Tag Archives: Trump 2024

Feb 11 2025

Gulf of America


Posted originally on Feb 10, 2025 by Martin Armstrong 

2025_02_10_11_35_10_Sunday_is_first_ever_Gulf_of_America_Day_announces_Donald_Trump_flying_to_Super

QUESTION: Do you not see the arrogance in Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America? This is outrageous.

FJ

ANSWER: Look, I understand people say they are American, meaning they are from the United States. Historically, it was named the Gulf of Mexico because the Spanish owned almost everything from Florida to Texas, except for Louisiana, which Thomas Jefferson purchased from the French. We live in North America, which includes Mexico and Canada, and then there is South America. Technically, renaming the Gulf of Mexico from when it was all Mexico to the Gulf of America is not the Gulf of the United States. It is proper because “America” is not formally the United States of America.

Vespucci Amerigo

America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer who set forth the then-revolutionary concept that the lands that Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 were part of a separate continent. Columbus thought he found India, which is why we call the indigenous people American Indians. To say Trump is being arrogant is questionable. The Gulf of America is probably more accurate since this is all of North America. Calling it the Gulf of the USA or something like that would be arrogant.

Feb 11 2025

Canada Becoming the 51st State – When?


Posted originally on Feb 10, 2025 by Martin Armstrong 

canada

QUESTION: What do you think of Trump’s proposal that Canada become the 51st State?

Rob

ANSWER: If we are talking about economics, then yes, it would be better for Canada to merge with the USA for its own benefit. The provinces in Canada have trade barriers among each other. That would be illegal under US law, and Canada’s economy would be much better off. In addition, the mortgage market would change overnight. Where Canadians cannot get long-term mortgages, then they could, and they would be cheaper. However, I would not see Canada as the 51st state, I would see each province as a state retaining their cultural differences. They would also benefit from a unified currency with the US dollar. Canada’s economy would boom for now, and they could sell everywhere without trade restrictions.  This would be like creating the euro. There would be no FX risks.

canadian dollar C

Our computer projects that the only windows of opportunity for such a merger are 2026 and 2028. Historically, this is not some crazy idea of Trump’s. The idea of merging the US with Canada has been around since the American Revolution. If we look at the Articles of Confederation back in 1777, there was even pre-approval for the admission of the Province of Quebec (previously known as Lower Canada) to the United States as they were anti-British.

Feb 11 2025

Tom Homan Confirms FBI Likely Tipped-Off California Criminal Aliens to Avoid Deportation Sweep


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Yesterday, Dept of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pointed a finger at the FBI for leaking the details of an ICE deportation sweep to the Los Angeles Times in order to tip-off criminal illegal aliens.  Today, Tom Homan says, “Kristi Noem was correct, some of the information they are receiving leads to the FBI.”

During an interview tonight with Sean Hannity, Border Czar Homan also said the Acting Deputy AG is going to pursue criminal charges against the FBI leaker.  WATCH:

The leak led DHS Secretary Noem to say, “The FBI is so corrupt.”

Feb 11 2025

President Trump Holds XO Presser in Oval Office – Full Video


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

President Trump held an Executive Order (XO) press conference in the oval office today and took questions from the assembled press pool.  Included in the executive orders was the reversal of the plastic straw ban, no more paper straws.  The President also implemented a 25% tariff rate on imported steel.  The import tariff rate for aluminum increases from 10% to 25%.

At 09:00 of the video, President Trump reads prepared remarks on the implementation of the steel tariffs. At approximately 15:00 of the video, President Trump begins taking questions from the media.  The full video of the event is below:

.

(Via NBC) – President Donald Trump signed an order Monday that imposes a 25% tariff on all steel imports to the United States.

“This is a big deal,” Trump said while signing the order in the Oval Office. “The beginning of making America rich again.”

[…] Canada is the largest supplier of steel to the U.S., followed by Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam.

Trump has floated the idea of reciprocal, tit-for-tat tariffs. According to analysts with the Capital Economics consultancy, such a scenario would, in essence, see Trump taking a more “measured” approach to trade negotiations if the threat of an across-the-board tariff, which Trump has previously mooted, is eliminated. (read more)

Feb 11 2025

DNI Nominee Tulsi Gabbard Clears Cloture Vote Hurdle – Likely Full Senate Vote Wednesday


February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Nominee for the position of the Director of the Office of National Intelligence (ODNI), Tulsi Gabbard, has passed the Senate cloture vote (52-46) ending debate on her confirmation.  McConnell and Murkowski voted “yea.”  The full senate is likely to take the final confirmation vote on Wednesday, and the traditional outcome should follow the same result as the vote to affirm cloture.

WASHINGTON DC – […] Having secured the support of 52 Senate Republicans, Gabbard, one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees, is on track to be confirmed as the nation’s top intelligence official in the coming days. Forty six Democrats in the chamber voted against Gabbard. Two senators were absent from the vote. (read more)

By the end of this week things could start to get very interesting on the Intelligence Community (IC) front.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is the newest office in the IC system. It was created as an outcome of the Patriot Act and the office represents the pivot point of all IC information flows.

The CIA information is supposed to enter the DNI silo from outside the USA, and the FBI information enters the DNI silo from inside the USA.  The combined information is then assembled and becomes part of the National Security Information (NSI) that is available to the Dept of Homeland Security.

As we have outlined, the Obama/Holder administration weaponized these information streams and the silos that control the outcomes.  The DNI became an information laundry permitting the CIA (John Brennan) to conduct domestic political operations, while the FBI partnered with their “sister agency” (CIA) and ran political targeting operations against Obama’s opposition.

Attorney General Eric Holder then created the Dept of Justice National Security Division (DOJ-NSD), filled it with legal ideologues (Weissmann, McCord, Eisen et al), and that sub-silo of the DOJ then proceeded to take the weaponized CIA/FBI information and target Americans (and some foreign adversaries).

Political attack narratives were created from within the DOJ-NSD using false pretenses like the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) and the domestic surveillance of political targets proceeded through the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act/Court (FISA/FISC).  Meanwhile the FBI counterintelligence division ran cover operations for Hillary Clinton and other aligned political entities.

To ensure DOJ-NSD targeting operations were without review, the DOJ Inspector General was barred from having any oversight within the DOJ-NSD, under the justification of “national security.”  From inception (’09) the DOJ-NSD was without any oversight, until President Trump changed the rules in 2017.

All of the Trump targeting operations originated from within the DOJ-NSD, including the surveillance of candidate Donald Trump through the use of the Title-1 surveillance warrant gained against CIA asset Carter Page.  Nat Sec Advisor Michael Flynn was targeted using the pretense of FARA.

Throughout the Obama terms, the DNI (James Clapper) was presumably willfully blind to the activity.  Clapper was a useful doofus, so it was not difficult.  This is the background for the current status of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Just as we now see receipts for the USAID silo as the front for CIA activity, so too was/is the ODNI the front for domestic intelligence operations by the same CIA operators.  The CIA is behind it all.

For many years the CIA had to be careful about domestic activity, always working to cloak their internal operations. However, once the ODNI office was created, they now had a legally authorized door that permitted them to expand their operations without fear of scrutiny, under the justification of “national security.”

Here is where I posit a note to moderate expectations of sunlight from the IC silos of the DNI (Gabbard) and CIA (Ratcliffe).

♦ Be really cautious about expecting any sunlight, review or inquiry to penetrate the CIA silo.

I’ve studied the construct of these IC silos for years, and I have yet to find a process (only one way) that gets any information from within the CIA dark place extracted against their will.

The CIA silo was constructed to be an information filter. Information goes in, but only one method (Presidential Daily Brief) exists for information to come out.   The President authorizes directed activity within the CIA through the use of “finding memoranda,” but the CIA operates all other activity without oversight.

The CIA gets instructions via presidential finding memos, which they act upon and keep in locked files, but the CIA never discloses any information unwillingly.  The CIA is a complete dark hole, with an entrance but no exit.

It is a very unique silo. No oversight (by design), no accountability (by design), no method of financial accounting (by design), and only one physical person (no delegation of authority) with power to engage over the entire agency.

It’s very complicated.

When you understand this dynamic, I mean really understand this dynamic, then you might understand why I suspect that Sheldon Snook’s wife, Mary McCord, is a career CIA operative. This likely reality also explains why Chief Justice John Roberts was in a dilemma with the Dobbs decision leak and subsequent investigative discovery by U.S. Marshals.  The result of that investigation, Roberts’ declaration, makes sense if this connection to the CIA is accurate.

Final note.  I am of the opinion that George H.W. Bush was the organizer of the current (modern era) CIA operational rules, processes, business model and activities.  All of the research into a host of political events, seems to circle back to GHW Bush in some manner or method.  The placement of Bush as VP to Ronald Reagan is akin to the placement of Pence as the VP to Donald Trump T-1.

The fingerprints of covert CIA activity, what I would call political tradecraft, are all over the prior term of President Trump (see graphic below). There’s zero doubt -at least in my mind- the impeachment effort was a domestic CIA operation.

I suspect, again just my speculation, that in T-2 the Office of the President is exploring the CIA silo with the well-publicized request for JFK/MLK files to be released.  I don’t think the “full” files will ever be released; however, I am cautiously optimistic the people around Trump are not really using this approach to get the files. I am hopeful they are testing the CIA membrane to gauge the opacity.

Feb 11 2025

Boomerang Coming: Anti-Trump Federal Judge Rules FBI Must Provide Mar-a-Lago “Classified Documents” Material to FOIA Lawsuit


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Leftist journalist Jason Leopold filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DOJ/FBI a few years ago, seeking the documents and background material assembled by the DOJ, FBI and Special Counsel Jack Smith in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.  With the Mar-a-Lago case against Trump dismissed by a Florida judge, and effectively dropped by Special Counsel Jack Smith.  The justification for withholding the responsive material is no longer valid.

This has resulted in anti-Trump U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, now ruling that anti-Trump journalist Jason Leopold should be given the FOIA documents by the FBI and DOJ. [Ruling pdf here].  Essentially, Howell is saying, angrily, that with President Trump immune from criminal liability (SCOTUS immunity decision), the only public recourse for accountability is sunlight from within the evidence the FBI assembled.

Here is where it gets interesting.

The DOJ/FBI Special Counsel, previously said to the Florida court they would not reveal the content of the information because it was “classified” under “national security” grounds.  You might remember President Trump’s legal position was to make the content public because Trump said there was no classified material.

To reconcile the issue, during discovery phase Florida Judge Cannon appointed a Special Master to review the “classified” documents.  The FBI and Jack Smith balked at the demand and filed an appeal with the 11th Circuit to keep the Trump defense from reviewing what Jack Smith said were “documents marked classified.”  Smith didn’t want the documents made public or revealed to President Trump, so the DOJ/FBI position was that the documents were too sensitive (TSCI) with “national security” implications.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the government position that any documents defined as “classified” by the executive branch (now Biden) that claimed, “national security,” should not be disclosed to the defendant, Trump.  The court of appeals essentially determined that all definitions by the executive branch, are not questionable by the judicial branch.

The bottom line was that President Trump’s legal team were never able to ascertain exactly what the “documents marked classified” actually were.  That aspect of the case was pure Lawfare, and actually quite silly.

The DOJ was saying Trump had “documents with classification markings.”  Trump saying, “no I didn’t have classified documents, but if true what where they?”  And the DOJ saying, “we can’t tell you, that’s classified.”  It was silly and never reconciled in part because the case was dismissed.

Well…. now Judge Beryl Howell is telling the DOJ/FBI to produce the “documents with classification markings,” and all surrounding information therein, to Jason Leopold, because Trump bad and the information will make the public hate him, or something [SEE Court Order].  But again, no-one knows what these “documents with classification markings” actually were…. Except, well, maybe us.  We have well-based circumstantially supported suspicions. {see here}

Will the Trump DOJ (now Pam Bondi) and the Trump FBI (likely Kash Patel) release the files and material to Jason Leopold, as demanded by Judge Howell?

I think there’s a strong possibility they will, which then begs the question:

….If the documents were of such critical national security value, then why would the “documents with classification markings” be released under the auspices of a simple FOIA claim?

lolol…  See the stupidity of it?

The “Documents with classification markings” were of such devastating content, such that the DOJ protected them from visibility even by a security cleared special master; and then fought the release of the documents to the Trump defense – who was charged with defending Trump against the accusation that surrounded them; where the DOJ even fought the release of the “documents with classification markings” all the way to the 11th CCA to keep them hidden; well, then how the heck do those documents get released by a simple Freedom of Information Act request by a journalist?

Judge Beryl Howell never attempts to reconcile that issue in her order.

Sometimes Lawfare can be a little funny when it is argued by leftists, in courts controlled by leftists, with leftist judges, with inherent hypocrisy that surrounds the concept of leftist Lawfare.  I would love to see Eric A Dubelier Esq write about this (lol).

Bottom line, I have a strong suspicion this order, intended to create an anti-Trump narrative, is going to boomerang once the public see the “Documents with classification markings.”

Let’s see what happens.

[Politico Story Here]

Feb 11 2025

Zelenskyy Says if Ukraine Holds Elections, They Will Lose the War to Russia


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

I have long said the only thing President Trump needs to do is to tell Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he needs to hold an election to showcase his public support for his position.  After that, Trump can do nothing except wait for the result and the winner of the election to come to him.  Then, engage with Putin on a resolution to the conflict.

Would Zelenskyy win the election?  I don’t think so, but who knows.  Today a video surfaces where Zelenskyy was directly asked why he has cancelled all Ukraine elections, and would he restart them now.  Zelenskyy said no, he would not hold elections because holding an election would mean a pause in the warfighting and that would be a win for Russia.

https://twitter.com/IanJaeger29/status/1888985348241248607

(MSM) – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that if martial law is suspended until the end of the war so that elections can be held, Ukraine will lose its army, which the Russians will exploit. Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with the UK broadcaster ITV News

Quote: “In regard to elections, everything is clear. More than anything we all want the war to end and for us to have elections. However, as long as the war continues, our population is against elections, all people are against it.”

“What do elections entail today? As of now – I’m absolutely not afraid of them – but what will happen? We need to end martial law or suspend martial law. If we suspend martial law we will lose the army. And in principle, the Russians will be happy. The question of combat capability, morale – that’s what we’ll lose. And legally, you can’t hold an army – it’s a fact.

People will come back home and will have every right to return home. And morally, even those who will not come home morally that’s it – it’s a pause. And Russia certainly will exploit this for counterattack.” (more)

That’s his story, and he’s sticking to it.

In order to save democracy in Ukraine, they must eliminate elections in Ukraine.

Feb 11 2025

Budget Boss Russ Vought Tells all CFPB Staff to “Stop Work”


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought is also the interim Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is under review by DOGE and on Monday morning Russ Vought told CFPB staff not to come to work. {Background Here}

Vought sent an email to employees this morning saying they should “not perform any work tasks.” They were directed to contact the top lawyer for the Office of Management and Budget “to get approval in writing before performing any work task.”

Vought is also serving as the bureau’s acting director. The previous director, Rohit Chopra, was fired by Trump, a Republican, on Feb. 1. Vought’s message followed one on Saturday evening that ordered the bureau to “cease all supervision and examination activity.”

(Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s newly installed chief of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told all of the agency’s staff on Monday to stay away from the office and do no work, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.

The move followed a weekend decision to shutter the CFPB’s Washington headquarters, idling a federal agency of nearly 2,000 workers tasked with enforcing consumer financial laws.

“Employees should not come into the office,” acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said in an email to all staff. “Please do not perform any work tasks.”

Vought, a longtime budget hawk, took control of the agency on Friday. He is architect of the right-wing policy manifesto known as Project 2025, which called for the CFPB’s abolition.

Efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to neutralize the agency escalated over the weekend as billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gained full access to CFPB computer systems. Vought ordered a stop to all oversight of consumer financial companies. (read more)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) was originally created by congress (Elizabeth Warren lead) as a quasi-constitutional watchdog agency to reach into the banking and financial system, under the guise of oversight, and extract money by fining entities for CFPB defined regulatory and/or compliance violations

Essentially, the CFPB is a congressionally authorized far-left extortion scheme in the banking sector.  The CFPB levies fines; the fines generate income; however, unlike traditional fines that go to the U.S. treasury, the CFBP fines are then redistributed to left-wing organizations to help fund their political activism. {GO DEEP}

“Elon Musk and Russ Vought aren’t just testing the limits of the law — they’re shattering them, daring anyone to stop them,” said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the activist group Indivisible. “This attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is illegal, unconstitutional, and a blatant power grab by billionaires who want to rig the system even further in their favor.” (link)

Feb 11 2025

President Trump Files Urgent Motion to Nullify “Impermissible” Court Order Blocking Treasury Officials from Access to Systems


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Lawyers representing President Trump and the office of the presidency have filed an urgent response motion to remove a court order by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer that blocked the Treasury Secretary and “political appointees” from accessing Treasury Department systems. [SEE ADMINISTRATION FILING HERE]

The filing is in response to District Judge Engelmayer’s blatant effort to engage in judicial activism and violate the Article II separation of power.  The Chief executive cannot be limited in scope or activity by the judicial branch, let alone a single circuit court judge within the regional judicial branch who is attempting to block the executive branch nationally.

[Source pdf]

“Basic democratic accountability requires that every executive agency’s work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the president,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in the 11-page filing, calling the order “impermissible” and “anti-constitutional.”

WASHINGTON DC – […] The attorneys are asking Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas to quickly end or modify the order to ensure Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his top leadership can be briefed on the payment system and perform their legally required roles. (more)

From The Twitter – “Donald Trump’s actions since his inauguration have caused public discussion of some questions in Constitutional law.

I’m not a lawyer. But I have more than a passing acquaintance with Constitutional law – I’ve been studying it ever since I was an individual amicus in the Supreme Court case that struck down the Communications Decency Act back in the 1990s.

After 30 years of studying issues around the First and Second amendment and the doctrine of judicial review, I have some thoughts.

There are several intermingled issues here.

First: when JD Vance says that the courts do not have the authority to intervene in the administration of the executive branch, he is probably correct.

The judicial review power is generally considered to extend modifying or striking down laws, not to allowing any judge to interfere in the president’s administrative authority over the executive branch.

Second, any judge that rules that the Treasury of the Secretary may not have unlimited access to Treasury department data is setting himself up for reversal. This has never been litigated because it’s a ridiculous overreach that has never been attempted before.

Third, there are serious questions about the authority of federal judges below the level of the Supreme Court (what the Constitution explicitly calls “inferior” courts) that may now be forced to a resolution.

For purposes of separation of powers, only the Supreme Court itself is considered co-equal to the executive and legislative branches. Inferior judges are not.

One question, therefore, is whether the President may assert separation of powers as a defense against rulings of an inferior judge. Certainly, invoking separation of powers against a ruling of the Supreme Court itself would trigger a constitutional crisis, but that’s not the situation we’re talking about here.

This has not been litigated, but I think the President is likely to prevail on the question.

The fourth question is about the authority of federal circuit court judges to issue injunctions with nationwide effects outside the circuit where they have formal authority.

Until very recently, federal judges were so reluctant to raise this Constitutional issue that they almost never issued such injunctions. They issued injunctions only for their own circuits and left it to the Supreme Court to resolve questions about nationwide application.

But nationwide injunctions in contentious cases have become more common recently, and it is likely that the Supreme Court will be forced to address whether inferior-court federal judges do in fact have nationwide authority.

I think it is quite unlikely that the Supreme Court will affirm this.

I am not addressing here the question of whether I think Trump and DOGE’s authority to block Treasury payments should prevail. I am predicting that it almost certainly will prevail.” ~Eric S Raymond

Feb 10 2025

Lefties are Upset ICE ‘Tricked’ & Deported an Illegal Alien Murderer


Posted originally on Rumble By The Salty Cracker on: Feb 9, 2025 at 8:00 pm EST