Posted originally on the CTH on October 19, 2026 | sundance |
Speaking to reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Secretary Rubio delivered remarks about central Asia and the importance of the region to U.S. interests. Central Asia, the “stans”, are a significant opportunity due to their location between Asia and the Federation of Russia.
Secretary Rubio answered a question about the Ukraine-Russia conflict by saying the United States will continue looking for opportunities to help end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Rubio said the war has brought enormous loss of life and destruction, warning of the risk of escalation and the possibility of the conflict spreading into another country.
Rubio stressed that diplomacy requires continued efforts and said the ultimate test will be whether Russia and Ukraine are willing to make concessions to reach a deal. The Secretary of State also addressed Ukraine’s use of Star Shield and said the United States remains focused on ending the war. WATCH:
As both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio is a key person to watch on the issues surrounding Ukraine specifically because of his prior tenure on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). Remember, the CIA and USAID were the originators of the 2014 Maidan revolution and later the installation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Rubio is one of the key people who knows exactly what the U.S. influence operation was inside Ukraine.
Posted originally on the CTH on October 19, 2026 | sundance |
In an optically smart move by French authorities, the main shopping and tourist regions of Paris are now under a localized curfew as police try to stop the riots, arson and looting – yet maintain the important tourism aspect. Other towns in France are also ordering curfews in the districts with the spreading violence.
CBC – Paris police issued an overnight curfew on Monday in two areas of the French capital in efforts to prevent further violence, after a weekend marred by France’s worst rioting in years that targeted city halls, other public buildings and thousands of businesses across the country.
The order aims to protect “people and property from the violence and looting,” the Paris police statement said.
The curfew prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on the Place de la République, where rioting took place Saturday, and the shopping neighbourhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.
The curfew will be in effect from 11 p.m. local time Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, gatherings and demonstrations are banned from 8 p.m., the Paris police said.
[…] In northern France, local authorities imposed a curfew for children and teenagers under age 18 in several cities, including Lille, starting from Monday and for the next two days from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Nice, on the French Riviera, also imposed an overnight curfew for minors from 9 p.m.
[…] The prime minister’s instructions come after France’s interior minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation Sunday. But President Emmanuel Macron refused it “given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context,” Macron’s office said in a statement Monday.
He instructed Nuñez “to take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency about the failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that led to the violence,” the statement said.
Macron also asked for the introduction of “new policing tactics on the ground as quickly as possible” to put an end to the violence. (read more)
PARIS, Oct 19 (Reuters) – French authorities set curfews in parts of several cities on Monday, including Paris, Lille and Nice, as they faced pressure over security failings after a weekend of riots and looting stemming from nationwide anti-government protests.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu had ruled out a blanket curfew in Paris but not a state of emergency, and had said it was more appropriate for now to apply partial and localised curfews.
“My determination to restore order is absolute,” he told reporters.
Paris police said they had issued orders barring protests in certain areas of the French capital from 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) and had issued a curfew around the Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11:00 p.m. Both would remain in effect until 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
“A police deployment is in place to ensure strict compliance with these measures,” the police said in a statement.
A source in Lecornu’s office said a curfew for minors had been set between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the next two days in Lille, Douai, Wattignies and Denain with the agreement of the local mayors. (read more)
Posted originally on the CTH on October 19, 2026 | sundance |
President Trump answers questions from the assembled press pool as he departs the White House for a midterm rally in Wichita, Kansas.
During the remarks President Trump said he would be open to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping on the subject of nuclear weapons and disarmament therein. It has been rumored the three leaders may be meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China.
Additional questions surrounded the current status of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This is a must watch to understand the current geopolitical events unfolding. WATCH:
Posted originally on the CTH on October 19, 2026 | sundance |
President Trump answers questions from the assembled press pool as he departs the White House for a midterm rally in Wichita, Kansas.
During the remarks President Trump said he would be open to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping on the subject of nuclear weapons and disarmament therein. It has been rumored the three leaders may be meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China.
Additional questions surrounded the current status of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This is a must watch to understand the current geopolitical events unfolding. WATCH:
Posted originally on the CTH on October 18, 2026 | sundance |
CTH doesn’t put as much weight on the strategic planning of President Trump as outlined by the folks at Promethean Action. The results Trump achieves may end up at the same destination, but Trump’s geopolitical map to get there is not as predictable as Mike Steger may propose.
That said, there is some good insight as Steger interprets what he believes is in the background of President Trump’s larger objective with the Ukraine-Russia conflict in general, and with Russia specifically.
In this Sunday Overview, Mike Steger breaks down Trump’s broader strategy toward Russia, Ukraine, and Europe, examining how energy agreements, economic reconstruction, and security guarantees could lay the foundation for a new international order. As European governments face mounting debt and political pressure, Mike examines Volodymyr Zelensky, Marine Le Pen, Alice Weidel, and the growing debate over Europe’s economic future. Drawing on Otto von Bismarck, World War I, British geopolitics, and the American System, Mike explores why he believes Trump’s strategy could reverse more than a century of conflict and usher in a new era of industrial growth and Western civilization. WATCH:
Chapters:
00:00 Trump’s Strategy to Reshape Europe 01:10 The Three Pillars of Trump’s Peace Plan 02:30 Trump’s Economic Pressure Campaign 04:10 Ukraine and Europe’s Financial Crisis
05:25 Le Pen, Weidel, and Europe’s Future 06:25 Bismarck and the American System 07:35 Britain’s Role in Europe’s Conflicts 08:40 A Century of Western Conflict 09:40 Trump’s Vision for a New European System 10:45 A New Era of American Civilization
Posted originally on the CTH on October 18, 2026 | sundance |
Factually, CTH is very comfortable, perhaps even optimistic, to see President Trump take a full wolverine position toward the insufferable position of Zelenskyy. ♦ TRUMP: IN PROCESS OF NEGOTIATING PEACE BETWEEN RUSSIA,UKRAINE ♦ TRUMP: ZELENSKYY USING DIESEL REFINERIES IN RUSSIA AS A TARGET ♦ TRUMP: ZELENSKYY DOESN’T WANT TO END THIS WAR ♦ TRUMP: I WANT THIS WAR END
“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table. Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!
Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want! Perhaps more importantly, Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way.
Lastly, Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States. Farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly from this, but Russia is, nevertheless, sending, at a low price, millions of barrels of diesel to the World. Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did. He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead. I WANT THIS WAR END! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Posted originally on the CTH onOctober 18, 2026 | sundance |
Following days of riots, violence, arson, buildings destroyed and mass looting, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a national address to the people of France. Remarkably, in the beginning of his remarks Macron says no one in the French government understands what is happening, but he is demanding an investigation.
A few paragraphs into the prepared transcript and Macron says high fuel prices driven by President Trump’s war against Iran, “a war we had nothing to do with,” is certainly the cause of the protests that have mysteriously turned violent for some unknown reason. Macron further notes those protests are righteous, justified and he agrees with them.
This is quite a remarkable address. WATCH:
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The image below represents the entire dynamic.
FRANCE– France’s President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation on Sunday evening as communities reeled from one of the most violent nights of unrest in recent years after largely peaceful anti-government protests descended into rioting, leaving government buildings torched, one police officer and one protester dead.
Macron said that the full force of the law would be brought to bear on those who had damaged property or participated in rioting.
“Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage,” Macron said, according a translation from the AP. “And those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.”
The president allowed that the government should listen to public grievances, and said that he would hold an emergency meeting with French mayors to discuss public safety tomorrow. Macron also said that he had asked the government to convene stakeholders – including students, teachers, trade unionists and others – this week to discuss “concrete proposals,” according to a readout from Reuters.
There were at least two deaths connected to rioting and protests over the weekend. A 22-year-old police officer died after being “struck by a third-party vehicle” in the city of Nantes, about 250 miles southwest of Paris, France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. (read more)
Posted originally on the CTH onOctober 18, 2026 | sundance |
Yesterday at approximately 4:00pm a large fire broke out at a Canadian military base and spread quickly. CFB Wainwright (Canadian Forces Base Wainwright) is situated adjacent to the Town of Wainwright in east‑central Alberta.
CFB Wainwright is one of Canada’s busiest military training bases, where soldiers prepare for combat operations. It is home to the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which conducts realistic battlefield exercises, and the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre, which provides military training. {LINK}
Media reports, citing unnamed military sources, {LINK} said that a live-fire training exercise hit a gas line or gas well on the base, causing an explosion that spread as a result of high winds. High wind gusts reaching up to 100km/h fanned the flames, causing the blaze to spread rapidly beyond the base’s perimeter and into the adjacent Municipal District of Wainwright.
A doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 180km (120 miles) northwest of Wainwright, told Canada’s national broadcaster patients were being brought to hospitals across the city as its health-care facilities became “completely overwhelmed” by the number of people requiring care. Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney confirms that four servicemembers were killed and several dozens were injured. WATCH:
Posted originally on the CTH on October 18, 2026 | sundance |
Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent appears on NBC’s Meet the Press to discuss the current status of the economy and ongoing geopolitical events. Within the interview [Video and Transcript Below] Secretary Bessent notes that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is coordinating closely with both British King Charles and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, needs to be very careful about the malicious lies he is speaking to U.S. audiences. WATCH:
[Transcript] – KRISTEN WELKER: Welcome back. Joining me now is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Secretary Bessent, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Kristen, good to be with you.
KRISTEN WELKER: It’s great to have you back. Let’s start on inflation, these new inflation numbers we got this week. Consumer prices rose in September at the fastest pace in five months, to 3.7%. Are the president’s policies driving up inflation?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Kristen, we have an energy shock. And if you look underneath the hood in the numbers, core inflation has been very flat before this month, and it’d been down for four months in a row. So core inflation is down. The food is below the Fed’s targets. The prescription drugs have had the biggest decrease in history. Rents are down. So this is an energy shock. We will get to the other side of the Iran conflict, and those prices will come down.
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, core inflation doesn’t take energy, for example, into account or food into account. And in fact the price of gas is up 44%, Mr. Secretary, since the start of the war with Iran. What do you say to voters right now who say they are struggling and they want change?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Well, why don’t we revisit the Biden-era policies where the American people got smoked? 21.5% inflation and only about 17% wage increases. Since President Trump has started, the American people have gotten real wage increases, 1.5%. We’re not satisfied with that. But as I said, you know, we’re getting these wage increases through our economic policies. And the wage increases are going to be persistent. We will get to the other side of the Iran conflict, and I believe that the energy markets are going to be better supplied than they were.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I hear you blaming President Biden, but President Trump has been in office now for 636 days. That’s about a year and a half, and inflation was at 3% when he took office. It’s 3.7% now. At what point does the administration take responsibility for the economy and say this is the Trump economy?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Well, we will own the economy. So far this year, we’ve got a million private-sector jobs. We’ve never had this many people working in the U.S. The net worth of American households are the highest that it’s ever been. So, Kristen, let’s be clear here. This is an energy supply side shock. We will get to the other side of this. This is one factor.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Even President Trump has said this is his economy. Let me ask you, though. You are the Treasury Secretary. Do you anticipate gas prices will come down by the new year?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Well, again, it will depend on what happens with the Iran conflict.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay, let’s talk about the war with Ukraine now. President Trump signed an executive order waiving sanctions against Russia. I just talked about this with President Zelenskyy, who tells me this move is a big support for Putin. Why is the president rewarding a dictator who invaded Ukraine?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
President Trump has made it clear he wants the killing to stop. And the so-called Graham bill gives the president the flexibility, gives him 60 days to assess the situation. And, Kristen, let’s look at what’s really happening here, that the Europeans have given Russia and Vladimir Putin more money than they’ve given the Ukrainians. They continue to gorge on Russian energy. There is a facility called the Yamal facility. In the first six months of the year, there were 140 cargoes that left. 136 of those went to Europe, to Belgium, to Spain, to France, to the Netherlands. Over $8 billion. So we have asked, in the spring, I asked our European allies to join us in putting secondary tariffs on China, on India. They refused. So why should the U.S. bear the burden? So President Trump, perhaps will be in contact with our European partners. Why should the U.S. go it alone, Kristen?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, I guess the question is, “What role should the U.S. play?” During your confirmation hearing in January of 2025, you described the war in Ukraine as one of the greatest tragedies in your life, and you had this criticism about the Biden administration’s approach to sanctions at the time. Take a listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
I believe that the sanctions were not fulsome enough. I believe that we — I believe that the previous administration was worried about raising U.S. energy prices during an election season.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is President Trump doing what you accused President Biden of doing?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
First of all, Kristen, the sanctions were doubled. The Biden administration, in an act of incredible bravery, doubled the sanctions on the way out, in January of 2025. So uh, but we did not take those down. President Trump sanctioned the two largest Russian energy companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, which dealt a catastrophic blow to the Russian energy industry. So no one has been tougher on Russian sanctions than President Trump.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you there are pushing for even tougher sanctions –
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
– Kristen, we did the toughest sanctions.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay, but why lift them now? What has Putin done to deserve sanctions relief now? That’s my question —
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Well, first of all Kristen, that’s not true. No sanctions were lifted on Friday. No sanctions were lifted.
KRISTEN WELKER:
There was a law that was supposed to put more sanctions in place –
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Yes, but —
KRISTEN WELKER:
The president effectively waived that.
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
– Kristen, no sanctions were lifted.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Will they be lifted?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
There is a 60-day period so we can examine what’s going on. The only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo. And, you know, I will point out the U.K. in May waived their embargo on diesel and jet fuel made with Russian crude. So, you know, where’s the outrage for the rest of the world? President Zelenskyy does not criticize his European partners. He seemed a bit disassembled in that interview. The Europeans are financing the Russian war machine. The U.S. imports $4 billion of Russian products. 1.8 billion of that fertilizer. Europeans import more than ten times that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You know, speaking of President Zelenskyy, he says Ukraine will not prevail if the United States sides with Russia. A number of Republican senators have said that’s what this move does. Is the president siding with Russia here?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
No. Again, that’s a false binary. What does the U.S. provide? The U.S. provides intelligence via Starlink, and we provide, we allow NATO to buy U.S. armaments and resell them to Ukraine. You know, when President Zelenskyy asked for Patriots, the European members of NATO, they have plenty of Patriots. Why aren’t they forthcoming with the Patriots? Where’s Germany giving the Ukrainians Patriots?
KRISTEN WELKER:
You bring up Starlink. President Zelenskyy just discussed Starlink. I’d like to have you respond. Ukraine relies on Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite network, just for our viewers, to defend against Russian drones. President Zelenskyy just said he believes the U.S. government slowed the speed. Now, President Trump said he had nothing to do with it. But can you definitively say no one in the Trump administration ordered restrictions?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
President Trump and Secretary Rubio have categorically said that no one in the Trump administration did that. And I think it is very reckless for President Zelenskyy to make such a charge.
KRISTEN WELKER:
How did it get slowed down? How are these disruptions caused? Because President Zelenskyy also said there was a break in intel sharing as well. Why did that happen?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Again, I don’t know anything about that, but we’ve been very clear. And, you know, President Zelenskyy should be very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Bottom line, Mr. Secretary, is Ukraine an ally of the United States?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
President Trump has made it clear that he wants to end this war, that it must stop. And President Zelenskyy presents a false binary this morning that — Ukraine must win. The war must end, and that will be with some kind of a negotiated settlement, and President Trump is working on that every day. He’s done it since he came into office.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And just to the core question, though, does the United States see Ukraine as an ally?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Again, we provide three different things to Ukraine. So that’s what you do for an ally. We’re not providing those to Russia.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So does that mean the United States sees Ukraine as an ally? Can you say one way or another definitively?
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT:
Again, I’m not the secretary of state. I’m not the president.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. All right. Secretary, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, thank you so very much. Appreciate your being here.
Posted originally on the CTH on October 18, 2026 | Sundance |
Again, there are multiple dynamics unfolding inside this story. However, as to the central component of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy complaining about hampered access to Starlink and/or Starshield, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sets the record straight.
Ukraine has never had access to the U.S. military version of Starshield; providing that level of guidance access would be akin to the United States being in direct conflict with Russia using a proprietary U.S. military system. This is not our circus and not our war; there is no need for U.S. military conflict with Russia.
Because Ukraine does not have that access, it is now revealed that Zelenskyy has been using Starlink, a commercially available satellite system – but that system is not permitted by SpaceX to be used for military efforts. This is almost certainly where the relationship between Elon Musk and former Ukraine Defense Minister Michael Fedorov comes into play. Fedorov is no longer in the Ukraine govt. WATCH:
Rubio notes that Zelenskyy’s claims against the White House are nonsense. The White House has not interfered or instructed the military about the use of Starshield because Ukraine has never had Starshield to use. If Ukraine has been violating the terms of service by weaponizing Starlink (they have) then the commercial provider can act independently to block or stop that access. [Full Transcript Below]
In the background of this storyline, we should always remember that about a month ago Russia finalized their own upgraded satellite system that covers Russia and eastern Europe. It is widely suspected the increased accuracy of Russian targeting inside Ukraine is specifically because of their own enhanced capabilities, which now highlights the vulnerability of Ukraine if they do not have weaponize their Starlink access and the new desperation therein.
Bottom line, Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to highlight his mastery of cutting through the nonsense and staying focused on the priorities of the administration with messaging that cuts through the media chafe. Rubio excels in this role far beyond prior expectations. Very impressive.
On the topic of his travel to the “stans”, watch carefully. This is connected to the overall Russia/Central Asia agenda.
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