Tag Archives: Uncategorized

Mar 12 2026

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff Gives Background Information on Breakdown of U.S-Iran Diplomatic Discussions


Posted originally on CTH on March 11, 2026 | Sundance

President Trump’s U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, recently sat down with Greta Van Susteren to outline the point of diplomatic discussions with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi when things broke down.

The Witkoff explanation is interesting as he outlines Iran’s unwillingness to even consider a cease to their ballistic missile program as part of the expanded security talks.  According to Envoy Witkoff, Foreign Minister Araghchi was intransigent on several key points of concern; even becoming loud and aggressive as he was pushed to explain why seeking ballistic missiles would be needed.

It’s an interesting background perspective that gives context to the decision that President Trump ultimately reached.  WATCH: 

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Mar 8 2026

President Trump, VP Vance and Dignitaries Participate in Dignified Transfer Ceremony


Posted originally on CTH on March 7, 2026 | Sundance 

President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Vance and other dignitaries participate in a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover AFB for the arrival of six servicemembers killed in Operation Epic Fury.   The solemn and silent ceremony is presented below:

O Keeper of the dawn and dusk, hold them beneath Your steadfast wing.

Let the dust of distant roads not dim the light within their eyes.

When the night leans heavy on their shoulders, be the quiet fire in their hearts.

When the wind carries the scent of danger, be the shield they cannot see.

Guide their steps through shadowed valleys, let courage rise like rivers in their veins.

Bring them home to open arms and gentle laughter, and for those who cannot return, wrap them in the eternal peace that no battle can disturb.

~ Amen!

Mar 5 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Outlines U.S. Financial/Economic Stabilization Plan, Backstopping U.S. Action toward Iran


Posted originally on CTH on March 4, 2026 | Sundance |

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on CNBC to discuss the Trump administration policies that were proactively deployed during Operation Epic Fury.

The goal of global financial stabilization is actually part of the strategic planning within the White House, including Treasury, Energy and Interior in alignment with the State Dept., Pentagon and national security agencies.  Part of that plan was the announcement for the U.S. to underwrite maritime insurance to ensure a minimal disruption to the global energy markets.

Secretary Bessent discusses the insurance facet at the 3:00 minute mark of the video below. WATCH:

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Mar 4 2026

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Updates Media


Posted originally on CTH on March 3, 2026 | Sundance 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio updates the media on current activity surrounding Operation Epic Fury.

Secretary Rubio begins with an update on what Americans in the region need to know. Rubio asks all Americans to record their status with the U.S. State Department. [State Dept. Website] To get the latest updates visit http://travel.state.gov/destination and enroll to receive alerts directly at http://step.state.gov. Americans who need consular help can reach us 24/7 by phone: +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and +1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. and Canada).

Rubio then outlines the latest report on a drone hitting near a U.S. embassy in Dubai.  A drone struck a parking lot adjacent to a chancellery building and a fire broke out.  No Americans were hurt or injured. The consulate was already on minimal staffing.

Secretary Rubio then provides an update on the general disposition of the conflict effort.  Rubio notes the two most powerful air forces in the world are about to go even more severe in our combat activity deep inside Iran.

The traditional frame of reference for pundits surrounds “the escalation trap.”  Most of them are so stuck in their old Washington DC view of nation building they just cannot see another approach.

How do you avoid the trap? You don’t play the game.

You don’t try to control the outcome on the ground.  You change behavior, without being on the ground.

Eventually, having killed or destroyed everything you want to see killed or destroyed (including their ability to wage war against you), you withdraw – then demand terms.

You don’t need to be there on the ground.

It’s a version of the Venezuela model.

Tell the governing body, whoever that is, whoever surfaces to claim lead with the support of the people, what you expect. Then you hold them accountable.

If they refuse to change behavior, bomb them again – select the refusers as new targets. Wash – Rinse – Repeat.

Again, pull back, await the governing authority to surface, tell them the expectations, if they balk, reject or refuse, bomb them again…. Pull back, await the next crew, tell them the expectations; if they balk, fail or reject, bomb them again…. Then pull back.

Is there an escalation trap? No, you are trying to change behavior – full stop.

You remain open but cold, hard and indifferent to any non-compliant replies.

Feb 17 2026

Canadians Embrace Cheap Chinese Electric Vehicles


Posted originally on CTH on February 17, 2026 | Sundance 

While the government of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has inked a trade agreement with China to accept cheap imported vehicles in exchange for Beijing purchasing some agricultural products, President Trump has promised those cheap Chinese EVs will never cross the border into the USA.

The Canadian polling on the issue has done a remarkable chang in the past few years.  Now, the majority of Canadians are willing to purchase cheap Chinese EVs. As outlined by Bloomberg, “More than half of Canadians, or 53%, say that knowing an EV was made in China would have no effect on their purchasing decision, according to a new poll by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News.”

Approximately 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles will enter the Canadian market in the first year. “The pact with China includes a provision that part of the quota will be reserved for electric vehicles priced at C$35,000 ($25,700) or less, the government has said.” {SOURCE}

The Canadian government wants a Chinese auto manufacturer, any Chinese auto manufacturer, to build factories in Canada to produce these electric vehicles.  Canada wants the jobs and economic activity because Canada is currently bleeding jobs and economic activity due to the trade conflict with the U.S.

Building cheap Chinese EVs in Canada might help offset a few thousand job losses, but building Chinese EVs in Canada only further ensures there will not be a substantive trade agreement between the USA and Canada once the USMCA (CUSMA) is dissolved.  [More on that coming]

Meanwhile, Chinese EV company Build Your Dream (BYD) has announced they sold 4.6 million vehicles worldwide last year, far surpassing Tesla and even surpassing all of the Ford global auto manufacturing.  BYD is now the sixth largest auto manufacturing company in the world.

[Auto News] […] The 2025 sales figures place BYD at sixth largest among global automakers, meaning Ford slipped to seventh in total global deliveries. Toyota remains the dominant global seller with sales exceeding 10 million units followed by Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor (including Kia and Genesis), General Motors, and Stellantis.

BYD’s sixth position in the global automotive sales index is particularly notable for an auto maker that focuses almost exclusively on new energy vehicles (NEVs) — a category that includes battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). (more)

CTH previously outlined the specific explosion in BYD auto sales HERE.  Europe, Russia, Asia and Australia are flooded with cheap Chinese EVs particularly from the BYD brand.  Canada is now opening themselves to face the same issue.

Feb 13 2026

Ellison Scalp? DOJ Antitrust Head Departs, Possibly Fired


Posted originally on CTH on February 12, 2026 | Sundance

Asst Attorney General Gail Slater was the head of the Antitrust Division of the Dept of Justice.  Today she announces she has “left her role.”  CNN is reporting that AAG Slater was fired.

Gail Slater was in charge of the antitrust division and a hawk on the mergers and acquisitions of Big Tech and Big Corporate media.  As head of the DOJ Antitrust Division, Slater’s view on competition was against the interests of the major Big Tech billionaires and corporate media conglomerates who intersect with them.

Slater was in a position to influence the Warner Brothers-Discovery’s deal to sell the Warner Bros. studio and HBO to Netflix, which Paramount (David Ellison) is trying to stop.

If you have followed the influence of Larry Ellison (Oracle, TikTok) and his son David Ellison (Paramount, CBS) in/around the Trump administration as it relates to Elon Musk (a beneficiary of Ellison), then the timing of Gail Slater’s removal doesn’t look good at all.

Gail Slater came into the administration as a part of the JD Vance network (Peter Thiel, Palantir, etc.), and it looks like that same Vance network stood aside and watched Larry Ellison leverage his position to see her removed.

Slater was a solid MAGA voice in a critical Antitrust position against the interests of Big Tech and Big Corp.  However, I said on Christmas Day 2024 – we were likely to be very disappointed by the influence of Big Tech/Big Corp in the White House {SEE HERE}.

[SOURCE]

Via CNN[…] Slater said in her Thursday post on X: “It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today. It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role.”

The anti-trust division is expected to play a critical role in assessing Netflix’s Warner Brothers Discovery’s deal to sell the Warner Bros. studio and HBO to Netflix, which Paramount is trying to stop by appealing straight to shareholders with its own bid. (CNN is owned by Warner Brothers Discovery.)

In an NBC interview last week, Trump said, “I’ve decided I shouldn’t be involved. The Justice Department will handle it.” But Paramount CEO David Ellison returned to the White House last week to meet privately with Trump, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. (read more)

There may be something else in the background that we do not understand.  However, when former lobbyists and political consultants become key administration officials (Wiles, Bondi) these types of outcomes are possible.

Feb 4 2026

Senate Intelligence Vice-Chair Mark Warner Holds a Press Conference, Extremely Concerned About Intelligence Community Control of Govt Being Weakened


Posted originally on CTH on February 3, 2026 | Sundance

A natural law within human behavior: “The need for control is a reaction to fear.”

Earlier today, the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), Senator Mark Warner, delivered a statement and took questions from the press pool.  The subject was his extreme concern about the actions of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard against the background of the U.S. intelligence community losing their grip on American politics.  In every nuance of every syllable, Mark Warner is very concerned about this.

Warner talks about the intelligence community “Gang of Eight” [@16:37] being formed specifically so that critical issues of vital national security could be shared and reviewed in a secure forum for oversight.  This is the same Mark Warner who on March 17, 2017, shortly after 4:00pm, leaked a top-secret highly classified FISA warrant in an effort to achieve his domestic political objectives.  Warner genuinely doesn’t think we know about it.

Senator Mark Warner rails against Tulsi Gabbard for working on election integrity issues without debriefing the Senate Intelligence Committee.  In short, what reasonably concerns Warner is that organized intelligence community work to influence U.S. election outcomes is going to be impaired by DNI Tulsi Gabbard.   Warner notes the DNI should never be permitted to review domestic intelligence operations in U.S. elections, and he is very angry about what might happen if this continues.  WATCH:

Those who have been with CTH for more than a little while will understand why we have been documenting the Senate Intelligence Committee as the key enabler for the Intelligence Community to run amok with no accountability.  The SSCI is the most corrupt of all DC institutions.

CTH is certain Mark Warner played a role in leaking the Carter Page FISA application.  CTH is also reasonably confident that Senator Mark Warner and CIA Director Gina Haspel coordinated the Eric Ciaramella “whistleblower” complaint, through ICIG Atkinson, that facilitated the 2019 impeachment effort.   The evidence is in Atkinson’s October 2019 testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, that has been sealed and classified.  That transcript remains a House equity, outside the reach of the executive branch per the plan of HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff.

For the current topic, Senator Warner is highly concerned a review of the 2020 election outcome might reveal gross election manipulation.

Jan 30 2026

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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Jan 29 2026

Search Warrant Revealed – DNI Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey on the Ground in Fulton County


Posted originally on CTH on January 28, 2026 | Sundance 

I’ve got to say, seeing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard walking into the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center is akin to seeing Secretary of State Marco Rubio walking into a government office in Havana, Cuba. 

According to media on the ground in Fulton County, Georgia, both FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and DNI Tulsi Gabbard (pictured above) were present when the FBI executed their search warrant for election records.  The criminal search warrant parameters have been released and the cited federal criminal code violation, 52 USC 20511, tells a story:

52 USC 20511,The code outlines criminal penalties for any election official who: “knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by … the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held.” [Citation]


[SOURCE]

GEORGIA – […] FBI agents secured an area around the large warehouse building that houses the county elections hub with yellow tape and could be seen loading boxes from the building into trucks.

FBI spokesperson Jenna Sellitto confirmed that the boxes contained ballots. Among the 2020 election documents sought are ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners used to tally the ballots, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.

The U.S. Justice Department had no immediate comment. FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were seen at the elections center.

Last month, the Justice Department’s civil rights division filed a lawsuit against Fulton County seeking records related to the 2020 election.

The lawsuit claims in October, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, demanding “all records in your possession responsive” to a July resolution from the State Election Board.

That resolution, the lawsuit states, called for the attorney general to assist in ensuring “compliance with voting transparency.”

The October letter requested “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 general election in Fulton County.”

“The FBI is going to do their job and it’s about time that people have answers,” said Salleigh Grubbs, a new member of the state election board. “(The FBI) didn’t enumerate what they were looking for. I could only imagine it would have something to do with the subpoenas that have been issued previously.” (read more)

Fulton County Republican Party released a statement:

“The DOJ wrote to Fulton County in August of last year, asking for the ballots. DOJ wrote another letter in October asking again for the 2020 ballots and other records. Two weeks ago, the FBI delivered a third letter. But the majority of the Fulton County Board of Elections literally denied these requests. The Georgia State Election Board has been trying for 4 years to get the records. Including issuing a subpoena for the ballots and other records. And ALL of those efforts have failed. Until today.

I applaud Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel for finally searching for and retrieving the records from the 2020 election that the U.S. Attorney General under federal law is entitled to receive and review.

It is my hope that the FBI is in the process of getting every box of 2020 election materials in that warehouse to be able to piece together, once and for all, the truth about 2020. I am dedicated to making sure to the best of my ability that elections in Fulton County are accurate.

Let’s hope this starts a new chapter in Fulton County for transparency and accountability.”

Julie Adams
Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections
Republican Party Appointee

A three-person conservative majority on the State Election Board has repeatedly sought to reopen a case alleging wrongdoing by Fulton County during the 2020 election. It passed a resolution in July 2025 seeking assistance from the U.S. attorney general to access voting materials.

The state board sent subpoenas to the county board for various election documents last year and again on Oct. 6. The October subpoena requested “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County.”

The Justice Department sent a letter to the county election board Oct. 30 citing the federal Civil Rights Act and asking for all records responsive to the October subpoena from the State Election Board. Lawyers for the county election board responded about two weeks later, saying that the records are held by the county court clerk. They also attached a letter the clerk sent to the State Election Board saying that the records are under seal in accordance with state law and can’t be released without a court order.

Wednesday’s operation also follows a December 2025 admission by Fulton County elections officials that they did not properly sign tabulator tapes after the 2020 election, which is a violation of state regulations.

The county also noted it had misplaced other tabulator tapes and documents related to the controversial election.

The admission was made by county attorney Ann Brumbaugh during a Dec. 9, 2025, meeting of the State Elections Board.

Tabulator tapes are essentially receipts printed from ballot tabulation machines that help to verify that the number of voters matches the number of votes. They are a key piece of the verification and certification process in every county election across the state.

Georgia regulations state a poll manager and two witnesses must be present for the printing, checking and signing of each tape from the machines.

Jan 22 2026

President Trump and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Hold a Bilateral Discussion


Posted originally on CTH on January 21, 2026 | Sundance 

Going back to 2016, Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi formed a strong relationship based on mutual interests.  When the Hamas/Gaza war with Israel broke out, it was al-Sisi who was the key regional leader who -with full credibility from prior action against Islamic extremists- became the voice of stability that both sides of the crisis could respect.

Army General al-Sisi had the respect of the Egyptian people and during the Arab Spring it was al-Sisi who took control, dispatched the Muslim Brotherhood and restored lawful order to the country.  Following the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, al-Sisi won the election with 80% support, then destroyed the Hamas tunnels that were used by extremists to smuggle weapons into Gaza.  The Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda elements then targeted al-Sisi and conducted numerous terrorist attacks in the Sinai.  Despite their efforts to destabilize Egypt, al-Sisi kept things under control.

President Sisi strongly influenced the other regional leaders to support President Trump as the one political leader who could bring forceful peace back to the situation in Gaza. During this bilateral session at the WEF, President Sisi thanks President Trump for his leadership and pledges full support to participate in the Gaza Board of Peace. WATCH:

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