Most punditry avoid noticing that President Trump’s Emissary Steve Witkoff stands alone as he communicates directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those same pundits seemingly skip over the dynamic where the Russian government, led by Federation President Putin, permit television cameras to open these talks to the public for viewing.

These two points are remarkable by themselves when you take the history of the relationship between Russia and the United States into context. After all, trust has always been the missing element in both directions. However, the brutal and pragmatic honesty presented by President Donald Trump has created a new map within engagement.

Do not discount how angry the system within Washington DC is about President Trump using executive emissaries, that are outside their control. Never underestimate the professional level of hatred carried by DC politicians toward President Trump on this issue alone.  They despise his outmaneuvering.

When Mr. Witkoff is received by Russia, the statue of Witkoff as a person is framed around the respect that Russian leadership have for who Witkoff represents. He stands alone in the room but carries the weight of President Trump in all measures as reviewed by the Russian delegation. Quite remarkable.

Vladimir Putin held a meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Constantine Palace. On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev. Video and Transcript Below:

[Transcript] –President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Witkoff, we are delighted to see you – this time in St Petersburg.

We know that yesterday you had a meeting in Norway, and I would like to hear about its outcome.

I would like to thank you and President Trump for your attention to the resolution of the Ukraine crisis. I know that it is a special matter for President Trump, primarily for humanitarian reasons. In our conversations, including our most recent conversation over the phone, he emphasised the importance of ending this conflict to prevent further losses among the personnel on both sides.

Of course, it goes beyond military losses. The civilian population is suffering. In this regard, please pass my most sincere gratitude not only to the President but also to First Lady [Melania Trump] for her contribution to resolving humanitarian issues.

I believe both sides would be interested in discussing plans for restoring our bilateral relations, the Russia-US contacts, including economic cooperation.

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Several people have asked for opinion about the ‘insurrection’ information group provided by X-user account Data Republican.  I have spent some time reviewing the information but still hold back from too much opinion on the overall network because these groups are assemblies of people, not systems.

Each deep state participant has a footprint and the only way to make sense of their assembly is to track their former and current pathways – that takes a lot of time to assemble.

Erica Chenoweth, Rear Admiral Michael E. Smith (Ret.), Danielle M. Reiff, Dr. Paul Zeitz, Maria J. Stephan, Julia Roig, Walt Roberts, Brendan Halloran, Laura Adams and Zoe Marks appear to represent the core leftist group.  These interests appear to be the ones defended by The Washington Post.

Former CIA operatives who entered congress in 2018 and 2020, ex. U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin – part of the IC freshman class, also seem to represent the action group, executing the agenda of the planners.

Former ODNI Chief of Staff to Tulsi Gabbard, Alexa Henning, has a good name for the group overall, “The USAID Alumni Network.”  That representation is the best encapsulation, as the motives and intents of the group seem to center around former USAID funding, NGO’s and direct finance.

This USAID commonality appears to be the central component that triggered the leftist opposition toward a more forward stance on action against the Trump administration, and by consequence toward the 2026 midterm election.  Factually, if you want to determine the motives of people within any organized system, track their finance component.

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Following an unauthorized publication of a strategic outline, some people within the military and intelligence system quickly ran to the Washington Post in order to get out in front of the issue.

In this overview, Mike Steger examines the Washington Post report on current and former national security officials advising state governments and lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections. He explores the role of National Security Leaders for America, the Horizons Project, and their preparations for potential military involvement during an election crisis.

Mike connects these developments to the Trump administration’s election security efforts, political tensions in Brazil and France, and the growing battle over America’s political future. Drawing comparisons to the 2020 Transition Integrity Project, he argues that an increasingly threatened political establishment is preparing for confrontation as Trump’s coalition continues to evolve.

Chapters

00:00 Democrats Prepare for the Midterms
01:00 The Washington Post’s Election Report
02:15 Military Intervention and Election Chaos
03:45 Trump’s Election Security Crackdown
06:00 Elissa Slotkin’s Warning

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Tonight, President Donald Trump will deliver remarks at a Midterm MAGA Rally in Sioux City, Iowa.

“We appreciate you and we respect you. We’re thankful that you’re a man of the people.”

Departing the White House for a midterm campaign event in Iowa, President Trump paused to answer questions from the assembled press pool on current events.  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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The story of Stephen Hubbard reflects that he is a rather unusual fellow of considerable travel.  The 74-year-old American was released from Russian prison on humanitarian grounds following requests by the U.S. government, state department and President Trump himself.

Stephen Hubbard was a former schoolteacher who taught English in Japan, retired then went to Cyprus where he met a Ukrainian woman Inna and eventually moved to the eastern Ukraine city of Izyum.  After the Russian Federation took control of Izyum, Hubbard was accused of engaging in Mercenary activity saying he manned a Ukraine checkpoint during the conflict. {source}

In April 2022 Hubbard was arrested.  He was convicted by a Moscow court in October 2024 and sentenced to six years and 10 months in prison.  Yesterday he received a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he was released on humanitarian grounds as the Trump administration was negotiating a peace settlement.

STEVE WITKOFF -“Today, Stephen Hubbard is free and headed back home to his family.

Stephen is a proud American citizen, retired teacher, and U.S. Air Force veteran who loves our country.

Now, he is on his way back to a family who loves him, a President who never gave up on him, and a nation that proudly welcomes him home.

It was my honor to be with Stephen in St. Petersburg today before he departed for the United States. President Trump called Stephen to check on him and reaffirm his unwavering commitment to bringing all Americans wrongfully detained home.

Stephen joins more than 110 Americans who [President Trump] has freed since returning to office, including Robert Gilman, Ksenia Karelina, and Marc Fogel.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers remarks to the media from Mumbai, India.  During the remarks Secretary Rubio answers questions about Starlink, Starshield, Elon Musk, Steve Witkoff, Ukraine negotiations, Russia, Iran, India and current geopolitical events.

The video and transcript are below:

[Transcript] – SECRETARY RUBIO:  What’s up?  All right, let’s go.

QUESTION:  Sir, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk is the one who made the decision to throttle Starshield and catch Ukraine off-guard.  Is this something you were aware of?  Can you —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Starlink.

QUESTION:  Starlink and Starshield.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Okay, again, there’s this – all this confusion.  These are two separate programs, okay?  Starlink is a commercial – Starlink is the receivers you put on the roof of your house and you use for – it’s used for commercial purposes.  It’s not a military system, although it could be used in order to guide drones and things of this nature and so forth.  And then Starshield is different.  It’s a unique defense product that is sold and operated through the Department of War, as an example.  It’s two different items and it’s important to distinguish one from the other.

I have not seen The Wall Street Journal reporting because I have not read it.  I know that what – so I’m not familiar with the story that you’re referring to.  But Starlink is a private company.  They have a contract.  They have contractual terms upon how that technology can be used.  The important point is we cannot direct a private company as to the decisions they make or not make.  What I can tell you with certainty is the President of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that’s what we said repeatedly.  I don’t know what the story reflects, but that is the case.

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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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