Knowing the severe ramifications likely and taking a proactive approach toward root-cause analysis, CTH attended the ASEAN summit to gauge how Asia was likely to respond to Trump term-2 and the looming possibility of a severe nationalist approach toward a renewal of USA manufacturing. The untangling of the Beijing Belt & Road initiative was a key topic of interest noted.  [Watch Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Panama this weekend to express the position of President Donald Trump as it pertains to Chinese influence over the maritime transit gateway known as the Panama Canal. Following the meeting with President José Raúl Mulino, the government of Panama has announced they will no longer support China’s Belt & Road initiative.

Photographic message received; or the one-time Rubio needed to be shorter, you decide.

STATE DEPT – Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha today in Panama City to address critical regional and global challenges. Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal. Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.

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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 arrives back in Washington DC and holds a presser on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.  WATCH:

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These remarks will be the headlines tomorrow.

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In December of 2016 when we discussed the possibility of President Trump’s then new and unique tariff approach, we predicted negligible impact – if any at all.  It was a theory at the time, but predicated on the looming possibility that impacted nations would inevitably devalue their currency. It was the currency devaluation, in combination with directed subsidies, that would offset any tariff impact to U.S. consumers.

By the time we got to December 2019, we were no longer discussing theory.  Deflation due to currency devaluation, subsidy and a rising dollar actually became reality.  The lookback data (2017 through 2019) proved the tariffs did not raise prices. In fact, the opposite happened, we were importing broad-based deflation.

Now it’s 2025 and again China is hit with tariffs, along with Canada and Mexico.  With history as a reference, watch the Canadian Dollar and the Mexican Peso.  Initial impact shows the same thing repeating again. The U.S. dollar is rising in value, and the Canadian dollar is dropping quickly.

If this trend holds, the 25% tariffs against Canada (and Mexico) will have minimal impact, if any at all.  The lowered value Canadian dollar and Mexican peso will work as an offset and imports will be paid with higher value dollars.  Depending on the scale of what happens in the next few weeks, there is a strong possibility Canada might have just walked into a trap set by Trump.

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President Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, appears on Fox News Sunday to talk about the massive drop (-93%) in attempted border crossers and the success of the current deportation operation.  Homan also outlines the intended use of Guantanamo Bay for the “worst of the worst” detainees as a matter of efficiency and expediency.

Then at the 4:48 point of the interview, a bombshell.  Tom Homan responding to a question about the cartels setting up positions inside the USA for drug and sex trafficking offices, says “I’ve gotta be careful.. {pause} ..let me just say, we’re involved”….  WATCH:

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Those who do not pretend already know the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the cover agency for CIA influence operations worldwide.  However, technically USAID is supposed to be the charitable side of U.S. government, supporting foreign countries.

If USAID is simply magnanimous and altruistic aid to foreign countries using taxpayer funds, then what exactly is the “classified material” they would need to withhold from DOGE review?

Sometimes all we need are simple questions to destroy the matrix of lies.

WASHINGTON DC – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has placed two top security chiefs at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Elon Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.

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During a Fox News interview, Senator Lindsey Graham says he is a yes on RFK Jr, Kash Patel and now Tulsi Gabbard, specifically because the latter has now assured him, she will support FISA-702 warrantless searches of U.S. citizen communication.  Senator Graham states falsely the 702 authorities only pertain to foreign nationals.  Watch how he says it, PROMPTED:

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Remember what I said about Kash Patel being the firewall selected by the Senate to make the American people drop their pitchforks and torches? Listen to Senator Graham through that protective prism and you can hear exactly that approach.

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Saying DNI nominee is disqualified for her prior position on FISA-702 and her previous position on Edward Snowden, SSCI Vice-Chair hopes the republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee do not allow Tulsi Gabbard to come out of SSCI confirmation vote. WATCH:

Lots of professional pearl-clutching here….

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner. He is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and joins us from Palm Beach, Florida. Good morning to you, Senator.

SEN. MARK WARNER: Good morning, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have any sense yet what the cost of these tariffs could be for Virginia, which does have a wine industry, for example?

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A quick review and a little warning of sorts, in a good way.

Two weeks into the second term of President Trump and the activity when combined with the future outlook is excellent.

Apoplexy abounds throughout the DC system as President Trump continues to overwhelm every silo of opposition simultaneously; meanwhile, the media is being bombarded with so much activity they are completely flummoxed like a bunch of one-legged plate spinners in a three-ring circus.

The systems’ outrage machine is bellowing dark smoke, clanking, spluttering and in a state of perpetual tilt.  Things are going swimmingly.

With the latest outrage du jour, the elimination of USAID now sucking all the oxygen from the intake manifolds of the Deep State machine, the various NGO’s are blasting the UniParty politicians with too much noise.

Chairs, both people and seats, are everywhere; phones are melting, media editors and transcriptionists for silo narratives are totally overwhelmed, “stop the hammering,” and yet the deafening sound of winning is not at peak climax.

We The People have not smiled this much in decades, as the Big Ugly wrecking ball only gains momentum with each swing.  These results are far beyond my personal expectations, and that is entirely the result of my reluctance to trust.

In the deep recesses of the data, there was always a possibility of Trump’s singular intent breaking through the concentric circles of control; but that analysis leaned alarmingly toward ‘hope’, so it was always best to put it into oppositional context.  When we contemplated the quiet thoughts that must have been in place, despite our concerns with the guardians of status-quo, there was always the possibility…. But watching it unfold is something very special. Very special indeed.

The singular intent theory always held that President Trump, as a solitary person, had to retain independent thoughts regardless of the snakes in his midst.  The singular intent theory can be encapsulated in one example -and there are many- of an issue that highlights it.

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