Germany has a severe electricity shortage and cost problem, and it’s getting worse.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently made the admission that shutting down the German nuclear power reactors was a “severe strategic mistake.”

“To have acceptable market prices for energy production again, we would have to permanently subsidize energy prices from the federal budget,” Merz said, adding: “We can’t do this in the long run.”

“So, we are now undertaking the most expensive energy transition in the entire world,” Merz said with pronounced frustration. “I know of no other country that makes things so expensive and difficult as Germany.”

Keep in mind, Germany represents the largest contributing economy in the European Union.  The German industrial sector is the backbone of the European economic model.

All of these realities paint a very tenuous picture for the economic future in Europe, when combined with a new trade relationship with the USA, increasingly cheap goods dumped into the EU by China and the EU promising to continue spending on the war effort in Ukraine against Russia.

(more…)

Dept of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave a brief set of remarks to the assembled press pool at the White House earlier this morning.  Secretary Noem noted the federal vehicles trashed and looted in Minneapolis last night were not ICE or DHS vehicles but were FBI vehicles.  Weapons were stolen from FBI vehicles.

Additionally, Secretary Noem noted that she spoke with President Trump this morning about the possible use of the federal insurrection act in Minneapolis, Minnesota against the rioting hoards and professional agitators creating mayhem and targeting law enforcement with violent acts.  No decision has been made.  WATCH:

The Dept of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is unwavering in their approach toward identifying, capturing and removing the criminal aliens and those who support them.  Additional federal resources have been surged to the region in support.

It would be a waste of time to hope the FBI or DOJ could be of any benefit here.  Both institutions are far too corrupt, and both institutions are led by people who deny institutional corruption.  However, DHS (Noem) and ICE (Homan) continue doing excellent work, and I think we will see the Dept of Treasury (Bessent) and the IRS (Bessent) result in criminal cases against all of the Minnesota perpetrators.

(more…)

President Donald J. Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan is a broad healthcare initiative that will slash prescription drug prices, reduce insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency in the American healthcare system.

This plan will deliver money directly to the American people, not insurance companies, big pharma and special interest groups—putting patients over industry leaders’ profits, just as he promised. The Great Healthcare Plan also builds on the successes of his first term by promoting competition, eliminating wasteful spending, and putting consumers back in control. [The Great Healthcare Plan]

DETAILS HERE

Fact Sheet pdf HERE ~ Announcement Here

(more…)

In an interview with Reuters, President Trump was asked why the Russia/Ukraine negotiations appear to have stalled.  President Trump responded with one word, “Zelenskyy.”

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters that Ukraine – not Russia – is holding up a potential peace deal, rhetoric that stands in marked contrast to that of European allies, who have consistently argued Moscow has little interest in ending its war in Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to wrap up his nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskiy, the U.S. president said, was more reticent.

“I think he’s ready to make a deal,” Trump said of the Russian president. “I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal.”

Asked why U.S.-led negotiations had not yet resolved Europe’s largest land conflict since World War Two, Trump responded: “Zelenskiy.”

(more…)

The communist leftists are trying to support the corrupt officials in/around Minneapolis, Minnesota, however, the optics around attacking federal and state law enforcement just do not look good.

In the aggregate the majority of Minnesota residents support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to capture and detain criminal illegal aliens.  A narrow segment of hardcore leftists and professional activists are trying to keep the violence and chaos maintained, but as sunlight upon their operation continues they end up losing support.

Last night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appears on video begging the criminal activists to continue operations on the streets {VIDEO}, while criminal aliens keep trying to avoid capture.

BREAKING: DHS statement to Fox News: At 6:50 PM CT, federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis of an illegal alien from Venezuela who was released into the country by Joe Biden in 2022.

In an attempt to evade arrest, the subject fled the scene in his vehicle and crashed into a parked car. The subject then fled on foot.

The law enforcement officer caught up to the subject on foot and attempted to apprehend him when the subject began to resist and violently assault the officer. While the subject and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and also attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.

As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, the original subject got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick.

(more…)

Representative from Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and his Greenland counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, hold a press conference following a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Their collective position essentially boils down to, ‘the United States is required to defend and protect our Danish kingdom territory – but the United States will not be allowed to control our Danish kingdom territory.’

“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” Rasmussen told reporters. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom.” Both Rasmussen and Motzfeldt noted the discussions were respectful and friendly; however, there remains major concerns that Greenland is vulnerable to the strategic long-term plans of both China and Russia.

Denmark, a NATO member, is apoplectic at the possibility of the U.S. taking control of Greenland and has repeatedly said that Denmark would defend Greenland if any threat materialized. However, the only way for Denmark to defend Greenland would be to rely on the U.S. military, thus the Trump administration underlines this point in the discussions of Greenland security. WATCH:

.

There is a particular irony here embedded in the nuance.  Greenland wants to hide behind the security guarantees of the United States; but Denmark wants to retain sovereign control of the protectorate that couldn’t exist without the United States security guarantee.

You can overlay the prior Crimea referendum, or the view of the Eastern Donbas residents in Ukraine and look at this Greenland situation through a similar prism.

(more…)

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released the December price information on Tuesday 1/13/26 [DATA HERE].  Overall, the topline inflation number is moderate at 2.7% much lower than economists projected.

However, that’s not the only important element.  To get an understanding of the impact from tariffs to imported consumer goods, you can look at TABLE-2 [DATA HERE].  As you skim the categories we import the most, electronics, television, sporting goods, apparel, shoes, tools, furniture, etc. what you will note is that the prices are stable with negligible inflation impact noted.

What this means is that tariffs are not creating any upward price pressure on the imported good.  The December ’25 imported good prices are stable despite massive tariffs applied in the second and third quarter of 2025.  As expected, based on history from 2018/2019, the exporting nation (and company) are absorbing most of the wholesale price increased due to tariffs.

The imported goods are reaching the consumer with no substantively changed price.  Some domestically generated goods (food and housing) are still driving the overall inflation number, particularly in the year-over-year calculation, but no substantive price pressure is coming from the import sector.

Export dependent nations are squeezing their own productivity, their governments are subsidizing the critical industries, and the tariffs are being absorbed before the products leave the docks.   This is the USA “rust belt” in reverse.  The same scenario played out in the USA for decades as domestic manufacturers tried to retain U.S. industry.  Now the foreign countries are experiencing their own economic squeeze.

(more…)

U.S. Attorney for the District of Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro, goes public explaining the backstory of the DOJ reviewing the Federal Reserve Board and Chairman Jerome Powell.

As noted by USAO Pirro, Chairman Powell refused to respond to questions for two months despite three repeated requests.  The DOJ was then forced to issue a subpoena to get a response. Again, Powell never responded; instead, he went to the media to claim he was being politically targeted.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

During an interview in Detroit with “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil, President Trump responded to the accusation that his success in foreign policy is distracting the administration from focusing on domestic policy objectives.

To be clear, I do not assess any reasonable credibility to this type of claim. Factually, the closed border, growth in real wages, containment of inflation, use of tariffs to change corporate behavior to benefit Main Street, expanded growth in GPD and American manufacturing, the shrinking of the trade deficit, a smaller budget deficit, ongoing ICE operations and deportation goals, etc. are all happening at the same time President Trump is delivering on foreign policy issues that tie into all the above.  Economic Security is National Security.

Yes, the Dept of Justice under Pam Bondi, and the FBI under Kash Patel, is not performing at the same level of skill and urgency as other cabinet heads.  This is frustrating.  That said, Bondi and Patel also took over these two agencies following a decade of work by Barack Obama, Eric Holder and their allied Lawfare operation, and they never forcefully took the public position to emphasize the corrupt nature of the institutions they lead. On the domestic agenda DOJ and FBI are the weakest links; they are also the institutions closest to the DC UniParty operation.

That said, nothing about this issue will change as long as Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is setting the day-to-day agenda.  However, I have been told this message has penetrated the membrane constructed around the Oval Office.  Approximately ten days ago, President Trump became aware of scale and scope of the MAGA frustration.  This background is most likely the reason Wiles was unable to block Tucker Carlson’s White House visit on the day of the oil executive roundtable.

President Trump responds to Dokoupil, asking the question about Susie Wiles foreign policy creating a lack of focus on the domestic agenda at 02:11 of the video below (prompted):

.

(more…)

Following a tour of a Ford truck plant, President Trump will be delivering remarks on the status of the economy to the Detroit Economic Club.   The anticipated start time for his remarks is 2:00pm ET with livestream links below.

.

(more…)