In a remarkable development, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Cuba on Thursday to meet with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro.  Also present at the meeting was Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services.

In late April of this year, a few State Department officials visited Havana and held talks with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro about a potential diplomatic deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also previously spoken directly to Mr. Rodríguez Castro who appears to be acting as somewhat of a bridge between the Cuban government and various Trump administration officials.

VIA CUBAN GOVT Press Release – “Based on the request presented by the U.S. government that a delegation headed by the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, be received in Havana, the Directorate of the Revolution approved the realization of this visit and the meeting with its counterpart from the Ministry of the Interior.

The meeting took place on Thursday, May 14, in a context characterized by the complexity of bilateral relations, in order to contribute to the political dialogue between the two nations, as part of the efforts to face the current scenario.

The evidence provided by the Cuban side and the exchanges held with the United States delegation made it possible to demonstrate categorically that Cuba does not constitute a threat to the national security of the United States, nor are there any legitimate reasons for including it in the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

During the meeting, it was possible to verify the consistency and congruence in the historical position of our country with the actions of the Cuban government and its competent authorities, in the confrontation and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

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Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping hosted President Donald J Trump and the delegation of administration officials and leaders of U.S. businesses during a state dinner in Beijing, China.

The full video of the event is below, prompted to 12:37 where President Trump delivered remarks to the Chinese and American attendees.

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Alternative angle video also included below.

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Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping wanted to emphasize history and determination when he took President Donald Trump on a tour of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China.   The temple was used by Chinese Emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties where the rulers would pray for abundant harvests, good weather and good fortune for the people of China.  Apparently, Chairman Xi wanted to send a message that rulers of China follow a mandate that is in alignment with spiritual divinity.

It is a rather ironic view of stewardship considering that religion is subject to strict government regulation in communist China. The Chinese government officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and Daoism; however, the practice of each religion must follow communist rules and be in alignment with all CCP dictates.  Within China, this is known as “sinicization,” a requirement that all religious groups must adapt their beliefs and practices to align with Chinese culture and the Communist Party’s ideology.

The Temple of Heaven is near Tiananmen Square, and the most famous temple in Beijing.  Originally built along with the Forbidden City in the early 1400s the temple is also near the royal palace that President Trump and Chairman Xi toured with their spouses in 2017.  Video Below:

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio eloquently takes some geopolitical complexities and puts them into understandable terms.  During an interview aboard Airforce One en route to Beijing, Fox News pundit Sean Hannity asks some regional questions about high profile events.

Secretary Rubio accurately puts the perspective of Chinese interests into the context of current friction points between the USA and Iran.  WATCH:

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President Trump will be participating in a formal greeting ceremony with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping in Beijing China at 10:00am local, 10:00pm ET.

The event is being livestreamed.  Links Below:

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There is an increased public discussion about the race to build datacenters in the USA that are part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race for superiority.  There are multiple facets within the discussion and some things to consider that might not be at the forefront, yet.

Overall, there is a global race to build the best AI system that is not dissimilar to the nuclear arms race.  Arguably the use of AI as a weapon is one possibility; while the second aspect surrounds strategic economic power.

The USA is poised very favorably in this AI race due to the advanced tech industry in America and recent national security moves made by President Trump in the tech sector surrounding strategic critical minerals and domestic chip production.  However, no one is quite sure where China is in their AI development and last year’s explosive revelation around China’s “Deepseek” model shocked the U.S. tech industry due to its advanced intelligence prowess.

With China and the USA both in this AI race, and the need for massive investment in datacenters to do the processing needed for an artificial intelligence brain of such significant capacity, there is a sense of urgency in the tech industry that is surfacing around the country.  Simultaneously, with datacenters becoming more controversial, suddenly the geopolitical intelligence operations enter the picture.

Currently, it is well accepted inside the tech industry that part of China’s strategy against the USA in this AI race is to slow down American system development.  As a consequence, it is beginning to surface that Beijing may be funding voices inside the USA to rally against the building of datacenters. Essentially, China funding voices, real or artificially boosted influence operations, to amplify domestic opposition to the datacenters.

Anytime the intelligence operations become part of a domestic issue that has national security implications, things get opaque, cloudy and muddy pretty quick.  Is datacenter opposition organic – actual citizens and communities pushing back against the development in their towns and/or cities or is the opposition to the datacenters a form of foreign influence operation?

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The meeting is all business as the two apex economic leaders are scheduled to meet on a summit that is majority framed around finance, trade, AI and economics.  At its core, this summit between President Trump and Chairman Xi is about economic power.

Within the power dynamic of these types of high-stakes meetings, positioning plays a critical role. Chairman Xi Jinping did not attend the arrival ceremony and the meeting between Trump and Xi will not take place until Thursday. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng greeted Trump at the Beijing airport. US Ambassador to China David Purdue and China’s Ambassador to the US Xie Feng were also there to welcome him.

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(Daily Mail) – […] The President’s Air Force One posse also included NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who was scooped up on a refueling stop in Alaska, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Rush Hour director Brett Ratner.

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There was much fake news about the tech and finance leaders traveling with President Trump to China.  Moments ago, President Trump corrects the record:

TRUTH SOCIAL – “CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China. In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!

It is an Honor to have Jensen, Elon, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Brian Sikes (Cargill), Jane Fraser (Citi), Larry Culp (GE Aerospace), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and many others journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to “open up” China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level! In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!”

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

“Tim Apple” always cracks me up. lol

As previously noted and discussed by USTR Jamieson Greer, since the original trip to Beijing was announced several months ago, it was very easy to identify this visit was not a customary ‘state visit’ in the formal sense of the term.  Instead, this trip was always planned as a trade, finance and economic business trip specifically to engage Chairman Xi with a financial and investment focus.

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President Trump departed the White House today for a long-awaited trip to Beijing, China for a summit with Chairman Xi Jinping.  This trip to China is all business with no customary diplomatic venues or state visit festivities planned.  This trip is straight to Beijing, business – then depart.

As President Trump departs the White House, he walks the lengthy press pool line to answer questions.  The best audio/video is currently this one.

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Appearing on MSNBC to talk to Lawfare ally Nicole Wallace, wife of New York Times narrative engineer Michael Schmidt – the guy who received leaks from FBI Director James Comey via Daniel Richman, former CIA Director John Brennan notes there are “legions” of operatives still embedded within the DOJ, FBI and CIA who are working against President Donald Trump.

This is not a surprise as we have noted the Trump administration continues to take apart the tentacles of Lawfare and Intelligence operatives in Main Justice, various U.S. Attorney offices, FBI Headquarters, FBI field offices and various Intelligence Community silos.

Marco Rubio has been working to clean up the National Security Council as well as the State Department operations, including USAID.  Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe have been working on the NSA and CIA collaboratively, and Todd Blanche has been working through the Dept of Justice.  FBI Director Kash Patel has removed about ten percent of the problem in his agency.

Unbelievable. Former CIA Director John Brennan just said the quiet part out LOUD, that there are still a “legion” of bureaucrats within the intel and justice communities who are actively sabotaging the executive authority of President Trump:

“There’s still a legion of… pic.twitter.com/XhBLzhy7s2

— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) May 11, 2026

The core problem goes back to what we outlined on these pages {GO DEEP} and is not limited to those operatives who remain from the Obama/Biden era.  Some of the problems surface as a result of ‘republican’ voices recommending “sleeper cell” staff and sketchy personnel for positions in the administration. [I’ll put an example below]

One way to tell if the agency head or leader understands the challenge is by paying attention to how they talk about the agency’s mission objective.

Leaders like Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard have openly acknowledged the problem and are actively tackling corruption within their ranks. Even John Ratcliffe has admitted his agency was politically weaponized and has taken steps to address it. There’s still a lot of work ahead, but their actions show visible progress.

People like Pam Bondi and Kash Patel have praised the institutional embeds without drawing attention to the corruption beneath them. Thankfully, Acting AG Todd Blanche seems to be taking a more confrontational approach internally, so maybe Kash Patel will follow suit. This isn’t about style—it’s about results, and there’s an urgent need for action.

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