May 24 2025

The Megabill Is A Total Bust, According GOP Leading Economic Populist Oren Cass

Posted originally on Rumble By Bannon’s War Room on: May 23, 2025, at 2:00 pm EST

May 24 2025

DNI Tulsi Gabbard Takes Operational Control of the Presidential Daily Brief (PDB)

Posted originally on CTH on May 24, 2025 | Sundance

Interestingly, just a few days before Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, took control of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) away from the CIA, Gabbard also made a move that is just as consequential and directly related.

It is pretty clear now the NIC was in the middle of a domestic Intelligence Community operation against the Trump administration when Tulsi Gabbard intercepted it (we hope with support from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, but we are not sure). {GO DEEP} It is clear from the comments by SoS/NSA Rubio, that several media outlets were poised and awaiting leaks from the NIC in anticipation of fulfilling their role to advance the operation. [SEE HERE] DNI Gabbard essentially quashed their plan.

However, I was not aware that it was pushed into the public sphere where DNI Gabbard had taken control of the Presidential Daily Brief simultaneous to her confrontation with the NIC operation. [NYT LINK, Archive] I am writing this update to inform and also ensure the CTH library has a reference point for future discussions. Please familiarize yourself with the citations above as well as two very important outlines.

#1 – The unrealized power of the DNI and the possibilities for Trump’s appointed Director of National Intelligence, if a particular process was followed {GO DEEP}. #2 – The actual purpose of the Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), as well as the modern weaponization of it by the CIA. {GO DEEP}. Those two citations are important context to understand a very visible dynamic taking place.

On the same day that DNI Tulsi Gabbard took control of the PDB away from the CIA, DNI Gabbard also removed the National Intelligence Council from the CIA. This is very good news and highlights both President Trump and DNI Gabbard understanding the unrealized potential power of the DNI that we have discussed on these pages.

Confronting a weaponized Intelligence Community is a key facet of interest for us because it is a core component battle against the main tools of the Fourth Branch of Government. The IC influence is in every policy related to Trump’s domestic and foreign agenda. Taking control and neutering the capabilities of the IC and CIA specifically, is a key undertaking.

With the horrible National Security Advisor Mike Waltz removed, and with Marco Rubio taking control of the National Security Council, now the moves by DNI Tulsi Gabbard begin to take on a much more deliberate context. Now I can be somewhat more optimistic about what we are seeing unfold, albeit it will likely remain unnoticed by almost all other reviewers of politics. Y’all are well aware the need for this IC confrontation has long been one of my biggest focuses.

The article is within the New York Times, which means the anonymous sources are from within the DHS/DNI (domestic IC) apparatus.

NYT – Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is moving the assembly of the president’s daily intelligence brief from the C.I.A. headquarters to her own complex, according to officials briefed on the move.

The brief, a summary of intelligence and analysis about global hot spots and national security threats, is overseen and presented to the president by
the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But C.I.A. officers write much of the analysis in the document and produce it, pulling together articles and graphics on the agency’s classified computer systems.

Ms. Gabbard’s decision comes as President Trump has openly mused to aides over time about whether the office she leads — which was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to improve interagency coordination — should continue to exist, according to two people with knowledge of his remarks. Ms. Gabbard has discussed Mr. Trump’s concerns with him directly and has considered how to overhaul the office, according to one official.

[…] The C.I.A. memo said that while the directorate of analysis role in supporting the daily brief would evolve, “we will remain laser-focused on the president’s and Director Ratcliffe’s priorities and our core mission — generating and delivering insight with impact, free from political or personal bias.”

It is not clear how many C.I.A. personnel assigned to the P.D.B., as the brief is called, and to the National Intelligence Council will move. People familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to discuss internal concerns publicly, said a number of employees at the agency were looking for new assignments to avoid moving to Ms. Gabbard’s office. (Link, non-Paywall Archive)

The DNI position comes as an outcome of The Patriot Act and as I have repeated said, that position has never been fully functionalized. In essence, the DNI can be more powerful than all of the feeder elements into the intelligence apparatus.

The ODNI was formed in 2004, with the intent for the office to be the pivot point of a national security radar. The DNI was intended to provide information to domestic agencies about foreign terror networks that would prevent something like 9-11 from happening again. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has never, not for one day, operated on this intent. This is why they are such a critical position from my perspective.

I said in August of 2024, “The DNI can make the FBI, DOJ, DOJ-NSD, DoD, DoS and CIA provide anything and everything they demand. Instead of the other silos using blocks and threats against the office of the President, use the authority of the DNI to get them without confrontation. Then use the DNI to declassify the documents (if requested by potus), instead of the originating silo.

Can you see how the DNI office can be repurposed to be a seriously strong weapon in the toolbox of the President, against the schemes of those inside the various IC silos. The DNI becomes much more important than the CIA Director, NSA Director, FBI Director, Attorney General, etc, because the DNI can just show up and say, “give me this.” That’s the whole functional purpose of the DNI office that has never been exerted; let’s flippin’ use it.

Let’s use the office of the DNI as the central information hub that takes information from inside the corrupt silos, then provides that information to the President who puts sunlight upon it. Each corrupt silo penetrated with disinfectant. This could begin a process to pull down the shadow operations and let the American public see what has been happening inside our IC apparatus.”

It would appear that President Trump and Tulsi Gabbard are doing exactly that, and I am extremely pleased/thankful to see this plan of action in place.

Now, there’s another element to this. The Dept of Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, reports directly to President Trump. However, for all material intents and purposes of the post-911 design, the DHS Secretary also reports to the Director of National Intelligence, that’s Tulsi Gabbard.

The DHS Secretary directly controls the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA). Do you remember the story of Tulsi Gabbard being targeted by the Joe Biden DHS/TSA under the “Quiet Skies” operation? All of that information is at the fingertips of DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

So, I will leave you to think of this with a little optimism. Here is Tulsi Gabbard today discussing how Joe Biden defined “Domestic Violent Extremists,” and also a discussion about her own personal targeting on the “Quiet Skies” watch list.

Keep in mind, ODNI Tulsi Gabbard has access to every document, note, list and detail of the TSA program that targeted her. Tulsi Gabbard knows exactly who put her on the watch list, when, why and how, as well as who else was/is targeted under this program.

… Tulsi Gabbard is legit!

May 24 2025

Secretary Marco Rubio Eliminates More than 100 People from National Security Council – “Marco vs The Deep State”

Posted originally on CTH on May 23, 2025 | Sundance

The National Security Council is a ¹cushy job inside the White House filled with bureaucratic analysts and people who are in place in an attempt to steer policy. Many of those detailed to the NSC represent the interests of the Silo agency from which they originate.

The National Security Council contains approximately 350 full-time employees. The National Security Advisor, now Marco Rubio, is in charge of the NSC. Secretary Marco Rubio just fired more than 100 of them. A few quotes from Axios are beautiful, and telling:

[…] “The NSC is the ultimate Deep State. It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re gutting the Deep State,” the official said of the move, which will cut the NSC staff to about half of its current 350 members. “The right-sizing of the NSC is in line with its original purpose and the president’s vision,” Rubio told Axios in a statement. “The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies.” [link]

WASHINGTON DC – The Trump administration has put more than 100 officials at the National Security Council at the White House on administrative leave on Friday as part of a restructuring under interim national security adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to two US officials and another source familiar with the matter.

[…] An email from NSC chief of staff Brian McCormack went out around 4:20 p.m. informing those being dismissed they’d have 30 minutes to clean out their desks, according to an administration official. If they weren’t on campus, the email read, they could email an address and arrange a time to retrieve their stuff later and turn in devices.

The email subject line read: “Your return to home agency,” indicating that most of those affected were detailed to the NSC from other departments and agencies.

On Thursday, Rubio convened a meeting with principals, which raised speculation that it was about the re-organization, the official said. And on Friday at 3:45 p.m., shortly before the email went out, senior directors were summoned to a meeting with Rubio.

[…] Those put on leave include career officials, as well as political hires made during the Trump administration.

In recent weeks staffers were being re-interviewed by the Office of the Presidential Personnel as the reshaping of the office was taking place, sources said. One of the questions asked was what officials thought was the appropriate size of the NSC, one source said.

Staffed by foreign policy experts from across the US government, the NSC typically serves as a critical body for coordinating the president’s foreign policy agenda.

But under President Donald Trump, the NSC’s role has been diminished, with the overhaul expected to further reduce its importance in the White House. (read more)

Remember the Susan Rice Benghazi “talking points” about a YouTube video? Remember Tommy “Dude” Vietor? Remember Alexander Vindman? Yeah, all from the National Security Council.

To give you an expanded perspective on how the NSC operates, compared to what the institutional DC interests tell us about it, it’s worth remembering that Tom Donilon’s daughter was appointed to the NSC after college. lol

2022: Tom Donilon’s daughter, Sarah Donilon, who graduated college in 2019, now works on the White House National Security Council {link}

As if on cue….

“Marco Rubio: 25% then / 70% now. Remarkably his confrontation with the Senate, with USAID, with VISAs, and calling Ukraine a “USA proxy war” were big jumps in the effectiveness and competency versus what was expected. Still watching for direct IC confrontation with his move to NatSec Advisor, but I totally understand why President Trump is supporting him with more authority.”

May 24 2025

President Trump Holds a White House Event to Fast Track Expanded Nuclear Power Capability – Video with Press Questions

Posted originally on CTH on May 23, 2025 | Sundance

President Trump signed executive orders today targeting nuclear energy. President Trump announced a host of regulatory reforms within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) aiming to generate new investment and new nuclear plants being built. The supportive Energy Department officials are particularly focused on developing small modular reactors as opposed to large-scale legacy reactors.

In addition to calling for a bureaucratic overhaul at the NRC, the executive orders also encourage the departments of Energy and Defense to build reactors on federal land to power data centers and military bases, speed up the process for testing new reactor technology and boost domestic supply chains for nuclear fuels. This directive comes after Congress passed legislation directing the NRC to modernize its operations and speed up the licensing process.

The Question-and-Answer session begins at 15:12 of the video. WATCH:

Executive Orders HERE – HERE – HERE

May 24 2025

DC Debrief

Posted originally on CTH on May 23, 2025 | Sundance

I returned yesterday following another whirlwind trip to the one place in America I genuinely believe is rooted in evil enterprise, Washington DC. What I found there was similar to prior visits yet there are some structural and cultural changes afoot that are visible if you know what to look for.

First, the level of opposition to Donald Trump is bigger than in term-1, way bigger. The hatred is likely a magnitude of three times as strong against President Trump and what/who he represents. The opposition sentiment, now three times more vitriolic, is held by around 90% of the inhabitants of the region, perhaps more but I am trying to be gracious.

Somewhere are 90% of every thought, word, deed and action, as well as tone therein, is bitterly against President Trump’s perspectives, policies and intentions for government reform. In term-1 and prior visits that percentage was likely around 75%. The current scale of opposition is actually stunning albeit not surprising. However, it does give you an idea of how impossible it is for a MAGA-minded political official to live, work and even breathe in the environment.

This is why so many elected officials we count on collapse after only a few weeks/months of effort. The hatred they face is like a flea looking into a furnace, and unfortunately when put into that kind of battle geography only those who carry the purest armor of God are going to keep stable footing. Everyone from the 7-11 attendant to the pizza delivery guy and beyond, will openly hate you if you even suspect you are Trumpy minded or even MAGA adjacent.

There is pure evil deep within the Washington DC hatred, and it emanates, vibrates like a frequency you can physically feel and mentally sense. This is not America, not even close. In the last two decades this place of “fundamental transformation” has become something else entirely. I will note there is approximately 30% more office space for lease today than prior visits. Perhaps DC is shrinking.

The various independent American survivors trying to cope within the region live like French resistance forces under Nazi occupation rules. Secret meetings, safe venues, careful transit, eye signals, questioning glances, knowing nods, stunning nervousness and other identifying survival tradecraft are very visible. This is a putrid and horrid place. In its modern form it is much worse than most can fathom, and you would be safer on the streets of Mogadishu.

Inside the security perimeter where the illusion of democracy is maintained for tourists’ things are safer; however, getting there requires a very deliberate effort to keep your head down, walk briskly through the safari zone and stay on very narrow paths carefully avoiding eye-contact lest you be suspected as an outsider. Yeah, I dislike this place immensely.

My favorite question, and I’m very careful about how I ask it, is: “when was the last time you encountered joy?” Try asking that question in Washington DC and you’ll need more than a Snickers as you await a reply.

We need to emphasize this context because this is the place where President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have to operate in order to carry out their official duties.

It is absolutely no surprise why President Trump and First Lady Melania try to exit the region frequently in order to breathe.

As an apex predator and warrior Donald Trump has keen survival skills, but the scale of the opposition is intense.

I often think about the level of mental fortitude it would take to exist in this environment of constant probing attacks because it helps to remind me how strong President Donald J Trump really is. [I have my wrist stopwatch timed to spend 47 minutes in focused prayer and thankfulness each evening before bed, for exactly that reason.]

Overall, my objective was successful, and I am confident President Trump has people earnestly trying to bring reform that could change the direction of our national journey.

From my perspective the problem isn’t the motive of the people trying to get things done; the biggest problem they face is their ability given the scale of the problem.

There is a big difference between what the problems look like and what the problems actually are, and the business system inside Washington DC operates on maintenance of the former, while the latter is never addressed. President Trump has this challenge in part because the American people have a different view of the core problem. I digress.

♦ Prioritization.

Think of what President Trump is attempting. In an average day President Trump has to support his cabinet efforts, take phone calls from global interests, address surfacing crisis, negotiate how to keep people moving forward, maintain a focus on national economic benefit, try and bring an end to expensive conflict, coordinate with legislative allies, respond to questions, defend the advances and stabilize the ramparts against inbound attacks.

In the big picture, President Trump is a dealmaker for material benefits that deliver substantive financial benefits to the American people who go about their daily lives trying to do the best they can for themselves and their family. MAGAnomics is at the core of the effort, whether through trade, tax policy, energy policy, resource development, deregulation or just trying to convince multinationals that prosperity in America is in their best interest.

There are only 24 hours in a day and President Trump works in a more focused manner on that priority than any modern president before him.

Everything else falls into a second tier of prioritization. Yes, the Silo reform efforts are critically important, but at the same time priorities have to be made if the biggest impacts are going to be felt.

So, President Trump provides the greatest opportunities for the second tier to succeed by appointing the best people he knows are available and supporting everything they ask of him in return as they go about their endeavors. However, President Trump cannot reasonably micromanage the daily tasks within each of the silo reform efforts. That’s what cabinet level ministers are appointed to achieve, and the absence of progress is where we find the majority of the frustration expressed by the MAGA-supporting American electorate.

Yes, ultimately the buck stops with the desk in the Oval Office, and it is not supportive of the mission objective to avoid that reality. However, cabinet members have a role and responsibility to deliver on the expectations and turning fire toward President Trump, regardless of the merit of the frustration underpinning the fire, is also not going to change the responsibility dynamic.

The leaders of the various cabinet agencies are responsible for the executive decision-making within a governmental reform effort.

President Trump’s apex priority focus is on the economic stuff that touches every American life. On those issues he doesn’t delegate the potential for success, he directly ensures success is achieved. Then, for the lesser, albeit also incredibly important – but not the apex stuff, Trump provides the opportunity for the greatest success but cannot micromanage every nuance. There’s just not enough time in a day.

What we may be noticing, via the absence of the success or progress many people desire, is not a disinterest by Trump to achieve the goals of silo reform amid some of the most historically challenging agencies (DOJ, FBI, etc.), but rather the inability or incompetence of the best option Trump had to get it done. I do not assign or target frustration toward President Trump; I direct my ire toward the cabinet officials and their decision-making.

At CTH we see things as they are, not as we would wish them to be.

♦ Recently a thought exercise via the Twitter was presented around the issue of assigned trust then and now. I modify that a little bit to hit more on the expectation equation. What competency or effectiveness was expected, versus what we are seeing.

Harmeet Dhillon: 15% effectiveness expected / 20% effectiveness now visible. The only DOJ-CRD change was the elimination of Disparate Impact, that caused around 200 people to leave because they no longer had anything to do. According to her public promotion tour, Dhillon is now reviewing ‘Consent Decrees.’

Kash Patel: 15% then / 15% now. The guy is unchanged because expectations were/are low to begin with. Current FBI people within the agency openly admit their director is in over his head and state he has no idea what is actually happening in the agency he leads. He is fed busy-work to keep him occupied, and he likes the indulgences afforded by the position.

Dan Bongino: 50% then / 25% now. The Stephen Jensen promotion rollout is an example of non-leadership. If Bongino and Kash Patel were going to be earnest, and if what they claimed recently is true, they should have been visibly open about making the FBI’s lead J6 attack dog a whistleblower and then promoting him. Unfortunately, they view sunlight as against their institutional interests. The DC Silo system loves that approach.

Marco Rubio: 25% then / 70% now. Remarkably his confrontation with the Senate, with USAID, with VISAs, and calling Ukraine a “USA proxy war” were big jumps in the effectiveness and competency versus what was expected. Still watching for direct IC confrontation with his move to NatSec Advisor, but I totally understand why President Trump is supporting him with more authority.

Pam Bondi: 10% then / 10% now. Her entire value is keeping Main Justice pro-Trump. Pam Bondi is keeping the internal lawfare operatives inside the DOJ from targeting the office of the president. She’s doing that well, but that’s the sum total of what we expected. Bottom line, she’s a fibber, a user and a socialite climber.

RFK Jr: 25% then / 40% now. Vaccine removals/confrontation, Rx advertising stopped, and Food Safety reform are still outstanding issues. But to be fair, he seems to be leaning in.

Tom Homan: 100% then / 100% now. Mr consistency.

Mike Waltz: 5% then / 0% now. CTH said Waltz would be the first one gone, and he was. Mike Waltz was/is the Nikki Haley of Term 2.

Kristi Noem: 25% then / 50% now. Considerably exceeding expectations. Big border support gains and her honest evaluation of a “totally corrupt FBI” were big steps forward in sunlight; but lots remain to be done.

Tulsi Gabbard: 25% then / 50% now. Biggest jump was from removing National Intelligence Council (NIC) from the CIA. That was a huge and proactive move that likely headed off a major effort by the IC to undermine President Trump. But again, the ultimate IC confrontation and declassification stuff remains. [I somewhat suspect Gabbard will shift from DNI to NatSec Advisor]

Howard Lutnick: 50% then / 75% now. Solid support for MAGAnomics, Trump tariff approach and more.

Kevin Hassett: 80% then / 90% now. Solid on tax effort, trade assists and structural domestic MAGAnomics. Last 10% = Results, and the USMCA issues.

USTR Greer: 25% then / 75% now. Excellent confrontation of EU, ASEAN and China on trade. He’s exceeding expectations by following the lead of President Donald Trump. Greer also didn’t flinch when Trump hit the tariff hammer during his congressional testimony. Impressive.

Scott Bessent: 50% then / 75% now. Making the whistleblowers part of the audit group was a good move. Trade and MAGAnomics policy advancement are very solid. Strong supportive MAGAnomic understanding and excellent follow-through.

John Ratcliffe: 25% then / 25% now. The CIA still appears to be operating albeit without the conduit of USAID. The Qatari stuff is annoying and the CIA operations in Ukraine are unchanged. With CIA operations in EU continuing as before, the status of the CIA operating as a shadow government cannot be seen as improving. Tulsi Gabbard intercepted the NIC issue, but for the NIC to be plotting while Ratcliffe is Director, well… meh.

Like I said, AG Pam Bondi appears to have one job, keep main justice from Lawfare operations against the White House. She seems to have her hands around that now. Meanwhile these guys are doing the heavy lifting regionally (Blanche), at the Supreme Court (Sauer) and within the silo investigative stuff everyone wants to see lead to accountability (Martin). We are all waiting for results.

May 24 2025

More of This is Warranted

Posted originally on CTH on May 23, 2025 | Sundance

Alternate headline: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has officially entered the 2028 contest!

[SOURCE]

With two simple words, Kristi Noem has entered the race with Vance and Rubio.

May 24 2025

President Trump Announces 50% Tariff Rate on EU Products Effective June 1st

Posted originally on CTH on May 23, 2025 | Sundance

Those who followed the first-term trade negotiations will likely remember the challenges of dealing with the European Union and their entrenched dependency on retaining the Marshall Plan system; a one-way tariff process that enabled Europe to rebuild after World War II.

Unfortunately, as with all long-term financial subsidies, the beneficiary becomes dependent and retaining benefit is their only objective.

Former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross spent the majority of his time focused on trying to negotiate with the EU to remove these ridiculous trade benefits that have long exhausted their usefulness. Enough is enough.

Term-two Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has the same regional assignment formerly held by Wilbur Ross, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in full support.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has ASEAN nations as his primary regional focus, Lutnick’s primary region is the EU and President Trump is personally attentive to China and the USMCA. USTR Greer then goes to the primary with the closest deal under consideration and organizes the paper construct, the technical aspects. It’s an overall similar arrangement to term-1 only with a much bigger scope.

As would be expected from historic reference points in trying to break this insufferable one-way Marshall Plan system, the EU is once again operating in bad faith and will not give up their status. When President Trump says the entire reason for the EU to form was to ensure their retention of this Marshall Plan benefit, he’s not wrong. That’s the brutally honest background.

President Trump has announced today that a 50% tariff rate will be applied toward all EU imports until such a time as they come to the negotiation process willing to let go of their economic model dependent on the one-way benefit. There really is no other way to break the Gordian trade knot, other than to cut it – forcefully.

President Trump (via Truth Social) – “The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with. Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable. Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

President Trump has other points of leverage and pressure that can be applied, including a U.S. withdrawal from NATO or a drawdown of U.S military presence, forcing the EU to spend more for their own security. However, the increasingly firm nudges from President Trump in that direction have resulted in EU words, not EU actions.

I fully support a more confrontational trade position from the USA toward the primary beneficiaries of these old trade systems, China, the EU and Canada. China is the biggest problem, but the EU dependency system is the most entrenched. Canada will be confronted when the USMCA is reopened for negotiation and two bilateral Free Trade Agreements are the likely outcome.

In addition to the Marshall Plan aspect, the EU is not going to give up their trade advantage position for the same reason Canada will not. In order to get to a place of free and reciprocal trade with both Canada and the EU both economic models need to give up their underlying “climate change” policies.

The financial benefits the EU and Canada receive via trade subsidies and one-way rules is the money that fundamentally underpins their ability to chase rainbow energy policy. If Canada and the EU had to finance their own “Green Energy” initiatives without the money gained from the U.S. trade imbalance, they would not be able to afford it. This is the core of the problem. It’s not just an entrenched unwillingness; there’s also an ideologically entrenched inability.

We have accepted and discussed this dynamic for years on these pages, and what we are going to see with the trade confrontation both in Canada and the EU is very predictable. Eventually, if the EU and Canada refuse to move, there is going to be a necessary cleaving; essentially a trade embargo blocking them from USA access….