Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a press conference with Giorgos Gerapetritis, the Greek Foreign Minister earlier today. Rubio is on a three-nation strategic alliance tour of Iceland, Greece and Portugal.

The video and transcript of the press remarks and questions are below.

[Transcript] – SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you.  Thank you for your welcome.  It’s actually great to be here to have our sixth Strategic Dialogue, which is ongoing, and we’ve begun downstairs a few minutes ago.  It’s an event where our two countries commit to continue to work together on a range of issues.

We are two countries that are bound by a common heritage and by proud histories.  The United States and Greece share a long history of friendship and partnership and alliance.  In fact, the importance of this historical alliance is highlighted by the instability in the world today that we see as a result of conflicts in Hormuz with Iran, or the conflicts in the Red Sea with – in Yemen, or the conflicts in Ukraine and Russia.  As you see a world that faces these destabilizing events, you recognize how important this alliance with Greece is to the United States.

It’s both historic – historical in its foundation, but it is also critical.  It is a source of stability in an unstable world.  And I’m thankful – we’re thankful – that Greece remains a great ally and that we share a common understanding – this is really important – not just a great ally – we share a common understanding of the threats that face our countries, the face – the threat – that face our societies.  And we share a common understanding about the means to address them.

One thing we agree on, for example, is that the nations of Europe need to take on a greater share of the burden in defending their continent, and Greece is doing just that.  They’re on track to meet the commitments that have been made to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense this year, with over 3.5 of that – of their GDP – percent of GDP being spent on core defense.  They’re also joining the National Guard’s Bureau of State Partnership Program, and they’ll be paired, ironically enough, with the Florida National Guard, which will bring our military collaboration even closer.

(more…)

A few weeks ago, the voters in Iceland rejected a referendum to join the European Union.  Iceland remains a NATO ally, but not an EU member, this dynamic becomes more important when considering the Arctic defense strategy of President Trump and Secretary Rubio.

From the State Dept: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Reykjavík, Iceland; Athens, Greece; and Lisbon, Portugal from October 5-8, 2026.

Secretary Rubio will meet with Icelandic officials in Reykjavík to discuss economic and security collaboration.  In Greece, Secretary Rubio will lead the United States delegation for the Sixth U.S.-Greece Strategic Dialogue, deepening our partnership on key Administration priorities, including defense cooperation and regional and energy security.  Secretary Rubio will then travel to Lisbon to meet with Portuguese officials to advance defense, economic, and technology cooperation. (read more)

Rubio delivered remarks just before departure.  RAF Fairford, Russian Plague, Brazil Election, Saudi and Houthis, and more. WATCH:

I would also emphasize a little-known aspect to the Portuguese relationship.  Portugal has one of the most effective intelligence operations in the world, in part due to their diplomatic corps who have groomed very strong relationships with allies and not-s0-friendly nations.  Portugal maintains a very well-run, albeit very quiet intelligence system.

(more…)

Once again, you may have seen a lot of banter, interpretation and discussion in western media about Russia speaking of defending Kaliningrad with nuclear weapons if needed.  To gain a full understanding of the context, I strongly suggest reading the transcript below.

Vladimir Putin addressed the plenary session of the 23^rd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. It is a very lengthy discussion.  I am pulling out the key segment and suggest everyone take some quiet time to read.

President Vladimir Putin – […] Let me digress from the main topic for a while. There are people here in this room who hold a very diverse mix of opinions regarding an extremely acute present-day conflict – the Ukraine conflict, and what caused it. I would like to say a few words on this matter. It is a fact that many hundreds or even thousands of experts, your colleagues who will study the materials from this Valdai Club meeting, they have their own opinions on this matter. I am, of course aware that some within the expert community might ask why Russia started the war while talking about peace. I have commented this many times already, but let me say this once again in front of this audience.

Where is the truth? The truth is that we did not want and were not the ones who started to fight. In fact, they started to fight against us. They should have refrained from encouraging aggressive nationalism and Russophobia in Ukraine so as to turn it into a tool for fighting Russia. NATO should not have embarked on an effort to make our historical territories part of its military space in its own interests and should not have planned setting up its bases there. Radicals in Kiev should not have been pushed to a government coup while the de facto illegal regime should not have been pumped full of all kinds of offensive weapons after that. Plans for setting up concentration camps for the people from Donbass and Crimea should not have been drafted. Unarmed people should not have been rolled over by tanks, shelled with missiles and bombed from the air and burnt alive just for being Russian, in terms of both their ethnic background and their spirit.

The list of these do-nots goes on, but let me stop at that. I am convinced that this was an intentional effort to place Russia in a situation when it was simply forced to defend itself with arms in hand to respond to this obvious act of aggression. They pushed us to this brink knowingly and intentionally. Overall, Russophobia, oppressing and killing Russian people and destroying Russia should not be turned into state ideology while striving to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. This was the way it was all articulated, right? No one forgot this. At least, we did not forget this.

(more…)

In a remarkable series of events, Canadian TV (CTV) is reporting that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is likely to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, the Time Magazine Person of the Year Award and public veneration by Pope Leo XIV to culminate a year when the European Union is now meeting to decide which capitals will host the monuments and statues.

All of these timed accolades are related to Carney’s spectacular position as the world’s leading opponent to United States President Donald J Trump. No single person has ever won such incredible distinctions in a single year. The Associated Press is now reporting the news:

TORONTO — Mark Carney built a global profile in 2026 by standing up to U.S. President Donald Trump. If some prediction-market traders and prominent admirers are right, the Canadian prime minister could end the year with the Nobel Peace Prize and Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

Carney briefly became the favourite Monday for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Kalshi, a U.S.-based prediction market, when traders on the exchange put his chances at 14 per cent. His odds later fell, illustrating the highly speculative nature of the wagering.

(more…)

Promethean Action’s Susan Kokinda gives a good recap of Chinese Chairman Xi’s state visit, including the nuanced respect and policy alignment visible between President Trump and Chairman Xi.

In essence, the comments by Marco Rubio about putting USA sovereign policy ahead of prior USA multilateral global policy, are a baseline for Chairman Xi to pivot his own interpretations of Trump’s policy objective.  With U.S policy focused on America’s interests and Beijing policy focused on China’s interests, there is no room for conflict, only terms.

This episode argues that media outrage over a White House “autopen” joke and criticism of Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping obscures a deeper shift: Trump is dismantling a 50-year geopolitical framework associated with Henry Kissinger. It contrasts Chatham House’s “China Rising, America in Decline?” panel and its Thucydides Trap framing—linked to Graham Allison—with Xi’s evolution from posing the trap as an open question to asserting it “can be overcome” after Trump’s UN speech and claimed actions in Iran, Venezuela, the Shield of America, and the Greenland Treaty, alongside a push for reindustrialization.

The script also highlights a UN Board of Peace session on Gaza focused on reconstruction led by Gazans and a new security structure involving Muslim-country troops, presenting it as ending “outside forces” control. It notes Rubio’s permanent dual role as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor and frames his stance as reversing Kissinger’s legacy.  WATCH:

.

Terms of Greenland Deal Here

(more…)

Politico (EU) puts the spin on the actual ask by saying, “NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich wants more information on escalating hybrid threats.” However, if you pull back the NATO wording and current position, what it really looks like is U.S NATO leaders telling Europe to prove all of these “hybrid attacks” they keep speaking about.

NATO is a collective of EU nations.  The official position of NATO is “it sees no imminent threat of a Russian attack.” However, several of the EU-NATO countries are independently reporting “hybrid attacks” under opaque descriptions and then using political soundbites to designate Russia as the cause.

Just like the “drone attack on Zelenskyy’s airplane,” most of these ‘reports’ end up being debunked once they are investigated, or scrutinized.  There have been dozens of so-called ‘hybrid attacks’ that were debunked or claimed in such an ambigous fashion they cannot be proven as accurate.

Ex. Russia flying a helicopter in Kaliningrad, is not a hybrid attack against Poland.  A Russian drone crashing 160km away from Chișinău, is not a hybrid attack against Moldova.  A can of tuna fish attached to a short-range quadcopter at the Leipzig/Halle Airport is not a hybrid attack against Germany.

None of the heads of the nations described above (Poland, Moldova, Germany) have ever asserted those “hybrid attack” examples as an official position of the government.  It’s always some arms-length politician or internal bureaucrat that makes the claim, then the media amplifies it.

Well, it would appear that NATO Commander Grynkewich is trying to figure out how/why these quasi-official “hybrid attack” claims are getting promoted by media; because ultimately, it’s his responsibility to formulate a response.  One can only imagine Secretary Hegseth calling General Grynkewich on behalf of President Trump and asking for some clarity amid the European claims/noise.

(more…)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney left the United Nations General Assembly and went directly to the New York Times for a pre-scheduled interview with fellow leftist travelers intent on influencing the U.S midterm election.

Carney having previously appointed Clinton/Obama Democratic operative Maia Johnson as his Chief Operating Officer within his office, obviously had one agenda in mind as he strolled into the Times office for his pre-planned operation.

Within the hour-long conversation, the Canadian Prime Minister had several key points of emphasis in his objective. The top-line hook to draw in the audience was his first statement about having prepared for military combat operations against the United States.  [ARTICLE HERE] Key points below:

(1) Carney developed contingency plans to use military combat operations against the United States.  Yes, it is transparently obvious this is a political statement.  His mentioning of this is meant to create the traditional leftist victimhood position used in all psychological operations.  Carney follows this outlandish statement by saying these military plans are no longer needed because he now feels he has “a good relationship” with President Trump.

[…] “Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said that he had prepared over the past year for the “extreme tail risk” that President Trump might order military action against Canada but disclosed that the two men have spoken “frequently,” even since trade talks collapsed last month, describing a tense, evolving relationship.

Mr. Carney suggested that he had carefully examined the possibility of U.S.-led military action, but declined to discuss in detail what that involved. “I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk,” said Mr. Carney, a former central banker for Britain and Canada. … “That’s just risk management. That’s not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to” prepare.”

(2) Carney outlines how he intends to build a closer economic relationship with China as a hedge against Canadian dependency on the United States.  Given the statements made by Carney in Beijing, this does not come as a surprise; however, it is the expressed open intent to further attach Canada to China that should raise eyebrows.

(more…)

During remarks following discussions with Sergey Lavrov at the United Nations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that President Trump has extending the G20 invitation to Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.

The G20 in Miami is scheduled for December 14th and 15th, and while there is no official reason for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ever attend any of the G7, G20 or NATO forums, the President of Ukraine has been a participant in the last several years due to the European and Canadian political manipulations surrounding such events.

That said, if Vladimir Putin attends the G20 and Zelenskyy is invited to the G20 (for whatever ridiculous justification that might be presented), it would be the first time Zelenskyy and Putin have been in an international forum simultaneously.

In the background today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was reported to have told Secretary Rubio that Russia understands the United States no longer is influencing the EU-NATO decisions about escalating conflict in the European desire to achieve full military combat against Russia; therefore there was no reason for Lavrov and Rubio to waste time in discussions of some meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy when the people in actual control of Kiev’s decision-making are in London, Berlin and Brussels.

It appears Rubio respected Lavrov’s pragmatic reality yet still wants to set the stage for an opportunity that exists outside the constraints of the EU-NATO alliance – hence, the G20 venue in Miami becomes a possibility.

(more…)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to the assembled press pool following extensive conversations with various foreign ministers, including discussions today with Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Questions to Rubio surrounded the Iran conflict, the status of Venezuela, the discussions between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, the status of Cuba and beyond.  Secretary Rubio gives direct, honest and substantive responses to each of the regional questions asked.  Exceptional press conference. WATCH:

.

(more…)

Take heart, we only need to wait approximately 60-days until we see a major price decline in diesel and gasoline prices in the USA.  Once the midterm election is over, prices will begin their retreat with the finished collapse mid-January.

The non-pretending reality exists within a generally non-western perspective that current “market prices” are not driven by oil supplies, refining capacity or the other various justifications used by the speculators, traders and various regional spot-market control systems.  The prices are being controlled in order to influence political outcomes.

Once those political influence operations are concluded, the stakeholders in the market price approach will moderate their justifications accordingly, and prices will plummet.  Sound nuts?  Well, let me explain who agrees.

On my side of the argument is Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, who does happen to operate the world’s largest gasoline station – at least, according to the professional republicans. Others on my side include Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmon, Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Venezuelan interim President Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez.

Others who accept the reality of this position, albeit with various political limits to their ability to speak openly about such matters, include President Donald J Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Unfortunately for this aligned group they are stuck inside the largest western political system who controls global finance and world economic outcomes.

What all of these aforementioned names understand is that “market prices” are entirely detached from the archaic terminology behind supply and demand; a quaint concept that stopped applying years ago – but pretenses must be maintained or else the masses may find their pitchforks, see: DSA pitchfork suppliers.

A second subset of allies who unintentionally support this perspective, includes those who use the terms “sold at a discount” where “sold at a discount” in reality means sold outside the western market pricing approach.

(more…)