Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is not known as a man who pretends. Orban speaks plainly, directly and without pretense.  During his open media segment at the beginning of the NATO summit the media demanded to know if he thought Russia was a threat and how he felt about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy being present at the assembly.

Orban being Orban delivered the response the Europeans did not want to hear.  Trump is great. Russia is not scary. The biggest threat to the EU is their continued slide away from competitive economics.  As to Zelenskyy, NATO has no business in Ukraine.  WATCH: 

.

(more…)

Representative Al Green’s effort to impeach President Trump over the nuclear strikes in Iran failed miserably.  Even the majority of Democrats would not go along with it.  Caveman big sad.

WASHINGTON DC – Most House Democrats joined with Republicans on Tuesday to quash an effort to impeach President Donald Trump over his weekend Iran strikes.

Rep. Al Green’s impeachment resolution was tabled on a 344-79 vote, with 128 Democrats joining all 216 Republicans to kill the measure.

Those included House Democratic leaders, who have been wary of pursuing new impeachments after two prior Trump impeachments failed during his first term. Still, dozens of Democrats voted to keep Green’s resolution alive. (read more)

(more…)

President Donald Trump was greeted warmly by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima the current monarchs of the Netherlands, during his arrival to the NATO summit.  Queen Maxima appears to have taken a page from the wardrobe of First Lady Melania Trump. After all the formal introductions, a family photo of the NATO group was held.  WATCH: 

.

(more…)

Cautious optimism is warranted, however it looks like Senate Majority Leader John Thune is pushing hard to hit the deadlines set by President Trump for passage of the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) reconciliation package.

Speaking today right before a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Thune noted he is optimistic the Senate can finalize their negotiations on the BBB over the next two days, setting up the Senate to hold their first cloture votes on Friday and a vote-a-rama through the weekend.

President Trump is still assisting Leader Thune with phone calls to Senate republicans between foreign policy engagements.  Trump is only staying in the Netherlands for 24 hours so he can quickly get back to DC to assist in any arm-twisting needed by Thune or Johnson.

According to Politico, House Speaker Mike Johnson has cautioned House representatives to stay in town this weekend and be prepared to reconcile both bills and vote on the package as soon as it exits the Senate.   As many of you are aware, this is a critical legislative package containing a large amount of President Trump’s America First policy priorities.

As things stand right now, it looks like Thune is going to try and get the package into voting position on Friday, with immediate votes to take place.  We are critical of Thune when warranted, but should also appreciate the work of the Majority Leader when he is structurally supportive of the MAGA agenda.

(more…)

The NATO summit begins officially tonight in the Hague, Netherlands.  However, most of the NATO members arrived early so their collective assembly could strategize a defense against the arrival of Godzilla Trump.

Unfortunately, Godzilla Trump began his journey to the EU today by using a very emphatic F-bomb directed at Iran and Israel.  Netanyahu promptly apologized, reversed his antagonistic enterprise and ducked for cover.  A grouchy Godzilla is not what the EU leaders want to be facing.  Grimaces abound.

To appease the painfully, brutally and uncomfortably honest President Trump the EU have agreed among themselves to increase their defense spending quickly, to the very Trumpian 5% of GDP with 3.5% spent on direct military arms.

GERMANY – […] “We will decide to invest significantly more in our security,” Merz told the Bundestag ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague. “Not to do the United States a favor — but because Russia actively threatens the freedom of the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”

A day before the speech, Berlin confirmed it would raise military spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2029 — Germany’s most ambitious rearmament effort since the end of the Cold War. (more)

(more…)

President Donald Trump gives brief remarks to the media aboard Air Force One (audio only for first minute).  The first segment of the questions and answers deals with President Trump talking to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel agreeing not to strike, to turn around and return their planes home.

President Trump reaffirmed that he does not want to see regime change in Iran and that things can be settled without conflict if all parties engage with honesty and integrity.  The conversation then moves to the NATO summit which begins later tonight.  WATCH (Video starts at 1:40)

.

(more…)

It’s all right there for those who have eyes to see and do not pretend.

Chopper Pressers are the best pressers.  Departing the White House President Trump leads off his initial remarks by saying. … “And I’m talking directly to Israel right now”… “I’m not happy with Israel, I’m not happy at all.”  President Trump repeats.

President Trump is speaking about the increased fire the Israeli government conducted, as soon as the ceasefire was announced, and again talking about the ongoing retaliation fire that Israel is taking right now to a single Iran rocket that missed any Israeli target.  “Israel needs to calm down,” he continued.

Then, to drive home the point and express his frustration, President Trump says, “we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard, that they don’t know WHAT THE FUCK THEY’RE DOING! Do you understand that?” He then turns his back in disgust and walks away.  WATCH:

.

This week wasn’t just about stopping Iran. It was also about taking Israel’s “Iran has nukes!” card off the table.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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 †

.

(more…)

Activist U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy previously blocked President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens to non-originating countries, as many countries refused to take back their criminal aliens.  The administration appealed the injunction to the Supreme Court and the high court ruled in favor of the Trump administration and DHS [SCOTUS RULING HERE]

However, after the high court lifted the block, Judge Murphy doubled down on his injunction, saying the Supreme Court decision does not pertain to his order.

WASHINGTON DC – The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to swiftly deport foreigners to countries where they have no previous ties.

The justices lifted an order from a federal judge in Boston who had placed restrictions on the deportations to those countries. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy had issued a nationwide injunction that required the administration to give immigrants “meaningful” advance notice and a chance to raise objections before they are sent to so-called third countries — nations not specified in their original deportation orders. But the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to put Murphy’s injunction on hold.(more)

In response to the Supreme Court overruling his decision, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said late Monday that his injunction blocking the deportation of certain non-citizens to South Sudan and other third-party countries “remains in full force and effect.”

(more…)