To understand the dynamic, it is necessary to remain elevated and unemotional as the confrontation takes place.
The U.S. Senate currently has two issues of great importance to President Trump within their upper chamber. The first is the Big Beautiful Bill (a reconciliation spending and budget plan). The second is Senate positioning on sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine. Both are of great importance when you consider the domestic and geopolitical ramifications.
President Trump wants the BBB structurally passed and doesn’t care about the nibbling on the edges or customary Christmas Tree decorations (special interest add-ons). Trump wants the Term-1 tax cuts extended and the border security money, these are must haves.
On the Ukraine/Russia stuff, Trump basically wants the Senate to back away from doing anything that influences his leverage positions for a resolution he will construct. However, President Trump knows the Senate fully supports the proxy war aspect to the conflict (he doesn’t).
Trump has remained relatively quiet on Ukraine-Russia because he doesn’t want to antagonize the Senate who will use their affirmative votes for BBB as leverage to maintain the proxy war and support Ukraine. That’s the background on the BBB, Russia, Ukraine and Trump’s position.
Into this foray comes the always self-interested and short-sighted Elon Musk who -despite being an influence asset at times- has the most annoying habit of never considering the downstream consequences for his selfishness.
As Musk rails against the BBB, which took 14 months of work from the House to get across the line he runs the risk of collapsing the BBB in the senate.
The longer the BBB sits in the Senate and/or gets changed so much it will take forever to get through the House again; the longer Trump has to bite his tongue on solving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Musk in his infinite selfishness, cannot see how he is doing real damage to Trump’s objective around Russia by stirring up opposition to the BBB. Things were getting ugly yesterday and became more so today.
Steve Bannon does not learn about the story of Elon Musk having a physical confrontation with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent without Trump saying he wants to hit back against Musk. The subsequent leak to Bannon is made, the story is told to the Dail Mail and Elon Musk is now facing the ire of a pissed off White House.
…[…]” Former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon told DailyMail.com that Musk’s turbulent time in the White House was marred when he physically ‘shoved’ 62-year-old Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after he was confronted over wild promises to save the administration ‘a trillion dollars’. ‘Scott Bessent called him out and said, ‘You promised us a trillion dollars (in cuts), and now you’re at like $100 billion, and nobody can find anything, what are you doing?” the prominent MAGA figure revealed. ‘And that’s when Elon got physical. It’s a sore subject with him. ‘It wasn’t an argument; it was a physical confrontation. Elon basically shoved him.’”
The revelation of a confrontation between the pair was confirmed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday. (source)
If you have walked the deep political weeds with us, you will likely remember the warnings. Thomas Massie, Chip Roy, Rand Paul and other fellow republican travelers will join with Elon Musk and the alligator emoji network to oppose President Trump as soon as they can get back into the minority.
There is an intention behind this alignment of interests, which includes the Tech Bros (and Sea Island), that ends with a Vance-DeSantis promoted effort in 2028. The only thing standing in their way is MAGA. As a result, MAGA must be fractured.
The money center behind the strategy is working on a learning curve. Having failed with prior launches of similar approaches (ref. DeSantis ’23/’24), they are now doing much more proactive seeding.
Ed Martin – Trump’s ultra-MAGA pardon attorney – said the Justice Department has been directed to investigate clemency granted by Biden in the waning days of his presidency, including the December pardon of his troubled son Hunter.
Martin’s unprecedented probe was revealed in a Monday email to staffers that was obtained by Reuters.
The attorney said the investigation involves whether Biden ‘was competent and whether others were taking advantage of him through use of AutoPen or other means.’
An autopen is a device used to automatically affix a signature to a document.
Hunter Biden, who was convicted last year of three felonies over an illegal gun, and the former First Lady Jill Biden have been accused of wielding significant power over the president in his final days.
The prodigal son was treated ‘almost like a chief of staff’ despite being ‘provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy and prone to horrible decisions,’ Jake Tapper said in a recent interview about the behind-the-scenes health cover-up.
Gabrielle Cuccia is a proud ‘MAGA girl’ who has long been outspoken about her adoration of President Trump.
But while working as the chief Pentagon correspondent at pro-Trump television channel One America News, Cuccia published a tell-all article to her personal Substack channel about the pitfalls of Hegseth’s leadership.
‘If you want the best case study for the death of the MAGA movement — look no further than the Department of Defense,’ she wrote.
‘People sleep on the Pentagon. They don’t realize what’s been simmering at the bottom for weeks, months, sometimes even years.’
Cuccia had expressed concerns Hegseth was blocking media access in the wake of his Signal scandal, in which a journalist was unintentionally added to a group chat with Hegseth where he openly shared sensitive details about an impending strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
From that moment onwards, Cuccia said Hegseth shut down crucial communication points between the press and his staff in an effort to ‘reduce the opportunity for in-person inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures.’
‘Think of every time you hear a journalist reference a source as “Defense Official” or something abstract… a lot of times, it’s coming from these guys,’ she revealed about the Pentagon press office.
‘And they are always there to provide additional context, field questions, and relay the reality of ops in an unclassified manner.’
Her article was published on Monday. By Thursday, her boss had asked her to hand in her Pentagon access badge, and on Friday she was fired, she told CNN.
He has been surprisingly good as Secretary of State. He is a good talker, straight to the point, does not pull punches. He appears to be doing what Trump wants him to do and doing it well. He is on-track for a strong presidential campaign in 2028. He also has this rope around his neck:
How he handles his handlers is a major sign of how he will govern USA. So far, he has walked the line reasonably well. He has removed student visa-holders for anti-Israeli and anti-Gaza massacre activities. BUT he has also repeatedly championed American free speech rights.
Free speech is our most important right. If all if us can agree on that, we have some chance of surviving technological totalitarianism.
In the real world where Rubio is a real player today and a real presidential candidate in future, these aspects of American politics and law must be kept in mind.
New State Department reorganization plans will cut or consolidate more than 300 of the agency’s offices and bureaus as part of a massive overhaul seeking to streamline the department, according to agency officials.
The State Department submitted a notice to Congress Thursday disclosing plans for the overhaul — the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War, senior State Department officials told Fox News Digital.
The agency’s overhaul aims to cut red tape so the department can respond to threats more quickly, place greater emphasis on the agency’s “primary mission” representing the U.S. abroad and eliminate “bureaucratic overgrowth” in Washington, the congressional notice said.
The U.S. Court of International Trade incredibly ruled against the United States of America on desperately needed Tariffs but, fortunately, the full 11 Judge Panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court has just stayed the order by the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade. Where do these initial three Judges come from? How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America?
Is it purely a hatred of “TRUMP?” What other reason could it be? I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real “sleazebag” named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions. He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court — I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is!
In any event, Leo left The Federalist Society to do his own “thing.” I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten! With all of that being said, I am very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others. They always must do what’s right for the Country!
In this case, it is only because of my successful use of Tariffs that many Trillions of Dollars have already begun pouring into the U.S.A. from other Countries, money that, without these Tariffs, we would not be able to get. It is the difference between having a rich, prosperous, and successful United States of America, and quite the opposite. The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political! Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY. Backroom “hustlers” must not be allowed to destroy our Nation!
The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs. In other words, hundreds of politicians would sit around D.C. for weeks, and even months, trying to come to a conclusion as to what to charge other Countries that are treating us unfairly. If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power — The Presidency would never be the same! This decision is being hailed all over the World by every Country, other than the United States of America. Radical Left Judges, together with some very bad people, are destroying America. Under this decision, Trillions of Dollars would be lost by our Country, money that will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. It would be the harshest financial ruling ever leveled on us as a Sovereign Nation. The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Talking about the Jewish people without talking about their very large proportion of Jewish Supremists is deliberately dishonest and misleading. Jewish Supremacy harms the Jewish people as much as anyone else. In many other respects, I have come to like Rubio. I used to think he was a weasel and a liar. In this case, he may only be kowtowing to JS because there simply is no other way forward for him or USA. I am a pragmatist and do understand this POV. I am a pragmatist and also understand this POV is eroding significantly. Rubio should be asked by every honest journalist if he disavows Jewish Supremacy. All prominent politicians, influencers, and Jews should be asked this question. ABN
Also Rubio: Announcement of a Visa Restriction Policy Targeting Foreign Nationals Who Censor Americans
Free speech is among the most cherished rights we enjoy as Americans. This right, legally enshrined in our constitution, has set us apart as a beacon of freedom around the world. Even as we take action to reject censorship at home, we see troubling instances of foreign governments and foreign officials picking up the slack. In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against U.S. tech companies and U.S. citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so.
Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States. It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil. It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States. We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.
This visa restriction policy is pursuant to Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the Secretary of State to render inadmissible any alien whose entry into the Unites States “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Certain family members may also be covered by these restrictions.