As we saw previously in Term-1, President Trump has again divided and assigned trade negotiation responsibility to key cabinet members.  In this interview with CNN National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett smiles and walks effortlessly through the narrative engineering attempt by CNN pundit Kassie Hunt.

This is a must watch interview if you are following the details of the current global trade renegotiation.

Hassett outlines the current status of trade negotiations with some of the biggest trade partners in the world.  India and Southeast Asia are being handled by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.  Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is in control of the section 232 (national security) tariffs, and USTR Jamison Greer has 19 current Free Trade Agreements outlined with various partners all willing to accept the reciprocity agreement.  WATCH:

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears on NBC Meet the Press to discuss the ongoing negotiations to bring a ceasefire to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Secretary Rubio notes the ongoing discussions have positive indications but also concerning elements where there are demands that are challenging to fulfill.  Ultimately, the goal is to stop killing people and achieve peace.  At the end of the day the USA has funneled billions of dollars into what appears to be a never-ending conflict, and our willingness to maintain support is close to an end. WATCH:

[Transcript] QUESTION: And joining me now is Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Secretary Rubio, welcome back to Meet the Press.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Good morning. Thanks.

QUESTION: Well, good morning to you. Thank you so much for being here. President Trump is about to mark his 100th day in office. It comes as a key campaign promise is to end the war in Ukraine and against the backdrop of that extraordinary meeting between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. Mr. Secretary, is Russia and Ukraine now closer to a deal in the wake of that meeting?

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I am trying to avoid my own confirmation bias, which is difficult in this case, because when Congressman Mike Waltz was announced as NSA to President-elect Donald Trump, immediately I thought he would be the first to exit the national security team; his ideology just doesn’t mesh right.

Following the fiasco with Signal and his Jeffrey Goldberg foul up, it looked like Waltz was pushed out of the immediate circle of influence and instead told to focus on restructuring the National Security Council.  His proximity still exists, but his immediate role appears -at least outwardly- to have shifted; he seems less influential as a direct emissary for President Trump to foreign intelligence peers and leaders.

I have this horribly annoying affliction to noticing small details and taking notes, and all indications point in that direction.  When you start to notice this shift, what becomes evident is within the verbiage used as a proximity person begins describing events as if they were an observer, not a direct participant. [The “we” is lost.] Listen to how Mike Waltz describes current geopolitical events, he sounds like a pundit not a participant.

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If my suspicion is accurate, President Trump has a National Security Advisor in name only.

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President Donald Trump is the most transparent president in modern history, perhaps ever.  In a statement delivered from his truth social account, President Trump outlines his thinking on the current status of the Ukraine -v- Russia conflict.

[President Trump] – “No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it. Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests, in order to stop the killing that is worse than anything since World War II.

Why doesn’t this lightweight reporter say that it was Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired. It was also Liddle’ Peter who wrote an absolutely fawning, yet terribly written Biography, on Obama. It was a JOKE! Did Baker ever criticize the Obama Crimea Giveaway? NO, not once, only TRUMP, and I’ve had nothing to do with this stupid war, other than early on, when I gave Ukraine Javelins, and Obama gave them sheets.

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President Trump hosted Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in the Oval Office and took questions from reporters on Thursday.  The majority of the question from both the U.S. and Norwegian media encompass the current effort to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.

One of the ceasefire ‘sticking points’ per se’, is that immediately following the breakout of the conflict the government of President Zelenskyy changed many of their constitutional rules to include the legal elimination of opposition parties in the country, removal of religion or faith-based social influence that runs counter to the Ukrainian Nazi mindset, the cessation of elections in Ukraine, and other “emergency measures” intended to assist the stability of Zelenskyy’s government as they entered a war footing.

The results of the legal changes and constitutional framework, which included non-recognition of any lost territory, is now being leveraged by Zelenskyy in negotiations for a ceasefire.  President Zelenskyy is now saying the ceasefire terms proposed, which include accepting regional losses of geography to Russia, are not constitutionally possible and he has no power to agree to them.

In essence, Zelenskyy’s emergency government changed the constitutional power of the President, cemented a new constitutional status during war, and now says those previous changes make it impossible to accept proposed terms.  This self-fulfilling creation, intentionally done with forethought for exactly this kind of current scenario, is the baseline for frustration toward the Ukraine position.  President Trump notes this Ukraine position is frustrating, while thousands die weekly in the process.  WATCH:

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President Trump’s patience with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is obviously wearing thin.  However, the key for President Trump to change the dynamic; the thing he is inarguably trying to avoid; is a full U.S withdrawal and subsequent isolation for Zelenskyy.

President Trump via Truth Social:

“Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.”

This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion. Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired? The area also houses, for many years before “the Obama handover,” major Russian submarine bases.

It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.

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Interesting series of events converging.  According to multiple media outlets, a delegation from the U.S, Europe and Ukraine are scheduled to meet again in London tomorrow for further discussions of the peace proposal.

President Trump said Monday they had “very good meetings” about Ukraine and Russia recently as Trump was likely debriefed from the meeting that Secretary Rubio and Envoy Steve Witkoff held in Paris, France with Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine, EU and U.K officials.  However, this was the same Paris meeting that preceded Secretary Rubio saying if progress was not made quickly, the USA would exit their role in negotiating a peace deal.

President Trump and Secretary Rubio are putting pressure on Ukraine, EU, U.K as well as the CIA background players to get to a place of earnest peace discussion, by threatening to pull back from their effort and likely allowing Russian President Putin a lot of implied latitude to increase hostile action.

The belligerent Ukraine officials (harsh Nazi tones on display) feel emboldened to keep fighting with enhanced funding and support from the EU, U.K, NATO and CIA operatives embedded with Ukraine forces.  As an ancillary matter, the potential for Trump to pull back stands as a visible motive for the USA Deep State to keep attacking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

At a certain point President Trump is going to have to make a decision on further support.  If Trump exits the proxy war, that’s when the real internal battle with the CIA will likely surface. This is a very interesting dynamic to keep watching as CIA Director John Ratcliffe appears to be a bystander, incapable of stopping the independent elements of the CIA from operating their own agenda.

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“This is not our war.” ~ Secretary Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in Paris on April 18 about the prolonged peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. However, a frustrated Rubio warned that the U.S. could “move on” from its involvement in negotiations to end the war if no progress is made “within a matter of days and weeks.” That’s the mainstream media narrative.

The non-pretending summary is that Ukraine, France, Great Britain, the EU, NATO et al are all trying to retain their interests in the conflict. Russia has simple terms, but the war machinery controlled by the intel apparatus (CIA and EU) and the financial stakeholders in the EU region are unhappy. [Too many cooks] A frustrated Secretary Rubio says, make up your mind, if no deal – ¹we’re done.  WATCH:

¹Having followed this very closely, here’s what “we’re done” likely means.

President Trump ends the USA side of the proxy war. President Trump pulls back all support for Ukraine; stops sending money, weapons and to the extent he can, intelligence to Ukraine. This opens the door for Russia to go full combat as the ground thaws, without concern for USA to engage.

The EU will have to step up with funding, intelligence and war material to continue supporting Ukraine.  Rubio is calling the EU/UK bluff here because he knows without the USA the EU/UK will not commit to fight Russia.

Remember if no one does anything, Russia has already gained the ground they want and will just continue grinding western Ukraine to ever expanding rubble.  Factually, doing nothing is a big win for Russia, especially if Trump withdraws.

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The report comes as a result of leaks to the New York Times. Which, given the nature of the subject matter and administration officials involved, indicates the sourcing is from the domestic IC side of things. Specifically, the greatest likelihood is from someone in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) talking to media.  Keep that in mind.

According to leaked information to the New York Times, President Trump did not agree with an Israeli proposal to launch military strikes against Iran.  According to the narrative as advanced, President Trump, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were in agreement to attempt diplomatic solutions instead of bombing Iran.

Israel could not conduct the attack without U.S. support, which President Trump decided not to give.  Instead, Trump wanted a more forceful push toward engagement and diplomacy with Iran surrounding the ongoing contentious issue of nuclear development.

NEW YORK TIMES – Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.

Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.

The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr provides an update on the latest scientific study of the growth in Autism cases within the U.S and a new HHS initiative to find the root causes.

As noted by RFK Jr, there is no longer any valid scientific debate about the rate of growth in Autism, specifically around young boys.  Something environmental is causing the trigger that generally occurs after the age of two-years-old.  The scientific research on the scale of the problem is jaw-dropping as outlined in the secretary’s remarks.  WATCH: 

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