unfreezing of Moscow’s seized assets, which are currently held by Western institutions. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump echoed a remark made by Rubio earlier in the day, stating that “if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult… we’re going to just take a pass.” Russian authorities have expressed skepticism about the feasibility of a ceasefire with Ukraine and accused Kiev’s backers in Europe of undermining US efforts. Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Moscow’s UN representative, Vassily Nebenzia, stated that due to the West’s record of using peace deals to help build up the Ukrainian military, expectations of a full ceasefire are “simply unrealistic at this stage.”

“..Merz needs a useful idiot to ride shotgun alongside him in the doltmobile to share in any responsibility for the eventual mayhem when things inevitably go pear-shaped. “You rang?” say the Brits.”

• Germany Wants The UK To Hold Its Hand While It Starts WWIII (Marsden)

Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz doesn’t officially take office until May 6, but that hasn’t stopped him from hitting the press circuit like it’s demolition day. Apparently, he’s got some lost time – and infrastructure – to make up for. In a chat with Germany’s public broadcaster, ARD, he floated the idea that Kiev, which seems to rank higher than Berlin on his priority list, needs to “get ahead of the situation” on the battlefield and “shape events” instead of playing defense. The event he seems most eager to shape? Oh, just the Third World War, apparently. Because he pivoted straight to the Kerch Bridge – mainland Russia’s lifeline to the Crimean peninsula – like it’s been living on borrowed time.

Merz said that “if for example, the most important land connection between Russia and Crimea is destroyed, or if something happens on Crimea itself, where most of the Russian military logistics are located, then that would be an opportunity to bring this country strategically back into the picture finally.” Cool, cool. Which picture would that be, exactly? The one labeled “Catastrophic Misjudgments of the 21st Century”? Probably. Which is why Merz needs a useful idiot to ride shotgun alongside him in the doltmobile to share in any responsibility for the eventual mayhem when things inevitably go pear-shaped. “You rang?” say the Brits. Or at least that’s what Merz is apparently hoping they say. “Our European partners are already supplying cruise missiles,” Merz said in an interview. “The British are doing it, the French are doing it, and the Americans are doing it anyway, this must be jointly agreed. And if it’s agreed, then Germany should take part.”

Merz’s fellow Christian Democratic Party MPs have been floating the idea in the Western press that he’s waiting for an official permission slip from London. It would probably read something like this: “Dear Herr Friedrich, You are hereby authorized to partake in a highly coordinated, militarized pub crawl. First stop: a punch-up with Russia, followed by a wobbly march to a greasy spoon for black coffee, bad lighting, and a collective hangover.” Merz is just days away from grabbing the wheel, and he’s done pretending to be the guy in the backseat yelling directions at Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz, for his part, always said that Germany wouldn’t hand Kiev the Taurus long-range missiles. Not that he had much wiggle room after last year’s leaked audio from Russian intelligence of German Air Force brass workshopping ways to hit the Kerch Bridge without leaving any German fingerprints.

Kind of a bad look for a guy who keeps overtly declaring that he wants peace. So naturally, he was furious. Which is why, if Team Scholz suddenly turned around now and said, “You know what? Let’s try a few long-range missile strikes, just for funsies,” people might reasonably assume that he’d undergone a surprise lobotomy with a NATO letter opener. As the coalition partners for Merz’s incoming government, Scholz’s Social Democrats’ support would be needed on any vote. And so far, they’ve shown no interest in greenlighting his WW3 passion project. You know, democracy and all that. Minor hiccup, I know. If military ambition and musings alone were all it took, Merz would already be well on his way to having a Netflix original named after him and maybe even a seat with his name on it waiting at The Hague.

But hey, hear the guy out. What if it’s, like, a group project? Das ist gut, ja? Nah, dude. Nicht gut. Nicht gut at all. What exactly does Team Merz think this would look like? Would the Brits and Germans sit side by side, fingers hovering over their respective missile buttons, doing a tense little “one, two, three, fire” and just praying that neither one flinches at the last second and leaves the other one with some very awkward phone calls to make? If so, that would certainly explain why they’re talking about specifically needing Britain’s non-negotiable participation and not France – the country that trained a flagship brigade for the Ukrainian army, who apparently learned how to bail out before even seeing action. “Paris hailed it as a ‘unique’ initiative,” reported France24. Training 1,700 Ukrainians in France to fight who then just end up surrendering to the foie gras and rosé at the local café prior to deployment is ‘unique’, alright.

“Ah, wonderbar!”

“..Moldova’s airport detentions echo the trajectory taken by the Kiev authorities in Ukraine..”

• Moldova Wages War On Christians To Please Its EU Overlords (Romanenko)

On Thursday, Moldovan authorities chose to detain Bishop Marchel of the Moldovan Metropolis, a metropolitanate under the Russian Orthodox Church, at Chiinau International Airport. Bishop Marchel was on his way to Jerusalem to bring back the Holy Fire for Easter, one of the most sacred ceremonies of the year for Orthodox believers. According to reports, he was pulled aside for a thorough inspection of his person and luggage, had his passport confiscated, and was not allowed to board his flight even though nothing suspicious was ever found. His documents were only returned thirty minutes after the plane departed. By contrast, the rival Metropolis of Bessarabia, a different Orthodox Christian church in Moldova, canonically under the Romanian Patriarchate, sent its own delegate, Bishop Filaret, on the same mission unmolested.

This isn’t an isolated outrage but rather the latest episode in a systematic campaign against anyone deemed pro Russian. On March 25, 2025, Eugenia Gutul the democratically elected head of the Gagauz autonomy was detained at the very same airport. Her passport was confiscated and she was held incommunicado for 72 hours on opaque corruption and illegal financing charges, before being put under house arrest to await trial. Two days later, opposition figure Alexei Lungu was stopped from leaving the country on murky grounds, and Viktor Petrov another Gagauz leader was held for hours in February after flying in from Istanbul, an arrest he claims was orchestrated by Prime Minister Recean’s office. These incidents form a clear pattern: every pro Russian politician, cleric or public figure is under suspicion of destabilizing European choice or colluding with foreign powers.

At its core, what is being played out in Moldova in regards to the Moldovan Metropolis is an attempt to hold the spiritual life of the majority hostage to a political agenda. Nearly 70 percent of Moldovans adhere to the Moldovan Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church. By making its shepherds and representatives into targets, the government is sending a message: worship with a Romanian or European aligned body and you re free to practice your faith; profess loyalty to a politically inconvenient church and you risk being treated like a criminal. This is not a security measure it is a politicization of religion.

Worryingly, Moldova’s airport detentions echo the trajectory taken by the Kiev authorities in Ukraine. In August 2024, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law effectively banning any religious organization affiliated with a state engaged in armed aggression a barely veiled reference to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP). The bill sailed through 265 29 and obliged each parish to sever ties with Moscow or face court ordered closure within nine months. President Zelensky hailed it as a step toward spiritual independence, yet by criminalizing an entire denomination, Kiev set the stage for unprecedented state intrusion into religious life.

“if a far-left radical is the one raising the most money, and someone who’s arguing that Democrats should go even further left, that’s good for Republicans.”

• Will Trump’s Tariffs Hurt GOP in Midterms? (Caldwell)

As President Donald Trump moves at a feverish pace in imposing tariffs and undoing much of his predecessor’s legacy, a question has emerged: How will voters react to these bold actions when midterm elections arrive in 2026? Trump has said that his tariffs—which have corresponded with a drop in his economic job-approval rating—will end up benefiting him and Republicans in midterms. “And I really think we’re helped a lot by the tariff situation that’s going on, which is a good situation,” he said at a National Republican Congressional Committee fundraising dinner last week. “It’s going to be legendary. You watch.” But Brad Bannon, a veteran pollster and political consultant for Democrat congressional campaigns, told The Daily Signal he thinks lower approval ratings and higher uncertainty on the economy will benefit Democrats significantly.

“I don’t believe that anybody should panic, but the Republicans should be worried, based on the latest polling I’ve seen,” said Bannon. Bannon said he was paying particular attention to a CBS poll that showed 53% of people thought the economy had worsened in the past three months and 54% thought Trump had ownership for the state of the economy, rather than former President Joe Biden. Though he acknowledged that Trump’s economic approval rating has risen since its nosedive amid the market crash, he suggested that the fall in the stock market would trigger backlash from voters with 401(k)s who “got basically killed during the tariff thing.” But Republican consultants painted a different picture.

Jason Roe is a reelection campaign consultant for Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., who flipped Michigan’s 7th Congressional District in 2024, which is one of the most volatile swing districts in the country. Michigan is in a special situation as a state that’s especially reliant on Canadian goods, but also has many voters who suffered from deindustrialization in the wake of prior free-trade agreements. Roe says polling suggests to him that voters are willing to give Trump a chance on his ambitious restructuring of the economy. “Everyone seems to—even people that don’t love Trump—feel like we’ve got to do something,” Roe said. “It’s unsustainable as it is.” “So, I think there’s this willingness to give the benefit of the doubt, and you see that in polling on issues like tariffs that don’t poll well, yet Trump’s numbers are still holding. He’s at 47 in the most recent CBS poll. For him to be doing what he’s doing and being who he is, that’s an extraordinarily strong number… but if we get much past Labor Day and people aren’t seeing results… then we could see political problems.” he added.

Democrats also have much to fear as they look toward the 2026 midterms. The Democratic Party had a 27% approval rating in an NBC poll in March. Additionally, the Democratic Party has begun to gravitate toward polarizing figures, such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas, as leaders. Republican strategists think that will be a great asset when midterm season comes. “The national party heads become great targets,” said Brett O’Donnell, a veteran of many presidential campaigns who is consulting for the reelection campaign of Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. He contends that figures such as Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would alienate most voters. “They make for great targets because they’re talking about things that, for the most part, aren’t the concerns of the majority of Americans,” O’Donnell said.

Todd, the Republican consultant, who argues that the Democrats suffered in 2024 because “they’ve allowed themselves to get so far out of the mainstream,” thinks that those figures will hurt Democrats in the next election cycle. Asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s massive fundraising efforts, he replied, “if a far-left radical is the one raising the most money, and someone who’s arguing that Democrats should go even further left, that’s good for Republicans.”

“..Iran completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy..”

• US, Iran Agree To Enter Next Phase Of Nuclear Negotiations (JTN)

The U.S. and Iran have agreed to enter the next phase of negotiations over the Iranian regime’s nuclear program. The second round of the talks began in Rome on Saturday between Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff through the mediation of Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi. The envoys have “agreed to enter into the next phase of their discussions that aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy,” a spokesperson for Oman’s foreign ministry said in a statement posted on Saturday on X. “It is only in dialogue and clear communication that we will be able to achieve a mutually credible agreement and understanding for the benefit of all concerned regionally and internationally. It is also agreed that the next round will take place in Muscat in the next few days,” the statement also read.

Is that the hill you want to die on?

“Two other Congressional Democrats have asked the House Oversight Committee to allow them to travel to El Salvador on the taxpayers’ dime to visit the migrant, but Chairman James Comer denied the request on Friday.”

• Trump On Deported Migrant: ‘He’s Got MS-13 Tattooed’ On His Knuckles (JTN)

President Donald Trump on Friday night doubled down on his administration’s allegation that a deported migrant now in El Salvador is connected to the violent MS-13 gang. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was originally from El Salvador, has become the focal point of one of the biggest deportation cases in recent history, after he was sent back home with another group of illegal migrants. Democrats have argued that Abrego Garcia was a peaceful, law-abiding man from Maryland prior to his deportation, but the Trump administration argues that he was a member of MS-13, who had beaten his wife. Court documents from 2021 showed Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, applied for a protective order against her husband, though the case was eventually dismissed. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, shared an image of what he claimed was Abrego Garcia’s hand, which showed tattoos on his knuckles that included a marijuana leaf, a cross, a skull and a smiley face.

“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person,'” the president wrote in the post. “They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13. “I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things,” he continued. “I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The post comes after Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador this week. Two other Congressional Democrats have asked the House Oversight Committee to allow them to travel to El Salvador on the taxpayers’ dime to visit the migrant, but Chairman James Comer denied the request on Friday.

“I am sympathetic to everything you’re saying, I just don’t I think I have the power to do anything,” Boasberg told the attorneys for the illegal aliens.”

• SCOTUS Order Pauses Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act (Allen)

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration early Saturday morning to pause the deportation of some Venezuelan illegal aliens until the court can rule further. The Court did not grant or deny the use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove the illegal aliens, who the Trump administration claims are Tren de Aragua gang members, but instead the justices simply hit pause on the matter. “The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court,” the order states. After designating Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the White House announced in March that President Donald Trump would use the powers of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to remove members of the gang from America.

The illegal immigrants in question in the ongoing case are currently being held in Texas. The Supreme Court order is in response to an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the Court’s order. Before the Supreme Court issued the order, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C. told the lawyers representing the illegal aliens that he did not have the power to stop deportation flights. “I am sympathetic to everything you’re saying, I just don’t I think I have the power to do anything,” Boasberg told the attorneys for the illegal aliens.

Boasberg did, last month, issue a temporary restraining order barring the U.S. from using the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport illegal aliens, but shortly thereafter the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could resume deportations of Venezuelan criminal illegal aliens under the Alien Enemies Act. The previous 5-4 decision from the justices was narrow and did not address the constitutionality of using the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua. Instead, the court said in its opinion that “judicial review” was requested in the wrong court. The attorneys for the illegal alien should have filed their lawsuit against the deportations in Texas, where the illegal aliens are being held, instead of filing in Washington, D.C., the court found.

“..immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” of members of the group who are Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older and who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.”

• SCOTUS Blocks Deportation of Alleged Venezuela Gang Members for Now (ET)

The Supreme Court on April 19 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting an unspecified number of Venezuelan men currently in immigration custody who are alleged to be members of a criminal gang. The new, unsigned order granting the Venezuelans’ emergency application was issued on Saturday at about 12:55 a.m. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Alito’s reasoning will be added to the court’s file later, according to the order. “The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court,” the order states. The order notes that a request to block the deportations is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

After the Fifth Circuit acts, Solicitor General D. John Sauer should file a response to the application with the Supreme Court as soon as possible, the order states. The order was issued after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an emergency request on behalf of its Venezuelan clients late on April 18 asking the Supreme Court to immediately block the Trump administration from deporting the clients. The emergency application in A.A.R.P. and W.M.M. v. Trump, which challenges President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal immigrants who are alleged or confirmed criminal gang members, was directed to Justice Samuel Alito. The ACLU is also seeking a temporary restraining order from the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, as well as a stay of removal order from the Fifth Circuit, according to the application.

On March 14, President Donald Trump signed Proclamation 10903, in which he officially declared that Tren de Aragua, a designated foreign terrorist organization, “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” The group is using mass illegal immigration to the United States to harm U.S. citizens, undermine public safety, and support the goal of the Venezuelan regime with which it is associated to destabilize “democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States,” the proclamation said. The president invoked the Alien Enemies Act to authorize the “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” of members of the group who are Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older and who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.

The application said the ACLU’s clients are challenging the Trump administration’s use of the federal statute to deport them. The clients “are in imminent and ongoing jeopardy of being removed from the United States without notice or an opportunity to be heard, in direct contravention of this Court’s order in Trump v. J.G.G.” “Many individuals have already been loaded on to buses, presumably headed to the airport” and are at risk of being sent to a prison in El Salvador, according to the application. On March 15, the Trump administration used the Alien Enemies Act to deport at least 137 Venezuelans to El Salvador, where they are now incarcerated “possibly for the rest of their lives” at the Salvadoran Terrorism Confinement Center, which is “one of the most notorious prisons in the world,” the application said.

Turley ignores that there are a million+ cases, and they cannot possibly all be heard.

Yeah, the law works on paper. But the people do not.

• SCOTUS Halts Venezuelan Deportations, 4th Circuit Upholds Garcia Order (Turley)

It has been a busy 24 hours in the courts. Early this morning, the Supreme Court blocked (for now) the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under the Alien Enemies Act, a law only used three times before in our history. At the same time, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the lower court’s order in the case of Abrego Garcia. Despite the growing counter-constitutional movement, both decisions show how the courts are functioning appropriately and expeditiously in sorting out these difficult cases. Indeed, I wanted to flag a couple of paragraphs in the Fourth Circuit case that I hope everyone will take a second to read and consider from Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a widely respected conservative judge. The justices ordered the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans being held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the order. However, this is merely a hold on deportations pending further review of the emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. This rarely used and highly controversial law stretches back to the Adams Administration. There are good-faith arguments on both sides of the case that the Court wants to consider. Accordingly, this is not surprising. The Fourth Circuit also correctly upheld the lower court order in the Garcia case. I remain confused by the administration’s appeal. The Supreme Court already upheld the order requiring the Administration to facilitate Garcia’s return. I have been critical of that opinion, but it clearly recognized the authority of the district court to issue that part of the earlier order.

However, Judge Wilkinson’s opinion contains one passage that I wanted to excerpt. It is a measured and important point that both branches need to show mutual respect in these cases. This sage advice is not coming from a critic or a liberal jurist. It is coming from someone who has been at the heart of conservative jurisprudence for decades:

“The basic differences between the branches mandate a serious effort at mutual respect. The respect that courts must accord the Executive must be reciprocated by the Executive’s respect for the courts. Too often today this has not been the case, as calls for impeachment of judges for decisions the Executive disfavors and exhortations to disregard court orders sadly illustrate.

Now the branches come too close to grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both. This is a losing proposition all around. The Judiciary will lose much from the constant intimations of its illegitimacy, to which by dent of custom and detachment we can only sparingly reply. The Executive will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness and all of its attendant contagions. The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts, but over time history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been, and law in time will sign its epitaph. It is, as we have noted, all too possible to see in this case an incipient crisis, but it may present an opportunity as well. We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.”

Well said, your honor. One can disagree with the ultimate merits on legal issues. However, as I have previously written, the disagreement on those issues should not trigger demands for impeachment or other extreme measures.

At first I thought Elon Musk had filed a lawsuit.

• Judge Blocks Trump’s Order Ending ‘X’ Gender Marker on Passports (ET)

A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration’s executive order banning the use of an “X” on passports marked by people self-identifying as neither male nor female. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick of the District Court of Massachusetts awarded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) a preliminary injunction on April 18, staying the president’s executive action requiring sex, instead of gender identity, to be used as an identifier on government-issued identification documents. The executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” was one of several signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” the order stated. ”These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order stated that gender identity “reflects a fully internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an infinite continuum, that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex.” It ordered the secretaries of State and Homeland Security, and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to “implement changes to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.” It also ordered the rescinding of prior federal guidance documents, including “The White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality.”

The ACLU took legal action against the order on behalf of five plaintiffs who identify as transgender and two who identify as nonbinary, seeking to preserve the pro-LGBT policies put in place under President Joe Biden, allowing a third option on identification documents. “We all have a right to accurate identity documents, and this policy invites harassment, discrimination, and violence against transgender Americans who can no longer obtain or renew a passport that matches who they are,” ACLU lawyer Sruti Swaminathan said in a statement. The Trump administration argued that the president had broad discretion in setting the passport policy, and those policy changes did not “violate the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution.”

The federal government also denied any harm befalling the plaintiffs due to the policy, since they were still free to travel abroad. The judge said the administration didn’t demonstrate substantial government interests in changing the rule. “The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny,” Kobick wrote. “That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.”

“Overall during the first 3 months of 2025, Tesla sold more EVs than the next 10 EV makers combined in the United States..”

• Tesla Continues to Reign Supreme Despite Leftist Violence (Blackmon)

The obviously organized attacks on electric carmaker Tesla’s infrastructure and owners of Tesla cars by leftists apparently suffering from Musk Derangement Syndrome dominated the news throughout much of February and March. Sadly, the campaign was supported by a variety of virtue signaling celebrities and cynical politicians like Arizona Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly putting out videos of themselves selling off their own Teslas and replacing them with other electric vehicles or, in Kelly’s case, a gas-guzzling SUV. You can’t make this stuff up, you really can’t.

The frequency of these attacks appears to have largely died down after law enforcement officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department, arrested and charged a number of the activists with felonies, but the objective was clear: The campaign of attacks was designed to damage Tesla’s brand, in the process hoping to punish founder and CEO Elon Musk for his efforts to support the Donald Trump administration by leading the DOGE project to cut government waste and fraud.Certainly, some damage was done to Tesla’s infrastructure, and to its reputation among its liberal-heavy consumer base. But if the goal was to dethrone Musk’s EV juggernaut as the dominant player in the U.S. and global EV industry, first quarter results show the campaign of violence, vandalism, and virtue signaling to have been a miserable failure.

Web-based EV news site Teslarati compiled the numbers, and reports that Tesla still dominated the US market during the first quarter of 2025, and not just by a little, but by a lot. Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3 cars lead all others in total sales for the quarter with 64,051 and 52,520 units, respectively. Coming in a very distant third was Ford’s Mustang Mach E with just 11,607 units sold. Tesla’s vaunted, weirdly designed Cybertruck continued to be more than a bit of a disappointment, selling just 6,406 units, trailing the equally underperforming Ford F-150 Lightning by more than 700 units sold. But here’s the kicker: Overall during the first 3 months of 2025, Tesla sold more EVs than the next 10 EV makers combined in the United States. Musk’s car company dominates the EV space every bit as overwhelmingly as Google dominates the search engine space in the U.S.

Obviously, as I wrote here a few weeks ago, rumors of Tesla’s looming demise are highly overblown. And its dominant status in the market is not limited to the United States. Germany-based Blackout News reported on April 9 that just four EV companies worldwide are operating profitably today. The only one of those four EV makers not based in China – where we must admit that financial reporting is suspect at best – is, you guessed it, Tesla. That’s right: Not a single pure-play EV maker in the United States, Europe, or anywhere else outside of China is operating in the black even after 30 years of heavy financial subsidization by western governments and regulatory actions tilting the automaker playing field in their favor.

But Blackout News does not limit its report to pure-play EV companies like Rivian, Lucid and Fisker, all of which are either in bankruptcy or teetering on the brink today. The report also details the struggles of traditional car companies like Ford, GM, BMW, and others to record profits in their own EV business units, a topic I’ve covered here several times in the past few years. What it all boils down to is this: No matter how hard cynical Democrats like Sen. Kelly and crazed activists try to damage what has become one of America’s great automakers and its thousands of employees, the market is going to be the ultimate decider of the company’s fate. For the first quarter of 2025, the market has spoken, and Tesla and Musk have come out as the clear winners. That may be a bad thing for Democrats, but it’s a great thing for America.

Severe autism

Thank you @SeanHannity for letting me set the record straight. Bottom line, the more than 25% of people who have severe autism will never go on a date, write a poem, live independently, or have a job. We need to identify the exposures that are causing this epidemic and compensate… pic.twitter.com/RqCCwQgSZg

— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 18, 2025

Makary

This interview with the new head of the FDA – @DrMakaryFDA and @megynkelly is required listening for every American. This is the beginning of a new era. Make sure you listen to what he says at the end of this clip. Watch this full episode of the @MegynKellyShow on YouTube – or… pic.twitter.com/AxIxxmv1B3

— Vani Hari (@thefoodbabe) April 18, 2025

Measles

This video is very eye opening

It compares how previous generations dealt with the measles (chicken pox) in the past, and how it was portrayed in the media

VS

How measles are portrayed in current media today and how to deal with it. I STRONGLY encourage everyone to watch this: pic.twitter.com/jIrsTenx1q

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 18, 2025

Fauci

Dr Roger Hodkinson, [Apr 18, 2025 at 21:45]
For those who bought into the COVID narrative, it’s time to confront the truth—listen to this mainstream media report and face the betrayal.

They deceived you, and the cost is lives lost. Research now confirms—and Greg Hunt himself… pic.twitter.com/tRxa93BlIJ

— Dr David Cartland BMedSci MBChB MRCGP (2014) (@CartlandDavid) April 19, 2025

Neura

CAN’T SEE, CAN’T WALK? ELON’S WORKING ON THAT

Forget flying cars—Elon is out here casually curing blindness and giving people robot limbs you can control with your brain.

His Neuralink brain chip can literally plug into your skull and talk to Tesla’s Optimus robot—so if you’ve… https://t.co/K2IqI0STaG pic.twitter.com/6T1405RZHW

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 20, 2025

Maculatus

One of the rarest animal sightings in the world: chirodectes maculatus, only seen once beforepic.twitter.com/OBPw9I907U

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 19, 2025

Catmouflage

camouflage pic.twitter.com/ItYbwvKH2h

— Posts Of Cats (@PostsOfCats) April 18, 2025

Santorini
https://twitter.com/mamboitaliano__/status/1913482407660990550

Malaga

The Last Supper Procession in Malaga, Spain.pic.twitter.com/LFhjtZZ2nL

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 18, 2025

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Debt Rattle April 16 2025

Apr 162025

April 16, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:46 am Finance Tagged with: budget axe, Holy Week, parolees, Permanent Peace, Sumy, Trump, Tucker Carlson, Victory Day, Witkoff 40 Responses »

Gustave Moreau Helen on the Walls of Troy 1885

• Trump’s Holy Week Statement Is Refreshing (Chris Queen)

• Putin Wants Permanent Peace In Ukraine – Witkoff (RT)

• Kremlin: Russia and US Strive for Peace but Europe Pushes for Conflict (Sp.)

• Ukraine Plotting To Overshadow Russia’s Victory Day – Politico (RT)

• Trump Aides Clash On Trusting Moscow – WSJ (RT)

• This Is China’s Real Problem and Trump’s Real Strength (Stephen Green)

• Europe Cannot Be ‘Permanent Security Vassal’ of US – Vance (RT)

• Washington Is ‘Frustrated’ With European Leaders – Vance (RT)

• Vance Blasts Zelensky For ‘Absurd’ Claim (RT)

• Trump’s Budget Axe Takes Swing at State Dept. and Foreign Aid (Sp.)

• Zelensky Fires Sumy Head After Russian Strike (RT)

• US Blocks G7 Condemnation of Russia Over Sumy Strike – Bloomberg (RT)

• Zelensky Moves To Delay Election Again (RT)

• A Federal Judge Just Threatened the Trump Administration (Margolis)

• Judge Halts Trump Deportation of Half a Million Biden “Parolees” (Turley)

• Tucker Carlson Shares Why His Show Was Canceled (DS)

https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1911977298796138515

Miller
https://twitter.com/TONYxTWO/status/1911931824126955858

Tucker weldon

After twenty years in congress, Curt Weldon was about to become chairman of the House Armed Services Committee when he publicly questioned the accuracy of the 9-11 report. In retaliation, the Bush administration sent federal agents to his daughter’s house and ended his political… pic.twitter.com/vxiDRI8pfz

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 14, 2025

Former Congressman Curt Weldon drops a bombshell, revealing that Muammar Gaddafi was planning to launch a gold-backed currency to unite Africa—an economic move he says deeply threatened Western powers.

Weldon claims this plan was one of the key reasons the U.S. wanted Gaddafi… pic.twitter.com/Y8dt1ZMvXL

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 14, 2025

RICO

Trump using RICO to bring everyone to court. pic.twitter.com/kjGIdJoLxs

— Jeff pontz (@827js) April 15, 2025

Realizing that if wehad 13 months instead of 12, every month would be exacily'28 days,

The lst would always be a Monday, and the 28th would al ways be a Sunday.

Every month would have exactly 4 weeks instead of 4257, and we would properly align ourselves with the cycle of the… pic.twitter.com/ID5P8STnNV

— FLAT OUT TRUTH (@TheFlatEartherr) April 15, 2025

Holy Week seems a good topic to pay attention to as conflicts are rising. And this time we get to move away from “..Biden gave the transgender lobby more attention than the resurrection of Jesus..”

• Trump’s Holy Week Statement Is Refreshing (Chris Queen)

Millions of Christians throughout the country are marking Holy Week, which covers the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. The White House recognized Holy Week with a presidential message on Sunday. President Donald Trump’s statement wasn’t just some milquetoast appreciation of Easter and those Christians who celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this coming Sunday. Instead, there’s a theological richness that was surprising and refreshing: During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross. In His final hours on Earth, Christ willingly endured excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross out of a deep and abiding love for all His creation. Through His suffering, we have redemption. Through His death, we are forgiven of our sins. Through His Resurrection, we have hope of eternal life. On Easter morning, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and light prevails over darkness—signaling that death does not have the final word.

The penultimate paragraph was remarkably Trinitarian: “As we focus on Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we look to His love, humility, and obedience—even in life’s most difficult and uncertain moments. This week, we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved Nation. We pray that America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world, and we pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.” “Now, what stands out in that? What should grab our attention?” Dr. Albert Mohler asked in his podcast on Tuesday morning. “Well, number one, it’s a presidential statement calling for and praying for and outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved nation. That’s pretty unprecedented in language. You now have clear explicit Trinitarian language as the structure for this statement.”

Later, Mohler referred to the last statement in that paragraph, saying, “That reference to Christ’s eternal kingdom is very, very interesting because it places the kingdom, so to speak, represented by the government of the United States of America, in a very different context than most presidents ever discussed them.” The president also reiterated his commitment to protecting religious freedom in the U.S. “This Holy Week, my Administration renews its promise to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government,” the statement asserted. “We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square.”

Such a statement from the White House is refreshing enough on its own (even though there’s some phrasing that I don’t 100% agree with theologically), but it catches my attention even more when I compare it to the Biden White House’s treatment of Easter last year. If you forgot, Easter coincided with the left’s high holy day, “Transgender Day of Visibility,” and of course, Biden gave the transgender lobby more attention than the resurrection of Jesus. Last year, I wrote: By now, we’re all aware that the White House managed to commit the most sacrilegious act imaginable — or at least made the biggest possible slap in the faces of Christians — by emphasizing “Transgender Day of Visibility” over Easter. While the holiday honoring our secular state religion of transgenderism is fixed on March 31, it could have and rightly should have taken a backseat to the moveable feast that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.

Instead, Joe Biden, his handlers, and the rest of his administration chose to double down on honoring a tiny minority of transgender Americans over the millions of Christians who celebrate Easter Sunday. The White House statement on Easter was only 94 words, while the proclamation of “Transgender Day of Visibility” clocked in at a whopping 635 words. On the president’s X/Twitter account, the “Transgender Day of Visibility” tweet was twice as long (45 words) as the Easter tweet (20 words). Aren’t you glad that we don’t have to put up with that sort of nonsense this year? Thank you, President Trump, for standing up for believers and recognizing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the ultimate turning point in history.

“There’re security protocols, NATO Article 5 [on collective security] … a lot of detail attached to it. It’s a complicated situation..”

Perhaps your biggest problem: Half of Europe insists Putin wants to conquer their lands.

• Putin Wants Permanent Peace In Ukraine – Witkoff (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pursuing a permanent peace and a legally binding settlement to the Ukraine conflict, US special envoy Steve Witkoff has told Fox News. Witkoff, tasked by US President Donald Trump to lead negotiations with Moscow, met with Putin and two of his senior advisers on Friday. The US envoy shared details of the talks in an interview on Monday, describing the nearly five-hour meeting with Putin as “compelling” and saying it brought the Ukraine peace process to “the verge” of a breakthrough. According to Witkoff, Putin is pursuing a lasting solution. “So beyond just a ceasefire, we got an answer to that,” the envoy said, adding it “took a while for us to get to this place.” A key part of any deal, Witkoff said, would be the recognition that Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions are part of Russia.

However, he emphasized that the proposed agreement goes beyond territorial issues. “There’re security protocols, NATO Article 5 [on collective security] … a lot of detail attached to it. It’s a complicated situation,” he said. Still, Witkoff said he believed the two sides “might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.” Friday’s meeting was Witkoff’s third with the Russian president since February. Trump has repeatedly said he aims to end the hostilities in Ukraine as quickly as possible. Russia has maintained it is open to peace talks, provided its key security demands are addressed. Moscow opposes any NATO presence on Ukrainian soil and has demanded that Kiev demilitarize, denazify, adhere to a position of neutrality, and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.”

The Russian government has insisted it will not accept a freeze of the conflict, which it maintains will only lead to renewed hostilities later on. Moscow has cited Ukraine’s violations of a US-proposed moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure as proof of Kiev’s untrustworthiness. Commenting on Putin’s meeting with Witkoff, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday there were “no clear outlines of any agreement yet,” but that there was the political will to move forward. Moscow, he added, values the “constructive and substantive” contact with the US side.

“Once again, we are very, very positive about the constructive and meaningful contacts that have taken place..”

• Kremlin: Russia and US Strive for Peace but Europe Pushes for Conflict (Sp.)

Russia and US are working hard for peace, while Europe is working hard for war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. “Yes, here also you and I should clearly understand that at the moment there is intense work between Moscow and Washington. And it is taking place in the name of peace. And against this background, European countries continue to work for war,” Peskov told reporters, adding that Russian-US economic cooperation may play a stabilizing role for the world. European countries declare their intention to continue supporting Ukraine and the Kiev regime in its efforts to continue the war, Peskov added. There is quite intensive work on the Ukrainian settlement, but immediate results should not be expected, Peskov said.

“Hard work is going on. Of course, it is such a complex substance that it is hardly possible to expect immediate results, but nevertheless. Of course, we would like to hope for the best, hope that this work will have positive results,” Peskov told reporters. There are no clear outlines of a future Ukrainian settlement agreement, but there is political will to work in its direction, he added. “Once again, we are very, very positive about the constructive and meaningful contacts that have taken place,” the spokesman said. Peskov refused to comment on media reports about an alleged US offer to Iran to transfer its uranium reserves to Russia. The Guardian reported earlier that the United States had allegedly offered Tehran to transfer uranium reserves to Russia during talks with Iran in Oman. “I leave this issue without comment,” Peskov told reporters.

Ukraine keeps launching strikes on Russian energy infrastructure on a daily basis, Kremlin spokesman said. “The temporary moratorium has not been respected and is not being respected by the Ukrainian military. We see daily strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. It is important for everyone to know this,” Peskov said. Unlike the Kiev regime, Russia continues to abide by the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, given a month ago, and does not target Ukrainian energy infrastructure, he added. “I need to clarify [the dates of the moratorium’s end]. I just need to get corresponding information from [the Russian] Defense Ministry. Of course all will depend on the orders of the Commander-in-Chief [Putin],” the spokesman said when asked about the moratorium’s expiration date.

A conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump within the next few days is not on the schedule, Peskov said. “There is no such conversation on the schedule within the next few days,” Peskov told journalists. Peskov specified that if such a conversation were to take place, the Kremlin would provide information about it. “We will appropriately inform you the way we usually do it,” Peskov said. Russia expects leaders from more than 20 countries to visit Moscow on May 9 and take part in the Victory Day parade, Peskov said. “We are ready to receive anyone who is willing to celebrate this extremely important date with us. It has a special meaning now, when Nazism has reestablished itself in Europe. When we do not see a unanimous European desire to eradicate it immediately. Therefore, this day is extremely important, and we will be happy to welcome everyone. We can already say that we are expecting more than 20 heads of state and government who will be here together with [Russian President Vladimir Putin] to celebrate this day,” Peskov said.

Moscow will be happy to welcome anyone “who is ready to share the pride and joy of this day” and believes that everyone in Europe and the world should understand the significance of Victory Day, he added. Russia has called the statement by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas about the presence of EU countries in Russia on May 9 very harsh, Dmitry Peskov said. “As for Ms. Kallas you mentioned, we draw attention to her very, very harsh statements. We do not consider them correct and we cannot assess these threats. Those threats should be assessed by a sovereign state that is being threatened. And as it seems to us, there are states in Europe that do not accept such rhetoric,” Peskov said, when asked about Kallas’ calls for candidates for EU accession not to participate in the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Russia.

EU and Ukraine organize their own ‘victory’ day on May 8. To celebrate the freedom they would not have had without the 26 million dead Russians. How low can one go? How petty?

• Ukraine Plotting To Overshadow Russia’s Victory Day – Politico (RT)

Ukraine is seeking to undermine Russia’s Victory Day celebrations by inviting senior European politicians to an event on May 9 in the west of the country, Politico has reported. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga proposed the event in order to “show our unity and resolve in the face of the biggest aggression in Europe since the Second World War,” according to the outlet. The plan was lauded by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who believes that it will “show that Europe is there, in Ukraine, and not near [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Moscow.” Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is also reportedly pursuing a separate summit, to be held in May, involving countries who are seeking to deploy troops to the country as part of a potential truce. The potential visit could involve several European heads of state, including incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, two sources told Politico.

Russia has voiced opposition against any unauthorized foreign troop deployment in Ukraine, warning they would be considered legitimate targets and that such a move could only escalate the conflict. Russia will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and hold its annual Victory Day parade in Red Square on May 9. More than 20 foreign leaders are expected to attend, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

While Russia continues to celebrate Victory Day on May 9, Ukraine – which has long sought to sever cultural ties with its neighbor and erase its Soviet heritage – has moved its official WWII remembrance to May 8 and now designates May 9 as Europe Day. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov slated the reported Ukrainian plans. “The very fact that Zelensky doesn’t want to celebrate Victory Day on May 9 shows, at the very least, a lack of respect for the memory of his own grandfather… It once again shows that this is a regime can’t stand such days as May 9. It only confirms that the Russian side is right, and that President Putin is doing what needs to be done.”

“..Witkoff said his almost five-hour meeting with Putin was “compelling” and put the Ukraine peace process “on the verge” of a breakthrough..”

• Trump Aides Clash On Trusting Moscow – WSJ (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s senior advisers disagree on whether Moscow genuinely wants a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources. A group led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg are urging greater skepticism, the report said. Trump, however, is siding with diplomatic aide Steve Witkoff, who is said to be more trusting of Moscow. Last week, Witkoff met with President Vladimir Putin, after the two already held talks in March. Moscow maintains that it has always been willing to achieve its core objectives in the conflict through diplomatic means, while Kiev and its Western backers have advocated for escalation. The Russian government, however, has said it will not accept a freeze of the conflict, which will only lead to renewed hostilities later on, citing Ukraine’s violations of a US-proposed moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure as proof of Kiev’s untrustworthiness.

As an example of Trump siding with Witkoff, the WSJ cited a missile strike on the city of Sumy on Sunday, in which Kiev claimed that Moscow deliberately targeted civilians, killing 34. Trump, however, referred to the incident as a “mistake,” while Rubio’s State Department called it “horrifying” and Kellogg said it crossed “any line of decency.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the missiles were launched at “another meeting of Ukrainian military leaders with their Western colleagues” masquerading as mercenaries. The Defense Ministry estimated that the strike killed around 60 troops, claiming that Kiev used civilians as human shields for the gathering. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky told CBS News on Sunday that Trump’s criticisms of his leadership indicate that “Russian narratives are winning in the US.”

Senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev expressed concern about American vulnerability to foreign lobbying after meeting with senior US officials earlier this month, accusing the Western media of waging a coordinated campaign to undermine the normalization of relations. ”We see attempts to misinterpret Russian messages, mischaracterize Russia and its leaders. This happens every day,” he stated, adding that “direct dialogue is the best way to defeat this disinformation.” In an interview on Monday with Fox News, Witkoff said his almost five-hour meeting with Putin was “compelling” and put the Ukraine peace process “on the verge” of a breakthrough.

“MORE COWBELL!”

• This Is China’s Real Problem and Trump’s Real Strength (Stephen Green)

Chinese Communist Party boss Xi Jinping has a problem, and the answer is — MORE COWBELL! I’m kidding, of course, except for the fundamental truth behind my silly Saturday Night Live gag. Since economic liberalization began under Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s, the answer to China’s economic questions — like Christopher Walken in the famous SNL sketch — has always been the same: MORE EXPORTS. But exports are about to hit a wall. Without getting too technical, China desperately needs to escape what economists call the Middle Income Trap. That’s when a Third World (or even Second World) economy comes this close to making the move from poverty to enjoying a middle-level income, then to joining the wealthy nations of the world.

South Korea escaped. Israel escaped. Singapore and Taiwan did, too. All four used to be dirt poor, or nearly so. All are now among the world’s high earners. Argentina was one of the world’s wealthiest countries a century ago but backslid into the middle rank under a crippling combination of economic populism and political corruption. Javier Milei is working furiously to fix all that, but I digress. These countries escaped in two steps. The first was by exporting well-made manufactured goods. The second was transitioning to a consumer-based economy much like ours. That second step is where China has trouble. China faces all kinds of headwinds as it sits right at the top of the middle-income heap without quite going any higher. Those headwinds include shrinking demographics, stalled productivity growth, a real estate crisis, a consumer confidence deficit, and more.

So instead of creating a political-economic climate free enough to transition to a more consumer-based economy, Xi turned to the “MORE COWBELL!” solution once again. China now pumps out state-subsidized manufactured goods at an unprecedented rate. The hope, I presume, is to crush the rest of the world’s manufacturing before any resistance is mounted. Look at this:

This is from @BrookingsInst – Not MAGA or @POTUS
CCP is flooding world markets with subsidized goods. This is how Xi fights for survival.
—@YatesComms @DominoTheoryPod @YatesComms @seanmdav @MariaBartiromo @andrewrsorkin @nedryun @DonaldJTrumpJr @instapundit @ImKingGinger… https://t.co/t5yhe8p95n

— Mark Simon (@MarkSimonHK) April 14, 2025

The word you’re looking for is “unsustainable.” While I remain at best cautiously optimistic about the utility of tariffs for restoring American manufacturing — tax cuts and massive deregulation would probably help more — tariffs are a vital tool for dealing with a rival like Communist China. The chart shows it. Everything Xi needs to maintain CCP authority is right there in that big red line. The thing of it is, China has all the tools it needs — particularly in engineering — to escape the Middle Income Trap. All the tools but one: the political and economic stability required to empower the Chinese consumer and escape the Middle Income Trap. Nevertheless, Chinese manufacturing is a 600-pound gorilla, determined to crush smaller economies.

You can find endless reports of just that happening in places like Vietnam and Thailand. But now, enter the other 600-pound gorilla, the U.S. consumer. Without access to our spending power, China’s export power is greatly diminished — particularly if the administration’s trade negotiations get the rest of the world on board with caging the gorilla. Trump’s tariffs are a dam to the flood of Xi’s exports, a pin to prick his bubble economy.

Europe is set to arm itself into bankruptcy.

• Europe Cannot Be ‘Permanent Security Vassal’ of US – Vance (RT)

Europe cannot remain a “permanent security vassal” of the US, Vice President J.D. Vance has said, stressing that this arrangement is not beneficial for either side. His comments come at time of geopolitical tensions between the US and Europe on a number of issues, including the Ukraine conflict, while the administration of US President Donald Trump demands that other NATO members drastically increase their defense spending. In an interview with UnHerd on Monday, Vance voiced frustration over Europe’s approach to security, arguing that the topic has long been a blind spot for the region. “The reality is – it’s blunt to say it, but it’s also true – that Europe’s entire security infrastructure, for my entire life, has been subsidized by the United States of America.”

At present, he continued, only three European nations – the UK, France, and Poland – have self-sustained militaries. “In some ways, they’re the exceptions that prove the rule, that European leaders have radically underinvested in security, and that has to change.” I certainly recognize, that it’s not in Europe’s interest, and it’s not in America’s interest, for Europe to be a permanent security vassal of the United States. The Trump administration has been pushing European nations to invest more in their militaries since Trump’s first term, arguing that the US is shouldering the main burden. In 2014, NATO members pledged to increase their defense spending to 2% of GDP, though some are still struggling to reach this.

In February, Trump suggested that NATO members should consider spending as much as 5% of GDP on defense, later warning that “if they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte agreed that Trump is right to demand that European members step up defense spending amid tensions with Russia. Numerous Western officials have speculated that Russia could attack European NATO members within a few years. Moscow has dismissed the claim as “nonsense,” saying it has no interest in doing so.

Make that “lack of leaders”. There’s two kinds in Europe: Unelected and unpopular.

• Washington Is ‘Frustrated’ With European Leaders – Vance (RT)

Washington is “frustrated” by the reluctance of its European allies to respond to their voters on critical issues such as immigration, US Vice President J.D. Vance has stated. In an interview with the British website UnHerd published on Tuesday, he said this sentiment is shared by the entire administration of President Donald Trump. “European populations keep on crying out for more sensible economic and migration policies, and the leaders of Europe keep on going through these elections, and keep on offering the European peoples the opposite of what they seem to have voted for,” Vance explained. He warned that politicians who disregard the will of the people risk ruining “the entire democratic project of the West.”

In February, Vance sent shockwaves through the West by criticizing America’s European allies for what he characterized as backsliding on the democratic values they share with the US. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, he warned that if this continues, Washington could conclude that these nations are not worth protecting as NATO members. Vance criticized politicians who shun parties such as the anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD). Last week, the AfD surpassed the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) to become the most popular party in Germany, receiving 25% of support in a hypothetical election. The CDU has engaged in coalition negotiations with the Social Democrats (SPD), excluding the AfD from the discussions entirely.

In the UnHerd interview, Vance said his criticism stems from a deep love for Europeans and the shared cultural heritage underpinning Western civilization. He also urged NATO members in Europe to bolster their militaries instead of relying on security “subsidized by the United States of America.” Tensions between the US and its European allies have grown since Trump took office in January. This is in part due to Washington’s refusal to provide further military aid to Ukraine, the US president’s stated goal of claiming Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark) for America, and his attempt at rebalancing international trade through tariffs and deals with individual states.

“..Zelensky claimed that “Russian narratives are prevailing in the US” and that Moscow has “enormous influence” [on Trump].

• Vance Blasts Zelensky For ‘Absurd’ Claim (RT)

US Vice President J.D. Vance has accused Vladimir Zelensky of making “absurd” statements, after the Ukrainian leader suggested that Washington is on Russia’s side in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Zelensky claimed that “Russian narratives are prevailing in the US” and that Moscow has “enormous influence” on the administration of US President Donald Trump and its policies. Responding in a conversation with the UnHerd outlet published on Tuesday, Vance described Zelensky’s remarks as “certainly not productive.” “I think it is sort of absurd for Zelensky to tell the [US] government, which is currently keeping his entire government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians,” he stressed.

“If you want to end the conflict, you have to try to understand where both the Russians and the Ukrainians see their strategic objectives,” Vance added. ‘“That does not mean you morally support the Russian cause, or that you support the full-scale invasion, but you do have to try to understand what are their strategic red lines, in the same way that you have to try to understand what the Ukrainians are trying to get out of the conflict,” he said. Members of the Trump administration “are not on anybody’s side. We are on America’s side,” Vance insisted. Trump and Vance publicly clashed with Zelensky during his visit to the White House in late February, accusing the Ukrainian leader of disrespect toward the US, failing to appreciate American aid, and not being interested in achieving peace with Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Kommersant newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday that Moscow appreciates that “the Trump administration is trying to get to the bottom of the issue and, most importantly, understand the root cause” of the Ukraine conflict. Lavrov also noted that Trump “has repeatedly said that the colossal mistake which led to the current events in Ukraine was the Biden administration’s decision to drag Ukraine into NATO.” Ukrainian neutrality remains one of Moscow’s key demands for a settlement of the conflict, along with the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine and recognition by Kiev that Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are part of Russia.

Big Plans. Big Numbers.

• Trump’s Budget Axe Takes Swing at State Dept. and Foreign Aid (Sp.)

The State Department’s budget may be dropped from $54.4 billion to $28.4 billion in 2026, according to internal planning documents seen by Reuters. Furthermore, nearly 30 US missions, mainly in Africa and Europe, would be shut, with foreign aid slashed from $38.3 billion to $16.9 billion, and programs deemed “redundant” headed for the shredder. America’s soft power toolbox – USAID – is getting the axe too, per the documents; its parts are being folded into the State Department.

The story that Russia killed civilians worked for 3 days. Now back to reality.

• Zelensky Fires Sumy Head After Russian Strike (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky’s office announced on Tuesday that it has fired the head of Ukraine’s Sumy Regional Military Administration, Vladimir Artyukh. The move follows accusations that Artyukh organized a military awards ceremony that was targeted in a Russian missile strike. On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it carried out a precision strike the previous day on a gathering of Ukrainian command staff in the border city of Sumy. Two Iskander-M missiles were used in the attack on Sunday, it said, adding that over 60 senior Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the strike. The local Ukrainian authorities have claimed that the attack targeted a military awards ceremony for the 117th Territorial Defense Brigade. Officials reported that the strike resulted in 35 civilian deaths and 129 others injured.

Several Ukrainian officials, including the mayor of Konotop, Artyom Semenikhin, have since called for the prosecution of Artyukh, accusing him of being directly responsible for the casualties by “organizing an awards ceremony” despite warnings not to do so. Artyukh has effectively confirmed that the ceremony took place on the day of the attack but denied responsibility for the event, telling public broadcaster Suspilne that he “was invited” but did not organize it. Nevertheless, Zelensky signed a decree on Tuesday removing Artyukh from his post. Taras Melnychuk, the cabinet’s representative in parliament, confirmed the move in a post on Telegram on Tuesday and announced that the government has decided on a replacement.

Moscow has stressed that it does not attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian military only strikes “military-related targets.” Russian officials have accused Kiev, however, of deliberately hosting military events in civilian areas. Following the Sumy attack, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the facility targeted in Sunday’s strike was hosting both Ukrainian and NATO officers, and claimed they were posing as mercenaries. Lavrov went on to say that Kiev routinely flouts international law by placing military facilities and weapons in or near civilian infrastructure, and that there have been “a million” examples of this. Sumy is a regional capital and frontline city of over 250,000 people, located 25km from the border with Russia. It has become a focal point of Ukraine’s retreat from Russia’s Kursk Region following its failed incursion.

“..Trump’s team had told the group that it couldn’t sign the statement because it is “working to preserve the space to negotiate peace.”

• US Blocks G7 Condemnation of Russia Over Sumy Strike – Bloomberg (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly refused to back a G7 statement condemning Russia’s recent missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed firing two Iskander-M missiles the day before, targeting a gathering of Ukrainian and Western command staff, killing at least 60 senior servicemen. The Ukrainian authorities, however, have claimed that the Russian missiles struck a military awards ceremony, leaving 35 civilians dead and 129 others injured. Following the attack, Ukraine and a number of its international backers accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and undermining peace talks.

According to Bloomberg, the G7, which is being presided over by Canada this year, has drafted a joint statement denouncing the strike on Sumy but has not released it due to a lack of US support. In a draft of the statement seen by the outlet, the group said that the attack was proof that Russia was determined to continue the hostilities. Bloomberg reported that Trump’s team had told the group that it couldn’t sign the statement because it is “working to preserve the space to negotiate peace.”

Since taking office in January, Trump has pushed to get both Moscow and Kiev to the negotiating table and has resumed direct contacts with Russia in order to facilitate a peace deal. Throughout the Ukraine conflict, Moscow has maintained that it never targets civilian infrastructure. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently emphasized that Russia only strikes military targets. Russian officials have also stated that Moscow remains open to a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict but have stressed that any settlement must address its root causes. Moscow has demanded that Kiev demilitarize, denazify, give up its NATO ambitions, and adhere to a position of neutrality, and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.”

If you don’t force him, he won’t do it. And even then, fair election anyone?

• Zelensky Moves To Delay Election Again (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has submitted a bill to extend martial law in the country by another 90 days, which would rule out any chance of a new presidential election being held within that time frame. Zelensky – whose presidential term expired almost one year ago – has repeatedly cited martial law as a pretext for refusing to hold a new election. Russia has declared Zelensky “illegitimate” as a leader, insisting that the Ukrainian parliament remains the only legal authority in the country. On Tuesday, Zelensky introduced draft legislation in the Ukrainian parliament proposing a three-month extension of martial law and general mobilization starting from May 9. According to Ukrainian law, elections cannot be held while martial law is in effect, meaning the presidential vote will remain suspended.

If martial law were lifted, parliamentary elections could be held within 60 days after the end of the restrictions, and presidential elections within 90 days. The submitted bills are expected to be approved by parliament between April 15 and 18, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak has said. Zelensky’s potential run for reelection has been the subject of much media speculation, particularly after Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East and a key figure in negotiating a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, claimed in late March that “there will be elections” in the country, although without providing a timeline. His comments also came after Trump himself called Zelensky “a dictator without elections.”

A later report by The Economist claimed that Zelensky and his team were gearing up for a blitzkrieg election campaign to “catch [his] rivals off guard” and win the vote before the opposition could muster its strength. However, Ukrainian officials have dismissed any plans to hold an election anytime soon. David Arakhamia, the head of Zelensky’s faction in the parliament, said that “all parliamentary parties and groups have agreed that elections should be held six months after the lifting of martial law.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that European NATO members are making every effort to make sure that Zelensky retains power. Even if he fails to do so, Kiev’s backers would seek to maintain “the same Nazi and overtly Russophobic regime” in Ukraine by installing a new “half-Fuhrer” in Zelensky’s stead, Lavrov stated.

“U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is now threatening contempt proceedings against the Trump administration for not complying with her order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador..”

• A Federal Judge Just Threatened the Trump Administration (Margolis)

Make no mistake about it, the left is trying to force President Trump to bring an MS-13 gang member back to the United States. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is now threatening contempt proceedings against the Trump administration for not complying with her order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador. The Biden-appointed judge is particularly upset that the administration hasn’t provided evidence of efforts to bring back this suspected gang member. During Tuesday’s hearing, she complained, “I’ve gotten nothing. I’ve gotten no real response, and no real legal justification for not answering.” Attorneys for Abrego Garcia had asked that the administration be found in contempt of court over its inaction. The judge said she wants to review the evidence the administration submits, which is expected to include sworn depositions, before ruling on the matter.

She ordered officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to sit for the depositions, and for the administration to hand over documents by the end of the month to see what steps its taken to comply with her order. Naturally, the liberal media is portraying Abrego Garcia as some innocent victim of an “administrative error.” But they conveniently gloss over the serious concerns about his background. “Abrego Garcia was a foreign terrorist. He is an MS-13 gang member. He was engaged in human trafficking,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained Tuesday, setting the record straight. “He illegally came into our country, and so deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result.”

Xinis previously ordered the administration to try to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., where he could be given due process. The Supreme Court partially affirmed her order last week, saying Abrego Garcia’s removal was “illegal” and that Xinis’ order “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” During an Oval Office meeting Monday between President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran president told a reporter that he wouldn’t send Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., calling the question “preposterous.”

But what about the judge’s previous ruling that supposedly bars Abrego Garcia’s deportation? The administration’s position is clear: as a member of MS-13, which Trump has designated as a foreign terrorist organization, his removal was both legal and necessary for American safety. The left is desperately trying to paint a different picture. They point to the judge’s opinion questioning the evidence used to identify him as an MS-13 member. This case perfectly illustrates the ongoing battle between Trump’s commitment to law and order and activist judges trying to obstruct his immigration policies — and now threatening the administration with contempt proceedings. This is judicial activism run amok, and it has to stop.

Yeah, give them all their day in court…

“Parole is not a legal status under immigration laws. It is a status created by executive action and is now being curtailed under that same authority.”

• Judge Halts Trump Deportation of Half a Million Biden “Parolees” (Turley)

The intense struggle between the Trump Administration and federal judges continued this week with another court ordering a halt to a nationwide program. In Massachusetts, District Judge Indira Talwani is preventing President Donald Trump from canceling a Biden program granting parole and the right to work to immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV). Judge Talwani’s order would require individual hearings for the half of a million individuals allowed into the country under this program by President Joe Biden. Under the announcement published in the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security officially moved to terminate the CHNV Program. The announcement followed an Executive Order, signed on Trump’s first day in office, entitled “Securing Our Borders,” directing the DHS to end the CHNV program.

Under the notice, DHS said that the parole status would expire in 30 days “unless the Secretary makes an individual determination to the contrary.” It further mandated that parolees who had not obtained a legal basis to be in the United States, such as a green card or other visa, must depart the United States before their parole expires. In the prior hearing, Judge Talwani indicated that she would not allow that to happen, stating that the Administration’s interpretation of the law was “incorrect” and that “[t]he nub of the problem here is that [Homeland Security Secretary Krisit Noem], in cutting short the parole period afforded to these individuals, has to have a reasoned decision.”

In her opinion, Judge Talwani wrote: “If their parole status is allowed to lapse, plaintiffs will be faced with two unfavorable options: continue following the law and leave the country on their own, or await removal proceedings. If plaintiffs leave the country on their own, they will face dangers in their native countries, as set forth in their affidavits.” The court also noted that leaving would cause family separation and jeopardize their ability to seek a remedy based on the Administrative Procedure Act. The Administration argued that it did have a “reasoned decision” to end the CHNV program and weighed the cost to the parolees. It noted that the parolees were always going to face family separation and costs since this was just a temporary, two-year program. It asserted that it did weigh alternative periods for winding down the program. While the court may disagree with its conclusions, it asserts that it has the same discretion used by President Biden in creating the program.

There was another pressing reason for the change. If the parolees were allowed to run the course of the full period, those who did not obtain legal status could force formal removal proceedings rather than the expedited removal under the program. The Justice Department maintained: “DHS’s decision to terminate the CHNV program and existing grants of parole under that program is within this statutory authority and comports with the notice requirements of the statute and regulations,” they wrote. “Additionally, given the temporary nature of CHNV parole and CHNV parolees’ pre-existing inability to seek re-parole under the program, their harms are outweighed by the harms to the public if the Secretary is not permitted to discontinue a program she has determined does not serve the public interest.”

All of this presents another novel legal question. Parole is not a legal status under immigration laws. It is a status created by executive action and is now being curtailed under that same authority. However, these individuals came to the country under the promise of a two-year period. The question is whether a temporary program created by executive fiat can be treated as creating a type of vested right. If Judge Talwani prevails, individual determinations of half a million cases would be an overwhelming burden on the Administration and easily run out the time granted under the program for these individuals. Indeed, for many of the individuals, the appellate process could exceed that period. The court is not weighing the harshness of the decision but the president’s discretion in making such a decision. Judge Talwani suggests that, once created by President Biden, the program cannot be curtailed or shortened by President Trump. That question could very well find itself on the Supreme Court’s ever-lengthening docket.

“I don’t read The New York Times,” the former TV host said. “I don’t subscribe to The Washington Post. I don‘t read Politico or any of that crap. It’s just garbage.”

• Tucker Carlson Shares Why His Show Was Canceled (DS)

It’s been two years since Tucker Carlson answered a phone call on a Monday morning in late April 2023 to learn that the Fox News Channel had canceled his prime-time show. “I got fired from Fox for saying things they didn’t like,” Carlson told The Daily Signal during an exclusive interview at The Heritage Foundation’s Annual Leadership Conference. “That’s all right, you know. It’s not my company,” Carlson said of his ouster from Fox, adding, “I wasn’t one of those people like, ‘You can’t fire me.’ It’s like, of course you can fire me!” He was replaced in the 8 p.m. Eastern Time slot by Jesse Watters. Fox was not the first major network to end its relationship with Carlson.
“I got fired once for low ratings [and] once for being kind of a lunatic,” he recalled. The political commentator worked at CNN and MSNBC before later going on to work at Fox News.

Looking back on his more than two decades working at Fox News, Carlson said, “I would always say to Fox, ‘I’m not going to take instruction. I mean, you hired me to get decent ratings, I’ve done that. If you don’t like what I say, you can take me off the air, but you’re not going to control my show, just fire me.’ … And that seemed like that had always been our deal.” After spending about 30 years working in the world of cable news, Carlson said, “I liked everyone I worked for, including the people who fired me.” Since his breakup with Fox News, Carlson started his own company and launched a YouTube channel, which now has nearly 4 million subscribers, where he shares multiple video interviews each week. Carlson hosts a wide range of guests on his show. Between March 5 and March 7, for example, Carson released interviews with Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently in prison for fraud related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange; Jonathan Roumie, who played Jesus in “The Chosen”; and Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

“I have varied interests, you know, but I’m interested in people,” Carlson said. While Carlson said he could have retired after losing his job at Fox News and pursued his passions for trout fishing, bird hunting, and carpentry, his love of people kept him in the news and political commentary space. “But I really love talking to people. I like learning—that sounds like B.S., but it’s actually fully sincere. And I love that more than I love money. I would do that for free,” he said. Despite still working in the field of political commentary, Carlson says he does not “read any news content at all,” but instead gets his news from people. “I’m not following every topic, he said. “I only follow five or six things.” “I’m really interested in the foreign policy stuff, and I’ve spent a lot of time on that topic,” Carlson said.

“I’m not an expert on it, but I certainly know a lot more than most policymakers in the United States who are probably the dumbest people I’ve ever met in my life, and reckless, and not all, but the majority have no right to make the decisions that they make.” “I’m interesting in spiritual questions, he continued. “I’m interest in the outdoors, and I’m interested in the balance of power globally, and in war and preventing it. So, those are my interests.” Life is a lot easier, Carlson said, when you focus on your interests and know that “you don’t have to be an expert on everything. And by the way, no one can be.” Among the people who he says he does talk to in order to stay informed on the issues he cares about, there are “a surprisingly small number of journalists, but there are still a couple who I know because they’re really well-informed.”

“I don’t read The New York Times,” the former TV host said. “I don’t subscribe to The Washington Post. I don‘t read Politico or any of that crap. It’s just garbage. Like, why would you read that? Because it gets in your head and then you can’t remember, ‘How did I know that? Where did I hear that?’ You know? So, I get almost 100% of my information from individuals on the phone or by text.”

https://twitter.com/Boldyboy1975/status/1911855232176251283
https://twitter.com/Boldyboy1975/status/1911784309440074076

Holy week
https://twitter.com/Sachinettiyil/status/1911857353420656899

Holy Week in Spain is so cool. pic.twitter.com/fxQk722a70

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) April 14, 2025

https://twitter.com/DiogenisSinopis/status/1912110942336266735
https://twitter.com/CatholicArena/status/1911929738521903128
https://twitter.com/CatholicQuote12/status/1911999731280355356

Alert

A herd of African elephants instinctively formed an “alert circle,” intended to protect the younger elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park this morning, as a 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook southern California. pic.twitter.com/g3v6ddMz5G

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2025

Lion

Logically which animal could take on a full grown male lion? pic.twitter.com/NzabfUxnPO

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 14, 2025

Menace
https://twitter.com/itsme_urstruly/status/1911843708473164266

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Debt Rattle April 13 2025

Apr 132025

April 13, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:54 am Finance Tagged with: Bill Maher, China, Daylight Saving, Euro-Atlantic, indirect talks, Iran, laptops, retaliate, smartphones, Steele dossier, tariffs, Trump, Witkoff 38 Responses »

Salvador Dali Mme. Reese 1931

• Market Tumult From Fractious Messaging Forces Trump Narrative Shift On Tariffs (JTN)

• Trump Exempts Laptops, Smartphones, Chips From Reciprocal Tariff Blitz (ZH)

• ‘Not Good For China’ To Retaliate Over Tariffs – White House (RT)

• Why China Won’t Call a ‘Tariff-wielding Barbarian’ (Pepe Escobar)

• Trump Envoy Witkoff In First ‘Direct, Constructive’ Contact With Iran (ZH)

• Iran and US Unveil Results Of Nuclear Talks (RT)

• Rubio and Musk Back Witkoff’s Peace Efforts (RT)

• Trump Urges Congress to Work Harder to Make Daylight Saving Permanent (ET)

• What Trump Did With Obama’s White House Portrait Is Epic (Margolis)

• Another District Court Judge Goes Rogue Against Trump Administration (Margolis)

• US Wants Control Of Key Gas Pipeline In Ukraine – Reuters (RT)

• Why The AfD Is Destined For The German Government (Amar)

• Euro-Atlantic Community Gearing For War – Lavrov (RT)

• Steele Dossier Was Discredited In 2017 — But Sold To The Public Anyway (MPN)

• Bill Maher Says ‘Mind Blown’ After Meeting With Trump (ZH)

O’Leary

Let’s cut the fluff—this is economic warfare. China’s got factories with nowhere to ship, and 125% tariffs are choking them out. You think unemployed workers stay quiet? Xi’s not on a ballot, but he’s playing with fire.

The U.S. is the buyer of last resort—and when that stops,… pic.twitter.com/BVpcdjGN7u

— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) April 11, 2025

Chamath

NEW: Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya praises Trump's tariffs on China, rips the global elite for trying to "scare-monger" him.

"For the last forty years, whether they want to admit it or not, Donald Trump has been right."

"What you see right now is them violently trying to… pic.twitter.com/k5JXqKMlQt

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 11, 2025

Sacks
https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1910861025269657952

Soros
https://twitter.com/katee_K1/status/1910772111649419434

Alex

Alex Jones Breaks Down the Israel and Iran Conflict pic.twitter.com/jmKJhmc8fe

— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) April 12, 2025

Alex Jones: CIA Gave X-Files a 9/11 Script Months Before It Happened pic.twitter.com/Jg54FTcUxR

— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) April 11, 2025

Keep things fluid at first. Can’t hurt. Keep them guessing.

• Market Tumult From Fractious Messaging Forces Trump Narrative Shift On Tariffs (JTN)

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have successfully brought at least 70 countries to the negotiating table, but the tumultuous market situation highlights a need for the administration to simplify the message to the public. And they seem to have coalesced around Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s approach of marketing them as a negotiating tactic. The initial “Liberation Day” tariffs saw Trump impose sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs across most of America’s key trading partners and the creation of a baseline 10% tariff for other nations. Close trading partners such as Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Israel speedily reached out to negotiate deals, with some even announcing the end of tariffs in anticipation of Trump’s initial announcement. The market fell precipitously in the following days amid internal disagreements within the Cabinet on both messaging and the long-term approach. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk and Bessent became proponents of a negotiation-focused approach to the tariffs, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and economic advisor Peter Navarro favored the tariffs on their own merits.

The administration, however, froze the most expansive tariffs this week, with the exception of those on China, which Trump raised to 125%. Markets subsequently soared on the news, leading to higher closures for major indices. They fell again on Thursday as the administration stood by its China tariffs. When making his “Liberation Day” announcement, Trump pitched the tariffs as a means of encouraging domestic production in the United States and revitalizing towns left behind by globalization. “Now it’s our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt,” he said. “Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.”

Not all members of the Cabinet were on the same page and a division emerged between officials emphasizing the tariffs as a negotiating tactic to secure favorable trade deals and those who supported maintaining the tariffs on their own merit in the longer-term for revenue purposes. Musk and Navarro, specifically, had a high-profile disagreement throughout the week, with the pair openly taking potshots at one another on television and social media. Navarro, a tariff proponent, called attention to Musk’s automotive business and suggested it was a motivating factor for his opposition to tariffs. Musk, in turn, dubbed Navarro “Peter Retarrdo” and called him a “moron.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed off the exchanges, saying “boys will be boys.”

As uncertainty in the market grew, however, Trump and his supporters began to shift decidedly toward presenting the tariffs as a negotiating strategy. Trump himself took the lead on this approach, largely through his Truth Social account. On Monday, for instance, Trump posted that “countries from all over the World are talking to us. Tough but fair parameters are being set. Spoke to the Japanese Prime Minister this morning. He is sending a top team to negotiate!” “As I’ve said in the past, no one creates leverage for himself like [Donald Trump],” Bessent said, following Trump’s decision to pause some of the tariffs. Bessent and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett echoed the negotiation-centered line of messaging throughout the week. Hassett on Thursday confirmed to Fox News that “we’ve already got offers on the table from at least 15 countries.” He further clarified that many more had offered to negotiate but that these nations had submitted tangible proposals.

Even Lutnick, one of the administration’s most vocal tariff proponents, appeared to fall in line by Wednesday, saying “President Trump is standing firm against our global trade imbalances. We will sign the greatest deals in history.” “The Golden Age is coming. We are committed to protecting our interests, engaging in global negotiations and exploding our economy,” he added Thursday. While far from the original messaging, some members of the administration have suggested that the larger tariffs and their subsequent reduction may have been planned as a means of bringing typically intransigent trading partners to the negotiating table. “I think that what’s been going on all along is the president recognizes that in order to get the big change that we need for America’s workers… that we need to create enough pressure on our trading partners that things that American presidents have been asking for, for decades, are actually offered at the table,” Hassett said on CNBC.

Lutnick, for his part, appeared to echo that during a recent meeting, saying “we have so many countries to talk to.” “They have come with offers that they never, ever, ever would’ve come with but for the moves the president has made,” he added. “You’re going to start seeing deals, one after the other.” Potentially boding well for Lutnick’s prediction is the Australian refusal of a Chinese proposal to join forces to oppose American tariffs. Beijing officials have suggested targeted countries work against Washington, though it has evidently struggled to attract partners for the endeavor.

“.. still “subject to the tariff under the original IEEPA on China of 20 percent.”

Things that everyone uses. Sensitive. Hurts Americans. Bring production home step by step. Ask Elon.

• Trump Exempts Laptops, Smartphones, Chips From Reciprocal Tariff Blitz (ZH)

Update (1255ET): As Trump adviser Stephen Miller points out, the products are still “subject to the tariff under the original IEEPA on China of 20 percent.”

Washington Post: maybe your reporters should try reading before posting. These products are subject to the tariff under the original IEEPA on China of 20 percent. https://t.co/MI4oDEb8S3

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 12, 2025

The White House issued a further clarifying statement that the exemption (from the higher tariffs only) will be retroative to April 5th and all duties received since then will be refunded. Any duties that were collected at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on April 5, 2025, pursuant to Executive Order 14257 and the Subsequent Orders, on imports that are excepted under Executive Order 14257 and the Subsequent Orders because they are “semiconductors,” as explained in this memorandum, shall be refunded in accordance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s standard procedures for such refunds.

* * *
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an updated guidance late Friday night on product exclusions from President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, imposed under Executive Order 14257 and its amendments (EO 14259). The exclusions cover a wide range of electronic devices, including smartphones, laptops, and related components. First, President Trump paused reciprocal tariffs for non-retaliating countries (e.g., China) for 90 days last week. Now, updated guidance from CBP reveals that some of the highest-value trade—particularly a wide range of electronics—is excluded from the reciprocal tariffs.

Come to the table. You will at some point anyway.

• ‘Not Good For China’ To Retaliate Over Tariffs – White House (RT)

The White House has warned China that further retaliation through tariff hikes would not serve Beijing’s interests, as the world’s two largest economies clash over trade. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt has stated that over 75 countries reached out to US President Donald Trump’s administration to initiate trade talks, a sign that Washington’s tariff policy is working, she argued. “The phones have been ringing off the hook to make deals,” she said on Friday during a press briefing at the White House. “These countries wisely heeded President Trump’s warning not to retaliate… and were rewarded with a 90-day pause and substantially lower reciprocal tariff rates,” she added.

In early April, Trump imposed a universal 10% tariff on all imports and higher “reciprocal” tariffs on select countries to promote domestic manufacturing and address trade imbalances. While most elevated tariffs were paused for 90 days, China was excluded from this reprieve. The total tariff on Chinese goods has been hiked to 145%. In response, China imposed a 125% tariff on US imports, while criticizing Washington’s actions as “economic bullying” and warning that continued escalations would render the US a “joke” in global economic history. When asked directly about China, Leavitt reiterated Trump’s stance. “The tariff rate on China remains where it was yesterday at the 145 percent level,” she confirmed. Beijing has signaled that its recent tariff hike might be the last, and that further increases would not make economic sense.

When asked if this meant China was backing down, Leavitt said the US president had made it very clear that “when the United States is punched, he will punch back harder.” Leavitt said the administration remains open to negotiations, claiming Trump would “be gracious if China intends to make a deal with the United States,” but added without elaborating, “If China continues to retaliate, it’s not good for China.” She also rebuffed critics who said the US administration had not pushed China hard enough with tariffs, saying “Trump is finally taking bold and courageous action.” She added that both Democrats and Republicans have talked tough on China for years, but “no other president had the courage, the work ethic, or the stamina to take on such a task.”

Pepe sees the Chinese as refined and Trump as a brute. And finance is not his forté.

• Why China Won’t Call a ‘Tariff-wielding Barbarian’ (Pepe Escobar)

The Toddler Temper Tantrum-style Trump Tariff Tizzy (TTT), now accelerated to 145% – and counting – is yet another thunderous trademark pigeon smashing the chessboard gambit. It won’t work. Trump claimed that China would call him to “make a deal”. That’s reality show territory. Reality is more like the statement by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council: “Given that U.S. exports to China already have no market acceptability under the current tariff rates, if the U.S. further imposes additional tariffs on Chinese goods, China will simply ignore them.” Translation: keep vociferating/tariffing. We don’t care. And we will stop buying from you. Anything. The Chinese Foreign Ministry: A “tariff-wielding barbarian can never expect a call from China.” Basic numbers. China’s GDP for 2025 is projected at 5%. U.S. imports account for at best 4% of Chinese GDP. China’s share of total exports to the U.S. dropped to 13.4 per cent in 2024.

Goldman Sachs – not exactly a CCP “mouthpiece” – has just projected that TTT will cost China only 0.5% of GDP in 2025, while costing no less than 2% of U.S. GDP. Talk about blowback. Still, from now on, what matters most for Beijing is to keep diversifying the supply chain. Asia-wide, the extra wheels are in motion. President Xi Jinping will soon start an ASEAN mini-tour (Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia). The Shanghai Cooperation Organization – increasingly focused on geoeconomics – is about to meet. The EU, for all the mendacity of its “elites”, is absolutely itching to strike trade deals with China. Zhao Minghao, deputy director at the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University, in Shanghai, refers to the current incandescence as “a game of strategic resolve.” Previously, the eminent Wang Yiwei, international relations star professor at Renmin University in Beijing and an expert on the New Silk Roads, noted that the current tariff rate already made China’s exports to the U.S. “almost impossible”.

This analysis noted how China started to deal with TTT with a “courtesy before force” approach, then turned to “we don’t care”, while cultivating “the art of timing” in its asymmetric attack on U.S. stocks. A fascinating window on the real wheels of Chinese trade is offered by a timely visit to the vast Yiwu International Trade City, the largest concentration of small traders on the planet. Less than 10% of Yiwu’s phenomenal amount of business involves the U.S. Among the 75,000 business operators in Yiwu Small Commodity City, only a little over 3,000 do business with the U.S. TTT is largely the product of two crude Team Trump arrogant/ignorant Sinophobes, economic advisor Peter Navarro and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who know less than zero about all things China. In fact it was Bessent who right at the start gave the game away:

“This was driven by the president’s strategy… You might even say that he goaded China into a bad position. They responded. They have shown themselves to the world to be the bad actors, and we are willing to cooperate with our allies and with our trading partners who did not retaliate.” A crude trap. With the sole focus on China. That had nothing to do with the initial tawdry plot line: tariffs, Mafia-style, on most of the planet, penguins included. If you don’t retaliate, fine. If you do, we hit harder.

We are now supposed to be able to tell “direct” from “indirect” talks.

Witkoff, fresh off that four hour meeting with Putin, moves on to the Iran topic, no problem.

• Trump Envoy Witkoff In First ‘Direct, Constructive’ Contact With Iran (ZH)

Not very much happened at the much-anticipated ‘indirect’ meeting between Iranian and US delegations in Oman on Saturday. While Tehran has been emphasizing the indirect nature of the dialogue, President Trump and his top officials have been calling these ‘direct’ talks. The main ‘positive’ is that the two sides didn’t yell each other out the room, or make new accusations – instead they agreed to keep the diplomatic engagement going. “Iran and the United States will hold more negotiations next week over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, Iranian state television reported Saturday at the end of the first round of talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to the White House,” The Associated Press reports as the meeting wrapped up.

As for whether they were ‘direct’ or not, Iranian state did say that Trump regional onvoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” at the end of the talks. This does indeed mark the first direct interaction between the Islamic Republic and the Trump administration. It is Trump during his first term who pulled the US out of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal (in April 2018). The Iranian side has announced that the next round of talks will take place April 19, in a clear sing that both sides could be ready to do a new deal. This is precisely what Trump has demanded – the inking of a new nuclear deal – while threatening military action against Tehran. Trump has also warned that Israel might ‘lead’ such strikes on nuclear facilities.

According to more details from Muscat, Oman on Saturday: American officials did not immediately acknowledge the Iranian reports, which Tehran likely speeded out to its public ahead of a possible Trump post on a social media. But declaring that the two sides spoke face-to-face — even if briefly — suggests the negotiations went well. The talks began at around 3:30 p.m. local. The two sides spoke for over two hours at a location in the outskirts of Oman, ending the talks around 5:50 p.m. local time. The convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff returned to Muscat, the capital of Oman, before disappearing into traffic around a neighborhood that is home to the U.S. Embassy. Baghaei in follow-up stated that “The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear — we have only one goal, and that is to safeguard Iran’s national interests.”

“We are giving a genuine and honest opportunity to diplomacy, so that through dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions,” he added. No one is in the mood for war (though perhaps Israel?). “Look, this is just a beginning. So it is natural that, at this stage, both sides will present their foundational positions through the Omani mediator,” Baghaei continued. “Therefore, we do not expect this round of negotiations to be lengthy.” Witkoff had previewed to The Wall Street Journal just ahead of the trip, “I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today.” He added: “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability.”

However Iran has maintained all along that its program is only for peaceful nuclear energy to meet the nation’s power needs, and further several Ayatollah’s have declared nuclear weapons to be ‘unIslamic’. But recent conflict with Israel means Tehran is likely eyeing escalation of its program, possibly seeing in this the only final deterrent to Israel, and the potential for US-led regime change (as happened in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan).

“Iran and the United States held their first diplomatic engagement IN YEARS on Saturday ..”

• Iran and US Unveil Results Of Nuclear Talks (RT)

Iran and the United States held their first diplomatic engagement in years on Saturday in the Omani capital of Muscat, with discussions focused on Tehran’s nuclear program and the potential easing of US sanctions. The two-and-a-half-hour talks were led by Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Although the negotiations were conducted indirectly through Omani mediation, the heads of the two delegations – Araghchi and Witkoff – briefly spoke face-to-face in the presence of Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi after the formal talks concluded. Addressing reporters in Muscat, Araghchi described the first round of negotiations as “constructive” and held in a “calm and very respectful atmosphere.”

“No inappropriate language was used, and the two sides demonstrated their commitment to advancing the talks until the achievement of a mutually favorable agreement from an equal position,” the Iranian minister said. According to Araghchi, both sides aim to outline a general framework for a future agreement in the next round of talks. He indicated that the second meeting is scheduled for April 19, although it may not take place in Muscat. “In the next round of the talks, we will try to enter the negotiations’ agenda, which will of course have a timetable alongside it,” he said, expressing hope that the two sides could finalize a basis for starting “real talks” soon. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday night, President Donald Trump said the talks with Tehran “are going okay.” Nothing matters until you get it done, so I don’t like talking about it. But it’s going okay. The Iran situation is going pretty good.

Meanwhile, the White House emphasized that – despite Tehran’s insistence on indirect talks – Witkoff met Araghchi face-to-face, calling the “direct communication a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome.” Witkoff, a close confidant of President Trump and Washington’s lead negotiator with Moscow, has also played a prominent role in regional diplomacy. Even before Trump took office, Witkoff was credited with allegedly convincing Israel to agree to a Gaza truce. The next round of negotiations with Iran is expected to take place on April 19. While both sides have expressed cautious optimism, analysts noted that significant challenges remain. Iranian officials have publicly opposed major concessions, while President Trump has reportedly given negotiators a two-month deadline, warning of possible military action if talks fail.

“Steve Witkoff is busting his ass for President Trump.”

• Rubio and Musk Back Witkoff’s Peace Efforts (RT)

The US leader’s confidant spent over four hours behind closed doors discussing aspects of a potential settlement of the Ukraine conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, before heading to Oman for high-level talks on Iran’s nuclear program on Saturday. White House special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, reportedly managed to convince Israel to agree to a Gaza truce in just one meeting – even before President Donald Trump took office – and has since become one of the key US negotiators on Ukraine.

When he traveled to Russia for the third time in two months – and a video of Witkoff smiling and shaking hands with Putin emerged on Friday – critics rushed to accuse him of everything from acting too cozy and perpetuating “Russian propaganda,” to being too “inexperienced” to conduct negotiations and effectively “taking over” the role of US Secretary of State. “People love attacking Steve Witkoff, but he has done more to advance peace negotiations & hostage releases than any of his career bureaucrat critics have done during their entire careers in the Swamp,” conservative activist Laura Loomer wrote on X, adding that “Steve Witkoff is busting his ass for President Trump.”

100% https://t.co/DOX5rgjhpg

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 11, 2025

“Witkoff is great,” agreed billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, another of Trump’s closest allies, who leads his government waste-cutting task force known as DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also “100%” agreed with Loomer’s post. Witkoff’s first visit to Russia in February resulted in a high-profile prisoner exchange and paved the way for a phone call between the countries’ leaders, kickstarting the resumption of diplomatic relations. Just ahead of Witkoff’s third visit on Friday, Russia and the US conducted another prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi. The discussions between President Putin and Steve Witkoff on Friday involved “aspects of the settlement of the Ukraine conflict,” the Kremlin has announced, declining to provide further details.

We can fight over this till the end of time.

“If we called it the ‘Go to Work An Hour Earlier Act,’ rather than the ‘Sunshine Protection Act,’ no one would be voting for it.”

• Trump Urges Congress to Work Harder to Make Daylight Saving Permanent (ET)

President Donald Trump has offered his support for the “lock the clock” movement. “The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day,” calling the time change “a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!” he wrote in an April 11 Truth Social post. Trump’s comments came a day after a bipartisan group of lawmakers conducted a hearing on making daylight saving time permanent. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, titled “If I Could Turn Back Time: Should We Lock The Clock?” featured testimony from experts in the public and private sectors, as well as health care experts, all advocating for the push to stop the twice-yearly time change. Daylight saving time was initially a World War I strategy to reduce energy consumption in the evenings.

According to Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), however, energy efficiency and technological advancements show that currently, the hour change no longer has cost-saving benefits. “Congress has the authority to end this outdated and harmful practice. This hearing is an excellent opportunity to examine a thoughtful and rational approach to how we manage time,” Cruz said in his opening remarks. “Whether we lock the clock on Standard Time year-round or daylight saving time, let’s put our health, the economy, and well-being first and embrace a sensible approach to time management.” Sen. Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the Sunshine Protection Act on Jan. 7 of this year. It has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation but has not yet been brought to a vote.

The senator spoke to the committee, encouraging quick action on the bill. Scott called the time change “confusing, unnecessary, and completely outdated.” He said his bipartisan legislation had the support of 17 senators and that Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) has introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. “We have a great opportunity to finally get this done with President Trump on board to lock the clock,” Scott said. Hearing witnesses included representatives from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the National Golf Course Owners Association, and the Lock the Clock Movement. All of the testimony provided supported ending the twice-yearly time change, citing health, safety, and economic concerns. While there is widespread support for locking the clock, not everyone agrees on where it should be frozen.

[..] Trump has voiced his support for more daylight at the end of the day, making daylight saving time the likely model going forward. [..] Dr. David Harkey, the president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, testified about the road safety implications of the time change to daylight saving time, saying that the change was associated with an increased risk of fatal crashes. Harkey noted that while adjusting the clock doesn’t increase the number of daylight hours, it can change how those hours align with work and school schedules. “The clearest takeaway from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s research is that there is a strong relationship between increased darkness and fatal crashes, particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists,” he said.

Dr. Karen Johnson, a practicing sleep medicine physician and representative of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, cited evidence of the negative health impacts of changing the clocks, including an increased risk of chronic disease, depression, and suicide. “Permanent standard time would get more Americans to get the opportunity to improve their sleep without even trying,” Johnson said. “The sun is one of the most powerful drivers of health and well-being, but the timing of sunlight is what’s critically important.”Johnson strongly advocates for permanent standard time, saying that daylight saving time would deprive Americans of critical morning light and that while the spring clock change is bad, “permanent daylight saving time is worse.” “Permanent daylight saving time does not make days longer, nor is it the reason why people feel better in the summer,” Johnson said.“Instead, permanent daylight saving time is a hidden mandate to wake Americans up an hour earlier, rather than to their alarm clocks or the sun. “If we called it the ‘Go to Work An Hour Earlier Act,’ rather than the ‘Sunshine Protection Act,’ no one would be voting for it.”

Epic? Looks like normal procedure. It’s just that the Trump painting is different.

• What Trump Did With Obama’s White House Portrait Is Epic (Margolis)

Remember that bizarre official portrait of Barack Obama—standing stiffly in a black suit and gray tie, set against a blank white background? The 2022 painting by Robert McCurdy stirred some controversy when it was unveiled, and rightly so. At the time, I called it a perfect metaphor for Obama’s notorious narcissism. Of course he’d want his White House portrait stripped of any setting, context, or symbolism. Just him, front and center—because, in his mind, that’s all that matters. Apparently, it was featured in the White House Entrance Hall:

Forever this portrait of @barackobama hanging in the ⁦@WhiteHouse⁩ will remind America of power of hope and change. pic.twitter.com/5sBqbZdOMF

— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) September 7, 2022

Why was it on display at the White House? Beats me. I get that it’s Obama’s official White House portrait and all, but doesn’t it belong in a service corridor or a janitor’s closet somewhere? Well, guess what? The portrait was moved from its prime location on Friday, and this prime location is now being used for something so much better— a historic image capturing one of the most defining moments of the Trump presidency. The new portrait, unveiled Friday by the White House, shows President Trump in perhaps his most resolute moment: standing among Secret Service agents immediately after being shot in the ear during an assassination attempt, defiantly shouting “Fight, fight, fight!” It’s an image that perfectly encapsulates the fighting spirit that has defined his presidency.

https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1910764795382349948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1910764795382349948%7Ctwgr%5E71ad4a8fdabedd535f627c9cc17fdc11a18a7f09%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fmatt-margolis%2F2025%2F04%2F12%2Fwhat-trump-did-with-obamas-white-house-portrait-is-epic-n4938830

Predictably, critics immediately began claiming this was some sort of breach of protocol, suggesting the Obama portrait had been removed entirely. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung swiftly shut down that narrative with characteristic directness:

Pipe down, moron.

The Obama portrait was just moved a few feet away. https://t.co/2K6XsHn54N

— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) April 11, 2025

The Hill has more: “A portrait of President Trump that depicts him raising his fist immediately following the attempt on his life last summer at a Butler, Pa., rally is replacing an image of former President Obama in a prominent spot inside the White House. Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff, posted side-by-side photos on social media of the Trump artwork seemingly replacing the Obama painting on Friday at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. The artwork of the 47th president shows him bloodied with an American flag waving behind him after he survived the assassination attempt last July. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment about the artist behind the painting. The image of Trump appeared to take the place of a portrait of Obama that was unveiled at the White House in 2022.”

The white background, the White House said at the time, “allow the viewer to establish a relationship with the subject.” The paper also notes that such portrait rearrangements are standard practice when new administrations take office. The Obama portrait remains in the Entrance Hall, just in a different location—though the symbolism of its replacement hasn’t been lost on observers from either side of the political aisle. The new portrait serves as a sobering reminder of the assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pa., last July—a moment that demonstrated both the very real dangers presidents face and Trump’s remarkable resilience. While some critics on social media have promoted baseless conspiracy theories suggesting the attempt was staged, such claims ignore the tragic reality that people were killed and wounded during the incident.

“Governor Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom—be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court.”

• Another District Court Judge Goes Rogue Against Trump Administration (Margolis)

The judiciary’s assault on executive power has once again reared its ugly head. A Bush-appointed federal judge just handed Maine’s radical leftist government a major victory in its crusade to destroy women’s sports. U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal education funding that was withheld after the state brazenly defied Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports from the radical transgender agenda. Make no mistake about it, this is a direct challenge to President Trump’s efforts to preserve fair competition and protect female athletes. The administration had rightfully frozen funding after Maine refused to comply with basic Title IX protections that keep biological males out of women’s sports.

“The state of Maine requests a temporary restraining order to enjoin the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Secretary of Agriculture from terminating, freezing, or otherwise interfering with the State’s access to federal funds based on alleged Title IX violations without following the process required by federal statute,” the ruling states. “The court orders the defendants to immediately unfreeze and release to the state of Maine any federal funding that they have frozen or failed or refused to pay because of the State’s alleged failure to comply with the requirements of Title IX.” Barack Obama unilaterally reinterpreted Title IX in his final months in office to include “gender identity,” Donald Trump reversed that policy, and Joe Biden promptly restored the Obama standard. Trump reversed it again and legislation codifying that Title IX doesn’t apply to “gender identity” is stalled in Congress because Democrats blocked it in the Senate last month.

Have you ever noticed how the judiciary constantly tries to hide behind procedure when substantive arguments fail them? In 2020, we saw the courts claim that the Trump campaign didn’t have standing to challenge election results over suspected fraud over claims of lack of standing. Judge Woodcock claimed the USDA under Secretary Brooke Rollins didn’t follow proper protocols, completely ignoring the real issue at hand: Maine’s assault on women’s athletics. The state of Maine argued that Secretary Rollins “cannot simply declare that the [s]tate of Maine is in violation of Title IX and terminate federal funding” because “Congress has expressly declared that to terminate or refuse to continue federal financial assistance to a recipient, the agency must first hold a hearing and then make an ‘express finding on the record’ that the recipient violated Title IX.”

The Trump administration wasn’t having any of it. Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor fired back with both barrels: “The Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state’s leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students’ safety, privacy, and dignity,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement. “The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department. Governor Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom—be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court.”

This is just the latest example of activist judges running interference for the radical left’s gender ideology. Governor Janet Mills and her administration are so devoted to their extremist agenda that they’re willing to sacrifice the rights of female athletes just to push their transgender narrative. In addition to the sports controversy, the Department of Education launched an investigation into Maine schools for hiding student gender transitions from parents. The battle lines are clearly drawn. On one side, we have the Trump administration fighting to protect women’s sports and parental rights. On the other, we have leftist ideologues willing to sacrifice both on the altar of gender ideology. Something tells me this fight is far from over.

“..one of the “Easter eggs”..

“..take control of a natural gas pipeline from Russian energy giant Gazprom..”

• US Wants Control Of Key Gas Pipeline In Ukraine – Reuters (RT)

The administration of US President Donald Trump wants Kiev to give Washington control of a pipeline through which Russian gas reaches the EU, according to Reuters. The request is one of the “Easter eggs” contained in the latest draft of the minerals deal that Washington is pressuring the government of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to sign, the agency claimed in an article on Friday. Reuters said, citing an informed source, that the text of the agreement put together by Washington includes a “demand that the US government’s International Development Finance Corporation take control of a natural gas pipeline from Russian energy giant Gazprom across Ukraine to Europe.” No gas has been sent through Gazprom’s pipeline since the start of year due to Ukraine refusing to prolong its transit deal with the Russian company.

On Friday, US and Ukrainian officials met in Washington to discuss the deal granting the Americans access to Ukraine’s mineral resources, including rare-earth metals, with the talks going on in a “very antagonistic” environment, according to the source. The strains between the sides stemmed from “maximalist” demands in the latest draft of the agreement, which the Trump administration presented to Kiev last month, the agency’s interlocutor explained. The Ukrainian authorities have hired a US-British law firm, Hogan Lovells, to work as an outside adviser on the deal, the source added. The US came up with harsher terms after Zelensky refused to sign the initial agreement during his White House meeting in late February.

The visit ended with a public spat between the US and Ukrainian leaders, during which Trump accused his guest of being ungrateful for Washington’s assistance during the conflict with Russia and not wanting peace. According to Reuters, the latest draft of the deal would give the US privileged access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits and require Kiev to place in a joint investment fund all income from the exploitation of its natural resources. The agreement does not provide the country with American security guarantees, which the Ukrainian government considers a priority. Trump, who claims that the agreement would enable the US taxpayers to recoup funds spent by the previous administration of Joe Biden on aiding Kiev, warned earlier this month that Zelensky would have “big, big problems” if he backs out of it.

“Sensible observers have long predicted it, and now it is becoming ever more obvious: Freezing the AfD out only serves to make it stronger.”

“Germans have felt for a while already that they are in dire trouble; and a preponderant majority thinks that that is where they will be stuck under new old management as well..”

• Why The AfD Is Destined For The German Government (Amar)

Germany has an undeserved reputation for dour rationality and lacking an appreciation of the absurd. In reality, however, Germany is a – for want of nicer terms – very counterintuitive country. If you are running a regime in Kiev (at least according to the official story) and blow up Germany’s vital energy infrastructure, Germans will say thank you and throw money and arms at you, while also helping you blame someone else (the Russians, of course: Germany has never been an imaginative country). If you are in Washington and certainly had a hand in blowing up that infrastructure, and then go on to fleece the Germans by selling LNG at a high cost and promoting their deindustrialization by filching their companies, good Germans get very, very angry – at China.

If you happen to be the single most popular and perfectly legal political party in Germany, get ready to never be allowed to actually participate in governing. Because Germany is also a country in which that single most popular party – the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, commonly known simply as AfD) – is locked out of building governing coalitions. By definition. That system is called a “firewall” – against that nasty most popular party that makes life so difficult for all those other, no longer popular parties. It has absolutely no basis in the constitution or in law. Come to think of it, as the “firewall” systematically and deliberately treats the votes of AfD voters as somehow less effective than those of others, it may well be the “firewall” itself that is unconstitutional, at least in spirit if not even by the letter of the law. So much for Germany, the country that allegedly loves order and rules.

In reality, the “firewall” amounts to a dirty political cartel and a form of disenfranchisement: The traditional parties, feeling threatened by the insurgent AfD have simply decided that they do not care what the voters say and won’t have anything to do with it. Since German governments are virtually always based on coalitions, which means that the AfD and its voters are treated as inferior. That this means that, as of now, in particular voters in the former East Germany are subject to this kind of discrimination, adding a West-East aspect to it that sits very badly with talk about German unity.

To get one thing out of the way: For now, it is only one poll that shows the AfD in the lead; other polls still have it in (barely) second place after the mainstream conservatives of the CDU/CSU bloc (which, in reality, functions as one party) of soon-to-be chancellor Friedrich Merz. But these differences are irrelevant. What matters is that the AfD’s rising trend is unbroken. That is definitely a blow to Merz, even before he has officially assumed office, as international observers are noting. Especially in view of the fact that Merz’s own poll numbers are cratering at the same time. Yet there is a broader point, too: The whole “firewall” strategy is malfunctioning extremely badly. Sensible observers have long predicted it, and now it is becoming ever more obvious: Freezing the AfD out only serves to make it stronger.

One thing that does not make Berlin’s ruling parties, the CDU and SPD, any more popular is that they have concluded their negotiations on how to divvy up the spoils of ministries and other goodies. Indeed, it is extremely embarrassing for the new governing coalition of conservatives and Social-Democrats (SPD) that the most recent AfD milestone breakthrough is happening now. It is a coincidence from hell: there they are, the traditional parties, seemingly safe behind their “firewall” and all ready to go, and the voters – uncouth as they can be – show them just how unpopular they are. Germans expect little from them, even now: A fresh poll shows that two thirds do not believe that things will change under the new coalition of tired old parties.

Note that most Germans have been deeply unhappy with the status quo, as we also know from recent polls: In February, Ipsos found that the general mood was “as bad as never before.” Only 17 percent of citizens – less than a fifth – believed their country was “on a good trajectory.” The other 83 percent were not indifferent or neutral but felt Germany was on the “wrong” trajectory. Even for a nation with something of a culture of angst and doom, those are atrocious figures. Hence, expecting no change now amounts to deep pessimism: Germans have felt for a while already that they are in dire trouble; and a preponderant majority thinks that that is where they will be stuck under new old management as well.

“They have failed to strengthen security and stability. The Euro-Atlantic structures have ultimately succeeded in precisely the opposite, stoking international tensions and “remilitarizing Europe..”

• Euro-Atlantic Community Gearing For War – Lavrov (RT)

The international structures centered in the Euro-Atlantic have failed to deliver stability and security to the region, and now the members of this community are preparing for a new major war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. The top diplomat delivered the remarks on Saturday during a Q&A session at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye. Lavrov criticized what he described as “the Euro-Atlantic structures,” including the European Union and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), stating that the groups have ultimately failed to deliver on their proclaimed goals. “The security issues after the Second World War in our common region were defined in terms of Euro-Atlantic logic. NATO and the EU were essentially European,” Lavrov said.

“The EU recently signed an agreement with NATO. The EU is now part of the Euro-Atlantic policy – there is no doubt about that – including making its territory available for the alliance’s plans to move to the East, to the South, I don’t know where else,” he added, apparently referring to the Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation inked in early 2023. I believe all these Euro-Atlantic structures have failed. They have failed to strengthen security and stability. The Euro-Atlantic structures have ultimately succeeded in precisely the opposite, stoking international tensions and “remilitarizing Europe,” Lavrov suggested. “All the efforts of this Euro-Atlantic community are focused on preparing for a new war. Germany, together with France and Great Britain, are leading this process,” he added. Lavrov’s remarks come after a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” a group of Ukraine’s backers predominantly consisting of NATO and EU nations, held earlier this week.

The defense chiefs from the member states discussed a potential deployment of a “peacekeeping” force to Ukraine, with the idea spearheaded by the UK and France. The latest gathering failed to yield any tangible result, with EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas admitting that “different member states have different opinions and the discussions are still ongoing.” While UK Secretary of Defense John Healey insisted that the group’s were “well developed,” multiple of his counterparts publicly questioned the idea, raising concerns about the goals, mission and mandate of the potential deployment. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against deploying troops to Ukraine under any pretext, specifically objecting to forces from any NATO countries ending up in the country. Last month, former Russian President and the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said that the potential emergence of any NATO “peacekeepers” in Ukraine would mean a war between the bloc and Russia.

“The Pentagon’s academic program studied dissent, protest, and radicalization. Now it’s being replaced by a private AI surveillance network run in total secrecy..”

• Steele Dossier Was Discredited In 2017 — But Sold To The Public Anyway (MPN)

On March 25, Donald Trump signed an executive order declassifying all documentation related to Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s 2016 investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The order has unexpectedly resurrected buried documents that cast new light on the Steele dossier — and when it was known to be false. It is unclear what new information will be revealed, given substantial previous declassifications, two special counsel investigations, multiple congressional inquiries, several civil lawsuits, and a scathing Justice Department internal review. It has long been confirmed the FBI relied heavily on Steele’s discredited dossier to secure warrants against Trump aide Carter Page, despite grave internal concerns about its origins and reliability, and Steele’s sole “subsource” for all its lurid allegations openly admitted in interviews with the Bureau he could offer no corroboration for any of the dossier’s claims.

Such inconvenient facts and damning disclosures were nonetheless concealed from the public for several years following the dossier’s January 2017 publication by BuzzFeed News, now defunct. In the intervening time, it became the central component of the Russiagate narrative, a conspiracy theory that was a major rallying point for countless mainstream journalists, pundits, public figures, Western intelligence officials, and elected lawmakers. In the process, Steele attained mythological status. For example, NBC News dubbed the former MI6 operative “a real-life James Bond.” Primetime news networks dedicated countless hours to the topic, while leading media outlets invested enormous time, energy and money into verifying the dossier’s claims without success. Undeterred, legacy reporters relied on a roster of mainstream “Russia experts,” including prominent British and U.S. military and intelligence veterans, and briefings from anonymous officials to reinforce Steele’s credibility and the likely veracity of his dossier. As award-winning investigative journalist Aaron Maté told MintPress News:

“Media outlets served as unquestioning stenographers for Steele. If his dossier’s claims themselves weren’t sufficient to dismiss it with ridicule, another obvious marker should have set off alarms. Reading the dossier chronologically, a clear pattern emerges – many of its most explosive claims are influenced by contemporary media reporting. For instance, it was only after Wikileaks published the DNC emails in July 2016 that the dossier mentioned them. This is just one example demonstrating the dossier’s true sources were overactive imaginations and mainstream news outlets.” Even more damningly, leaked documents reviewed by MintPress News reveal that while Western journalists were hard at work attempting to validate Steele’s dossier and elevating the MI6 spy to wholly undeserved pillars of probity, the now-defunct private investigations firm GPW Group was, in early 2017, secretly unearthing vast amounts of damaging material that fatally undermined the dossier’s content, and comprehensively dismantling Steele’s previously unimpeachable public persona. It remains speculative what impact the firm’s findings might have had if they had been released publicly at the time.

The Pentagon’s academic program studied dissent, protest, and radicalization. Now it’s being replaced by a private AI surveillance network run in total secrecy., academic surveillance programs, AI in warfare, AI-powered social control, DARPA social science, military surveillance, Minerva Initiative, MKUltra, Pentagon AI research, Stargate, Stargate AI program, Trump AI initiative, U.S. GPW’s probe of Steele and his dossier was commissioned by Carter Ledyard & Milburn, a law firm representing Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and German Khan — owners of Alfa Bank. The dossier leveled several serious allegations against them. The trio purportedly possessed a “kompromat” on Vladimir Putin, delivered “illicit cash” to him throughout the 1990s, and routinely provided the Kremlin with “informal advice” on foreign policy — “especially about the U.S.” Meanwhile, Alfa Bank supposedly served as a clandestine back channel between Trump and Moscow.

“In order to build a profile of Christopher Steele…as well as the broader operations of both Orbis Business Intelligence and Fusion GPS,” which commissioned the dossier on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, GPW consulted “a variety of sources.” This included “U.S. intelligence figures,” various journalists, “private intelligence subcontractors” who had previously worked with Steele and Orbis, and “contacts who knew the man from his time with [MI6]…and, in one instance, directly oversaw his work.” The picture that emerged of Steele sharply contrasted with his mainstream portrayal as a “superstar.” One operative who “acted as Steele’s manager when he began working with [MI6] and later supervised him at two further points” described him as “average, middle of the road,” stating he had never “shined” in any of his postings. Another suggested Steele’s founding of Orbis “was the source of some incredulity” within MI6 due to his underwhelming professional history and perceived lack of “commercial nous.”

Yet another suggested Steele’s production of the dossier reflected his lack of “big picture judgment.” Sources consulted by GPW were even more critical of Fusion GPS chief Glenn Simpson. One journalist described him as a “hack” without “a license or the contacts to do…actual investigations,” instead outsourcing “all” work ostensibly conducted by his firm to others while skimming commissions. They also “openly admitted” to disliking Simpson, described by GPW as “not an uncommon attitude amongst those to whom we spoke.”

Trump is quite a bit smarter than Maher.

• Bill Maher Says ‘Mind Blown’ After Meeting With Trump (ZH)

While Bill Maher may change opinions like a windsock depending on who he’s pandering to, the “Real Time” host told his mostly-Democrat audience that Donald Trump, aka Hitler-Stalin-Mussolini, was “gracious and measured” at their recent meeting last week. We know, duh… but considering the influence Maher has on the left, his comments are interesting nonetheless. “You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” Maher said. “And why isn’t that in other settings- I don’t know, and I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high.” Maher said the meeting, brokered by their mutual friend Kid Rock, wasn’t “some kind of summit.”

“I have no power. I’m a fucking comedian, and he’s the most powerful leader in the world!” he continued. “I’m not the leader of anything, except maybe a contingent of centrist-minded people who think there’s got to be a better way of running this country than hating each other every minute.” Maher admitted that he went in ready for a fight – only to find Trump absolutely charming. “Everything I’ve not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent. At least on this night, with this guy,” Maher, 69, said – seemingly shocked at his own admission. “I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him. And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump,” he continued, adding “Make of it what you will.”

“I’ve had so many conversations with prominent people who are much less connected. People that don’t look you in the eye. People that don’t really listen because they just want to get to their next thing. People whose response to things you say just doesn’t track. None of that with him,” Maher continued. “Mostly he steered the conversation to ‘what do you think about this?’ I know. Your mind is blown. So is mine.” Maher added that Trump gave him a bunch of MAGA hats, which are stored in the same room where former President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky engaged in extracurricular activities. At one point in the dinner, Maher says Trump asked him about his thoughts on the Iran nuclear situation. After he allegedly gave Trump shit for eliminating the Obama-era nuclear deal, Trump “didn’t get mad or call me a left-wing lunatic. He took it in.”

According to Maher, Trump used the word ‘lost’ in relation to the 2020 presidential election. “And I distinctly remember saying, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say that.’ He didn’t get mad. He’s much more self-aware than he lets on in public,” Maher said, adding that in private, Trump is just normal. “Just for starters, he laughs,” Maher stated in disbelief. “I’d never seen him laugh in public. But he does — including at himself — and it’s not fake. Believe me, as a comedian of forty years, I know a fake laugh when I hear it.” Watch:

Twelve days ago, I had dinner with President Trump, a dinner that my friend @KidRock set up because we share the belief that there has to be something better than hurling insults from 3000 miles away. pic.twitter.com/KE2t2eyBkI

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 12, 2025

Meanwhile, journalist Laura Loomer is jumping all over conservative “Bill Maher Simps,” while she says she had “a productive week in Cali, which included my deposition of Bill Maher,” who she’s suing for defamation.

Increase

What caused all these things to skyrocket since 1990? pic.twitter.com/tbiZsSGiSH

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) April 12, 2025

Cholesterol
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1910755326653059144

RFK
https://twitter.com/liz_churchill10/status/1911150761905717473

Babysitters
https://twitter.com/atensnut/status/1910846503096111548

Cheetah

Cheetah introduces a photographer to her little onespic.twitter.com/wILimDqD2E

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 12, 2025

Elephamily

Entire elephant family works together to rescue baby from strong river current pic.twitter.com/goh7JaN1XC

— Gabriele Corno (@Gabriele_Corno) April 12, 2025

Bamba
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1911059202795098239

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Debt Rattle April 12 2025

Apr 122025

April 12, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:29 am Finance Tagged with: DMZ, existential, Georgescu, Greenland, Kellogg, NATO, Romania, Supreme Court, tariffs, Trump, Witkoff 47 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Guernica 1937 (I turned it 90°, so you can see)

• Kremlin Reveals Content Of Putin’s Talks With Trump Envoy Witkoff (RT)

• Trump’s Kiev Envoy Clarifies Proposal To ‘Divide Ukraine Like Postwar Berlin’ (RT)

• Kellogg Blasts Times for Misrepresenting His Words on Ukraine (Sp.)

• Zelensky Mustn’t Govern Russians He Despises – Lavrov (RT)

• UK Has Deep Involvement In Ukraine Conflict – The Times (RT)

• NATO Needs Romania To Launch WWIII – Georgescu to Tucker Carlson (RT)

• The Tariff Issue Again (Paul Craig Roberts)

• China Dismisses US Tariff ‘Numbers Game’ (RT)

• 10 Tariff Questions Never Asked (Victor Davis Hanson)

• Trump’s Tariffs Only the Start. Congress Must Now Cut Taxes, Regulations (DS)

• Dem-Appointed Federal Judges Are the Big Losers at Supreme Court This Week (DC)

• The Wicked Flee (James Howard Kunstler)

• Court Issues Curious Order in the Garcia Case (Turley)

• Trump Plans Charm Offensive To Win Over Greenland – NYT (RT)

• Zelensky Offered US Rare-Earths Deal Under Biden – Blinken (RT)

• The End of La Grande Illusion Democratique (Karganovic)

• Tulsi Gabbard Drops TWO Huge Bombshells (MN)

• Trump Admin Reaches Agreements With 5 Law Firms (ET)

How bad is Chinese infiltration of America?

This should concern all Americans. 😳pic.twitter.com/iwx91ZP0cD

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) April 10, 2025

SAVE

Now it is up to the US Senate https://t.co/L9z2mT94dY

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2025

Chamath

NEW – Chamath Says Trump Didn’t Just Shake Up the System—He Broke the Elites’ Entire Economic Playbook

They’re not just upset—they’re terrified.

Chamath Palihapitiya, once one of the Democratic Party’s top donors, is now exposing the global elites’ unified strategy—and why it’s… pic.twitter.com/0EvjoWx9VT

— Overton (@overton_news) April 11, 2025

O’Leary

At yesterday’s Senate hearing, I shared a story that every American entrepreneur already knows too well.

You build something great. You invest your own money, blood, sweat, and tears. You prove it in the U.S. market. Then, BOOM — one day you wake up and see your product, your… pic.twitter.com/yUreRyqVmF

— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) April 10, 2025

In a trade war, SIZE MATTERS — and the U.S. economy has the upper hand.

People keep asking me, “What if China sells off U.S. Treasuries?” My response? Go ahead. Because here’s the reality: when hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk in China, the pressure doesn’t land on the… pic.twitter.com/2fjwjEtYZ6

— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) April 11, 2025

RFK

RFK Jr.: "At your direction. We are gonna know by September. We've launched a massive, testing and research effort that's gonna involve hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we'll be we'll be able to… pic.twitter.com/ZRow1IhLeL

— Camus (@newstart_2024) April 10, 2025

"It's in 63% of our drinking water."

RFK Jr: Despite being banned in Europe, the second most used pesticide in America is atrazine, which—in a famous experiment—sterilised 60 out of 70 male frogs, and turned 10% into female frogs.

"We don't know what impact it's having on our… pic.twitter.com/86P3ZteN0E

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) April 11, 2025

Trump has two envoys in/for Ukraine right now. One is General Keith Kellogg, whose task is to talk to Zelensky and Kiev. The other is Steve Witkoff, who has a much broader portfolio. One moment he’s discussing the Middle East with various parties, the next he holds a four hour meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg. Witkoff told Trump this week, before his meeting with Putin, that “recognizing Russian ownership of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson was the swiftest path to halting the war”. To which Kellogg responded that Zelensky would never accept that.

Kellogg ponders a plan that involves peacekeeping forces and -zones with UK, France and Ukraine troops. Which Russia will not accept. It’s very easy this way for Zelensky to halt any peace proposals. It leaves two questions: 1/ who’s winning? and 2/ how much patience does Trump have? NATO will never concede that Russia won and now gets to call the shots. But Russia did win. UK, France and Ukraine cling on to hopes that Trump will support their side and start a world war. Trump wants peace.

• Kremlin Reveals Content Of Putin’s Talks With Trump Envoy Witkoff (RT)

The discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday involved “aspects of the settlement of the Ukraine conflict,” the Kremlin has announced, declining to provide further details. Witkoff visited Russia on Friday and met with Putin in St. Petersburg. The meeting lasted over four hours and the content of the talks has been largely kept under wraps by Moscow and Washington. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the issue during a press briefing earlier in the day when asked by a reporter about the purpose of Witkoff’s visit to Russia. According to Leavitt, the visit was aimed at facilitating direct US communications with the Kremlin as part of a broader effort to negotiate a ceasefire and eventual peace agreement in the Ukraine conflict.

The Trump administration faced growing internal divisions this week after Witkoff allegedly proposed a ceasefire plan that would recognize Russian control over four eastern regions claimed by both Moscow and Kiev, Reuters reported on Friday citing anonymous sources. During a White House meeting with President Donald Trump last week, Witkoff argued that recognizing Russian ownership of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson was the swiftest path to halting the war, the outlet’s sources said. General Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Ukraine envoy, reportedly pushed back, stressing Ukraine would not accept full territorial concessions. The meeting reportedly concluded without a decision from Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to broker a ceasefire by May. Witkoff subsequently traveled to Russia on Friday for talks with Putin.

The episode has deepened rifts within the Trump administration, as officials debate how to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Reuters wrote. Witkoff’s approach, previously outlined in a March interview with Tucker Carlson, has reportedly alarmed both Republican lawmakers and US allies. “They’re Russian-speaking,” Witkoff told Carlson of the eastern territories. “There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.” Several Republicans reportedly contacted National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to raise concerns about Witkoff’s stance, criticizing him for echoing Russian rhetoric.

A recent dinner with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who until recently was under US sanctions, further stirred controversy. Originally planned at Witkoff’s home, it was moved to the White House after security concerns were raised. Despite criticism, Witkoff retains strong backing from Trump and some administration officials. Waltz praised his efforts, citing his business background and recent diplomatic activity, including securing the release of US citizen Marc Fogel from Russia.

“Medvedev, said that the potential emergence of any NATO “peacekeepers” in Ukraine would mean a war between the bloc and Russia.”

• Trump’s Kiev Envoy Clarifies Proposal To ‘Divide Ukraine Like Postwar Berlin’ (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, has rejected the notion that he proposed partitioning Ukraine like post-WWII Germany, accusing The Times of misrepresenting his remarks about a Cold War-style post-ceasefire security arrangement. Kellogg told The Times in an interview published on Friday that British and French – but not American – troops could lead a Western military force positioned west of the Dnepr River, while Ukrainian forces would hold territory further east. He also suggested establishing a demilitarized zone (DMZ) roughly 18 miles (30 kilometers) wide along the current lines of control to prevent direct clashes with Russian forces.

“You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a US zone,” said Kellogg, a retired US Army lieutenant general, appointed by Trump to deal directly with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. Kellogg acknowledged that Moscow “might not accept” the proposed zones of control, and claimed that a DMZ would create conditions for a “sustainable” ceasefire and would “not be provocative at all” to Moscow. The British newspaper ran its story with the headline “Trump envoy: We can divide Ukraine like postwar Berlin,” prompting Kellogg to accuse the publication of taking his words out of context.

“The Times article misrepresents what I said,” Kellogg wrote on X on Friday evening. “I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force (without US troops). I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine.” The Times report, however, noted that Kellogg’s idea implies that any final settlement would involve Kiev relinquishing claims to territories already controlled by Russia – a point that echoes proposals recently floated by Trump’s Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday, had previously argued that recognizing Russian ownership of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson was the swiftest path to halting the conflict. The suggestion, reportedly voiced during a White House meeting last week, has triggered internal debate within the Trump administration, with Kellogg allegedly pushing back against full territorial concessions. Kiev’s backers remain split on a proposed “reassurance force” that could potentially be deployed to Ukraine after hostilities between Kiev and Moscow end. Following the latest meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – composed of some 30 predominantly EU and NATO member states – in Brussels on Thursday, only six Western nations expressed readiness to send troops, according to AFP.

Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against deploying troops to Ukraine under any pretext, specifically objecting to forces from any NATO countries ending up in the country. Last month, former Russian president and deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said that the potential emergence of any NATO “peacekeepers” in Ukraine would mean a war between the bloc and Russia.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry previously said the plans of some EU countries to send “peacekeepers” to Ukraine are a provocative step aimed at maintaining unhealthy illusions in Kiev..”

• Kellogg Blasts Times for Misrepresenting His Words on Ukraine (Sp.)

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg accused the Times newspaper of misrepresenting his words about control zones in Ukraine, clarifying that he did not mean “partitioning” the country itself.
The Times wrote in an article that Kellogg suggested partitioning Ukraine into control zones after the end of the conflict like Berlin after World War II, but without US ground forces. Kellogg, the report said, proposed dividing Ukraine into several control zones, where the military of several countries would be located: British and French troops could be deployed to western Ukraine as a “reassurance force.” Between them and the Russian forces there could be “Ukrainian forces and a demilitarized zone.”

“The Times article misrepresents what I said. I was speaking of a post-cease fire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force (without US troops). I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine,” Kellogg wrote on X, attaching a link to the article. Earlier in April, Alexey Polishchuk, Director of the Second CIS Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik that London and Paris’ discussions on sending deterrent forces to Ukraine were preparations for foreign intervention. According to Polishchuk, Kiev is known to be rejecting the peace process and is even sabotaging the moratorium on strikes against energy facilities. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, previously stated that any foreign military presence in Ukraine would be viewed as a threat to Russia and carries the risk of a direct military clash.

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) previously reported that the West would deploy a so-called “peacekeeping contingent” of about 100,000 people in Ukraine to restore its combat capability. The SVR said this would be a de facto occupation of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the deployment of peacekeepers is only possible with the consent of the parties to a particular conflict. According to him, it is premature to talk about peacekeepers in Ukraine. Earlier, he also left without comment statements that Russia would allegedly not be against the deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine.

On March 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Russia does not see any possibility for a compromise on the issue of deploying foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine. As the Russian minister specified at the time, if a foreign contingent is deployed in Ukraine, Western countries will not want to discuss the terms of peaceful settlement. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously said the plans of some EU countries to send “peacekeepers” to Ukraine are a provocative step aimed at maintaining unhealthy illusions in Kiev.

“..Moscow has firmly rejected the idea of NATO troops being stationed in Ukraine.”

• Zelensky Mustn’t Govern Russians He Despises – Lavrov (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky’s openly declared hatred for Russians means he must not and will not govern people living in former parts of Ukraine that Kiev seeks to retake, Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated. In a late March interview with the French daily Le Figaro, Zelensky expressed his disdain for “Russians who killed so many Ukrainian citizens,” asserting that this “hatred” fuels his leadership. Lavrov referenced the comments during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry on Friday, underscoring why Moscow has deemed Kiev’s territorial claims unacceptable. “Who would even hypothetically consider handing over those people to such an individual? Nobody. No way,” he emphasized. Since the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, five Ukrainian regions plus the city of Sevastopol have voted to break away and join Russia. The Ukrainian government has dismissed these referendums as a “sham.”

Lavrov also reminded journalists of Zelensky’s previous derogatory remarks, including statements made prior to the conflict’s escalation in 2022. In 2021, Zelensky urged Donbass residents who identified as Russian to relocate to Russia. That same year, he referred to politicians targeted by his government with personal sanctions as another “species.” The minister accused the Ukrainian government of “legislatively eradicating everything related to Russia and the Russian world: the Russian language, Russian-speaking media, the Orthodox Christianity represented by the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and much more.”

Such discriminatory policies, he argued, justify labeling the Zelensky administration “neo-Nazi” and contribute to ongoing hostilities. Lavrov asserted that US President Donald Trump recognizes Russia’s red lines and considers “the return to the 1991 borders, as Zelensky keeps demanding” impossible. The Trump administration seeks to mediate a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev, while the UK and France are leading discussions on a proposed “reassurance force” to be deployed in Ukraine if a truce is achieved. Moscow has firmly rejected the idea of NATO troops being stationed in Ukraine.

“Sometimes their visits were so sensitive they went in civilian clothing.”

• UK Has Deep Involvement In Ukraine Conflict – The Times (RT)

Britain’s military leadership played a far more extensive and covert role in the Ukraine conflict than previously known, not only designing battle plans and supplying intelligence, but also authorizing secret troop deployments inside Ukraine to deliver weapons training and technical support, according to a report by The Times. While London’s political and military backing for Kiev has been public since the 2014 Western-backed coup, the extent of its involvement after the escalation in February 2022 “remained largely hidden… until now,” the British newspaper wrote on Friday. The Times claimed that British troops were sent into Ukraine in small numbers on several occasions throughout 2022 and 2023, operating discreetly to avoid provoking Russia. In particular, UK forces were deployed to fit Ukrainian aircraft with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles and train pilots and ground crews in their use.

“UK troops were secretly sent to fit Ukraine’s aircraft with the missiles and teach troops how to use them,” the publication wrote, noting that it “would not be the first time British troops had been deployed on the ground.” The UK had been delivering thousands of NLAW anti-tank missiles to Kiev and sending instructors to train Ukrainian soldiers in their use since 2015. While British troops were pulled back from Ukraine shortly before the escalation in February 2022, the deteriorating battlefield situation and the urgent need for technical expertise saw small teams of UK personnel redeployed quietly alongside fresh supplies of missiles, the newspaper reported.

London also reportedly played a key role in helping Ukraine prepare its much-touted 2023 “counteroffensive” against Russia – and in mediating between Kiev and Washington when the operation failed to meet US expectations. The newspaper claimed that “behind the scenes” the Ukrainians referred to Britain’s military chiefs as the “brains” of what they called an “anti-Putin” coalition. Former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was even ereportedly nicknamed “the man who saved Kiev” by Ukrainian military officials. “The Americans went to Ukraine only on rare occasions because of concerns that they would be seen to be too involved in the war, unlike Britain’s military chiefs who were given the freedom to go whenever necessary,” The Times wrote. “Sometimes their visits were so sensitive they went in civilian clothing.”

Moscow perceives the Ukraine conflict as a Western-led proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as “cannon fodder.” It considers foreigners fighting for Kiev as “mercenaries” acting on behalf of Western governments. Senior Russian officials have suggested that more complex weapon systems provided to Kiev are highly likely operated by NATO staff. The presence of current and former NATO troops has also been tacitly admitted, but never openly confirmed, by Western officials. For example, last year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed the involvement of British and French forces in preparing Ukrainian missile launches, as he explained why Berlin would not supply similar weapons to Kiev. Earlier this month, a New York Times investigation found that the administration of former US President Joe Biden provided Ukraine with support that went far beyond arms shipments – extending to daily battlefield coordination, intelligence sharing, and joint strategy planning, which were described as indispensable to Kiev’s fight against Russia.

“..the “largest military base of NATO is in Romania,” coupled with the 380-mile (612 km) long border that his country shares with Ukraine..”

• NATO Needs Romania To Launch WWIII – Georgescu to Tucker Carlson (RT)

Calin Georgescu, a former Romanian presidential candidate whose bid was controversially invalidated earlier this year, has claimed that NATO wants to “launch World War III from Romania.” In an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, he said his staunch pro-peace stance was among the main reasons why he was barred from running for president. The right-wing politician, known as an outspoken critic of NATO, the EU, and Western support for Ukraine, scored a surprise win in the first round of November’s presidential election, receiving 23% of the vote. However, the country’s Constitutional Court swiftly moved in to annul the result over alleged “irregularities” in his campaign. Later, Georgescu was stripped of his right to run for office.

Appearing on Carlson’s podcast on Thursday, the former Romanian presidential candidate alleged that NATO wants to “launch… World War III from Romania.” The politician cited the fact that the “largest military base of NATO is in Romania,” coupled with the 380-mile (612 km) long border that his country shares with Ukraine. “In this situation of course Romania is the asset for [the] European Union, for [French President Emmanuel] Macron in order to launch the war,” Georgescu insisted. “They want to turn NATO [into] an offensive force” and are “pushing for war,” he alleged, adding that “my position was exactly against them.”According to Georgescu, “all my campaign was just concentrate[d] on peace[.] When I said… the word ‘peace’, they immediately alerted… because they need war.” The right-wing politician went on to say that the “majority of Romanian people… have this position against any intervention and any participation [in] war.”

Călin Georgescu is the most popular political figure in Romania and one of the bravest and wisest politicians in the world. This fall he ran for president on a platform against “war, technocracy and debt” and would have won, until the Biden administration pushed to cancel the… pic.twitter.com/iRWkrrZEsq

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 10, 2025

“I was denied [the right to run for president] by the globalist mafia,” the former candidate alleged, further claiming that the people behind the invalidation of his candidacy were the same people who attempted to derail Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the US, using similar smear tactics. Appearing on ‘The Shawn Ryan Show’ in January, Georgescu similarly suggested that NATO military infrastructure in Romania could be used to launch a major offensive against Russia. Bucharest, a NATO member since 2004, has been expanding the MK Air Base to make it the largest NATO installation in Europe. Moscow has described the base as “anti-Russian” and warned that it would be among the first targets for retaliatory strikes in a military conflict.

“Trump paused the tariffs, because the tool worked. Seventy-five countries have agreed to negotiate a solution to Trump’s concerns.”

• The Tariff Issue Again (Paul Craig Roberts)

The whore media is doing its best to misrepresent the tariff issue and to cause hysteria that causes stock market volatility and fears of world recession. One of the anti-Trump propaganda ministries that poses as financial media went so far as to claim that Trump has caused a “regime shift whereby US Treasuries are no longer the global fixed-income safe haven.” Once upon a time the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Economist, the BBC, the US TV networks were semi-reliable. Today they are nothing but propaganda ministries. Trump has “paused” the threatened tariffs. Why? Because as I have reported in columns and interviews they are a negotiating tool with which to reach agreements. Trump paused the tariffs, because the tool worked. Seventy-five countries have agreed to negotiate a solution to Trump’s concerns.

How did the excrement that pretends to be a media report Trump’s success? “The most significant retreat by Trump in his term so far.” “Faced with a world recession, sharp selloff of equities and bonds and plunge in oil prices, Trump abandoned his crackpot tariffs.” The Western media, especially the one in the US, has never served the West well. The US media covered up the assassinations of President John Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy. The media first encouraged, then misrepresented, the Vietnam War. The media used the CIA-orchestrated “Watergate” to hound President Nixon out of office. The media tried, but failed, to destroy President Reagan as a somnolent Grade-B movie actor who slept through cabinet meetings.

The media covered up 9/11. The media supported obvious lies, such as “Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction,” “Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people,” accused Gaddafi of ” being an authoritarian administration that systematically violated human rights and financed global terrorism in the region and abroad” (Wikipedia, the worst liar on earth). The media makes excuses, or does not cover, Israel’s extermination of Palestine and the Palestinian people. The media lies through their teeth about “the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” about alleged evils of Iran and China. When people in the Western world are confronted by nothing but lies and propaganda serving as news, what understanding can they have?

Consider the Iranian issue. Iran has not threatened the US in any way, yet labors under Washington’s sanctions and war plans to attack Iran. For many years the Israel Lobby has been trying to get Americans to attack Iran for Israel. Trump, who appears to be an Israeli puppet instead of a strong American president, is threatening Iran with devastating attack. But does he mean it, or is it, like the tariff threat, just another negotiating instrument? If I were Trump, I would not want any wars, because wars are all-consuming, and the domestic agenda would be put on the back burner. I think that Trump wants to avoid all wars so that he can deal with America’s real enemy: the American Establishment. It will be interesting to see who is strongest, Trump or the war establishment.

We won’t go back to what was before. Something new must be found.

• China Dismisses US Tariff ‘Numbers Game’ (RT)

China likened the United States’ tariff policy to a ‘numbers game’ with no practical meaning after the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed multiple rounds of duties on Chinese imports over the past few weeks. In a statement on Friday, the Chinese government accused Washington of using tariffs as a weapon for bullying and coercion, while hitting back with its own reciprocal trade duties. ”Even if the US continues to impose even higher tariffs, it would no longer have any economic significance and would go down as a joke in the history of world economics,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said, as cited by Reuters. The US has imposed four major tariff hikes on China in just over two months, with the latest escalation on Wednesday bringing the duties from an initial average of 20% to a cumulative rate of 145%.

China has retaliated, announcing its latest reciprocal hike to 125% on all American imports on Friday. The Ministry of Commerce said Beijing would not retaliate any further, indicating that it may turn to other ways of responding and vowing to “fight to the end.” Trump argues that the increased duties are needed to address trade imbalances and stop China from “ripping off the USA.” Earlier this week, he opined that the “proud” Chinese would have to “make a deal at some point.” China has also filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization challenging the latest US tariff hike, asserting that Washington’s actions have significantly disrupted the global economy. The trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies has caused extreme volatility in global stock markets, sent oil prices to four-year lows, and caused concerns regarding global supply chains.

Who gets the long end of the stick?

• 10 Tariff Questions Never Asked (Victor Davis Hanson)

1. President Donald Trump’s so-called trade war. Many call the American effort to obtain either tariff parity or a reduction in the roughly $1 trillion trade deficit and 50 years of consecutive trade deficits a “trade war.” But then what do they call the policies of the past half-century by Europe, Asia, China, and others to ensure asymmetrical tariffs, pseudo-health and security trade restrictions, and large surpluses? A trade peace? Trade fairness?

2. Do nations prefer surpluses or deficits? Why do most nations prefer trade surpluses and protective tariffs? Are Europe, Asia, China, and others stupid? Are they suicidal in continuing their trade surpluses and protective or asymmetrical tariffs. Is the United States uniquely brilliant in maintaining a half-century of cumulative trade deficits? Do Americans alone discover the advantages of a $1 trillion annual trade deficit and small or nonexistent tariffs? Why don’t America’s trading partners prefer deficits like ours—given we supposedly believe they are either advantageous or perhaps irrelevant?

3. Would our trade partners prefer to trade places with us? Would our trade partners prefer to have America’s supposed benefits of a $1 trillion trade deficit? Would the United States then “suffer” like they do by running up $200 billion annual surpluses?

4. What if wages went up at the rate of the stock market? What would now be the reaction of the stock market if over the last decade wages had increased at the rate of stocks—and the stocks at the rate of wages?

5. Is Wall Street’s panic based on what might happen—or what is happening? Is Wall Street’s meltdown a fear of what might happen in the future? Or is it reacting to March’s latest jobs report that there were 93,000 more jobs created than predicted? Was the Wall Street panic predicated on reports of much lower oil prices? Did the furor arise over the March inflation report that the annualized inflation rate dipped to 2.6% per year?

6. Is the frenzy caused by the Trump economic agenda? Is Wall Street’s worry that Trump’s impending tax cuts, more deregulation, greater budget cuts, and continued efforts to eliminate budget deficits and reduce national debt will stall economic growth?

7. What about North American neighbors? If the U.S. was running a $63 billion-plus trade surplus with Canada, refusing to meet its NATO requirements to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense, and instead spent only 1.37%, would Canada become concerned? If Mexico were running a $171 billion trade deficit with the U.S., if Americans in Mexico were sending over $60 billion per year out of Mexico to the U.S., and if American drug dealers were making $20 billion by selling fentanyl and opioids to Mexico, would Mexico be angry?

8. Is the Trump agenda bad economic news? Is the current panic over tariffs amplified by Trump’s other policies? Is the sudden end of 10,000 illegal entries a day bothering Wall Street? Are the media furious that the Red Sea is suddenly navigable again, the Houthis in Yemen curtailing their attacks? Is the outrage due to the targeting of approximately $200 billion in budget cuts or plans to shave off $500 billion from the annual budget? Does the conundrum arise because Trump is sanctioning Iran, unapologetically supporting Israel, and seeking an end to the Ukraine War?

9. Was the Biden record preferable? Should Trump try to match former President Joe Biden’s $7 trillion addition to the national debt? Should he return to allowing 12 million illegal aliens into the country? Was the 2021 Afghanistan pullout a good model? Is Wall Street worried that Trump may copy the Biden New Green Deal, his electric vehicle mandates, and more green regulations?

10. Why the negotiations and why now? Why are 70 countries now wishing to negotiate tariffs with America either down to zero or reciprocally to the same rate as ours? Is that a good thing? If so, why did our trade partners not wish to lower their trade barriers far earlier? Did they suddenly and spontaneously decide they were acting unfairly and, on their own prompt, now want to make amends? What’s next? If there soon is a rush of nations to cut a deal with the U.S. and not to be left out of the American market, will there follow another hysterical Wall Street spasm—but not to sell, but instead to buy stocks at bargain prices?

“Now is not the time to settle for the lowest common denominator, which is always a temptation in politics..”

• Trump’s Tariffs Only the Start. Congress Must Now Cut Taxes, Regulations (DS)

President Donald Trump announced historic tariffs on April 2—“Liberation Day”—to ensure that America is no longer “looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered” by other nations. On Wednesday, the president announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs and lowered the tariff rate on most nations to 10%. He also raised tariffs on China to 125%. His bold leadership, which quickly brought 75 countries to the negotiating table, he said, should be applauded. Clearly, his strategy is working: America is gaining leverage, and China is becoming more and more isolated. While conservatives have been divided and disorganized about how to respond to the president’s policy, with almost all Republicans in Washington still watching from the sidelines, we’re calling on Americans to unify around a “yes, and” agenda.

That means saying yes to strategic, reciprocal tariffs that target China and other trade abusers—based on their barriers, not simply the balance of trade—as we work toward true free and fair trade. And it means insisting that tariffs are most effective when paired with a broad array of conservative policies that alleviate economic pain on the American people. While Trump works to liberate us from foreign abuses, congressional Republicans must fight to liberate Americans from the burdens of federal regulations, mandates, and taxes. First, we must not settle for extending the status quo on tax relief. Thanks to the majorities Trump delivered in November, Republicans must pursue deeper tax reform through reconciliation. Every penny raised from tariffs should be offset with pro-growth tax cuts.

Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent is a good start, but we also must remove every remaining tax penalty on expanding hiring and business operations in America by adopting full and immediate expensing for all investments. Pairing this with a simplified flat tax for all is even better. Congress should collapse the personal income and corporate tax rates to 15%. Second, Congress should work alongside the Trump administration, using the reconciliation process, to transform the current 10% universal tariff into a true border-adjusted tariff. That means applying a universal 10% tariff on all imports, while granting a matching 10% credit to all American exports. That isn’t just smart policy—it’s a long-overdue correction to a global tax system that has punished American industry for decades. We’ve let foreign goods pour into our markets tax-free, while our manufacturers are taxed at home and slapped again abroad. That’s not free trade—it’s economic surrender.

And no country has abused this broken system more brazenly than China, which has cheated on trade, exploited our openness, and gutted the U.S. industry while Washington looked the other way. If we want to rebuild our economy, secure our supply chains, and end our dependence on adversarial regimes, then a border adjustment tariff must be part of the conservative economic playbook. As a bonus, these revenues can be used to offset lost revenue from the lower tax rates we are calling for. Third, Republicans must finally get serious about cutting spending—not with half measures or messaging bills, but with real, structural reform. Through reconciliation, Congress should significantly cut mandatory spending riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse.

Now is not the time to settle for the lowest common denominator, which is always a temptation in politics. If we are to undo the fiscal and inflationary damage done by the previous administration and decades of fiscal irresponsibility, we must go big and take advantage of this historic electoral mandate. Then, through the appropriations process, we must slash the bloated discretionary budget that fuels the unchecked growth of the federal bureaucracy. In the meantime, the Department of Government Efficiency must be fully unleashed to do its job—scrutinizing every dollar, rooting out inefficiency, and holding agencies accountable. This is how we restore fiscal integrity and prove to the American people that their government works for them, not the other way around.

“..the high court has for procedural reasons issued back-to-back rulings undoing restrictions district judges imposed on the Trump administration..”

• Dem-Appointed Federal Judges Are the Big Losers at Supreme Court This Week (DC)

The Supreme Court has struck down orders issued by Democrat-appointed district court judges five times in the past week. Without addressing the merits of the issues—which include consequential questions about immigration, funding, and the president’s authority to remove agency officials—the high court has for procedural reasons issued back-to-back rulings undoing restrictions district judges imposed on the Trump administration. “I think that the recent spate of Supreme Court decisions blocking lower court rulings against the Trump administration indicates that a majority of the justices are growing tired of district court judges issuing broad rulings, often in the form of nationwide injunctions, when they lack jurisdiction and are equally concerned about these judges ordering agencies to disburse millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars that will be impossible to recoup if the government ultimately prevails,” John Malcolm, director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Chief Justice John Roberts put a temporary hold Wednesday on orders forcing the reinstatement of two fired agency leaders, clearing the way for President Donald Trump to remove Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board. While asking the Supreme Court to quickly block the lower court orders, the administration also asked the Supreme Court to grant certiorari to consider the matter on its merits. Roberts ordered fired officials to offer a response to the administration by April 15. Another Supreme Court ruling from Tuesday reversed a lower court decision requiring the administration to reinstate over 16,000 fired federal employees, finding some of the organizations that sued did not have standing.

The Supreme Court blocked two lower court orders dealing with immigration issues on Monday. Roberts temporarily halted an order that would have required the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member living in Maryland with his American wife, to the United States after he was deported in error. In a 5-4 decision, the majority also permitted the administration to enforce the Alien Enemies Act of 1789, a wartime authority that allows the president to remove citizens of a hostile nation, to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador. The majority blocked the order issued by D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg because the case was brought in the wrong venue, but stressed that detainees are still entitled to judicial review.

The three liberal justices, along with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, dissented from the ruling, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor calling the majority’s decision an “extraordinary threat to the rule of law” and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson saying it should raise concern for “lovers of liberty.” Following the ruling, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the administration on Wednesday from removing individuals held in the El Valle Detention Center under the Alien Enemies Act. A Clinton-appointed judge in the Southern District of New York likewise halted deportations in his district under the act. The Supreme Court blocked an order in another 5-4 decision Friday that directed the Trump administration to pay out millions of dollars in teacher training grants, which it halted as part of its effort to cut programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“The Supreme Court has indicated in very strong terms that, rather than seeking out liberal district court judges in the bluest of blue states, people who think they are being unlawfully detained should file habeas petitions where they are being held, former government officials who believe they were wrongfully terminated should go to the Merit Systems Protection Board, and government contractors who believe they are owed money should go the Federal Court of Claims,” Malcolm told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As to the ultimate merits of these claims, I believe the administration will prevail in most of these cases, but, of course, that remains to be seen.” White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that seeking relief on the emergency docket “was necessary for the President to quickly deliver his agenda for the American people without unlawful interruption.” “President Trump secured five wins in six days in the Supreme Court, because it is finally taking steps to reign in rogue judges who seek to undermine President Trump’s authority,” Rogers said.

“..newly-appointed US Attorney for the New Jersey federal district, Alina Habba, opened a criminal investigation against Gov. Murphy for “obstruction and concealment.” That means, possibly, jail. Badda-bing! This ain’t no foolin’ around.”

• The Wicked Flee (James Howard Kunstler)

The decade-long treasonous hectoring of Mr. Trump keeps on coming, you understand, for the simple reason that there have been absolutely zero consequences for any of the vicious rogues behind it. Not so much as a rap on the knuckles for seeking to overthrow a president, steal elections, hide high crimes, rob the treasury, and recklessly frame the innocent. And suddenly this week, as startling as a mythic goddess of justice riding a spring zephyr, comes a brisk demonstration of exactly what-to-do. Days ago, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey ordered his state police to not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officers (ICE) — a nice bit of grandstanding for a guy seeking to occupy the Democratic Party’s leadership vacuum. So, Thursday night, newly-appointed US Attorney for the New Jersey federal district, Alina Habba, opened a criminal investigation against Gov. Murphy for “obstruction and concealment.” That means, possibly, jail. Badda-bing! This ain’t no foolin’ around.

The reason the Democrat pols and their activist agents pule and mewl about “retribution” is because they know they are guilty of so many manifest crimes against the country and against decency, that a fair system would have jailed or hanged them by now. They evaded their reckonings only because their own filthy mitts gripped the levers of justice until very recently. Since January 20, that has obviously changed. But two questions have dogged the necessary restoration of fairness and good faith in the backbone of government we call the law. 1) Since the culpable are such well-known figures — the Clintons, Obama, Biden, Comey, Brennan, Mayorkas, Garland, Wray, Fauci, Collins, Pelosi, Eisen, Weissmann, McCord, Schiff, and dozens more — how do you seek justice without appearing to “go after” individuals in the old Soviet mode of “show me the person and I’ll find you the crime”? And 2) where do you begin with such a cosmic-scale panorama of treasonous malfeasance spanning many years and many theaters-of-action?

I’d say US Attorney Alina Habba’s move this week is an excellent place to start. For one thing, Governor Murphy’s defiant act is a fresh crime, only days old, and a clear-cut one: you can’t order state officials to flout federal law, especially where public safety is concerned. Ms. Habba smacked him instantly, like an insolent biting insect. Now, follow through. Prosecute. Mere apologies not accepted. No “mulligan” on that shot. If she brings a case, then other mayors and governors of the many self-proclaimed “sanctuary” jurisdictions around the country, trolling for virtue brownie points in their Woke waters, will rethink their lawless posturing. Couple of other good starts just this week. Mr. Trump issued executive orders yesterday that will afford a fresh look into some older but critical crimes against the nation. One directs US Attorney General Bondi to investigate the actions of a key player in wide-ranging 2020 election mischief. From the White House memo itself:

Christopher Krebs, the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is a significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his government authority. Krebs’ misconduct involved the censorship of disfavored speech implicating the 2020 election and COVID-19 pandemic. CISA, under Krebs’ leadership, suppressed conservative viewpoints under the guise of combatting supposed disinformation, and recruited and coerced major social media platforms to further its partisan mission. CISA covertly worked to blind the American public to the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop. Krebs, through CISA, promoted the censorship of election information, including known risks associated with certain voting practices. Similarly, Krebs, through CISA, falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, including by inappropriately and categorically dismissing widespread election malfeasance and serious vulnerabilities with voting machines. Krebs skewed the bona fide debate about COVID-19 by attempting to discredit widely shared views that ran contrary to CISA’s favored perspective.

Next, the White House directed an investigation of Homeland Security officer Miles Taylor who proclaimed, during the first Trump term in an anonymous New York Times op-ed, that he was party to “a resistance within the Federal Government that ‘vowed’ to undermine and render ineffective a sitting president. . . . [T]his conduct could properly be characterized as treasonous and as possibly violating the Espionage Act,” the EO said. Sounds serious, a little bit.

Next, in another EO, the White House severely disciplined the swamp law firm Susman Godfrey for its racist DEI activism in the federal agencies it did work for, saying, “Lawyers and law firms that engage in activities detrimental to critical American interests should not have access to our nation’s secrets, nor should their conduct be subsidized by Federal taxpayer funds or contracts.” Hence, Sussman Godfrey lost its security clearances, its federal work contracts were cancelled, and its lawyers are barred from entering federal buildings, including courthouses. FAFO.

Next, Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard announced at Thursday’s cabinet meeting that her office has obtained evidence of massive vulnerabilities in voting machines that allow hackers to flip votes. This has long been written off as “baseless conspiracy theory” for years by degenerate news outlets like The New York Times. The key word in Ms. Gabbard’s statement, is “evidence.” You realize, of course, that there is no reason to use vote-counting machines in our election except for the purpose of hacking and cheating. Most other putatively “democratic” nations use paper ballots and manage to tabulate and report election results within twenty-four hours.

Of course, this motley batch of sudden cases — Gov. Murphy of NJ, Chris Krebs, Miles Taylor, Susman Godfrey — are relative outliers to the notorious operations such as RussiaGate, the Schiff-Vindman-Ciaramella-Eisen plot behind Impeachment No. 1, The Covid-19 intrigue, The BLM rampage, the Hunter Biden Laptop ruse (and Biden family’s bribery and treason), J-6 riot and the DNC Pipe-bomb caper, and four years of a wide-open border. That long train of crimes, seditions, and treasons came close to wrecking the country. We know exactly who was behind and involved in all of that. What remains is the heavy-lifting to build cases that can be brought to grand juries in good faith. Perhaps a comprehensive omnibus RICO case can incorporate all of these in what appears to amount to a single, complex orchestrated, long-running attempted coup. Don’t bet that this isn’t coming. And, by-the-way, the infamous “Crossfire-Hurricane” binder was just released last night. As of this writing, there is almost no analysis available yet. Stand by.

Legalese: “..the district court could order the government “to facilitate” but not necessarily “to effectuate” the return.

• Court Issues Curious Order in the Garcia Case (Turley)

The media lit up yesterday with the order of the Supreme Court in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an accused MS-13 member mistakingly sent to El Salvador. I have previously said that the Administration should have brought back Garcia immediately and pushed for deportation under existing laws. Yet, in the order, the Court ordered the government to “facilitate” the return without stating what that means. Last evening, the Court issued the short three-paragraph per curiam opinion in Noem v. Garcia. After the ruling, many on the left claimed “Supreme Court in a unanimous decision: He has a legal right to be here, and you have to bring him back.” It is a bit more ambiguous than that. The Court actually warned that the district court could order the government to facilitate but not necessarily “to effectuate” the return.

The application is granted in part and denied in part, subject to the direction of this order. Due to the administrative stay issued by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, the deadline imposed by the District Court has now passed. To that extent, the Government’s emergency application is effectively granted in part and the deadline in the challenged order is no longer effective. The rest of the District Court’s order remains in effect but requires clarification on remand. The order properly requires the Government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. The intended scope of the term “effectuate” in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps. The order heretofore entered by THE CHIEF JUSTICE is vacated.

So what does that mean? The Court disagrees with many, including the Fourth Circuit, that President Trump had no inherent executive powers to countermand the district court’s order. He clearly does have countervailing powers that have to be weighed more heavily in the matter. The district court is expressly ordered to show “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.” What is left is a legal pushmi-pullyu that seems to be going in both directions at once. What if the Trump Administration says that inquiries were made, but the matter has proven intractable or unresolvable? Crickets. No one would seriously believe that, but what right does the district court have to manage the relations or communications with a foreign country? The problem with this shadow docket decision is that there is more shadow than sunlight in its meaning.

Money’s a charm.

• Trump Plans Charm Offensive To Win Over Greenland – NYT (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s administration is planning a public relations campaign and financial incentives to persuade Greenlanders to join the United States, the New York Times has reported. Trump has repeatedly stated that Washington needed to take control of the autonomous Danish territory in order to enhance America’s “national security,” claiming recently he will “100% get” the Arctic island. The president has even alluded to using military force if necessary. The new approach focuses on persuasion over coercion, featuring advertising and social media campaigns to influence public opinion among Greenland’s approximately 57,000 residents, the NYT reported on Thursday, citing unnamed US officials. The plan includes mobilizing several cabinet departments to implement Trump’s long-standing goal of acquiring the Mexico-sized territory.

The Trump administration is also studying financial incentives for Greenlanders, including replacing the $600 million in subsidies that Denmark gives the island with annual payments of about $10,000 per person, the sources said. Some Trump officials reportedly claim the costs could be offset by revenue from Greenland’s natural resources, including rare earths, copper, gold, uranium and oil. In order to bolster the campaign, the White House is highlighting Greenlanders’ shared ancestry with Alaska and Arctic Canada as well as other historical ties, including the US military’s presence on the island during World War II, the report said. Greenland was under Danish rule from the early 19th century until the 1950s, but during World War II it was briefly occupied by US forces after Nazi Germany seized Denmark. The island now hosts a US military base and an early warning system for ballistic missiles.

In recent decades, the island has gained greater autonomy, receiving home rule in 1979 and the right to declare independence after a 2009 referendum. Trump first floated the idea of acquiring Greenland in 2019 and has revived the proposal since returning to office. His administration describes the island as a strategic asset, citing its location and untapped natural resources. Trump’s plans and a recent visit by a high-profile US delegation, including US Vice President J.D. Vance and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, have drawn vocal criticism from Greenlandic and Danish officials, who have rejected any suggestion of a sale. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has condemned Trump’s recent remarks as escalatory and disrespectful, saying the rhetoric had become increasingly aggressive and amounted to a “hidden threat” against Denmark and its semi-autonomous territory.

Greenland’s newly elected Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has urged the islanders to unite and make clear that “we do not belong to anyone else” and will never come under Washington’s control.

Part of a “victory package”. Alongside “immediate NATO membership, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Kiev, and the deployment of long-range Western missiles on Ukrainian territory..”

• Zelensky Offered US Rare-Earths Deal Under Biden – Blinken (RT)

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he sees nothing inherently wrong with his country benefiting from Ukrainian rare-earth minerals, but claimed that the current administration under Donald Trump is taking the wrong approach to achieve this. In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Blinken confirmed that an offer from Kiev on minerals had been on the table during his time as secretary of state under President Joe Biden. The current US administration is working to finalize a deal with Ukraine, which President Trump claims will enable American taxpayers to recoup funds spent over the years supporting Kiev’s war effort against Russia. The agreement does not offer security guarantees to Ukraine. According to Blinken, the Biden administration took a different approach to the rare-earths deal offered by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.

“Part of the victory package that [Zelensky] put on the table in the last six months of our administration included us working with them on rare earths, on critical minerals,” he told journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. Blinken said the Biden administration had aimed to promote investments in Ukraine for the mutual benefit of both nations. However, he criticized the Trump administration’s proposal as “basically a protection racket without the protection.” The document submitted by Washington in March reportedly grants American businesses broad access to the Ukrainian economy but without security assurances. The White House contends that vested US interests would serve as a de facto form of protection.

Zelensky has sought Western security guarantees as a precondition for signing a peace treaty with Moscow. Among his proposed options were immediate NATO membership, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Kiev, and the deployment of long-range Western missiles on Ukrainian territory, aimed at Russia. Negotiations for a minerals deal began during the early weeks of the second Trump presidency, with at least two draft proposals being abandoned. The two countries appeared close to finalizing an agreement during Zelensky’s visit to Washington in late February. However, the planned signing was canceled after Zelensky publicly questioned Trump’s approach to Russia, leading to the Ukrainian delegation being asked to leave the White House.

Le Pen was trapped. „Such a procedure,“ Kolakusic explains further, „is unprecedented anywhere else in the world or in any other parliament, but it is a perfect weapon for settling accounts with dissidents.”

• The End of La Grande Illusion Democratique (Karganovic)

Only the incurably naïve were shocked by the brazen and deliberate rigging of the French Presidential elections. Granted, the outrageous infringement of collective West’s verbally proclaimed democratic electoral canons in Romania, which took place shortly before, could have been taken by alert observers as a reliable signal of what might imminently occur in other precincts of the “European garden.” Blinded by cultural racism however some of them might have mistaken electoral rigging in Romania, a recently acquired patch of that garden, as a sui generis case, entirely attributable to Balkan primitivism. But they would have overlooked conveniently the now well established fact that instructions to corrupt Romanian bureaucrats to eliminate inconvenient candidate Georgescu did not emanate from Bucharest alone. We now know that they were issued imperatively from the idyllic Garden’s ideological centre, which is in Brussels.

Without diminishing, in the electoral disqualification and penal punishment of Marine Le Pen, the influence of the local French branch of the globalist cabal (it would be unpardonably incorrect to call that scum “elite”) there also the nefarious role of the nerve centre in Brussels must be stressed. The arbitrary mechanism which allows the cabal to target virtually anybody it perceives as unsuitable or as a threat was laid bare by Croatian European Parliament deputy Mislav Kolakusic. The core charge pressed against Le Pen, let us recall, was of a basely pecuniary nature, namely that as an EU deputy she partially used her office employees in Strassbourg to do political work on behalf of her French political party, the Front National, improperly remunerating them with European Union funds. The outspoken EU parliamentarian Kolakusic knows of what he speaks because he was himself charged with this ghastly infraction, an accusation from which he managed to successfully defend himself only thanks to having kept meticulous records.

It appears that acting with Gallic abandon Marine Le Pen or her office manager were not nearly as fastidious record keepers and they are now paying the political and penal price for the oversight. What Kolakusic reveals about the inner workings of the system, based on his own experience and observation, is most unsettling and strongly suggests a deliberately built-in trap ready to be sprung on anyone who gets out of line. His remarks are in Croatian, but their gist is as follows. The way the European Parliament interprets its own rules, its officials are authorised to determine as they deem fit whether parliamentary deputies or their staff on any given day had worked a full eight hours as required on tasks exlusively related to matters pertaining to European Parliament affairs, or not. If not, there are unpleasant consequences that can be made to follow.

That portion of salaries alleged to have been paid out from European funds for performing tasks deemed unrelated to European Parliament work is refundable on demand, as subjectively assessed by investigators who are empowered to act with arbitrary discretion. But that is the least of it. More ominously, the arbitrariness extends to the determination of how the matter shall be treated. It could be considered a harmless lapse curable with a reprimand and a refund. But if the powers that be take a particularly dim view of the alleged malefactor, it could also be treated as an act of moral turpitude, having been committed with the element of mens rea, which creates grounds for the imputation of criminal liability. It is by opting for the latter interpretation, of course, that with the helpful assistance of the French judiciary (that some naive folks had thought to be so incorruptible) that they got Marine Le Pen.

„Such a procedure,“ Kolakusic explains further, „is unprecedented anywhere else in the world or in any other parliament, but it is a perfect weapon for settling accounts with dissidents, be they of the so-called extreme right or extreme left, or independent parliamentarians, which is to say the only members of the European Parliament who think using their own brains and who formulate their own original positions on major issues.“

It all goes back decades.

• Tulsi Gabbard Drops TWO Huge Bombshells (MN)

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard made a startling revelation during an open cabinet meeting Wednesday, announcing that she has evidence that electronic voting machines have been tampered with to manipulate the results of past US elections. “I’ve got a long list of things that we’re investigating. We have the best going after this, election integrity being one of them,” Gabbard stated. “We have evidence of how these electronic voting systems have been vulnerable to hackers for a very long time,” she continued.

BREAKING: Tulsi Gabbard just announced at the Cabinet meeting that her office has obtained evidence of massive vulnerabilities on voting machines that allow hackers to flip votes. WHOAH!!!

"We have evidence of how these electronic voting systems have been vulnerable to hackers… pic.twitter.com/3KGuyyO60n

— George (@BehizyTweets) April 10, 2025

Gabbard emphasised that the evidence shows that machines are “vulnerable to exploitation to manipulate the results of the votes being cast.” She told President Trump that the finding “further drives forward your mandate to bring about paper ballots across the country so that voters can have faith in the integrity of our elections.” It seems the ‘conspiracy theorists’ were right again.

For years, Democrats blatantly told us that voting machines were rigging elections. We didn't listen until they pulled off the fraud of 2020.

Now, the whole intelligence apparatus led by Tulsi Gabbard is investigating the machines. SO GOOD!
pic.twitter.com/lCOq03AkrQ

— George (@BehizyTweets) April 10, 2025

Gabbard also announced that she is about to make public a huge amount of information relating to the assassinations of RFK, and MLK Jr.

BREAKING – Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announces a major incoming file dump on the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and MLK Jr. pic.twitter.com/2POmPelOfP

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 10, 2025

Gabbard followed up on the comments in a Fox News interview, also noting she has teams of people scouring FBI and CIA warehouses looking for hidden documents on the JFK assassination.

This frees up White House lawyers’ time. For free.

• Trump Admin Reaches Agreements With 5 Law Firms (ET)

The Trump administration announced on April 11 that it has reached agreements with five law firms to represent causes they both support, such as helping veterans. These law firms are the latest to offer pro bono services to the White House. The administration has gone after law firms it says have taken stances at odds with Trump’s policies, such as practices relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). None of the law firms were targeted by the administration but reached these agreements with the White House, which has issued executive orders going after a handful of others. A group of four law firms agreed to each provide at least $125 million, or $500 million altogether, in pro bono services: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Latham & Watkins LLP. The firms agreed to be counsel to help veterans, law enforcement, and first responders; combat anti-Semitism; and ensure “fairness in the justice system.”

They “will take on a wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full political spectrum, including conservative ideals,” President Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. The law firms agreed to end the use of DEI in hiring personnel and “affirm that it is their policy to give fair and equal consideration to job candidates, irrespective of their political beliefs, including candidates who have served in the Trump administration, and any other Republican or Democrat administration,” according to Trump. They will also advise other law firms regarding employment practices. The four firms said they will not refuse to represent those who have not been clients of prominent nationwide law firms due to holding political beliefs that contrast those of their firm’s lawyers. The White House celebrated the agreement.

“President Trump and his administration have entered into an agreement with these long established firms, which have affirmed their strong commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession. The President continues to fulfill his promise to the American people that the age of partisan lawfare in America is over,” the White House said, according to Trump’s post. In a joint statement, which Trump shared on Truth Social, the law firms said they “look forward to a continued constructive and productive relationship with President Trump and his team.” A fifth law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono counseling, also in helping veterans; combating anti-Semitism; assisting law enforcement, military personnel, and first responders; and “ensuring fairness in our justice system.” The law firm agreed to hire personnel based on merit and not on DEI.

Like with the four other firms, this includes not discriminating based on political beliefs. They will also assist other law firms on hiring practices and not refuse representation to those whose political beliefs do not align with the firm’s attorneys. Cadwalader said it worked with Trump and his team to reach the agreement. “The substance of our agreement is consistent with the principles that have guided Cadwalader for over 230 years: We always put our client’s interests first; we believe that Justice should be available to everyone; and we are committed to attracting, retaining and nurturing the very best talent from all backgrounds,” it said in a statement, according to Trump’s post. Other law firms that have come to agreements with the White House include Skadden, Milbank, and Willkie Farr and Gallagher, which each will provide at least $100 million in pro bono representation. Paul Weiss agreed to provide $40 million in free counseling in areas such as combating anti-Semitism and assisting veterans.

With these arrangements so far, the law firms have agreed to provide at least $940 million in pro bono representation to some of the causes supported by the president. Meanwhile, Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, and WilmerHale have taken legal action against the administration, seeking to reverse the executive orders against them. Trump signed an executive order on April 9 to effectively blacklist Susman Godfrey from engaging with the U.S. government. The law firm represented Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation lawsuit against former Trump lawyer and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The president said on April 10 that the law firms may help the administration with negotiating trade deals with countries.

Hatim

If the World were a Greek Πανηγύρι…
🙃💙🇬🇷🕺🎵💃🌍💙🙃 pic.twitter.com/HyJ0KWZVmA

— Diogenes of Sinope (@DiogenisSinopis) April 11, 2025

Isaacson

Walter Isaacson: Elon has done what China, the U.S. or Boeing couldn't—and he didn't stop there.

“Here's a guy who brought us into the era of electric vehicles, the only person who can shoot off rockets and get things to orbit and have the boosters land. China hasn't done it;… pic.twitter.com/0lBJxUdos4

— ELON CLIPS (@ElonClipsX) April 11, 2025

https://twitter.com/LionelMedia/status/1910063189628219694

Elon Musk: Tesla's approach to self-driving is difficult but ultimately very powerful.

“There already are autonomous vehicles in some regions. Waymo has autonomous vehicles with no one in them. But they're limited to a few cities in the U.S.

The Tesla solution, which is a much… pic.twitter.com/HMBtikVGkq

— ELON CLIPS (@ElonClipsX) April 10, 2025

Train

Wait for it.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/6DPvk1FDMe

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) April 11, 2025

Candace

Candace Owens says “people think that the greatest mass murderer was Adоlf Hitlег”

She says the Bolshеvik’s murdеrеd 10s of millions of Christians under the lead of a Russian Jеw, Genrikh Yagoda.

How come I’m just learning this now? pic.twitter.com/5pwkw1J25G

— ADAM (@AdameMedia) April 11, 2025

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Debt Rattle March 28 2025

Mar 282025

March 28, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:33 am Finance Tagged with: Auto Workers Union, Boasberg, Chutkan, Greenland, liberalism, Perkins Coie, UN governance, Witkoff, Zelensky 57 Responses »

Georges Seurat Bathers at Asnières 1884

• Putin Proposess Temporary Governance of Ukraine Under UN Auspices (Sp.)

• Key Points of Putin’s Idea To Place Ukraine Under UN Control (RT)

• EU Leaders Fear Peace in Ukraine – French Army Veteran (Sp.)

• US Planning To Annex Greenland Since 1860s – Putin (RT)

• Zelensky Lashes Out At Trump Envoy Witkoff (RT)

• Zelensky Speaks Of ‘Hatred Of Russians’ (RT)

• Rep. Goldman: FBI Probe of Tesla Attacks “Political Weaponization” (Turley)

• Signal Leak A ‘Witch Hunt’ – Trump (RT)

• Trump Says ‘Disgraceful’ That Boasberg To Preside Over Signal Lawsuit (JTN)

• Judge Declines Trump Admin Request T0 Recuse Herself From Perkins Coie Case (ET)

• Appeals Court Halts Judge’s Order Requiring Musk to Hand Over DOGE Records (ET)

• Auto Workers Union Applauds Trump’s New Tariffs (JTN)

• Auto Tariffs: German Carmakers Face Billions in Losses (CTH)

• Liberalism Is Dead, This Is What Comes After (Trenin)

• Will This Scandal Be The End Of ‘Unsinkable’ Netanyahu? (Sadygzade)

Kash hoax

WHOA!!! TRUMP FILED A BIG LAWSUIT AGAINST EVERYONE IN THE RUSSIAN HOAX!!! THIS WILL BE HUGE… pic.twitter.com/VRofX7nTVm

— TOMMYTGME (@RAZORTOMMYCUTS) March 26, 2025

Nap Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs pointing out the obvious – that Israel is currently running the foreign policy of the US government. They’re running this White House, but no one dares say the word, while LARPING as “MAGA”, as clearly evidenced by the Signal group chat which was published by the… pic.twitter.com/BxE4SXNDJu

— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) March 27, 2025

Elon Signal
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1904951618162118853

HHS
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1905246820282081292

Tucker votes

Tucker Carlson exposes US Congress passed a loophole to allow illegal migrants to vote

This MUST be undone, we have to secure our voting
‌
“It's illegal, you say, for illegal aliens to vote in a federal election. Well, actually, it's not illegal, it turns out. Congress passed… pic.twitter.com/GDoMsPl8yn

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) March 26, 2025

Doge team

Powerful interview with @elonmusk and the @DOGE team. It's worth watching the whole video.pic.twitter.com/wCPeSh703N

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) March 28, 2025

Losing patience? “I said not long ago that we would push them out, but there is reason to believe that we will finish them off,”

• Putin Proposess Temporary Governance of Ukraine Under UN Auspices (Sp.)

The possibility of introducing temporary governance in Ukraine could be discussed under the auspices of the United Nations together with the United States, European countries and Russian partners, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. The introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine would allow democratic elections to be held in the country, Putin added. “And for what? To hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the people’s trust. And then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty, sign legitimate documents that will be recognized throughout the world and will be reliable and stable. This is only one option, I am not saying that there are no others,” the president noted.

The Russian President made other statements regarding foreign policy and the conflict in Ukraine while talking to sailors of the nuclear-powered submarine cruiser Arkhangelsk. Russia has a strategic initiative along the entire front line, the President stressed. Russia controls 99% of the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic and more than 70% of the territory of the DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Putin noted. “I said not long ago that we would push them out, but there is reason to believe that we will finish them off,” he added. Russia is ready to cooperate with all countries that want to eliminate the causes of the Ukrainian conflict for a peaceful settlement. Moscow is ready to collaborate with Europe on Ukraine, but the EU behaves inconsistently and constantly tries to “lead Russia by the nose,” he added.

“The curators from Europe have convinced Kiev to continue the war to the last Ukrainian in order to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia,” the Russian president said. Russia will no longer make mistakes based on excessive trust in its so-called partners, Putin stressed. The Russian President mentioned the BRICS countries and the DPRK among the partners Russia is ready to work with for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

“.. the notorious Azov battalion – which receive Western weapons and actively recruit followers – could increasingly exert de facto control in Ukraine..”

• Key Points of Putin’s Idea To Place Ukraine Under UN Control (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed placing Ukraine under a temporary international administration as one possible way of resolving the ongoing conflict. The idea, he said, draws on international precedent and would aim to restore legitimate governance before any peace deal could be finalized. During his meeting with Russian nuclear submarine officers on Thursday, President Putin described a possible international mechanism for stabilizing Ukraine – placing it under temporary external administration coordinated by the United Nations. Here are the key takeaways from Putin’s proposal:

1) Problem: Collapse of legitimacy in Kiev

Putin argued that Ukraine’s constitutional legitimacy has broken down due to the expiration of Vladimir Zelensky’s presidential powers last year and the lack of elections since – rendering all of his government’s claims to authority invalid.
“Presidential elections weren’t held… under the constitution, all officials are appointed by the president. If he himself is illegitimate, then so is everyone else.”

2) Consequence: Power vacuum filled by radicals

Putin has warned that groups with neo-Nazi views, such as the notorious Azov battalion – which receive Western weapons and actively recruit followers – could increasingly exert de facto control in Ukraine, potentially replacing formal civilian authorities. “Amid the de facto illegitimacy… Neo-Nazi formations are receiving more weapons,” and could take “the actual power in their hands.” Putin argued that this makes negotiating with Ukraine’s current government even more unreliable and unstable: “It’s unclear who you’re even signing any documents with – tomorrow new people could come and say, ‘We don’t know who signed this – goodbye.’”

3) Suggestion: UN-led temporary external administration

Putin proposed the use of a UN-led transitional authority, referencing prior international missions such as in East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and parts of former Yugoslavia. “In such cases, international practice often follows a known path – under UN peacekeeping, through what is called external governance, a temporary administration.”

4) Purpose: Restoring constitutional order and setting legal framework for stable peace

The main goal, according to Putin, would be to organize democratic elections and install a functioning, legitimate government trusted by citizens and recognized globally. He stated that only such leaders could sign peace agreements that would be recognized worldwide and upheld over time. “Why do this? In order to hold democratic elections, in order to bring to power a government that is capable and enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty, sign legitimate documents that will be recognized worldwide and will be reliable and stable.”

5) Not the only option – but a viable one

Putin emphasized that this idea is not the only possibility, but an example drawn from historical precedent. “This is just one option… I’m not saying other options do not exist, but it is hard right now, or maybe even impossible, to lay everything out clearly because the situation is changing so fast,” he said.

6) Multilateral cooperation beyond the West

Putin said such an initiative should involve not just the UN or the US, but a broader coalition, including BRICS nations and others Russia considers reliable. “We will work with any partners – the US, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, BRICS countries… and, for example, North Korea.” He also stressed that Russia remains open to working with the EU, even though Moscow’s trust in the Western European countries has been fundamentally undermined by their manipulation of peace efforts as a tactic to buy time and rearm Ukraine.

“They have made a bargain on the war in Ukraine, and they have lost the war. They cannot accept peace imposed by Russia and America.”

“..it will be a strategic agreement between Russia and America. Then in this framework, in this kind of agreement, Europe has nothing to do and nothing to suggest..”

• EU Leaders Fear Peace in Ukraine – French Army Veteran (Sp.)

US President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure peace in Ukraine have caused panic among European leaders like Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz, who desperately want to “escape from their political death,” retired French Army Colonel Alain Corvez tells Sputnik. “They have made a bargain on the war in Ukraine, and they have lost the war. They cannot accept peace imposed by Russia and America. So they are doing things that are completely unrealistic and illogical,” says Corvez, an international strategy consultant and former international relations consultant for France’s Defense and Interior Ministries. Macron and the likes of him do not care about Ukraine – all they care about is “their own fate” amid the prospects of the European Union’s dissolution.

Macron’s decision to oppose the Black Sea ceasefire deal conditions is a “stupid decision,” Corvez notes, as France and other European powers hold no sway in the Ukrainian conflict peace process. “They are not able to do anything unless they want to declare war on Russia, which is the first nuclear power in the world, which is completely stupid,” he observes. “But unless they declare war to Russia, they have no option. They have nothing that they are able to do.” France’s plans to establish some kind of buffer zone in Ukraine is “absolutely impossible” as well, since “peace will be established by Russia and America with an agreement, a strategic agreement, which will officialize the necessity of security for Russia and that Ukraine would be neutral and not in NATO.”

“And then it will be a strategic agreement between Russia and America. Then in this framework, in this kind of agreement, Europe has nothing to do and nothing to suggest, and it’s impossible to send troops to control a buffer zone along the Dnepr or along any other rivers or lines,” Corvez adds.

Imagine the talk at birthday parties in Denmark.

• US Planning To Annex Greenland Since 1860s – Putin (RT)

Washington has long harbored plans to get its hands on Greenland, and the ongoing tensions around it should be taken seriously, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned. Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk on Thursday, Putin touched upon the ongoing tensions around Greenland, a Danish semi-autonomous territory, and US President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to annex it. Trump invoked the topic of Greenland once again on Wednesday, claiming the US ownership of the island is needed to “properly defend a large section of this Earth” and would be universally beneficial – including for Denmark. “We have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth – not just the US – without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it,” he said.

The statements of the US president should be taken seriously, Putin warned, pointing out the US has been harboring plans to annex Greenland for over a century and a half already. “Everyone knows about the US plans to annex Greenland. You know, this may surprise someone only at first glance. And it is a deep mistake to believe that this is some kind of extravagant talk of the new American administration,” Putin warned. The American plans to seize Greenland date back to 1860, but at the time they did not get supported by the Congress, the Russian president pointed out. “Let me remind you that by 1868, the Alaska purchase was being ridiculed in American newspapers. It was called madness, an ‘ice box,’ and ‘the polar bear garden’ of Andrew Johnson, then-US president. And his Greenland proposals failed,” Putin said.

The US, Germany, and Denmark also neared a land-swap deal in 1910, with the proposed agreement ceding Greenland to America, Putin noted. However, the deal ultimately fell through. From the early 19th century to the 1950s, Greenland was a territory under the full control of Denmark. During World War Two, it was occupied by the US after Denmark proper was captured by Nazi Germany. Currently, the island hosts a US military base and the infrastructure for an early warning system for ballistic missiles. In recent decades, the island has grown increasingly autonomous and was granted home rule in 1979, ultimately receiving the right in 2009 to declare independence if a referendum passes.

“I understand Steve Witkoff. He is a clever and energetic person who thinks that everyone should be aware of the things he regards as obvious. Judging by the statements he made during his conversation with Tucker Carlson, the essence of this conflict is clear to him,” Lavrov said..”

• Zelensky Lashes Out At Trump Envoy Witkoff (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has reproached US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, accusing him of disseminating “Kremlin narratives.” Zelensky made the remarks on Wednesday in an interview with European broadcasters, including France 2. He accused Witkoff, a key official in opening negotiations on resolving the Ukraine conflict, of taking Moscow’s side and “helping” Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I believe that Witkoff really does quote Kremlin narratives very often. I believe that this will not bring us closer to peace. And I believe that, unfortunately, this will weaken the American pressure on Russia. We can only fix this information backdrop through our actions. We’re trying to do that,” Zelensky stated.

“Witkoff’s statements are very much a hindrance to us, because we are fighting Putin and we really do not want him to have many helpers,” he added. Zelensky was apparently referring to remarks made by Witkoff in a recent interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, during which the special envoy spoke about the status of former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia, describing the issue as “an elephant in the room” that “no one wants to talk about.” “They’re Russian-speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule,” Witkoff said. “The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is: Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict,” he added.

The remarks outraged Kiev, with the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Aleksandr Merezhko, condemning what he called “disgraceful, shocking statements” and urging Washington to dismiss “completely unprofessional” Witkoff from his role. Witkoff’s statements were welcomed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however, who suggested that, judging by his remarks, the special envoy had understood the very “essence” of the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev. “I understand Steve Witkoff. He is a clever and energetic person who thinks that everyone should be aware of the things he regards as obvious. Judging by the statements he made during his conversation with Tucker Carlson, the essence of this conflict is clear to him,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russia’s Channel 1 this week.

He is Russian by birth.

• Zelensky Speaks Of ‘Hatred Of Russians’ (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has admitted that his “hatred” of Russians is one of the driving forces propelling him to “keep going” in the conflict against Moscow. In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro published on Wednesday, Zelensky identified the emotion as one of his three key psychological drivers since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022. Zelensky said he hated “Russians who killed so many Ukrainian citizens,” adding that he considered such an attitude appropriate in wartime. His other motivations included a sense of national dignity and the desire for his descendants to live “in the free world.” Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of being a historic oppressor while Zelensky has previously touted Ukrainians’ “love of freedom” as a trait that distinguishes them from Russians.

Zelensky, whose presidential term expired last year, was elected in 2019 on a platform of defusing tensions with Moscow and reconciling ethnic Russian Ukrainians in Donbass, many of whom opposed the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev. However, his initial diplomatic efforts were thwarted by radical Ukrainian nationalists in the body politic.Since the coup, Kiev has enacted various policies undermining the rights of ethnic minorities, with Russians as the primary target. Moscow has accused Zelensky of intensifying the crackdown, particularly by attacking the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country’s largest religious denomination, which now faces potential prohibition for having historic links with Russia.

In a recent interview, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that Zelensky caters to “the segment of the population that holds radical, ultra-right, revanchist, Banderite views,” as his image as a national leader increasingly deteriorates. “Zelensky does not want to display weakness, as he realizes that his days are numbered,” the Russian official claimed.

“..the FBI investigating attacks on Tesla cars and facilities is nothing but “lawfare” and “political weaponization.”

• Rep. Goldman: FBI Probe of Tesla Attacks “Political Weaponization” (Turley)

For many of us who were long active in Democratic politics, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize the party as a new generation of foul-mouthed, censorship-supporting, mob-enabling leaders take over. That sense returned this week when Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) claimed that the FBI investigating attacks on Tesla cars and facilities is nothing but “lawfare” and “political weaponization.” Goldman’s latest controversy captures how Democrats have now entirely cut the cords of decency and moderation that once tethered their party to the mainstream of our society. Democratic leaders have been fueling the attacks on Musk and his companies, even putting national security interests aside to seek to punish him. Goldman (and other Democrats) have previously pushed back on criticism of Antifa and left-wing attacks.

However, Goldman’s criticism of the FBI task force on these widespread attacks is otherworldly. Goldman this week declared: “This is the political weaponization of the DOJ. Trump uses his official authority to defend his benefactor Elon Musk. The FBI then creates a task force to use our law enforcement to ‘crack down’ [sic] on adversaries of Musk’s [sic]. Where are the Republicans so opposed to ‘lawfare’?” There are have widespread attacks on Tesla charging stations, vehicles, and dealerships, including multiple arson attacks. It is clearly political violence orchestrated against an American company and American property owners, including individual citizens, to push consumers away from buying Musk products and associations.

That sounds a lot like the definition of terrorism. The Justice Department defines domestic terrorism as “Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.” I have long criticized the expansion of terrorism definitions. However, this fits even the narrowest definitions. It is political violence designed to intimidate and harm those with opposing political views. The fact that they are lone wolves like Daniel Clarke-Pounder, 24, who set himself on fire after throwing Molotov cocktails, does not change that criminal intent. The Democrats have long been accused of belittling or dismissing the seriousness of such crimes. That was the case with Molotov-cocktail throwing lawyers in New York who were given relatively light sentences under the Biden Administration.

It is also evident in the reaction to the recent attack on a conservative in the New York subway. There is a sense of license among some on the left in carrying out attacks on those on the right. This is how rage rhetoric of leaders like Goldman can fuel violent rage in the most unhinged elements of their party. As I previously wrote: “What few today want to admit is that they like it. They like the freedom that it affords, the ability to hate and harass without a sense of responsibility. It is evident all around us as people engage in language and conduct that they repudiate in others. We have become a nation of rage addicts; flailing against anyone or anything that stands in opposition to our own truths.” Once released by the rage from the confines of reason and civility, it is easy to dismiss the investigation of political violence as “political weaponization.” In attacking the FBI investigation, Goldman is the very voice of an age of rage.

“Goldberg said he gained access to a Signal group chat from a user identified as “Mike Waltz.”

Why on earth would Waltz do that? Up to him to explain/ Or deny.

• Signal Leak A ‘Witch Hunt’ – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the Signal messaging platform following the leak of a private conversation among senior members of his administration about military strikes in Yemen. He has dismissed the media response to the episode as a “witch hunt.” The Trump administration confirmed this week that a journalist had been mistakenly added to a private chat on Signal discussing a planned attack on Houthi militants. The US launched large-scale airstrikes on March 15 in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the northern province Saada, reportedly killing dozens, in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping. Asked by reporters on Wednesday about the leak, Trump said he was not concerned, insisting that “there was no harm done, because the attack was unbelievably successful.”

He dismissed the media’s interest as “a witch hunt,” accusing journalists of exaggerating the situation after a question about whether the administration was downplaying the scandal. “I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you,” Trump said. “We use Signal, and everybody uses Signal, but it could be a defective platform, and we’re gonna have to find that out,” he added.On Monday, The Atlantic magazine published a report by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealing a discussion among senior administration officials about military strategy for targeting the Houthis. Goldberg said he gained access to a Signal group chat from a user identified as “Mike Waltz.” The chat, titled “Houthi PC small group,” reportedly included Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other cabinet officials. The group had been engaged in what The Atlantic described as a “fascinating policy discussion” in the days leading up to Trump’s order for the strikes.

Following the White House’s denial that any classified information was leaked, The Atlantic released additional screenshots on Wednesday. Hegseth has insisted that “nobody was texting war plans.” Asked whether the leaked material was classified, Trump replied: “Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know[.]” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken “full responsibility” for the incident, calling it “embarrassing” in a Fox News interview on Tuesday. Trump defended Waltz amid calls for his resignation, telling reporters “I guess he said he claimed responsibility.” He also rejected speculation about Hegseth’s future, stating the defense secretary “had nothing to do with this” and that he is doing an “excellent job.” Signal dismissed media reports of possible “vulnerabilities” on Tuesday, calling its software “the gold standard for private, secure communications.”

Tulsi Signal
https://twitter.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1904938349883797850

677 district judges, and Trump gets the same one all the time.

• Trump Says ‘Disgraceful’ That Boasberg To Preside Over Signal Lawsuit (JTN)

President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Judge James Boasberg for having been assigned another important case regarding him and his administration – this one for a lawsuit brought against top officials over a journalist accidentally being included in their group chat about a planned Houthi air strike. Boasberg, who serves on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, and is also presiding over a case on whether the administration has the authority to deport illegal migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. (An appeals court on Wednesday denied a request to overturn his ruling early this month to temporarily halt the deport effort.)

“How disgraceful is it that “Judge” James Boasberg has just been given a fourth “Trump Case,” something which is, statistically, IMPOSSIBLE,” he wrote on TRUTH Social. “There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him.” He said Boasberg had massive “Trump derangement syndrome.” The watchdog group American Oversight filed a group chat lawsuit against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the National Archives and Records Administration.

“Plaintiff American Oversight brings this action … to prevent the unlawful destruction of federal records and to compel Defendants to fulfill their legal obligations to preserve and recover federal records created through unauthorized use of Signal for sensitive national security decision-making,” the lawsuit reads. Trump’s senior national security officials accidentally shared sensitive details about strike plans on the Houthi group in Yemen with editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg through the encrypted messaging app Signal.

Russiagate ain’t dead. This line is peculiar: “..he said that Howell found “reason to believe that the former President would ‘flee from prosecution.’” How would a President do that? Put on a wig?

• Judge Declines Trump Admin Request T0 Recuse Herself From Perkins Coie Case (ET)

A federal judge has declined a request by the Trump administration that she remove herself from overseeing a lawsuit challenging an executive action targeting Perkins Coie LLP, accusing the Justice Department of attacking her character in an effort to undermine the integrity of the judicial system. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote in a March 26 ruling that a Trump administration filing seeking her recusal was “rife with innuendo” and that none of the claims it put forward “come close to meeting the standard for disqualification.” “Though this adage is commonplace, and the tactic overused, it is called to mind by defendants’ pending motion to disqualify this Court: ‘When you can’t attack the message, attack the messenger,’” U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote in a March 26 ruling.

President Donald Trump’s action issued on March 6 prevents law firm Perkins Coie from doing business with federal contractors and blocks its lawyers from accessing government officials. Additionally, it suspends any active security clearances held by individuals at the firm, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest. Perkins Coie was hired by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee in 2016. According to the presidential action issued by Trump, the law firm has engaged in “dishonest and dangerous activity” that has affected the United States “for decades.” The firm sued the administration over the order in federal court in Washington on March 11, alleging Trump’s actions violated its rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Roughly a week after Trump’s executive action was first issued, Howell temporarily blocked the administration from enforcing much of it, finding the law firm was likely to win its lawsuit. Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked for the case to be moved to another judge in Washington’s federal court, citing Howell’s public comments about the president and her connection with key aspects of the case. “This Court has not kept its disdain for President Trump secret,” Chad Mizelle, acting associate attorney general at the DOJ, wrote in a motion seeking her disqualification. “It has voiced its thoughts loudly—both inside and outside the courtroom.”

Speaking inside the court, Mizelle also pointed to now-former special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump, during which he said that Howell found “reason to believe that the former President would ‘flee from prosecution.’” The judge also “pierced attorney-client privilege, ordering President Trump’s attorney to testify before a D.C. grand jury” investigating his alleged retention of classified documents in the South Florida case, he said. Mizelle added that Howell also previously rejected Trump’s view that the indictments against individuals involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol were a “national injustice” and called his supporters “sore losers.” In her 21-page ruling, Howell wrote that when the DOJ “engages in this rhetorical strategy of ad hominem attack, the stakes become much larger than only the reputation of the targeted federal judge.”

“This strategy is designed to impugn the integrity of the federal judicial system and blame any loss on the decision-maker rather than fallacies in the substantive legal arguments presented,” she added. The judge said she welcomed the Trump administration’s opportunity “to set the record straight, because facts matter.” “Every litigating party deserves a fair and impartial hearing to determine both what the material facts are and how the law best applies to those facts,” she wrote. “That fundamental promise, however, does not entitle any party—not even those with the power and prestige of the President of the United States or a federal agency—to demand adherence to their own version of the facts and preferred legal outcome.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. It’s a small world.

• Appeals Court Halts Judge’s Order Requiring Musk to Hand Over DOGE Records (ET)

A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a discovery order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that would have required Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to turn over documents and respond to written questions about their role in advising cuts in certain parts of the federal government. In a ruling issued on March 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted an emergency stay of Chutkan’s March 12 order, which had largely granted limited, expedited discovery to a coalition of 13 Democratic-led states, requiring Musk and DOGE to produce documents and respond to questions within 21 days. The appeals court ruled that Musk and DOGE had “satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay” and showed that they are likely to prevail in their claim that the lower court must resolve their motion to dismiss before allowing discovery to proceed.

“In particular, petitioners have shown a likelihood of success on their argument that the district court was required to decide their motion to dismiss before allowing discovery,” the three-judge panel wrote in its ruling. Following the appellate court ruling, Chutkan entered a minute order acknowledging the decision. She canceled a status hearing previously scheduled for March 27. The case, brought by New Mexico and a coalition of 12 Democratic-led states, challenges the legality of DOGE’s sweeping cost-cutting efforts, which have included the cancellation of federal grants and mass terminations of government employees from jobs identified by DOGE as unneeded. The plaintiffs argued in their original complaint that Musk is effectively running DOGE without Senate confirmation, allegedly in violation of the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

“Oblivious to the threat this poses to the nation, President Trump has delegated virtually unchecked authority to Mr. Musk without proper legal authorization from Congress and without meaningful supervision of his activities,” the plaintiffs allege. “As a result, he has transformed a minor position that was formerly responsible for managing government websites into a designated agent of chaos without limitation and in violation of the separation of powers.” In a subsequent motion for a temporary restraining order against Musk and DOGE, the states further accused Musk of unlawfully exercising sweeping executive power without Senate confirmation by directing federal agencies to fire employees, cancel contracts, dismantle programs, and access sensitive government data.

In response, government lawyers urged the court to reject the emergency motion. They argued that the states had failed to show any imminent or irreparable harm, and said the restraining order sought was overly broad, legally unsupported, and disconnected from core constitutional claims made by the plaintiffs. Even if Musk were improperly appointed, they argue, sharing data with him or others at DOGE does not, by itself, constitute an illegal exercise of government power. Musk also is not empowered to act without the president’s approval, they said.

Chutkan partially sided with the Democrat-led states on March 12, ordering Musk, DOGE, and related entities to turn over documents related to firing federal workers and altering government databases. She also required DOGE to identify everyone who has led or worked at the agency since President Donald Trump took office, and list all agencies where DOGE or Musk canceled contracts, cut grants, or terminated employees. Trump and Musk have both said that DOGE has been assisting various agencies that have fired or offered buyouts to tens of thousands of federal workers since Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025.

“..it is now on the automakers, from the Big Three to Volkswagen and beyond, to bring back good union jobs to the U.S.,”

• Auto Workers Union Applauds Trump’s New Tariffs (JTN)

The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) on Wednesday applauded President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on cars and autoparts coming into the United States from other countries.The president announced the new 25% tariffs at the White House earlier Wednesday, stating that he expects all car companies to expand operations in the U.S. or relocate their businesses to the U.S. if they are not already in the country. The UAW said in a news release that the move marks the “beginning of the end of a thirty-plus year ‘free trade’ disaster,” which “devastated the working class” in the U.S. Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals, and the Trump administration has made history with today’s actions, UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.

“The UAW/ and the working class in general couldn’t care less about party politics; working people expect leaders to work together to deliver results. “These tariffs are a major step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country, and it is now on the automakers, from the Big Three to Volkswagen and beyond, to bring back good union jobs to the U.S.,” he added. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s “liberation day,” where Trump is expected to impose large scale tariffs on U.S. allies and trading partners, including Canada and Mexico. Those tariffs are expected to go into effect on April 2.

Spreading far and wide: “..German automakers currently have 330 automotive suppliers in Mexico..”

• Auto Tariffs: German Carmakers Face Billions in Losses (CTH)

The atomic sledgehammer that President Trump just delivered to the German auto industry simply cannot be overemphasized. A 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts completely negates hundreds of billions in pre-positioned investment dollars by German auto companies in Mexico. To give scale to the impact on Germany, consider that German automakers currently have 330 automotive suppliers in Mexico according to information from VDA. Audi (a subsidiary of Volkswagen) has no U.S. production sites; every Audi sold in America will be subject to a 25% tariff. The Audi brand access to the U.S. market was/is 100% dependent on Mexico, including for manufacturing the Q5 SUV, its top-selling U.S. model. According to prior reporting from Politico, “Volkswagen’s most popular model for American consumers is the Tiguan, an SUV that is entirely manufactured in Mexico.

The German automaker sold over 30,000 of the vehicles in the final quarter of last year, a nearly 50 percent year-over-year increase.” But wait, it gets worse…. French-Italian-American automaker Stellantis is the most exposed of Europe’s automakers as it makes Jeep and RAM models in Mexico. The tariffs will make European automakers’ Mexican factories completely redundant. They could make them in Germany for the same tariff impact. Making them in Mexico is now useless. They were only being made/assembled in Mexico to gain access to the U.S. market without tariffs. This reality will push all EU automakers to shift production to the U.S. There could also be an explosion in UAW membership depending on where in the USA the EU car companies end up manufacturing.

The auto industry is only one industry, but it is a huge economic driver for multiple countries, especially those countries who depend on access to the U.S. market in order to sell their cars and trucks. German automakers will need three things, quickly: (1) Subsidies from German govt to help offset the impact of tariffs [Short term 2-5 years]. (2) Shift production of autos for U.S market into USA [Make in USA]. (3) Interim access to new markets to help offset the anticipated drop in demand [think Russia without sanctions]. Each of these facets plays into current geopolitics. That’s mainly just the German impact. Then overlay Canada and Mexico (big impact), along with South Korea and Japan (lesser impact due to pre-positioned manufacturing/assembly in the USA). The auto-tariffs carry a huge economic outcome around the globe.

“The new US president has shelved the rainbow banners of BLM and the alphabet soup of Western liberalism..”

• Liberalism Is Dead, This Is What Comes After (Trenin)

The phrase “changing world order” has become a familiar refrain in international affairs. But what’s often missed is how rapidly that change is now unfolding – and who is accelerating it. Regime changes in international relations are usually the result of crises: wars between great powers or upheavals within them. This was the case in 1939-1945 and again in 1989-1991. Usually, the problems accumulate over years and decades, and the resolution comes unexpectedly: the slow movement of tectonic plates suddenly accelerates dramatically, an avalanche begins that rapidly changes the landscape. We have had the opportunity to observe something similar in recent weeks. The most striking thing is that the main factor in the changes has been the leadership of the state which until now has defended the remnants of the old world order most stubbornly, even fiercely.

The fall of unipolarity, once long predicted and cautiously awaited, has arrived ahead of schedule. The United States, long the enforcer of liberal internationalism, is no longer trying to stop the shift toward a multipolar world. Under Donald Trump, it has joined it. This pivot is not a mere campaign promise or rhetorical shift. It is a structural break. In the space of weeks, the US has gone from resisting the multipolar order to attempting to dominate it on new terms – less moralism, more realism. In doing so, Washington may inadvertently help deliver the very outcome that previous administrations worked so hard to prevent. Trump’s turn has broad and lasting implications. The world’s most powerful actor has abandoned the guardianship of liberal globalism and embraced something far more pragmatic: great power rivalry.

The language of human rights and democracy promotion has been replaced with “America First,” not just domestically, but in foreign relations as well. The new US president has shelved the rainbow banners of BLM and the alphabet soup of Western liberalism. Instead, he waves the American flag with confidence, signaling to allies and adversaries alike: US foreign policy is now about interests, not ideologies. This is not theoretical. It is a geopolitical earthquake. Firstly, multipolarity is no longer hypothetical. Trump has shifted the US from an enforcer of unipolarity to a player in multipolarity. His doctrine – “great power competition” – aligns more with the realist tradition than with the post-Cold War liberalism that dominated Washington for decades.

In this view, the world is made up of sovereign poles: the US, China, Russia, India – each pursuing its own interests, sometimes in conflict, sometimes overlapping. Cooperation arises not from shared values, but from shared necessities. This is a world Russia knows well – and one in which it thrives. Secondly, Washington’s pivot to realism means a fundamental shift in how it engages with the world. The era of liberal crusades is over. Trump has defunded USAID, slashed “democracy promotion” budgets, and shown a willingness to work with regimes of all types – so long as they serve American interests. This is a departure from the binary moral frameworks of the past. And ironically, it aligns more closely with Moscow’s own worldview. Under Trump, the White House no longer seeks to export liberalism, but to negotiate power.

Thirdly, the West, as we knew it, is gone. The liberal “collective West” – defined by shared ideology and transatlantic solidarity – no longer exists in its previous form. The US has effectively withdrawn from it, prioritizing national interest over globalist commitments. What remains is a fractured West, split between nationalist-led governments like Trump’s and more traditional liberal strongholds in Brussels, Paris, and Berlin. The internal clash between these two visions – nationalism versus globalism – is now the defining political struggle across the West.

“..leaking classified documents to foreign media and orchestrating leaks from high-level government offices, allegedly with Netanyahu’s own approval..”

• Will This Scandal Be The End Of ‘Unsinkable’ Netanyahu? (Sadygzade)

A major scandal known as “Qatargate” has erupted in Israel, involving alleged Qatari interference in Israeli politics. At the center of the investigation is Eliezer Feldstein, former chief aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was arrested in November 2024 on charges of leaking classified documents to foreign media and orchestrating leaks from high-level government offices, allegedly with Netanyahu’s own approval, under the pretext of combating disinformation.

The investigation revealed Feldstein’s connections with Qatari authorities. While serving as an employee of the press office in Netanyahu’s administration, Feldstein had for several years combined his government work with private practice, offering political consulting and branding services. One of his clients was Qatar. Specifically, on behalf of Doha, Feldstein and his team of Israeli consultants developed a reputation protection strategy during preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Later, they helped Qatari brands regain their positions in Gulf markets that had been lost during the 2017-2021 diplomatic crisis.

Chemo

Oncology expert Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong's "profound" realisation will blow your mind:

"When you get chemotherapy [it] wipes out your NK and T Cells [and] the only thing that protects your body against cancer is your Lymphocytes, meaning the NK cells and T Cells." pic.twitter.com/e8gsx9Gxf3

— Humanspective (@Humanspective) March 26, 2025

Hee haw
https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1904910177347772736

Chewey

This dog is better at apologizing than most of us! pic.twitter.com/8yZGYLCBxd

— B&S (@_B___S) March 26, 2025

Ketchup
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1905211149940830537

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Debt Rattle March 25 2025

Mar 252025

March 25, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:59 am Finance Tagged with: Alina Habba, Boasberg, Bonndi, DOGE, IRS, Pentagon, Rubio, Tesla, Trump, Witkoff, Yemen 65 Responses »

Caravaggio Conversion on the way to Damascus 1600-01

• “A New World Order With European Values” (Turley)

• ‘Nazis’ In Ukraine ‘Nurtured’ By Europeans – Lavrov (RT)

• Kiev Wants Trump Envoy Witkoff Sacked (RT)

• Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Moscow (RT)

• US and Russia Engaging In ‘Creative’ Talks – Moscow (RT)

• Rubio Accuses ‘Other Countries’ Of Blocking Peace In Ukraine (RT)

• DOGE Reveals Mind Shocking Fraud Propping Up Economy – Ed Dowd (USAW)

• The Pentagon’s War on Wasted Dollars (RCD)

• Mike Davis Cooks Judge Screwing Around With Trump’s Deportation Flights (Vespa)

• Anti-Trump Judge Makes Another Outrageous Ruling (Margolis)

• New Dirt on Judge Boasberg Raises More Questions (Margolis)

• The Last Resort (James Howard Kunstler)

• Pentagon Chief Hegseth Comments On ‘Yemen War Plans’ Leak (RT)

• Trump Team Unwittingly Sends Yemen Strike Plans to Editor of The Atlantic (Sp.)

• Trump Names Alina Habba To Be Interim US Attorney For New Jersey (NYP)

• The ‘Real’ Epstein Files Are Coming. Here’s What to Know. (Margolis)

• “Tread Carefully”: Pam Bondi Issues Warning Over Musk “Takedown” (ZH)

• Elon Musk Disguises IRS Building As Tesla Dealership (BBee)

Carpe
https://twitter.com/CarpeDonktum/status/1904173446759625176

RFK

If @RobertKennedyJr actually does this, it will drive a stake in the heart of legacy media. Big Pharma ads artificially prop their businesses up. Without these ads, they’ll be on a more level playing field with independent media and they’ll have to fire most of their highest paid… https://t.co/qEJ7mBxGmx

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 24, 2025

2.924

Since Trump took office, a staggering $2.924 trillion in investment has flowed into the United States:

– UAE $1.4 trillion
– Saudi Arabia $600 billion
– Hyundai $20 billion
– Apple $500 billion
– Nvidia over $100 billion
– SoftBank, Oracle, OpenAI $100 billion
– TSMC $100… pic.twitter.com/ErxSVM4aSy

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 24, 2025

Taxes
https://twitter.com/TONYxTWO/status/1904206868269945336

Gingrich

US Taxpayer Dollars That The Dems Stole For 60 Years Is Now Exposed And Stopped. Trump Blows Up The Deep State. @newtgingrich Great Interview. pic.twitter.com/bnETHYHzTa

— Dr Trumpenstein (@DoctorCanDo) March 24, 2025

Zeldin
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1904209863128814043

“The problem is that this vision for a new Holy Roman Empire lacks a Charlamagne. More importantly, it lacks public support.”

• “A New World Order With European Values” (Turley)

“A New World Order With European Values.” Emblazoned across banners and signs, those words met the participants at this week’s meeting of the World Forum in Berlin. Each year, leaders, executives, journalists and academics gather to address the greatest threats facing humanity. This year, there was little doubt about what they view as the current threat: the resurgence of populism and free speech. In fairness to the Forum, “a New World Order” likely sounds more ominous for some civil libertarians than intended. While the European Union is a transnational government stretching across 27 nations, the organizers were referring to a shift of values away from the United States to Europe. As one of the few speakers at the forum who was calling for greater protections for free speech, I found it an unnerving message.

Even putting aside the implications of the New World Order, the idea of building a world on today’s European values is alarming for free speech. Free speech is in a free fall in Europe, with ever-expanding speech regulations and criminal prosecutions — including for having “toxic ideologies.” The World Forum has a powerful sense of fraternity, even an intimacy, among leaders who see each other as a global elite — a cadre of enlightened minds protecting citizens from their own poor choices and habits. There has long been a push for transnational governing systems, and European figures see an opportunity created by the conflict with President Trump. The European Union is the model for such a Pax Europaea or “European peace.” The problem is that this vision for a new Holy Roman Empire lacks a Charlamagne. More importantly, it lacks public support.

The very notion of a “New World Order” is chilling to many who oppose the rise of a globalist class with the rise of transnational governance in the European Union and beyond. This year, there is a sense of panic among Europe’s elite over the victory of Trump and the Republicans in the U.S., as well as nationalist and populist European movements. For globalists, the late Tip O’Neill’s rule that “all politics is local” is anathema. The European Union is intended to transcend national identities and priorities in favor of an inspired transnational government managed by an expert elite. The message was clear. The new world order would be based on European, not American, values. To rally the faithful to the cause, the organizers called upon two of the patron saints of the global elite: Bill and Hillary Clinton. President Clinton was even given an award as “leader of the century.”

“..the West’s approach to public messaging that “portrays itself as infallible and suffers from an exceptionalism complex.”

• ‘Nazis’ In Ukraine ‘Nurtured’ By Europeans – Lavrov (RT)

European NATO members are willfully ignoring the “Nazi” character of the Ukrainian government, which they have empowered as an anti-Russian instrument, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has asserted.On Monday, the senior diplomat expressed concern over the “demons of neo-Nazism, Russophobia, and other hateful ideologies” spreading across multiple EU nations. Member states are deliberately overlooking Kiev’s misconduct, even as it persecutes ethnic Russians and violates human rights, he stressed. “Ukraine – ‘that’s different.’ Those Nazis have been nurtured for the latest attempt to unite all of Europe under racist, Nazi banners for a war against the Russian Federation,” Lavrov stated.

The minister was speaking in his capacity as a trustee of the Gorchakov Fund, a Russian NGO aimed at enhancing public diplomacy. He emphasized the organization’s mission of presenting an authentic view of Russia and contrasted it sharply with the West’s approach to public messaging that “portrays itself as infallible and suffers from an exceptionalism complex.” The EU is pursuing a multibillion-dollar rearmament plan, justified by what Brussels labels a growing Russian threat. European officials have warned that a direct NATO confrontation with Moscow may break out within the next few years. Russia, however, denies any hostile intentions toward the US-led military bloc.

Tensions between European NATO members and Washington resurfaced after President Donald Trump assumed office in January. The new US administration has sought a swift resolution to the Ukraine conflict and intends to shift security responsibilities onto Europe once a truce is achieved. Moscow’s goal of ‘denazification’ remains central to its stance on the Ukraine conflict. Russian officials have denounced the Ukrainian government as a “neo-Nazi regime” due to its discriminatory domestic policies, alleged war crimes against Russian citizens, and veneration of historical nationalist figures who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

“..this person needs to be removed from this delegation, he should not be a representative of the [US] president. Since he’s either completely unprofessional or simply repeats Putin’s narratives..”

• Kiev Wants Trump Envoy Witkoff Sacked (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who has played a central role in opening negotiations on resolving the Ukraine conflict, is “spreading Russian propaganda” and should be sacked, according to a senior Ukrainian lawmaker. The head of the Kiev’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Aleksandr Merezhko, made the remark in response to Witkoff’s interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, during which the envoy spoke about the status of former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia, describing the issue as “an elephant in the room” that “no one wants to talk about.” “They’re Russian-speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule,” Witkoff said.

“The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is: Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can [Vladimir] Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict,” he added. Merezhko strongly condemned the “disgraceful, shocking statements,” accusing Witkoff of acting as an envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin rather than of Trump. “We are talking about a representative of the president who should have professional expertise in this matter and know some basic things. obvious things. And he doesn’t know this. He spreads Russian propaganda,” the lawmaker insisted in a televised interview.

Merezhko said that [he] wasn’t sure if “ignorance, naivety, or unprofessionalism” was behind Witkoff’s statements and called for the US official to be booted from his role. “We clearly can’t dictate to American friends who should represent them. But this person needs to be removed from this delegation, he should not be a representative of the [US] president. Since he’s either completely unprofessional or simply repeats Putin’s narratives,” Merezhko added.

Moscow and Kiev have taken bipolar positions on the former-Ukrainian Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions and the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, all of which officially joined Russia in autumn 2022 following a series of referendums. Kiev also formally claims Russia’s Crimea, which seceded from Ukraine in the aftermath of a violent Western-backed coup in Kiev and joined Russia in 2014, as its own. Moscow has repeatedly signaled that its sovereignty over the territories is not negotiable, while Kiev has repeatedly pledged to seize back control of all the territories it claims as its own. The Ukrainian leadership has seemingly softened its rhetoric as of late, now insisting it will never recognize “occupation” of the territories and Russian sovereignty over them in any form.

The US should simply leave.

• Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Moscow (RT)

Ukraine continues to attack Russian civilian infrastructure, proving that Kiev does not actually want peace, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Last week, following a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Moscow and Kiev agreed to a partial ceasefire and pledged to suspend strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days. However, the Russian Defense Ministry has since reported multiple Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy facilities such as oil and gas pipelines. The latest attack reportedly took place at 2 a.m. on Monday on the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar Region. The station is operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which works with US energy giants such as Mobil and Chevron.

Russian air defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian attack UAV some 7km from the facility, with fragments falling in the area of a railway station, according to the Defense Ministry. In an update on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine had also launched drone strikes on the Glebovskoye gas condensate field in Crimea on March 23 and on a gas distribution center in Belgorod Region on March 22. Commenting on the recent attacks, Zakharova claimed it is typical of Kiev’s behavior, particularly ahead of international events such as this week’s Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia.

”Every time it’s the same story. Before any contacts, including during visits to Moscow by foreign delegations, the Kiev regime commits terrorist acts, attacks on civilian infrastructure, on civilian objects, extremist acts, and so on… They don’t need peace. They have stated this repeatedly,” Zakharova told reporters. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that despite Kiev’s repeated violations, Moscow continues to uphold the energy strike truce and that President Putin has not issued any new commands to the country’s armed forces. However, Zakharova warned over the weekend that Russia reserves its right to respond to Ukraine’s attacks, including “symmetrically,” if Kiev continues its “destructive course.”

The talks will intensify.

• US and Russia Engaging In ‘Creative’ Talks – Moscow (RT)

The US-Russian talks held in Saudi Arabia are a “creative” endeavor, though they may not yield a diplomatic breakthrough on Monday, a Russian lawmaker who is part of Moscow’s delegation told journalists. Grigory Karasin, chairman of the International Relations Committee in Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, provided the media an update during a break in the talks in Riyadh. The discussions, which he described as “technical,” focus on maritime security in the Black Sea and the possibility of reviving the Black Sea Initiative, which was originally mediated by the UN and Türkiye. Russia withdrew from the deal in July 2023, citing the West’s failure to provide sanctions relief for its grain exports, as the conditions of the arrangement required.

“Not every negotiation yields a high-profile document or agreement,” Karasin remarked before returning to the closed-door meetings. “What matters is maintaining communication and understanding each other’s positions. In this regard, we are succeeding.” Alongside Karasin, Russia’s delegation includes Sergey Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service. Their American counterparts, as identified by Reuters, are Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official. When asked about possible outcomes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked earlier in the day that they “primarily concern the safety of maritime traffic. However, if you recall [the original version] of the deal, there were significant obligations made to our side that were never fulfilled. This remains part of the agenda.”

US President Donald Trump has suggested revisiting the grain deal as part of his efforts to mediate a broader truce between Russia and Ukraine, Peskov added. Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to Trump’s proposal to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, while Ukraine committed to reciprocate. However, Kiev has violated the partial ceasefire multiple times, including on Monday morning, according to Russia. Moscow has warned that it reserves the right to withdraw from the arrangement should Ukraine fail to meet its commitments. A Ukrainian delegation is also present at the same luxury hotel in Riyadh where the US-Russian talks are taking place, but they have no direct contact with the Russian team. The Ukrainians had their own talks with the US delegation the previous day.

There are 27 of them in the EU.

• Rubio Accuses ‘Other Countries’ Of Blocking Peace In Ukraine (RT)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that unnamed foreign governments are obstructing efforts to end the Ukraine conflict, crediting President Donald Trump with leading negotiations to mediate peace between Moscow and Kiev. Senior Russian and US officials held marathon 12-hour talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday, focused on resolving the Ukraine conflict and ensuring maritime security in the Black Sea. However, the two sides have yet to release details or announce the outcome of the discussions. Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House before the talks concluded, Rubio stressed that the conflict “needs to be brought to an end” through negotiations, not military means, and praised Trump as “the only one leader in the world that’s capable of bringing two sides to a table.”

According to Rubio, Trump’s diplomatic initiative has faced resistance from other governments, although he did not name any specific countries. “You’ve done it despite impediments from other countries and others who maybe have different opinions about how this should go,” Rubio said, addressing Trump directly. “Ultimately, I think that the only chance we have for peace is through the President’s leadership.” Following a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart last week, Moscow and Kiev agreed to a partial ceasefire and pledged to suspend strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry has since reported multiple Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that despite Kiev’s violations, Moscow will continue to uphold the energy strike truce. In an interview on Sunday, Peskov also remarked that instead of seeking peace and addressing the root causes of the conflict, EU member states are now discussing the deployment of NATO contingents to Ukrainian territory. “This rampant militarist policy of Europe – there is no other way to describe it – is hard to comprehend,” he said.

Tensions between Washington and European NATO members resurfaced after Trump assumed office in January. The new administration has pushed for a swift resolution to the Ukraine conflict and plans to shift security responsibilities to Europe once a truce is in place. Following an emergency summit in London earlier this month, the UK and France signaled that they are open to sending Western “peacekeepers” to Ukraine once a ceasefire is reached. Moscow has rejected the proposal, stating that it makes no difference under what pretext NATO troops enter the country. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that this could lead to a direct war between the military bloc and Moscow.

DOGE vs the NGOs.

“Martin Armstrong says all the gold movement coming to the US is because of a coming war..”

• DOGE Reveals Mind Shocking Fraud Propping Up Economy – Ed Dowd (USAW)

Former Wall Street money manager and financial analyst Ed Dowd of PhinanceTechnologies.com is back with an update of a report on “Danger of Deep Worldwide Recession in 2025.” It was not just heavy government spending on illegal immigration, but “mind shocking” fraud that has been revealed with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Investigators have uncovered $115 billion so far with many hundreds of billions more to be exposed. Dowd says, “Both sides of the aisle are probably going to have problems. The DOGE revelations are mind shocking. The clear way in which the government was spending money through NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and people taking kickbacks and profits along the way is going to come out. There may have been theft along the way. What business does Stacy Abrams have getting $2 billion for an NGO? This doesn’t make any sense.

It’s going to be shocking, even shocking to me. I knew there was rot in the system, but the mind blowing way the NGOs were used to facilitate the illegal immigration just blows my mind. The 10 million plus illegals that came in over the last four years, you just don’t wake up one day in Central America and say I am going to the Darien Gap, and go to the Mexican border and then meander my way into the interior of the US without a tremendous amount of aid along the way. NGOs facilitated that and probably took their cut. What was the all-in economic cost of the goodies they got once they got here? Plus, the NGOs spent and what the government spent themselves to facilitate this, it’s not hard to imagine $50,000 to $100,000 all-in cost per illegal. . . . This is the all-in cost up and down the entire economic food chain. . . . It was anywhere between $500 billion to $1.5 trillion depending on the illegals. It was an illegal project funded purposely, and it was very logistical. It was not something that just happened overnight.”

The result, says Dowd, was the US economy was propped up when it should have already tanked. Now, all this spending on this illegal invasion is going away. Dowd says, “When we wrote our report, we were surprised on how fast DOGE would get to work. . . . This is why our thesis is playing out a little quicker than we thought. . . . The housing market was on fragile ground the last year or so. It was held up by illegal immigrants supporting rent prices. So, as that unwinds, we think there will be a mini 2008–2009 housing issue. Housing prices are going to come down, and that is a big driver of consumption in the economy. That needs to happen because home affordability is off the charts.”

Dowd also see a recession coming as the government downsizes, illegal alien funding gets cut and illegals continue to self-deport. Dowd says, “Consumer confidence has taken a nosedive recently, and you can see why. There are 10 million to 15 million illegal immigrants worried about their gravy train coming to an end. So, they may be holding back on their spending. There are millions of government employees worried about their jobs. Then, you have the NGO networks that employ about 6 million people. So, you have about 20 million to 25 million people that are in the workforce . . . worried about where their money is going to come from, and that can cause consumer spending to slow down.”

There is good news with the spending cuts, according to Dowd, and that will come in the form of lower interest rates in the bond market. Dowd still likes gold as a core asset and does not see Trump tariffs as inflationary. Dowd says the problems with tariffs are “overblown” and are a negotiation tool to get fair trade for America around the world. Dowd sees “deflation” and possibly a short but “deep recession” coming before inflation. A possible black swan event is an intensified war in Ukraine and no peace deal along with the EU getting deeply involved in a war with Russia. This could be a plus for the US if it stays out of the conflict. Dowd says, “There seems to be war drums beating in Europe, and capital will flee to the US. Martin Armstrong says all the gold movement coming to the US is because of a coming war, and of all the theories on this, that makes the most sense to me. I am not predicting war, but that is a geopolitical risk out there. That is one of those ‘black swan’ events. Another ‘black swan’ event is a Bank of Japan currency crisis and, also, something going on with Iran and the Middle East. . . . Black swan events add to the risk, and those are hard to predict.”

“America cannot afford inefficiency..”

• The Pentagon’s War on Wasted Dollars (RCD)

So far, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has swept through government agencies like the United States Agency for International Development, brushing off cobwebs and uncovering skeletons as it goes. Now, DOGE is set to enter a much bigger agency whose shortfalls demand reform: the Department of Defense. Long criticized for its budget woes, the DOD has recently faced accusations of overspending, underspending, and even simple misspending—criticisms which are all well founded. In fact, the DOD consistently mismanages its budget, a fact that’s led it to fail all of its last seven audits.To address these issues, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently announced that he would work with DOGE to conduct a DOD-wide budget review.

Already, this initiative has revealed $80 million in wasteful spending, including $1.9 million in “DEI transformation and training” and $3.5 million in “Defense HR Support for DEI.” While the Pentagon is notoriously resistant to change, additional pressure from DOGE and the administration could finally force the reforms needed to modernize the American military, refocus on warfighting capabilities, and rid the Pentagon of absurd budget line items. But DOGE’s mission isn’t just to slash budgets: it’s also to restore efficiency. Specifically, DOGE’s role is to ensure the federal government makes the most effective use possible of American taxpayer dollars.

Fundamentally, the DOD exists to ensure America’s warfighting capability—a task DOGE has no intention of obstructing. And even as the DOD’s mission grows more and more urgent, Pentagon dollars continue to be misused, a flaw that cries for immediate correction. Hegseth recently announced he’d be implementing a DOD budget “cut” of 8%, or about $50 billion. Rather than simply imposing strict cuts, this plan seeks to “refocus … and reinvest … existing funds” to build a more lethal fighting force, restore “warrior ethos,” and reestablish global deterrence. This shift is essential at a time when our arsenal is severely depleted and outdated and we lack the ships and planes to deter China from launching an attack in the Indo-Pacific.

To fix this, Hegseth should prioritize reinvesting funding cuts into procurement and, specifically, into the construction of new ships, planes, and munitions. Hegseth should also divert dollars from personnel—a category that accounts for almost a quarter of the DOD’s budget. Already, he and Musk have announced plans to reduce the civilian workforce by between 5% to 8%, a cut that will save the DOD between $9 and $14.5 billion. So far, he’s implemented this plan via a hiring freeze and the firing of probational employees and recent hires.

Many have sought to villainize the Pentagon’s budget purge. Yet those in national security should recognize the need to cut defense budget waste, especially given recent developments on the international stage. There, China continues to rapidly modernize its military to challenge U.S. dominance, while Russia persists in its aggression in Eastern Europe. North Korea still pursues its ever-growing nuclear ambitions (and strengthens its support for Russia), while Iran maintains its destabilizing influence in the Middle East.

These various actors all share one common feature: a vicious antipathy toward the United States. The burden falls on the Pentagon and the DOD to protect the American people. DOGE represents a historic opportunity for the DOD to further this mission by rethinking how it organizes, supports, and employs its people. The goal isn’t to cut corners—it’s to reinvest in the capacity and capability of America’s warfighting force. In a world of rising global threats, America cannot afford inefficiency. The Pentagon must embrace DOGE’s mission to break free from outdated bureaucracy and inefficient spending. Only then will the DOD be able to enhance American warfighting capability and ensure our security and prosperity.

“He publicly exposed an ongoing U.S. military, intelligence, and law-enforcement operation with an American ally dealing with the most vicious terrorists (Tren de Aragua) and international gang member (MS13) in the Western Hemisphere. That public exposure put American and allied lives in grave danger.”

• Mike Davis Cooks Judge Screwing Around With Trump’s Deportation Flights (Vespa)

Well, Attorney General Pam Bondi isn’t going to discuss further the details regarding the deportation flights of Tren de Aragua members, a Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has designated a foreign terror group. Judge James Boasberg, however, wanted to know the classified details regarding this operation. No, sir. This will not happen, as the Justice Department informed the courts that they’re invoking the State Secrets Act. Move on, little man.

It still doesn’t negate the days of judicial overreach and insanity from Boasberg, who thought he was the executive, or at least in charge of deportation policy. He is not,andd never will be. He dabbled in the Russian collusion hoax, ran legal interference for those caught fabricating evidence to secure illegal FISA warrants. This man is a disgrace to the bench. Before Ms. Bondi invokes the state secrets provision, Boasberg insisted that those marked for deportation should be afforded court dates. Mike Davis, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, took a hatchet to little Boasberg, arguing that it’s time to impeach for his serial incidents of judicial overreach: Here is the fatal flaw with DC Obama Judge Jeb Boasberg’s order:

“Even if these designated foreign terrorists are entitled to individual court review before their deportation, which is disputed, the DC court is not the proper court. Judge Boasberg did not, and does not, have the power to do what he is purporting to do. For this reason alone, everything he is doing is lawless. But it is much worse; it is also dangerous. Judge Boasberg ran to his courtroom to hold a Saturday hearing, even though he was not even serving as the emergency judge that weekend. (How did he get this case?) He publicly exposed an ongoing U.S. military, intelligence, and law-enforcement operation with an American ally dealing with the most vicious terrorists (Tren de Aragua) and international gang member (MS13) in the Western Hemisphere. That public exposure put American and allied lives in grave danger.

Stunningly, Judge Boasberg even ordered the President to turn around planes full of terrorists over the Gulf of America, without knowing the fuel levels, the security footprint back in America, or other crucial operational details. We saw the enormous security footprint in El Salvador. Why would we have had that same footprint in America, as who could have ever imagined an activist DC judge could or would order the President to return planes full of terrorists? And not completing the mission would have humiliated and politically damaged El Salvador’s president, who had hundreds of military, law-enforcement, and other officials awaiting–and who took a significant political and personal risk by agreeing to take these terrorists. Judge Boasberg’s Saturday hearing and order crossed the red line. But Judge Boasberg is doubling down by demanding details about the military operation, to which he is not entitled.

Judge Boasberg says he has a security clearance, but he definitely does not have the need to know. And allowing judges to meddle in military operations like this is dangerous and unacceptable. Foreign leaders are less likely to work with the President, if they fear an activist American judge may disclose their secrets. This harms the President’s ability to conduct foreign policy and his constitutional duty to keep us safe. The President has a constitutional duty, as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief, to conduct international affairs, repeal foreign invasion, and protect American lives. The President has a constitutional duty to ignore any clearly unlawful court order that imminently endangers American lives, like Judge Boasberg’s orders. Judge Boasberg is refusing to back down. So the House must move forward with impeachment proceedings for his lawless and dangerous sabotage of the President’s core Article II powers.

“He dragged us into court on a Saturday without any notice. And then he’s continuing these hearings. He’s trying to ask us about national security information, which he is absolutely not entitled to.”

• Anti-Trump Judge Makes Another Outrageous Ruling (Margolis)

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is at it again. In a mind-boggling 37-page decision, he has blocked the Trump administration from swiftly deporting members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. The judge’s ruling reads like a progressive wish list, demanding “individualized hearings” before any deportations can proceed. Because apparently, we need to roll out the red carpet and due process for criminal aliens who shouldn’t be here in the first place. Even more outrageous, the government must now prove these individuals are actually gang members — as if their presence alone isn’t a violation enough of our immigration laws. Boasberg previously ordered a deportation flight for these illegal alien gang members to turn around back to the United States; however, since he made the ruling while the plane was over international waters, he had no jurisdiction, and the deportations continued as planned.

Boasberg’s memorandum opinion, which accompanied the order, maintains that these individuals must have “the opportunity to challenge their designation as alien enemies.” In other words, we’re giving suspected gang members a chance to argue that they’re actually upstanding citizens who deserve to stay in our country. Now he has the audacity to say that the court “need not resolve the thorny question of whether the judiciary has the authority to assess this claim in the first place.” This is an obvious reaction to the Trump administration’s position that district court judges don’t have the authority to micromanage the president of the United States or the executive branch. Boasberg’s opinion continues:

“That is because Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on another equally fundamental theory: before they may be deported, they are entitled to individualized hearings to determine whether the Act applies to them at all. As the Government itself concedes, the awesome power granted by the Act may be brought to bear only on those who are, in fact, “alien enemies.” And the Supreme Court and this Circuit have long maintained that federal courts are equipped to adjudicate that question when individuals threatened with detention and removal challenge their designation as such. Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge. Nor may any members of the provisionally certified class be removed until they have been given the opportunity to challenge their designations as well. The Motion to Vacate will thus be denied.”

This isn’t just judicial overreach; it’s judicial insanity. “This is an out-of-control judge, a federal judge trying to control our entire foreign policy, and he cannot do it,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “He dragged us into court on a Saturday without any notice. And then he’s continuing these hearings. He’s trying to ask us about national security information, which he is absolutely not entitled to.” The plaintiffs now have until Wednesday to request converting the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction. If granted, this would further cement this dangerous precedent and extend protection for these gang members from deportation. Because obviously, what America needs right now is more legal shields for criminal aliens. This ruling sets a dangerous precedent that undermines our immigration enforcement capabilities and makes a mockery of our national sovereignty.

They’re organized.

• New Dirt on Judge Boasberg Raises More Questions (Margolis)

The district court judge who recently blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport illegal alien gang members attended a suspiciously partisan legal conference just months before his ruling, according to a judicial ethics report. Judge James Boasberg, who serves on the D.C. District Court, participated in what appears to be nothing more than a Democrat strategy session masquerading as a legal conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. The conference’s agenda items, “Judges in a Democracy” and “State of Democracy,” sound eerily similar to the Democrats’ tiresome 2024 campaign rhetoric about “saving democracy” — which, of course, has become the justification for their using the courts to obstruct Trump’s agenda.

“Called a ‘Privately Funded Seminar Disclosure Report,” the document discloses that Boasberg was in attendance but offers no details of whether Boasberg was paid for his attendance or travel, or what the remuneration was,’ reports Just the News. The outlet was “alerted to the conference and to Boasberg’s attendance by a retired Democrat-appointed judge, who was concerned the July 2024 conference’s focus on judges’ role in a democracy was too close to a political party’s theme for comfort.”

“Overseen by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the ethical rules governing federal judges require that a private entity who “issues an invitation to a federal judge to attend an educational program as a speaker, panelist, or attendee and offers to pay for or reimburse that judge, in excess of $480, must disclose financial and programmatic information.” The rules do not require a specific accounting for each judge, or even how much was paid to judges at all. […] It is possible that his “payment” was merely reimbursement for expenses, but Boasberg did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News.”

The entire arrangement reeks of the same swamp politics that President Trump has been fighting since day one. Is it any surprise that after rubbing elbows with fellow liberals at this partisan powwow, Judge Boasberg decided to obstruct Trump’s efforts to remove dangerous gang members from our streets? This is exactly why Americans have lost faith in our judicial system — unelected judges attending partisan conferences, then making decisions based on partisan biases, not constitutionality. The conference was part of the Rodel Institute’s Judicial Fellowship, and each attending judge, including Boasberg, was a first-year fellow, according to the institute’s website. Notably, Rodel receives funding from the same foundations that frequently bankroll anti-Trump organizations, programs, and publications. Additionally, the institute’s faculty advisors — twenty in total — are overwhelmingly outspoken Trump critics or those who have opposed his policies.

The Rodel Institute’s Board of Directors is stacked with Trump critics, including Ian Solomon. Co-founders Bill and Don Budinger have deep ties to Democratic organizations and candidates, with Don opposing Arizona’s immigration enforcement efforts and backing Democratic Senate candidates. Former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock was under consideration for Kamala Harris’s Cabinet, while former Arizona legislator Heather Carter abandoned the GOP and endorsed Democrats like Katie Hobbs. Jamie Woodson co-chaired a report lamenting “political disinformation” in 2016, and former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna has openly attacked Trump, calling him a “demagogue” and dismissing his legal arguments as “flimsy.” Maybe next time, Judge Boasberg can hold his strategy sessions somewhere less obvious than a millionaire’s playground. But then again, the left has never been particularly good at hiding its contempt for Trump or the rule of law.

“What is the alternative to presidential oversight and management of the agencies listed in this branch of government? They run themselves? That claim means nothing in practice.” —Jeffrey Tucker

• The Last Resort (James Howard Kunstler)

Law is humanity’s instrument for creating order out of the terror and chaos of nature, where anything goes. The result of law theoretically, is a civil society, where only the good, true, and right things can go. These days, lawyers are hard at work to replace civilized order with the terror and chaos of nature — which is to say, the seeking of raw power: this is what I can do to you! That primal despotism is the motivating engine of the Democratic Party in its terminal phase, a feral, power-seeking monster. It was why, in case you hadn’t noticed, the essential drive of Woke politics was the sadistic pleasure it took in exacting its endless punishments — cancellation, personal ruin, censorship — not correcting alleged injustices against marginalized minorities.

And that tells you, by the way, exactly why the J-6 defendants were treated so harshly by the likes of Judge James Boasberg, Tanya Chutkan, and their colleagues of the DC federal district. The enabling device for that monstrous power seeking of the Democratic Party was the colossal racketeering operation they implanted in every corner of the federal government, an insidious process that accelerated during the Obama years, eluded discipline during Trump One — with the many distracting ruses such as RussiaGate — and surged into final overdrive during the perfidious term of “Joe Biden,” America’s first false-front president. The racketeering operation was perfectly illustrated in the DOGE’s recent deconstruction of USAID.

That agency worked as a gigantic money laundering matrix to pay Democratic Party activists for the sole purpose of maintaining and expanding the party’s power — its ability to push American citizens around, control our lives, tell us how to live, how to think, and, ultimately, in the Covid-19 scam, telling us to take our shots, get lost, and die. Pitifully, a lot of those vaxx victims were the Democratic Party’s own rank and file, which shows you how psychotically suicidal the Democratic Party became. By and large, it was conservatives who avoided the vaxxes because they were able psychologically to entertain the evidence that Covid was a nefarious set-up and that, month-by-month, the vaxxes were proving to be both ineffective and harmful. Democrats, in their Woke fugue state, could not do that. Even today, they insist that their vaxx injuries are “long Covid” and would be worse if not for the additional boosters they took. Poor dumb bunnies.

Mr. Trump was played masterfully in the initial 2020 Covid roll-out by the likes of Dr. Fauci, Deborah Birx, and the faithless Veep Mike Pence who directed the Coronavirus Task Force (and whoever was behind it). The president could not bring himself to oppose or cast doubt on their diktats and to this day he must remain embarrassed about how that all worked out. But he also probably learned to not be fooled again. And so, after the fishy 2020 election, and during the disastrous “Biden” years, Mr. Trump had time to lay careful and comprehensive plans for ending the massive racketeering and for restructuring the federal apparatus into a leaner, more efficient, and more lawful enterprise for managing the civil society known as the USA. Which brings us to the present.

Mr. Trump’s lawfully appointed agent, Elon Musk, and his legally chartered investigative advisory unit, called DOGE, has begun making recommendations for severe cuts in agencies and employees, which have been executed by the lawfully confirmed heads of agencies, and the chief executive himself. Thus, the rapid, systematic disassembly of the Democratic Party’s grift machine and the end of its immense revenue stream. No more USAID and its thousands of NGO money laundromats. No more Department of Education and its Grant-O-Matic depredations in the universities. No more work-from-home (but not really) nonsense. No more DEI reverse racism in hiring. No more flooding the swing state voting precincts with illegal aliens. No more stupid proxy war in Ukraine. No more gender pretending chaos. You see how it goes now.

CNN yesterday didn’t talk about anything else.

• Pentagon Chief Hegseth Comments On ‘Yemen War Plans’ Leak (RT)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has addressed a recent leak of high-level discussions about US airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, calling the journalist involved “deceitful” and downplaying the significance of the disclosure. The incident came to light after The Atlantic reported on Monday that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been accidentally added to a Signal group chat that included top Trump administration officials such as Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Hegseth. The group had been actively discussing potential US military operations against the Houthis for days prior to President Donald Trump ordering strikes on Yemen on March 15. Goldberg claimed that one of Hegseth’s final messages before the attack “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”

When asked about the leak on Monday, Hegseth dismissed Goldberg as “a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes.” “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said when pressed on the content of the messages. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters that the message thread “appears to be authentic” and confirmed that an internal review had been launched into “how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.” “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials,” Hughes added, without clarifying whether national security protocols had been breached or if any disciplinary action would follow.

Trump ordered a “powerful military action” against the Yemen-based Houthi militants last Saturday, accusing them of conducting an “unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.” The group, officially known as the Ansar Allah movement, has controlled large portions of Yemen – including the capital, Sanaa – since the mid-2010s. In what The Atlantic described as a “fascinating policy discussion,” senior US officials reportedly acknowledged the difficulty of building public support for a new military campaign.

“There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary,” the account labeled ‘JD Vance’ said, arguing that “the strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.” In response, Hegseth agreed, stating: “I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what – nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.” Trump has claimed that the Houthi attacks “emanate from, and are created by, Iran,” warning that from now on, Washington would view every shot fired by the Yemeni group as if it were fired by Tehran. “Iran will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform last Monday.

“..the president dubbing it a “second-” or “third-rate,” “failing magazine” and calling “sleazebag reporter” Goldberg out by name..”

• Trump Team Unwittingly Sends Yemen Strike Plans to Editor of The Atlantic (Sp.)

The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a confidential Signal messaging chain detailing US planning. Here’s what was revealed. In a message to Pete Hegseth, Vice President Vance said it was at the DoD chief’s discretion whether or not to proceed. “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” Vance said. Hegseth responded by saying he “fully” shared Vance’s sentiments about the “free-loading” Europeans, but added that the US was the only one capable of engaging the Houthis “on our side of the ledger.” A user named S M (presumably WH deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller) chimed in, saying that “as [he] heard it, the president was clear: green light.” In return, the US would look to “extract” “some further economic gain” from the Europeans, S M indicated. A follow-up message by Hegseth titled “TEAM UPDATE” provided operational details on the attacks, targeting details, which weapons the US would be using, and attack sequencing.

By Goldberg’s account, he was added to the confidential chat by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and didn’t believe it was real at first, fearing it might be an attempt “to somehow entrap” him or a script “by a particularly adept AI text generator.” The White House has confirmed that Goldberg had been made privy to classified discussions and information by mistake. “We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” NSC spokesman Brian Hughes said. The Atlantic and its editor-in-chief have been a longtime source of Trump’s ire, with the president dubbing it a “second-” or “third-rate,” “failing magazine” and calling “sleazebag reporter” Goldberg out by name multiple times over what Trump said was false reporting on his private conversations.

Re-organizing the legal teams. Time for the heavies.

• Trump Names Alina Habba To Be Interim US Attorney For New Jersey (NYP)

President Trump on Monday appointed his former personal attorney Alina Habba to serve as interim US attorney in New Jersey — with Habba vowing to clean up “corruption” in her home state. Habba, 40, became a public figure while repping Trump in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll between the president’s terms of office, and has held the senior role as presidential counselor since January. “There is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in [Senator] Cory Booker’s backyard and right under Governor [Phil] Murphy. And that will stop,” Habba told reporters on the White House driveway.

“I look forward to working with [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and with the Department of Justice and making sure that we further the president’s agenda of putting America first, cleaning up the mess and going after the people that we should be going after, not the people that are falsely accused.” Habba declined to say if she viewed the appointment as a stepping stone toward elected office in the Garden State — despite aiming her initial remarks directly at the Garden State’s two most prominent Democrats. “I think Cory Booker and Governor Murphy have failed the state of New Jersey,” Habba said. “If you look at what happened in crime, what’s going on in Newark, what’s going on in Camden, this has been a neglected state. It is one of the most populated states for its size, and it needs to stop. We’re going to do a bang-up job. I cannot wait. It’s a great honor.”

Trump announced Habba’s selection after selecting current interim US attorney John Giordano to serve as ambassador to Namibia. “It is with great pleasure that I am announcing Alina Habba, Esq., who is currently serving as Counselor to the President, and has represented me for a long time, will be our interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, her Home State, effective immediately!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey.”

“I recognize that when you’re dealing with children, it takes much more time. You’ve got to ensure that what you’re sending out publicly is not revealing any personal information.”

• The ‘Real’ Epstein Files Are Coming. Here’s What to Know. (Margolis)

The Trump administration is proving once again that promises made are promises kept. After successfully releasing over 80,000 pages of files connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on March 18, the focus has now shifted to perhaps what should be an even more explosive collection of documents—the Jeffrey Epstein files. As you know, there was a huge document dump of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case last month that was, to say the least, underwhelming. Part of the problem, it turns out, was that rogue officials out of the Southern District of New York office had withheld documents from the Department of Justice. So, where’s the good stuff? Well, according to a report from Vanity Fair, it should be coming soon.

It’s the FBI’s flagship field office, with more than a thousand agents and another thousand or so civilian employees. And right now, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter say that one priority at the bureau’s New York field office is taking precedence over all others: the review and redaction of sensitive information in the Jeffrey Epstein case files, to prepare for possible publication.“It’s literally all hands on deck,” one source familiar with the matter tells me, adding that dozens and dozens of agents are working around the clock on the case, instead of on their regular duties. “I even saw an agent walking in with a pillow,” the source added. Attorney General Pam Bondi, appearing on Maria Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” spoke about this massive undertaking. Bartiromo pressed Bondi about the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Acknowledging the complexity of handling such sensitive material, Bartiromo noted,

“I recognize that when you’re dealing with children, it takes much more time. You’ve got to ensure that what you’re sending out publicly is not revealing any personal information.” She then asked Bondi whether more details would be forthcoming. Bondi confirmed that updates were on the horizon, stating, “You’re absolutely right, Maria. You know, tens of thousands of pages of documents and hundreds and hundreds of victims, um, of Jeffrey Epstein.” Bartiromo reacted with a stunned “Wow.” Bondi assured viewers that federal authorities were making progress. “The FBI, they have been working round the clock at my directive, at [FBI Director] Kash Patel’s directive,” she said, adding that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is also involved. “Dan Bongino’s there, who is a great asset for all of us at the FBI as well.”

Bondi reiterated the need to safeguard victims while ensuring transparency. “We have to protect their identity, their personal information, to make sure they’re safe,” she said. “But other than that, we are releasing all of these documents as soon as we can get them redacted to protect the victims of… of, of all of these horrific crimes he has committed.” Bartiromo responded, “Understood.” Rest assured, transparency is coming, everyone.

“She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk..”

• “Tread Carefully”: Pam Bondi Issues Warning Over Musk “Takedown” (ZH)

We certainly did not have a member of Congress conspiring with radical far-left NGOs to sabotage the most made-in-America car company and critical to retirement and pension funds for millions of Americans on our 2025 bingo card. But here we are, and far-left Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) joined a “Tesla Takedown” teleconference last week, laughing and rooting for Tesla and Elon Musk’s demise. Other revolutionaries on the call described how they wanted to “kill the Tesla brand” and “drive down the stock price” to push Tesla “into a death spiral.” Now Attorney General Pam Bondi is getting involved, warning Crockett to “tread very carefully” following her support for the Tesla Takedown. “She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we’re going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country,” Bondi said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

'TREAD VERY CAREFULLY': @AGPamBondi warned @RepJasmine (D-TX) after the Democrat threatened @elonmusk during a nationwide call with the Tesla Takedown movement, suggesting Musk should be "taken down." https://t.co/Qp9jxtgium pic.twitter.com/SycJ9bmWfu

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 24, 2025

Bondi’s warning to the unhinged Democrat comes days after her appearance on the Tesla Takedown teleconference:

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO:

Tonight, Radical Democrat Congresswoman @JasmineForUS Jasmine Crockett spoke on a CALL TO ACTION call organized by the @Tesla Takedown organizers who have been vandalizing and attacking @elonmusk’s Tesla Showrooms and charging stations across the country and all… pic.twitter.com/eqbPsseIhJ

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 20, 2025

Crockett’s alliance with Tesla Takedown is alarming, considering the Soros-funded non-profit Indivisible is preparing a multi-city assault on Tesla service locations nationwide by the end of the month. There have been far-left terrorist attacks on Tesla service centers, showrooms, Supercharging networks, and vehicles that paint the Democratic Party as in disarray and resorting to communist revolutionary tactics. Polling data for the party has collapsed, while the latest ploy by the party to improve optics was entirely disproven to be “inorganic” by GPS data. The American people are finally getting to see the real Democratic Party—filled with hate and violence as its revolutionaries attack Tesla, all because the owner, Elon Musk, is uncovering massive fraud and waste by the Deep State. Remember when Democrats wanted to defund everything after George Floyd? Yet suddenly, now they don’t.

🙂

• Elon Musk Disguises IRS Building As Tesla Dealership (BBee)

Proponents of eliminating the federal income tax rejoiced today as Elon Musk cleverly disguised the Internal Revenue Service headquarters as a Tesla dealership so Democrats would burn it down. The billionaire inventor and entrepreneur hatched the genius plan to cover the main IRS building with Tesla emblems and signage, which goaded angry Democrats to launch a large-scale firebomb attack against the building. “This’ll show Musk who’s boss! Burn it to the ground!” one enraged leftist reportedly shouted before throwing a Molotov cocktail through a window of the IRS building. “This looks different from any other Tesla dealership I’ve ever seen. It’s almost like a really old government building. Oh well. It’s all got to go. Everything he owns must be destroyed.”

When reached for comment, Musk was quietly pleased that his plan had worked. “It was quite a simple idea, really,” he said. “If Democrats are trying to burn down anything belonging to me, why not redirect that anger in a useful way to burn down something that should be demolished? For the cost of a few Tesla signs, we’ve now freed the American people from the terrible burden of excessive taxation. Ironically, once the rubble of the IRS building is cleared, we will, in fact, build an enormous new Tesla dealership in its place.” At publishing time, reports had circulated that the U.S. Capitol would be next to be disguised as a Tesla dealership in a plot to round up and imprison Democrats for attempting a violent insurrection.

100% of MS patients autopsied had parasites in their spinal fluid pic.twitter.com/psh7JR91IO

— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled) March 24, 2025

Swan
https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1903880749935206439

Rooster

The rooster saves the hen from a hawk.. pic.twitter.com/E1JXcaU9FU

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) March 24, 2025

Elephants

This is how Elephants should be, just so beautiful to see, happy and free!! pic.twitter.com/5iT8YeMNAl

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 24, 2025

Bounce

Practicing for accuracy
pic.twitter.com/aGiD5Ikyoq

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) March 24, 2025

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