Earlier today, President Trump held the swearing-in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services along with Secretary of HHS Robert F Kennedy Jr. Following the ceremony President Trump took questions from the media.
The first questions to President Trump encompass the remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio about walking away from peace negotiations in the Ukraine-Russia conflict if the EU/UK and NATO participants do not get serious about stopping the bloodshed. The Q&A segment begins at 13:42 (prompted) WATCH:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in Paris on April 18 about the prolonged peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. However, a frustrated Rubio warned that the U.S. could “move on” from its involvement in negotiations to end the war if no progress is made “within a matter of days and weeks.” That’s the mainstream media narrative.
The non-pretending summary is that Ukraine, France, Great Britain, the EU, NATO et al are all trying to retain their interests in the conflict. Russia has simple terms, but the war machinery controlled by the intel apparatus (CIA and EU) and the financial stakeholders in the EU region are unhappy. [Too many cooks] A frustrated Secretary Rubio says, make up your mind, if no deal – ¹we’re done. WATCH:
¹Having followed this very closely, here’s what “we’re done” likely means.
President Trump ends the USA side of the proxy war. President Trump pulls back all support for Ukraine; stops sending money, weapons and to the extent he can, intelligence to Ukraine. This opens the door for Russia to go full combat as the ground thaws, without concern for USA to engage.
The EU will have to step up with funding, intelligence and war material to continue supporting Ukraine. Rubio is calling the EU/UK bluff here because he knows without the USA the EU/UK will not commit to fight Russia.
Remember if no one does anything, Russia has already gained the ground they want and will just continue grinding western Ukraine to ever expanding rubble. Factually, doing nothing is a big win for Russia, especially if Trump withdraws.
There are a ton of geopolitical influences happening in the background and foreground of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Trump voice and envoy Steve Witkoff, and Keith Kellogg meeting in Paris with delegations from France, U.K, Ukraine and EU stakeholders. The intent is to get the EU/UK on board with a Trump/Putin ceasefire plan.
French President Emmanuel Macron (seeking a distraction from his own internal political turmoil) has appointed himself as representative for EU interests in the peace negotiations. No one in the EU wants to hear Macron keep whining, so they just roll with it. Macron even bought new lifts for the occasion.
The UK comes into the picture in Paris because France and the UK have decided to lead the coerced EU “coalition of the willing” (not many are willing) to create the boots on the ground peacekeepers if there is going to be a ceasefire. REMINDER: Macron and Starmer demand the U.S. backstop their proposed Ukraine peacekeeping with USA military power.
Those of you who bet on Macron using the opportunity to leverage a better tariff position; actually, the entire reason he appointed himself leader; can take a victory lap. “At Thursday’s talks in Paris, Macron also discussed the impact of Trump’s tariff policies and the conflicts in the Mideast.” (source) We all knew the little French rat would. We were right.
The report comes as a result of leaks to the New York Times. Which, given the nature of the subject matter and administration officials involved, indicates the sourcing is from the domestic IC side of things. Specifically, the greatest likelihood is from someone in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) talking to media. Keep that in mind.
According to leaked information to the New York Times, President Trump did not agree with an Israeli proposal to launch military strikes against Iran. According to the narrative as advanced, President Trump, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were in agreement to attempt diplomatic solutions instead of bombing Iran.
Israel could not conduct the attack without U.S. support, which President Trump decided not to give. Instead, Trump wanted a more forceful push toward engagement and diplomacy with Iran surrounding the ongoing contentious issue of nuclear development.
NEW YORK TIMES – Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.
Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.
The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate.
President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to St Petersburg (interesting venue), and spent approximately 5 hours in discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top two advisors. This was Witkoff’s third direct face-to-face meeting with President Putin.
First, President Putin would never give this much time to a non-principal in any geopolitical conversation, unless Putin felt he was directly talking to the principal through the voice in front of him. In essence, Trump has told Putin that Witkoff is his mouth and ears, Putin responds accordingly. When Putin speaks to Witkoff he is speaking to Trump, and when Putin hears from Witkoff he is hearing from Trump.
Following the five-hour meeting with President Putin, Witkoff appears on Fox News so that Sean Hannity can tell Witkoff what his meeting with Putin really means. Hannity is not only insufferable, at this point in time he is best considered a confidential human source, ¹acting on behalf of the CIA who influence him. WATCH:
Within the brief moments provided by Hannity for Witkoff to speak, the envoy of President Trump noted both Putin and Trump understand the core issues and are aligned to solve the problem despite the CIA and SSCI efforts to keep wedging them apart. Additionally, Trump and Putin see a future where geopolitical and economic alignment can be very beneficial for both Russia and the United States; they just need to find a way to navigate the complex politics on the U.S/NATO side of the mess.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has been a key strategic ally for the Trump administration in support of the deportation and repatriation of hundreds of criminal aliens and gang members from the region.
Beginning in 2012, supported by President Obama, thousands of criminal gang members from south and central America flooded into the USA. In 2017, President Trump began to secure the border; however, in 2021 Joe Biden made the entry of alien gang members even easier. In 2025, President Trump is utilizing President Bukele and his maximum detention centers in El Salvador to reverse the flow and remove the gangs.
President Bukele has initiated major criminal justice reform in the nation of El Salvador, liberating millions of people who were terrorized by the criminal element. Today President Trump thanked Bukele for his partnership in the White House and held an open press assembly. WATCH:
A slight change of venue in Russia as President Trump envoy Steve Witkoff travels to St Petersburg for his third meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The talks come as President Trump’s other special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is apparently starting to realize Vladimir Putin is not going to return the four Russian speaking regions in Ukraine east of the Dnipro river.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The timing puts Secretary Rubio in Europe just as NATO allies and European countries are reviewing the impact of the reciprocal tariffs levied against them by President Trump.
The press pool reacts to the concerns of several European and NATO member states through their questions. Secretary Rubio eloquently cuts through the nonsense, through the narrative engineering, and deliberately – with clarity – outlines the position of the Trump administration. Secretary Rubio is well within his element in these responses.
Rubio has really showcased a remarkable talent in support of President Trump and the diplomatic agenda of the Trump administration; remarkably so. The era of pretending diplomacy is coming rapidly to a close and Rubio is doing very well in his position. WATCH:
Despite our already outlining each of these details the New York Times is now confirming, do not overlook the geopolitical consequences that will surface as a result of their publication.
The New York Times published two articles {HERE and HERE} revealing: 1) that U.S. military boots are on the ground in Ukraine. (2) The U.S. military is actively involved in the ongoing targeting of strikes into Russia. (3) The CIA is operating in Ukraine and conducting targeted strikes into the Russian Federation mainland.
New York Times – […] [F]or nearly three years before Mr. Trump’s return to power, the United States and Ukraine were joined in an extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology whose evolution and inner workings have been known only to a small circle of American and allied officials.
[…] The idea behind the partnership was that America’s close cooperation with Ukraine would compensate for Russia’s vast advantages in manpower and weaponry. To guide the Ukrainians as they deployed their ever-more-sophisticated arsenal, the Americans created an operation called Task Force Dragon.
The secret center of the partnership was at the U.S. Army garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany. Each morning, U.S. and Ukrainian military officers set targeting priorities — Russian units, pieces of equipment or infrastructure. American and coalition intelligence officers searched satellite imagery, radio emissions and intercepted communications to find Russian positions. Task Force Dragon then gave the Ukrainians the coordinates so they could shoot at them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently (3/27/25) visited the Commander and Crew of the latest Russian nuclear submarine, the Arkhangelsk.
The Arkhangelsk is a Project 885M Yasen-M ship, the latest fourth-generation multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying any sea-launched missiles and effectively hitting targets both at sea and on land. The submarine was completed and delivered to the Russian Navy on December 27, 2024. “Its crew has recently completed its basic training and is now ready to carry out its duties at sea.”
♦ Could you share your assessment of the latest developments and how the special military operation has been unfolding?
Vladimir Putin: “Of course, I can.
To put it briefly, we are gradually moving towards achieving all the objectives we set for ourselves at the start of the operation. Some would have liked these advances to happen at a quicker pace, but we have gathered steady momentum and have been confidently advancing our positions. But I would like to frame this question in a different way.
What I want to say is that we were not the ones who started or launched hostilities. It all started in the wake of the 2014 coup d’etat in Ukraine. Western countries supported it, and this was how hostilities broke out in southeastern Ukraine.
We tried to resolve these issues by peaceful means for eight years. Taking Crimea and its people, as well as the people of Sevastopol under our wing was something we had to do. And we went to great lengths and were unrelenting in our efforts to resolve all matters concerning Donbass and Lugansk by peaceful means.”
