Today, President Donald J Trump signed an executive order triggering the first ever system of “reciprocal trade tariffs,” a seismic change in U.S. trade policy that will also consider the respective nation’s VAT (Value Added Tax) tariff.

Within the executive order [as outlined], the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative will consider foreign industry subsidies, and non-monetary tariff barriers as part of the determination of the tariff levied.  This is a stunning shift in U.S trade agreements that will cut through all the angles being deployed to avoid U.S. tariffs and block U.S exports into their country.

The policy will pressure foreign nations to lower their trade barriers to U.S. goods and eliminate disparity in foreign trade agreements.  One big example will be the impact on the EU through the continuing Marshall Plan.  The EU will now face reciprocal tariffs and no longer benefit from one-way tariff acceptance. There are obviously no tariffs on products made inside the USA.

With “reciprocal tariffs” the Commerce Dept and USTR will now determine the trade imbalances with each individual country and will evaluate each FTA (Free Trade Agreement), one-by-one to deconflict the trade imbalance.  Direct tariffs, subsidies, regulatory hurdles, non-monetary trade barriers and hidden export subsidies will be addressed as part of the reciprocity evaluation.  This is a completely new dynamic in the era of modern global trade and economics.

During the executive order signing event, President Trump took questions from the media. WATCH:

Between now and April 1st, each individual trade agreement will be evaluated with consideration for all facets of the cost for American companies to export to the evaluated nation.  Direct tariffs, Value Added Taxes (VAT), state subsidies and non-monetary regulatory tariff barriers, will be determined for each nation.  That nation will then be made aware of the tariff against each sector within their export system to the United States.

Effective April 2, 2025, President Trump will then have the tariff data provided by the USTR and Secretary of Commerce. President Trump will determine when the reciprocal tariff will be triggered and will likely engage in discussions with the leaders of the foreign nations.

These fireside chat-style impromptu pressers during executive order signings are awesome.  The revolutionary change in government transparency and communication is, well, quite literally historic and stunning.  The media can ask questions in real-time as the specific policy is implemented and explained, while simultaneously the ability of the media to shape an anti-Trump policy narrative is removed.

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Earlier today the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr 52-48, with Senator Mitch McConnell (U-DC) the lone Republican joining all 47 Democrats to vote against him. Kennedy made pledges to protect existing vaccination programs in a bid to secure votes of hesitant lawmakers.

Completing the journey to align Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) with Making America Great Again (MAGA), Secretary RFK Jr will now run a Health and Human Services agency that coordinates more than $3 trillion in healthcare spending. Also under Secretary Kennedy are the Medicare and Medicaid programs that provide health insurance for over 140 million Americans, along with the National Institutes of Health.

During his swearing in ceremony RFK Jr pledged to work to end chronic disease. Previously Kennedy said he wants to break any ties between employees at the U.S. drugs regulator and Big Pharma industry. Secretary Kennedy had high praise for President Donald Trump; saying, “God sent me President Trump” to fulfill his mission to turn the American system of health around. Swearing in ceremony below:

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President Trump delivered some rather remarkable filler information today surrounding the phone calls between himself, President Putin and President Zelenskyy.  The remarks, which should not be missed, come at the conclusion of the Tulsi Gabbard swearing in ceremony. [09:45 video, prompted]

The first question received was about the Russia v Ukraine conflict and the conversations with Zelenskyy and Putin.  President Trump outlined that the first meeting to end the conflict will likely take place between himself and Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia as organized through the intermediary, Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS). [11:45]

President Trump noted there was unlikely to be any NATO discussion for Ukraine, and the concession of territory to Russia was generally accepted foregone conclusion.  [15:10] Due to the curiously missing Zelenskyy in the response, the media asked if President Trump “sees Ukraine as an equal member in the process.” President Trump responded that it was an interesting question, but ultimately “they have to make peace.”  President Trump then noted that eventually, during this ceasefire, Ukraine is going to need to conduct elections. [More than implying that Zelenskyy is irrelevant].

The general response in combination with the previously released statement from Zelenskyy seems to frame a strange dynamic.  Zelenskyy never asked Trump to visit Ukraine, and the way President Trump frames the Zelenskyy perspective is as if the Ukranian President is willingly an outside observer without a genuine ability to engage without having to ask another “entity” for permission.  WATCH:

The way President Trump outlines the discussion(s) further evidences the suspicions we highlighted before. [SEE HERE] The response to the Ukraine questions extends to around 22:17 of the video, where the subject changes to DOGE.  There again, some really interesting remarks from President Trump.

President Trump notes the corruption being outlined is of such a massive number, “billion and billions”, that there is no way these payments do not include kickbacks, likely to politicians.  Trump then turns to AG Bondi and remarks that this is something the AG will likely have to look at. “There’s a lot of things to look at Pam.”

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The remarks and formal swearing in ceremony are essentially uneventful; however, it is President Trump’s remarks at the conclusion of the swearing in ceremony that will catch the majority of attention from the geopolitical observers and the DC machine.  We will break out that part in a different post.

In the interim, here is the swearing in ceremony for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.  WATCH:

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The full senate vote was 52-48. Senator Mitch McConnell (U-DC) was the lone republican who voted against confirming Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).  Tulsi Gabbard is now DNI.

Additionally, the Senate voted 53-47 on the cloture vote for Robert F Kennedy Jr as nominee for Health and Human Service Secretary. With senate debate now ended, the full confirmation vote on RFK Jr could come tomorrow.

WASHINGTON – The GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to be President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, putting the former congresswoman in charge of the sprawling U.S. intelligence community.

The 52-48 vote was largely along party lines, with nearly all Republicans present voting in favor of Gabbard. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former longtime GOP leader who has clashed with Trump, was the only Republican who joined all Democrats in voting against her.

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President Donald Trump posts a brief outline of a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to his Truth Social Account.

President Trump: “I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects. We both reflected on the Great History of our Nations, and the fact that we fought so successfully together in World War II, remembering, that Russia lost tens of millions of people, and we, likewise, lost so many!

We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, “COMMON SENSE.” We both believe very strongly in it. We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations.”

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On the eve of DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s full senate confirmation vote, President Trump announces his Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), which will be chaired by the former head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, former Gang of Eight member and current CEO of Truth Social, Devin Nunes.

WHITE HOUSE – Today, President Donald J. Trump is pleased to announce a distinguished and trusted group of Patriots to serve on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB). These individuals will advise the President on our nation’s most important security challenges and ensure that the Intelligence Community is working to advance the President’s America First agenda. The President’s PIAB appointees represent a broad range of experience and intellect that will help restore integrity to our Intelligence Community. The following individuals have been appointed to the PIAB:

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Pennsylvania schoolteacher Marc Fogel traveled to Russia with marijuana.  The magic lettuce is considered a narcotic in Russia.  Marc Fogel found out you cannot take medicinal marijuana to Russia.  Marc Fogel was arrested in 2021.

Today Russia released criminally convicted Marc Fogel as a good faith gesture to the administration of President Donald Trump.  Marc Fogel thanks President Trump for securing his release from prison.  President Trump hints there is another prisoner who will be released tomorrow.  WATCH:

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It sounds like Russia replaced Fogel’s medical dependency on Marijuana (no idea what the prescription was for) with some other medical ‘anxiety relief’ substance.  Fogel notes he “met many” wounded Russian soldiers, likely when he was receiving medical treatment – because most consequential health services for high priority patients take place in Russian military affiliated institutions.  I suspect this, because I accidentally ended up inside one last year, saw the same, and it makes sense.

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Senator Lindsey Graham (U-DC) was asked for his thoughts and perspectives about USAID today during a press conference.

Senator Lindsey Graham is senior senator in charge of the upper chamber oversight of foreign government influence operations via the “150 account” that supports the goals and objectives of the State Dept.

Senator Lindsey Graham culminates his entire political career in one brief segment of pretending not to know.

We can officially say this moment achieves ‘peak Graham.’  The part where Graham tells former USAID Director Samantha Power to “quit texting me” is epic.  WATCH: 

It is said that in 1860 literary master Ralph Waldo Emerson found a stargate, entered and traveled to this day in history.  Upon return, he wrote:

“The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”

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Earlier today President Trump and Elon Musk, head of the Dept of Government Efficiency, held a press conference in the oval office to answer questions about the ongoing DOGE review of government.

Elon Musk outlines examples of how the various government agencies spend money without any standard accounting principles that facilitate audits and reviews.  In material fact the system of government that Elon Musk and President Trump outline, appears fully designed to generate fraud.

In essence, “waste, fraud and abuse” within government, is a feature of how the government systems are organized, not a flaw. WATCH:

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It is amazing how the media reporters present the structure of their questions to support the waste, fraud and abusive systems within the administration of government as it is outlined.  We do not dislike the media enough.

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