Posted originally on Jan 24, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
Donald Trump has warned Russian President Vladamir Putin to end the war effort in Ukraine or face US sanctions. “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Trump said pm Truth Social. Are tariffs enough to force Putin to withdraw from Ukraine?
Russia exported $2.9 billion in goods from January to November 2024, down from the $4.3 billion the year prior. Russia’s main exports to the US is refined petroleum, platinum, and nitrogenous fertilizers. Refined petroleum in particular is a key Russian import. Does the US have an alternative source for this crucial good, or will they be forced to pay for it at a markup from a third-party nation? The entire concept of tariffs always unintentionally punishes people on both sides of trade relationships, not just the targeted government.
Russia has already begun operating its economy independent of the West. Removing Russia from SWIFT was the lethal blow that ensured Russia needed to immediately reorganize its trade plan. The BRICS alliance has been strong and Russia has secured strong partners outside of the West. Trade with China accounts for over one-third of trade with Russia and has ben the nation’s top trading partner for over 14 years. Russia is China’s fifth largest trading partner in comparison. Total trade volume between the two exceeded $244.8 billion in 2024, marking a 1.9% YoY increase.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov remained undisturbed by the threat of tariffs. “We do not see any particularly new elements,” Peskov said in a drastic understatement. Peskov commented that the Kremlin knows Trump “likes” sanctions and has been prepared. Things have simply escalated too far for Russia to bow out of the war. The reparations would nuke Russia’s economy, and the neocons do not want to see Russia standing as a nation.
Russia no longer needs the US or Europe to support its economy. Politicians have already shunned Russia from global trade with the West, and this threat is baseless. This threat will backfire if implemented and create an inflationary environment for US consumers.
Posted originally on Jan 24, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
Donald Trump is prepared to drop Canada as a trade partner based on his recent comments in Davos at the World Economic Forum. “We don’t need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them. We don’t need their lumber because we have our own forests,” he continued. “We don’t need their oil and gas, we have more than anybody.”
The numbers tell a different story, with $3.6 billion worth of goods crossing the US-Canada border daily. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said that the trade route accounts for 3.7 million jobs for Canadians and Americans. Trump may have lifted Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas, but the adjustment will not be automatic. America DOES depend on Canada for energy. In 2023, 60% of all crude imports to the US came from Canada. More significant, Canada provided 99% of America’s natural gas that same year.
Look what happened when tariffs on Canadian lumber were raised this past August from 8.05% to 14.54%. Looking a few years back to the COVID era, lumber prices in the US were astronomical when Canada’s supply chain came to a standstill. That spilled into real estate and construction. Absolutely irresponsible to put a tariff on lumber amid this housing crisis. Some Canadian companies like Canfor and West Fraser moved to the US to avoid duties but most are simply raising prices.
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump initially signed to replace NAFTA will come to an end. “Upon taking office, I will formally notify Mexico and Canada of my intention to invoke the six-year renegotiation provision of the USMCA that I put in,” Trump said last week during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club. His main reasoning is to strengthen American auto manufacturing. The current rules state that 75% of a vehicle must be manufactured in one of the three nations, up from the previous requirement of 62.5%. This was bipartisan as Kamala Harris also voiced support for reforming USMCA and did not vote for the initial proposal. Auto sales are already significantly down and the industry cannot afford another blow.
The troubling matter here is that the 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods was initially intended as a threat to curb migration and drug flow from the northern and southern border. Now, Trump is stating that he wants Canada to become a US state. The comments were initially made in jest, but now Trump is taking an isolationist approach and believes absolutely everything should be made in America. “My message to every business in the world is very simple: Come make your product in America, and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” Trump said at Davos. “But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff. Differing amounts, but a tariff.”
Trump is also threatening to up tariffs on China to 60% and he told the European Union that they will also be subjected to a tax on trade. I support many of his measures but this is absolute insanity and will cripple the American economy. We cannot take a North Korean “juche” approach to trade where we only rely on ourselves.
No one will want to invest in America under these conditions. Big businesses will not move to America if they can only sell to Americans. He is basically redirecting trade to China at this point as its middle class is continuing to grow and businesses are now lining up to offload goods to the Chinese. There is a reason Chinese President Xi did not bother attending Davos.
Protectionist policies lead to economic instability. Tariffs hurt consumers rather than individual governments. Free trade must remain FREE and permitted to operate with minimal government interference. My entire premise of the Economic Confidence Model shows how deeply interwoven individual economies are, with capital flows and market trends all influencing one another across borders. Whoever is advising Trump is either attempting to sabotage him or they fail to comprehend that the economy must be viewed from a GLOBAL standpoint.
The Laken Riley Act has been approved by the US Senate in a 64-35 bipartisan vote. Named after the nursing student who was brutally murdered by a Venezuelan migrant with a criminal record, the legislation will allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport migrants who found guilty of committing a crime.
Sarah’s Law was also approved in a 75-24 vote that will deport migrants charged with violent crimes that resulted in death or serious bodily injury. Sarah Root was killed in 2016 after a migrant crashed into her car, posted bond, and fled the US. It is shameful that the US needs to pass laws to protect American citizens, as the Democrats were willing to permit a wave of migrant crime over the last four years in a failed attempt to secure elections.
Unlike Sarah’s Law, the Laken Riley Act will permit ICE to detain migrants who commit smaller offenses such as shoplifting. Laken Riley’s murderer was arrested for shoplifting, but migrants in blue states were not held to the same rule of law as US citizens. Those who oppose the act believe it denies migrants due process of law.
“ArtI.S8.C18.8.7.2 Aliens in the United States” was initially intended to protect LEGAL Japanese immigrants who lawfully entered the United States. Nearly a century later in Plyer v Doe (1981), the US Supreme Court expanded the language to state that “aliens, even aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful, have long been recognized as ‘persons’ guaranteed due process of law by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.” Most recently in 2001, the highest court ruled in Zadvydas v Davis that “once an alien enters the country, the legal circumstance changes” because the Constitution provides due process protections to “all ‘persons’ within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent.”
Aliens seeking initial entry into the US have no constitutional rights. These measures were NEVER intended to broadly protect millions of illegals who surged into the nation without any checks or balances. This is why Biden sent secret flights and tore down the existing wall because the goal was simply to get these people on US soil. The courts will likely need to examine whether the premise of national security can override the protections provided under the current language of the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Democrats could have a case for providing due process to migrant criminals, jamming the already mess of a legal system we have here.
Leftist judges must be held accountable for their actions against the American public. Why have so many migrants been released back into the population after committing crimes? They have not been required to abide by US law in any form and pose a threat not just to national security but to the nation’s economic future as taxpayers must fund their existence. This is why it is absolutely crucial for the US to boost border security and prevent people from coming here in the first place. Trump has already sent 10,000 troops to the border and deported over 300 illegals on his first day.
It is refreshing to see this bill receive bipartisan support, although the far-left “progressives” are pushing back, and they may actually have legal ground to stand on. Logically, everyone has seen crime spike throughout the nation, and “migrant crime” has turned into a new brutal category that has overwhelmed law enforcement and turned once-safe cities into criminal hot spots. Look at what has happened in Europe, where migrants began pouring in back in 2015. Too many of those major European cities are simply unrecognizable today.
The Laken Riley Act will cost an estimated $27 billion in its first year, and critics believe America does not have the resources to carry out these deportation measures. Yet, America has the resources to secure numerous borders of foreign nations and protect their citizens. Biden and Harris created an absolute disaster through their open border policies that will be felt for generations to come.
Posted originally on Jan 23, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
This is going to be really interesting. The question will be straightforward. Will the CIA actually release the assassination files of JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King? I knew Trump would make that order. The CIA was supposed to release them and asked him for an extension until AFTER the 2020 election, using COVID-19 as the excuse. They KNEW Trump would be driven out of office. He granted that extension, and then Biden granted withholding them.
Both JFK and even Richard Nixon wanted to shut down the CIA because they had become the deep state. I reported before that I had bumped into Nixon on the beach in NJ after he left office. I was stunned that the Secret Service did not surround him. I discovered that Richard Nixon declined Secret Service protection when researching that encounter. There was a tape where he had told the head of the CIA that he knew who killed JFK. I believe the CIA framed Nixon to have him removed from office. The guys that got caught in the Watergate break-in were ex-CIA.
I will be stunned if they actually release the complete files and some plane doesn’t crash into the storage room as was the case with 911 and the promised investigation into all the missing money from the Pentagon. The plane that hit the Pentagon hit precisely that storage room, so no investigation ever took place. That was one reason people were speculating if the plane was not being remotely steered precisely into that target; that will always remain a conspiracy theory that cannot be proven one way or the other. It was very convenient, to say the least.
Posted originally on Jan 23, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
A U.S. judge on today blocked President Donald Trump’s order limiting birthright citizenship. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order that prohibits the Trump administration, at least for now, from enforcing the order, which Trump signed hours after taking office on Monday. The judge remarked: “This is blatantly unconstitutional order.”
This was a case brought by the attorneys general of states that love illegals – Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington state. Trump’s order stated that the federal government does not automatically recognize birthright citizenship for children who are born to illegal immigrants in the United States. Trump’s position is obviously based on common sense that the original intent of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution was not a loophole for illegal immigrants but to declare citizenship for all the slaves AFTER the outrageous ruling in Dred Scott, who was an African-American slave that asked a United States Circuit Court to award him his freedom because he and his master had resided in a state (Illinois) and a territory (Wisconsin Territory) where slavery had been banned. Chief Justice Roger Taney, writing for the court, held that Scott, as a person of African ancestry, was not a citizen of the United States and, therefore, had no right to sue in federal court.
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This is the problem with the law. We enact a law for some basic intent, but then prosecutors will twist that law around to win a case. Take laws for child molesting. They define the age to be 18, so a 17-year-old is a child. There are cases where a boy who is a senior in high school has been charged criminally because the father of a daughter who was 17 did not like her high school boyfriend. So, he is sent to prison as a child molester with that label for the rest of his life. That was obviously NOT the intent of the law. People would be shocked that 35% of sex offenses are committed not by adults but by minors. Although those who commit sex offenses against minors are often described as “pedophiles” or “predators” and thought of as adults, it is important to understand that a substantial portion of these offenses are committed by other minors who do not fit the image of such terms. Some countries define this by the percentage difference in age targeting adults, not high school where the senior is 18 but a freshman or junior is under this age of 18.
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Here, too, the framers of the 14th Amendment were not looking to grant citizenship to illegal aliens. The whole illegal alien status really began to emerge with socialism. People came to America previously for the land of opportunity – not a free ride. The 14th Amendment was primarily to secure the rights of the slaves that had been free and to overturn Dred Scott, making them citizens regardless of race.
The amendment to the constitution, ratified in 1868, developed after the Civil War to ensure that slaves could become American citizens. Today, the law is abused by those who illegally migrate into the country. The grey area surrounding this issue is the basic “intent” behind any law. All laws are to be interpreted in a manner consistent with the legislative intent for which they were originally enacted, as revealed in the Congressional Record prior to the passage. The passage of no amount of time can change the original legislative intent of a law. Courts should construe laws in harmony with the legislative intent and seek to carry out our legislative purpose. Foster v. United States, 303 U.S. 118, 120 (1938). Judges are supposed to be bound to interpret the Constitution in the light of the law as it existed at the time it was adopted. Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 244, 15 S. Ct. 337, 39 L. Ed. 409 (1895).
This failure of judges to rule in this manner is commonplace, and it has led to a lot of legal persecution in which prosecutors twist the word to fit their objective. I recommend reading the work On Liberty of John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). You will get a sense of how bad our legal system has become. We have witnessed the abuse of cases against Trump desperately trying to fit the words to anything he had done.
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Yet here is another problem. Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington state have brought this case in one of the worst liberal states in the country where they knew they would get the decision they wanted. It is known as forum shipping – another serious legal abuse of power. So here we have four state seeking to use a LEFT-LEANING state to impose their dictatorial view upon the entire nation. This stands in contrast to the very power to amend the Constitution and the mode of exerting it are dealt with in Article V, which reads:
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“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress: Provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article, and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.”
The inconsistency here is that we can amend the Constitution and it need not be unanimous. Still, then all states must comply with the will of the majority – not very democratic. Yet, here, four states can effectively abuse the Constitution and a LEFT-LEANING state to force their will upon the whole, which cannot even be done by amending the Constitution.
Only 33 countries currently offer unrestricted birthright citizenship, mainly in the Americas. However, people do not line up at their borders to enter and give birth there since they do not offer free healthcare and housing as Biden did. Other countries place restrictions, usually requiring one parent to be a citizen already, often referred to as jus sanguinis (the right of blood). Jus soli (“right of the soil”) permits citizenship based on the land in which the child is born.
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The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates that at least 300,000 children are granted birthright citizenship in the US, composing 7.5% of all births annually. It is estimated that this costs taxpayers over $2.4 billion annually. This data was collected before Biden opened the borders. Illegal migrants may receive benefits on behalf of their birthright or anchor baby. Taxpayers pay at least $6.7 annually just on Medicaid for these children. Legal migrants are not afforded these rights, and Trump is correct in saying there is an incentive to enter illegally since the government provides funding.
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The 14th Amendment no longer holds true for its original intent. America is broke — we cannot afford to sustain our own citizens or infrastructure, and the migrant crisis has become a massive burden on taxpayers. What is the answer? Shall we hold the 14th Amendment to its original intent or allow prosecutors to manipulate the words to score victories?
Posted originally on the CTH on January 24, 2025 | Sundance
It will be interesting to watch how this unfolds with new Intelligence Community heads moving into position to support or shape the request.
This specific Executive Order [SEE HERE] approach runs counter to my personal, albeit controversial, opinion on how the declassification of sensitive documents should be handled in order to deliver the highest level of transparency. However, this approach does keep the lawyers in charge of the executive office in legal control of the mechanics. The order essentially requires the nation’s security organizations to create plans to release the records.
Within the video, the first two executive orders are related to David Sacks and the Crypto/AI positions of the Trump administration. The rest of the Executive Orders are AVAILABLE HERE. Full Press Conference:
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Don’t get your hopes up. In my humble opinion this declassification request approach leads to nothing. Perhaps I will be wrong. I hope so, but prior experience shows big initial headlines and empty results.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy and Purpose. More than 50 years after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Federal Government has not released to the public all of its records related to those events. Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy to be publicly disclosed in full by October 26, 2017, unless the President certifies that: (i) continued postponement is made necessary by an identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and (ii) the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure. President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, section 5(g)(2)(D), Public Law 102-526, 106 Stat. 3443, 3448–49, codified at 44 U.S.C. 2107 note.
I previously accepted proposed redactions from executive departments and agencies (agencies) in 2017 and 2018, but ordered the continued re-evaluation of those remaining redactions. See Temporary Certification for Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 82 Fed. Reg. 50,307–08 (Oct. 31, 2017); Certification for Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 83 Fed. Reg. 19, 157–58 (Apr. 26, 2018). In the Presidential Memorandum of April 26, 2018, I also ordered agencies to re-review each of those redactions over the next 3 years and disclose information that no longer warrants continued withholding under the standard set forth in section 5(g)(2)(D) of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.
President Biden issued subsequent certifications with respect to these records in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which gave agencies additional time to review the records and withhold information from public disclosure. See Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 86 Fed. Reg. 59,599 (Oct. 22, 2021); Certifications Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 87 Fed. Reg. 77,967 (Dec. 15, 2022); Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 88 Fed. Reg. 43,247 (June 30, 2023).
I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue. And although no Act of Congress directs the release of information pertaining to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that the release of all records in the Federal Government’s possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest.
Sec. 2. Declassification and Disclosure. (a) Within 15 days of the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
(b) Within 45 days of the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, review records related to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of these records.
Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. [LINK]
Here’s the alternative, controversial approach:
Dear Mr. President and White House counsel:
Understanding the ordinary process of declassifying documents is a request and authorization to the executive officers and stakeholders of classified information; and understanding the current authorization is not ordinary because the intelligence community stakeholders are averse to the interests of the office of the president; here is a process to cut through the chaff and countermeasures.
The background here is that any unilateral declassification request, demand or authorization by President Trump puts him opposition to a variety of corrupt interests.
As a direct result the executive office of the president will be facing legal action, likely from unified democrats and republicans in the legislative branch. With that accepted, here is the most strategic approach.
In anticipation of litigation:
President Trump informs the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, that he wishes to have a full intelligence briefing on the following documents (more may be added), all documents are to be presented without a single redaction:
The full and complete records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The full and complete records relating to the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The President selects a date for this briefing and through direct orders to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles and National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, informs the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, to advise and coordinate with all executive branch intelligence officials, who were/are stakeholders in the compartmented intelligence products as described above, of their request be present for the briefing.
The White House counsel’s office is not to be informed of the intent or purpose of the meeting; however, the Presidents’ White House counsel is requested to attend. Further, all of the compartmented intelligence is to be collectively assembled by the ODNI (Gabbard) into one volume of a singular Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) although each set might be file boxes. There are to be eighteen printed copies of the PDB material assembled and secured for the briefing, post haste.
Additionally, the office of the president personally informs the ODNI (Gabbard) of the executives’ request to invite for the briefing each member of the legislative branch Intelligence Community oversight known as the Gang-of-Eight.
Immediately after the briefing by the executive level (cabinet) department officials, while remaining in a closed and classified session, the full and comprehensive content of this collective intelligence product will be discussed with the full assembly of the U.S. Legislative Branch Intelligence Oversight known as the Gang of Eight.
Therefore, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is instructed to coordinate with the ODNI (Gabbard) for the attendance of the Gang of Eight: Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford, HPSCI Ranking Member Jim Himes, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, SSCI Chairman Tom Cotton and SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner. [Topic “TBD”]
In order to facilitate the briefing. Each member of the participating group will be provided with one full printed copy of the material assembled by the ODNI during the briefing.
[Each of the participants carries the prerequisite clearances, legal and constitutional authority to engage with the classified documents according to their position and status. Only the executive can assemble the product for Go8 review and feedback]
At the conclusion of the briefing; and after hearing from, and engagement with, each of the participating members of the executive intelligence offices and duly authorized legislative oversight representatives; and after listening to their opinion as to the subject material discussed; the president announces to the fully assembled leadership of both the Executive branch (cabinet) and Legislative branch (Go8), it is his opinion the National Interests of the United States can best be served with the American people having a full, transparent and honest review of the material assembled and discussed.
The President, no-one else, only the President, [with his affirmed constitutional power and protection – as acting within his official duty] then collects the printed portfolios [or boxes] as they were distributed to the participants, exits the briefing, and walks directly into the James Brady press briefing room within the White House; handing each of the awaiting twelve members of the national media a copy of the briefing material to be published on behalf of the American people.
At exactly the same time as President Trump enters the briefing room, one copy of the assembled portfolio is hand delivered, by President Trump only, to White House communications director with instructions to scan and release the content to the public through the White House website.
Posted originally on the CTH on January 24, 2025 | Sundance
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is maintaining his pro-Trump agenda position into day #4 of the administration. Thune appears with the insufferable Sean Hannity to discuss his recent meetings with President Trump and Speaker Johnson, as well as the plans and forecast for legislative support of the American First agenda.
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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