Against the backdrop of President Trump, Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth pointedly telling NATO of the U.S. intention to draw-down U.S. military operations from Europe, NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte flies to Washington DC to make the pro-NATO sales pitch directly to President Trump.

In one of the most transparent appearances in oval office history, a passionate, self-interested and professionally demure Mark Rutte pours on the praise for President Trump and puts on a massive sales pitch.  You can tell from President Trump’s demeanor, tone and general ambivalence, he too can see how over the top the praise and back-slapping is.

Secretary Rutte was intensely and diplomatically focused on not allowing any accurate criticism or statement of disappointment from President Trump be left unchallenged to frame the tone and context of the meeting by the media. This is quite a desperate spectacle to witness when you understand the stakes for Europe which were carried by Rutte. WATCH:

CTH readers can see through the professionally demure motivations of the NATO secretary, and it was obvious from President Trump’s response that Rutte was transparently playing to the U.S. audience and DC stakeholders.  That said, you’ve got to give Rutte credit for tap-dancing that fine line.

It was a great sales pitch, and President Trump was very courteous and respectful of the showmanship, but I doubt President Trump was moved much.  The G7 assembly in Turkey will be very interesting.

(more…)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues his trip through the Middle East talking to U.S. allies and stakeholders about the terms and conditions of the ceasefire with Iran.   Today Secretary Rubio is in Kuwait.

Arriving in Kuwait, Secretary Rubio discusses his previous conversation with the UAE and sets the baseline for the discussions moving forward.  As noted by Rubio, these are strategic partners in the region who have a vested interest in the outcome of the Iran negotiations. Rubio is in the region to listen to their concerns and affirm the U.S. strategic partnership.

.

(more…)

Dan Goldman was the lead staffer and primary Democrat legal counsel who conducted the Trump impeachment inquiry and testified before the House joint committee on impeachment. {Reminder}  Goldman was the Lawfare operative who worked with Barry Berke, Norm Eisen and Mary McCord.  He later ran for congress from New York.

Last night Dan Goldman lost his primary reelection bid, and Sean Hannity was incensed about the insulting loss for Goldman.  WATCH:

It seems like an odd person to be sympathetic toward. Odd, until you realize the main concern for Sean Hannity was not the ideology or damage from Goldman, but rather something else entirely.  Hannity is more concerned about his religion.

(more…)

It did not happen last night folks.  It took them another 15 years after they installed Obama to become the legitimate heirs to the political party formerly known as Democrats.

The progressive movement is now branded as “Democrat Socialists of America” (DSA), but those who have followed the arc of this group well understand every single member within DSA is from the Occupy Wall Street / Anarchy movement that preceded it.

Fingers are being pointed toward New York as the epicenter of the new Democrat Party Headquarters of DSA, which is a fitting location of focus given the OWS origin.

The front line of the DSA movement consists of 18 to 30-year-olds, mostly white, urban, upper-middle-income activists, carrying Macbooks with anarchist stickers and physical attire resembling a blend of hipster ‘grunge’ and skateboard beanie resistance.  They don’t shower much and love to talk about AOC and Bernie on Social Media.

Don’t belittle them, they are authentic.  They don’t misunderstand things; they bought into the nonsense and genuinely believe the popular narrative sold to them since High School that capitalism is horrible and Communism or Socialism is the preferred system of government.

(more…)

Even as House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republican leadership assembled for a news conference touting the recently passed Housing bill, President Trump cancelled the signing ceremony.

[SOURCE]

President Trump appears very serious about facing down both the Senate and the House on their intransigence to pass the Save America Act to secure national elections.  President Trump is now on a direct collision course with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

Trump was scheduled to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing bill on Wednesday afternoon, which passed both chambers with wide bipartisan support. (Politico)

This is the second legislative priority being blocked by President Trump due to Legislative friction.  The FISA (702) reauthorization in the Senate is also stalled as Senator’s demand Trump withdraw Acting DNI Bill Pulte.

(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…)

Primary elections and runoffs are being held today in New York, Utah, Maryland and South Carolina.  Consider this an open discussion thread for races of interest.

Polls Close at: 7pm in S.C, 8pm in Md, 9pm in NY and 10pm in Utah.

New York Times – Results Here

Associated Press – Results Here

(more…)

CBS is reporting on events within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  As CTH previously outlined, Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte is following a very predictable path. {GO DEEP}

The part of the CBS report that tells the story is: “Six career and political intelligence staff were terminated and 45 were sent back to their home agencies, according to three sources familiar with the personnel moves.” … “One source characterized the cuts as thoughtful and methodical. No staffers have been removed from the counterterrorism group.”

So, who was removed?  Well, I’m certainly not the Nostradamus of USIC, but if I were to hazard an educated guess it looks like the National Intelligence Council – Directorate of Analysis, just lost six political staff, and 45 people from the various liaison desks were ‘sent back to their home agencies.’

As we noted last year, Tulsi Gabbard took the National Intelligence Council (NIC) out of the CIA – fired the heads, then putting the assembly back under the control of the ODNI.  However, highly political operatives within the former CIA-controlled Directorate of Analysis (the former home of Eric Ciarmella) were still problematic.  It looks like Director Pulte just eliminated the remaining DoA rats.

The 45 returned to their ‘home agencies‘ were certainly from the liaison desks inside the DNI.

I’m not sure if that represents 45 from across all the desks, or the complete elimination of some overstaffed liaison desks.  That said, given the nature of the leaking was recently to CNN (State Dept leaks to CNN), I am somewhat confident the State Dept liaison office inside the DNI is now empty office space.  [Just a hunch 😂]

(more…)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio gives an impromptu press availability and answers questions from members of media in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Rubio visit comes as the U.S. is working with Gulf Arab partners (GCC) to construct the second phase of an agreement with Iran.  The current terms cover a ‘ceasefire’ and the Gulf Cooperation Council play a major role in the regional decisions as partners to the United States.

“We know what [Iran] agreed to do. Now they’ll either do it or they won’t and if they do the process moves forward and if they don’t the president will have some decisions to make.”…

.

(more…)