Strategic Retreat? – President Trump Announces Instructions to DHS to Pull Back from ICE Operations in Democrat States


Posted originally on CTH on January 31, 2026 | Sundance 

President Trump appears to be initiating a strategic retreat from sanctuary states and sanctuary cities. Via a message on Truth Social President Trump says he has instructed DHS Secretary Noem not to participate in “poorly run Democrat cities”:

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP – “I have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help. We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists.

Please be aware that I have instructed ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property. There will be no spitting in the faces of our Officers, there will be no punching or kicking the headlights of our cars, and there will be no rock or brick throwing at our vehicles, or at our Patriot Warriors. If there is, those people will suffer an equal, or more, consequence.

In the meantime, by copy of this Statement, I am informing Local Governments, as I did in Los Angeles when they were rioting at the end of the Biden Term, that you must protect your own State and Local Property. In addition, it is your obligation to also protect our Federal Property, Buildings, Parks, and everything else. We are there to protect Federal Property, only as a back up, in that it is Local and State Responsibility to do so.

Last night in Eugene, Oregon, these criminals broke into a Federal Building, and did great damage, also scaring and harassing the hardworking employees. Local Police did nothing in order to stop it. We will not let that happen anymore!

If Local Governments are unable to handle the Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Anarchists, we will immediately go to the location where such help is requested, and take care of the situation very easily and methodically, just as we did the Los Angeles Riots one year ago, where the Police Chief said that, “We couldn’t have done it without the help of the Federal Government.” Therefore, to all complaining Local Governments, Governors, and Mayors, let us know when you are ready, and we will be there — But, before we do so, you must use the word, “PLEASE.”

Remember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE — ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property. We will not allow our Courthouses, Federal Buildings, or anything else under our protection, to be damaged in any way, shape, or form. I was elected on a Policy of Border Control (which has now been perfected!), National Security, and LAW AND ORDER — That’s what America wants, and that’s what America is getting! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

I would not be surprised to see both Kristi Noem and Tulsi Gabbard pressured to resign by the White House inner circle.

Senate Intelligence Committee Demand Answers About DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s Ongoing Reviews of Govt Activity


Posted originally on CTH on January 30, 2026 | Sundance

Apparently, the Senate and House intelligence committees are very concerned about what Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is doing. Almost every tweet from Senator Mark Warner in the past 48 hours has been about DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

What seems to worry them the most is that they don’t know exactly what she is doing.  Triggered by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, the Democrats are now demanding Director Gabbard tell them her intentions and her itinerary so they can monitor her activity.  Tulsi Gabbard continues to review internal government activity without consulting them.

[SOURCE]

“Director Gabbard recognizes that election security is essential for the integrity of our republic and our nation’s security. As DNI, she has a vital role in identifying vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure and protecting against exploitation,” a DNI spokesperson noted. “We know through intelligence and public reporting that electronic voting systems have been and are vulnerable to exploitation. President Trump’s directive to secure our elections was clear, and DNI Gabbard has and will continue to take actions within her authorities, alongside our interagency partners, to support ensuring the integrity of our elections,” the DNI spokesperson said.

Thursday evening while attending the premier of ‘Melania’ at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said, “you’re going to see some interesting things happening. They’ve been trying to get there for a long time.”

According to the Wall Street Journal:

[…] “[Tulsi Gabbard] has begun studying information about voting machines, analyzed data from swing states and pursued theories that President Trump has promoted to claim the 2020 election was unfairly taken from him, the officials said, particularly on foreign government interference.

She has regularly briefed Trump and chief of staff Susie Wiles about her inquiry in recent months along with others involved in the investigation. Those include senior Justice Department officials, Trump’s outside ally and lawyer Cleta Mitchell and Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who pushed claims in 2020 that the election was stolen and joined the administration as a special government employee.

Gabbard has consulted with others in the intelligence community about claims of foreign interference in the 2020 election, the officials said, though she hasn’t provided the public with new evidence of it.

She is expected to prepare a report on her work, the people said. The administration has discussed executive orders on voting ahead of the midterm elections, two of the officials said. 

[…] Democrats criticized Gabbard’s election effort. “Either Director Gabbard believes there was a legitimate foreign intelligence nexus—in which case she is in clear violation of her obligation under the law to keep the intelligence committees ‘fully and currently informed’ of relevant national security concerns—or she is once again demonstrating her utter lack of fitness for the office,” said Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee. (more – paywall)

There are a lot of interconnected aspects to all of this, many circle around the Intelligence Community’s prior and current involvement in various operations against the interests of the Office of the President.

As noted by Paul Sperry: “In a letter, ex-CIA chief John Brennan’s lawyer said his client has “complied” w/ a fed grand jury subpoena seeking, among other things, materials related to his role in creation of the Obama-ordered ICA on Russia + Trump covering the period from July 1, 2016 to Feb 28, 2017.” 

Most people are not aware how the 2016/2017 CIA work product known as the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) ties directly into the 2019 impeachment effort against President Trump for the Ukraine phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A key architect of the 2017 ICA was a CIA analyst on Russian issues named Eric Ciaramella. The anonymous CIA whistleblower who facilitated the 2019 impeachment effort was the same Eric Ciaramella.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard previously released information showing how the 2017 ICA was fraudulently constructed, and now DNI Gabbard has reviewed the transcribed testimony of former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, where he described how he gained authority to change the CIA rules to permit Ciaramella to remain anonymous in 2019.  All of this ties together.

[VIA Politico] – […] Sen. Mark Warner, (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, argued on X Wednesday that there “are only two explanations” for Gabbard’s presence in the raid.

“Either Director Gabbard believes there was a legitimate foreign intelligence nexus — in which case she is in clear violation of her obligation under the law to keep the intelligence committees ‘fully and currently informed’ of relevant national security concerns — or she is once again demonstrating her utter lack of fitness for the office that she holds by injecting the nonpartisan intelligence community she is supposed to be leading into a domestic political stunt designed to legitimize conspiracy theories that undermine our democracy,” he wrote.

Warner and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) wrote to Gabbard Thursday to request briefings for both panels about the legal basis, scope, and justification of her participation in the raid. (more)

DNI Tulsi Gabbard continues to work on behalf of the American people; that seems to have triggered Senator Mark Warner.

The need for control is a reaction to fear.

ps. We have not heard much about the 2026 FISA-702 reauthorization, yet.

President Trump Holds an Oval Office Press Availability – Following Announcement of “Freedom 250” Grand Prix


Posted originally on CTH on January 30, 2026 | Sundance

Following the announcement of the “Freedom 250” Grand Prix scheduled as part of the 250th Independence Day/Year celebration [Details Here], President Trump takes questions from the assembled press pool. VIDEO

The full event video is included below:

WHITE HOUSE – Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order launching the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – the first ever INDYCAR street race in the Nation’s capital, to be held near the National Mall in honor of America’s 250th birthday. {source}

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Trade Watch – President Trump Has Conversation with President Sheinbaum About Upcoming USMCA Review


Posted originally on CTH on January 30, 2026 | Sundance January 30, 2026 | Sundance 

President Trump speaks to President Sheinbaum about upcoming USMCA renegotiation, while Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard meets simultaneously in Washington with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss the upcoming trade review.

(VIA BLOOMBERG) Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had a “cordial” conversation with Donald Trump on Thursday, discussing trade and security issues ahead of the review of the North American free trade deal.

Sheinbaum said the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will continue as planned and that she and the president discussed tariffs and non-tariff barriers in their latest call.

Mexico’s leader added that Trump invited her to the US but that no date has been set for what would be their second in-person meeting.

On security, Sheinbaum offered that both leaders are pleased with the level of cooperation so far between their two countries. Trump agrees “that we are making progress in the general understanding we have,” she told reporters at her regular daily media briefing, without offering more details.

Sheinbaum first revealed the latest phone call with Trump in a social media post. (read more)

We all know what is likely to happen, these small articles are like aperitifs while we await the main performance.   Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Canadians -sans possibly Alberta residents- are clueless.

DOJ Releases 3.5 million Pages, Images, Videos and Files of Epstein Material


Posted originally on CTH on January 30, 2026 | Sundance

The letter to congress outlining all the specifics IS HERE (pdf format).  The press release IS HERE (and cited below). The primary link to review all of the Epstein materials IS HERE.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today published over 3 million additional pages responsive to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on November 19, 2025.

More than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images are included in today’s additional publication. Combined with prior releases, this makes the total production nearly 3.5 million pages released in compliance with the Act.

These files were collected from five primary sources including the Florida and New York cases against Epstein, the New York case against Maxwell, the New York cases investigating Epstein’s death, the Florida case investigating a former butler of Epstein, Multiple FBI investigations, and the Office of Inspector General investigation into Epstein’s death.

The Department erred on the side of over-collecting materials, and any materials not produced fall within one of the following categories:

♦Duplicate documents between SDNY and SDFL investigations.
♦Withheld under privilege- deliberative process privilege, attorney client privilege.
♦Withheld based upon exceptions under the act (depictions of violence);
♦Items that were that are not part of the case file for Epstein or Maxwell and were completely unrelated to these cases.

More than 500 attorneys and reviewers from the Department contributed to this effort. In addition, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO-SDNY) employed an additional review protocol to ensure compliance with a Court order requiring United States Attorney Jay Clayton to certify that no victim identifying information would be produced unredacted as part of the public production.

Through the process, the Department provided clear instructions to reviewers that the redactions were to be limited to the protection of victims and their families. Some pornographic images, whether commercial or not, were redacted, given the Department treated all women in those images as victims. Notable individuals and politicians were not redacted in the release of any files.

This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already. [SOURCE]

To me personally, this storyline is the least interesting -and yet consequential- of all the topics in/around the world of politics; but I also understand that many people follow it with great interest.  So, you can use the links above to review the content and then share your opinion below.

The network around Epstein, political and financial, does explain some of the intelligence community moves in the last decade.  Elon Musk’s purchase of the DHS/FBI control portal known as ‘Twitter’ is one small example.

[SOURCE]

President Trump Announces the Appointment of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chairman


Posted originally on CTH on January 30, 2026 | Sundance 

President Donald J Trump has announced his selection to take over as Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Kevin Warsh.  To give perspective toward the overall viewpoint of Warsh, THIS INTERVIEW from April 2024 gives some insight.

Warsh has been highly critical of the FED monetary policy overall and directly links inflation and depressed wages to the poor decision-making of the Federal Reserve overall.  More background on Kevin Warsh is HERE.

(Via Truth Social) – “I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Kevin Warsh to be the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM. Kevin currently serves as the Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution, and Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a Partner of Stanley Druckenmiller at Duquesne Family Office LLC. Kevin received his A.B. from Stanford University, and J.D. from Harvard Law School. He has conducted extensive research in the field of Economics and Finance.

Kevin issued an Independent Report to the Bank of England proposing reforms in the conduct of Monetary Policy in the United Kingdom. Parliament adopted the Report’s recommendations. Kevin Warsh became the youngest Fed Governor, ever, at 35, and served as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 until 2011, as the Federal Reserve’s Representative to the Group of Twenty (G-20), and as the Board’s Emissary to the Emerging and Advanced Economies in Asia.

In addition, he was Administrative Governor, managing and overseeing the Board’s operations, personnel, and financial performance. Prior to his appointment to the Board, from 2002 until 2006, Kevin served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and Executive Secretary of the White House National Economic Council.

Previously, Kevin was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Department at Morgan Stanley & Co., in New York, serving as Vice President and Executive Director. I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is “central casting,” and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

National Race Agitator Don Lemon Arrested in Los Angeles for His Role in St Paul Church Attack


Posted originally on CTH on January 30, 2026 | sundance 

National race antagonist, Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was arrested last night in Los Angeles. Lemon’s arrest comes after he helped organize and coordinate a group of agitators to attack a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Mr Lemon has said he was reporting as a journalist when he entered the Cities Church on January 18. However, video evidence shows he was working in conjunction with the group of anarchists who entered the church to terrorize the worshippers. The antagonistic group claimed the church’s pastor worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and therefore was selected as the target for their attack.

Attorney General Pam Bondi released the following statement via X: “At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. More details soon.”

Don Lemon’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, another man of radical disposition, released a statement saying Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” he added. “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”

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President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump Attend Kennedy Center Premier of “Melania”


Posted originally on CTH on January 29, 2026 | sundance 

President Trump held two open media events today, a cabinet meeting and an oval office announcement; however, for the first time since I can remember, President Trump did not take any questions from the assembled press pool.

This evening President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended the premier of the biographical movie Melania at the Kennedy Center.  Two videos below.  The first video is the President and First Lady walking the red carpet at the premier.  The second video is the full opening highlighting all the attendees.

The full event video is below.

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Border Czar Tom Homan Holds a Press Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota


Posted originally on CTH on January 29, 2026 | Sundance

President Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday.  Today he gives a press conference following meetings with the Minnesota governor and Minneapolis mayor.

Mr Homan said he is now supervising the capture and removal of all criminal aliens from the Minneapolis region. ICE agents together with Customs and Border Patrol officials will continue operations throughout the region and the governor and mayor have given their assurances they will no longer attempt to interfere with capture, detainment and removal efforts.

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Virginia Senator and SSCI Vice Chairman, Mark Warner, is Very Concerned About Tulsi Gabbard

Posted originally on CTH on January 29, 2026 | Sundance

Senator Mark Warner is the vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). In his position he is also a member of the intelligence community oversight group known as the “Gang of Eight.”  Senator Mark Warner replaced Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2017 for his SSCI position. Dianne Feinstein’s former chief-of-staff Dan Jones was a central participant in the 2016 Trump-Russia targeting effort.

Senator Warner moved into position in 2017 to sit at the center of the legislative branch effort to support the targeting and removal of President Trump. Warner ran cover for the actions in 2016 and worked to construct the fraudulent narrative after President Trump took office.  On March 17, 2017, shortly after 4:00pm, Senator Mark Warner entered the senate SCIF with SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to review the Title-1 search warrant used against U.S. citizen Carter Page.  The ‘read and return’ documents were delivered by FBI special agent Brian Dugan.  James Wolfe took 82 pictures of the FISA application (one picture per page) and then sent them to Buzzfeed journalist Ali Watkins. ¹{Background}

Mid-March 2017 Senator Mark Warner was trying to support the appointment of a special counsel to target President Trump, his directed leak was to support that objective.  Three days later, March 20, 2017, FBI Director James Comey appeared before congress and admitted the FBI was investigating Donald Trump. Senator Warner then used his position as SSCI vice-chair to advance the DC legislative efforts against President Trump.

Senator Mark Warner is very concerned about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, being in Fulton County, Georgia, yesterday when the search warrant for election records was carried out.  Senator Mark Warner is very concerned.

[¹ My position has never changed. I fully support former SSCI Security Director James Wolfe being given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his cooperation and testimony as to the involvement of Vice Chairman Mark Warner.  The other person who knows the granular details of how the leak took place is FBI Special Agent Brian Dugan, who investigated the Wolfe leak.]

♦ Within the Wolfe indictment you’ll notice the “Top Secret” document picked-up by SSCI Director James Wolfe took place on March 17th, 2017:

♦ Within the Mark Warner text messages you’ll note the SSCI Vice-Chairman went into the SSCI Secured Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) on March 17th, 2017, shortly after 4:00pm:
♦ Within the declassified and released FISA application you’ll notice the copy date from the FISA clerk for the FISA application was March 17th, 2017:

The information within the three events (Warner Text release, Wolfe Indictment release, and Carter Page FISA release) shows the connection of the events.  James Wolfe took custody of the Carter Page FISA, delivered it to the SCIF, it was reviewed by SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner, and then leaked by James Wolfe.

“82 Text Messages” The FISA application was 83 pages with one blank page. It was the Carter Page FISA application that James Wolfe leaked to Ali Watkins as outlined within the unsealed June 2018 indictment.

Sidebar, a fourth albeit buried public release came on December 14th 2018 confirmed everything.

The FBI filed a sentencing recommendation proving it was the Carter Page FISA that was leaked:

I only share the sidebar (out of chronological sequence) to emphasize there is no doubt it was the FISA application that James Wolfe leaked.

During his initial summer and fall negotiations with the DOJ, lawyers representing James Wolfe threatened to subpoena the SSCI in his defense.  The implication was that Wolfe was directed to leak the FISA by members of the committee.

The Wolfe defense team delayed pre-trial discussions with the DOJ, stalling for time throughout the fall of 2018 until the November midterms. Democrats won the 2018 midterm races and took control over the House.

In the lame-duck congressional period following the election, very specific senators on the SSCI asked the DOJ to go easy on Wolfe: Richard Burr, Dianne Feinstein and Mark Warner.