Many are perplexed; however, don’t overthink it.

President Trump has announced Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, via a Truth Social post earlier today:

PRESIDENT TRUMP –  “I am appointing the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, William J. Pulte, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence. William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago. During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

In the context of what has taken place in the past 16 months, from CTH perspective an ‘acting’ position in this specific role is essentially a placeholder position.  Pulte placed as acting DNI, perhaps (my guess) in lieu of a permanent appointment that cannot yet be made due to other factors.

Deputy DNI Aaron Lucas remains in place.  Within the construct of the DNI office, Lucas remaining as Deputy actually facilitates the installation of a placeholder that would otherwise not be possible because legislative regulations and preferences on the DNI post are specifically designed to favor only nominations with background experience in military intelligence and/or long-term intelligence status.  {See 50 U.S. Code § 3026}

When congress created the ODNI they outlined: “under ordinary circumstances, it is desirable” that either the director or the principal deputy director of national intelligence be an active-duty commissioned officer in the armed forces or have training or experience in military intelligence activities and requirements.  {Go Deep} Also remember, President Trump (T1) was the first administration to elevate the DNI to a cabinet level position. Biden retained that status.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu representing Israel, and President Donald Trump representing the United States, apparently had a testy telephone call about ongoing Israeli strikes against Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon.

Iran, essentially IRGC control officers who now control the government, had previously said their terms for negotiation required Israel to stop strikes into Lebanon against their allies in Hezbollah.  However, under the cover of that term, Hezbollah restarted rocket attacks from Lebanon against Israel.  Yesterday, Israel began counter-attack operations against Hezbollah, which led to Iran saying the terms of the negotiation were now violated, and they would stop discussions with the USA.

[NOTE – This overall dynamic is very similar to Saudi Arabia coming under fire about a month ago, and their anger toward the USA for essentially saying Saudi had to accept the attacks so that diplomatic talks could continue.   Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmon rejected the expectation and challenged President Trump with Saudi allied base cooperation.]

Apparently, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu had a strong discussion, some have leaked a very angered and open exchange, about Netanyahu launching strikes into Lebanon again.

On social media, it looks like this. Netanyahu put’s the Israel position via X:

[source]

President Trump responds to Netanyahu’s intentions with a phone call and then a follow-up on his Truth Social Account:

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The case of murdered victim Henry Nowak is horrific, and representative of just how far the United Kingdom has fallen.

18-year-old Henry Nowak was violently attacked and brutally stabbed by an Indian man named Vickrum Digwa. When police arrived the attacker claimed the victim called him racist names.  The police then handcuffed the bleeding victim and told him he was under arrest.

Henry Nowak continually told police he had been stabbed by Digwa and could not breathe.  The police didn’t believe him, and fraught with political correctness that demands they protect the minority rights of the Indian attacker, the U.K. police read the victim his rights and dragged him over the ground. Henry Nowak bleed to death and died as a result of his stab wounds.

The police laughed at the white male victim and mocked Henry Nowak while he died.

Eventually, the police realized the Indian man Vickrum Digwa was -indeed- the attacker and video evidence showed young Nowak was attacked and stabbed at random.  Digwa was arrested and forced to stand trial.  With overwhelming evidence against him, he was convicted of murder.  Following the conviction Henry Nowak’s father gave a press statement.  WATCH:

When the public found out during trial that police had actually handcuffed the victim and ignored his pleas for help, outrage grew.

The entire case is stunning in just how messed up Great Britain really is.  The police never even handcuffed the attacker, even after they found out he was guilty of murder. Then, adding salt to the wound of the entire matter, Digwa’s defense team sought to shift blame for the murder from their violent client to the politically correct police.

The Nowak family was barred from speaking about the murder and the police conduct during the trial.  However, as evidence in the trial was shown, the public found out about it.  Demands for release of the officer’s body camera footage were made. No one could believe what they were hearing.  The police and courts refused to release the footage until public and political pressure became just too much.

The body-cam footage is below.

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In a remarkable come from behind victory, Colombia’s nationalist presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has won the first round in the election. Mr De la Espriella is a MAGA-aligned nationalist. His opposition, Ivan Cepeda is a leftist aligned globalist.

Mr De la Espriella, a lawyer and political outsider, won nearly 44 percent of the vote while Iván Cepeda won around under 41 percent, according to Colombian media. This was a surprising victory for the upstart politician who gained support from the people in Colombia who want a strong leader to eliminate corruption, gangs and criminal cartel activity.

Mr De la Espriella (pictured left) has to make all campaign appearances behind a bulletproof shield due to criminal cartels who target him.

Espriella has aligned himself with President Trump, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei. A resurgence of nationalism and anti-corruption in the Americas. Interestingly, ever since Marco Rubio dissolved USAID there has been a return to national sovereignty throughout Latin America.

VIA NBC – […] Neither candidate had more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the election Sunday. With 100% of votes tallied, de la Espriella — running as a candidate for Defensores de la Patria, a party he founded — was leading with more than 43% of the vote. Cepeda, of the incumbent party, Pacto Histórico, was trailing at just over 40%.

President Gustavo Petro, who endorsed Cepeda, said he would not accept the preliminary count released by the country’s electoral authority, claiming that some of the software private companies used to count votes was flawed and that the results were not binding.

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Ironically, I find myself with a grin on my face as I read the recent media reports about how the data processing demand behind AI is beyond the scope of financial sustainability.

For several years I have asserted, accurately, the business model for social media was never feasible because the data processing demand needed for the scale of simultaneous users was beyond the capabilities of the revenue side of the equation.  I have been told by all the high-horse experts on the matter how wrong I am.  However, each story they write about the prohibitive cost of AI proves I was not wrong.

CTH watches the tokenization and subscription fees for various AI model use with the same perspective CTH viewed over a decade of false claims within the financial market that told lies about social media viability and data processing costs.

Now, we watch the seemingly exponential growth of AI capabilities and associated costs with the same pragmatic perspective.

Robotic pool cleaners were introduced two generations ago.  Did the pool cleaner business dry up? No, it expanded.  Robotic vacuums broke into the popular household appliance market five years ago, you probably have one, did it eliminate maid services?  No, still growing.

AI can now write its own code to generate outputs. Are software developers getting fired?  No, demand for software designers and engineers is up 15% in the past year.

The mainframe approach, the one AI brain to run all systems, will never work – it is cost prohibitive (see first paragraph – wash, rinse, repeat).  Deny this reality at your own investment risk. If needed, politely absorb the ridicule – for it matters not.

CTH predicts AI will become a localized and optimized sub-set for each sector of the economy, requiring each major organization and corporation to adopt specific cost/benefit data libraries and networks for use and functionality.

At scale, a thousand coders each working on Gemini, ChatGPT, Anthropic, Grok, etc. will become 100,000+ software designers working inside companies to create personalized, targeted, bespoke AI data systems and networks; each system specifically tailored to the industry or sector of business.  The intranet of internets will happen again.

Creating and selling AI system networks and integration functions that are personally tailored to highly specific company functions, creates an entirely new sector of the technology industry that has not even begun yet. [There’s an investment opportunity there]

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**Bumped by Request**

A few weeks ago, I was having a politics conversation with a tech insider. The issue of datacenters became a focus of the conversation. The first response from him was “this is the issue that might decide 2026 and will certainly decide 2028.”

The tech side of the issue is essentially: As 5G wifi was to mobile connectivity, so too are the datacenters the cornerstone of nationwide AI rollout.  Eventually, all of the datacenters will interconnect and become part of a massive information system that houses all knowledge, a great digital brain.  From that point, engagement with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems will become like a public utility.

The datacenters themselves can be a hot button issue as their proximity to people creates friction.  Battles against datacenters are taking place in rural and non-rural areas alike. With deep pockets and strong national security arguments involving the “AI race,” the technocrats are currently winning the argument. However, as with all special interest issues, the opportunity for political benefit now determines DC advocacy.  WATCH:

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Is opposition to datacenters strong enough to tilt the outcome of the 2026 midterms?  And do you believe 2028 will be determined with this issue at the forefront?

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Armed with a host of narratives against the Trump administration, CNN host Dana Bash confronts Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about his audacity to support Freedom 250 events in Washington DC this year.  Apparently, it is not in alignment with the interests of CNN for Americans to celebrate the anniversary of our independence.

Complaining about DC fountains being cleaned; complaining about people not being consulted for their viewpoints to permit the graffiti and filth to remain in place prior to cleaning; complaining that years of environmental studies and municipal hearings did not take place prior to the decision to repair the reflection pool; complaining about saving hundreds of millions by not opening up each restoration process to consultancy fees, studies, public hearings and various bureaucratic indulgency opportunities; a very unhappy Dana Bash confronts Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about his support for President Trump to clean and restore the nation’s capital without consideration for those who prefer things to be a mess.

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Appearing for an interview on Fox News with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, President Trump explains the current status of the negotiations with Iran and more of the details within the deal as tentatively outlined. WATCH:

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Mike Steger takes less than 20-minutes to walk through a year of President Trump’s multifaceted U.S. manufacturing policy initiatives that have positioned the U.S. economy for a massive surge in growth. Steger recaps several consequential moves by President Trump and his cabinet to fundamentally change economics in the Western Hemisphere. Each point is well delivered and well presented.

Steger then overlays the economic moves with the geopolitical moves in Venezuela (oil), Cuba (communism ended), Mexico (cartels, traffickers and corruption), Canada (globalism confronted) and finally Greenland (a new consulate is created). Put together, Steger notes how all of these move’s work together with a massive surge in energy, technology and productivity to create a hemispheric powerhouse within the United States. WATCH:

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:10 Volcker and the Origins of Globalization
02:30 NAFTA and the Collapse of Industrial America
04:05 Liberation Day and the Tariff Battle
05:30 China’s Rare Earth Weapon
06:45 Rebuilding American Industry

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Remember last weekend when we outlined how the sudden sense of urgency from Europe toward a trade agreement with Mexico? that agreement had little to do with purchasing row crops from Mexico, and everything to do with what Europe needs as access to the United States {Go Deep}.

The language being used by the United States trade office is specific. [SEE HERE] The first bilateral round of negotiations between the United States and Mexico for the USMCA free trade agreement has concluded. (Emphasis mine)

PRESS RELEASE – “MEXICO CITY — “Today, the United States and Mexico concluded the first bilateral round related to the Joint Review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The United States concluded discussions with the goals of reducing the trade deficit with Mexico and strengthening American supply chains. During this first round, negotiators discussed priority issues related to automotive rules of origin, steel and aluminum, and economic security.

The United States and Mexico recognize the importance of advancing cooperation to enhance regulatory compatibility to strengthen sectors, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products, and others.

We will continue advancing these discussions on June 16-17 in Washington, D.C., in addition to agriculture and a level playing field. The third round will be held during the week of July 20 in Mexico City.

The United States continues to emphasize the importance of ensuring the Agreement benefits U.S. manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, workers, service suppliers, and businesses of all sizes, and of addressing free-riding from third countries.” (source)

Currently, European automakers have billions invested in Mexican auto plants.  Much of the component material for those vehicles comes from Europe for assembly in Mexico.  That was the primary focus of the Europeans in their trade agreement with Mexico.

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