Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Richard Blumental appear on CBS with the always dramatic Margaret Brennan to discuss what President Trump is going to do against Russia and President Vladimir Putin tomorrow.  Senator Lindsey Graham is very happy with the plans President Trump will outline tomorrow; very happy.

The action appears to center around the confiscation of Russian assets, Russian central bank reserves held in European bonds. The money belongs to the people of Russia in the form of bonds previously purchased by Russia using a system that many nations follow, including all those nations who buy U.S. treasuries.

If the USA or Europe end up confiscating those funds, the only thing this action would prove is that the western financial system cannot be trusted. Many Nations are already reluctant, some fleeing from EU/U.S treasuries as a result of this threat, and we are seeing changes in the bond rates as a result.  Senator Graham doesn’t care about the strategic financial interests of the USA, he’s more concerned about fighting Russia regardless of long-term ramifications.  WATCH:

[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation. We have a lot to get to this morning. So, let’s begin with Senator Lindsey Graham in Clemson, South Carolina, and Senator Richard Blumenthal in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They both just returned from Europe, where they met with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Good morning to you both, Senators.

SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: Good morning.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: Good Morning.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Graham, I want to start with you. Russia is escalating. They’re not ending this war in Ukraine. NATO’s Secretary General is going to be here, in Washington, this week and will be meeting with President Trump, who is, according to our reporting, considering fresh funding for Ukraine. That would be the first time since he’s taken office. What do you know about what is coming?

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Everyone can see the play by President Trump. Essentially, the “coalition of the willing” (U.K, Germany, France) are not willing to go to war against Russia without the United States in front of them.  Giving the coalition the weapons puts the consequences of their use on the heads of NATO allies.

Despite the majority of Washington DC, specifically the Senate thirsting, pleading and demanding an expanded NATO war, President Trump does not want to go to war against Russia. However, simultaneously Trump has to try and steer the war machine controlled by DC, the Senate, USIC and NATO.

The INERTIA for expanded war is evident.  President Trump is now trying to split the baby regarding Russia, by sending patriot missiles and weapons to NATO as opposed to sending them directly to Ukraine.

In February Marco Rubio earnestly and honestly said, “The Ukraine conflict is a proxy war for the United States against Russia.”  President Trump has concurred with that statement and through his prior comments he attempted to extricate the U.S. from this dynamic.

The shipment of missiles to NATO instead of Ukraine is simply a way of trying to stop direct support, yet Trump is forced by the inertia toward war to maintain a footing of expanded conflict with Russia.

To be very clear, Russian President Vladimir Putin is clear-eyed on this situation with NATO, and he has been all along.

Putin has said repeatedly that NATO was/is in direct conflict against Russia despite Ukraine not being a NATO member.  This conflict with NATO well precedes Putin’s decision to conduct a ‘special military operation’ within Ukraine.

Now, we see through Trump’s approach the dropping of pretenses.  Putin was correct.  With NATO directly providing the war weapons to Ukraine there is no pretense, no doubt. NATO countries are funding an offensive war against Russia using a non NATO proxy state, Ukraine.

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CNN state media narrative engineers (think State Dept. in all things CNN) are running with a story to promote a new book by Josh Dawsey (Wall Street Journal – Author), Tyler Pager (New York Times – Author), Isaac Arnsdorf (Washington Post – Author) where they write about an audio segment by candidate Trump telling NY donors how he threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping.

The leaked audio is essentially unremarkable as President Trump has told this story several times. However, the background context is more interesting when we consider the motives of the WSJ, NYT and WaPo. Here’s the segment:

The WSJ is against President Trump based on economics; WSJ representing Wall Street. The NYT is against President Trump based on DHS/DOJ domestic opposition from within DC. The WaPo is against President Trump based on the CIA position and larger intelligence community. None of the motives within these outlets are challenged by the intellectually honest political observers.

So, what’s the play here?

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Some thoughts on what I would call ‘modern warfare’ for citizen preppers.  Some of this experience may pertain to urban areas, some perhaps pertinent overall.

Dimitri’s wife is grabbing her purse to go to the grocery store, when he casually says “it’s 5:45.” She just as ordinarily replies, “I’ve got cash.”  Dimitri sees the slightly puzzled look on my face and flippantly notes, “they turn off the internet at six thirty now,” shrugs, and goes back to reading his paper.

Perhaps similar to London life during the blitz. Various municipal govts coordinated the shut down of lights and people wait. Others got about doing what they needed to do, sirens notwithstanding.

There is a familiar life amid modern drone warfare, and with the similar control of electricity comes the need to add internet.

When the drones are coming they turn off the internet.

As I contemplate the contrasts in social resilience, my most familiar reference point is life after a hurricane.  In Florida when we are dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane, no power, no water, no internet, etc., you adapt to life without modern technological conveniences.

If you’ve ever lived amid the aftermath of natural disasters, you understand the need for a plan and quick adaptation. Do it a few times and adaption becomes ordinary. Horrible in ways, yes; awkward, certainly. But you take things in stride; overcome, figure out the optimal solution and keep moving.  However, not everyone is prepared to consider a disruption an ‘inconvenience’ and many people who need consistency to retain stability end up in panic.  I think long term readers well understand the reference.

As Dimitri goes back to the paper my mind shifts to stuff I’ve heard in bits and pieces but never given context before.

I think about this U.S. ‘Space Force’ thing, and now realize there are people who have gamed out modern warfare more than we discuss as a western technological society.

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President Trump held an impromptu presser aboard Air Force One traveling to New Jersey after July 4th celebrations. Interesting comments about Ukraine and Russia as President Trump took several questions.

At 07:51, “Mr President, are you confident you will be able to find a way to end the fighting in Ukraine?”  President Trump responds, “That’s an interesting question”….  WATCH:

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Huge win.  President Donald J Trump is officially unleashed.  Good stuff.

The final vote to pass the Big Beautiful Bill was 218 to 214.  The vote was almost entirely along party lines. Only Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-Ukraine) and Thomas Massie (KY-Sea Isl) joined Democrats in opposition to the bill.

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Hang on to your bootstraps folks, your ability to withstand extreme winning is soon to be tested.

Who gets the first call?

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… Put yourself in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s shoes against the backdrop of 35 previously exiled Russian officials from the United States as a result of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment and Joint Analysis Report {BACKGROUND}.

QUESTION: What exactly would Vladimir Putin think about this admission from the CIA?

[Source]

CIA Director John Ratcliffe admits the former CIA and FBI fabricated the intelligence that led to the expulsion of Russian officials under the false premise of Russia “hacking” the 2016 election.  Why now?

How would Putin interpret this very public message?

Then, consider the sequence….

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If my data alignment points are accurate, now that the BBB is passed through the Senate we are likely to see some very major geopolitical changes come rushing to the surface.

Keep watching and let’s see if things happen the way we expect.

WASHINGTON DC – The Pentagon has halted shipments of some air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine due to worries that U.S. weapons stockpiles have fallen too low.

[…] In a statement following the publication of this story, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said that the decision “was made to put America’s interests first following a DOD review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe. The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran.”

Included among the items being pulled back are missiles for Patriot air defense systems, precision artillery rounds, Hellfire and other missiles that Ukraine launches from its F-16 fighters and drones.

The losses will surely be felt on the ground as Ukraine continues to beat back fresh assaults by Russian forces. (read more)

In related news not getting attention, French President Emmanuel Macron had a two-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today. [LINK]  Also, Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the president of Azerbaijan today, an ally of Putin [LINK]. Azerbaijan is to Russia as Mexico is to the United States.

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President Trump discusses the last two weeks with Fox News Maria Bartiromo.  The interview is broken down into a few segments below.  WATCH:

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In the second segment below, President Trump discusses the Big Beautiful Bill.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin answered questions from the media earlier.  One of the questions was about President Trump against the backdrop of peace efforts, the middle-east conflict and Ukraine.

President Putin’s response is very interesting.  I am placing here as a datapoint for my own analysis without reading too much into it at the moment.  All of the points are converging in one direction.  WATCH: 

BREAKING: Putin says he deeply respects Trump, whom he describes as a courageous person who’s trying to do the right thing by bringing about world peace.

“I believe he truly wants peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, though it may be harder than he expected.” pic.twitter.com/utXlbaiPNf

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 27, 2025

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Congratulations Treepers.  If you have followed the discussions [SEE HERE] you can see how we are on the cusp of a big geopolitical change.  GET THE BBB PASSED and things begin to unfold.  All of the datapoints go in one direction.

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