NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte Gives “Remain in NATO” Pitch to President Trump in White House


Posted originally on CTH on June 24, 2026 | Sundance

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.

For the G7 (+13) in France, Zelenskyy went all-in with the Ukraine false flag and attack on Moscow.  It will be interesting to watch what the “coalition of the willing” have planned for the next assembly.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Outlines Partnership Discussions from Kuwait


Posted originally on CTH on June 24, 2026 | Sundance 

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.

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Sean Hannity Aghast and Saddened When Lead Counsel of Trump Impeachment Loses Primary


Posted originally on CTH on June 24, 2026 | Sundance 

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.

I’m not sure who still watches Sean Hannity on the television.

Does anyone have any idea how Sean Hannity is still on air?

‘Occupy Wall Street’ Now Officially Controls the Democrat Party


Posted originally on CTH on June 24, 2026 | Sundance

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.

An instructor demonstrates how to break free of plastic hand restraints at the Occupy Wall Street occupation of Zuccotti Park, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

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.

Individually, not one of them would shed a tear if their collective comrades broke into their parent’s houses tomorrow and murdered the elders.  When joined in group assemblies, their emotions are controlled by the sensibility of the group.  This is the Mao generation, repeating and rhyming.

IDEOLOGY: Capitalism is bad. Law enforcement are pigs. Policy should support emotions.  The collective should rule every decision.

Democrat socialists believe all dissent must be squashed unless they actually lose a popular election – then, the system is oppressing them.  Speech that argues against their belief system is ‘violence’. However, violence that supports their belief system is ‘speech’.

Democrat Socialists of America are factually Occupy Wall Street activists. The traditional mechanisms of self-controlling morality do not apply to this group of generational ideologues.  The haves -vs- have nots is their religion. They never cede power and elections do not remove them. Go look at history, the only thing that has ever stopped Socialism is physical violence.

You may have read the stories of multi-billionaires building bunkers. The predictable DSA is why.

People who say, “violence is not the answer” are pretending they don’t know history.

POLITICO – […] Fresh off sweeping victories across New York City that showcased the growing power of the anti-establishment progressive left inside the Democratic Party, Democratic Socialists of America leaders, eager to capitalize on their momentum, are already plotting their next act: making sure one of their own is on the presidential primary debate stage, whether the party wants them or not.

“What DSA represents is a real contrast to Democrats who have run the last couple of elections on fear,” DSA national co-chair Megan Romer said. “You can’t run on that. You have to offer an alternative. And it’s really important that we be involved in that conversation in 2028. It’s important that we have somebody saying sensible things.”

Their search process is already underway. This summer, DSA is dispatching surveys to all 250 of its chapters, asking members to weigh who they want to back and why, and return their findings to national leadership by Sept. 15, details the group first shared with POLITICO. DSA expects to receive a stack of 20-page to 40-page dossiers from chapters coast to coast weighing in on who should carry the democratic socialist banner into 2028.

The organization plans to hold national discussions, including with leaders like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is 84 and not expected to run in 2028, with a formal vote expected at the group’s 2027 convention next year — though leaders say they could move faster if the primary timeline demands it.

“We’re going to be talking about millions of hours knocking doors for 2028 — so when we decide to really run somebody, people have to feel like they had a say,” Romer said.

Mamdani-backed candidates swept three closely watched New York congressional primaries Tuesday, with Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier all defeating more establishment-aligned rivals — including two incumbents. It was a major show of force for Mamdani’s political operation, and fresh evidence of the left’s growing muscle heading into 2028. “They ask, ‘Who do you want to run in 2028?’ Then they ask, ‘When does the race for 2028 begin?’ It starts now. It starts on Tuesday,” Mamdani said at a Brooklyn rally last week.

The elephant in the room for the group, of course, is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (read more)

President Trump Cancels Bill Signing Event Due to Republican Intransigence on Save America Act


Posted originally on CTH on June 24, 2026 | Sundance June 24, 2026 | Sundance

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.

Primary Elections in New York, Utah, Maryland and South Carolina – Results and Open Discussion


Posted originally on CTH on June 23, 2026 | Sundance

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

Acting DNI Pulte Removes 51 from Agency – Six Fired and 45 “sent back to their home agencies”


Posted originally on CTH on June 23, 2026 | Sundance

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 😂]

Please remember, our predictive public discussions at CTH are in the strictest confidence.

(VIA CBS) – Just over 50 career and political intelligence staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have been removed from their roles since Bill Pulte became the agency’s acting director, Friday.

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.

Pulte has been asking deputies and other directors for suggestions about cuts. Some of the ODNI deputies pushed for more cuts, but Pulte said that the 51 was enough for now, one of the sources said.

One source characterized the cuts as thoughtful and methodical. No staffers have been removed from the counterterrorism group.

No further firings are planned for now, two of the sources said.

The cuts follow hundreds of staff reductions last year by former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down last week. Last year’s planned downsizing sought to bring the office’s headcount from 2,000 to around 1,300.

President Trump has pushed for further cuts, directing Pulte to “execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office” in a Truth Social post earlier this month.

[…] Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence panels, warned Pulte against making large-scale staff cuts, calling it an inappropriate course of action for an acting official without national security experience. (more)

Senator Warner haz sad.

Meanwhile in related news: “This sets up a stalemate as several Democrats have said they will not support reauthorizing Section 702 while Pulte remains Trump’s acting DNI pick.” {source}

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No FISA (702)?

As Winnie the Pooh would say, “Oh, bother!

Secretary Rubio Holds Impromptu Presser Upon Arrival in Abu Dhabi, UAE


Posted originally on CTH on June 23, 2026 | Sundance 

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.”…

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President Trump Holds an Impromptu Presser from AF1 Upon Arrival in Reading, Pennsylvania


Posted originally on CTH on June 23, 2026 | Sundance 

Upon arrival in Reading, Pennsylvania, President Trump held an impromptu press availability.  There were numerous questions on the topic of Iran, the economy and current events. WATCH:

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President Trump Visits Mack Trucks in Macungie, PA – 2:00pm ET Livestream


Posted originally on CTH on June 23, 2026 | Sundance

I have a half-day of travel that takes me offline until later today; however, President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks on the economy today in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump will deliver a speech during his visit to the Mack Trucks manufacturing plant in Lower Macungie Township.  The event is scheduled for 2:00pm ET with livestream links below.

UPDATE: VIDEO ADDED

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