Let’s put the events of the last 72 hours into context.

On Monday and Tuesday, Russian oil refineries in NATO countries Hungary and Romania suddenly, and simultaneously, have mysterious explosions and catastrophic fires {citation}}. On Wednesday, NATO head Mark Rutte comes to visit President Trump in the White House, and at the end of the day, the same Russian company, Lukoil, whose refinery exploded in Romania, suddenly becomes sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury {citation}. These events are not disconnected.

President Trump then disputes a Wall Street Journal report {citation}, further saying he did not give approval, nor does he know where NATO long-range missiles are coming from that were launched from Ukraine into Russia {citation}.

Alarmingly, both the Wall Street Journal and President Trump are seemingly correct.

President Trump did not give authorization; however, he did cede authority to NATO to make independent decisions about long-range missiles. The U.K. provided the British storm shadow missiles, and Ukraine launched them with NATO support for targeting deep into Russia.

President Trump saying, “wherever they may come from,” is alarming in itself.  We all know that British PM Starmer, French President Macron, German Chancellor Merz and NATO Secretary Mark Rutte are all in alignment to push NATO into a direct conflict with Russia using the non-NATO state of Ukraine to do it.

The frustrating part is not the obtuse deflection by President Trump – perhaps he really doesn’t know – but rather the alarming issue of questioning whether President Trump is getting accurate information from the U.S. intelligence apparatus to make sound decisions.  President Trump has abdicated the conflict decision-making to the NATO “coalition of the willing”, while the USA remains in NATO as a sideline observer.

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NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte visits President Trump while Trump and Secretary Bessent increase sanctions against Russian energy companies.

Check the body language.  Secretary of State/Nat Sec Advisor Marco Rubio does not seem to be in alignment with the conversation today.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to Israel prior to reconnecting with President Trump for the trip to Asia.  Vice-President JD Vance is departing Israel at the same time.

President Trump has instructed the top level of his administration to be highly engaged and in place in Israel as the tenuous peace agreement between Israel and Hamas still holds.  The U.S. led the effort, and the U.S. is remaining focused on the first steps in the peace agreement at the request of the regional partners who are participating.

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Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson appears at a Turning Point USA event in honor of Charlie Kirk.  The event was held at Indiana University and Tucker Carlson did not deliver a speech, he simply stood on stage and answered questions.  WATCH:

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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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Put this in the ‘beyond ridiculous’ file that explains the current situation of a contracting European economy; specifically, in the auto sector.

Europe has fines associated with the production of gasoline powered engines if the auto company doesn’t hit targets for sales of electric vehicles.  The fines triggered this year.  In order to avoid paying the European fines the auto makers are forming alliances with Chinese EV makers to purchase carbon credit offsets.

In essence, EU car companies buy Chinese car company carbon credits, to avoid the EU fines.  The Chinese car companies can then use the carbon credit revenue to subsidize lower priced Chinese EVs to the European car market, thereby undercutting the European EV car companies.  BRILLIANT!

MILAN, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Automakers have formed alliances to help them avoid hefty European Union fines on carbon emissions by purchasing credits from electric vehicle companies. Several legacy automakers face potential fines as the transition to EVs in Europe has proved slower than expected in recent years.

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I watched some of this live and thought to myself these reporters are really silly now.

One of the questions was asking President Trump if he planned on getting $230 million from the DOJ for targeting him.  Trump had no idea what the “journalist” was talking about and asked them to repeat the question three times because it didn’t make sense.  Essentially, he laughed it off.  Then the New York Times comes out with a story headlined: “Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases,” according to “people familiar with the matter.”

These people are nuts.

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U.S. Vice President JD Vance, joined by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, addressed the media in Kiryat Gat, Israel, from the Civilian Military Coordination Center (CMCC) where U.S. troops oversee Gaza ceasefire operations. The U.S. team praised Israeli cooperation, highlighted progress on hostages and humanitarian aid, and reaffirmed America’s role in stabilizing the region.  WATCH:

Simultaneous to this visit, President Trump released the following statement:

“Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and “straighten our Hamas” if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us. The love and spirit for the Middle East has not been seen like this in a thousand years! It is a beautiful thing to behold! I told these countries, and Israel, “NOT YET!” There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right. If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help. Also, I would like to thank the great and powerful country of Indonesia, and its wonderful leader, for all of the help they have shown and given to the Middle East, and to the U.S.A. TO EVERYONE, thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP“

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We have discussed at length how the EU/NATO intelligence apparatus will do anything to keep U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin in conflict against each other. As a consequence of tracking the datapoints around this issue, these events in Romania and Hungary cannot be perceived as coincidental.

Remember, what the EU intelligence apparatus did in Romania to control the election result. Remember also, the largest NATO base is being built in Romania. We understand the EU/NATO (CIA) agenda for Romania with clear eyes.

Now, two simultaneous oil refineries explode. One of them a Russian-owned refinery in Romania, the other a refinery in Hungary that processes Russian oil.

According to Daily News Hungary, the Romanian explosion happened in Ploiești, in the Wallachian region, the refinery is one of Romania’s largest, with a capacity of over 2.5 million tonnes. the refinery is owned by the Russian company Lukoil.

The refinery in Hungary at Százhalombatta refines Russian oil. It erupted in flames on Monday night. “The fire broke out on Monday night at the Dunai Refinery’s AV3 unit. It was swiftly contained, and firefighters have remained on site since, MOL stated in a press release issued last night.” […] “According to information obtained by index.hu from industry insiders, the entire oil refinery faces the possibility of a complete shutdown. Prime Minister Orbán Viktor, in his morning post, has promised the strictest investigation into the fire.”

In related news, the Budapest summit in Hungary between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump has been delayed.

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