At the conclusion of a G7 summit in Quebec, Canada, Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks about the geopolitical realities of coming to a place where a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is possible.

This is a very solid outline from Marco Rubio who appears to have found his ideal career position as U.S. Secretary of State.  Rubio simply shines in this role.  This is a 20-minute press conference where Rubio weaves through the narrative engineering, and puts the bigger picture of national security, economic security, and pragmatic U.S. foreign policy into a very well-presented package.

As the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interview yesterday was a ‘must watch’ segment, so too is this press conference by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.  WATCH:

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Why isn’t Volodymyr Zelenskyy the one asking for mercy?  That’s the larger, unspoken message from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking directly to President Donald Trump’s request for Russia to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers surrounded in the Kursk region, President Vladimir Putin says they will be spared if they lay down their arms and surrender.

Notice how Putin draws a distinction between President Trump and President Zelenskyy.

Putin says, “we are sympathetic to President Trump’s call to be guided by humanitarian considerations,” and then Putin shifts the emphasis on the absence of this plea from bloodthirsty Zelenskyy.  “There must be an appropriate order from the military and political leadership of Ukraine to its troops to lay down their arms and surrender,” Putin said.

“We have read today’s appeal from President Trump to spare the lives of servicemen of the Ukrainian Army in the Kursk region. In this regard, please note that Ukrainian militants have committed numerous crimes against civilians. These acts, as I have already stated, are classified by us as terrorism. At the same time, we are sympathetic to President Trump’s call to be guided by humanitarian considerations regarding these servicemen. In this regard, I emphasize that if they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment. To effectively implement President Trump’s call, there must be an appropriate order from the military and political leadership of Ukraine to its troops to lay down their arms and surrender.”  ~ President Putin

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After an introduction from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, President Trump delivers remarks to an audience at the Department of Justice.  Video Below:

WASHINGTON DC – President Donald Trump on Friday walked into the Department of Justice and labeled his courtroom opponents “scum,” judges “corrupt” and the prosecutors who investigated him “deranged.”

With the DOJ logo directly behind him, Trump called his political opponents’ lawbreakers and said others should be sent to prison.

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After a daring maneuver, the Russian military have completely surrounded Ukraine forces in the Kursk region.  The Ukraine soldiers seemingly have been instructed to continue trying to fight on behalf of Zelenskyy.

President Trump is asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to spare the lives of the Ukraine troops.

[SOURCE] 

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Crooked Joe Biden got us into a real “mess” with Russia (and EVERYTHING ELSE!), but I’m going to get us out. Millions of people are needlessly dead, never to be seen again…and there will be many more to follow if we don’t get the Cease Fire and Final Agreement with Russia completed and signed. There would have been NO WAR if I were President. It just, 100%, would not have happened.”

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Just as Trump envoy Steve Witkoff departed Vnukovo airport, near Moscow, a series of inbound drone strikes from Ukraine (EU/NATO/UK) hit the area.  The airport was closed immediately following Witkoff departure.

This timed and targeted drone strike is yet another example of Ukraine/NATO/EU/UK provoking and antagonizing Russia as President Trump tries to assemble the outlines of a ceasefire.  This is the 3rd coordinated attack on Russia timed to coincide with President Trump’s team meeting with Russian and/or Ukranian officials.

Fortunately, Steve Witkoff was already exiting the airspace as inbound drones began hitting their targets.

The inbound drones in combination with the outbound Witkoff flight likely complicated the use of Russian air defenses.  The NATO team within Ukraine are playing with fire.

CTH ignores the western media reporting as we await President Trump and Steve Witkoff’s statements on the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Obviously, the U.S. team must be noticing the timing of the NATO attacks as they relate to the ongoing effort toward peace.

(VIA MSM) – Ukraine staged major drone strikes on Russian capital Moscow soon after accusing Vladimir Putin of seeking to thwart Donald Trump’s ceasefire demand.

A major oil refinery was also hit in a strike, triggering ten explosions followed by a massive inferno – just 55 miles from Putin’s £1 billion clifftop palace on the Black Sea.

Vnukovo airport – used by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to leave Moscow after meeting Putin and his top officials – was closed.

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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.

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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 †

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This is a big day for potential winnamins.  We may just reach the “too much winning” phase.

Democrats are threatening to shut down government by not supporting the Continuing Resolution (CR) measure that passed the House and is about to reach the floor of the Senate.  This threat is awesome, and we can only hope it happens.

Personally, I think Chuck Schumer will tell eight of his Senate members to vote cloture on the CR (they need 60 votes) and then tell them to vote against the underlying bill on the floor (where only 51 are needed for passage).  However, the looney leftists in the base are stomping their feet and telling Schumer not to support the Trump CR measure.

If the CR is not passed, the govt goes into “shutdown mode” at midnight tonight and all “nonessential” employees, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, are laid-off.

This is perfect for DOGE and the objectives of shrinking government very quickly.  Even Politico notes the Democrats are about to step on a rake.

WASHINGTON DC – […] There’s another reason the White House isn’t sweating a shutdown: Senior officials agree that when coffers run dry, the Trump administration — specifically Vought, the longtime cost-cutting conservative now running OMB — would have unprecedented flexibility to choose which agencies get to stay open and which don’t.

[…] It’s not hard to see Musk getting out his chainsaw and Vought finding a hammer.

“Musk in charge of furloughs in a shutdown? He’d be giddy. He’d be beside himself with joy,” the official joked.

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There are multiple media reports outlining ‘terms’ that Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced in order to establish the framework for a ceasefire. Every single one of those ‘western media reports‘ are fake news.  Putin has not made any statement of terms or conditions for a ceasefire.

What the media are doing is extrapolating on the prior terms Putin announced when he was trying to avoid war with Ukraine.  Those terms included: (1) No NATO membership for Ukraine, (2) no western boots-on-ground peacekeepers (IC ops), (3) Ukraine is denazified/demilitarised and (4) the 4 Donbass regions are accepted by Ukraine/NATO as Russian territory. Again, these were the previous pre-war terms.

President Putin visited the Kursk region where fighting was previously intense as Ukraine mounted a counteroffensive last year, and Russia has just completed retaking most of the area.  During his visit Russian President Putin made the following statement. [Source Kremlin]

“In this regard, I would like to, as you have already noted Some units that have shown themselves in the best way, I hear almost and you have named some of them every day, lately both in the morning and in the evening, I still want to name those that I have heard of.

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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.

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