Secretary of State Marco Rubio will need to maintain a lot of energy to operate foreign policy advancement at the “optimal resolution” speed of President Donald Trump.

Rubio departed Israel for his visit to Saudi Arabia where two major topics are on the agenda. The U.S. Secretary was welcomed by Saudi Foreign Minster Faisal bin Farhan and is scheduled to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On the agenda today is what to do about Gaza, tomorrow the discussion changes direction to address Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia has expressed opposition to the Trump plan for the temporary relocation of Gaza Palestinians while a complete restructuring, revitalization and rebuilding of the region takes place. However, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have not proposed an alternative to the Trump plan.

Saudi Arabia (MbS), Egypt (al-SiSi) and Jordan (King Abdullah II) have balked at the idea of Israeli Prime Mister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan temporarily host Palestinian refugees; a plan suggested by President Trump. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan do not want more Palestinians to worry about.

Ultimately, Secretary Rubio is in Saudi Arabia to ask Crown Prince MbS directly, if not the Trump plan – then what? What solution can be proposed by the Arabs that creates long lasting stability, peace and the opportunity for residents in Gaza to live without terrorism, Hamas, chaos and war?

♦ Tomorrow the agenda switches to discuss the Russia -v- Ukraine conflict. Secretary Rubio will be joined by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Oddly, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the region; however, according to most public reporting he is not expected to participate in the U.S-Russia negotiations. I would not be surprised if something in the background is triggered by President Trump that pulls-in Zelenskyy while the Ukraine President is in Saudi Arabia.

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The Trump administration is experiencing an unprecedented move by federal judges who are overstepping their constitutional limits and ordering Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) against President Trump.  The judicial activism is in support of ongoing Lawfare operations within the deepest ranks of the administrative state.

Remember, Lawfare in its purest form is not designed to win the final legal battle. Instead, it is a construct to use the law to create obstacles that will eventually fall under higher judicial review; but the larger intent is to impede the presidency, stall the inevitable, and maintain morale for the political activists and their media support systems.  Lawfare is a political construct intended to manipulate public opinion.

In the Dellinger v Bessent case, where President Trump has fired Hampton Dellinger at Treasury, a three-judge District of Columbia, Circuit Court, have intervened and maintained a TRO against President Trump blocking him from removing Dellinger from his position as Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel, at the Treasury Dept. [CASE pdf HERE]

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C. issued a temporary restraining order on February 12, restoring Dellinger to his position pending a further, preliminary order.  The District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the administration’s appeal in a 2-1 decision on Saturday, saying it was premature, given that Jackson’s order was only temporary.

Judge Florence Pan and Judge J Michelle Childs, both activist robed women, ruled to maintain the TRO and deny injunctive appellate relief.  Judge Gregory Katsas dissented from the Lawfare decision saying while TRO’s are not usually appealable, in this instance the TRO violates the Article II constitutional power of the President to conduct his official duties.  [Dissent Outlined Below]  Katsas would have granted the government’s stay.

Regardless of the DC Circuit Court decision, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris has now filed an “APPLICATION TO VACATE THE ORDER ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND REQUEST FOR AN IMMEDIATE ADMINISTRATIVE STAY” with the Supreme Court. [pdf HERE] The application by Acting SG Harris relies heavily on the dissenting opinion of Judge Katsas.

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Earlier today, President Donald Trump held an impromptu press conference after departing Air Force 1 returning from Daytona International Speedway.  President Trump took several questions about ongoing discussions with Ukraine, Europe, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

President Trump repeats what he asked both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “do you want peace.” It is the core question that determines the direction for optimal solutions.  WATCH:

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on Meet the Press to discuss his position toward ending the conflict with Russia.  Within the conversation [04:11], Zelenskyy said, “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine.”

President Zelenskyy represents the interests of the European Union, multinational corporations, various elements of NATO memberships, the World Economic Forum, the CIA division within the U.S. State Dept., western banks and a confab of various western intelligence operations.  After that, he represents the interests of Ukrainians.  This is why he will not permit elections.

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The looming confrontation between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with all the aforementioned interests Zelenskyy supports, is going to be something very interesting.

The interview is almost an hour.  I am embedding the transcript below; if you are short of time, you can read and review at your leisure.

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Earlier today, President Donald Trump attended the Daytona International Speedway for the start of the NASCAR year, the Daytona 500 race.

The crowd was roaring approval as President Trump’s Air Force-1 did a flyby, and then President Trump joined the drivers in the pit area.  Following pictures and handshakes President Trump took a lap around the track as the crowd cheered.  Awesome stuff.

FLORIDA – […] This weekend, the President’s motorcade drove straight onto the track in Florida and traveled a short distance in front of the NASCAR fans packed into the stands before it entered a secure area. He later returned onto the track, with his motorcade doing two laps before the race started, where he spoke to the drivers over the radio.

As Trump stood for the national anthem, he made a brief appearance on the jumbotron that was met with a massive cheer by the thousands of fans in the stadium, ready for The Great American Race. And as liberal NASCAR fans complained on social media that Trump was getting too much camera time, he told Fox that the first few weeks of his second term is a sign of things to come.

‘I think it’s fantastic, it’s great for the country,’ Trump said about the race. ‘Our country is doing well again, we have spirit all over the world. We brought it back and it’s been less than four weeks, so you’ll see what we do in a little period of time. It’s only going to get better. This is very exciting.‘ (more)

Videos Below:

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When reviewing the production, it is important to remember – when Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to an assembly in English, his audience is not in the room in Munich. Zelenskyy is speaking to America, through the scripted remarks.

When Zelenskyy is scripted to speak to Europe, he speaks Ukrainian.  When Zelenskyy is scripted to speak to America, he speaks English. This production pattern is consistent.

President Zelenskyy spoke to the Munich Security Conference after speaking to President Trump, after speaking to Secretary Rubio and after Vice-President JD Vance stunned the European audience by calling out their weak and fearful framework of democracy.  All of that is in the background of his remarks.

Acting as if he were a NATO member, he’s not, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy tells the European audience they need to plan for the U.S. to pull-back from NATO, and the European Union needs to assemble a collective “European Army.”   If Europe puts an army together, not a NATO army, but an independent European army, then the French, Germans, Dutch, Norwegians, Italians etc., can send their soldiers into Ukraine to join the fight against Russia.  Yeah, good luck with that.  WATCH:

The audience wasn’t exactly enthusiastic at the suggestion.

“The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that the time has come for the creation of a European army. ‘Our army alone is not enough, we need your support,’ he said, adding that the ‘old days’, when the US supported Europe ‘just because it always had’, are over. He told attendees he would not take Nato membership for Ukraine off the table and insisted that no decisions should be taken on ending Russia’s war without the involvement of Kyiv and Europe.”

Zelensky also told the European leaders at the Munich Security Conference that Russia, Belarus and North Korea are planning a full scale, nuclear invasion of Europe. He urged Europe to take preemptive action.  The full video is below:

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As expected, initial direct talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are being planned to take place in Saudi Arabia.  Saudi King Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) will be the key emissary to coordinate the agenda.

WASHINGTON DC – U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio held a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Feb. 15, just days after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Building on the Feb. 12 phone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States, the foreign ministers agreed to maintain a communication channel to address accumulated issues in Russian-American relations,” a readout from the Russian Foreign Ministry read.

“This is aimed at removing the unilateral barriers inherited from the previous administration that hinder mutually beneficial trade, economic, and investment cooperation.”

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Quickly, just for clarity. Narrative engineers from Reuters News Agency are kicking up dust about Elon Musk firing a dozen members of the U.S. Digital Services Office.  However, what Reuters does not say is that the “USDS” is the agency vehicle that was renamed “DOGE” during the Trump Executive Order [SEE HERE].

That’s right, Musk fired the preexisting staff within his own agency.

(Reuters) – Elon Musk’s DOGE team has sent termination notices to more than a dozen staffers at the U.S. Digital Services Office, a group of federal IT workers, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday citing two people familiar with the matter.

Musk’s DOGE has swept through federal agencies in recent weeks searching for spending cuts as part of Trump’s goal to overhaul and shrink the U.S. government. (link)

Now see Section Three DOGE Structure (emphasis mine): “Sec. 3.  DOGE Structure.  (a)  Reorganization and Renaming of the United States Digital Service.  The United States Digital Service is hereby publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service (USDS) and shall be established in the Executive Office of the President.” [Source]

The media are ridiculous.

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This is a good compare and contrast scenario.  Yesterday Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump delegation.  [SEE HERE] The bitterness, tension and anger in the room was palpable; this was a hostile meeting and the Ukranian team acted like they were meeting with enemies.

When you understand how corrupt the Ukraine officials are, and when you accept that President Trump is ending the funding to their family bank accounts, the Ukraine anger toward the Trump administration is understandable.  The Ukranian government officials hate President Trump with a passion.

Compare yesterday’s meeting to what you see below.  The U.S. congressional delegation (CODEL) to the Munich Security Conference consists of key Republicans (DeceptiCons) and corrupt Democrats who fund the Ukraine money laundry.  A process that includes kick-backs of the proceeds to the bank accounts of the Republicans and Democrats present.   Watch the greeting:

This is why our senators were too busy to get Kash Patel confirmed over the 3 day weekend.

They had much more important business in Munich sucking up to the little dictator and welfare queen Zelensky. pic.twitter.com/nkaC4K88JM

— Patriot Lady (@angelwoman501) February 15, 2025

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse even tells Zelenskyy, “You’re among friends here.”

Watch again without sound.  Expand full screen if on laptop. Notice how Adam Schiff (at the end of the table) is looking at the cameras, then playing it smart because he can see the optics are not good.  All of these congressional delegation members receive kickbacks as part of their indulgence package, many sit on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Senators include: Chris Murphy, Roger Wicker, Sheldon Whitehouse, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Coons, Thom Tillis, Chris Van Hollen, Joni Ernst, Elissa Slotkin, Adam Schiff, and one more I cannot quite make out, possibly Peter Welch.

Every one of these senators are working against the Trump administration, openly or under cover. Every one!

Roger Wicker was Pete Hegseth’s legislative confirmation guide and the republican Senator who went bananas yesterday when Secretary Hegseth said Ukraine would not gain NATO membership.  You will easily remember Joni Ernst immediate opposition to Hegseth also.

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I’ve been a little quiet on the Lawfare challenges to the DOGE mission in part because we’ve been sending CTH research files up through the silo to the legal eagles who need it.  Additionally, few -if any- of the outside legal filings against the administration are going to survive judicial review.

Quite simply, most of what the public is witnessing, almost entirely driven by funded media outlets, is simple Lawfare.  Remember, “Lawfare” in its purest form is not a legitimate legal challenge; it is a construct to create optics, frame narratives and fundraise for desperate leftists.

The underpinning of Lawfare is not designed to withstand legal scrutiny; it is a ruse, simply narrative and public opinion shaping. That’s it.

Interestingly a familiar name surfaced last night when District Judge John Bates essentially destroyed three of the legal challenges against Musk and DOGE when he determined that DOGE was acting as an “agency of government” appointed by President Trump.  Executive agencies have the ability to detail their employees to other agencies to conduct review and audits at the request of the executive, Trump.

“For the reasons explained above, on the record as it currently stands and with limited briefing on the issue, the case law defining agencies indicates that plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that [DOGE] is not an agency. If that is so, [DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act,” Judge Bates wrote.

This ruling opens up the Labor Department, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to review by the DOGE employees.

This gets interesting because Judge John Bates was a previous presiding judge of the FISA court and has spoken at length about supporting the FISA-702 process.  Judge Bates has defended the FBI/DOJ/Contractor use of the NSA database.

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