Sometimes the issues go deeper into the core of DC than just the pretense games of Republicans -vs- Democrats.  Every once in a while, you see a specifically nuanced topic arise that tracks to the core of DC.  Intelligence nominations are one such topic.

Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Adam Schiff, appears on NBC Meet the Press to discuss the nominations made by President Trump.  Adam Schiff is the newly elected incoming senator from California and likely also heading to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Intelligence Community, the “Six Ways from Sunday” group, run every aspect of Washington DC.  Almost every politician, representative, staffer and even lobbyist, are dependent on the approval of the Intelligence Community to exist.  The IC is the proverbial eye of Sauron with full access to every facet of life in DC, including communications, emails, phone calls, text messages, all of it.  The IC operate from Penthouse Suites in the fourth branch of government.

You will notice that former Gang of Eight member Adam Schiff has disparaging commentary for every one of President Trump’s nominees, except current Gang of Eight member, Senator Marco Rubio.  The alignment is not only about UniParty, in this example the alignment is the code of Omerta that exists within the IC “oversight” group.  WATCH:

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There’s no comment or confirmation from President Trump, so take things with the proverbial grain of salt, however, what Reuters is reporting here does make a lot of sense.

According to Reuters ‘exclusive’ reporting, President Trump is considering former Acting DNI, former Ambassador to Germany, and former peace negotiator for Serbia/Kosovo, Ric Grenell for the position of Special Envoy to Ukraine. This would position Ric Grenell as the peacemaker in the center of something that is very strategically important to President Trump and the world.

Many people have wondered why we have not heard the name Ric Grenell before for any other position. If the report is accurate, this could indeed explain the void. Remember, Marco Rubio is nominated for State Dept, but Trump appears to be putting guardrails against the neocon tendencies of the Florida Senator and junior McCain.

President Trump has removed the mid-east from Rubio’s portfolio with the appointment of Steven C. Witkoff to be Special Envoy to the Middle East. That appointment stops Secretary Rubio from blocking a restart of the peace process via the Abraham Accords. If President Trump wanted to smartly keep Rubio out of the Ukraine dynamic, appointing Ric Grenell would be a solid option.

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump is considering tapping Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, to be a special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to four sources familiar with the transition plans.

Grenell, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany and was acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s 2017-2021 term, would play a key role in Trump’s efforts to halt the war if he is ultimately selected for the post.

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Germany is the largest economy in the E.U. However, due to a confluence of horrible events, most of them self-created as an outcome of ridiculous energy production decisions, the German industrial economy has been contracting since 2022.

Into this downward spiral of negative economic events within Germany, now comes the problem of President Trump eager to eliminate the Marshal Plan of one-way tariffs and start dealing with the trade inequities.  The German industrial manufacturing companies who make up the majority of the economic output are concerned, very concerned.

Within the discussion suddenly something appears that all Western financial pundits have yet to accept. Leo Barincou, a senior economist at Oxford Economics in Paris says:

[…] limited tariffs on selected products, such as cars, chemicals and agricultural products, may not be too much of a problem, Barincou says. A rising dollar, and hence a falling value of the euro, would offset some of the harm caused by the tariffs. “At a macro level, the impact would be limited,” he says. (read more)

Yep, here we go again.

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Boy howdy, this article by The Associated Press is very telling.

First, it’s worth remembering that in the fine print of the USMCA deal, Mexico and Canada must comply with North American parts origination for anything they want to manufacture for sale into the United States.  Meaning, all trade manufacturers must either create their component parts domestically, or purchase them from the U.S, Mexico and Canada. It’s the core point of the USMCA trade agreement.

Secondly, in an aspect exclusive to the U.S. part of the deal that President Trump and USTR Lighthizer insisted upon, if either Canada or Mexico are deemed to be non-compliant with the agreement, the USA can cancel/override any trade agreement Mexico or Canada have with another nation.  It’s a heavy accountability hammer securing the gate into the massive USA market.

In an AP report today, Mexico is scrambling to find local or North American sources of parts and components, because President Trump is set to come into office and look at USMCA compliance.  Apparently, Mexico has been using excessive amounts of Chinese component parts for goods being sent into the USA and Canada.  Now they are quickly trying to source alternatives.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has been taking a bashing lately for allegedly serving as a conduit for Chinese parts and products into North America, and officials here are afraid a re-elected Donald Trump or politically struggling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could try to leave their country out of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

Mexico’s ruling Morena party is so afraid of losing the trade deal that President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday the government has gone on a campaign to get companies to replace Chinese parts with locally made ones.

“We have a plan with the aim of substituting these imports that come from China, and producing the majority of them in Mexico, either with Mexican companies or primarily North American companies,” Sheinbaum said.

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Apparently the widely circulated rumor of Kelly Loeffler for the job was wrong; or, there was a change of plan.  Regardless, President Trump has just announced Brooke Rollins as the nominee for Secretary of Agriculture.

“From her upbringing in the small and Agriculture-centered town of Glen Rose, Texas, to her years of leadership involvement with Future Farmers of America and 4H, to her generational Family Farming background, to guiding her four kids in their show cattle careers, Brooke has a practitioner’s experience, along with deep Policy credentials in both Nonprofit and Government leadership at the State and National levels.”

[Source]

Brooke Rollins served as director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council during the first Trump administration. After leaving the administration Rollins co-founded the America First Policy Institute think tank and was the President and CEO of the organization.

Mrs Rollins will predictably play a vital role in protection and support of American farmers as President Trump confronts the global world of trade and tariffs.

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President Donald Trump has announced Scott Bessent as nominee for U.S. Treasury Secretary. The Secretary of Treasury implements tax policy, manages the nation’s debt, leads financial regulators, monitors and executes sanctions and conducts economic diplomacy. While the U.S. trade representative takes the lead on tariffs, the Treasury secretary typically plays a key role advising on that issue as well.

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Bessent (62) is a hedge Fund manager, the founder of investment firm Key Square Capital Management.  Despite supporting President Trump early, he has faced criticism for working as the CIO at George Soros’s Soros Fund Management from 2011 to 2015. He lives in Charleston, S.C.

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President Trump has announced the official nomination of Russ Vought for the position of OMB Director.

Russ Vought ran the Office of Management and Budgets under President Trump in the first administration, and he is now nominated to do so again.

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It looks like Matt Gaetz is done with DC politics. [Video Below]

During an interview today, Mr Gaetz has big praise for Pam Bondi and says he will remain outside government trying to assist President Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda.

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Friday that he doesn’t plan to rejoin Congress after he withdrew his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations.

“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” Gaetz said in an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

“There are a number of fantastic Floridians who stepped up to run for my seat, people who have inspired with their heroism, with their public service. And I’m actually excited to see Northwest Florida go to new heights and have great representation,” he added.

Gaetz, who was first elected to Florida’s state House when he was 28 years old, noted he has been in elected office for 14 years,

“I’m 42 now, and I’ve got other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue — my wife and my family — and so I’m going to be fighting for President Trump,” he said. “I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”

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Just dropping some background information to help people make sense of things in the nomination world of businessman and President-Elect Donald Trump.

FINANCIAL TIMES – […] Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, is close to an all-stock acquisition of Bakkt, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing two people with knowledge of the talks.

Shares of Bakkt, backed by NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange, skyrocketed more than 160% and were halted multiple times due to volatility. Trump Media shares ended the day up 16.7%.

[…] Trump Media and Bakkt ‒ whose former CEO, Kelly Loeffler, is now co-chair of Trump’s inauguration committee and married to Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher ‒ did not immediately respond to requests for comment from USA TODAY. Intercontinental Exchange declined to comment.

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Big Agriculture and Big Pharma were both preparing for a serious battle over food, chemicals, drugs and various health matters they control, with RFK Jr appointed to lead Health and Human Services (HHS).  With that many trillions at stake, the scale of political capital needed to confront Big Ag and Big Rx was going to be astronomical.

If these reports are accurate, today Big Ag and Big Rx will breathe a collective sigh of relief, and President Trump will not have to worry about RFK Jr creating distractions from other priorities.  All in all, an expected approach.

This has not yet appeared on Truth Social, however, apparently, Susie Wiles is expected to announce the nomination of Kelly Loeffler for Secretary of Agriculture.

[Source]

Former Senator Kelly Loeffler is the wife of Jeffrey Sprecher. Kelly Loeffler was approved by the Sea Island control group, then appointed by Georgia Governor Kemp because Loeffler is married to Jeffrey Sprecher; a GOPe party insider, mega-donor, and multi-millionaire CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Jeffrey Sprecher (formerly from the Bush administration) is the founder and CEO of ICE, which now owns the New York Stock Exchange. Kelly Loeffler’s company, the financial platform Bakkt, is a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange.  Bakkt is currently in the process of creating a Crypto exchange, with hopes of making Bakkt to U.S. Crypto what the NYSE is to stocks.

Kelly Loeffler purchased her recent Trump insiders’ ticket from Susie Wiles by leading the inauguration committee.  Where ‘leading’ is essentially financing it with her circle of friends.  On the upside, with this level of attachment to the Wall Street multinationals, the likely nomination of Loeffler to protect corporate food interests should settle down the opposition to RFK Jr in the Senate nomination process.

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