CTH said in November 2024, I doubt he could succeed.   I said in December 2024, he would be the first to get fired.  I have said over the past several weeks it was obvious Mike Waltz was no longer in a position of National Security influence, and that President Trump had an NSA “in name only.”

Today, Trump fired National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and his deputy, Alex Wong….

VIA CBS – National security adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, will be leaving their posts in the Trump White House, according to multiple sources familiar with their departure.

[…] One source familiar with the situation at the National Security Council said the president thinks sufficient time has passed since the Signal incident that Waltz and Wong’s departures can be framed as part of a reorganization. The president has been hesitant to oust Waltz over the perception that doing so could be seen as bending to outside pressure.

Wong served in the first Trump administration as deputy special representative for North Korea and also as deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department. In announcing his appointment, Mr. Trump said that Wong helped negotiate his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (more)

I’m not going to repeat all the issues that made this outcome transparently predictable from the first day of then President-elect Trump’s announcement.  You can read the background HERE and HERE and HERE.

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Will U.S. taxpayers ever see a dime repaid? Probably not, because the proceeds will likely end up in the pockets of the professional political class; however, the concept is a good idea in principle.  It is more than likely Zelenskyy has sold his “minerals” to several countries in his perpetual tin cup tour. The ‘investment fund’ aspect is just another way to transfer proceeds into the bank accounts of U.S. Senators.

The previously called “minerals deal” is now essentially a fund created between the USA and Ukraine where proceeds from exploiting Ukraine natural resources will be used to rebuild the country and repay the USA for prior financial support.  According to ABC News, “Both sides were ready to sign the agreement on critical minerals and other resources earlier, but the U.S. said it wanted the main minerals resources agreement signed and the creation of an investment fund document signed at the same time, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and a source in the Ukrainian president’s office said.”

Thanks to @POTUS @realDonaldTrump’s tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace, I am glad to announce the signing of today’s historic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine establishing the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund to help… pic.twitter.com/N1jPa35DYh

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 30, 2025

WASHINGTON — On April 30, the United States and Ukraine signed an agreement to establish the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. In recognition of the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, this economic partnership positions our two countries to work collaboratively and invest together to ensure that our mutual assets, talents, and capabilities can accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery.

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This next story is a natural outcome in the flow of goods. Remember, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the first quarter is a hindsight review. Meaning the information released today was based on activity in January, February and March 2025.

U.S. companies surged the purchasing of import goods, mostly from China, by more than 50% in the first quarter. They were/are building inventory. So, what happens in China starting in April?

Hong Kong, CNN – China’s factory activity contracted at its fastest pace in 16 months in April, as steep US tariffs took a heavy toll on the manufacturing sector, adding urgency to Beijing’s efforts to roll out fresh economic stimulus.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.0 in April, the weakest reading since December 2023, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday. A reading below 50 signals a contraction.

Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the NBS, said in a statement that the contraction in factory activity was due to “sharp changes in the external environment and other factors.” (read more)

The U.S. has front-loaded the inventory. So, orders to China drop now. It’s a natural outcome.

We have purchased goods in advance. So, orders to China drop. As a result, the cargo shipments from China to the USA drop in April, May and June.

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The absolute key to the first quarter GDP result is to remember that ‘imports‘ are a deduction in the economic equation of Gross Domestic Product.  The GDP is the valuation of all goods and services produced in the USA *minus* the value of imports.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases the results of the first quarter GDP.  The overall economic growth seems low at –0.3% until you look at how U.S. companies responded in February and March to the tariff announcement.

Companies proactively purchased massive amounts of products in advance of the tariffs leading to an overall increase in imports of 41.3%.  Which results in a 5.3% deduction to GDP.  Every dollar of those imports is a deduction to the GDP equation, giving the false appearance of lower domestic production.

There was a massive surge in import goods purchases of 50.9% versus the prior period [Table 1, line 20].  That’s the largest periodic increase in import purchases I have ever seen.  Simultaneously, fixed asset investment in equipment for domestic production surged 22.5% [Table 1, line 11].

Put both of these metrics together and what you see are U.S. companies building consumer inventory from overseas (imports) while simultaneously preparing themselves to shift production into the USA.  The massive import purchases are a bridge to cover the time needed to shift the manufacturing from overseas to the USA.  This is exactly what we want to see.

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Last week CTH noted, “interested political followers in the USA should pay close attention to how the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWA) respond to the corporate media narrative. …  Will the International Longshoremen’s Association stand with Trump, or will they drop support as the global trade reset emphasizes domestically manufactured jobs?  That will be an interesting aspect to watch because the dockworker union leadership will face massive pressure to comply with the anti-tariff narrative.”  (full article)

Yesterday, we got the answer: “The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) unequivocally condemns the recent tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed.”

[SOURCE]

All these moves are so transparently political, it almost makes you laugh.  However, that said, we are now in a better position to understand exactly how the Democrats and Deep State operatives will weaponize the supply chain along with their union orcs.

In the next phase of the anti-Trump tariff agenda, approximately 3 months from now it will begin, we will see/hear a constant drumbeat of empty shelves, missing parts and missing products.  Whether factually true, or whether the shortages are an outcome of a strategy by the ILWA to assist the shortage narrative, the overall objective will be to blame President Trump for everything from shortages of medicine to shortages of parts to fix, repair or maintain consumer products.

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President Trump holds an impromptu press conference traveling back to the White House from Morristown, New Jersey.

President Trump departed Marine One with Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Champion Saquon Barkley, then takes questions. The topics covered his message to President Putin, the Zelensky meeting, Iran – no bombs needed, Zelensky meeting #2, what Zelensky said, Crimea, opinion on Russian President Putin, actions vs Russia, taxes and tariffs, the Russia deadline, relationship with Zelensky, the Crimea factor, Virginia Giuffre, Tariffs Talks with China, Melania’s birthday dinner, and the Wisconsin Judge arrest.  WATCH:

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President Donald Trump is the most transparent president in modern history, perhaps ever.  In a statement delivered from his truth social account, President Trump outlines his thinking on the current status of the Ukraine -v- Russia conflict.

[President Trump] – “No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it. Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests, in order to stop the killing that is worse than anything since World War II.

Why doesn’t this lightweight reporter say that it was Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired. It was also Liddle’ Peter who wrote an absolutely fawning, yet terribly written Biography, on Obama. It was a JOKE! Did Baker ever criticize the Obama Crimea Giveaway? NO, not once, only TRUMP, and I’ve had nothing to do with this stupid war, other than early on, when I gave Ukraine Javelins, and Obama gave them sheets.

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From the outset of the Ukraine -vs- Russia conflict I have been saying this is “world war Reddit”. CTH awakens today to this photo, blasting across the geopolitical landscape.

I want you to look carefully at this picture; think about it and elevate yourself to understand exactly what this picture represents in the biggest framework of our ongoing discussion. The image origin: “Photographs released by the Ukrainian presidency showed the two leaders huddled in close discussion without aides in the ornate surroundings of St. Peter’s Basilica.”

This scene is purposefully staged.

This scene is staged by the control agents who control the Ukraine conflict, the intelligence community.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended the funeral of Pope Francis to pay their respects on the international stage.

Let me be clear. The people around President Trump do not and did not align with this photo-op, it’s genuinely in poor taste and bad form given the nature of the background event, the funeral for Pope Francis.  However, fearless President Trump knows exactly what this represents just as businessman Donald Trump knows how the seating is arranged in high stakes business negotiations; the sun at the back of the person wanting to be in the power position.

Again, we should stay elevated and see the bigger picture here because it is incredibly important.

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[AUTHORS NOTE: Having attended the ASEAN conference to make contacts, after a brief respite at home I spent the past several weeks traveling Southeast Asia to research the likely impact from Trump’s tariff and global trade reset. Visits included manufacturing and distribution facilities in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and South Korea. What I will share with you in the next few months is an overview from direct first-hand discussions, contrast against the MSM financial media outline.]

The predictable doomsday Wall Street Journal narrative includes a forecast for a massive drop in exports from China as shipping conglomerates begin to outline a drop in trans-pacific sea cargo and container carriers.

What I would say to concerned Americans is to filter out the political narrative and remind yourself of the expanded footprint throughout SE Asia that Beijing has already established.  Chinese companies, many of them subsidized by the CCP, are pre-positioned to begin transnational shipping. I have witnessed it first-hand.  However, here’s the WSJ narrative as it begins.

WSJ – The number of ships sailing from China to the U.S. laden with clothes, electronics, furniture and other goods is plunging, as an accelerating number of cargoes are canceled.

The scrapped sailings come after the Trump administration ratcheted up tariffs on China while giving a three-month reprieve on punitive levies for much of the rest of the world.

At the Port of Los Angeles, one of America’s biggest gateways for imports from China, executive director Gene Seroka told port officials Thursday that he expects a 35% drop in import volumes in two weeks “as essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers has ceased.”

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Judge Hannah C Dugan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was arrested earlier today for (1) obstructing a criminal illegal alien capture; and (2) concealing the illegal alien to avoid apprehension and arrest. [Criminal Complaint Here]

[Source – Criminal Complaint, 13 pages]

The criminal complaint against Judge Hannah Dugan reveals the judge purposefully demanded the ICE agents and FBI officials go to another part of the building to speak with the chief justice, while she guided the criminal illegal alien through the jury room to an outside exit facilitating his release.

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