The White House has filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking for an immediate administrative stay of the DC District Court injunction blocking construction of the Ballroom and Military complex [SEE FILING HERE].

The baseline argument is very solid on several grounds, including standing. A single complaint from a woman who walks by the White House once per month and holds the opinion of the complex as an eyesore is not standing to block the construction. Additionally, several agencies of the Executive Branch stand in support of the construction on presidential security, safety and national security grounds.

[SOURCE]

The structure extends five stories deep into the ground, and is built with hardened concrete, steel, and rebar; protective missile-resistant columns, roofs, and beams; drone proof ceilings and roofs; and bullet, ballistic, and blast-proof glass. … The Project includes bomb shelters, state-of-the-art hospital and medical facilities, protective partitioning between all areas of the building, top secret military structures and equipment, military-grade venting, a single integrated air conditioning and heating system, sniper nests, and a drone port on top, elevated by the structure of the ballroom, to protect the White House and surrounding region from aerial attacks — “one of the nation’s largest emerging threats.”

President Trump has shared additional attachments to the filing, via Truth Social:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “In my work with heads of state and foreign ministers, I am frequently hosted in reception facilities that are visually impressive and reflective of the wealth and beauty of the nations I am visiting. In the United States, by contrast, we currently lack the ability to hold large events of a similar magnitude on White House grounds for those same heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

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The White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing released an extensive report this week identifying the major nations who enable China to transship goods into the U.S market in an effort to avoid tariffs.  [REPORT HERE]

Within the report several nations and regions are identified as being used by Chinese manufacturers to avoid U.S. customs and duty enforcement mechanisms.  However, both Canada and Mexico are cited as primary enablers of the process.

[SOURCE HERE]

The issue strikes at the heart of the problem identified long ago with the NAFTA agreement, and the problem only worsens when the USMCA provisions on country of origin are not enforced.

When you remove oil and lumber, the majority of Canada’s manufactured exports to the USA contain Chinese component parts and this has been the source of much friction in the current trade negotiations.  The manufacturing supply chain within all free trade agreements only works when the source of component goods is accurately recorded.

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President Donald Trump held an event in Long Island, New York today to celebrate law enforcement and show his support for first responders.  WATCH:

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President Trump announces via Truth Social:

“Our wonderful White House Press Secretary, and one of my most trusted aides, Karoline Leavitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect! Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections. Karoline has been a real leader in the White House, and has done a phenomenal job fighting for Justice, Liberty, and Freedom, since 2018, including our Historic Re-Election Campaign of 2024. Karoline has been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office. Thank you, Karoline, for a job well done!”

President DONALD J. TRUMP

Karoline Leavitt delivers the following statement via X:

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Mrs. Darline Graham, the sister of deceased Senator Lindsey Graham, has won the South Carolina Republican primary and will now head into a runoff against Ralph Norman on August 25th.

Ultimately it is up to the people of South Carolina to decide who they want to represent them in the Senate.  However, there is nothing to indicate that Mrs. Graham would be anything different than a southern version of Lisa Murkowski.

[SOURCE]

Legacy replacement candidates without prior experience are always a shot in the dark.  That said, the National Republican Senatorial Committee – the epicenter of creating candidates for election via Battered Conservative Syndrome – is now fully endorsing Graham and will put plenty of Chamber of Commerce money into her two-week campaign.

President Trump has endorsed Darline Graham.  President Trump has an emotional attachment to the legacy outcome and is understandably supporting Mrs Graham out of loyalty.  CTH tries to stay detached from the emotion of the issue and holds little confidence Graham would strongly support the issues of critical MAGA importance.

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Hopefully this will be a lesson to multiple people, including President Donald Trump.  There is no room for softness on the topic of deporting illegal aliens.

In one of the biggest examples of a mistake in Republican campaigning, three weeks before the primary election Minnesota Governor candidate Mike Lindell made the fatal mistake of advocating for greater leniency for illegal aliens, with inferred amnesty in his immigration platform.  The backlash was fierce, righteous and directly targeted.  Lindell was blasted.

Last night, despite the support and endorsement from President Trump, Lindell was resoundingly defeated by Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota House.

[SOURCE]

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gets it.  When asked about the Strait of Hormuz, Bessent notes that yes, things will likely never return to the way they were before; however, there is a distinction that must be applied.

Even if Iran completely acquiesced to all of the most stringent terms and conditions requested by President Trump, they will never again recapture the position they held with the Strait of Hormuz as a chokepoint.

Capital markets respond to risk in the medium and long term; risks are always mitigated.  With the Strait now identified as a strategic risk, the emphasis will be on forever neutralizing that risk and avoiding the issue in the future.  As a consequence, Iran’s strongest point of leverage is disappearing now and will continue to disappear.  WATCH (prompted):

As further explained by James Thorne on X: “By repeatedly signaling its willingness to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran hasn’t strengthened its hand, it has accelerated the market’s exit. Capital does not tolerate chokepoints; it routes around them.

Saudi Arabia is expanding its East-West pipeline. The UAE has already built out Fujairah as a bypass. Iraq is revisiting overland export corridors. Every marginal dollar now flows toward redundancy, not reliance. What was once a geopolitical lever is being engineered into irrelevance. Bessent gets it: markets don’t absorb coercion; they arbitrage it away.

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I don’t like doing this, but it needs to be done.  People keep sending me this video; it is nonsense.  Steve Bannon and John Solomon broadcast a conversation targeting John Thune, Tom Cotton and Todd Blanche for obstructing the release of transcripts held in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

What Solomon reports in this interview is disconnected from the process that exists.  Solomon wants the transcripts of former CIA Director John Brennan released.  Fine, no problem. Except Solomon apparently doesn’t understand the process to gain declassification of an equity that is not within the executive branch.  The transcript is in the legislative branch.

There are separation of powers issues, equity issues and stakeholder issues that create a process that needs to be followed.  This is the same process that was used to gain the Michael Atkinson transcript from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).   Solomon and Joe diGenova can follow the process and succeed, just like I did. Or Solomon and diGenova can gnash their teeth, create outrage and fail.  WATCH (prompted):

This nonsense is why trusting John Solomon is a fool’s errand, and the reason why I have suspected Solomon of performance theater for several years. His teaming up with Steve Bannon, well, it just tracks.

Tick-Tock… Nothing. I digress.

First, assuming they have security clearances, John Solomon and/or Joe diGenova can ask SSCI Chairman Tom Cotton to let them read the Brennan transcript in the SSCI secured compartmented intelligence facility (scif).  There is nothing stopping them, or anyone else with a clearance, from reading the transcript; assuming Cotton would permit it (he would). That’s the first point.

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President Trump gives remarks to an audience in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the administration continues promoting the success of the “no tax on tips” MAGAnomic policy.  WATCH:

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The circumstances surrounding Jeanine John Taele, 38, canvassing Trump National Golf Club ahead of President Trump’s visit certainly indicate Taele was planning a 4th assassination attempt on the life of President Trump.

Taele was arrested at Trump National Golf Club in CA with fake credentials, a fake badge and claims of being a State Dept security agent, while taking pictures and filming the venue. Taele carried armor piercing and hollow point bullets with a loaded handgun in his vehicle. [LA Sheriff’s Office]

When agents searched his home, they found an illegally modified AR style rifle with barrel shortened, body armor, high-capacity magazines, unlawful ammunition and “multiple notebooks containing concerning statements.” “He’s now facing 4 state charges and a federal charge.”

Taele was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm (25400(a)(1) PC) and Possession of Armor-Piercing/Prohibited Ammunition (31310 PC).

Recognizing the potential security implications surrounding the incident, detectives from the Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) obtained and executed a search warrant yesterday, August 3rd, for Taele’s residence in the city of Downey.

During the search, investigators recovered:

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