Speaking without a prepared script or teleprompter, here is the transcript from Secretary of State Marco Rubio speech to the Foundry School.

We either reindustrialize our national economy, moving completely away from the ‘service driven’ narrative of years past, or we will forever consign ourselves to economic servitude.  This is also the American ideological perspective that undeniably affirms our baseline reason for cutting ties with Canada.

[TRANSCRIPT] – SECRETARY RUBIO: “Thank you. Thank you, all of you, first of all, for being here today. Thank you – Jacob Helberg’s doing a phenomenal job. Everybody at our department is doing a great job, and I’m very proud of the work the State Department is putting in into these and other initiatives.

One of the things we really wanted to do in our time here, and one of the reasons behind many of the reforms we undertook, is to allow us to have a State Department that could move at the speed of relevance, which is something we used to say all the time. Now it’s become almost a cliche, but it really is important – because world affairs are moving so quickly, economic developments are moving so quickly, and so much of that is internationalized, and it involves what we do around the world as well.

And so, I’m very proud of everybody at the Department of State and all the work that they’re doing to be a part of this initiative, along with our partners in the other agencies, because this truly is an interagency challenge that we’re facing.

What is the challenge that we’re here to talk about today? Let me put it to you this way: I think we made a terrible mistake in this country – not – many years ago, under people that were in charge at the time, especially at the end of the Cold War. And that was the idea that the ability to make things no longer mattered. And no matter – it didn’t matter any longer where things were made. They were to be made in the most efficient place at the lowest possible cost. That meant more profits for the company, lower costs for the consumers, and that was the way the world would work. There was this fantasy, really, that the whole world would become a free enterprise, democracies, and that everyone would look us.”

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For those waiting patiently for the USMCA termination announcement, this is a potential indication and/or signal of pendency.

When President Trump and USTR Jamieson Greer send the official notification, a six-month countdown clock begins running.  As of right now there are no official statements that indicate the likely triggering, it’s a guess.  However, there are datapoints aligning in that direction.

[SOURCE]

No one outside our assembly has contemplated the termination of the USMCA (CUSMA) or what would occur in the aftermath; however, the Bank of Canada has gamed out the financial consequences, briefly in their forward guidance. The ramifications are significant, perhaps more significant than any other global trade announcement.

[…] “it more likely that a new shock or a combination of shocks could cause several vulnerabilities to crystalize at once. If this were to happen, these vulnerabilities could interact and reinforce each other. 

A cascading series of events could cause a sharp loss of investor confidence and lead to a spike in demand for liquidity or rapid asset sales. Funding markets could come under pressure, and stress could spread more broadly.” [SOURCE]

I suggest we keep a close eye on all U.S-Mexico discussions, as well as geopolitical leverage points that might surface in the U.S-Mexico relationship. My best guess is that once the U.S. and Mexico come to renewed terms on the ‘USMCA’ as a potential bilateral free trade agreement, that will be the moment when the planets are aligned for the termination notification.

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This morning the Trump administration launched the Foundry School, a national program to train the entrepreneurs, engineers, technicians, and industrial leaders needed to rebuild American manufacturing. [Press Release Here]

“President Trump’s reindustrialization agenda has already brought trillions of dollars in industrial investment to American soil. Foundry School will focus on turning that investment into jobs. American manufacturers will need an estimated 3.8 million skilled workers by 2033 in semiconductors, defense, energy, and beyond, and Foundry School exists to make sure Americans fill those jobs. The program will put American workers first by equipping them with the skills needed to bring manufacturing jobs home and build careers in industries critical to our nation’s economic security.”

This critically important initiative launched today with the full support of the administration including remarks by both Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ‘Industrial Security Is National Security’, noted Vance. ‘We Lost Our Ability to Make Things’ Rubio warned as both explain the importance of the objective.  WATCH:

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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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After meeting with travel executives in the oval office, President Trump took questions from the assembled press pool.  The media questions begin at 21:00 of the video below.  A question about Canada trade negotiations is at 24:00 of the video. WATCH:

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Many of us are watching the story of a woman, Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three young children in 2023 in their Massachusetts home.  The widely discussed case is being tried in Plymouth Superior Court, and after five days of jury deliberations the jury has again told the judge they are hopelessly deadlocked.

Clancy killed her three children [Cora (5), Callan (8 months), and Dawson (3)], that aspect is not in question; she strangled them with an exercise band.  However, the defense has argued that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis, and she is not criminally responsible. Prosecutors argued Clancy knew right from wrong and acted deliberately, pointing to evidence of her planning, and the fact she hid her thoughts of harming the children from doctors because she knew they were wrong.

The jury is made up of nine women and three men. The jury cannot decide if Clancy is criminally responsible for killing her children. The jury has deliberated for five days and has reported twice before they are deadlocked. Superior Court Judge William Sullivan responded with a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, an instruction that urges deadlocked jurors to keep working toward a verdict while reminding them not to abandon their own honestly held views.

Rather than declaring a mistrial, the judge allowed the jurors to go home for the day. It looks like tomorrow a mistrial will be declared.

(Via Fox News) – The instruction that Judge William Sullivan gave to the Lindsay Clancy jury on Wednesday takes its name from two Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decisions.

In Commonwealth v. Tuey (1851), the court approved an instruction encouraging deadlocked jurors to re-examine their views with an open mind. More than a century later, in Commonwealth v. Rodriguez (1973), the state’s highest court revised that language to remove pressure on minority or holdout jurors, creating a neutral instruction that asks all jurors to carefully consider one another’s views while maintaining their own honestly held convictions.

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Palantir CEO Alex Karp and former Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov have been collaborating jointly for over 5 years, according to the statement made by Karp.  That means the Palantir-Ukraine relationship pre-dates the Russian military advance into Eastern Ukraine.

Given the nature of U.S. involvement in Ukraine, and understanding the shady and sketchy background that has been in place for quite some time, the detail of the length of time Palantir and Ukraine military have been working together is worth noting.

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio first mentioned in March 2025, …” frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers – the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia – and it needs to come to an end.” {source}

It’s also worth remembering in June 2022, the New York Times published an article saying the CIA and Pentagon special forces were organizing and conducting the NATO war effort from a secret operation center in Kyiv.

KYIV, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Palantir CEO Alex Karp will become the first major investor in ​a new defence technology company launched by ‌Mykhailo Fedorov, the tech-savvy former Ukrainian defence minister who was dismissed in July.

“The new company will build on Fedorov’s ​experience in modern technological warfare, with its ​primary mission to strengthen Ukraine and develop defense ⁠technologies that can help build a safer ​future for the entire world,” a press release from ​Fedorov’s team said on Tuesday.

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Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid today, in a massive show of support for Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. The protests follow weeks of crisis in the region following a border surge from neighboring Morocco.

More than 70,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta during the surge and local authorities estimate that more than 10,000 migrants remain in makeshift camps scattered across the enclave. The residents are dealing with lawlessness, chaos and criminal activity. Protesters in Madrid wave Spanish flags, called for stronger border control and criticize Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over his handling of the crisis. The demonstrations are ongoing as serious clashes and fights between migrants and local residents continue in Ceuta.

CEUTA, Spain, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Residents of Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the handling by Madrid of a migration crisis caused by a deadly border surge in July when at least 72,000 people crossed from Morocco.

Thousands of people marched through the streets of the city of about 80,000 residents in a protest that coincided with the annual Ceuta Day. Waving Spanish flags and blowing whistles, they chanted: “Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta must be defended.”

One placard read: “SOS. Europe, save us from our traitor government” while some demanded that authorities should “expel the invaders” and others called for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign as demonstrations also took place in other cities across Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. (read more)

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The Justice Department has issued an important ruling requiring states to follow the legislated rule of reporting illegal aliens who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  This rule can substantially alter the nature of financial support programs currently taking place with federal funds. [Full Press Release] [Full Opinion]

The Office of Legal Counsel has issued a legal opinion clarifying that when a state chooses to participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, all agencies within that state — not only those that administer TANF or SSI benefits — must report individuals known to be not lawfully present in the United States to The Dept of Homeland Security. {citation}

DOJ Press Release: […] “Congress wrote this requirement plainly,” said Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. “When a state chooses to participate in TANF, it accepts the obligation to report illegal aliens in the United States. Tax dollars intended to help vulnerable Americans should not perversely encourage illegal entry into the United States, but rather should reinforce our laws and our borders.”

“Our clarification does not impose new obligations on states,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Craddock of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and author of the opinion. “It simply restores the original meaning of the statute Congress enacted and ensures that DHS receives the information it is legally entitled to. States that accept TANF funding must abide by federal law, and failure to comply may lead to serious consequences, including loss of program funding.”

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