Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomes President Donald Trump at the beginning of the working sessions for the G7 assembly in Canada.

During the press availability President Trump notes the G7 used to be the G8, however following the Crimea referendum and President Putin’s response to accept the outcome of the vote, the NATO alliance led by President Barack Obama took Russia out of the group.  President Trump says he “agreed” with Putin’s reaction to the decision.

The G7 speak about Russia consistently at almost every meeting, without a willingness to listen to the voice or opinion of Russia in context to their protestations.  Quite simply it is easier for Italy, Canada, the U.K, France, Germany, Japan and the USA to exist inside an echo-chamber without having their multilateral arguments challenged.  President Trump does not fear the debate of ideas with Russia present in the room, another point of distinction between Trump and the assembly.

Wrong is wrong even if everybody does it; and right is right even if nobody does it. It takes strong confidence to assert a position counter to popular opinion, this is what makes President Donald Trump a transformative political influence.

In the background, President Vladimir Putin is undoubtedly paying attention.

Also, read carefully what President of the European Council António Costa said today:

(more…)

Senators Richard Blumenthal (U-DC) and Lindsey Graham (U-DC) have scheduled a delegation of Ukraine officials to come to the Senate tomorrow and help organize the pro-Ukraine narrative. The Senate is debating the anti-Russia sanctions package and key players are coordinating retention of the Ukraine payment system.

According to Politico all 100 senators have been invited to the lobbying/narrative engineering meeting, and almost all of them are likely to attend. From obvious indications, including Blumenthal and Graham supporting the recent Ukraine attacks against strategic Russian airbases, it would appear the Senate is prepared to dispatch President Trump’s efforts to organize a ceasefire.

As with all things Washington DC, to find the motive follow the money.

WASHINGTON DC – A Ukrainian delegation is set to brief U.S. senators Wednesday as lawmakers weigh a sweeping sanctions bill targeting Russia and its biggest energy customers, China and India.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview that he organized the meeting with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and noted all 100 senators were invited to attend the closed-door session.

“It’s a pivotal moment in Ukraine — and crunch time for the Senate on this bill,” said Blumenthal, noting that the legislation now has 82 co-sponsors, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

(more…)

Next week on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to travel to Washington DC and meet with President Donald Trump in the White House.  Considering the importance of Germany to the EU economy and subsequent trade relationship with the U.S, this meeting with Merz will likely be the most important discussion toward a possible U.S-E.U. trade agreement.

Germany is the largest economy within the EU and the core industrial base of the European Union.  The number one issue for the German people is their economic status: everything else circles around this priority.

Having spent time in Hamburg, Bremen, Dresden and Frankfurt, it is very clear to me the German people are very focused on work and their vocations. Germans overall, take their economic standing very personally and seriously.

Inasmuch as Merz may have to represent the interests of the larger EU in his approach, he will undoubtedly be focused on what is in Germany’s best interest, with all else second.

For President Trump this specific German interest creates a unique facet of leverage within the larger EU trade discussion.  Because the German economy is so vital, whatever terms Germany decides are the core terms the EU will manifest in their trade and tariff negotiations.

I predict we will hear a talking point from Merz, in generally German snark, something akin to a proposal for a zero-tariff base on the import and export of heavy industrial goods (machinery) for both Germany and the USA.  I say in general German snark because passive-aggressive Chancellor Merz knows the U.S. is currently not in a position to sell Germany heavy industrial goods, and that’s entirely what President Trump is trying to recreate with the trade/tariff policy.

WASHINGTON DC – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Washington next week to meet United States President Donald Trump for the first time since taking office earlier this month.

The leaders will meet in the White House on Thursday and are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Middle East and trade policy, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in an emailed statement.

(more…)

The escalation continues and unfortunately there are few indications the people around President Donald Trump are advising caution.

The U.K, German, French, EU, NATO and ‘western’ intelligence control agents are pushing for expanded conflict with Russia.  The latest development comes as the new leftist German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives the greenlight for Ukraine to launch long-range Taurus cruise missiles directly into Russia.

(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine has been given permission to use weapons supplied by its allies to launch strikes deep inside Russia.

“There are absolutely no range limits anymore for weapons delivered to Ukraine, not from Britain, the French or from us — also not from the Americans,” Merz said at a conference in Berlin on Monday. “That means Ukraine can defend itself by attacking military positions also in Russia.”

[…] Ukraine’s Western allies are trying to intensify pressure on the Kremlin after Moscow launched its biggest drone barrage against Ukraine since the full-scale invasion over three years ago. European leaders have condemned what they call Russia’s foot-dragging as efforts to lock in a ceasefire have gone nowhere.

[…] Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that, if confirmed, a decision to allow long-range strikes could undermine efforts toward reaching a political settlement, according to Interfax. He called such a decision “dangerous.” (read more)

The proxy war between the U.S/NATO and Russia is now entering its fourth year.

In some ways these efforts by the ‘coalition of the nervously willing’ only solidify the previous position of Russian President Vladimir Putin that any western move toward a diplomatic handshake was generally duplicitous and not to be trusted.  Hence, Putin has instructed the armed forces of the Russian Federation to continue building out an expanded ‘buffer zone’ between Russian held territory and NATO within Ukraine.

(more…)

The agenda behind Zelenskyy and his handlers is very clear, the EU need to keep distance between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin; so, they keep playing the narrative game around the pretense of a ‘ceasefire.’

Using his Twitter account today, the vertically challenged EU members led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy note, “if the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow. Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war.”

The picture Zelenskyy presents of Donald Tusk (Poland), Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron (France), Keir Starmer (UK) and Friedrich Merz (Germany), represents his “coalition of the willing.” The group who has pledged to send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping coalition, as long as the USA military backstops their presence against Russia.

If President Trump does not agree to position U.S. military as part of the coalition, then the “willingness” changes.  Hence, Friedrich Merz says “we must maintain good relations with the United States.”

(more…)

In a decision to position for long-term tariff avoidance, Mercedes Benz will shift production of their GLC (compact SUV) to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, away from Bremen, Germany.

Previously, the German automaker had shifted manufacturing of large SUV lines to the USA to avoid the pre-existing 25% ‘chicken tax.’  However, the smaller and less expensive crossover types were still made in Germany and shipped to the USA.  As the shipping vessels returned to Germany, they would take some of the SUV inventory back with them.  It was the most cost-effective solution, given the nature of the tariff situation.

Now, with larger import tariffs against all vehicles, Mercedes has shifted their business model to essentially an outcome where all USA marketed/sold vehicles will be manufactured in the USA, and all EU marketed/sold vehicles will be manufactured in Germany.

(Via Daily Mail) – Mercedes-Benz will shift production of one of its vehicles to Tuscaloosa, Alabama by 2027. The German luxury carmaker’s move is the latest response from an industry caught in the expensive crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs.

The decision marks a potential win for Trump’s protectionist trade agenda, which aims to boost US manufacturing by slapping steep tariffs on foreign-made goods. But there are many complicating factors.

(more…)

In the USA we have the example of “Russiagate” where the FBI, CIA and DOJ-NSD intel community weaponized against candidate Donald Trump.

In Romania, we have the example of the EU intel community nullifying –through the court– the election win of Călin Georgescu; and disqualifying the winning candidate.

Now, in Germany, the intelligence community produces a report labeling the largest political party as an “extremist” group, taking new power to conduct political surveillance and control the election outcome.

…. What is the common denominator?

[SOURCE]

Hope is not a strategy. That said, I hope Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the former Chair of the SSCI, has awakened to the reality of the intelligence services controlling western govt.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned a decision Friday from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency to classify the political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a “proven right-wing extremist organization,” calling the move “tyranny in disguise” and advising the country to “reverse course.”

“What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD—which took second in the recent election—but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes,” Rubio wrote in a post on X in the hours following the decision.

The decision, announced Friday by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, gives German authorities increased oversight and surveillance over AfD. While some AfD branches at the state level have received the label — such as in Saxony and Thuringia — this is the first time in modern German history that a party with nationwide representation on the federal level has been classified as extremist.

(more…)

The atomic sledgehammer that President Trump just delivered to the German auto industry simply cannot be overemphasized.  A 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts completely negates hundreds of billions in pre-positioned investment dollars by German auto companies in Mexico.  [Executive Order Here]

[Cliff Notes Here]

To give scale to the impact on Germany, consider that German automakers currently have 330 automotive suppliers in Mexico according to information from VDA.  Audi (a subsidiary of Volkswagen) has no U.S. production sites; every Audi sold in America will be subject to a 25% tariff. The Audi brand access to the U.S. market was/is 100% dependent on Mexico, including for manufacturing the Q5 SUV, its top-selling U.S. model.

According to prior reporting from Politico, “Volkswagen’s most popular model for American consumers is the Tiguan, an SUV that is entirely manufactured in Mexico. The German automaker sold over 30,000 of the vehicles in the final quarter of last year, a nearly 50 percent year-over-year increase.”  But wait, it gets worse….

(more…)

The funny thing is that EU countries are viewing this statement from Germany as if it is a negative assertion against President Trump.

The German government, and newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is warning its citizens that if they travel to the United States they should be careful not to break the law.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warns travelers that violating U.S. law while President Trump is in office, might get them removed from the U.S. or lose their visa entry privilege.

BERLIN — The German government has sharpened its travel advice for the United States.

According to its website, Berlin’s Foreign Office now warns its citizens that tougher immigration enforcement under U.S. President Donald Trump could land travelers in detention or see them face deportation.

It updated the guidance after several German nationals were detained at U.S. entry points, some held for days before being sent back. Officials now explicitly warn that even minor infractions — such as overstaying a visa or misstating travel plans — could trigger immediate deportation or a ban on future entry. (read more)

This is a major story throughout the EU gaining widespread attention.  Yet, to be brutally honest I thought it was a spoof article at first.  Apparently, most Germans believed they could break the law in the USA without any consequence.

This feels like some kind of ‘winning’, but I’m not exactly sure how to define it. 😂

(more…)

At the conclusion of a G7 summit in Quebec, Canada, Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks about the geopolitical realities of coming to a place where a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is possible.

This is a very solid outline from Marco Rubio who appears to have found his ideal career position as U.S. Secretary of State.  Rubio simply shines in this role.  This is a 20-minute press conference where Rubio weaves through the narrative engineering, and puts the bigger picture of national security, economic security, and pragmatic U.S. foreign policy into a very well-presented package.

As the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interview yesterday was a ‘must watch’ segment, so too is this press conference by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.  WATCH:

.

(more…)