Vice President JD Vance makes some announcements about holding back funds for California during an event on federal government fraud with U.S. Attorney Andrew Ferguson, CMS Director Dr. Oz, and Kim Brandt in Washington, D.C.

CMS also announced the deferral of $163 million due to non-compliance [PDF Here].  The Question-and-Answer session begins at 21:31 of the video below (prompted):

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There is an increased public discussion about the race to build datacenters in the USA that are part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race for superiority.  There are multiple facets within the discussion and some things to consider that might not be at the forefront, yet.

Overall, there is a global race to build the best AI system that is not dissimilar to the nuclear arms race.  Arguably the use of AI as a weapon is one possibility; while the second aspect surrounds strategic economic power.

The USA is poised very favorably in this AI race due to the advanced tech industry in America and recent national security moves made by President Trump in the tech sector surrounding strategic critical minerals and domestic chip production.  However, no one is quite sure where China is in their AI development and last year’s explosive revelation around China’s “Deepseek” model shocked the U.S. tech industry due to its advanced intelligence prowess.

With China and the USA both in this AI race, and the need for massive investment in datacenters to do the processing needed for an artificial intelligence brain of such significant capacity, there is a sense of urgency in the tech industry that is surfacing around the country.  Simultaneously, with datacenters becoming more controversial, suddenly the geopolitical intelligence operations enter the picture.

Currently, it is well accepted inside the tech industry that part of China’s strategy against the USA in this AI race is to slow down American system development.  As a consequence, it is beginning to surface that Beijing may be funding voices inside the USA to rally against the building of datacenters. Essentially, China funding voices, real or artificially boosted influence operations, to amplify domestic opposition to the datacenters.

Anytime the intelligence operations become part of a domestic issue that has national security implications, things get opaque, cloudy and muddy pretty quick.  Is datacenter opposition organic – actual citizens and communities pushing back against the development in their towns and/or cities or is the opposition to the datacenters a form of foreign influence operation?

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Currently active CIA analyst James Erdman, presented himself as a whistleblower to congress to outline how the Intelligence Community had evidence and knowledge about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and how it was created by “gain of function” research (weaponizing a virus) in a biolab in Wuhan, China funded by the United States government.

According to the testimony, there are elements inside the Intelligence Community, specifically the CIA, who worked with scientists to coverup the origin of COVID-19 and the fact the virus was man made and leaked from a lab.  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, pressured and influenced scientists in the intelligence community to fabricate information and lie about the origin of the virus.

Fauci has denied accusations that he lied about the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) role in funding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and argued that the research did not meet the level of gain-of-function research.  However, a longtime advisor of Fauci’s, David Morens, who served as a top advisor at NIAID, was indicted by the DOJ last month and accused of using his personal email account to hide communications related to a controversial coronavirus research grant that involved collaboration with the Wuhan Institute.

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With knowledge surrounding the origin of SARS-CoV-2, and with knowledge about the coverup of the virus triggering event, questioning should turn to how the U.S. government then influenced the global intelligence networks and military operations to control the consequences.

The response to COVID-19 was essentially an intelligence and military operation throughout the world.

Current Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is investigating these larger issues as well as U.S. funded biolabs around the globe.

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The meeting is all business as the two apex economic leaders are scheduled to meet on a summit that is majority framed around finance, trade, AI and economics.  At its core, this summit between President Trump and Chairman Xi is about economic power.

Within the power dynamic of these types of high-stakes meetings, positioning plays a critical role. Chairman Xi Jinping did not attend the arrival ceremony and the meeting between Trump and Xi will not take place until Thursday. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng greeted Trump at the Beijing airport. US Ambassador to China David Purdue and China’s Ambassador to the US Xie Feng were also there to welcome him.

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(Daily Mail) – […] The President’s Air Force One posse also included NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who was scooped up on a refueling stop in Alaska, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Rush Hour director Brett Ratner.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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There was much fake news about the tech and finance leaders traveling with President Trump to China.  Moments ago, President Trump corrects the record:

TRUTH SOCIAL – “CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China. In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!

It is an Honor to have Jensen, Elon, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Brian Sikes (Cargill), Jane Fraser (Citi), Larry Culp (GE Aerospace), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and many others journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to “open up” China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level! In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!”

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

“Tim Apple” always cracks me up. lol

As previously noted and discussed by USTR Jamieson Greer, since the original trip to Beijing was announced several months ago, it was very easy to identify this visit was not a customary ‘state visit’ in the formal sense of the term.  Instead, this trip was always planned as a trade, finance and economic business trip specifically to engage Chairman Xi with a financial and investment focus.

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British monarch King Charles III is scheduled to deliver the annual ‘king’s speech’ to the U.K Parliament on Wednesday, and that was the essential defense position of those who are trying to maintain embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer in power as the Labour Party leader.

The king’s speech is an address to Parliament to outline his legislative priorities and the anticipated support from the political assembly. Without a solid Prime Minister in place, it would seem like an address to a leaderless body. However, once the speech is finished, the struggles for Prime Minister Starmer are soon to resurface.

British pundit Neil Oliver asked the most alarming question on GB News earlier this evening when he pondered who exactly does Keir Starmer work for? Noting very similar issues in both France and Germany with Emanuel Macron and Chancellor Freidrich Merz respectively, Oliver outlines how many EU leaders are pushing national policies while seemingly disconnected from the citizens of their countries. WATCH:

Oliver senses something bigger is afoot with the seismic shift in British electoral politics.  The nation is demanding a change in direction away from leftist policies.  When President Trump was asked about the dynamic earlier today, he said Keir Starmer needs to decide whether to leave or try and stay in power.  Dropping pretenses and speaking pragmatically, President Trump further pointed to the suicidal energy policies that are driving up the costs of living for all European citizens.

Via Daily Mail – […] On a dramatic day at Westminster, four Labour ministers resigned, saying they no longer had confidence in Sir Keir. The number of Labour MPs calling for him to go rose to 90, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was forced to deny she is on the brink of quitting after telling the PM to set out a timetable for his departure. (more)

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President Trump departed the White House today for a long-awaited trip to Beijing, China for a summit with Chairman Xi Jinping.  This trip to China is all business with no customary diplomatic venues or state visit festivities planned.  This trip is straight to Beijing, business – then depart.

As President Trump departs the White House, he walks the lengthy press pool line to answer questions.  The best audio/video is currently this one.

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Andrey Yermak is not just some random high-level government official in Ukraine.  Andrey Yermak was President Zelenskyy’s right hand, chief of staff, organizer of the functions of Ukrainian government and the guy who controlled the systems that keep all other government officials working on the agenda of the President.

If you took Susie Wiles and Marco Rubio’s responsibilities and combined them into one job function, that would be the scale of importance and influence that Andrey Yermak controlled inside the Ukrainian government and the office of President Zelenskyy.

Left, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – Right, Andrey Yermak

Today, following an explosive criminal corruption charge that surfaced less than 36 hours ago, Andrey Yermak appears in court to face charges of corruption, theft and money laundering.  Yermak was under investigation for his role in theft through the energy sector and now stands accused of using construction projects near Kiev as a tool to launder money to himself and other high-level government officials.

There are three facets to this I find very interesting.  First, is the timing.  Second, is the often-overlooked admission by National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) about them working closely with FBI investigators in Europe and American intelligence units.  Third, is the way they caught him: “The anti-corruption bureau shared part of a wiretapped conversation as part of its case and said six more people had been identified as suspects.”

(Via BBC) – […] For years he was a close friend of Zelensky, and led Ukraine’s talks with the US until an anti-corruption raid on his flat last November prompted his resignation.

Ukraine’s Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) said it was asking the Kyiv court to either place him in preventive detention or give him bail of about $4m (£3m).  The head of the National anti-corruption bureau (Nabu) stressed that Zelensky himself was not part of the pre-trial investigation.

Yermak had been the president’s closest adviser throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion, until he became caught up in a broader inquiry by Sapo and Nabu into an alleged $100m (£74m) embezzlement scheme in Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector.

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