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Feb. 6—It should be fairly clear by now that President Donald Trump plays by nobody’s rules except his own. He is an agent of change against the ways of an encrusted and evil Establishment which has rejected him as a “disturbance” and a “clown.” He confounds them because he is more than willing to throw aside all their assumptions, for what might be called “creative chaos,” where outcomes are uncertain, where only change is certain. Yet, as if to further confound his myriad of opponents, there is method in his madness. Such was the case, when Feb. 5, during a joint press conference following his meeting in the White House, with the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a backdrop, Trump declared that the only end solution to the slaughter and destruction that Bibi has unleashed on Gaza and its mostly innocent civilian population, was to move the more than 2 million Gazans remaining alive, mostly homeless, and without any means of supporting their lives, to some other place, perhaps Jordan or Egypt, or both, or other places, so that Gaza can be rebuilt into something better, with industry and tourism, creating out of the “hellhole”—“a Riviera of the Middle East,” replete with five-star hotels on the coast, and, yes, casinos. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip.... We’ll own it,” said the former real estate developer. “[The U.S.] will be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out,” and turn Gaza into a Heaven on Earth. Trump promised: “[The U.S.] should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts...and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction.... This can be paid for by neighboring countries of great wealth.... It could be numerous sites, or it could be one large site. But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace.” Netanyahu rose to applaud Trump as a visionary, and, like all visionaries, has his ideas rejected, until, after the smoke clears, people start to reflect and say, “You know, he has a point there.” Bibi was trying to place himself under Trump’s all-encompassing political umbrella, no matter that the President had described in some passionate detail what he, Netanyahu, has done in the course of his bloody war that has killed several score thousand Palestinians and reduced their homeland into, as Trump calls it, “ a demolition site.” As Trump spoke, the Butcher of Gaza, sat smirking at his side. As soon as Trump spoke, almost before his message had time to spread through the net, the critics were all up and down talking about Trump’s imperialist destruction of the hopes of the Palestinians and his proposal for an “illegal forced expulsion” of people from their homeland—an act of “ethnic cleansing.” Jordan and Egypt rejected the plan, as did Saudi Arabia, who claimed that there was no basis for Trump saying that it no longer made support for such ideas as well as normailization of relations withIsrael contingent on support for a Palestinian state. And, then there were those who said that Trump had thrown in with the right-wing crazies of Bibi’s coalition, the radical religious racists like Finance Minister and leader of the National Religious Party—Religious Zionism, Bezalel Smotrich, and the settler movement, who has proposed expelling all Palestinians, either dead or alive, annexing of Gaza by Israel, and its re-settlement by Israeli citizens. But Trump has never said that. What he does say is that Gaza will never be part of Israel, and he does not want any Israeli settlements: “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll make sure that it’s done world-class. It’ll be wonderful for the people—Palestinians mostly, we’re talking about.” What Did Trump Do? But let’s look more closely at what Trump did. First, he spoke a truth: there is no way to do anything about Gaza in an efficient way, or really in any way, as long as there are two million people living in that rubble-heap. To do anything effective, these people will have to be moved somewhere else, or an untold number of them will die from the lack of water, sanitary facilities, and shelter. That latter outcome was Bibi’s intention all along: kill as many Palestinians as possible, first by bombardment and then by the known sequelae. When someone comes up with any real plan for Gaza, then Trump’s ideas will have to be considered. Second, while there is much alarm and fury—and chaos—around Trump’s plan, it should not obscure the fact that Bibi did not get what he wanted from Trump. Instead, he was told by the President that he is expected to carry out all three phases of the ceasefire deal, and that Israel must proceed in good faith to work out the details of the second phase of the deal that involves the return of all living hostages, further prisoner exchanges, and most importantly, the withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza. And while Trump said that he does not want to see Hamas terrorists involved in running Gaza, he did not give Bibi the right to restart the war after the conclusion of the ongoing first phase of the deal—something Bibi has promised Smotrich. Nor did Netanyahu get any approval for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Instead, the President told him he, Trump, would personally handle this, which he did by signing an executive order to increase pressure on Iran, should there be any signs from that quarter that Iran is developing an atomic weapon. As a result, there are now signs that Iran wants a deal with Trump. U.S. concern about Iran developing nuclear weapons is not a complicated issue and can be resolved, given the opposition to weapons of mass destruction by Iran’s leadership, said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Feb. 4. “I want Iran to be a great and successful country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED. I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper.” “If the main concern is that Iran should not pursue nuclear weapons, this is achievable and not a complicated issue,” Araghchi said. “Iran’s position is clear: it is a signer to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Supreme Leader’s fatwa has already clarified our stance [against weapons of mass destruction]. Maximum pressure [to influence Iran] is a failed experience and trying it again will lead to another failure.” As Araghchi was saying these words, sources reported that there have already been some back-channel discussions between the U.S and Iran that could lead to an agreement in the near future. Nothing Is Fixed in Trumpverse “I had to laugh, seeing the jaws drop when Trump spoke about his plan for Gaza,” said a source. “He had hinted at this over the last ten days or so, but what sealed it was when {Trump’s Special Envoy to the Mideast and fellow real estate developer Steve] Witkoff came back from Gaza and told his boss that the devastation was worse than depicted by the media. 'You need to get the people out of the way to fix this,' he said. He also reported that the Israelis had no plans for a post war Gaza. Nothing. He told Trump that Bibi’s intention was to let the place plunge into chaos and then use the chaos to restart systematic killing of Palestinians. ‘Then I am going to cut his balls off,’ Trump said of Bibi. ‘We will take over this.’|” The source cautioned that one shouldn’t take as fixed Trump’s so-called plan. “Nothing is fixed in Trumpverse,” said the source. “First he creates the chaos and uses it as a force to knock people off their blocks. Then he puts something together—a deal. Trump has come to realize that there is a real problem with what has been called a ‘Palestinian State.’ [As currently defined,] it just isn’t economically viable, and could not survive. Something better is going to have to be worked out. There is no agreement on what a Palestinian state would look like, anyway. Let’s see what comes out of all this. One thing, I think, is that we are nearing the end of Bibi. He can feed for a bit off Trump’s popularity in Israel. But that won’t save him for long.” Bibi Boxed In The astute Israeli analyst Alon Pinkas, writing in Haaretz Feb. 5 says of Trump and what he did to Bibi: “Agents of chaos sow chaos. It’s that simple. They instill discordance, confusion, controversy, and uncertainty. That’s a modus operandi, not a tailored policy or crisis management technique. Agents of chaos and anarchy are, by definition, out to disrupt the status quo by floating outrageous ideas, based on a simple principle: Everyone viscerally understands the status quo has exhausted its usefulness. More-of-the-same doesn’t work anymore. “As for the Israeli/Palestinian issue, the endless, irrelevant and incoherent mumbling about “the two-state solution” is just an exercise in futility. Trump only said what many are thinking, right?... “Throughout his career, Benjamin Netanyahu always followed the sage advice of [former N.Y. Yankee Hall of Fame catcher, the late] Yogi Berra: ‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it.’ Years of solipsism, manipulation, deceit, duplicity, confabulation, interpolation, and retraction—all woven into a modus operandi that has provided him with success, so far. “The indecision-maker [Netanyahu] would always come up with a speech, delivered with a tormented face and in a melodramatic baritone, describing the excruciating dilemmas he faced before making no decision. But not making a decision is a decision in and of itself, and he was good at it. Now Trump, for better or worse, is making decisions for him. “Netanyahu’s jig is up. He was nothing more than a prop in the Trump White House show. Trump upended the playing field on Gaza, Iran, and everything else. It may not be sustainable, but as of today Netanyahu has to play by Trump’s rules. “Before going to Washington and after his meeting with Trump, he was presented with a fork in the road, a binary choice: desert the hostages, resume a goalless war, and save his government in the immediate time frame. Or, adhere to the cease-fire agreement he signed, move on to Stage 2, and risk losing his ruling coalition. “Sometimes, making contradictory promises and giving inconsistent assurances is impossible to square. Now Netanyahu will try to market a mirage, according to which he was in on Trump’s plans. Maybe he was. “How does that change the future of Israeli Palestinian relations? It doesn’t. Can he now annex the West Bank? He cannot. Does it add stability and predictability to relations with the United States? It doesn’t. “So, what did Netanyahu get out of his Washington trip? A few days reprieve for his coalition, during which he can persuade them that Trump proved he’ll allow Israel to resume the war. And did Trump do that? No.” While meeting with Trump, Bibi was forced to dispatch Israeli negotiators to Doha [Qatar] to start the delayed Phase 2 discussion. Leading the Israeli team is Bibi’s right-hand man, Ron Dermer, who had been with him in D.C. Witkoff had demanded that he head the team, replacing Mossad chief David Barnea, so that talks would have “direct input from Bibi sitting at the table, so delays and confusion could be avoided. Netanyahu can’t be too happy being forced to take orders from Witkoff,” said the source. “Not very happy at all.” Busting Up the Axioms “Trump fully expected the global backlash against what he was saying—as well as Bibi’s fawning over him,” said the source. “He had wanted to shake things up in what, even with the ceasefire, was a seemingly endless conflict with no end in sight. He is forcing people to face the reality of the situation in Gaza: two million people living—or rather dying—there, from starvation and disease, from a lack of even basic necessities and services, and from a lack of shelter. With over 90% of their homes damaged or destroyed, they are huddled in vermin-infested makeshift shelters and tents, with sewage and human waste everywhere, in overcrowded refugee camps, and now also, as people return to the destruction in the north, in the rubble heaps that once were their homes, with buildings still standing about to collapse. In the rubble is more than 30,000 unexploded munitions and thousands of the bodies of their missing family members. This is what the Butcher of Gaza has done—and Trump knows who is responsible, no matter how sweetly they smile together. This is an emergency situation, which if not corrected quickly will result in further mass deaths—even if Israel doesn’t restart the attacks and withdraws the IDF. “Trump has said the obvious,” the source continued. “These people need to move to safety, and to human living conditions. Were this a natural disaster, that is what would be done with and for them. In their current sick and wounded condition, the Palestinians cannot rebuild Gaza by themselves. Sure, some will be able to help—those who are strong enough to do so. But you will need to move in hundreds of thousands of workers to accomplish reconstruction in a timely manner. Factories will have to be built on site to supply the construction materials. Temporary housing for those workers will also be needed. “Trump says the U.S. will 'take charge' of this project and enlist the world’s help—including Israel. But first you need to move people to safety, to some place where they can live, while this work proceeds. Let me tell you a secret, which should not be a secret. Trump does not want to permanently kick the Palestinians out; when it is all done, or even parts are ready for occupancy, he wants to give them the choice to come back to the new Gaza—a new homeland for the Palestinians. And he sees those who return benefiting from the newly established economy in the former rubble field, including from tourism. He sees the U.S. running the project and turning it over to the Palestinians. Those who wish him to fail in this humanitarian enterprise, say that he won’t let go of it. But keeping Palestine won’t work, and is not what he wants. A bold initiating role for the U.S., yes, but Trump is not engaging in some land grab. “As for the future of a Palestinian state,” said the source. “People keep talking about the idea, but what is the viability of such a state economically, based on its current status as Israeli occupied territory? It has none. It is a failed state, from the get-go. So, let’s come up with a plan to make all those things required of a viable sovereign state happen. What Trump is doing is creating that possibility, whether Bibi or anyone else likes it or not. Trump is doing more for the creation of a real and viable Palestinian state than anyone ever has, including Palestine's misleaders." Time for the Oasis Plan “To do the kind of reconstruction proposed here,” the source continued, ”you are going to need massive amounts of fresh water and power to run the factories, and create livable conditions for construction workers and residents alike, as well as for the people who are moved to other locations. Trump’s plan folds nicely into a larger plan for regional development that is now making the rounds in policy circles, the Oasis Plan, that pivots on the creation of vast amounts of fresh water from Mediterranean seawater using desalination plants and treated wastewater powered by modern small nuclear reactors, to support industry, agriculture, and for personal use. Those nuclear reactors will also be a major source of electrical power, generally. “This Oasis Plan, developed by the late American statesman and physical economist Lyndon LaRouche, was originally commissioned by a faction in Israel that correctly believed that the only pathway to durable peace is cooperative economic development, regionwide" the source concluded. "Now promoted by the Schiller Institute, founded by LaRouche’s widow, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the Oasis Plan is a project whose time has come. Opening the door for such far ranging plans and ideas, which might otherwise, while necessary, seem impractical based on entrenched ideologies which are manipulated to keep people in conflict rather than in collaboration, requires someone to bust up axioms. Enter Donald J. Trump, agent of chaos.” This and other sources report that there will soon be a conference on the Trump plan, and other plans for reconstruction and development in Gaza. The Oasis Plan should be put on the top of the agenda for such a conference.  Meanwhile, Trump intends to lobby for its concepts, even as they are being refined, with various leaders in the region, starting with Jordan’s King Abdoullah II, who he has invited to the White House February 11.
Feb. 2—The following is abridged from Trump nominee for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s written opening statement to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Jan. 30. I’m honored and grateful to President Trump for his trust and confidence in nominating me to serve our country as the Director of National Intelligence at a time when trust in the intelligence community is at an all-time low. Chuck Schumer admitted, “You take on the Intelligence Community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” For too long, faulty, inadequate, or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures and the undermining of our national security and God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. The most obvious example is our invasion of Iraq based upon a total fabrication or complete failure of “intelligence.” This disastrous decision led to the deaths of tens of thousands of American soldiers and millions of people in the Middle East; mass migration, destabilization, and undermining of the security and stability of our European allies; the rise of ISIS, strengthening of al-Qaeda and other Islamist Jihadist groups, and strengthening Iran. Here are just a few other examples: • The American people elected Donald Trump as their president, but the FBI and Intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin. • Title 1 of FISA was used to illegally obtain a warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, using a Clinton campaign-funded false dossier as their so-called evidence. • Biden campaign advisor Tony Blinken was the impetus for the 51 former senior intelligence officials letter dismissing Hunter Biden’s laptop as disinformation to help Biden win the election. • Former DNI James Clapper lied to this committee in 2013, denying the existence of programs that facilitated the mass collection of millions of Americans’ phone and internet records—yet was never held responsible. • Under John Brennan’s leadership, the CIA abused its power to spy on Congress to dodge oversight, lied about doing it until he was caught—yet was never held responsible. • Under Biden, the FBI abused its power for political reasons to surveil Catholics who attend traditional Latin mass, labeling them “radical traditionalist Catholics.” • Just 24 hours after I criticized the Kamala Harris and her nomination, I was placed on a secret domestic terror watch list called Quiet Skies. Unfortunately, there are many more examples. President Trump’s reelection is a clear mandate from the American people to break this cycle of failure, end the weaponization/politicization of the IC, and begin to restore trust in those who have been charged with the critical task of securing our nation. … I enlisted in the Army because of the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, and volunteered to deploy to Iraq in 2005 where I served in a medical unit. After nearly 22 years in uniform with three combat deployments to the Middle East and Africa, I am now a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve where I serve as a Battalion Commander of soldiers in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. I served in Congress for eight years on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Armed Services committees. My experience in the military and in the halls of Congress have given me a deep understanding of the complex challenges our nation faces. In both roles, I’ve engaged with world leaders and been privy to highly classified intelligence. I know first-hand how essential accurate, unbiased, and timely intelligence is—to the President, to Congress, and to our warfighters—and the heavy cost of intelligence failures and abuses. Senator Collins, you led the creation of ODNI to address the intelligence failures of 9/11 and Iraq’s so-called WMDs. The need for the ODNI, under strong leadership, still exists today. If confirmed, I will bring my experience and fresh eyes to lead the IC. … Before I close, I want to warn the American people watching at home: You will hear lies and smears that challenge my loyalty to and love for our country. Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience, and the Constitution of the United States, accusing me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of 5 different puppet masters. They used the same tactic against President Trump and failed. The American people elected President Trump with a decisive victory and mandate for change. The fact is what truly unsettles my political opponents is I refuse to be their puppet. [Emphasis in original.] I have no love for Assad or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaeda. I hate that our leaders cozy up to Islamist extremists, calling them “rebels,” as Jake Sullivan said to Hillary Clinton: “Al-Qaeda is on our side in Syria.” Syria is now controlled by al-Qaeda offshoot HTS, led by an Islamist Jihadist who danced in the streets on 9/11, and who was responsible for the killing of many American soldiers. … If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will continue to live by the oath of I have sworn at least eight times in my life: to support and defend our God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. Thank you for your time. I look forward to your questions. 
Feb. 1—While the eyes of the world are currently focused on the Trump Administration’s efforts to secure a peace deal in Gaza that will stick, sources report that there are quiet discussions taking place among relevant parties who are working out a deal to end NATO’s war against Russia in Ukraine. These sources expect that talks are between Ukraine and Russia negotiators, with the United States as mediator, and that while they are talking, they will keep Brussels (the EU) informed, but are not allowing NATO a seat at the table, at least as of now. “[President] Trump has told NATO to get the f*** out of his way in this,” said one source. “That has already been communicated. Trump has also told Volodymyr Zelenskyy, [NATO’s sock puppet dictator of Ukraine,] that after the current round approved by Congress, he intends to cut off all further U.S. arms shipments, will seek no further appropriations, and will veto anything new handed him by Congress. This is intended to force Zelenskyy to negotiate. Trump has also rescinded the authorization issued by [former Vice President and NATO whore] Kamala Harris to use advanced American weapons systems, like the ATACMS, on targets inside Russia not related to existing battlefronts.” Various sources have reported that it was Harris who gave the okay, along with the national security members of the cabinet, while then-President Joe Biden was out of the country in November, and then forced or coaxed Biden, who had earlier been opposed to the approval, to go along. This and other sources say that Trump’s emissaries have been in touch with Ukrainian leaders opposed to Zelenskyy, including in the Ukrainian military who have themselves been involved for some time in back-channel discussions with Russian counterparts about ending a war which as President Trump has said, “should never have been started.” Zelenskyy knows this, and it puts further pressure on him to negotiate and to seek the recension of an executive order he signed in October 2022 that bars any negotiation with the Russians. Ironically, Russian President Vladimir Putin brought this up as a condition of negotiations earlier this week. Putin claims that Zelenskyy today has no authority to reverse the order, as it was issued when he was still legally President of Ukraine, whereas his term ended May 20 of last year. The Russian President said that today, Zelenskyy rules only by a martial law decree, issued Feb. 24, 2022, and extended Nov. 9, 2023, which many Ukrainians regard as illegal, but which is recognized by NATO—a military alliance, not a sovereign state.   Zelenskyy’s decree cancelled scheduled elections in which, it was expected, that the opposition would campaign for an end to the war and likely trounce NATO’s little dictator. Putin said the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s unicameral parliament) would have to reverse the decree before formal and public negotiations could take place. “Putin wants to negotiate,” said the source. “Stories saying he doesn’t, are merely products of NATO’s propaganda mill. Make no mistake, Trump knows that despite Russia’s having “won” this senseless war, at great sacrifice in lives and diversion of economic resources to the waste of military spending, Putin is going to have to show some concession to the Ukrainian side. Trump has told his people that he will not be a broker for a total Ukrainian capitulation. That will not happen.” So, what kind of deal is coming together? Sources say that under discussion is something like this: first, an immediate ceasefire and halt to all hostile actions. This is to be followed by an exchange of prisoners, of which there are many. Then there is to be talks around an agreed-upon outline, to include the following: No NATO membership for Ukraine, but a guarantee by the United and perhaps some individual NATO nations, of Ukraine’s borders and sovereignty. Ukrainians will have to cede Crimea and the four eastern Oblasts whose residents voted Sept. 27, 2022 to join the Russian Federation, and are now part of Russia. But the Russians will have to agree to adjust the borders of those Oblasts, and allow any persons living in these four Oblasts to migrate to Ukraine, should they wish to do so. Likewise, Ukraine authorities will have to let any of its citizens who wish to migrate to a Russian area to do so.   “The stickier part of any deal involves what Putin calls the ‘denazification process,’” said the source. “He wants the outright Nazi militia formations, like Azov disbanded, and not be allowed to re-form inside the Ukrainian Army. Ukraine can arm itself, but not with offensive weapons that can attack Russia. Zelenskyy and other NATO idiots are absurd if they think that Russia would ever invade Ukraine again. There is no need for the deployment of troops to protect Ukraine from a fantasized Russian invasion, should these conditions be met in a peace deal. "President Trump knows this, and he also knows that Russia really poses no threat to the rest of Europe either. He never bought into the narratives of “Fat Mike” [Pompeo, former Secretary of State] and 'The Moustache' [John Bolton, former Trump National Security Advisor 2018-19] and other Third World War idiot-consultants about an alleged Russian threat. Trump has told the crazy Europeans that if they want to fight Russia, that is their business, but he wants no part of it. If they insist on preparing for some imagined war, Trump will pull the U.S. out of NATO. Let’s see how aggressive these jerks are, when the U.S. won’t come to rescue them under Article 5 of NATO’s Charter,” should they begin such a war with Russia. It is going to take a massive effort to rebuild Ukraine, and here also there will have to be some concessions by Russia, as to how much they will contribute. Trump envisions a package coming together for a global cooperative effort that will also involve rebuilding the now-Russian areas in the four eastern Oblasts, where some of the heaviest fighting has taken place. Trump, sources say, wants to get China, and perhaps even the BRICS alliance involved, of which China and Russia are key members. The sources say that this will all have to be fleshed out as the process proceeds. “Not so long ago, Ukraine was a prosperous agro-industrial nation,” said the source. “Trump wants to ‘make Ukraine great again.’ That’s how he sees it—turning disaster into opportunity.” It is expected that there will be some visible action on a peace deal in the next month. But sources say that Trump now realizes that many factors are in play, and it were better to have some firm footing, rather than start something that either collapses quickly or is sabotaged by NATO and its Ukrainian assets, or both. “He has said he would end this in the first days of his Administration,” the source concluded. “Well, those days have come and gone. But he does intend to end the fighting very soon, and the rest will follow.” Signaling the new direction for U.S. policy on the Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while denouncing the Russian invasion, said in an interview Jan. 30 with Megyn Kelly said that it was "dishonest" to claim, once the invasion had taken place that Kyiv was ever capable of destroying Russia on the battlefield and returning to the pre-2014 state of affair.  "But what the dishonesty that has existed is that we somehow led people to believe that Ukraine would be able, not just to defeat Russia, but destroy (Putin), push him all the way back to what the world looked like in 2012 or 2014 before the Russians took Crimea," Rubio said. Yet these statements continue to be repeated by war hawks associated with Biden Administration and have been the mantra of Ukrainian dictator Zelenskyy. There is only one way to end this war, said Rubio, and it exactly what President Trump has called for—negotiations and compromises on both sides. Up until now the U.S. has attempted, unsuccessfully to "fund a stalemate in the war." The result of this policy, supported by NATO, has been to "set (Ukraine) back 100 years." "The energy grid is being wiped out. Someone's going to have to pay for all this reconstruction. And how many Ukrainians have left Ukraine (and are) living in other countries now? They may never return," the Secretary of State said, reiterating that the war must end soon. Russia has carried out a sustained missile and drone campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure throughout the full-scale war, leading to blackouts and power deficits. Over 6 million Ukrainians have fled the country after the start of the invasion. "The nation’s future hangs in the balance in this regard," Rubio said repeating his earlier statements that "both sides of the conflict will need to make compromises" for successful negotiations. Earlier this month, Rubio paused almost all foreign assistance flowing through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), presenting a significant challenge to various civilian programs in Ukraine that rely on U.S. support, including in the energy sector.
Jan. 31—President Trump Jan. 29 signed an executive order on anti-Semitism, which states, “It shall be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.” The order refers specifically to “civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.” These protests about the actions of the state of Israel, which included the participation of many Jewish students, were not focused on Jews themselves or anti-Semitism. The redefinition of anti-Semitism to be about the state of Israel rather than Judaism is dangerous. According to Trump’s 2019 EO 13899 (now reinstated by the present order), Title VI enforcement (of discrimination in educational institutions) must consider “the non-legally binding working definition of anti-Semitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)” as well as “the ‘Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semitism’ identified by the IHRA.” Among those examples are attacks on Israel, rather than Jews per se. For example, the IHRA considers “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” anti-Semitic. A fact sheet on Trump’s executive order to “Combat Anti-Semitism” says, under the heading “Deport Hamas Sympathizers and Revoke Student Visas”: “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.” In addition to the obvious mischaracterization of all participants in protests against Israel’s conduct in Gaza as “Hamas sympathizers,” the threat to revoke visas based on their political beliefs hardly comports with the executive order Trump signed on his first day in office stating, “It is the policy of the United States to secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech."
Jan. 31—“The Senate Intel Committee spent nearly the entirety of its session Jan. 30 furiously demanding that Director of National Intelligence nominee [Tulsi] Gabbard condemn me personally, a position now opposed by something like 94% of Americans,” wrote exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden as Tusli Gabbard’s confirmation hearing concluded. “Courts have been ruling for ten years that the NSA [National Security Agency] broke the law, guys. Move on.” A few hours before the hearing began, Snowden posted this message: “Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance.” Gabbard did not take Snowden’s advice. Despite repeated, increasingly frenzied demands that she call Snowden a traitor, Gabbard refused to give in. He broke the law, she acknowledged, but he revealed egregious wrongdoing. More broadly, she called for a whistleblower policy that would allow future Snowdens to safely bring their concerns to the attention of relevant investigators. 
Jan. 30—In an exclusive interview to journalist Pavel Zarubin on Jan. 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine could be ended in a month or two. “I think that if [Ukraine] runs out of money and, broadly speaking, ammunition, everything will end in a month, a month-and-a-half, or two. In this sense, Ukraine’s sovereignty is almost zero.” Putin reiterated Russia’s conditions for resolving the conflict, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories of the D.P.R., L.P.R., Kherson and Zaporozhye, and Ukraine’s abandonment of plans to join NATO. He also referenced the decree by NATO's sock puppet Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy banning negotiations with Russia. In order for negotiations to begin, the decree would have to be canceled, he said. Putin indicated, however, that Zelenskyy is not officially President, as there have been no new elections since his term expired in May, and he stays in office under a legally tenuous martial law decree. So, he could probably not revoke the decree, but it would have to be done by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada legislature. “When the current head of the regime, as he can only be called today, signed this decree, he was a relatively legitimate President, but now he cannot cancel it because he is illegitimate,” said Putin. He said he has seen no sign as yet that the Rada is willing to take the necessary steps leading to negotiations. He also talked about the negotiations leading up to the Istanbul agreements in April 2022. When the agreements were ready to be signed, a European leader contacted Putin and said Ukraine could not sign “with a gun to their head.” As a result, Russia agreed to pull its troops back from Kiev, which they had already entered; Russia did withdraw. Putin said he was also prepared to discuss personally with Zelenskyy regarding some last-minute questions he had on the matter, but that never occurred, and in April, when the agreement was to be signed, the negotiators said they had to take a week off to discuss with their foreign advisers. During these talks, then British Prime Minister and NATO thug Boris Johnson went to Kiev and "convinced" the Ukrainians not to sign. Putin made no mention of ongoing, behind-the-scenes preparations for talks to end the war, at the initiation of the "new Sheriff" on the scene, President Donald Trump, who is expected to be talking to Putin very soon.