If you have followed the arc of Tech, Peter Thiel recruiting JD Vance, the creation of Palantir, the funding of Vance’s senatorial run, and eventually the roadmap to connect Vance to Trump, this is a video speech you absolutely must not miss. JD Vance was sent to the AI Summit for a reason.

JD Vance talks at the AI summit in Paris, France, about his core mission, his core purpose inside current political influence. This is the very origin of his legacy, unfolding in real time. Vice-President JD Vance talks about Artificial Intelligence, the future and the Trump administration position.

Vice President JD Vance warned European leaders against heavily regulating U.S. tech companies and said excessive efforts by the European Union to regulate artificial intelligence could stymie its growth, during an AI summit in Paris Tuesday that marks his first foreign trip since taking office. WATCH:

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Do you feel more or less confident about the future, having watched these remarks?

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Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was asked for his first impression of President Donald Trump at the conclusion of their first meeting.  You could hear a pin drop as the White House press pool listens to the respect delivered.  WATCH:

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Regarding the politics of the Japanese military aspect to the reply.  It is the legacy of assassinated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was a close and dear friend of President Trump, that set Japan on the path to rebuilding their military and independent national security.  PM Abe was crossing the country to talk about the need for a newly built military that would provide American defense forces the ability to draw down.  PM Ishiba is continuing that legacy initiative.

RIP Shinzo Abe. He is greatly missed.

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President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hold a press conference in the White House at the conclusion of their bilateral meeting.  Livestream Links Below:

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Big Panda has a problem, and his name is President Donald Trump.

CTH went (proactively) directly into the heart of the Chinese Potemkin Village, much like my trip to Russia, to specifically see what the reality is on the ground in the region of all Beijing influence.  Where the East meets the West you will find a hot mess of propaganda, kept in place by widespread geopolitical pretending.

Never was that reality clearer, than in the example of the retaliatory tariffs announced in response to President Trump’s trade tariffs.

(Via AP) – China said it would implement a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S. The tariffs would take effect next Monday. {link}

First, tariffs on energy products are pure propaganda.  Coal, LNG and crude oil are fungible. In the case of China the energy products arrive from a global market, there is no identifiable way to tariff American energy products.  This is not like Canada where the Candian energy products are entirely dependent on pipelines into the USA, and therefore unavoidably easy to tariff by Trump.

Chairman Xi gets most of the Chinese imported energy resources from Russia, specifically Coal, LNG and Crude Oil.  So, this subset of tariffs against American energy products is pure propaganda, essentially moot.

You know who buys USA-made “large-engine cars” (Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Ford Raptors) in China?  People well connected to the Chinese Communist Party, that’s who.  If you are not a member of the elite ruling class in China, you do not buy large-engine cars.   So, what exactly is the intent on this one?  The target is a domestic internal political apparatus, in combination with narrative creation that Beijing believes will create the biggest splash headlines in the West.  That’s it.  Again, pure political propaganda.

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Earlier today, President Trump signed several executive orders recognizing and structuring ongoing efforts including the creation of a USA “Sovereign Wealth Fund.”   Full Video below:

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WASHINGTON DC – […] The new wealth fund, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters could be formed in the next 12 months, could be used to finance major government projects and fund strategic investments in critical areas like supply chains. Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Europe are among the largest institutional investors in the world, providing massive pools of capital for Wall Street firms and the U.S. tech industry.

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Knowing the severe ramifications likely and taking a proactive approach toward root-cause analysis, CTH attended the ASEAN summit to gauge how Asia was likely to respond to Trump term-2 and the looming possibility of a severe nationalist approach toward a renewal of USA manufacturing. The untangling of the Beijing Belt & Road initiative was a key topic of interest noted.  [Watch Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Panama this weekend to express the position of President Donald Trump as it pertains to Chinese influence over the maritime transit gateway known as the Panama Canal. Following the meeting with President José Raúl Mulino, the government of Panama has announced they will no longer support China’s Belt & Road initiative.

Photographic message received; or the one-time Rubio needed to be shorter, you decide.

STATE DEPT – Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha today in Panama City to address critical regional and global challenges. Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal. Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.

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Remember when President Trump established the “External Revenue Service?” … It’s all connected and sequential.

Almost everyone will miss, in part because outcomes appear in a sequence that few care to follow, but buried in the Trump tariff Executive Order {SEE HERE} you will discover something.  As the unofficial Deep State strategist, and the self-appointed misfit explainer of stuff, lol, we will explain:

[Sec 2, SubSection (h)]: Sec. 2. (a) All articles that are products of Canada as defined by the Federal Register notice described in subsection (e) of this section (Federal Register notice), and except for those products described in subsection (b) of this section, shall be, consistent with law, subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. Such rate of duty shall apply with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on February 4, 2025, except that goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, after such time that were loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading or in transit on the final mode of transport prior to entry into the United States before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on February 1, 2025, shall not be subject to such additional duty, only if the importer certifies to CBP as specified in the Federal Register notice.

[…] (h) For avoidance of doubt, duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321 shall not be available for the articles described in subsection (a) and subsection (b) of this section. {link}

So, Canada and Mexico get 25% tariffs, but China only 10%.  Why?  The secret is in that subsection “(h)” when it talks about de minimis treatment. Essentially, what President Trump is doing is levying a much more massive import tax, and possible confiscation impact on the core source of fentanyl (and other illegal) substances.

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This is excellent news.  There are two distinctively different sets of tariffs scheduled to roll out in the next few days, weeks and months.

One set of long-term tariffs called MACRO tariffs focused on reciprocity and based primarily on economic fairness.  The second and more urgent set, are focused on the immediacy of national security, border security and the demand for allies to shut down their support for fentanyl distribution.

The Border Security tariffs of 25% against Mexico and Canada start on Saturday.  The media and corporate interests in/around Wall Street are in maximum apoplexy mode; however, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik previously explained the reason for the urgency.  The video is 5 minutes and well worth your time if you want to avoid the confusion being pushed by media. WATCH:

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico beginning Saturday, reiterating concerns about illegal migration, fentanyl and trade deficits in remarks to reporters.

“I’ll be putting the tariff of 25 percent on Canada, and separately, 25 percent on Mexico, and we’ll really have to do that,” Trump told reporters while signing executive orders focused on aviation safety.

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After President Trump noted there are issues with the Panama Canal management, costs and fees being paid by American transit companies for goods that flow through the canal, the President of Panama José Raúl Mulino hit back strongly.

President Mulino is a conservative nationalist who won election seven months ago.  Mulino did not like the implications of President Trump contemplating a renegotiation of the Panama Canal Treaty, with ownership and management given by the USA to Panama in 1999.  Mulino hit back releasing a video statement [SEE HERE] with the transcript of his remarks below:

“As President, I want to express clearly that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belongs to Panama, and will continue to do so. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.

Every Panamanian, here or anywhere in the world, carries it in their heart, and it is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest.

The Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1977 agreed to the dissolution of the former Canal Zone, recognizing Panamanian sovereignty and the complete transfer of the Canal to Panama, which ended on December 31, 1999. And we will soon celebrate the 25th anniversary of this transfer. Since then, there have been no objections or claims; on the contrary, it has been a source of strong international support and national pride. It was operated and expanded by Panamanian decision and today represents a great asset that contributes billions of dollars to our economy.

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Many people, perhaps even I at times, debate the granular aspects of President Trump’s administrative agenda. However, there is one component of President Donald J Trump that can never be debated, he is the most consequential U.S President in the past century.

There is not a single intellectually honest person who would doubt the intent and focus of Donald Trump to protect and defend the vital interests of our nation. President Trump’s perspective on the biggest of big pictures can never be denied. He has our total support.

President Trump is directing focus toward the U.S. vital national interest in the Panama Canal with a direct and brutally honest message to the government of the nation who benefitted from the most significant engineering accomplishment in all of the Americas.

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In a set of messages from his Truth Social account, directed toward the government of Panama, President Trump is placing a strong marker to say the control of the Panama Canal will never be allowed to fall into the hands of those who do not have our best interests in mind.

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