Secretary of State Marco Rubio was again asked about the USAID review pause and the likely impact to the matrix of NGO’s and financial dependents, including the families of DC politicians, if funding is not quickly restarted. WATCH:
WASHINGTON DC – […] Some of these anticipated layoffs have already begun. According to an email obtained by POLITICO, early last week development group Credence Management Solutions sent formal emails to contractors in its global health bureau laying off around 400 employees.
The CEO of DT Global, one of the world’s leading development contractors, reportedly told employees last week that 2,000 to 3,000 positions would likely be eliminated in the sector the first week of February. Both Credence Management Solutions and DT Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Get ready for a key geopolitical battle; the fight to end the Marshall Plan.
Since the end of World War II, the USA has permitted a system of one-way trade rules that allowed Europe to rebuild on the backs of the American economy. A series of trade tariffs against U.S. goods was imposed to raise funds for the reconstruction. Those tariffs never ended; the Marshall Plan continues through today.
Additionally, as a measure to allow the EU to focus internally, the USA provided most of the national security protection for the entire region and the American taxpayer funded U.S. military operations throughout Europe so the EU could spend defense money on their rebuilding. Again, that never really ended; and the USA maintains the largest majority of NATO military spending.
President Trump has stated his intention to reset both dynamics. To lower the USA footprint within NATO, demand every NATO member meet its financial obligations, and to reset the trade and tariff system to create equity and reciprocity; thereby effectively ending the Marshall Plan.
The aggregate European Union does not like this Trump trade agenda, nor are they willing to spend more on their own defense. Today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a press briefing where she spoke about the looming negotiations with President Trump, and stated the EU will never permit financial, economic or military equity. The EU will fight any effort to stop the Marshall Plan. WATCH:
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There are trillions at stake.
It is always, always, about the economics of the thing.
Oh, this is rich…. “The lawsuit, which claims violations of First Amendment rights and of the federal Privacy Act, asks to bar the Justice Department from aggregating and disseminating the identities of FBI agents and employees that could tie them to the Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago cases.” [Read Full Article]
The ‘rank and vile’ FBI agents decry violations of their “Free Speech” and “Privacy” after those same FBI agents violated U.S. citizen free speech (see “Twitter files”) and privacy (see FISA-702). [Read Their Lawsuit Here]
Seriously, the arrogance, hubris and sentiment of being above all accountability is just too thick. You just cannot make this stuff up.
WASHINGTON DC – […] “Plaintiffs legitimately fear that the information being compiled will be accessed by persons who are not authorized to have access to it,” they argue. “Plaintiffs further assert that even if they are not targeted for termination, they may face other retaliatory acts such as demotion, denial of job opportunities or denial of promotions in the future.”
The suit was filed in federal court in Washington on Tuesday around the same time as a deadline the Justice Department set for the FBI to identify all its personnel who worked on Jan. 6-related cases or investigations. It’s unclear what DOJ officials plan to do with the names, but some prosecutors and FBI leaders deemed untrustworthy by Trump appointees have already been fired. (more)
As noted in the visible scale of media panic, Washington DC federal officeholders (many in their pajamas as they work from home) are having fits of apoplexy as the Trump administration bears down on accountability.
As Politico puts it, “Congressional Democrats seem flummoxed by the pace, responding to crises from three news cycles ago while new ones keep arising in real time.” Apparently, things continue to proceed according to plan, the DC system is overwhelmed by the pace of President Trump’s administrative deconstruction.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe appears on CNN to discuss the “utter disarray” as Trump administration officials enter and engage the protected silos from every vulnerable position.
“I’ve talked to more FBI people in the last 4 days than I did in the prior 4 years.” “It is a place in utter disarray right now. People are worried about how am I going to pay the bills? How am I gonna support my family?” “If you get fired, you’re done. That’s the end of your reputation, your ability to get any job, you lose your pay, you lose your chance at a pension, you lose your health insurance.” “This is a moment of terror for these people.” WATCH:
Keep in mind, these are the people who weaponized the NSA database to conduct political surveillance.
The Dept of Justice was weaponized to target their political opposition.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was weaponized to act as the police investigative units for those targets.
The Dept of Homeland Security was weaponized to control the evidence and information about their political targeting and surveillance.
The IRS was weaponized against Obama’s political opposition.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was weaponized to allow the targeting radar to sweep internally against American citizens under the guise of national security and domestic terror threats.
Oh, this is a little funny. The vertically challenged Ukrainian president who dresses like a UPS driver, is now likely to make a deal with President Trump where Ukraine puts up their “rare earth minerals” as collateral for taxpayer funds received by the United States.
Previously President Trump remarked that U.S. leadership were “stupid” for not securing Afghanistan future mineral contracts in exchange for U.S. military operations. Talking about the Ukrainian expectation from the oval office earlier today, President Trump outlined his expectations that Volodymyr Zelenskyy put up the rare earth minerals as collateral for continued financial support. WATCH:
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday indicated that he wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine to gain access to the country’s rare earth materials as a condition for continuing U.S. support for its war against Russia.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump complained that the U.S. had sent more in military and economic assistance to Ukraine than its European partners, adding, “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling through Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as he represents President Trump and the new administration. He’s doing great.
Today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered remarks to reporters in El Salvador discussing his role as Acting Director of USAID after President Trump and Elon Musk moved to incorporate USAID into the State Department. Secretary Rubio repeated that USAID must align with U.S. foreign policy and the national interests of the U.S. government.
Citing the “uncooperative” nature of the USAID leadership acting as an independent entity, Secretary Rubio announced he is now Acting Director of USAID with the intention of removing all elements who operate against the direct U.S. interests he outlined. Additionally, Secretary Rubio affirmed the positive nature of President Trump’s call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum [Details soon]. WATCH:
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WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The Trump administration over the weekend put on administrative leave dozens more staff at U.S. Agency for International Development, three sources familiar with the move said, as it moves to abolish the agency’s independence and bring it under the control of the State Department.
Nearly 30 career staff in the agency’s Legislative and Public Affairs bureau lost access overnight to their emails, the sources said, bringing the total number of senior USAID career staff who have been put on leave over the past week close to 100.
Knowing the severe ramifications likely and taking a proactive approach toward root-cause analysis, CTH attended the ASEAN summit to gauge how Asia was likely to respond to Trump term-2 and the looming possibility of a severe nationalist approach toward a renewal of USA manufacturing. The untangling of the Beijing Belt & Road initiative was a key topic of interest noted. [Watch Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.]
Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Panama this weekend to express the position of President Donald Trump as it pertains to Chinese influence over the maritime transit gateway known as the Panama Canal. Following the meeting with President José Raúl Mulino, the government of Panama has announced they will no longer support China’s Belt & Road initiative.
STATE DEPT – Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha today in Panama City to address critical regional and global challenges. Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal. Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.
In December of 2016 when we discussed the possibility of President Trump’s then new and unique tariff approach, we predicted negligible impact – if any at all. It was a theory at the time, but predicated on the looming possibility that impacted nations would inevitably devalue their currency. It was the currency devaluation, in combination with directed subsidies, that would offset any tariff impact to U.S. consumers.
By the time we got to December 2019, we were no longer discussing theory. Deflation due to currency devaluation, subsidy and a rising dollar actually became reality. The lookback data (2017 through 2019) proved the tariffs did not raise prices. In fact, the opposite happened, we were importing broad-based deflation.
Now it’s 2025 and again China is hit with tariffs, along with Canada and Mexico. With history as a reference, watch the Canadian Dollar and the Mexican Peso. Initial impact shows the same thing repeating again. The U.S. dollar is rising in value, and the Canadian dollar is dropping quickly.
If this trend holds, the 25% tariffs against Canada (and Mexico) will have minimal impact, if any at all. The lowered value Canadian dollar and Mexican peso will work as an offset and imports will be paid with higher value dollars. Depending on the scale of what happens in the next few weeks, there is a strong possibility Canada might have just walked into a trap set by Trump.
During a Fox News interview, Senator Lindsey Graham says he is a yes on RFK Jr, Kash Patel and now Tulsi Gabbard, specifically because the latter has now assured him, she will support FISA-702 warrantless searches of U.S. citizen communication. Senator Graham states falsely the 702 authorities only pertain to foreign nationals. Watch how he says it, PROMPTED:
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Remember what I said about Kash Patel being the firewall selected by the Senate to make the American people drop their pitchforks and torches? Listen to Senator Graham through that protective prism and you can hear exactly that approach.
Saying DNI nominee is disqualified for her prior position on FISA-702 and her previous position on Edward Snowden, SSCI Vice-Chair hopes the republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee do not allow Tulsi Gabbard to come out of SSCI confirmation vote. WATCH:
Lots of professional pearl-clutching here….
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner. He is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and joins us from Palm Beach, Florida. Good morning to you, Senator.
SEN. MARK WARNER: Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have any sense yet what the cost of these tariffs could be for Virginia, which does have a wine industry, for example?
