During an interview with Brian Kilmeade, President Donald Trump sounds like he is battling the same cold as me.  However, on the serious side, President Trump goes through the geopolitical map of challenges being faced and gives a brutally honest perspective on the current status.

At 06:30 of the interview, President Trump outlines his current opinion on the Ukraine President and the reason for it.  President Trump talks about the simple process of creating a surety (rare earth minerals) for U.S. taxpayer funds that have been sent to Zelenskyy, and the outline of a deal the people who control Zelenskyy ultimately rejected.

President Trump is frustrated at the approach taken by the EU toward Russia where shutting the door to Vladimir Putin ultimately resulted in nothing.  As noted by President Trump, closing down conversation, triggering sanctions that ultimately were futile, and isolating the nation of Russia only made the problem worse.  Ultimately, leading to President Trump saying, “I’ve had it” with the “games” being played as thousands of young men are being killed for nothing.  It is a very honest conversation.  WATCH: 

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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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As we walk in the deep weeds of how the Russia/Ukraine conflict and negotiated peace agreement (likely ceasefire) is unfolding, each granular step is worth reviewing.

President Trump’s envoy retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and Ukraine President Zelenskyy had a meeting today. At the conclusion of the meeting a planned press conference and media availability was cancelled.

[…] The format of the press event, which was to include comments to the media by Zelenskyy and retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, was changed at the last minute so that the two did not deliver statements or field questions from journalists. The change was requested by the U.S. side, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov said. (link) 

It appears that President Trump’s forceful, direct and brutally honest remarks about Zelenskyy caught many people off-guard.

President Zelenskyy’s announcement in Turkey where he changed plans and cancelled his trip to Saudi Arabia, aligns with this ongoing dynamic.  In the pretending version, Zelenskyy justified his change in plan because he felt slighted by a non-invitation to participate in the talks between the Russian team and U.S. team.

However, in the non-pretending review, we all know Zelenskyy cannot make an independent decision.  In the background of Zelenskyy’s decision making there are just too many interests.

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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.

(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 †

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There are some contextual comments from President Trump that are never reported, this is one of those examples.  Within these impromptu press remarks aboard Air Force One, President Trump gives context for his current position toward the leadership in Ukraine, and other matters.

The beginning remarks about U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveling to Kyiv to meet with President Zelenskyy, and the fact that Zelenskyy refused to meet with him – says quite a lot about the lack of respect the Ukraine president is openly willing to display.  Obviously, this is one datapoint that helps explain President Trump’s perspective.  WATCH:

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President Trump delivered the keynote address at the Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII Summit) in Miami, Florida.

Remaining in a rapid response forward footing in case events unfold quickly, President Trump’s key foreign policy advisors and emissaries are traveling with him as he addresses the audience.  During part of the remarks, President Trump addressed the current headline foreign policy issues in Gaza and Ukraine, once again calling attention to the madness of the conflict.

At 3:52 of the video segment below, President Trump begins discussing the position of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  Keep in mind, during the transition phase prior to the inauguration, during the early days of the administration and all the way up to last week, President Trump has been in discussions with Zelenskyy. So, President Trump has a pretty solid understanding of where Zelenskyy stands on the issue of ending the conflict.  With that backdrop, listen:

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The full speech, with questions is below:

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A notice in the federal register [SEE HERE] scheduled to be published on February 20, 2025, outlines how the U.S. State Department under Marco Rubio intends to designate Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and MS13 as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

In combination with enhanced actions by the Dept of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol and the U.S. Treasury Dept., the designation opens up a lot of authority for the U.S. government to target not only the gangs, but any entity or enterprise who supports their activity; including the government of Mexico.

WASHINGTON – […] This designation allows the U.S. to impose financial sanctions on these groups and people connected to them, and cooperate with allies to cull cartels. It also allows the U.S. to declare members of these groups as “inadmissible” to the country and ineligible for immigration benefits.

It’s not immediately clear how far these sanctions might go — or who they may target. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The move follows President Donald Trump’s latest efforts to crack down on cartels. On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order that established a pipeline for cartels and other international groups that “constitute[d] a national security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime” to be labeled as global terrorists.

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According to the New York Times, the IRS will begin laying off up to 6,000 staff this week.

(New York Times) – The Internal Revenue Service will begin laying off roughly 6,000 employees on Thursday as part of the Trump administration’s push to downsize the federal work force, three people familiar with the agency’s plans said.

The terminations will target relatively recent hires at the I.R.S., which the Biden administration had attempted to revitalize with a surge of funding and new staff, the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The Trump administration has begun laying off probationary employees — who do not enjoy as much job protection as their more tenured colleagues — across the federal government in recent days.

I.R.S. managers on Wednesday began asking employees to report to the office in the coming days and bring with them their government-issued equipment, according to messages viewed by The New York Times. The I.R.S. employs roughly 100,000 accountants, lawyers and other staff across the country. (read more)

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