This is way beyond winning, this is stunningly brilliant strategy. Not only has President Trump successfully apprehended Venezuela dictator Nicolas Maduro, but the remaining interim government officials have acquiesced to fund a civil restitution plan to pay for their malfeasance.
The government that stole from its people is being forced to pay restitution for their own fraud, abuse and misconduct.
As we noted yesterday the immediate issue for Venezuela would be to fill the economic/financial void.
The Sea Island attendees support a quick Machado installation. Trump/Rubio prefer to proceed with more caution, especially because someone is going to be on the hook for financial support to Venezuela, because the domestic rewards from any expanded oil revenue are at least 5 to 10 years away.
Changing the regime in Venezuela may break China’s ‘belt and road’ grip, but China’s money is going to need to be replaced with independent domestic economic wealth for the Venezuelan people. That process takes time. [link]
Some type of short-term funding is needed during any kind of reconstruction of govt. Typically, the U.S. taxpayer would be on the hook during this phase; however, President Trump has found a way for the corrupt Venezuelan authorities to pay for their own civic shift back to democracy. Brilliant.
Last Friday Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) began surging roughly 2,000 federal agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation branch and Homeland Security Investigations, the agency’s investigative arm tasked with fighting transnational crimes into Minnesota.
The investigative objective appears to be utilizing the massive and systemic fraud throughout Minnesota as an entry gate to expand the investigation into other states. The key takeaway is that Minnesota simply reflects the tip of the iceberg and multiple Democrat run states likely have the same or worse fraud ongoing.
The Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) now follow up on the DHS surge with an announcement that $10 billion in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) payments are being halted as the investigations expand. Four additional states are being reviewed: California, Colorado, Illinois and New York, join Minnesota in seeing their federal funds stopped pending review and audit.
This is a smart approach because releasing the funds will be contingent upon the states accepting the audits. We all know that genuine audits of those state records will likely reveal massive fraud within the subsidy system that has been abused by Democrats. Minnesota has provided the entry point for a much larger corruption and fraud review.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is cutting off more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding meant for a handful of Democrat-led states over concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens, officials told The Post Monday.
The Department of Health and Human Services will freeze taxpayer funding from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and the Social Services Block Grant program.
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have noted that following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the remaining government is being pressured to realign their positions and accept a change in direction. It is always tenuous when the leader of a hostile foreign government is removed.
The current approach by the Trump administration is to permit former Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to continue operating the mechanisms within the country to retain near-term stability.The CIA assessedDelcy Rodriquez was the interim ruler who could keep order.
Prior to the removal of Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, was asked by the Trump administration to provide a detailed summary of how she could form a functioning government, should she be assisted to power.
Machado’s response did not provide confidence that her strategy was comprehensive enough. Therefore, the Trump administration assessed the best interim approach would be to continue working with the remaining Maduro government officials, led by Delcy Rodriquez, while pressuring them to follow the instructions of the United States.
Various geopolitical powers, including many that attend Mar-a-Lago functions, want Maria Corina Machado installed quickly. President Trump and Secretary Rubio are being more measured in their approach. The powers that want Machado installed are now working on a media strategy. Sean Hannity is enlisted for the assist.
The issue is one of competency and chaos. President Trump and Secretary Rubio do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past (Bush/Powell, Iraq or Obama/Clinton, Libya). The Venezuela issue is entirely different from the Middle East, but the same type of chaos can reemerge if the transition from authoritarianism to representative democracy is not well managed.
The Sea Island attendees support a quick Machado installation. Trump/Rubio prefer to proceed with more caution, especially because someone is going to be on the hook for financial support to Venezuela, because the domestic rewards from any expanded oil revenue are at least 5 to 10 years away.
Changing the regime in Venezuela may break China’s ‘belt and road’ grip, but China’s money is going to need to be replaced with independent domestic economic wealth for the Venezuelan people. That process takes time.
Maria Corina Machado is supported by all the same networks who support Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Despite the twinkles in the eyes of senators within the Foreign Relations Committee, we don’t want Venezuela to become North America’s largest Somali daycare operation.
Well, this is what happens when the far left takes power, even on a municipal level.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Cea Weaver as the Director of the City Office to Protect Tenants. Presumably, a position intended to stand behind the rights of housing tenants against the property owner. However, Ms. Weaver has some remarkable views on private property and home ownership.
In this video clip below you will notice Ms. Weaver outline how homeowners will need to modify their view on their property ownership to reflect a new municipal perspective that considers all individually owned property to be part of a new collective property viewpoint as controlled by city government.
NYC Mayor Mamdani’s Tenant Director, Cea Weaver:
“We’ll transition from treating property as an individual good to a collective good. Whites especially will be impacted.” pic.twitter.com/RZSdCs8oEa
“For centuries we really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good, in transitioning into treating it as a collective good and towards the model of shared equity … it will mean that families, especially White families … are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.”
It is likely that Mayor Mamdani and Director Weaver are going to run into some stiff legal opposition as they try to reimagine a world where individuals are not allowed to own property.
A recent article in Politico quoting several cabinet members of Prime Minister Mark Carney reflects a particular reality of the problem their economy will face in 2026.
It appears that Canadian government officials have finally recognized the Trump administration plans to dissolve the USMCA or what Canada calls CUSMA next year. With that reality they have a big problem.
For the past few decades Canada bought into the carbon scam and enacted climate change goals into law for carbon pricing, alternative energy production, industry and manufacturing costs. These mechanisms to control “climate change” are nuts in the big picture.
In order for Canada to position their economy to be in alignment with the rest of North America (USA and Mexico), Carney would have to reverse years of legislated rules and regulations. That is not going to happen, and Canada will always be at a disadvantage because of it.
(Politico) – […] It’s a moment of existential crisis for Canada, a senior Carney government official told POLITICO. Waiting out the Trump administration isn’t an option, the official said, arguing that what’s happening in the United States reflects a generational shift — not a temporary disruption — and that returning to a policy of closer integration with America would be foolish. (more)
With three quarters of their economic production tied to exports into the USA, and with the USMCA likely to be dissolved in favor of a bilateral trade agreement, Canada now has to find other markets for its products or lower all the trade barriers currently in place. Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to find alternative markets.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on Fox News for an interview with Bret Baier. Within the interview Zelenskyy gives some context and details to the 20-point plan organized between him and the EU Leaders, currently being reviewed and modified by President Trump, Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner.
The two remaining issues as described by Zelenskyy are the (1) security guarantees and (2) the territorial issue, Donbas control.
(1) Within the security guarantee proposal there are troubling signs. Zelenskyy describes it as a bilateral agreement between the USA and Ukraine, with similar constructs to the NATO alignment. A non-NATO pact between the U.S. and Ukraine that commits us to his defense if Russia would advance another attack. A 15-year guarantee committed in U.S. law through the U.S. House and Senate. This sounds troubling.
(2) On the territorial issue, regional control of the Donbas, Zelenskyy appears to be willing to cede territory but only under very limited circumstances. Zelenskyy wants a demilitarized zone under the term “a free economic zone” with specific rules.
Zelenskyy admits Ukraine cannot win the conflict against Russia without the United States involvement. Essentially without America, Russia would own the skies and be able to crush the Ukrainian army. WATCH:
In addition to being the main economic engine in Europe, Germany is the epicenter of the European Union’s overall goal to chase the green energy agenda.
For the past several years Germany has been deconstructing their fossil fuel energy production and replacing it with far more expensive alternatives. This has led to large increases in overall energy prices, and downstream increases in manufacturing costs.
The consequences have been snowballing throughout 2025, while cheap competitive alternatives coming into the EU from China have compounded their problem. Recently a survey of major industries was conducted in Germany to determine the forecast for 2026, the results are not good.
Approximately half of the industrial sectors in Germany are anticipating job losses, cuts or layoffs this year.
22 out of 46 business associations are preparing to downsize their labor force. Only 9 of the 46 are expected to increase hiring.
At a top-line this looks bad. However, when you look at the sectors contracting versus the sectors stable or expanding, you suddenly realize there is a bigger geopolitical problem within the forecast.
Job losses are expected in auto manufacturing, the textile sector, wood and paper fabrication. Job gains are expected in aerospace, shipbuilding and defense production – i.e. the war machinery.
When the largest and most developed industrial economy in Europe is pinning its economic survival on war machinery, a particular momentum is created. It is never a good outcome for Europe when Germany becomes reliant on war to maintain employment.
It’s easy to think about the things we have yet to achieve. However, author and friend of the Treehouse Jack Cashill documents a great deal of success and presents a year in review that deserves attention. [SEE HERE]
In his substack article, Cashill runs through some of the big wins that were achieved by President Trump and the MAGA network in 2025. And the year ain’t over yet!
The data was delayed by the government shutdown, but today the Bureau of Economic Analysis has released the third quarter GDP {DATA HERE} showing a very strong 4.3% growth. The second quarter was also revised up to 3.8%.
Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter, showing increases in consumer spending, increases in exports, and government spending offset by a decrease in investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased boosting the overall GDP number.
This result is similar to the GDP growth rate cycle we previously saw in 2017 as the MAGAnomic policies and investments into the domestic economy begin to show up. While consumer confidence has struggled due to affordability issues, consumer spending going into the holiday season was very strong.
WASHINGTON – US real gross domestic product rose at an annualized rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, exceeding the 3.3% expected and more than the 3.8% growth in the second quarter.
“The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in investment,” the Bureau of Economic Analysis said.
Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes appears on ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ with Maria Bartiromo to weigh in on JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s comments on subpoenas made by the Jack Smith investigation and targeting of Trump.
Devin Nunes again outlines how the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago was not supported by FBI agents. Nunes also discusses a billion-dollar merger between Trump Media and TAE Technologies to create nuclear fusion power centers.
