I returned yesterday following another whirlwind trip to the one place in America I genuinely believe is rooted in evil enterprise, Washington DC.  What I found there was similar to prior visits yet there are some structural and cultural changes afoot that are visible if you know what to look for.

First, the level of opposition to Donald Trump is bigger than in term-1, way bigger.  The hatred is likely a magnitude of three times as strong against President Trump and what/who he represents.  The opposition sentiment, now three times more vitriolic, is held by around 90% of the inhabitants of the region, perhaps more but I am trying to be gracious.

Somewhere are 90% of every thought, word, deed and action, as well as tone therein, is bitterly against President Trump’s perspectives, policies and intentions for government reform.  In term-1 and prior visits that percentage was likely around 75%.  The current scale of opposition is actually stunning albeit not surprising.  However, it does give you an idea of how impossible it is for a MAGA-minded political official to live, work and even breathe in the environment.

This is why so many elected officials we count on collapse after only a few weeks/months of effort.  The hatred they face is like a flea looking into a furnace, and unfortunately when put into that kind of battle geography only those who carry the purest armor of God are going to keep stable footing.  Everyone from the 7-11 attendant to the pizza delivery guy and beyond, will openly hate you if you even suspect you are Trumpy minded or even MAGA adjacent.

There is pure evil deep within the Washington DC hatred, and it emanates, vibrates like a frequency you can physically feel and mentally sense.  This is not America, not even close.  In the last two decades this place of “fundamental transformation” has become something else entirely. I will note there is approximately 30% more office space for lease today than prior visits. Perhaps DC is shrinking.

The various independent American survivors trying to cope within the region live like French resistance forces under Nazi occupation rules.  Secret meetings, safe venues, careful transit, eye signals, questioning glances, knowing nods, stunning nervousness and other identifying survival tradecraft are very visible.  This is a putrid and horrid place. In its modern form it is much worse than most can fathom, and you would be safer on the streets of Mogadishu.

Inside the security perimeter where the illusion of democracy is maintained for tourists’ things are safer; however, getting there requires a very deliberate effort to keep your head down, walk briskly through the safari zone and stay on very narrow paths carefully avoiding eye-contact lest you be suspected as an outsider.  Yeah, I dislike this place immensely.

My favorite question, and I’m very careful about how I ask it, is: “when was the last time you encountered joy?”  Try asking that question in Washington DC and you’ll need more than a Snickers as you await a reply.

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Alternate headline: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has officially entered the 2028 contest!

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With two simple words, Kristi Noem has entered the race with Vance and Rubio.

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Those who followed the first-term trade negotiations will likely remember the challenges of dealing with the European Union and their entrenched dependency on retaining the Marshall Plan system; a one-way tariff process that enabled Europe to rebuild after World War II.

Unfortunately, as with all long-term financial subsidies, the beneficiary becomes dependent and retaining benefit is their only objective.

Former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross spent the majority of his time focused on trying to negotiate with the EU to remove these ridiculous trade benefits that have long exhausted their usefulness.  Enough is enough.

Term-two Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has the same regional assignment formerly held by Wilbur Ross, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in full support.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has ASEAN nations as his primary regional focus, Lutnick’s primary region is the EU and President Trump is personally attentive to China and the USMCA.  USTR Greer then goes to the primary with the closest deal under consideration and organizes the paper construct, the technical aspects.  It’s an overall similar arrangement to term-1 only with a much bigger scope.

As would be expected from historic reference points in trying to break this insufferable one-way Marshall Plan system, the EU is once again operating in bad faith and will not give up their status.  When President Trump says the entire reason for the EU to form was to ensure their retention of this Marshall Plan benefit, he’s not wrong.  That’s the brutally honest background.

President Trump has announced today that a 50% tariff rate will be applied toward all EU imports until such a time as they come to the negotiation process willing to let go of their economic model dependent on the one-way benefit.  There really is no other way to break the Gordian trade knot, other than to cut it – forcefully.

President Trump (via Truth Social) – “The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with. Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable. Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

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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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New CCTV video released by Wisconsin media shows Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan outside her courtroom speaking with federal ICE agents who were there to arrest a criminal illegal alien appearing in Judge Dugan’s courtroom.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was previously indicted by a grand jury on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual from arrest.  The charges outlined in the criminal complaint. (1) obstructing a criminal illegal alien capture; and (2) concealing the illegal alien to avoid apprehension and arrest.  WATCH:

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At issue was President Trump’s plenary authority to remove Gwynne Wilcox, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Cathy A. Harris, the removed chair of the federal Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The NLRB oversees laws protecting workers’ rights and union elections nationwide, while the MSPB defends federal government workers against political discrimination.

The court’s order [READ ORDER HERE] is unsigned; however, it provides dissent from the three DEI appointed justices (lesbian, latina, black), and did not decide the underlying merits of the case, which will continue to play out in the lower courts. Presumably the court alignment was 6-3.

The overall decision is an endorsement of presidential authority to appoint leadership within the executive branch without review. The power of the president is plenary to the Executive Branch. As noted in the opinion, “Because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf, subject to narrow exceptions recognized by our precedents.”

(VIA ABC) – The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Thursday bolstered President Donald Trump’s bid to assume full control of executive branch agencies, giving a green light — for now — to his removal of the heads of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board, whom he fired without cause.

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Earlier today, President Donald Trump, HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and various cabinet officials within the Make America Healthy Again administration, took part in a MAHA commission event at the White House.  WATCH:

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Dilbert creator and President Trump supporter Scott Adams revealed days ago that he has the same terminal cancer diagnosis of Joe Biden, metastatic prostate cancer.  According to Adams his lifecycle will likely expire sometime this summer.

Earlier today during his now shortened podcast, Scott Adams revealed that President Trump personally called him to check on him and offer words of support. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:

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This is the side of President Trump that many people are now becoming aware of.

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The Dept of Homeland Security has revoked the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification for Harvard University, thereby essentially cancelling their ability to enroll foreign students into the school.  Harvard was notified of the status and the letter shared by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The notification comes the day after Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American woman (a young couple about to be engaged), were gunned down at the Capital Jewish Museum around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday. The suspect Elias Rodriguez, 31 of Chicago, repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine” when he was arrested.

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