When President Trump says, “I’m not sure”, it’s an honest answer. The remarkable aspect is that this type of honesty is not common among politicians.

Maria Bartiromo previews her broadcast of an interview with President Trump, which will air on Sunday. In this segment, Ms. Bartiromo asks President Trump about the future of U.S-China trade relations. While noting that in a few weeks President Trump and Chairman Xi are likely to meet in ¹Seoul S-Korea, as President Trump travels to both the ASEAN and APEC meetings.

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¹I’m not sure if this will happen, but it appears that President Trump might actually travel East to get to Malaysia (Oct 26-28) and South Korea at the end of October (31st).  Why fly East?  Well, if the information aligns correctly, en route to Asia, President Trump appears to have a stop in Budapest, Hungary (Oct 24/25?) on the same timeline.  Fly to Europe, then onward in a southeasterly direction to Asia.  The alternative would be to meet Putin in Budapest in the first few days of November (2nd or 3rd).

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During a flight to the Middle East, President Trump noted, before he would give authorization for NATO to sell Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, he would discuss the matter with President Putin. Earlier today, President Trump said he and Putin held a productive phone call:

President Trump via Truth Social – “I have just concluded my telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, and it was a very productive one. President Putin congratulated me and the United States on the Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East, something that, he said, has been dreamed of for centuries. I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine.

President Putin thanked the First Lady, Melania, for her involvement with children. He was very appreciative and said that this will continue. We also spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over.

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China holds a monopolistic level of control on the industrial processing of rare earth minerals.  The minerals themselves are not rare; it’s the processing of them into refined elements used in industrial electronic component manufacturing that gives China power.

The U.S. and China hold a current trade agreement saying, essentially, we will remain steady with the baseline tariffs in exchange for Beijing maintaining a consistent policy on the export of processed rare earth magnets and minerals.  The announcement of export controls by Beijing violated the terms of that trade agreement, and President Trump responded by announcing an additional retaliatory tariff of 100%, effective November 1st.

China then sent a clarification statement saying current licensing and trade agreements would be honored.  On his flight to Israel, President Trump said, “I think I know what happened, I know what happened” and downplayed the trade action.  U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer gives some background.  WATCH:

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Vice President JD Vance appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Israel/Hamas peace agreement over Gaza and other regional issues.

As noted by Vance, the Gulf Arab states are willing to provide boots on the ground to establish the security parameters for the Gaza area, as well as the vast majority of the funding to rebuild Gaza and monitor the stability therein.  Additionally, Vice President Vance discussed the government shutdown and the ways President Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought are working through the process of funding priority.  Tariff revenue will be a significant offset.

The conversation then goes to the Chinese trade actions and the new tariffs against Beijing.  WATCH:

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In a significant response to a direct Chinese trade action, President Trump has announced a 100% retaliatory tariff against China effective November 1st.

President Trump Via Truth Social – “It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them. This affects ALL Countries, without exception, and was obviously a plan devised by them years ago. It is absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations.

Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.

It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Finland is slightly smaller than Montana and wedged between Sweden and Russia. Finland, a nation of approximately 5 million people, has a security outlook shaped by its geography, a strategic position within the new NATO/Arctic strategy.

President Trump holds a bilateral discussion with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, as the two leaders complete terms for eleven icebreaker ships valued at $6.1 billion. Under terms of the deal, three of the ships will be built by Davie in Galveston, Texas, and four by Bollinger Shipyards in Houma, Louisiana.

Finland is the world leader in icebreaker ship building, and will help teach U.S. ship building companies the latest advances in the technology. WATCH:

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney travels to the U.S. for a White House meeting with President Trump.  The two leaders hold a press availability prior to entering negotiations.  WATCH:

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on CNBC to discuss the second full day of the government shutdown and the potential ramifications therein.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought is meeting with President Trump today to discuss the facets of the government that will be closed and for the duration therein.  Secretary Bessent is asked if the furloughs will be a long-term feature of the backfire created by the Democrat strategy.

Bessent reemphasizes he personally joined the Trump administration to shrink the scale of government spending, and the administration is not going to flinch on any CR agreement that backtracks on existing spending reductions.  WATCH:

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In a brutally honest Truth Social post today, President Trump calls out the EU/NATO nations to stop buying Russian energy products if they want him to lead the imposition of stronger sanctions against Russia.

The “coalition of the willing” has been openly and privately applying public pressure upon President Trump to push stronger sanctions against Russia.  However, at the same time the EU/NATO are making these demands, they are also purchasing Russian energy products as delivered through third parties.

So today, President Trump posts this:

[SOURCE]

A non-diplomatic way of saying, ‘put up or shut up.’

Those of you who understand business terms can well understand “making the monkey jump.”  President Trump is not taking their monkey.

This is a direct response to the public statements being made by EU/NATO leadership, who are -by design- trying to put the responsibility onto President Trump, and defer all their own culpability in the process.

This is similar to the approach President Trump took in 2018 when he very publicly called out German Chancellor Angela Merkel for continuing the Nordstream II Pipeline deal with Russia while simultaneously expecting President Trump to fortify NATO against Russia.

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The financial punditry are verklempt, puzzled and perplexed as the wholesale inflation rate calculated by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Producer Price Index [DATA HERE] shows a drop in PPI of -0.1% for August.

Despite the pundits claiming the Trump tariffs were going to drive up prices, the data shows the manufacturers of products are absorbing the majority of the tariff costs, the importers are absorbing the remnants and the consumer prices are not reflecting the tariff.  Go figure!

[DATA HERE]

Exactly as expected, the wholesale price of tariffs are being offset by production cost reductions by the export dependent manufacturing companies overseas.  This is exactly what took place in the first term, and the situation is duplicating even with higher tariff rates.

Export dependent nations are squeezing their own productivity, their governments are subsidizing the critical industries and the tariffs are being absorbed before they even leave the docks.   This is the USA “rust belt” in reverse.  The same scenario played out in the USA for decades as domestic manufacturers tried to retain U.S. industry.  Now the foreign countries are experiencing their own economic squeeze.

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