Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin to meet with President Trump emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ahead of the previously scheduled Monday summit with the Coalition of The Willing, U.K, France and Germany.
The wording used by Zelenskyy tells the dynamic: “We are currently preparing for meetings with the U.S. side and our European friends in the coming days. Berlin will host many events.”
The “U.S side” and “European friends”, a notable distinction in the terminology as Zelenskyy notes his friendship with his European stakeholders.
Today, Sunday, Zelenskyy notes, “I am already in Germany. Today’s agenda includes a meeting with the American negotiating team. We are focusing on how to reliably guarantee Ukraine’s security so that the experience of the Budapest Memorandum and Russia’s invasion are never repeated. We are counting on constructive talks.”
For President Zelenskyy and his EU coalition, everything revolves around the security guarantees. As noted by Politico:
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller appears on Fox News to discuss the federal investigation that is taking place into a massive welfare and subsidy scam uncovered in Minnesota. At the heart of the issue are thousands of Somali immigrants who were allowed into the U.S. and have abused various aid programs.
There are also reports indicating that 70% of the economy in the country of Somalia now comes from remittances sent by this same community, including money sent to al-Shabaab terrorist groups. The scale of the fraud is jaw-dropping as almost every financial aid program is being abused by the Somali immigrant community. WATCH:
This year Federal and state prosecutors opened multiple investigations into fraud tied to Minnesota programs being abused by the Somali community.
An investigation into “Feeding Our Future” (a child‑nutrition nonprofit) led to dozens of indictments and it got worse as officials also began investigating Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services and alleged false autism diagnoses tied to reimbursements. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson has described the scope of the fraud as astonishing and labeled the issue a “crisis.”
President Trump announced the immediate termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota, citing fraud and “money laundering.” The DOJ, CMS and various cabinet agencies are also investigating various programs to determine the full scope of the financial fraud.
Meanwhile DHS and the FBI are reviewing remittance destinations to determine potential terrorist connections, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz blames President Trump for noticing the issue.
Two U.S. National Guard servicemen were killed along with a U.S. civilian interpreter in an ISIS attack in Syria. Three additional American troops were wounded. President Trump said during an impromptu presser at the White House, the three wounded Americans “seem to be doing pretty well.” The U.S. military said the gunman was killed in the attack. Syrian officials said the attack also wounded members of Syria’s security forces.
Posting on Truth Social, President Trump: “We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one Civilian Interpreter. Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well. This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation.”
.
(VIA AP) – […] The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which earlier said two members of Syria’s security force and several U.S. service members had been wounded. The casualties were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan.
Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba said a gunman linked to IS opened fire at the gate of a military post. (more)
The geopolitical baseline for Europe is often determined by the economics of their situation. In 2024 approximately 408,000 cars from China were sold in Europe. For 2025 that number is now expected to exceed 700,000 units despite tariffs.
Previously we highlighted the short-term ramifications of the European Union push to force the sale of electric vehicle (EVs) upon the consumer base. {SEE HERE} EU automakers unable to meet the compliance goal began purchasing carbon credits to avoid stiff EU fines. Many of those carbon credits were purchased from Chinese automakers, who then turned around and started using the extra EU revenue to discount Chinese cars sold in Europe.
In essence, EU car companies started subsiding China to undercut their own market. An outcome of the EU chasing the ridiculous green energy project throughout the European free trade zone.
Now reports are beginning to surface of how the non-EV segment of the industry is being lost to less expensive Chinese hybrid autos that: (1) are much cheaper, (2) not bad in quality, and (3) are not subject to the 35% EV tariff rate.
The EU tariff applied to gasoline powered cars or hybrids from China is 10%. That tariff is not enough to stop the imports. The Chinese hybrid autos are substantially less than European car brands, and there’s no financial incentive for China to build auto plants in the EU zone especially when you consider the EU is subsidizing those cars by purchasing carbon credits.
When analyzed from a cost and consequence, the entire EU dynamic toward car companies is a little funny. However, for Germany this is a serious issue, and with the German industrial economy already stagnant – every impact to their auto industry only makes the situation worse.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard appears on Fox News to discuss the Trump administrations’ effort to track down, capture and remove a reported 18,000 known and documented terrorists who crossed the southern border and entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.
There are several elements to this issue, and unfortunately the aspect that pertains to identifying them and locating them works to enhance the argument of those who support govt surveillance. In fact, both the use of Palantir track and trace technology in combination with the FISA-702 reauthorization come into play here.
I would argue, as I have since 2022, that one of the reasons the DC administrative state allowed the Biden regime to create this national security threat, was specifically so they could justify the creation and use of a national identity surveillance net.
Washington DC supported the creation of the borderless crisis, in part to ensure the need for their surveillance solution. This puts the efforts of DNI Gabbard into a catch-22 scenario as witnessed in the questioning before congress of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. WATCH:
.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are trying to remove thousands of national security threats and deport millions of illegal aliens. The tools they need to track and identify those threats are the tools DC wants to retain against everyone, not just the threats.
In order to keep the pitchforks away, Washington DC has filled the haystack with needles. Gabbard (DNI), Noem (DHS) and Homan (ICE) are using metal detectors while the DC UniParty keeps operating the needle-making machinery.
Generally, the Washington Post is the outlet for interests and concerns of the CIA or international elements of the U.S. intelligence community. Narratives from the Washington Post usually shape storylines against scrutiny of the Intelligence Community.
It has been widely reported that the FBI has been working closely with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in detecting and discovering corruption amid Ukraine officials who have skimmed money from various international aid programs. However, the Washington Post is suddenly concerned that FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino have held “secret meetings” with lead Ukraine peace negotiator Rustem Umerov.
This becomes interesting if you have followed along and noted that during negotiations the reports of Rustem Umerov indicated his concurrence with the peace agreements structured by Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Indeed, based on feedback during these meetings President Trump has said the Ukraine delegation appeared “quite happy” with the terms of the Witkoff/Kushner proposals, while Ukraine President Zelenskyy was less accepting.
Between the lines of statements following the consultations, it is easy to get the sense that Rustem Umerov is in alignment with the U.S. proposals, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not. Hence, Zelenskyy keeps returning to his U.K, France, Germany and EU support network for counterproposals despite his officials like Umerov working with the U.S. team directly.
[…] “The meetings have caused alarm among Western officials who remain in the dark about their intent and purpose. Some said they believe Umerov and other Ukrainian officials sought out Patel and Bongino in the hopes of obtaining amnesty from any corruption allegations the Ukrainians could face. Others worry the newly established channel could be used to exert pressure on Zelensky’s government to accept a peace deal, proposed by the Trump administration, containing steep concessions for Kyiv.” (more)
The FBI working with NABU to uncover Ukraine corruption. The FBI is meeting with Ukraine lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov. A massive corruption scandal has just taken down Zelenskyy’s main aide, Andriy Yermak.
President Trump held a White House ceremony to celebrate the 1980 USA Olympic Victory over the Russian team, ‘The Miracle on Ice’, eventually leading to the U.S. winning the Olympic gold medal.
The oval office celebration represents Donald Trump in his comfortable element, celebrating American pride, laughing and bringing big smiles to all of the attendees. The entire event is worth watching, the media Q&A begins at 25:00:
The United States Office of the Comptroller for the Currency (OCC) has delivered the preliminary results of an investigation into large U.S. banks and the practice of “debanking” customers based on ideology. [PDF HERE]
Between 2020 and 2023, the OCC found that JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial Corp., PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Bank of Montreal, all maintained policies that restricted legal companies from access to banking based on the “values” of the bank.
According to the OCC report, “these nine banks made inappropriate distinctions among customers in the provision of financial services on the basis of their lawful business activities by maintaining policies restricting access to banking services or requiring escalated reviews and approvals before providing certain customers access to financial services.”
Press Release– […] The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today released preliminary findings from its supervisory review of debanking activities at the nine largest national banks it supervises: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank.
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Frederich Merz hold a press conference as a meeting in Paris this weekend (13th) and Berlin on Monday (15th) are scheduled to finalize EU terms for a negotiated Ukraine-Russia ceasefire.
Within the remarks Merz notes a preliminary document outlining possible land concessions has recently been sent to the Trump administration, and that set of documents likely includes an outline for ‘security guarantees’ assembled by the coalition of the willing (Germany, France and UK). “It mainly concerns the question of what territorial concessions Ukraine is prepared to make,” Mr Merz said. He stressed that any decision on land concessions was up to the Ukrainian government and its people.
Chancellor Merz said, “If we continue as imagined, there will be talks with the US administration over the weekend and there might be a meeting at the beginning of next week in Berlin. Whether the US administration will take part in the meeting depends on the papers we are working on [at present].”
Speaking to an audience together with NATO Secretary Rutte, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, emphasized the 28-point outline originally created by Trump, Rubio, Witkoff and Ukraine/Russia officials was dead. “As the 28-point plan was mentioned, it is no longer existing,” Wadephul said. “We had some influence on it” he remarked, seemingly bragging about how Europe destroyed the U.S plan.
Another report on Thursday said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged Volodymyr Zelensky to accept “painful concessions” for a peace deal. According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, tensions surfaced between the two leaders as Ms Meloni pressed Mr Zelensky to accede to US demands. “There is sufficient evidence indicating that not everything went smoothly and that some differences were clearly expressed for the first time by both parties,” the newspaper stated.
Meanwhile back in Washington, DC, President Trump delivered remarks on the Ukraine-EU negotiations yesterday, noting his discussions with the European team and the potential for Trump’s emissaries to attend either the Paris or Berlin meeting if something productive can be gained from it.
