Many Americans are waking up this morning to discover the United States and Israel have launched joint military operations against Iran.  The news can be unsettling, unnerving and yes, admittedly, frustrating for many.

President Trump has made the decision and called for the people of Iran to stand now against the Iranian regime that has been a thorn in the side of many regional partners for decades.  A direct and kinetic U.S. war against Iran is underway.

This decision has weighed heavily on President Trump throughout the first fourteen months of his presidency. Regardless of our personal opinions therein, the decision has been made.  Knowing the stakes at hand both here and abroad, we carry the assurance that President Trump knows what the ramifications entail.

Accepting the stakes; knowing this is an all or nothing proposition; the conflict is likely to be a long duration event for several days, even weeks.  For the leadership in Iran this is a zero-sum moment.  For those who have long tried to find an alternative to war, this is also a no retreat moment.  Either the regime in Iran is toppled, or the operation will have failed. Given all the expanded energy, this is the reality of the matter.

(AP) – A person briefed on the military plans says Saturday’s operation was planned by the U.S. and Israel for months and closely coordinated. The person says the attacks are expected to continue for several days. {SOURCE}

That said, there will be time for talking about the domestic political consequences for this action; however, this is not that time. Right now, our thoughts and prayers are with American military carrying out their mission, and with those who are in the expanded region of conflict.  We pray for their protection, safety and strength.

Within hours the Iranian regime responded with counter attacks launched against U.S. military bases and regional allies in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE.  U.S. and allied defensive missile systems are intercepting Iranian missiles in multiple operational areas while the U.S. joint military operations against Iran continue into what is presumably multiple pre-planned stages.

(more…)

Many people were befuddled when I shared the statement that FBI Director Kash Patel really needs to get his arms around his FBI agency quickly, because operatives inside the FBI are currently working to attack other cabinet level national security and intelligence officials. One of those examples is outlined in this interview by Kristi Noem.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem notes how officials within the government (I’m specifically citing the FBI as the origin) have worked to conduct surveillance on her team, planted spyware on her devices and monitor the activity within the Dept of Homeland Security.

Watch this interview with DHS Secretary Noem and you will get a more comprehensive understanding of what her and all the other National Security officials (DNI, NCTC, DHS, ICE, FEMA, etc.) are having to deal with. WATCH:

Patrick Bet-David sits down with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to discuss her claim that “they spied on me,” the discovery of a secret DHS file room, the fallout surrounding El Mencho and cartel operations, and efforts to identify and remove alleged deep state actors inside the Department of Homeland Security.

TIME STAMPS:
00:00 – Show intro
04:54. – South Dakota Governor Journey
13:20 – China Threat Rising
18:09 – DHS Files & Spy Concerns

(more…)

Yesterday the alarming story surfaced of Biden-era FBI officials working for Jack Smith conducting phone record surveillance on Kash Patel and Susie Wiles in 2022 and 2023 when Donald Trump was organizing his second term candidacy.

Beyond the initial element of subpoenas for Patel and Wiles phone records was an alarming assertion made inside the Reuters report stating:

“[…] In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, according to two FBI officials. Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded, and consented to it, but Susie Wiles was not.” (source)

That statement is shocking on many levels.  There is no legal mechanism for the FBI to gain wiretap authority to record a phone conversation between a lawyer and his client.  Every legal cannon that underpins the American legal system forbids such an intrusion.

Any lawyer who would consent to his client being recorded by the FBI while keeping the client unaware would be disbarred and lose their license.

No judge or legal authority would even consider approving a warrant for such a wiretap, and inside the judiciary any of the content from such a violative breech would be immediately nullified in any capacity.

Reporting by Marc Caputo of Vice News now reflects the lawyer categorically denying being aware of his conversation with Susie Wiles being intercepted or recorded.  “The lawyer representing Susie Wiles at the time of this incident categorically denies he allowed his client to be recorded by the FBI w/out her consent.  I understand she believes him & that the Biden-era FBI may have lied about it.  Here’s what the lawyer told me: “If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – have a license to practice law. I’m as shocked as Susie.” (source)

As the story now rests. If the FBI does indeed have a recording of a private phone call between Susie Wiles and her attorney, the recording itself could have only come from an illegal wiretap by rogue elements of the FBI working in coordination with Jack Smith.  No judge would ever approve of such a violative action.

If such a recording and wiretap does factually exist, Jack Smith and the top elements of the former DOJ (Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco) together with FBI leadership Director Christopher Wray, now have a lot to answer to.  Again, that is if the predicate claim is factual; if a recording of such an intercept does factually exist.

This is certainly a story to watch closely and see who exactly is asking the right questions to get the right answers.

(more…)

The summary of the story basically circles back to that NSA/CIA whistleblower intercept they previously were using to attack DNI Tulsi Gabbard.  Now that the whistleblower’s lawyer (same lawyer as last CIA whistleblower, Ciaramella) has leaked the subject of the conversation was Jared Kushner the democrats really want to know the details.

Two foreign nationals (unknown countries) were discussing the U.S. position toward Iran. In their conversation they talked about Jared Kushner. Their conversation was intercepted by NSA/CIA using an “exceptionally sensitive surveillance method.”  The intercept was written, evaluated and determined to be “gossip” but given to the ODNI, Gabbard.

The whistleblower was upset the intercept was not shared with the larger intelligence apparatus. Thus, they were angry at Gabbard.  The ODNI followed the distribution for the whistleblower complaint, but not the underlying intercepted details of the conversation.

The White House has now asserted “executive privilege” over the content of the intercept, thereby bolstering the position of not sharing what was previously determined to be gossip.  The DNI was asked for the details, and Gabbard has told the Democrats the White House has asserted privilege.  The House and Senate Intelligence committee democrats are now big mad they don’t get to read the gossip.

(VIA WSJ) – WASHINGTON—The Trump administration told Congress it won’t share with lawmakers the classified intelligence that led to a whistleblower complaint against U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard, citing presidential claims of executive privilege.

(more…)

The Supreme Court tariff ruling has created the need for U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to modify the baseline tariff approach with the approvals of President Trump.

The baseline tariffs are being reset to 10% with upward adjustment to 15% as planned.  The reciprocal tariffs will not require any substantive modifications as most of the Free Trade Agreements have been cemented with reciprocity tariffs as part of the negotiated deals.

USTR Greer appears on Bloomberg to clarify the current situation and provide some information as to the transitional baseline tariffs as now modified. Additionally, and importantly, Greer begins discussing the USMCA review and his acceptance that President Trump is openly questioning the value for us. Greer notes Mexico and Canada being used as import hubs to avoid tariffs is a big issue. WATCH:

Section 232 [Steel and Aluminum examples] of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. §1862, as amended) authorizes the President to impose trade restrictions—such as a tariff or quota—if the Secretary of Commerce determines, following an investigation, that imports of a good “threaten to impair” U.S. national security. {SOURCE}

Section 301 tariffs are a trade enforcement mechanism established under the Trade Act of 1974. They allow the U.S. government to impose tariffs on imports from countries that are found to be engaging in unfair trade practices. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts investigations to determine if a country is violating trade agreements, and if so, it can impose tariffs as a corrective measure {SOURCE}

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the U.S. president to impose tariffs of up to 15% to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits. This authority can be exercised without prior congressional approval for a limited duration of 150 days. After this period, any tariffs must be extended by Congress. {SOURCE}

*FYI, there is a lot of distracting noise in the various social media platforms about internecine MAGA battles and ego-driven points of specific interest.  CTH chooses to focus energy and attention on the substantive policy issues that will generate substantive policy outcomes for America.

(more…)

The highest court in Panama has nulled the ‘Chinese’ contract for the operation of both entrance ports on the Panama Canal.  The Panamanian government took back control and assigned operations to APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Danish group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

The state takeover comes after a 14-month long saga begun by President Trump who reasserted American interests in the hemisphere and rejected the concept of allowing China to have strategic control over such vital North American infrastructure.

President Trump did not mince words in December of 2024 when he said, “[The Panama Canal] was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama,” Trump concluded. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question.”  Marco Rubio was then dispatched as an intermediary in Feb 2025.

Then, last month, Panama’s Supreme Court struck down the law approving the concession contract for Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison (China/Hong Kong). The court ruling also invalidated an extension granted in 2021, stripping the port operations of any current legal standing.  Now, Panama has taken over.

(MSM) – The government of Panama has seized control of two ports on either end of the Panama Canal from a Hong Kong conglomerate following a recent ruling by the country’s Supreme Court.

Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison said on Tuesday that Panama’s government had “made direct physical entry into the terminals at Balboa and Cristobal” and assumed “administrative and operational control” over the two ports on the Panama Canal.

(more…)

The European Union has a major targeting effort against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of President Trump who does not support giving additional funding to the Ukraine war effort.  Hungary is having national elections in April.

Previously, USAID Administrator Samantha Power spent considerable time in Hungary organizing activist groups to conduct operations against the government {2023 – Go Deep}.  Last week a German based NGO called Democracy Reporting International, won a ruling from a Berlin judge to force the X platform to turn over data related to support for Viktor Orban and the government of Hungary.

All of this opposition to Prime Minister Orban seems to be coordinated by quasi government agencies on behalf of Brussels and their interventionist intentions.  We may remember it was also information from German intelligence, that was behind the nullification of the Romanian first-round election {GO DEEP}.

However, Viktor Orban is fighting back and refusing to approve the funding of the Ukraine war despite the massive pressure campaign from inside the European Union.

💶 If the war ends, funding ends. Ukraine’s plan: make sure the war doesn’t stop.

🇭🇺🇨🇿🇸🇰 Thankfully, common sense still prevails in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. We will not risk our families’ future by sending € billions to fund someone else’s war.

The time for… pic.twitter.com/JXsd5bt43i

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) February 21, 2026

As noted by Hungarian Minister Zoltan Kovacs, “Many have asked how Hungary can block the €90 billion Ukrainian war loan if we are not participating in it. clarified that the loan does not affect Hungary and does not entail any financial commitment for us. As Hungary is not part of the cooperation, in most of the decision-making procedures we do not even vote.  However, he pointed out that for the scheme to function, the EU’s seven-year budget guarantee rules must be amended – and this requires the approval of all 27 member states, not only the financing member states. We are now blocking this decision, without which the war loan cannot be disbursed.”

(more…)

Tucker Carlson interviews U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee against the background of a potential U.S. military operation against Iran. Apparently, Carlson and Huckabee had some public disagreements on the subject of Israel, and this interview came about as Ambassador Huckabee invited Carlson for an interview.

The interview is filled with uncomfortable friction as Carlson asks many questions that come from ongoing reviews of the files of Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Carlson confronts Ambassador Huckabee with his personal opinion that the U.S. Ambassador works for Israel and not the best interests of the United States.

.

(more…)

President Trump travels to Rome Georgia today to deliver remarks on the economy from Coosa Steel Corporation. The anticipated start time is 4:00pm ET. Livestream Links Below.

.

(more…)

The high court has indicated it will be releasing opinions on one or more of the previously argued cases on Friday February 20, Tuesday Feb 24, or Wednesday Feb 25.  The decision over tariffs triggered by President Trump using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is one of the decisions now considered highly likely to surface.

If the decision doesn’t come this Friday, a rather interesting situation unfolds.  The following week falls into the Tuesday Feb 24 State of the Union address.

Typically, several Supreme Court justices sit in front row of the House floor during the speech.  The decision could be released on the morning of the speech, or justices could actually sit in the audience – knowing the outcome and the morning after the State of the Union address, the ruling could be released.

Now, there is a possibility the ruling will not come out in this cycle, but that is diminishing possibility considering the length of time the Supreme Court has sat on this opinion.

The court knows the importance of this decision, and they obviously know the State of the Union speech is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday the 24th.  This will be an interesting dynamic to watch unfold.

(more…)