Many are perplexed; however, don’t overthink it.

President Trump has announced Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, via a Truth Social post earlier today:

PRESIDENT TRUMP –  “I am appointing the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, William J. Pulte, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence. William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago. During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

In the context of what has taken place in the past 16 months, from CTH perspective an ‘acting’ position in this specific role is essentially a placeholder position.  Pulte placed as acting DNI, perhaps (my guess) in lieu of a permanent appointment that cannot yet be made due to other factors.

Deputy DNI Aaron Lucas remains in place.  Within the construct of the DNI office, Lucas remaining as Deputy actually facilitates the installation of a placeholder that would otherwise not be possible because legislative regulations and preferences on the DNI post are specifically designed to favor only nominations with background experience in military intelligence and/or long-term intelligence status.  {See 50 U.S. Code § 3026}

When congress created the ODNI they outlined: “under ordinary circumstances, it is desirable” that either the director or the principal deputy director of national intelligence be an active-duty commissioned officer in the armed forces or have training or experience in military intelligence activities and requirements.  {Go Deep} Also remember, President Trump (T1) was the first administration to elevate the DNI to a cabinet level position. Biden retained that status.

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In a remarkable come from behind victory, Colombia’s nationalist presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has won the first round in the election. Mr De la Espriella is a MAGA-aligned nationalist. His opposition, Ivan Cepeda is a leftist aligned globalist.

Mr De la Espriella, a lawyer and political outsider, won nearly 44 percent of the vote while Iván Cepeda won around under 41 percent, according to Colombian media. This was a surprising victory for the upstart politician who gained support from the people in Colombia who want a strong leader to eliminate corruption, gangs and criminal cartel activity.

Mr De la Espriella (pictured left) has to make all campaign appearances behind a bulletproof shield due to criminal cartels who target him.

Espriella has aligned himself with President Trump, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei. A resurgence of nationalism and anti-corruption in the Americas. Interestingly, ever since Marco Rubio dissolved USAID there has been a return to national sovereignty throughout Latin America.

VIA NBC – […] Neither candidate had more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the election Sunday. With 100% of votes tallied, de la Espriella — running as a candidate for Defensores de la Patria, a party he founded — was leading with more than 43% of the vote. Cepeda, of the incumbent party, Pacto Histórico, was trailing at just over 40%.

President Gustavo Petro, who endorsed Cepeda, said he would not accept the preliminary count released by the country’s electoral authority, claiming that some of the software private companies used to count votes was flawed and that the results were not binding.

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Ironically, I find myself with a grin on my face as I read the recent media reports about how the data processing demand behind AI is beyond the scope of financial sustainability.

For several years I have asserted, accurately, the business model for social media was never feasible because the data processing demand needed for the scale of simultaneous users was beyond the capabilities of the revenue side of the equation.  I have been told by all the high-horse experts on the matter how wrong I am.  However, each story they write about the prohibitive cost of AI proves I was not wrong.

CTH watches the tokenization and subscription fees for various AI model use with the same perspective CTH viewed over a decade of false claims within the financial market that told lies about social media viability and data processing costs.

Now, we watch the seemingly exponential growth of AI capabilities and associated costs with the same pragmatic perspective.

Robotic pool cleaners were introduced two generations ago.  Did the pool cleaner business dry up? No, it expanded.  Robotic vacuums broke into the popular household appliance market five years ago, you probably have one, did it eliminate maid services?  No, still growing.

AI can now write its own code to generate outputs. Are software developers getting fired?  No, demand for software designers and engineers is up 15% in the past year.

The mainframe approach, the one AI brain to run all systems, will never work – it is cost prohibitive (see first paragraph – wash, rinse, repeat).  Deny this reality at your own investment risk. If needed, politely absorb the ridicule – for it matters not.

CTH predicts AI will become a localized and optimized sub-set for each sector of the economy, requiring each major organization and corporation to adopt specific cost/benefit data libraries and networks for use and functionality.

At scale, a thousand coders each working on Gemini, ChatGPT, Anthropic, Grok, etc. will become 100,000+ software designers working inside companies to create personalized, targeted, bespoke AI data systems and networks; each system specifically tailored to the industry or sector of business.  The intranet of internets will happen again.

Creating and selling AI system networks and integration functions that are personally tailored to highly specific company functions, creates an entirely new sector of the technology industry that has not even begun yet. [There’s an investment opportunity there]

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Armed with a host of narratives against the Trump administration, CNN host Dana Bash confronts Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about his audacity to support Freedom 250 events in Washington DC this year.  Apparently, it is not in alignment with the interests of CNN for Americans to celebrate the anniversary of our independence.

Complaining about DC fountains being cleaned; complaining about people not being consulted for their viewpoints to permit the graffiti and filth to remain in place prior to cleaning; complaining that years of environmental studies and municipal hearings did not take place prior to the decision to repair the reflection pool; complaining about saving hundreds of millions by not opening up each restoration process to consultancy fees, studies, public hearings and various bureaucratic indulgency opportunities; a very unhappy Dana Bash confronts Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about his support for President Trump to clean and restore the nation’s capital without consideration for those who prefer things to be a mess.

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Appearing for an interview on Fox News with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, President Trump explains the current status of the negotiations with Iran and more of the details within the deal as tentatively outlined. WATCH:

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Remember last weekend when we outlined how the sudden sense of urgency from Europe toward a trade agreement with Mexico? that agreement had little to do with purchasing row crops from Mexico, and everything to do with what Europe needs as access to the United States {Go Deep}.

The language being used by the United States trade office is specific. [SEE HERE] The first bilateral round of negotiations between the United States and Mexico for the USMCA free trade agreement has concluded. (Emphasis mine)

PRESS RELEASE – “MEXICO CITY — “Today, the United States and Mexico concluded the first bilateral round related to the Joint Review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The United States concluded discussions with the goals of reducing the trade deficit with Mexico and strengthening American supply chains. During this first round, negotiators discussed priority issues related to automotive rules of origin, steel and aluminum, and economic security.

The United States and Mexico recognize the importance of advancing cooperation to enhance regulatory compatibility to strengthen sectors, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products, and others.

We will continue advancing these discussions on June 16-17 in Washington, D.C., in addition to agriculture and a level playing field. The third round will be held during the week of July 20 in Mexico City.

The United States continues to emphasize the importance of ensuring the Agreement benefits U.S. manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, workers, service suppliers, and businesses of all sizes, and of addressing free-riding from third countries.” (source)

Currently, European automakers have billions invested in Mexican auto plants.  Much of the component material for those vehicles comes from Europe for assembly in Mexico.  That was the primary focus of the Europeans in their trade agreement with Mexico.

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Norm Eisen and his two dozen allies within the various Lawfare NGO’s have again interceded and temporarily blocked the financial settlement between the IRS/DOJ and Donald Trump, the $1.776 billion anti-Weaponization Fund settlement.

The weaponization fund was established as part of a settlement agreement between Mr. Trump and the Internal Revenue Service to end a civil lawsuit he and his sons filed in January over the illegal leaking of his tax returns by the IRS. While President Trump will receive no benefit from the settlement, under the agreement the fund aims to “provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of all others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”

There is zero legal precedent for a non-participant in the settlement to interfere in the terms and conditions of the settlement itself.  All outside parties have zero standing to interfere in the settlement and all reasonable legal minds will tell you exactly the same.  A Lawfare challenge is futile because taxpayers do not have legal standing to stop the govt from settling lawsuits (see Pigford et al).

In 1923 the Supreme Court said that a taxpayer’s interest in money from the Treasury “is shared with millions of others” and is “comparatively minute and indeterminable.” “If we have an intersection collision with a postal truck and a settlement is negotiated to give $5 million to a family, does anybody have standing to come in and say, ‘the government paid too much in that settlement?'”  The answer is no.

However, the law is really not what stands behind the Lawfare approach. Lawfare is a political strategy designed for public consumption that relies upon the media and stupidity of the American populace.  Smart, intelligent and reasonable people can see through Lawfare when applied.

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The technical definition of a “recession” is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. The 4th quarter of 2025 and 1st quarter of 2026 have identified exactly that problem, negative GDP growth in Canada. [-1% and -0.1% respectively] The pretending is fierce, and again CTH warns everyone to be careful about exposure to the Canadian sector in their investment holdings.

As customary, whenever the economic policy of a political leftist delivers a bad outcome, the media contort themselves in order to avoid defining the situation accurately.  Instead, the financial media project -without merit- that the current situation is more positive.  Unfortunately, the data doesn’t provide much room to arbitrarily change the definitions.

Keep in mind this announcement today comes on the heels of the Bank of Canada warning that a “cascading series of events could cause a sharp loss of investor confidence and lead to a spike in demand for liquidity or rapid asset sales.”  This is a particularly pertinent phrase given one of the common reasons being attributed to the negative GDP, increased import values – specifically Canadians purchasing gold.

Several financial outlets have noted the increase in the value of Canadian imports, a negative in the GDP calculation, is being driven by Canadians (institutions and individuals) purchasing gold as a hedge.  The Canadians are buying gold as a hedge against both inflation and currency devaluation.

This activity puts additional context onto the statements from the Bank of Canada, who would likely have advanced notice of this issue.  Hence, the Bank of Canada also saying, “In normal times, hedge fund activity helps keep markets running smoothly. But if conditions become strained, this activity could amplify stress and disrupt core funding markets.”  The Wall Street Journal:

WSJ – OTTAWA — Canada’s economy unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive quarter as activity stalled at the start of the year, raising the likelihood the country dipped into a recession.

Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced across Canada, edged down 0.1% in seasonally adjusted annualized terms in the January-to-March period, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The economy also contracted a larger-than-previously-estimated 1% in the final quarter of last year. Back-to-back quarterly declines typically define a technical recession.

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Continuing the era of federal transparency, the White House has launched an interactive map of all Alien activity within the U.S. mainland.

For sixty years the United States government has kept this a secret.  Now, Americans can see for themselves.

SEE HERE

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For the past several days, ICE agents and Antifa affiliated protesters have clashed outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey. The rioting protesters have blocked the entrance, stopping vehicles from entering the facility.  Multiple trucks can be seen in this video at a standstill.

I’m going to ask the question again: Why Doesn’t the FBI Stop this violent, organized, national activity?

As President Trump is known to say, “don’t make it complicated.” Just look at things as they are, as they present themselves to be, and ask the most obvious questions.

“Domestic Tranquility?” Consider Antifa.

How can a group within America openly threaten police, use violence against police, throw Molotov cocktails, bricks and explosive fireworks at police. Use batons, shields, bats and physical violence against police and federal law enforcement; destroy vehicles, set cars on fire, destroy property, trash and block the streets and create chaos, completely without consequence?

It doesn’t matter where it is happening, that’s irrelevant. Think plainly and simply.

How does any individual or group get to do this without being arrested?

It doesn’t make sense, unless….

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