If you have walked the deep political weeds with us, you will likely remember the warnings.  Thomas Massie, Chip Roy, Rand Paul and other fellow republican travelers will join with Elon Musk and the alligator emoji network to oppose President Trump as soon as they can get back into the minority.

There is an intention behind this alignment of interests, which includes the Tech Bros (and Sea Island), that ends with a Vance-DeSantis promoted effort in 2028.  The only thing standing in their way is MAGA.  As a result, MAGA must be fractured.

The money center behind the strategy is working on a learning curve.  Having failed with prior launches of similar approaches (ref. DeSantis ’23/’24), they are now doing much more proactive seeding.

Yeah, I know, I know; some will say I’m crazy.  I’m not. I’ve watched this exact group’s constructs for over 14 years now.  All the data indicates this approach; the only unknown variables are the names of the political representatives who will participate.  Today, Thomas Massie is asking Elon Musk to fund primary challengers against the House republicans who support Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON DC – Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Elon Musk should fund primary challenges against almost every Republican who voted for President Donald Trump‘s “big, beautiful bill” last week.  “I don’t primary my colleagues, but I feel pretty good about him doing it,” Massie told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“There’s a few others that should be spared,” when asked to clarify if he meant all 215 House Republicans who supported the legislation. “But people want term limits, right? Elon can bring term limits.”

(more…)

President Trump and the trade team have made specific requests of Vietnam in order to negotiate a trade agreement.  Unfortunately, just like Canada, Vietnam’s problem is not an unwillingness to comply, it’s their inability.

CTH was in the manufacturing base of Vietnam in January; their factories are loaded with component parts from China used to produce finished goods sent to the USA (and globally).  President Trump is telling Vietnam they need to reduce their reliance on Chinese imported component goods, but China has spent billions in advanced positioning and contracts, influencing Vietnam.

Vietnam is a very poor country, and their population cannot afford to purchase the products they manufacture.  They do not have a domestic consumption base. They are reliant on exports to more wealthy nations to keep their manufacturing base afloat.  Practically, it is easy to have sympathy for Vietnam due to their economic dependence on both China (for imported raw materials) and the USA (for exported finished goods).

VIETNAM – The US has sent a “long” list of “tough” requests to Vietnam in its tariff negotiations, including demands that could force the country to cut its reliance on Chinese industrial goods imports, two people briefed about the matter told Reuters.

Washington wants Vietnam-based factories to reduce their use of materials and components from China and is asking the country to control more carefully its production and supply chains, one of the people briefed on the talks said, without elaborating on whether quantitative targets were included.

The list is part of an “annex” to a framework text prepared by US negotiators, according to four people familiar with the matter.

(more…)

It is at moments like this when I wish General Michael Flynn had not comprehensively compromised his ability to provide advice and counsel to President Donald Trump. This is great advice shared via Twitter:

“1. While most of America remains blissfully uninformed by our establishment press, the world’s two greatest superpowers are being manipulated by Dark Forces inside and outside our government, into a major military confrontation that no country wants, and no sane person would ever want.

2. I have no role in the Trump Administration, but over a long career in the active uniformed military, specifically military intelligence, I have made it a point to cultivate many sources of information around the world. From what I can piece together, I want to share my deep concerns about who is behind this march to war, and my recommendations for how our nation and the West can avoid a major military confrontation with Russia.”

“3. I believe that the American Deep State is staffed by those with a deep, visceral, and irrational hatred for Russia, and these persons have conspired to box in President Trump’s decision making through the Russiagate Hoax. During the time the Soviet Union was expanding and infiltrating our government, I was an outspoken anti-communist, but, despite the lies told by our Deep State, Russia is not the Soviet Union and Putin is not Stalin. Even today, years after the Russiagate Hoax has been exposed, President Trump’s efforts to bring peace are met with resistance. The Establishment Press, deeply influenced and even sometimes controlled by our Deep State, labeled President Trump and those who work for him “Putin’s Puppets” to goad him into taking unwarranted and aggressive steps against Russia. These voices from the establishment press reflect the views of the Deep State, not the American People, and not the MAGA movement, and should be completely disregarded, if not mocked.”

(more…)

Cut through all the chaff and countermeasures deployed by the professional DC system intended to convolute and keep Trump and Putin at arm’s length, and you can see the outline of what we have discussed on these pages for several months.

There are geopolitical benefits to President Trump and President Putin having a strategic alignment.  However, the elements against them are massive, entrenched and highly Machiavellian.

President Trump shares the following message after a phone call with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.

[SOURCE]

…”It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”…

As Ukraine officials huddle together with their co-dependent enablers in the U.S. Senate, the implied message from the second half of Trump’s statement is for the senators to stop messing with U.S. foreign policy because Putin can help solve the Iran problem.

(more…)

I said when the alignment first took place, there would come a point when Elon Musk turned on President Trump and attempted to split MAGA into oppositional teams so that Musk could achieve his agenda.  Elon Musk is currently mining for team members.

[Source]

Elon Musk supports President Donald Trump by putting the House and Senate in control of Democrats?

See this for what it is.

Elon Musk has an agenda, and it has nothing to do with DOGE or spending. Y’all already know what his agenda is, many of you just didn’t want to believe it.

(more…)

Many articles are being written and much typeset is being exhausted by people talking about the recent revelations that the FBI has a designated information silo called “prohibited access” within its record keeping system.  Allow me to jump this readership well into the future and give you a cliff notes summary of the logical conclusion(s).

The FBI needs a filing system for information designated “Prohibited Access” because the FBI handles extremely sensitive covert operations, including spies both foreign and domestic, within its agency.  The storage of extremely sensitive national security information is not the issue.

Prior to 2007, in the olden days, the files and information were under lock and key in secure rooms, with access only available to the FBI director.

The issue is that since around 2007, the “Prohibited Access” definitions have expanded as FBI leadership began using the designation to hide information that was detrimental to their interests.  The issue is the type of information hidden within the now electronic system, is evidence of activity the FBI conducts that they don’t want the American people to know about.

Jumping you ahead of the curve, there’s even a level of FBI information assembled that exceeds the “Prohibited Access” qualification.  That information is transferred to CIA vaults that are available due to the same legislative authority that empowers the CIA to operate without any oversight [other than the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)].  The CIA is the “sister agency” to the FBI.

(more…)

That puts that to rest. During a White House press briefing today, Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was asked if Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy notified President Trump in advance of the attack on Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers. Leavitt replied curtly, “he was not.”

Prompted Video:

.

(more…)

Last week Ukraine presented President Donald Trump with their “term sheets,” what they require in order to accept a ceasefire.  Today in Istanbul, Turkey, the Russian Federation presented the Ukraine delegation, and likely a transmission to the White House, with the Russian “term sheets.”

This further clarifies the content of the significant meetings this afternoon in the White House, where President Trump assembled his “military leadership” and likely foreign policy team.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation at the talks in Istanbul, said Russia is offering Kyiv a temporary ceasefire. Medinsky said that Russia has prepared a two-part “memorandum” proposing a ceasefire and ending the war it started. The second part of the “memorandum” provides for “variability” and “several paths”, he said.

Here are the two primary parts of the Russian terms:  Section 1 “Settlement of Crisis”, and Section 2 “Terms for Ceasefire”.

[Source]

It should also be noted, the lack of a severe response by Russian President Vladimir Putin to yesterday’s attack on Russian air force bases likely indicates President Putin has what he wants.  These terms and condition sheets were created prior to the Ukraine attack on Sunday.  These are Putin’s conditions to stop further military conflict.

In Section II containing the “Ceasefire Conditions” (below) Russian President Putin demands Ukraine conduct democratic elections (#7, #8).  Putin seemingly knows western installed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will lose and as a consequence weaken the western influence operations.  Both President Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio have previously advocated for the same.

(more…)

As anticipated, based on the previous comments by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, following the significant increase in NATO war likelihood, President Trump met with military leaders today.

[SOURCE]

Looks like messaging for all parties involved.

(more…)

A few datapoints to keep on a post-it note as things progress; starting with a rather significant new release that I think you will find interesting.

Approximately 12.3 million Mexicans live abroad, both legally and illegally, with 97% of them living and working in the United States, according to BBVA Research.  Last year Mexicans living abroad sent $64.75 billion back home in remittances, largely from Texas and California to states in central and western Mexico.

According to data just released, in April of this year remittances back to Mexico dropped 12.1%.  The Mexico central bank said April saw 8.1% fewer transactions than a year earlier, that’s down to 12.4 million transactions. For Mexico this could be a devastating trend.  [Sidenote: Remember, Trump is likely planning a complete overhaul of the USMCA later this year.]

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Remittances sent to Mexico slumped 12.1% in April compared to a year earlier, according to central bank data published on Monday, marking the steepest drop in over a decade as U.S. lawmakers mull a tax on such payments sent abroad.

The world’s second-largest recipient of remittances, Mexico receives these payments chiefly from migrants working in the neighboring United States. In April, Mexicans abroad sent fewer transactions and smaller payments, totaling $4.76 billion.

Analysts said the slump likely resulted from a broad crackdown on migration in the U.S. since President Donald Trump came to power in January, as authorities revoke some Biden-era protections and increase raids across the country.

The latest data marks the steepest year-on-year drop since September 2012, according to central bank data.

(more…)