There are a ton of geopolitical influences happening in the background and foreground of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Trump voice and envoy Steve Witkoff, and Keith Kellogg meeting in Paris with delegations from France, U.K, Ukraine and EU stakeholders.  The intent is to get the EU/UK on board with a Trump/Putin ceasefire plan.

NYP Story HERE ~ AP Story HERE

French President Emmanuel Macron (seeking a distraction from his own internal political turmoil) has appointed himself as representative for EU interests in the peace negotiations.  No one in the EU wants to hear Macron keep whining, so they just roll with it.  Macron even bought new lifts for the occasion.

The UK comes into the picture in Paris because France and the UK have decided to lead the coerced EU “coalition of the willing” (not many are willing) to create the boots on the ground peacekeepers if there is going to be a ceasefire.  REMINDER: Macron and Starmer demand the U.S. backstop their proposed Ukraine peacekeeping with USA military power.

Those of you who bet on Macron using the opportunity to leverage a better tariff position; actually, the entire reason he appointed himself leader; can take a victory lap. “At Thursday’s talks in Paris, Macron also discussed the impact of Trump’s tariff policies and the conflicts in the Mideast.” (source) We all knew the little French rat would. We were right.

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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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President Trump has signed some rather commonsense and yet remarkable executive orders permitting to Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) for fishing.  Effective with the signing of these executive orders, American fishing vessels in Hawaii and American Samoa will be permitted to fish their native waters without competition from foreign industrial fishing operations.

Currently approximately 70% of all U.S. seafood is imported because we restrict our own commercial fishing fleets yet purchase fish from foreign sources.  Fishes like Tuna [(both for canning (Samoa) and fresh sashimi (Hawaii)] are migratory and our fishermen have been blocked from fishing them in massive sections of the Pacific Ocean which the U.S. owns and controls.

President Trump is removing the proximity restrictions for both regions and opening up the area for American fishing harvest.  During the signing event, representatives from Samoa and Hawaii explain the purpose.  WATCH:

At approximately 17:00 of the video, the press questions begin.

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President Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. After initial remarks in the oval office, President Trump and Prime Minister Meloni took questions from the assembled press pool.

Meloni has positioned herself as a moderator of sorts between the EU and President Trump administration on the issue of tariffs, trade and geopolitical aspects of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

During an interesting segment of questioning by Italian media to Meloni [19:00 min mark], President Trump asked for translation of Meloni’s response delivered in Italian. [There’s a good reason for that] Meloni nervously listened to the translation reply, then injected her own clarification of her Italian comments into English. [Two tongues]

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Tradition says that Jesus prayed this prayer the night he spent, imprisoned in the custody of Caiaphas the high priest, abandoned by his followers, alone.

As we prepare for the suffering of Good Friday to come, may we also prepare, as Jesus did, not to turn away from suffering, but to abandon ourselves to the mercy of God, who hears the cry of his people.

Psalm 88

Prayer for Help in Despondency

A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has decided against joining any lawsuits targeting the tariffs put into place by President Trump, Commerce Secretary Lutnick and the National Economic Council.  This is quite a new shift in tone from the generally hostile CoC.

In the background, the U.S. CoC has historically surveyed their corporate sponsors and conducts extensive polling on their interests as part of their decision-making process.  Perhaps the CoC is starting to realize a larger American awakening of their long history selling out middle-America is too risky for them politically.

WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has no immediate plans to join the growing number of lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs, two people with direct knowledge of discussions confirmed to POLITICO.

The business group, one of the most influential trade associations in Washington, will instead focus on lobbying the Trump administration on the tariffs directly, said the people, who were granted anonymity to divulge sensitive and developing discussions.

[…] “While we believe that tariffs under [the International Emergency Economic Powers Act] are legally questionable, the president has other tools to impose similar tariffs that equally damage America’s Main Street Businesses,” the Chamber said in a statement to POLITICO. “The only way to provide immediate relief is for the Administration to pull back on these harmful tariffs.” (more)

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Folks, I know this is going to be hard, but we must remain steadfast in bearing the burden of new tariffs for our essential items.  Hermes has announced they will pass along the cost of President Trump’s tariffs to consumers.

Currently, Hermes branded purses ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 are purchased by a whopping 0.001% of Americans, yet 90% of wives for Wall Street hedge fund managers have them.

Yes, this is going to be a painful price increase; however, it is our patriotic duty to withstand it.  We can survive it.

NEW YORK – […] The Paris-based company — which manufactures the vast majority of its goods in France — will raise prices enough to offset any hit to growth from the current 10% tariff on the European Union, according to Eric du Halgouet, Hermes’ executive vice president of finance.

If Hermes adds the 10% tax, US shoppers could pay an additional $2,000 on a lower-cost model, or an extra $20,000 on a $200,000 handbag. (read more)

If you have any tips or advice on how to deal with increased emotional anxiety as a result of this horrific announcement, please provide your words of wisdom in the comments section.  If we lean on each other for support, we can get through this.

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Ahead of the upcoming election, Tucker Carlson interviews Canadian government official, Maxime Bernier.

In the background of the conversation the leading candidates for Prime Minister, Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre both hold similar trade and tariff views, both support a new alignment with the EU, and both support cultural Marxism.  Canada has their own version of the UniParty.  WATCH:

Chapters:

0:00 Who Was Justin Trudeau Really Working For?
7:53 the Invasion of Canada
9:19 Pierre Poilievre Is a Fraud
13:25 The Attempts to Destroy Christian Countries
15:51 The Trade War Between Canada and the US
20:03 The Canadian Government’s Ridiculous Climate Change Agenda
21:59 China’s Control Over Canada

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The report comes as a result of leaks to the New York Times. Which, given the nature of the subject matter and administration officials involved, indicates the sourcing is from the domestic IC side of things. Specifically, the greatest likelihood is from someone in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) talking to media.  Keep that in mind.

According to leaked information to the New York Times, President Trump did not agree with an Israeli proposal to launch military strikes against Iran.  According to the narrative as advanced, President Trump, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were in agreement to attempt diplomatic solutions instead of bombing Iran.

Israel could not conduct the attack without U.S. support, which President Trump decided not to give.  Instead, Trump wanted a more forceful push toward engagement and diplomacy with Iran surrounding the ongoing contentious issue of nuclear development.

NEW YORK TIMES – Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.

Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.

The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate.

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