Category Blogger C0nservative Tree House

Aug 18 2025

Secretary Marco Rubio -vs- Margaret Brennan


Posted originally on CTH on August 17, 2025 | Sundance

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears on CBS to debate the ever-insufferable Margaret Brennan. The dramatic acting by the newscaster is off-the-charts.  Both the video and the transcript are below.

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[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin with Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who attended those talks in Anchorage. Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: Good morning. Thank you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Vladimir Putin did not give President Trump the ceasefire he sought. And now Putin says the root causes of the conflict have to be resolved in a peace agreement. Isn’t the root cause the fact that Russia invaded in the first place?

SEC. RUBIO: Well, ultimately, yeah. But I mean, what he means by root causes is this long historical complaints that we’ve heard repeatedly. This is not a new argument, he’s been making this for a long time, and it’s the argument that it’s Western encroachment. I don’t want to get into- it’s just so long. But the bottom line is that all of- you know, we’re not going to focus on all of that stuff. We’re going to focus on this: are they going to stop fighting or not? And what it’s going to take to stop the fighting. And what it’s going to take to stop the fighting, if we’re being honest and serious here, is both sides are going to have to give, and both sides should expect to get something from this. And that’s a very difficult thing to do. It’s very difficult because Ukraine obviously feels, you know, harmed, and rightfully so, because they were invaded. And the Russian side, because they feel like they got momentum in the battlefield, and frankly, don’t care, don’t seem to care very much about how many Russian soldiers die in this endeavor. They just churn through it. So I think what the President deserves a lot of credit for is the amount of time and energy that his administration is placing on reaching a peace agreement for a war that’s not a war that started under him. It’s half, you know, it’s on the other side of the world. That said, I mean, it’s relevant to us. But there are a lot of other issues he could be focused on. So tomorrow, we’ll be meeting with President Zelenskyy. We’ll be meeting with European leaders. We just met with Putin. He’s dedicated a lot of time and energy because he has made it a priority of his administration to stop or end war- stop wars or prevent them. And right now, this is the biggest war going on in the world. It’s the biggest war in Europe since World War Two. We’re going to continue to do everything we can to reach an agreement that ends the dying and the killing and the suffering that’s going on right now.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know this well, how long these kind of diplomatic negotiations often take. President Trump was telling European leaders what was discussed was Putin demanding control of Donetsk, a region in the east that his forces do not fully hold, and the UK estimates that taking that full area could be as long as another four years. Putin also is demanding Russian be an official language in Ukraine, and something regarding Russian Orthodox churches. Did the U.S. accept all of what Putin laid out at that table?

SEC. RUBIO: The United States is not in a position to accept anything or reject anything, because ultimately, it’s up to the Ukrainians. They’re the ones that Russia has to make peace with, Ukraine with Russia–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Well, the President said he did come to some agreement–

SEC. RUBIO: –It’s up to the Ukrainians to make these conditions. Well, the agreements were that we were going to try to do things like, for example, get a leader- a leaders meeting. We have to make enough progress so that we can sit down President Zelenskyy and President Zelenskyy and President Putin in the same place, which is what President Zelenskyy has been asking for, and reach a final agreement that ends this war. Now, there were some concepts and ideas discussed that we know the Ukrainians could be very supportive of in that meeting. I don’t think it’s- we’re not going to negotiate this in the media. I understand that everybody wants to know what happened. But ultimately, there are things that were discussed as part of this meeting that are potentials for breakthroughs, that are potentials for progress. We’ll be discussing that more in depth tomorrow, with our European allies, with the Ukrainians that are coming over. We’ll be discussing all of these things, because ultimately, we do need to find areas where we’re making progress and try to begin to narrow the gap between the two sides. But there’s a reason why this war has been going on for three and a half years, and that is, when it comes to the big issues here, there are still some big differences between both sides. Let’s see how much progress we can continue to make. It’s- it’s- it’s not been easy, but it’s something the President’s made a priority. Peace. And he deserves a lot of credit for that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But ultimately, if- if Vladimir Putin is going to be offered land that he has not seized yet, but negotiates his way into, doesn’t this set a dangerous precedent that the United States now accepts this concept that it is okay to seize land by force?

SEC. RUBIO: Well, Putin has already seized land by force, and that, in and of itself, is not a positive precedent. This whole war is a negative precedent–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Are you demanding withdrawal?–

SEC. RUBIO: –precedent. Well, again, here’s the- in order to have a deal here to end- to reach the end of this conflict, both sides are going to have to make concessions. That’s just the facts–

[CROSSTALK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: But does that mean accepting–

SEC. RUBIO: –in any negotiation–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –where Russian forces are now?

SEC. RUBIO: No, no, but, if- But this is not about acceptance. This is about what Ukraine can accept. And what Russia can accept. They both have to accept it, otherwise there won’t be a peace deal. Okay. If there aren’t concessions, if one side gets everything they want, that’s called surrender. That’s called the end of the war through surrender. And that’s not what we’re close to doing, because neither side here is on the verge of surrender or anything close to it. So in order for there to be a peace deal, this is just a fact, we may not like it, it may not be pleasant, it may be distasteful, but in order for there to be an end of the war, there are things Russia wants that it cannot get, and there are things Ukraine wants that it’s not going to get. Both sides are going to have to give up something in order to get to the table, in order to make this happen. That’s- that’s just the way it is. And I mean, the sooner we accept that, that’s the reality. Now, what those things are is going to be up to both sides. There’s no conditions that can be imposed on Ukraine. They’re going to have to accept things, but they’re going to have to get things too. And so, for example, Ukraine is a sovereign country. They have a right, like every sovereign country does in the world, to have- to enter into security alliances with other countries to prevent an invasion in the future, to prevent threats to their national security. That’s not an unreasonable request. That’s something needs to be worked on. Territories will have to be discussed. It’s just a fact, and there are things that maybe Russia is holding now that they’re going to have to give up. Who knows? The point is, we need to create a scenario where that becomes possible, and that’s why this has been so hard, because neither side, up to now, has been willing to give on some of these things. But we’ll see if that’s possible. It may not be, but we’re going to try, and we’re going to do everything we can to try to achieve a peace.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I understand you, you can’t get into specifics in a public conversation, but we’re looking at Russian troops and strikes intensifying. Did you hear anything from Vladimir Putin that indicated he is willing to make a single concession?

SEC. RUBIO: Well, I think there are a couple. I mean, there were- not enough for Ukraine, if not we would be announcing a peace deal this morning, right? But- but certainly, there are some things we notice changes. There are some changes that I think are possible. I think there’s some concepts that were discussed that could potentially lead to something. But again, all these things have to be verifiable. We- it isn’t real until it’s real. I mean, you- one thing is what you say you might be willing to consider, another thing is your willingness to do it. And it always becomes a trade off in all of this. But you talk about the intensifying strikes on the Russian side, yeah, I mean, they’re a full-time war machine. I mean, that’s what’s happening. The Russian economy has basically been turned into a full-time wartime economy. They have a lot of people. It’s a big country. It’s not just large geographically. It has huge populations. It continues to churn through people. You know, they lost- 20,000 Russian soldiers were killed last month, in July, in this war. That just tells you the price they’re willing to pay. Not saying any of this is admirable, I’m saying that this is the reality of the war that we’re facing. It’s become attrition, in some ways. It’s a meat grinder, and they just have more meat to grind.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, let me ask you about the security bit you just mentioned there, because Italy’s Prime Minister says that President Trump revived the idea of security guarantees inspired by NATO’s Article Five and a collective security clause that would involve the United States. How does that work? Are these U.S. troops? Are these U.S. monitors?

SEC. RUBIO: Well, what we’re going to be working on. That’s why- that’s one of the reasons why, you know, I talked yesterday to all the national security advisors, a bunch of them from the different European countries, or European leaders coming here tomorrow, heads of state coming tomorrow, along with President Zelenskyy, to discuss this in more detail. I mean, the constructs of something like this needs to be built out once it- concept is one thing. The reality, you know, how it’s built and how it would work, is another. But those are the kinds of talks that we’re going to be having with them, along with some of the other issues that are at play. But, that-that is one of the-if you were to break this thing down, I mean, there are, obviously, there needs to be an agreement on territories and where the lines are going to be drawn. That’s not going to be very easy. That’s going to be tough. I think there has to be some discussion about security guarantees for Ukraine, because they don’t want this war to–none of us want to see this war in the future. They’re a sovereign country. They have a right to have security agreements with other countries and security alliances with other countries. And then there’s the whole issue of reconstruction–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Including the United States?–

SEC. RUBIO: — How do you rebuild the country? Well, potentially, like I said, that’s what we’re going to be having a conversation about, and that’s what we’re going to be meeting. That’s why they’re all coming here tomorrow, and-and that’s why we’ve been talking on the phone for the last 48 hours with them, and even leading up to it throughout the week there were various meetings just to sort of build out some of these ideas. So all of these right now are ideas, they are concepts that require some more specificity. We’ll need to work with our partners to see what that looks like. And I think that’s an area where potential progress is real, but that alone won’t be enough. There’s a bunch of other things that have to be worked through here.

MARGARET BRENNAN Yea, well, Russia claims it has rescued 700,000 children. I know you know that the warrant out for Vladimir Putin’s arrest is for the state-sponsored abduction of kids. I’ve seen estimates there are something like 30,000 Ukrainian children who have been abducted. Is the United States demanding, or at least, even just as a statement of goodwill here, that Russia return these children?

SEC. RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, we’ve repeatedly raised that issue on- in every forum possible, and those have also been, by the way, topics of discussion, not just in our meetings with the Ukrainians, but in the negotiations and talks that were going on between Ukraine and Russia at the technical level. These talks were going on in Turkey, as an example. Turkey over the last few months–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Yeah, nothing so far from the Russians —

SEC. RUBIO: –that’s been a topic of discussion as well —

SEC. RUBIO: Well, it’s unfortunate. Children should be returned to their families. We- on that position, I don’t think there’s any ambiguity on our side. And they shouldn’t even be, you know, a bargaining chip in regards to a broader negotiation. But it’s just one more element of how tragic this war is. After three and a half years, this war is getting worse. It’s not getting better. You’ve made the point about the uptick in strikes. This is a war. It’s going to get worse. It’s not going to get better, and that’s why the President is investing so much time in bringing this to an end. And, by the way, everyone is begging us to be involved in this. The Europeans want us involved. The Ukrainians want us involved. Obviously, the Russians want us involved because the President is the only leader in the world- if this is possible, he’s the only one that can help make it happen.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, he’s got the leverage over Vladimir Putin if he wanted to crush his economy or at least do more damage to it, but you have held off on those secondary sanctions. President Trump told Fox News his advice to President Zelenskyy is make a deal, Russia’s a very big power and they’re not. You know there is concern from the Europeans that President Zelenskyy is going to be bullied into signing something away. That’s why you have these European leaders coming as back up tomorrow. Can you reassure them?

SEC. RUBIO: No, it isn’t. That’s not why they’re coming as back- that’s not true. No but that’s not, why, that’s not true. They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied. They’re not coming- in fact —

[CROSSTALK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well that February Oval Office meeting in front of television cameras, where President Zelenskyy was dressed down —

SEC. RUBIO: — Do you know how many meetings we’ve had since then?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Oh, no, I know. And I was just up in Alaska —

SEC. RUBIO: Yeah, but we’ve had a bunch of meetings since then.

MARGARET BRENNAN: — watching the one with Vladimir Putin where a red carpet was rolled out for the Russian leader. It was very different–

SEC. RUBIO: — No, but it wasn’t Zelenskyy. We’ve had more meetings, we’ve had, we’ve had, we’ve had one meeting with Putin and like a dozen meetings with Zelenskyy. So that, but that’s not true. They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied. They’re coming here tomorrow because we’ve been working with the Europeans. We talked to them last week. There were meetings in the UK over the following, the previous weekend —

MARGARET BRENNAN: — And they said the President Trump was going to demand a ceasefire —

SEC. RUBIO: — The President’s talked to these leaders as early as Thursday. No, no, but you said that they’re coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied. They’re not coming here tomorrow- this is such a stupid media narrative that they’re coming here tomorrow because the- Trump is going to bully Zelenskyy into a bad deal. We’ve been working with these people for weeks, for weeks on this stuff. They’re coming here tomorrow because they chose to come here tomorrow. We invited them to come. We invited them to come. The President invited them to come.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But the President told those European leaders last week that he wanted a cease fire. The President went on television, said he would walk out of the meeting if Vladimir Putin didn’t agree with him. He said there would be severe consequences if he didn’t agree to one. He said he’d walk out in two minutes. He spent three hours talking to Vladimir Putin, and he did not get one,so–

SEC. RUBIO: –Because obviously something, things happen during that meeting, well, because obviously things,look our goal here is not to stage some production for the world to say, oh how dramatic he walked out. Our goal here is to have a peace agreement to end this war. Okay? And obviously we felt, and I agreed, that there was enough progress, not a lot of progress, but enough progress made in those talks to allow us to move to the next phase. If not, we wouldn’t be having Zelenskyy flying all the way over here. We wouldn’t be having all the Europeans coming all the way over here. Now understand, and take with a grain of salt, I’m not saying we’re on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw movement, enough movement to justify a follow up meeting with Zelenskyy and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this. You talk about the sanctions. Look, at the end of the day, if peace is not going to be possible here, and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands, the President has that option to then come in and impose new sanctions. But if he did this now, the moment the President puts those additional sanctions, that’s the end of the talks. You’ve basically locked in at least another year to year and a half of war and death and destruction. We may unfortunately wind up there, but we don’t want to wind up there. We want to wind up with a peace deal that ends this war so Ukraine can go on with the rest of their lives and rebuild their country and be assured that this is never going to happen again. That’s the goal here. We’re going to do everything possible to make that happen if it’s doable. It will require both sides to make concessions. It will require both sides to get things they’re asking for. That’s how these deals are made, whether we like it or not.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, quickly, why did the State Department just announced that they’re halting visitor visas for all Gazans coming here for medical aid? Why would some of these kids, for example, who are coming to hospitals for treatment be a threat?

SEC. RUBIO: Well, first of all, it’s not just kids, it’s a bunch of adults that are accompanying them. Second, we had outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it, and so we’re going to reevaluate how those visas are being granted, not just to the children, but how those visas are being granted to the people who are accompanying them. And by the way, to some of the organizations that are facilitating it. There is evidence, it’s been presented to us by numerous congressional offices, that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas. And so we are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas. So we need to- we’re going to pause those visas. There was just a small number of them issued to children, but they come with adults accompanying them, obviously, and we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the- to the process of acquiring those visas. We’re not going to be in partnership with groups that have links or sympathies towards Hamas.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. We have to leave it there for this morning. Thank you for joining us.

SEC. RUBIO: Thank you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: ‘Face the Nation’ will be back in one minute. Stay with us.

Aug 18 2025

Sunday Talks – Marco Rubio Outlines Trump-Putin Summit and Next Steps for Ukraine Conflict Resolution


Posted originally on CTH on August 17, 2025 | Sundance

Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio hit the Sunday news circuit to expand on President Trump’s peace initiative and meeting with Russian President Putin.

Appearing on NBC, Rubio outlines the results of the Alaska summit between President Trump and President Putin, as well as the next steps ahead of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy coming to the White House on Monday.  WATCH:

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Following along with much of the same conversation, Secretary Rubio also appeared on ABC this week to debate the ever-insufferable Martha Raddatz.  Below:

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Aug 18 2025

Sunday Talks – President Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff Outlines Framework of Russian Terms for Ukraine Peace Agreement


Posted originally on CTH on August 17, 2025 | Sundance

President Trump special envoy, Steve Witkoff, outlines elements of the talks between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin in advance of a meeting tomorrow with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU leaders.

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Aug 18 2025

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ursula von der Leyen Hold a Press Conference to Outline Ukraine Terms for Peace


Posted originally on CTH on August 17, 2025 | Sundance 

EU President Ursula von der Leyen appears with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to outline terms for a peace negotiation with Russia.   Ursula gives Zelenskyy the specific rules and conditions; a new suit jacket wearing Zelenskyy fills in the color.  WATCH:

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Ursula von der Leyen will be accompanying Zelenskyy to the White House to ensure no mistakes are made.

Find someone who looks at you the way Zelenskyy looks at von der Leyen.

Aug 17 2025

Zelenskyy Likely to Bring EU Leaders Monday for Moral Support as He Meets Trump to Discuss Terms of Russian Peace Agreement


Posted originally on CTH on August 17, 2025 | Sundance

Considering that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been called a “puppet” for various western interests, the reports of Zelenskyy bringing EU leaders along for his meeting with President Trump, strikes as a little ironic.

Apparently, the EU is worried that Zelenskyy could screw things up for their Ukraine interests, so handlers or minders are being dispatched along with him just in case. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte are among the names being discussed as chaperones for the Ukraine President.

Additionally, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer are planning a teleconference Sunday as the “coalition of the willing” brainstorms the best way to avoid a Zelenskyy capitulation to the terms and conditions outlined by President Vladimir Putin.

With Blackrock and JPMorgan prepositioned to control the Ukraine Recovery and Reinvestment Bank {LINK}, the coalition of the willing want U.S. troops to backstop the terms of a potential peace agreement.  The banks and financial beneficiaries need the insurance provided by the U.S military.

Ultimately banking interests are the stakeholders in the future, and the U.K, France and German political officials represent the strategists, in place to protect the interests of the banks.  Not coincidentally this is classic -albeit inverted- fascism.

If Zelenskyy is indeed the character playing a role complete with costume, then the Ukraine President would appear to be responsible for negotiating something considerably outside his skillset. Hence, the chaperone handlers are needed.

Credit should be given, because the front man Zelenskyy is very good at banging the tin-cup in various parliamentary houses, while the actual war fighting is subcontracted to the CIA and western intelligence.  However, in this phase a different skillset is required.

The new role may require a costume change for Zelenskyy.  The traditional Call of Duty cosplay outfit may not work well given the nature of the meeting in the Oval Office.  Perhaps the ‘coalition of the willing’ will decide Sunday whether to require a suit and tie for the White House performance.

There are also reports that President Trump wants to wrap things up quickly, perhaps as early as this week.

Once Zelenskyy agrees to the broad terms outlined during the Trump meeting with Putin, President Trump then wants to put both Putin and Zelenskyy into the peace deal process fast.

Again, with Trump pushing rapid urgency to stop the bloodshed, the EU needs to have their interests represented in DC on Monday.

Aug 17 2025

Tariff Evasion Bust – U.S. Customs Finds Transnational Shell Companies in Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam


Posted originally on CTH on August 16, 2025 | Sundance

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has discovered a massive network of Chinese shell companies, set up in Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, specifically to avoid U.S. tariffs.

…”Investigations into transshipping are ongoing, the CBP tells FOX Business with monetary recovery likely to grow beyond $400 million”…

Up to 250 shell companies have been identified in the Beijing network with boots on the ground going to look at manufacturing facilities in Southeast Asia that have no manufacturing activity, yet they generate products for shipment to the USA.

CBP is now on the trail of what CTH identified in January of this year with a visit to Vietnam {GO DEEP}.

ASEAN NATIONS – U.S. Customs and Border Protection has busted up a duty-evasion ring attempting to evade President Trump’s tariffs, FOX Business exclusively reports. 

The CBP uncovered over $400 million in unpaid trade duties through investigations permitted under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), a tactic used to police and stop illegal transshipments and other methods aimed at defrauding the U.S. government. That figure is expected to rise as the investigation deepens. 

[…] A source tells FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence that one of the operations had boots on the ground in Taiwan and Indonesia to look at mattress factories and found that there was no production going on. 

Additionally, over half, or $250 million, came from a network of 23 Chinese shell companies which funneled repackaged goods as if they were made in Asian nations, including South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam, to avoid tariffs.  (read more)

Aug 17 2025

BRICS and Ukraine


Posted originally on CTH on August 16, 2025 | Sundance 

The BRICS economic partnership was formed during the Obama administration.  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) watched U.S. President Obama subcontract U.S. trade policy to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street.

In the aftermath of the 2007 economic crisis, created by Congress and banking interests, the BRICS group identified two central points of ‘western’ financial influence that concerned them.

Following the financial crisis, the relationships around the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), EU central banks and various multinational institutions and multinational corporations, merged even closer with the government.

The priorities of the Davos and World Economic Forum (WEF) crowd were now virtually indistinguishable from many national governments.  We are almost twenty years downstream from that inflection point, and we are seeing the outcomes.

The WEF essentially flipped the traditional record of ‘fascism’.  Instead of government telling corporations how to operate, the modern version was now corporate assemblies giving direct instructions to installed politicians for government policy.

Put another way, multinational corporations are telling government officials what to do. Think of “The Great Reset” or “Build Back Better” or climate change (Paris Treaty), as recent examples.  Worse yet, western governments are doing exactly what the WEF has told them to do.

This corporate control of government is exactly what the BRICS assembly foresaw when they assembled.  When multinational corporations run the policy of western government, there is going to be a problem.  In the bigger picture, the BRICS assembly are essentially leaders who do not want corporations and multinational banks running their government.

As a result, if you really boil it down, what you find is the BRICS group oppose the WEF business model.

BRICS are not against capitalism in its original form per se’.  Rather the BRICS assembly was/is against corporatism controlling the outcome of government policy.

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa joined together in order to make sure their subset of economic power put government back at the top of the control/power dynamic, and multinational corporations under them.  This is their essential commonality.

President Obama, and the people around him from Hyde Park, were/are domestically focused ideologues.  Much has been written about them, and we will not repeat.  However, the lesser emphasized point of the Obama era is how issues that touched on foreign policy were subcontracted to others.

Foreign policy was not a central focus for the Chicago team.  Giving Hillary Clinton the Dept of State really was not considered a concession.  The Obama group were laser focused on fundamental change inside the United States.

The Obama network’s aspirations were to reduce the geopolitical status of the U.S on the world stage, through the same approach the anti-colonialists would seek to break up the British colonial power structures.   This is an important reference point often missed.

Hillary Clinton could essentially manage the State Dept as she wanted, as long as the overarching intent of the Obama policy was maintained.  Spreading the wealth, diminishing global U.S influence, and raising up the rest of the world was the only objective of Obama foreign policy Clinton was expected to maintain.

President Obama took that outlook toward U.S. strategic trade interests.  This is why President Obama subcontracted trade policy to the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue (pictured above).

During President Obama’s terms in office, the U.S. CoC, the lobbying entity of Wall Street, literally was in charge of trade policy.  The U.S. CoC wrote the language, the actual terms and conditions of U.S. government trade policy.

At the time when the U.S. CoC was permitted to do this, the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal was being written.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was literally writing the language in the TPP and negotiating with the other nations involved.  Put another way, the policy arm of multinational Wall Street corporations was writing trade agreements.

Can you see how the corporations were positioned to support globalism?

On the Atlantic side, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was also coming once TPP was finished.  It was not the U.S. government negotiating these terms, it was Wall Street and the Multinational Corporate and Financial establishment, via the Chamber of Commerce, writing these deals.   See the problem?

The leaders within BRICS could see the future of what this meant.  Everything is about the economics.  There are trillions at stake.

The Word Economic Forum, the assembly of the multinational corporations and banks in control of economics and trade, would now be dictating policy to NATO, the European Union, Central Banks, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and eventually the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The BRICS nations could see that corporations would be in control of western government finance and trade, and as a consequence, when those same multinationals approached them for trade negotiations, the size of influence of the corporations could be too massive to fight.

BRICS assembled in 2009 to unite, defend and combat this problem.  This was their core mission, their commonality.

When President Trump was elected, for the first time since their assembly, BRICS saw a U.S. President with a completely different agenda.  Donald Trump was not in favor of multinational corporations running and influencing government.  Ideologically, as an economic nationalist, Trump was of the same mindset as the BRICS group.  WATCH (1 minute):

When President Trump took office, he literally tore up the TPP trade agreement that Tom Donohue had established; he kicked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce out of government, and he established his own trade negotiating teams to put government back in charge of trade policy.

President Trump took us out of TPP, withdrew from the Paris Climate Treaty, dropped TTIP, triggered NAFTA renegotiations, initiated tariffs against our economic adversaries (impacting multinationals), and told NATO to start preparing to take care of themselves.  President Trump was the first economic nationalist president in modern history.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Trade and Economic Advisor Peter Navarro took over from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Trump established the economic and trade goals, the team worked the granular details, and ultimately Trump made the decisions, yes or no.  After Trump took this approach, the BRICS group essentially stopped pushing against the dollarization of global commerce.

With the United States through President Trump now confronting the WEF, NATO, the EU and all the multinationals (often called globalists), the BRICS team could pause their mission for a dollar alternative.

Factually, BRICS didn’t even generate much momentum during President Trump’s first term, because the U.S. trade and economic policy known as ‘America First‘, was essentially in alignment with a more nationalistic BRICS mission.

Unfortunately, it was the scale of the WEF, EU, NATO and multinational opposition to President Trump that eventually won the political battle.

All the multinational corporations, including Big Tech and ideological globalists in media, aligned to remove President Trump.  That was the scale of his opposition, and COVID-19 represented the tool they could use.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, literally just days after the election, the BRICS group was back on the phone planning to start meetings again in 2021 on the sidelines of the G20 summit.  The BRICS group came back together during Biden because the multinationals were back in control and dedollarization became a goal again.

For obvious reasons, part of the BRICS agenda is to create a trade currency that is not the dollar.  The western sanctions against Russia showed them the risk.

In many very direct ways, what we saw come out of the Russia -vs- Ukraine crisis is a geopolitical battle between the outlook of BRICS (economic nationalists) and the NATO, EU, World Economic Forum, multinational corporate assembly, i.e. economic globalists.  Despite the sanctions, China and India continued purchasing Russian energy products in support.

At stake in the Ukraine battle is the modern structure of the global economy and international politics.  This is why we saw the people behind Joe Biden, Samantha Power, USAID, along with NATO, the EU and all of the affiliates under the control of the World Economic Forum going so hard against Russia.

EXAMPLE: India would not denounce Russia during the United Nations Security Council vote.  Biden retaliated.

  • The Biden administration is looking whether to apply or waive sanctions on India for its purchase of the S-400 Triumf missile defense system from Russia, under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)
  • Lu’s remarks came as India drew criticism from US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, at a hearing on the “US relationship with India” for being among 35 nations that abstained Wednesday from a UN vote to rebuke Russia’s invasion. (LINK)

We already know which side of this geopolitical battle corporate media, Big Tech, Hollywood and the social media control officer’s support, unbridled globalism.

However, President Trump won reelection, and with that outcome the end of the Ukraine conflict, combined with an unraveling of the sanctions against Russia, becomes an objective.  Not so much to support Russia, but more to weaken the BRICS effort for a dollar alternative.

Keep in mind, these are the ‘trillions at stake’ elements.  President Trump restraining the World Economic Forum influence, diminishing the role of corporatism in global government, and simultaneously supporting economic nationalism.

All of those interests are not going to give up their position without a fight.  Ukraine represents a very significant frontline in this battle.  At the end of this high-stakes conflict, is the image we have been using to highlight the WEF’s preferred global outcome.

Aug 17 2025

Trump Outwits EU Leaders on “Security Guarantee” Plan – No Ceasefire, Straight to Peace Agreement


Posted originally on CTH on August 16, 2025 | Sundance


For months, the so-called “coalition of the willing” led by Great Britain, France and Germany, have been proposing a multinational group of peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine – supported by U.S. military.  However, after President Trump asserted he would not support a U.S. troop presence in Ukraine, things got sticky.

Without the U.S. military, the NATO members were not willing to put their troops into the meat grinder buffer zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces. The U.K, France and Germany continually demanded U.S. troops as protection, just in case things escalated.  This insurance approach was expanded by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy who coined the term, “security guarantee” to encapsulate the EU demand.

However, President Trump cuts the Gordian knot in the “ceasefire plan,” by eliminating the “ceasefire plan.”

Instead, President Trump goes directly to a peace agreement, and somehow the EU members agreed to it.  There will be no negotiation for a ceasefire; instead there will be immediate negotiations for a long-term peace agreement.

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “A great and very successful day in Alaska! The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late-night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO. It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up. President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” (link)

President Trump does not publicly point out that the shift in plan negates the need for a ceasefire security force, but the reality is inside the unspoken change.  A very smart and strategic approach that appears to have flown under the radar.

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump has won the support of Western partners for his bid to end the war in Ukraine, with European capitals voicing their approval following his high-stakes talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Trump spoke with top EU leaders on Saturday morning after the bilateral summit on Friday appeared to end without an agreement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also took part in the telephone conversation, alongside Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, Poland’s Karol Nawrocki and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni were confirmed by Brussels to have joined. A second call was then held by the European leaders without Zelenskyy and the Americans to discuss the situation.

In a statement, Zelenskyy said that he had a “long and substantive” conversation with Trump, initially one-on-one, before other leaders were invited to take part. “We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia,” he said, adding that he will travel to Washington on Monday to meet with Trump.

“As envisioned by President Trump, the next step must now be further talks including President Zelenskyy, whom he will meet soon,” the group of European countries represented on the call said in a statement. “We are also ready to work with President Trump and President Zelenskyy towards a trilateral summit with European support.” (read more)

Zelenskyy will be in Washington DC on Monday afternoon for a talk with President Trump.  In that meeting, we anticipate President Trump telling Zelenskyy that the general terms of the ‘peace agreement’ will be to include the permanent loss of territory in exchange for something we do not yet know.

Aug 17 2025

‘Subtle’, Like a Brick Through a Window


Posted originally on CTH on August 16, 2025 | Sundance

Comrades, I am sure Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump had a good snicker over the optics presented.  “Subtle”, like a brick through a window. Good stuff.

.

The EU/NATO folks most certainly smiled like the lady in the ‘fireworks’ picture.  However, the CIA/5-Eyes watched the remainder of the performance, not amused.

Aug 17 2025

Following Debrief by President Trump, Zelenskyy Coming to Washington DC Monday


Posted originally on CTH on August 16, 2025 | Sundance 

After speaking with President Trump about the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy provides the following statement via Twitter:

[Volodymyr Zelensky via Twitter] – “We had a long and substantive conversation with POTUS. We started with one-on-one talks before inviting European leaders to join us. This call lasted for more than an hour and a half, including about an hour of our bilateral conversation with President Trump.

Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace. President Trump informed about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion. It is important that America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation.

We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this.

On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, D.C., to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation.

It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America. We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. We continue to coordinate our positions with all partners. I thank everyone who is helping. [link]

[ALSO] “A long, substantive conversation with President Trump, initially one-on-one, and then also with the participation of European leaders. In total, we spoke for more than an hour and a half, approximately one hour with President Trump.

Ukraine once again confirms its readiness to work as productively as possible for the sake of peace. President Trump informed me about his meeting with the Russian leader, about the main points of the conversation. It is important that America’s strength influences the development of the situation.

We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, America, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes: key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and the trilateral format is suitable for this.

All details regarding the cessation of killings, the end of the war, I plan to discuss with President Trump in Washington on Monday. I am grateful for the invitation.

It is important that Europeans are involved at all stages to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America. We discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. We continue to coordinate our positions with all partners. Thank you to everyone who is helping!” [link]