President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend a performance of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center of Performance Arts.  As they walked the red carpet, President Trump paused to answer questions from the assembled international press pool.  WATCH:

.

President Trump appeared very relaxed and comfortable with the events of the evening and was deliberate in his responses to several critical issues happening around the world.

JD Vance also attended with his wife, Usha Vance, and responded to brief questions, below.

(more…)

U.S. Secretary of State / National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio, and Director of National Intelligence ODNI Tulsi Gabbard continue making background moves well worth noticing.

♦ Secretary Marco Rubio has moved forward with instructions to fire all overseas USAID staff.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered U.S. embassies around the world Tuesday to move ahead with a directive to fire all remaining staffers with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He said the State Department will take over USAID’s foreign assistance programs by Monday.

A federal judge had temporarily blocked an executive order by President Donald Trump for mass firings at multiple federal agencies, including the State Department, and plaintiffs say Rubio’s reorganization plan appears to violate that court injunction.

The Trump administration says the plan was already underway when the president issued the order, so there’s no possible violation. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston has yet to make a determination. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday that Rubio’s directive “wasn’t a surprise.”

(more…)

The headline is written to draw the contrast from what the professional economic pundits previously -and continuously- proclaim.

Two charts tell the story.  The first is “Tariff Revenues”:

[SOURCE]

The Second Chart is USA Inflation:

[SOURCE]

Apparently, despite all the wailing, pearl-clutching and teeth gnashing from the multinationals, their economic punditry conscripts and the professional political apparatus, tariffs are not raising prices.  Go figure.

(more…)

President Trump announces that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have successfully concluded three-days of topline trade negotiations with their Chinese counterparts.

President Trump and Chairman Xi will now evaluate the successfully negotiated details and institute the topline strategy as part of the overall future trade agreement. According to the Truth Social post, there will be a 55% tariff on Chinese imports and a 10% tariff on U.S. goods to China.

[SOURCE]

At a 55% tariff rate against Chinese finished-goods imports, there will be ZERO inflationary pressure to the U.S. consumer.

None. Zero. Zippo. Zilch.

I will explain why below.

(more…)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

(more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

.

(more…)

According to a statement by New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, a grand jury has indicted Representative LaMonica McIver (N.J) on three charges related to her involvement in a violent stunt at an ICE facility.

Previously the Dept of Homeland Security released body camera footage showing LaMonica McIver, instigating a violent confrontation with DHS and Immigration Customs and Enforcement officials in Newark, New Jersey.  The indictment today is another step in President Trump’s promise to continue targeting and deporting illegal aliens.

[SOURCE]

(more…)

Apparently, the prior narrative that everything was fine, there’s nothing to see here, just didn’t work.  As footage of looting, arson, violence and riots against law enforcement continues to highlight the false presentations of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, the mayor has now declared a local state of emergency – with an immediate 8:00pm curfew, starting tonight.  WATCH:

The same people burning cars, breaking into businesses, destroying property and throwing objects at law enforcement, are suddenly going to adhere to a curfew!  Huh, imagine that.

(more…)

This is actually a very surprising development.  The World Bank (WB) is a heavily controlled multinational exploit of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Economic Forum assembly (WEF).  This could be looked upon as the WTO/WEF taking a knee as they finally accept Godzilla Trump is not going to relent.  Remember, the Build Back Better agenda was a construct from the WEF/WTO.

Looking a little more deeply at the people behind the latest shift in tone and paying close attention to the wording they are using, there’s an inference the World Bank is telling Europe to stop being intransigent or they will lose U.S. military support.  A very unusual shift in WB tone.

In my first review opinion, as the legal arbitration system for trade complaints, the WB are trying to mitigate President Trump’s full-frontal assault on the global trade imbalance that brings the global trade wealth back to the USA.

NEW YORK POST […] – Top economists at the international institution, which helps finance low and middle-income countries, acknowledged that many nations do not provide reciprocal trade access to the US.

“This [situation] could not be sustained indefinitely,” the World Bank’s chief economist, Indermit Gill, said during a news briefing, the Washington Post reported.

[Gill] contended that Trump’s actions were merely a response to uneven trade access between other countries and the US.

Other experts at the World Bank concurred with that assessment and indicated that Europe, Japan and China should all take steps to reduce trade barriers on the US, while calling for an across-the-board rollback on tariffs on all sides. (more)

(more…)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be departing London, leaving Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to finalize the details with the Chinese trade delegation.

Apparently, the talks have been very productive according to Bessent and extended well beyond the previously scheduled timeline as they get very specific with the expectations and terms of compliance.

LONDON – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday he is departing ongoing trade talks with China because he has to travel to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress the next day.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will remain in London to continue the negotiations with Beijing, which are still underway after two lengthy days of talks, Bessent said.

Lutnick said earlier that the parties were “trying to finish” by Tuesday evening.

(more…)