The Chief of Staff to the President is a key administration official in any White House. With one foot in policy and one foot in politics, the CoS shapes the outcomes of a presidency.

Current White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, appears on Fox News for an interview with Lara Trump to share her views and perspectives along with her role in assisting President Trump with MAGA success.

Within every interview there are always nuggets that help put perspective on the interpersonal dynamics.  One of the nuggets within this interview is Wiles sharing how she came to be in the original orbit of President Trump.

According to Wiles she was “asked by a mutual friend” to travel to New York and meet with candidate Trump in “late December 2015.”  That timeline would be post-Fox Debate (Megyn Kelly attempted hit – Aug ’15) when President Trump was leading every republican primary poll and became the enemy of the professional Republican establishment.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

There is a lot of speculation about the potential for President Trump to remove National Security Advisor Mike Waltz following the SignalGate fiasco.  However, I doubt it will come soon.

Yes, CTH predicted in January that Waltz would be the first to get fired; but that prediction was due to the easily identified conflict between Waltz’s ideological mindset and his responsibility to execute a President Trump national security policy that is seemingly counter to Waltz’s worldview.

President Trump is unlikely to dismiss Waltz until some time has passed and his removal doesn’t look like a win for the media narrative operation.  Currently the SignalGate issue is diminishing. However, watch what assignments Waltz is given – that’s where we will likely see a shift in responsibility.

I suspect Mike Waltz will no longer have a critical role in the Ukraine-v-Russia conflict that President Trump is trying to bring to an end.  If Waltz has lost effectiveness or the trust of President Trump, his role as National Security Advisor will be visibly lessened.   The influence of JD Vance, Marco Rubio and to a smaller extent Steve Witkoff will be more prominent.

(more…)

Losing USAID likely means the CIA will hit back hard on the subject of Ukraine as retaliation.  USAID was the front group for CIA interventionist operations globally.  The omnipotent silo will not accept this decision by Secretary Marco Rubio.

The State Department has formally informed congress of their intent to dissolve USAID terminating the employment of every associate within the agency.  [per this release]

Watch the geopolitical events/actions closely in the next few weeks. This is a very big hit against the Intelligence Community network, and likely one of the reasons for CIA manager John Ratcliffe scheduling a meeting with DOGE head Elon Musk.

This announcement coincides with a 3-judge appeals court ruling that now permits DOGE and Elon Musk to take apart the USAID silo. [Ruling pdf Here]

(Via Politico) – A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to resume their efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.

(more…)

After a massive earthquake hit the region with epicenter in Myanmar, the death toll continues to climb.  As far away as Bangkok (600km from epicenter), rescue workers are still trying to find the victims of a downtown high-rise collapse.  The devastation is widespread.

BANGKOK — Myanmar’s ruling military said Saturday on state television that the confirmed death toll from a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake rose to 1,644, as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the scores of buildings that collapsed when it struck near the country’s second-largest city.

The new total is a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier, underlining the difficulty of confirming casualties over a widespread region and the likelihood that the numbers will continue to grow from Friday’s quake. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139.

Rescue efforts are underway especially in the major stricken cities of Mandalay, the country’s No. 2 city, and Naypyitaw, the capital. But even though teams and equipment have been flown in from other nations, they are hindered by the airports in those cities being damaged and apparently unfit to land planes.

[…] The earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 6.4. It sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads, caused bridges to collapse and burst a dam.

(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…)

President Donald Trump through the Acting Solicitor General has filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court seeking intervention and relief from lower court rulings blocking deportation efforts against criminal aliens. [pdf Filing Here]

The DOJ is arguing that lower court judge James Boasberg is unconstitutionally intruded on the president’s national security powers by barring Trump from using the two-century-old Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport Venezuelans the administration says are members of Tren de Aragua.

[SOURCE]

“Only this Court can stop rule-by-TRO from further upending the separation of powers—the sooner, the better. Here, the district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations.

More broadly, rule-by-TRO has become so commonplace among district courts that the Executive Branch’s basic functions are in peril. In the two months since Inauguration Day, district courts have issued more than 40 injunctions or TROs against the Executive Branch.

Whereas ‘district courts issued 14 universal injunctions against the federal government through the first three years of President Biden’s term,’ they issued ’15 universal injunctions (or temporary restraining orders) against the current Administration in February 2025 alone.'”

(more…)

President Trump releases the following statement from his Truth Social account:

[SOURCE]

This conversation comes on the heels of Prime Minister Carney declaring the era of Canada and U.S. working together is finished.

(more…)

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech to the nation notifying the Canadian people that the era of an economic and military collaborative relationship between the United States and Canada is over.

As the majority of Canadians cheer, the Prime Minister said that Canada as a free independent and sovereign nation will now embrace its connections to the United Kingdon and European Union and seek to replace their national dependency on the United States by severing ties in North America and entering a new era of close relations with Great Britain and Europe.

When questioned if Canada would join the European Union, a seemingly natural fit for the ideologically aligned country, Prime Minister Carney said, “nothing is off the table.”   In a rather remarkable end to the confrontation, the Carney says the economic and military ties between the USA and Canada are officially declared severed.  WATCH:

“We as Canadians, have agency”… What does that even mean?

.

President Trump asked Prime Minister Trudeau and the Canadian government to close the border to narcotraffickers and shutdown the pipeline of Chinese fentanyl.  The Canadian govt chose not to and Prime Minister Mark Carney continues the refusal.

The entire Canadian border enforcement system, agents, support personnel, the entire operation for 5,000-mile border consists of 300 people.  Not exactly a strong commitment to border security.

(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…)