CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unexpected visit to Moscow, Russia, today.

According to flight data and new media reporting Director Ratcliffe flew into Latvia and from Latvia into Russia on a C-17 military transport plane.

VIA CBS – CIA Director John Ratcliffe is in Moscow, Russia, for meetings, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News on Tuesday.

News of his trip comes after a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport plane was spotted at a Moscow airport, along with a U.S. diplomatic motorcade. Neither the U.S. nor Russian governments has commented on the identity of the U.S. official in Russia or the purpose of the visit.

The CIA did not immediately comment.

It appears to be Ratcliffe’s first known trip to Russia as CIA director, though he has maintained contact with Russian intelligence counterparts. (more)

VIA AXIOS – CIA director John Ratcliffe is visiting Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian officials, two U.S. officials said.

Why it matters: This is Ratcliffe’s first trip to Moscow since he took office and the highest-level visit by a Trump administration official to Russia since January.

Ahead of Ratcliffe’s trip, the U.S. told Ukraine that a senior delegation was traveling to Moscow and asked it to suspend strikes until it leaves, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. (link)

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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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Two significant media reports on the topic of immigration today.

The first is an AP report showing the State Dept is planning to revoke 200,000 visas that were given after illegal entrants claimed asylum status.  The second is DHS requiring $100,000 payment for each H1B visa sought by companies to bring in foreign workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.

Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.

“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott. (more)

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When I watch this type of debate, I am reminded why I stopped watching Fox News. Islamic Communist Abdul El-Sayed repeatedly claims Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is not needed, because the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) used to handle deportations. He says why do we need ICE when INS used to work just fine.

Big hair Watters could just easily say, because when the INS was in operation, we had less than a million illegal aliens and now we have 50+ million; that’s why. But no, they end up talking in circles about an issue that is a priority of most American citizens.

On each issue, it is very easy to take apart Abdul El-Sayed with policy facts and structural realism. However, that wouldn’t work for the communist cause, so Jesse Watters instead just banters for the audience giving legitimacy to the nonsense. Extremely annoying.  Both of these guys are the problem.

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At the core of the issue is the administration executive order that requires states to send their voter rolls to the U.S. Postal Service for mail service for mail-in ballots.  The USPS would then cross-check with DHS and Social Security records to ensure each of the names and addresses were eligible to vote before mailing them a ballot.

Obviously, the blue states -Democrat States- are refusing to comply with the USPS rule, the reason is simple.  A significant number of the blue state registered voters are not eligible voters (illegal aliens etc.)  If the states allowed cross-checking of their voter rolls the American people would see just how many illegal voters are registered; this would significantly reshape the U.S. election.  The scale of the issue is up for debate.

That said, the anxiety forms the baseline of opposition where blue states are suing in every court possible to stop the postal service requirement. The Trump executive order also directs the Postal Service to block delivery of mail-in ballots entirely from states that refuse to share voter lists with the federal government.

Today the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 [RULING HERE] that lifted one of the lower court injunctions that was filed as a lawsuit in Massachusetts. The court ruled that Boston-based Judge Indira Talwani (Obama appointee) engaged in “a string of speculations to find this suit justiciable.”

[SOURCE]

The three DEI justices (Brown-Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor) all dissented from the majority opinion, because of course they did.

WASHINGTON – […] More than 20 blue states sued to block Trump’s order, saying it threatens to upend their planning for the midterms in November and intrudes on their authority to administer elections.

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This is a pretty good encapsulation of the relationship between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the DNC officials within the United States. Although Kokinda missed mentioning the meeting between Barack Obama and Mark Carney shortly before the G7 summit in France.

After Prime Minister Mark Carney abruptly pulled Canada out of U.S. trade talks and framed the dispute as a “war,” this episode argues the rupture isn’t really about tariffs but about political and financial strategy aimed at the U.S. midterm elections. Citing U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s account of negotiations and Canada’s unique retaliation, the script claims Carney is pursuing “geo-industrialization” and a “donut strategy” to go around the White House and influence American public opinion, aided by U.S.-connected advisers and outreach to mostly Democrats.

Kokinda also highlights comments from Iran’s foreign minister about U.S. debt and links the broader conflict to competing economic systems. The episode concludes that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is fighting a parallel battle to manage risks from the yen carry trade using tools like FIMA to prevent destabilizing Treasury selloffs.

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In short, as Canadian conservatives suspected, Mark Carney lied about everything!

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer appeared on CNBC this morning to discuss the trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada and what caused the final breakdown at the last minute.  Greer notes the Canadian team appeared to be negotiating at the end from the position of politics as the Canadian team were aligning themselves with a domestic effort.

Greer draws attention to the friction points being very small. The U.S. tariffs were on less than 5% of overall Canadian exports and less than .06% of U.S. imports.  The U.S. made several offers to present Canada with the best trade terms in the world; however, Canada wanted more.  Canada wanted to retain all their market barriers, retain all quotas, retain all tariffs and restrictions against U.S. goods and services, but remove all the tariffs against them.

This is a really solid interview to watch because USTR Greer doesn’t need to pretend anything.  The terms offered were direct and consistent with benefit to both America and Canada.  On the language issue, Greer completely refutes the claims by Mark Carney about the U.S. seeking to change the language of Quebec and starts laughing at the premise. The issue relates to Canada demanding that five percent of all tech income be given to Canadian tech companies they compete against. That demand is ridiculous.  WATCH:

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Every time he has the opportunity, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reminds the world he views Canada as a part of Europe.  As the trade conflict between the USA and Canada deepens, Mark Carney looks toward Europe for a financial and security lifeline.

During remarks earlier today Commonwealth Prime Minister Carney noted his intention to join with Europe this fall for increased economic and national security.  This is an alignment the former Bank of England head has been operating since his installation. [X Link]

🇨🇦🇪🇺 I will condense my many tweets on the subject here:
– Europe’s financial and banking system is about to collapse due to insufficient collateral.
– The war in Ukraine was meant to collapse Russia and take its resources for the needed collateral.
– The war in Ukraine failed,…

— Northern Sceptic (@NSceptic11501) August 24, 2026

From my perspective this is Commonwealth banker Carney’s financial hedge against the looming USMCA termination.

Carney will be counting on U.K and EU financial support when the Canadian dollar declines quickly.  You might remember the Bank of Canada warning about this.

May 2026: – […] A cascading series of events could cause a sharp loss of investor confidence and lead to a spike in demand for liquidity or rapid asset sales. Funding markets could come under pressure, and stress could spread more broadly.

To be clear, the FSR is not about what we expect will happen. It is an assessment of how existing vulnerabilities—or pockets of stress—could amplify shocks and ultimately spread across the financial system.” (more)

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In typical Canadian govt fashion, after making public pronouncements about President Trump’s trade team encroaching on Canadian sovereignty, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledges to interfere in the U.S. mid-term election.

This comes on the heels of former Canadian Minister and current Ukrainian advisor for reconstruction, Chrystia Freeland complaining about the Trump administration creating a “vassal state,” from her office in Ukraine; the ultimate vassal state.  Again, typically Canadian.

Ontario is the epicenter of the Canadian auto industry, and Premier Doug Ford doubles down on his adversarial position to U.S President Trump, telling the elected American leader to “kiss his ass.”  WATCH:

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