Six days ago, in Marsberg, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and demanding the conflict end “as quickly as possible.”
Three days ago, President Trump responded with an announcement that U.S. troops in Germany would be drawn down, and there would be a 25% tariff on all imported European autos. {GO DEEP}
White House National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, appears on CBS news to dispatch the narrative engineering of Margaret Brennan.
I completely understand why the White House appears to have finally had enough of Ms. Brennan’s dramatic performances and has chosen not to send most representatives into this nonsense pantomime any longer. She’s even more insufferable than Jake Tapper. That said, Kevin Hassett is likely the only member of the administration kindhearted enough to deal with the snark and lack of substance.
What I don’t understand is why the White House just doesn’t tell her in brutally honest terms: Margaret, your dramatic performances are tiresome, and your intellectual vigor is running at a continual deficit. Regards.
True to form, Ms. Brennan wanted desperately to pontificate about the terrible state of the U.S. economy blaming the White House for the failure of Spirit Airlines, and demanding Kevin Hassett address the Iran conflict that is not in his portfolio. Director Hassett stayed comfortably in his lane, smiled and took apart the fake news construct as professional as possible given the absurdity of Brennan’s presentation.
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with the director of the White House Economic Council. Kevin Hassett joins us from Los Angeles. Good early morning to you.
KEVIN HASSETT: Oh yeah, good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well Director, President Trump sent a letter to Congress on Friday saying a few things. One that the conflict with Iran, the ceasefire has been extended. He also said the hostilities have been terminated. He also said the threat posed by Iran remains significant, and the force posture will continue to be updated. Then overnight, we saw the President said Iran has not yet paid a big enough price for what they’ve done to humanity. What exactly is the message to the market?
KEVIN HASSETT: Right. Well, I think the market has been pretty consistent. The fact is that what the President is seeing is that the blockade is working. It’s putting an enormous amount of pressure on Iran, and Iran’s threats to put mines in the straits have even made it so that humanitarian aid that, of course, we would let through to Iran, that there are a lot of those ship captains that are wary of going to Iranian ports because they’re worried about where the Iranians have put the mines. And so, you know, I go down to the sit room many times a week and get briefed on what’s going on in Iran, and they’re an economy that’s really on the precipice of extreme calamity. They are having a hyperinflation. They’re starting to have hunger. The bottom line is that the pressure on the great American people, because of these people who are like really intent on American and Israeli destruction with their nuclear weapons, are still in power. One last thing, Margaret, I don’t know if you noticed, but the UN Human Rights folks came out this week condemning Iran because they’re killing people who are trying to stand up to this regime that’s potentially, you know, causing starvation and even famine.
Several key economic reports were released today highlighting a broad and strong U.S. economy with a very strong labor market.
♦ The first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) [DATA HERE] The first estimate is for growth at 2.0 percent. At first glance that is lower than we expected; however, a deeper look shows a large increase in imported goods that are deductions to the equation. The imported goods increased 25.8% more than the fourth quarter of 2025 [Table 1.1], that led to a net -1.30 percent deduction [Table 1.5].
The jump in imports is a result of massive capital expenditures on tools and equipment for the ongoing manufacturing boom. All the manufacturing machines and industrial tools that are not made in the USA become imported goods deducted from our economic valuation.
Exports were very strong rising 12.9 percent over the prior quarter. However, the 25.8% increase in imports created a net deduction from GDP (-1.30%). The last time we imported this much was just before the tariffs went into place and companies were rushing advanced orders, in the first quarter of 2025; this created a rebound effect in the second quarter.
I estimate the second quarter rebound will be even greater this year because we are exporting massive amounts of oil and LNG right now. Simultaneously, the capital expenditure imports will likely soften.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlines Operation Economic Fury and the financial pressure campaign against the Iranian regime with Larry Kudlow.
KEY POINTS:
0:00 Introduction: Operation Economic Fury
0:39 Max Pressure: The Strategy to Freeze Iran’s Economy
2:04 Tracking the Money: Seizing IRGC Assets and Crypto
3:14 The Oil Blockade: Kharg Island at a Standstill
4:10 US Economic Resilience: Why Critics Are Wrong
6:04 IRS Modernization and Signature Tax Policies
7:33 Global Reshoring and the Manufacturing Boom
8:10 Geopolitical Chess: The UAE’s Break from OPEC
10:27 Federal Reserve Friction: Jay Powell vs. Kevin Warsh
As you are aware, CTH is watching the small details closely on the U.S-Russia alignment against the backdrop of friction with the European Union, the U.K and NATO on issues surrounding Iran. In the past several days there have been several smaller moments lost amid media chatter of bigger news items, this is one such example today in the Oval Office.
During a press availability with the Artemis II astronauts, President Trump was asked for an update on the Ukraine conflict and seemingly stalled negotiations between U.S. intermediaries and Russia. At 04:12 of the video below, President Trump notes he spoke at length with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin today on issues related to the Ukraine conflict, and {{{thoughtful-pause}}} Iran. WATCH:
President Vladimir Putin is in no hurry to ceasefire in Ukraine, and the U.S. military operation in Iran is not against his interests.
On April 12, 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quietly extended the sanction relief for Russia, permitting oil/gas sales loaded on vessels by 4/17/26 for transit and sale through 5/16/26. This permits Russia to push oil to Asia, specifically China, India and ASEAN countries where it is needed, while simultaneously the UAE and Saudi Arabia increase oil pumping avoiding the issues with the Strait of Hormuz.
This is happening while the U.S. is providing large oil and LNG supply increases to South/Central America, Europe and Japan to offset any global shortages.
Russia supplies China, India and Southeast Asia; the U.S. supplies Europe and Japan; the UAE supplies India and Australia; while Saudi Arabia supplies Africa and Europe. Global markets stable, Iran then faces operation financial fury led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. {Go Deep}
The Federal Reserve is reported to be historically apolitical, meaning all considerations are absent of politics. However, no individual Federal Reserve Chairman has been more overtly political than Jerome Powell.
Today, after announcing yet again the Fed will not lower interest rates, Chairman Jerome Powell announced he will not leave the board of the federal reserve even after his term has expired and he is replaced by recently advanced Kevin Warsh. Powell said he plans to maintain a “low profile” as a governor, but it will be the first time since 1948 that a Federal Reserve Chairman has stayed on the board at the end of their chairmanship.
The Inspector General is currently reviewing the massive cost overrun for a new multi-billion-dollar Federal Reserve building that has been the heart of controversy since the initial $1 billion overrun was announced. “I’ve said that I will not leave the board until this investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality, and I stand by that,” Powell said.
Big things are happening quickly as President Trump continues to disrupt historic global structures of control and influence.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced they are leaving OPEC in order to manifest their own sovereign economic destiny and increase domestic oil production without the limits and rules of the OPEC cartel. This is a significant alignment with President Donald Trump who has actively argued against the OPEC assembly and the oil price controls they have historically imposed.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will leave OPEC effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of one of its largest producers and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices.
The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low — meaning it wasn’t able to sell as much oil to the world as it had wanted.
You cannot have King Charles in the USA without checking on the perspective of Promethean Action. After all, Queen Elizabeth II and her offspring King Charles III were the arch nemesis of Lyndon LaRouche.
“Susan Kokinda links a third assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the Washington Hilton—where a 31-year-old Californian, Cole Tomas Allen, charged a Secret Service checkpoint with firearms and knives—to a broader political struggle she frames as the British imperial system versus Trump’s “American System.” She argues Trump’s own remarks about assassinations point to a pattern of targeting “impactful” leaders, comparing today’s climate to anarchist-era killings around 1900 and the 1901 assassination of William McKinley. Kokinda ties the attack’s timing to King Charles’ Washington visit, a new book, The Queen and Her Presidents, and a House of Lords/Chatham House report on “rebalancing” the UK–US partnership, highlighting UK dependence on the postwar “rules-based order” and concerns about a lasting US shift under Trump.”WATCH:
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There’s also a funny little video gif below that ties into this nicely.
Today is not a good day for the Canadian trade team.
It started with Quebec’s new Premier in Washington DC meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer {citation} in order to talk trade {SEE TIMELINE} saying on Twitter, “Quebec wants a renewal of the [USMCA] to ensure a stable and predictable framework for our economic exchanges.” However, Mrs. Christine Fréchette (pictured left) then bragged about having strategic discussions with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. {citation}
For those who might not know, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a parasitic Wall Street and K-Street lobbying organization that has been locked out of trade influence since President Trump took office in 2017. It was the U.S. CoC who sold out our manufacturing base, paid-off prior administrations and wrote the actual trade language in almost every trade deal that destroyed U.S. manufacturing.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a lobbying organization who focuses on the bottom-line profits of U.S. multinational corporations, and they don’t care what happens domestically to American jobs, American manufacturing and American wages. The CoC is the organization who created the rust belt and destroyed our manufacturing base under the guise of promoting a “service driven economy.”
If Canada want’s a successful trade negotiation with the USA, the Chamber of Commerce is the last organization they should be strategizing with.
Then comes Prime Minister Mark Carney who not only steps on a rake, but he also publicly insults President Trump and the entire U.S. trade team by saying every country in the world privately tells him they regret making a trade agreement with President Trump. ¹{Citation at 28:10 of Video}
I’m going to post the entire video of Prime Minister Mark Carney discussing USMCA (Canada calls CUSMA) trade negotiations because the tone deafness of it is off the charts. That includes the Canadian Prime Minister saying that Section 232 national security reviews are a violation of the U.S-Canada trade agreement. Carney believes any independent U.S. trade position that negates trade with any Canadian sector is a violation of trade rules, yet he is afraid to sue over Sec 232 because he doesn’t want to discover the flaw in his mindset.
A few years ago, I was eating breakfast in a DC hotel listening to two men talk about their schedule for the day. Their business was decorating homes for Christmas, and they were discussing their heavy workload.
As I listened quietly the men were describing premium rates for DC families who wanted their decorating services completed fastest. The average rate was $15,000 per residence for 30-day interior holiday decorating, and the rates went up from there. They were overwhelmed with business calls.
I sat there stunned doing spit-takes with my coffee while thinking, “holy cow, who has that kind of money to blow, just renting Holiday decorations?” One of the client names was familiar, Kellyanne Conway. “Jumpin’ ju-ju bones, this is an actual thing they do up here,” I thought. My mind was blown, but this put context to the economic bubble that isolated DC from the rest of ‘real’ America.
Yesterday, I read a New York Times column describing how the professional political employees and their families have been impacted by President Trump and the downsizing of the federal workforce.
Amid the tear-filled typeset meant to generate sympathy this part jumped out at me: “The District of Columbia currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 6.7 percent, in large part because of major reductions in the federal work force, including U.S.A.I.D., and cuts to government grants and contracts.” {CITATION}
Almost all of the $35 billion spent by USAID in 2024 went to Washington-based contractors, not to people in need overseas. Eliminating USAID has now created an unemployment problem for all of those DC-based federal contractors, NGOs and USAID employees. The NYT article gives examples of the terrible state of affairs. This is one:
