Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters at the conclusion of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While the topic of trade and tariffs was not the intention of the assembly, the issues around trade with the USA and tariffs was obviously of keen interest. WATCH:
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I’ll put the entire cabinet meeting in another post. It is interesting that RFK Jr. was not present (?).
For this outline, let’s focus on the issue that is exploding the MAGA and anti-MAGA universe on social media right now. President Trump and Pam Bondi’s response to a question about Jeffrey Epstein and the controversial DOJ/FBI memo that now states there is no “third party” or “client list” connected to the Epstein sex trafficking.
Obviously, President Trump is not happy with attention focused on the Epstein issues. The most likely reason for the frustration expressed is simply that President Trump is unaware how much the Epstein issues are -and have been- part of the background focus within the base of his support. Here’s the segment. WATCH:
First, kudos to Marco Rubio for his stone faced and remarkably unaffected disposition within the exchange. It takes time and experience to remain stoic at this level. Exceptional control.
Second, everyone here has a reasonable BS detector – meaning we can tell when a person is not telling the truth. It is transparently obvious AG Pam Bondi is extremely uncomfortable with the Epstein issue, and her responses indicate she is not being honest or forthright. You could say, she’s lying; however, the facts of her presentation are a little more complicated.
The main issue around Bondi’s less-than-fulsome response is the motive. Is she lying because she’s just grossly incompetent about the issue, or is she lying because she is nefarious in her intent. The Occam’s Razor answer to her obvious parseltongue is a combination of both.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pushed America-First, anti-terrorism, law and order into the center of the tourist visitor filter. Unstable extremists need not apply for visas to enter the USA, and anyone creating a social disturbance is subject to visa cancellation.
This is the same standard of behavior that is applied by all other countries for U.S. tourists in foreign visits; however, as Marco Rubio and the U.S. State Department enforce this expectation the domestic extremists and agitators are extremely agitated.
The latest example comes from a British punk/rap duo who decry American colonialism, profess severe antisemitism and promotion of violence. Recently, during a music festival in Britain, singer Bobby Vylan shouted, “Death, death to the IDF,” several times before turning the microphone toward the crowd to get attendees to repeat the chant. The IDF is the national military of Israel. Additionally, Vylan shouted “Free, Free, Free Palestine,” and again, had some in the crowd repeat what he said.
The State Dept has now cancelled their entry visa for their U.S. tour.
(Via Politico) – The State Department has revoked visas for a London-based punk duo set to tour the U.S. in October after the band led a crowd of festival-goers in England in calling for the death of the Israeli military over the weekend.
Following the event at the State Department, President Donald Trump hosts the representatives from Congo and Rwanda following their historic peace agreement ending 30-years of bloody conflict. WATCH:
UPDATE: Video Added
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Things are getting very interesting as the clock ticks toward the end of the USMCA trade agreement.
Almost no one is watching the USMCA element because it quietly exists only in the background of events. However, pay close attention to the ancillary stories because they will eventually merge with the end of the USMCA and two bilateral trade agreements between the U.S-Canada and the U.S. and Mexico later this year.
NATO funding and Canadian economic independence, and by extension the EU and China, comes into the northern agreement. Border security and Mexican economic independence, and by extension immigration and China, comes into the southern agreement. The strength of MAGAnomic policy flows directly through both.
In the quiet sphere, a few days ago Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a key player in the trade program, announced sanctions against three Mexican financial organizations that underline the influence of the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government. [Treasury Announcement Here]
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued orders identifying three Mexico-based financial institutions—CIBanco S.A., Institution de Banca Multiple (CIBanco) [ORDER HERE], Intercam Banco S.A., Institución de Banca Multiple (Intercam) [ORDER HERE], and Vector Casa de Bolsa, S.A. de C.V. (Vector) [ORDER HERE]—as being of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and prohibit, respectively, certain transmittals of funds involving CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector. These orders are the first actions by FinCEN pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which provide Treasury with additional authorities to target money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including by cartels”. (more)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is furious. “The Treasury Department hasn’t provided a single piece of evidence to show that any money laundering was taking place,” she said. “We aren’t going to cover for anyone, there isn’t impunity here. They have to be able to demonstrate that there was actually money laundering, not with words, but with strong evidence.”
I’m just going to outline this post as it is framed by Vice President JD Vance without anything…
JD Vance – “This is such a revealing clip. The American media is full of the least curious, least insightful people in our country.
To recap, an out of context, “low confidence” and incomplete intelligence report was selectively leaked to the media. The media reported on the findings without any real effort to figure out whether they represent any part of (much less the full) truth. The way the media has presented the report is contradicted by the IAEA, the Iranians themselves, and the administration’s political and defense leadership. More importantly, the media’s reports are contradicted by common sense.
[Vance, cont…] “To summarize: a dozen 30,000-pound bunker busters were dropped on Iran’s main nuclear site. (The other two sites that were targeted suffered heavy damage too). No one disputes they hit their targets. No one disputes the explosive or destructive power of the weapons. No one disputes that a week ago, Iran could have easily assembled a nuclear weapon and now they can’t.
The entire debate–even accepting the press’s dishonest framing–is not about whether Iran can now build a nuke. They can’t. It’s about how much rebuilding the Iranians would have to do in order to achieve a nuclear weapon. In other words, after a wildly successful military operation with no American casualties, the American media is trying to blame Donald Trump for the existence of facilities *that haven’t even been built yet.*
If you assert the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan were taken exclusively to remove the capacity of Iran to create a nuclear weapon, you are likely missing a key point. However, if you recognize the strikes were not only about eliminating Iran’s nuclear capacity but also about taking Israel’s “Iran has nukes!” card off the table, then you begin to understand the after action message from the Trump administration.
Essentially, by removing the Iran nuclear threat, the overall influence from Israel on President Trump’s foreign policy objective is also lessened. Within that dynamic you will see why President Trump, Secretary/NSA Rubio and the inner national security circle are so strongly emphasizing the “totally destroyed” message. WATCH:
The inverse of the successful Iran strike narrative is also true. If the strikes against Iran are defined as not eliminating the nuclear threat, then a continuance of national security influence on behalf of Israel is maintained.
Unfortunately, for the deepest part of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, maintaining the usefulness of the Iran nuclear threat is aligned with their interests. Hence, we begin to see why the intelligence apparatus immediately began trying to diminish the effectiveness of the strikes with leaks to CNN [SEE HERE].
President Trump and his national security team held a meeting with NATO Sec.-Gen. Mark Rutte during the 2025 NATO Summit in the Hague, Netherlands, and took questions from the media.
Interestingly, NATO Secretary Mark Rutte emphasizes the new commitment from Canada repeatedly. As one of the worst offenders to adhere to their NATO obligations, and against the backdrop of tariffs and targeted trade negotiations, obviously Canada is trying to position themselves against the Trump economic agenda.
Secondly, the emphasis is again on the damage assessment from the U.S. bombing of the Iran nuclear facilities. This is critical for President Trump to break free of the intelligence community control over U.S. foreign policy expanded in the next outline. WATCH:
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There are many critical interviews today that will be highlighted. We are at an important geopolitical inflection point with multiple consequences amid each chosen path.
The bombing of Iran has united the neocon pro-war groups within the Senate and legislative branch (pro-Ukraine, Pro-Israel) which may assist President Trump’s primary objective to get the Big Beautiful Bill over the finish line. That can be a big short-term strategic benefit, if the operational strikes on Iran do not escalate into a regional conflict.
That said, Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio is the principal person to watch as President Trump’s geopolitical agenda is carried out. Here he is talking to CFR Maria Bartiromo in his first comments after the strike took place. “No regime change” but the era of “playing games” is over. WATCH:
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The Justice Department has announced that a USAID official named Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, and three corporate executives, Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland; Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, and Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland, have pleaded guilty to a decade long scam involving bribery using USAID funds and awarded government contracts.
Roderick Watson took bribes and directed over $550 million to the three USAID contractors. [SEE DETAILS HERE]
DOJ – […] According to court documents, beginning in 2013, Watson, while a USAID contracting officer, agreed with Britt to receive bribes in exchange for using Watson’s influence to award contracts to Apprio. As a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, which helps socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, Apprio could access lucrative federal contracting opportunities through set-asides and sole-source contracts exclusively available to eligible contractors without a competitive bid process.
Vistant was a subcontractor to Apprio on one of the contracts awarded through Watson’s influence. After Apprio graduated from the SBA 8(a) program and it was no longer eligible to be a prime contractor for new contracts with USAID under this program, the scheme shifted so that Vistant became the prime contractor and Apprio became the subcontractor on USAID contracts awarded through Watson’s influence between 2018 and 2022.
During the scheme, Britt and Barnes paid bribes to Watson that were often concealed by passing them through Young, who was the president of another subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant. Britt and Barnes also regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives.