♦ Five days ago, President Trump reduced the 50-day ultimatum to 10-12 days for Russia to stop bombing Ukraine and come to the negotiation table.
♦ Four days ago, Dmitry Medvedev (July 28) issued a statement that Trump’s “ultimatum game” with Moscow amounts to a threat to Russia and pushes the United States itself closer to war. “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,” said Medvedev, currently deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council. “Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”
♦ President Trump responded today – “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
“In order to approach the issue peacefully, it is necessary to conduct detailed conversations. And not in public, but this must be done calmly, in the quiet of the negotiation process.” ~ Vladimir Putin
Too funny. The economic pretending is so strong almost every outlet leads the Gross Domestic Product news release by saying “better than expected.” Duh! The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases the GDP date for the second quarter (Q2) and shows a 3.0% jump in economic growth.
We say “duh”, because it was an entirely predictable result. Why, because imports are a deduction to the GDP equation and imports dropped 30.3% in the second quarter (Table 1, line 19). We said this was going to happen because there was a surge of imported goods in the first quarter as companies tried to be proactive with orders in advance of tariffs.
That massive influx of imports made the Q1 GDP weak (-0.5%). Conversely, with all those goods delivered in the first quarter, the products were not imported in Q2 and the GDP rebounded. The lack of imports, ultimately the lack of deduction, resulted in a 5.18% positive change to the second quarter GDP (Table 2, line 47).
But wait, the winning doesn’t stop there. Remember, the Big Beautiful Bill just passed in July. That means fixed asset investment is likely to expand in Q3 because 100% expensing on capital investment was part of the BBB.
But wait, there’s more. Annual wages spiked 4.4% — double the rate of inflation (2.1%). That means people are growing their wage incomes twice as fast as prices are rising. Real wage growth is back again! Yes, REAL WAGE GROWTH.
The terms Ukraine and government corruption are synonymous regardless of who is funding the schemes. After Volodymyr Zelenskyy grabbed more power by stripping two key anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), of their independence, protests erupted.
European leaders immediately noticed the intent of the power move and threatened Zelenskyy with a withdrawal of support. The current dictatorship of Zelensky and his small team then quickly reversed course. However, the damage is done, and once again Ukranian corruption is center stage.
It doesn’t matter how much western intelligence agencies and pro-Ukraine western govt officials try to hide the nature of the duck represented by Zelenskyy by calling him a swan, eventually the quacking returns – the mask drops.
UKRAINE – […] Some also cautioned that the agitation could spark a popular uprising like the one that toppled then-President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. “We are now in the face of the most dangerous development in all the years since Maidan,” wrote Sevgil Musayeva, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper. And like others, she hazarded that Zelenskyy’s powerful Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak was behind the move, amid signs that NABU is preparing cases against presidential insiders.
Eventually, with public uproar mounting, Ukraine’s president bowed to the pressure and agreed to restore the independence of the agencies — a new law turning back the clock is meant to be voted on Thursday.
The reality of the U.S-Canada economic relationship and the position of President Donald Trump is not that difficult to understand if you take all the disparate datapoints and quotes from Trump and put them into context.
During a White House meeting with Mark Carney, President Trump essentially told the Canadian Prime Minister why he was in no hurry to get to a deal with Canada.
The 35% tariffs on non-USMCA goods are going to trigger on August 1st, because the main priority of Trump -looking toward Canada- is to dissolve the USMCA.
During the May 6th oval office meeting with Carney, President Trump was discussing the USMCA and said: “As you know it terminates fairly shortly. It gets renegotiated fairly shortly.” … “This was a transitional deal, and we’ll see what happens, we’re going to start renegotiating that” … “I don’t know if it serves a purpose anymore.” …. “And the biggest purpose it served was, we got rid of NAFTA.”
To understand why President Trump wants to dissolve the USMCA {SEE HERE}. To understand the technical value of dissolving the USMCA {SEE HERE}. It’s not a complicated economic analysis; it’s common sense.
Currently, approximately 60% of the traded goods and services between the U.S. and Canada are covered by the USMCA; the remaining 40% will be hit by tariffs on August 1st at a 35% rate.
When the USMCA is renegotiated, predictably dissolved in favor of two bilateral trade agreements – one for Mexico and one for Canada, all of the U.S-Canada trade sectors will be part of the enlarged free trade negotiation. As a result, there is absolutely no motive to engage in trade discussions now.
Earlier this morning President Donald Trump welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Turnberry, Scotland where the two leaders will hold bilateral discussions on trade and foreign affairs.
The video is prompted to 16:20. The bagpipes stop eventually in the video at 19:30. President Trump and Prime Minister Starmer take questions from the assembled press pool. President Trump calls out the British government for rampant illegal immigration, as Starmer tries to say his govt is deporting illegal migrants back to their home country.
Questions centered heavily around the Israeli conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The plight of the Palestinians is a key focus point for the British people; an outcome of the mass Islamic migration that has taken place for the past two-decades in Great Britain. The population of Islamists in the U.K now drives the political priorities.
Toward the end of the video 28:00, President Trump notes the Russia/Ukraine conflict has led to a “disappointment in Vladimir Putin,” and a possibility that President Trump will reduce the 50-day deadline he gave to Russia. WATCH:
The majority of politicians within Great Britain want to expand the conflict with Russia as much as possible and bring the full NATO contingent into the war against Russia. President Trump has been reluctant to support expanded war as requested by the British, French and German group who formed a “coalition of the willing.”
In addition to London being the Jihad capital of the region, Great Britain is also the home of the Fabian Socialists.
Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio discusses foreign policy engagements with President Trump’s doctrine at the forefront. As noted by Secretary Rubio, President Trump is the ultimate closer who genuinely enjoys the art of negotiating deals on behalf of the United States.
Secretary Rubio walks through some of the global confliction points where President Trump has tasked his team to engage with foreign governments. Rubio also talks about the restructuring within the U.S. Dept of State.
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The Secretary of State and National Security Advisor roles are perfect for the skillset of Marco Rubio. If there are some big positive surprises within the second term, the executive excellence of Marco Rubio is certainly at the top of the list.
Chopper Pressers are the best pressers. This morning as President Trump departs the White House for a trip to Scotland, the most transparent president in history stops to take questions and deliver remarks to the assembled press pool.
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President Trump states he is anticipating meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit to Turnberry, Scotland, and takes questions on a variety of subjects including, trade, dollar value, EU trade agreement, Russia/Ukraine, Iran nuclear ambitions, Gaza, Hamas, the Federal Reserve, the economy, President Obama’s immunity status, the ongoing review and investigation by DNI Tulsi Gabbard and more.
The Japanese essentially did not want to face a 25% tariff on automobiles exported to the USA. At the same time, they did not want to permit full USA access to several sectors of their market. The solution is quite remarkable.
Japan agrees to be the bank, to essentially finance any national security priority of President Trump to the tune of $55o billion. In return, Japan gets a 15% tariff on automobiles, and 10% return on the profit of the ¹business they finance in the U.S. Japan is essentially purchasing a lower tariff rate.
PRESIDENT TRUMP – “We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made. Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it. Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%. This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explains:
EXAMPLE: President Trump wants generic drug manufacturing in the USA. U.S. company ‘Main Street Drugs’ agrees to build a $100 billion manufacturing plant. Japan finances the building and company creation. Main Street Drugs owns and operates the business, keeps 90% of the profits, Japan gets 10%.
Trump (USA) has $450 billion in financing left to spend on the next priority, perhaps a railroad connection or transit system.
Sean Hannity and John Solomon have apparently ejected Sara Carter for “Tick Tock Term-2”, seemingly replacing her with James (‘sounds like Gopher from Winnie the Pooh‘) Comer.
In the latest iteration of the tick-tock walls closing in, at least according to Solomon, the FBI is currently doing a “grand conspiracy” investigation of Barack Obama, James Comey, John Brennan and James Clapper.
Solomon says below, “This is a criminal conspiracy. And by treating it as a conspiracy, you eliminate the five-year statutes on individual crimes. So if something happened in 2016, but it was part of an ongoing conspiracy that continued with Jack Smith raiding Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, it can be charged in the larger conspiracy. Even though, if you tried to charge it as an individual case, you wouldn’t get it.” WATCH:
According to Solomon, even Lee Zeldin is a potential candidate to lead a special prosecution team against the former conspirators, and the evidence is so overwhelming … “a special prosecutor would have a jumpstart. This could be wrapped up in a couple of years.”…
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how ridiculous this claim by Hannity, Solomon and Representative ‘Gopher‘ Comer actually is. Who believes this nonsense? We are years beyond believing the FBI is structurally doing anything to return fire against the Obama administration; yet here is Fox News selling bulk hopium to their viewers.
As expected, no one in the media pool asked the key question. If Ukraine is not a NATO member, and Russia is not a NATO member, then why is NATO even involved? Not a single media outlet cared enough to even ask the brutally obvious.
LET US NOT PRETEND. There is good news and there is bad news within the outlined strategy. More good than bad, despite the spin room narrative engineering being immediately spread by U.S. media.
First, President Trump is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin 50 days to finish his strategic military operations in Ukraine, before a 100% tariff rate is executed against the Russian economy. With direct U.S. trade with Russia already not happening, the tariff would likely be applied toward any country purchasing any goods or resources from Russia (specifically India, China, Iran, etc.).
Second, despite Lindsey Graham and the EU leaders discussing the confiscation of Russian assets held in EU/USA bonds, neither President Trump nor NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte mentioned it. Again, the media never asked that question. Thankfully, President Trump seems to realize if such a confiscation took place, the financial credibility of the entire western finance system would be compromised. No nation would want to put their national wealth at risk by buying U.S. and EU treasury bonds.
Third, the part the MSM will focus on. In the interim of the 50 days, NATO will be both purchasing and moving offensive and defensive weapons systems into Ukraine. On the defensive weapon side, Germany will likely send Patriot missile batteries, and NATO will replace them with new U.S. purchases. In addition all NATO states will provide increased offensive weapons and purchases will be made from U.S. stockpiles. Those new offensive weapons will likely be held back until the end of the 50 days, giving Putin something to think about to bring him to the table.
Summary. Putin has 50 days. In the interim NATO is approved by Trump to ship offensive and defensive weapons into Ukraine. The Senate sanctions package will continue to be assembled, perhaps approved, but not deployed until after the 100% tariffs are executed if Russia is non compliant in getting to the table.
The carrot is the 50 days to get finished. The stick is all hell will break loose on Russia, including new and powerful offensive weapons, if Putin doesn’t end the conflict prior to the 50-day deadline.
