As we saw previously in Term-1, President Trump has again divided and assigned trade negotiation responsibility to key cabinet members. In this interview with CNN National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett smiles and walks effortlessly through the narrative engineering attempt by CNN pundit Kassie Hunt.
This is a must watch interview if you are following the details of the current global trade renegotiation.
Hassett outlines the current status of trade negotiations with some of the biggest trade partners in the world. India and Southeast Asia are being handled by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is in control of the section 232 (national security) tariffs, and USTR Jamison Greer has 19 current Free Trade Agreements outlined with various partners all willing to accept the reciprocity agreement. WATCH:
Following her arrest for assisting a criminal illegal alien attempting to avoid capture, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended Judge Hannah Dugan from all judicial proceedings.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, saying Tuesday that it is in the public interest to relieve her of her duties as she faces two federal charges.
[…] In its two-page order, the state Supreme Court said it was acting on its own initiative and not responding to a request from anyone. Liberal justices control the court 4-3.
[…] She is set to appear in court for arraignment May 15.
In addition to Mastantuono, her attorneys include Paul Clement, a prominent conservative lawyer, and Steve Biskupic, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin who was appointed by President George W. Bush. (read more)
Last week CTH noted, “interested political followers in the USA should pay close attention to how the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWA) respond to the corporate media narrative. … Will the International Longshoremen’s Association stand with Trump, or will they drop support as the global trade reset emphasizes domestically manufactured jobs? That will be an interesting aspect to watch because the dockworker union leadership will face massive pressure to comply with the anti-tariff narrative.” (full article)
Yesterday, we got the answer: “The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) unequivocally condemns the recent tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed.”
All these moves are so transparently political, it almost makes you laugh. However, that said, we are now in a better position to understand exactly how the Democrats and Deep State operatives will weaponize the supply chain along with their union orcs.
In the next phase of the anti-Trump tariff agenda, approximately 3 months from now it will begin, we will see/hear a constant drumbeat of empty shelves, missing parts and missing products. Whether factually true, or whether the shortages are an outcome of a strategy by the ILWA to assist the shortage narrative, the overall objective will be to blame President Trump for everything from shortages of medicine to shortages of parts to fix, repair or maintain consumer products.
President Trump holds an impromptu press conference traveling back to the White House from Morristown, New Jersey.
President Trump departed Marine One with Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Champion Saquon Barkley, then takes questions. The topics covered his message to President Putin, the Zelensky meeting, Iran – no bombs needed, Zelensky meeting #2, what Zelensky said, Crimea, opinion on Russian President Putin, actions vs Russia, taxes and tariffs, the Russia deadline, relationship with Zelensky, the Crimea factor, Virginia Giuffre, Tariffs Talks with China, Melania’s birthday dinner, and the Wisconsin Judge arrest. WATCH:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears on NBC Meet the Press to discuss the ongoing negotiations to bring a ceasefire to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Secretary Rubio notes the ongoing discussions have positive indications but also concerning elements where there are demands that are challenging to fulfill. Ultimately, the goal is to stop killing people and achieve peace. At the end of the day the USA has funneled billions of dollars into what appears to be a never-ending conflict, and our willingness to maintain support is close to an end. WATCH:
[Transcript] QUESTION: And joining me now is Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Secretary Rubio, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Good morning. Thanks.
QUESTION: Well, good morning to you. Thank you so much for being here. President Trump is about to mark his 100th day in office. It comes as a key campaign promise is to end the war in Ukraine and against the backdrop of that extraordinary meeting between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. Mr. Secretary, is Russia and Ukraine now closer to a deal in the wake of that meeting?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss the position of the Russian Federation toward the ‘ceasefire’ in Ukraine. The interview took place on Thursday April 24th and was broadcast today.
This interview also takes place one day before President Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow for his fourth meeting with Putin to discuss the settlement of the war in Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, the conversation between Witkoff and President Putin lasted about three hours.
Following the last meeting between President Putin and Ambassador Witkoff, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated President Putin is willing to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy without any preconditions. According to Peskov, the statement was made at a meeting with Trump’s special representative, Steve Witkoff. “Putin at the meeting with Witkoff confirmed Russia’s readiness for negotiations with Kyiv without any preconditions” according to the Kremlin.
In this interview, Sergey Lavrov dismisses the narrative building, maintains respect for the integrity of private negotiations, and outlines an optimistic view the terms of a ceasefire can be agreed between President Trump and President Putin. It is the CIA and their operative Volodymyr Zelenskyy that represent the challenge that might cause President Trump and Marco Rubio to walk away. WATCH:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. Good morning, Minister Lavrov, I want to ask you about what happened in Kyiv. There was a large Russian attack on that capital city about one o’clock in the morning. President Trump has said publicly, the Russian strikes are not necessary and very bad timing. “Vladimir, STOP!” was his quote. What made it worth killing civilians when Ukraine says it’s ready for a ceasefire?
FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEY LAVROV: We only target military goals or civilian sites used by the military. President Putin expressed this for so many times, and this is not different this time as well. We never consciously target civilian sites unlike- unlike the Zelensky regime.
I am trying to avoid my own confirmation bias, which is difficult in this case, because when Congressman Mike Waltz was announced as NSA to President-elect Donald Trump, immediately I thought he would be the first to exit the national security team; his ideology just doesn’t mesh right.
Following the fiasco with Signal and his Jeffrey Goldberg foul up, it looked like Waltz was pushed out of the immediate circle of influence and instead told to focus on restructuring the National Security Council. His proximity still exists, but his immediate role appears -at least outwardly- to have shifted; he seems less influential as a direct emissary for President Trump to foreign intelligence peers and leaders.
I have this horribly annoying affliction to noticing small details and taking notes, and all indications point in that direction. When you start to notice this shift, what becomes evident is within the verbiage used as a proximity person begins describing events as if they were an observer, not a direct participant. [The “we” is lost.] Listen to how Mike Waltz describes current geopolitical events, he sounds like a pundit not a participant.
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If my suspicion is accurate, President Trump has a National Security Advisor in name only.
It is alarming how President Trump is calling for ceasefire talks while the U.S. government is simultaneously providing Ukraine with either fighter jets or M9 Reaper Drones to fly against Russia.
The stunning image captured in Arizona shows a Ukrainian Antonoff 225 the biggest transport plane, operated by Ukrainian transport company, being loaded with either M9 Reaper Drones (see picture below) or F-16/35 fighter jets.
In the background left (red tractor flatbed) you can see either an M9 Reaper drone or U.S. fighter ready for transport (white wrapped). Toward the rear of the Antonoff cargo plane you can see another (black tractor flatbed). Both aerial war assets are being loaded into the Antonoff 225 transport, and there are likely more not visible in the picture.
President Donald Trump is the most transparent president in modern history, perhaps ever. In a statement delivered from his truth social account, President Trump outlines his thinking on the current status of the Ukraine -v- Russia conflict.
[President Trump] – “No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it. Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests, in order to stop the killing that is worse than anything since World War II.
Why doesn’t this lightweight reporter say that it was Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired. It was also Liddle’ Peter who wrote an absolutely fawning, yet terribly written Biography, on Obama. It was a JOKE! Did Baker ever criticize the Obama Crimea Giveaway? NO, not once, only TRUMP, and I’ve had nothing to do with this stupid war, other than early on, when I gave Ukraine Javelins, and Obama gave them sheets.
[AUTHORS NOTE: Having attended the ASEAN conference to make contacts, after a brief respite at home I spent the past several weeks traveling Southeast Asia to research the likely impact from Trump’s tariff and global trade reset. Visits included manufacturing and distribution facilities in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and South Korea. What I will share with you in the next few months is an overview from direct first-hand discussions, contrast against the MSM financial media outline.]
The predictable doomsday Wall Street Journal narrative includes a forecast for a massive drop in exports from China as shipping conglomerates begin to outline a drop in trans-pacific sea cargo and container carriers.
What I would say to concerned Americans is to filter out the political narrative and remind yourself of the expanded footprint throughout SE Asia that Beijing has already established. Chinese companies, many of them subsidized by the CCP, are pre-positioned to begin transnational shipping. I have witnessed it first-hand. However, here’s the WSJ narrative as it begins.
WSJ – The number of ships sailing from China to the U.S. laden with clothes, electronics, furniture and other goods is plunging, as an accelerating number of cargoes are canceled.
The scrapped sailings come after the Trump administration ratcheted up tariffs on China while giving a three-month reprieve on punitive levies for much of the rest of the world.
At the Port of Los Angeles, one of America’s biggest gateways for imports from China, executive director Gene Seroka told port officials Thursday that he expects a 35% drop in import volumes in two weeks “as essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers has ceased.”
