Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, another deliberate and happy warrior, appears on Face the Nation to deconstruct the narratives presented by NBC and Kirsten Welker.
Starting with the Mexico and Canada tariff issues, Welker incorrectly frames the current issue around economics. Secretary Lutnick presents the issue of the current Mex/Can confrontation for what President Trump has prioritized, the issue of illegal fentanyl smuggling across the border.
100,000+ Americans are killed each year with the intentional and purposeful transportation of Chinese drugs through the U.S. southern border of Mexico and the U.S northern border with Canada. Both nations could, if they wanted, crack down on the illegal and dangerous drug trade; neither has prioritized the problem. Again, 100,000+ Americans are killed each year. Think about it. WATCH:
“This is the way you run the country,” Lutnick said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Welker. “You shut the border. You get our neighbors to do their job. It’s not only us who has to do their job. Why are our neighbors, who live and breathe off our economy, not taking care of America?”
“You have to remember this is a drug-related issue,” Lutnick said. “You’ve got fentanyl pouring into this country, killing 75,000 Americans, autopsied. And the president, you know, thinks it’s many, many more, multiples more.”
Consider this an escalation once President Trump is briefed. Overnight, someone, claimed by media to be Ukraine, launched a targeted series of drone attacks against the KINEF oil refinery in the Leningrad region of Russia.
The refinery is approximately 800 to 1,000 kilometers from where western intelligence operators are assembled to support Ukraine. This distance means someone within NATO has violated President Trump’s order to withdraw ‘long-range’ targeting system operation, and/or someone within NATO has provided an alternative. [SEE MAP]
When President Trump stopped “intelligence sharing” with Ukraine, what he technically did was stop allowing Ukraine to use exclusive USA targeting systems controlled by U.S Intelligence, the CIA, the National Reconnaissance Office and the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
These terrain mapping systems, the missile and drone targeting systems, are what military forces inside Ukraine need to carry out offensive drone and missile attacks against Russian forces. However, two drones were launched on the night of Saturday March 8th and were shot down as they approached the KINEF refinery, damaging one external oil tank.
Who launched them, and what targeting system was used?
RBC Ukraine – […] At night, unidentified drones attacked an oil refinery in the Leningrad region of Russia. It is claimed that air defense systems shot down two drones, according to the Telegram account of the region’s governor, Alexander Drozdenko.
On the night of March 8, the KINEF oil refinery in Kirishi, Leningrad region of Russia, was attacked by drones.
Happy warrior and National Economic Council Chairman, Kevin Hassett, outlines the preliminary economic indicators during a press availability session with President Trump in the oval office.
Hassett notes the prior administration grew government jobs; the Trump administration is growing private sector jobs. Within that private sector growth, American workers are gaining position against the background of over a trillion dollars committed so far in domestic manufacturing investment.
MAGAnomics, the wealth of America, is the core binding principle that weaves through all of President Trump’s policies, both foreign and domestic. President Trump also answers questions from media. The media questions begin at 14:26 of the video below. WATCH:
Facing the potential for tariffs on Mexican assembled autos, Honda has cancelled plans to invest in a new auto factory in Guanajuato, Mexico, beginning in November 2027. Instead, the car company will retool the Civic auto production facility in Greensburg, Indiana, keeping jobs in the USA.
TOKYO, March 3 (Reuters) – Honda has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The change underscores how manufacturers are scrambling to adapt to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. While several automakers have expressed concerns about the levies, Honda’s move is the first concrete measure by a major Japanese car company.
Japan’s second-largest automaker had initially planned to manufacture the next-generation Civic in Guanajuato, Mexico, according to the three people. Production was slated to start from November 2027, according to one of the people. Mexico was chosen because rising costs were making it tough to produce the car in Indiana and Canada, one of them said.
President Donald Trump held a press briefing Monday where he announced a $100 billion investment from Taiwanese Chip company TMSC in the United States.
President Trump on the TMSC investment: “We’ll be at close to 40% of the [chips] market with this transaction and a couple of others that we’re doing.” The investment will be to produce semiconductor chips in Arizona. WATCH:
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The press questions and answer period begins at 11:00 of the video above.
During the initial press availability, President Trump welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the oval office.
As part of the initial discussion, PM Starmer delivered a letter from King Charles III inviting President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to a state dinner at Windsor. President Trump accepted the invitation.
On the issue of a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire and negotiated peace deal, President Trump is non-committal to the U.S participating in a peacekeeping force, should that be the determined course of action. President Trump again affirms how open lines of communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin is critical to stop the bloodshed and get to a place where a ceasefire is possible.
President Trump affirmed the upcoming round of tariffs are going forward on schedule both in North America and on the reciprocal tariffs that come later in April. WATCH:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is at the operational center of the MAGAnomic policy hub. Secretary Lutnick is the pivot point to the technical systems that will pay down the deficit and balance the USA budget. {Direct Rumble Link Here}
In this lengthy interview with Bret Baier, Secretary Lutnick talks about some of the policy proposals, direct actions of the government and economic systems that he and President Trump are putting into place that will grow Main Street and fuel the golden era in American economic growth. Well worth watching:
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April 2nd, 2025, begins the reciprocal tariff program for all nations.
Moments ago, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took the oath of office in the Oval Office as delivered by Vice-President JD Vance.
Secretary Lutnick is going to be a very key component in the MAGAnomic agenda, likely second only to President Trump. Just as Wilbur Ross was key to unlocking the economy in President Trump’s first term, so too is Secretary Lutnick going to play a pivotal role.
Long before President Trump won the election, Howard Lutnick was one of the few people who really understood the construct of MAGAnomics, how economic nationalism was crucial, and how the strategic use of tariffs creates massive GDP growth. The swearing-in ceremony is very uplifting, and both President Trump and Secretary Lutnick are very positive about the future.
At 11:38 of the video below, President Trump holds an impromptu press conference. WATCH:
Shortly, Vice-President JD Vance is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Germany, at the Munich Security Conference.
The meeting was originally scheduled to take place this morning, however, a member of the Ukrainian delegation confirmed that their meeting will now take place after 5 p.m. local time in Munich (approximately 11 a.m. ET). Vice-President Vance delivered remarks earlier to the Munich conference.
If you do nothing else today …. WATCH THIS SPEECH!
It is very interesting that JD Vance brought up the recent Romanian election and the nullification of the result by European courts. Vance shot an arrow directly into the heart of the hypocrisy of ‘democracy’ as defined by the European control agents (essentially EU intel). Within the remarks, Vance alludes to missing elections in Ukraine and other various anti-democratic activities that have been recently visible in the EU.
“There is no security if you are afraid of the voices of your own people,” Vance said. Continuing, “if you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing the American people can do to assist you.” WATCH:
You can hear a pin drop as Vice President Vance, tells the EU bureaucrats exactly how their activity is undemocratic, totalitarian and against the will of the majority of the people they are supposed to represent.
This is a seismic confrontation between JD Vance, President Trump representing the true cause of liberty, and the EU elites who believe they know better than the proles underneath them with their pesky demands for freedom. Congratulations to JD Vance and President Trump for pulling no punches. This is awesome.
[Transcript] “One of the things that I wanted to talk about today is, of course, our shared values. And, you know, it’s great to be back in Germany. As you heard earlier, I was here last year as United States senator. I saw Foreign Secretary David Lammy and joked that both of us last year had different jobs than we have now. But now it’s time for all of our countries, for all of us who have been fortunate enough to be given political power by our respective peoples, to use it wisely to improve their lives.”
Today, President Donald J Trump signed an executive order triggering the first ever system of “reciprocal trade tariffs,” a seismic change in U.S. trade policy that will also consider the respective nation’s VAT (Value Added Tax) tariff.
Within the executive order [as outlined], the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative will consider foreign industry subsidies, and non-monetary tariff barriers as part of the determination of the tariff levied. This is a stunning shift in U.S trade agreements that will cut through all the angles being deployed to avoid U.S. tariffs and block U.S exports into their country.
The policy will pressure foreign nations to lower their trade barriers to U.S. goods and eliminate disparity in foreign trade agreements. One big example will be the impact on the EU through the continuing Marshall Plan. The EU will now face reciprocal tariffs and no longer benefit from one-way tariff acceptance. There are obviously no tariffs on products made inside the USA.
With “reciprocal tariffs” the Commerce Dept and USTR will now determine the trade imbalances with each individual country and will evaluate each FTA (Free Trade Agreement), one-by-one to deconflict the trade imbalance. Direct tariffs, subsidies, regulatory hurdles, non-monetary trade barriers and hidden export subsidies will be addressed as part of the reciprocity evaluation. This is a completely new dynamic in the era of modern global trade and economics.
During the executive order signing event, President Trump took questions from the media. WATCH:
Between now and April 1st, each individual trade agreement will be evaluated with consideration for all facets of the cost for American companies to export to the evaluated nation. Direct tariffs, Value Added Taxes (VAT), state subsidies and non-monetary regulatory tariff barriers, will be determined for each nation. That nation will then be made aware of the tariff against each sector within their export system to the United States.
Effective April 2, 2025, President Trump will then have the tariff data provided by the USTR and Secretary of Commerce. President Trump will determine when the reciprocal tariff will be triggered and will likely engage in discussions with the leaders of the foreign nations.
These fireside chat-style impromptu pressers during executive order signings are awesome. The revolutionary change in government transparency and communication is, well, quite literally historic and stunning. The media can ask questions in real-time as the specific policy is implemented and explained, while simultaneously the ability of the media to shape an anti-Trump policy narrative is removed.
