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?
… 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?
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….
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.
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.
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.
U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, who was appointed by Joe Biden, has departed her position in Moscow as U.S. Ambassador to Russia. There has been no announced name for replacement. [¹Get the friggin’ BBB passed!]
Remember, in the last 20+ years, no American official has spent more face-to-face time with Vladimir Putin than U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff. On behalf of President Trump Witkoff has held multiple meetings and discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin lasting more than 4 and 5 hours at a time. U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was not present.
Do not forget, nor overlook this baseline fact.
MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) – Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, is leaving Moscow, her embassy said on Friday, noting she had served through one of the most strained periods in relations between Moscow and Washington.
The departure of a career diplomat appointed under the administration of former president Joe Biden comes as Russia and the United States discuss a potential reset in their ties which sharply deteriorated after Moscow launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022.
Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff deserves a great deal of credit for what followed in the aftermath of President Trump’s final elimination of the Iranian nuclear threat. Throughout the 12-day war, Witkoff maintained a diplomatic connection to the Iranian delegation in order to position a ceasefire upon conclusion.
The Trump administration is now taking a more firm stance toward who in Iran they will accept negotiations with. As noted by Secretary Rubio, the use of intermediaries has exhausted its usefulness. While Qatar may play a role as an interlocutor to bridge the two sides, the time has come for direct face-to-face discussions with Iranian officials.
With the potential of a peace agreement and increased stability throughout the region, there is an opportunity for an expanded investment and economic zone throughout the middle east, not just in Iran. As CTH noted regarding the threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, technically it is not the Iranian government who closes the strait, but rather the maritime insurance companies who refuse to underwrite an enlarged risk. The same concept applies when the absence of conflict becomes the norm. Steve Witkoff draws attention to this background context within his remarks.
An ancillary benefit in the Russia-Ukraine conflict comes from a very public display of FAFO outcomes. None of the principle characters within NATO, the EU, the U.K nor Ukraine or Russia want to face the Godzilla FAFO strategy that President Trump is willing to deploy.
The reason why the NATO partners responded with great deference to President Trump in the Netherlands is no global observer wants to face Godzilla in FAFO mode, militarily or economically. Even before the dust settled from 70 tons of massive ordnance detonation deep underground in Iran the leaders of the world knew things would be different now.
How different? We saw the outcome at the Hague.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomes President Donald Trump at the beginning of the working sessions for the G7 assembly in Canada.
During the press availability President Trump notes the G7 used to be the G8, however following the Crimea referendum and President Putin’s response to accept the outcome of the vote, the NATO alliance led by President Barack Obama took Russia out of the group. President Trump says he “agreed” with Putin’s reaction to the decision.
The G7 speak about Russia consistently at almost every meeting, without a willingness to listen to the voice or opinion of Russia in context to their protestations. Quite simply it is easier for Italy, Canada, the U.K, France, Germany, Japan and the USA to exist inside an echo-chamber without having their multilateral arguments challenged. President Trump does not fear the debate of ideas with Russia present in the room, another point of distinction between Trump and the assembly.
Wrong is wrong even if everybody does it; and right is right even if nobody does it. It takes strong confidence to assert a position counter to popular opinion, this is what makes President Donald Trump a transformative political influence.
In the background, President Vladimir Putin is undoubtedly paying attention.
Also, read carefully what President of the European Council António Costa said today:
According to most information flowing from the region, a second wave attack from Israel us underway (or just completed). The first wave targeting was the Iranian military leadership and nuclear scientists, the second wave hitting the nuclear installations.
We could tell from the initial targeting, the IDF were not targeting hardened installations, they were targeting people who run them where they live in the middle of the night. This appears to be confirmed by ground reporting of residences being the target with highly strategic Mossad agents on the ground doing major intelligence activity to identify the targets. It appears Israel was very successful (but still really early).
That approach also establishes the baseline for internal Iranian political opposition to push for regime change.
The second wave of Israeli targeting then goes directly at the nuclear installations. This approach also makes sense. First round takes out the brain power, second round takes out their hardened facilities (much more difficult to eliminate).
As the operation proceeds, we now turn focus to the U.S. interests, and this is where we use hindsight to last Sunday’s Camp David meeting.
Secretary of State / National Security Advisor Marco Rubio emphasizes Israel is acting “unilaterally,” without USA support. President Trump proactively and strategically emphasizes his preferred approach of “diplomacy.”
Some will doubt, but I would draw your attention to Trump’s relay of the call with Vladimir Putin last week. Obviously, President Trump understood Israel was on the cusp of taking some ‘unilateral’ action, albeit with a likelihood of a heads-up to USA of approximate timing (Sunday Camp David as a proactive ‘get us prepped’ agenda).
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and public policy analyst who is a professor at Columbia University. Mr Sachs has been against the Ukraine-Russia conflict from the outset and provides a voice to those who are tired of the constant global conflict.
0:00 Introduction
0:47 Why Is Ukraine So Central to the Deep State’s Plan?
4:51 The West’s Obsession With Weakening Russia
9:11 The Origins of the West’s Hatred of Russia
23:49 How the Deep State Used Bill Clinton to Usher in NATO Expansion
31:37 What’s Stopping Trump From Making Peace Between Ukraine and Russia?