Donald Trump’s cabinet picks signal tougher stance on China

Donald Trump’s cabinet picks signal tougher stance on China

Alexander Gray, who served as National Security Council chief of staff in the first Trump administration, said the selections showed that Trump wanted “to surround himself with strategic thinkers who understand the challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China”. 

But Gray said Waltz would be an “honest broker”, mediating debates in the inter-agency process rather than trying to impose his own positions instead of the president’s.

Related:

Marathon Initiative:

Alexander Gray is a Senior Advisor at the Marathon Initiative. Gray previously served at the White House for four years, most recently as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council. He had earlier served as Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the National Economic Council and as the first-ever Director for Oceania & Indo-Pacific Security at the National Security Council.

Front Organizations

Hong Kong ‘Protests’

*Xinjiang*

Marathon Initiative (Colby & Pottinger)

Pro-Israel leaders encouraged by Brian Hook’s role on State Department transition team

As questions emerge about how President-elect Donald Trump will handle the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East during a second term, some pro-Israel foreign policy voices say they have been reassured by recent news reports that Brian Hook, a special envoy for Iran in the first Trump administration, is expected to lead the transition team at the State Department.

Hook, who previously worked in the State Department under former President George W. Bush and is now the vice chairman of Cerberus Global Investments, helped to oversee Trump’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign toward Iran, including punishing sanctions after the U.S. withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. He was also a key player on the team that negotiated the Abraham Accords, Trump’s signature foreign policy achievement, which the president-elect has pledged to expand when he returns to office.

Among the candidates rumored to be under consideration for secretary of state are Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a former ambassador to Japan; Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security advisor; and Ric Grenell, who served as the former president’s ambassador to Germany as well as his acting director of national intelligence.

But conservative foreign policy experts surveyed by JI said they did not envision ideological tensions between Hook and Grenell emerging should they serve together. “Grenell mirrors Trump in being a champion-level supporter of Israel and Iran hawk,” said a former official on Trump’s National Security Council, who was granted anonymity to discuss the transition. “There would be no reason for friction.”

Pro-Israel leaders encouraged by Brian Hook’s role on State Department transition team

Previously:

Making Excuses for Trump: Where Does the Buck Stop?

But Trump’s seemingly aimless foreign and national security policies are only part of the problem. More to the point, the president keeps appointing people to senior level positions where they have a hand in shaping the policies ranging from hardline on civil liberties issues to complete interventionism vis-à-vis America’s role worldwide. The list is long and includes John Bolton, Rick Grenell, Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook, James Jeffrey, Robert O’Brien, John Ratcliffe and Gina Haspel. And one might suggest that the latest move might very well be the worst of all, naming Eliot Abrams as Special Envoy on Iran.

Twitter: Atlas Network update

I’ve been meaning to look into these two, but forgot about it. Maine Policy Institute is already on my Atlas Network list, but I just added the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.

Maine Policy Institute:

State Policy Network (SPN), American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Koch network, Franklin News Foundation (Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity), Bradley Foundation, DonorsTrust, Cato Institute, Sam Adams Alliance, Donors Capital Fund, etc.

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Who Really Controls US Foreign Policy?

YouTube / Rumble

From the ongoing US involvement in Ukraine, to an enduring US military presence in the Middle East, and growing US-Chinese tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, regardless of who controls the US Congress and regardless of who sits in the White House, these conflicts continue forward – often with a Democratic president setting the stage for his Republican successor, and vice versa. 

Who Really Controls US Foreign Policy? (archived)

How the Philippines ‘covertly’ reinforced the BRP Sierra Madre

Source

China reveals Philippine Personnel secretly resupplying BRP Sierra Madre by posing as Fishermen

Personally, I think that these “Secret” Operations are being done by the Naval Special Operations Command (NAVSOCOM) of the Philippine Navy (PN) as this seems to fall under their Area of Responsibility.

Remember that the NAVSOCOM Troops were also the ones that were involved in an Altercation with the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) earlier this Month.

PH NAVSOCOM trains with the U.S. Navy SEALs:

Original source
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Corporate interests & front organizations behind ranked-choice voting

Scott Walter Testimony at Wisconsin State Senate

Related:

Ranked-Choice Voting: Biggest Advocates

Hewlett Foundation, Chamberlain Project, Peter Ackerman, Action Now Initiative, George Soros, Open Society Foundations, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation, Soros Fund Charitable Foundation, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Tides Foundation, Joyce Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Pierre Omidyar, Omidyar Network, Democracy Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Public Welfare Foundation, Katherine Gehl

Capital Research Center – InfluenceWatch

Capital Research Center – SourceWatch

Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution, Bradley Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, State Policy Network (Atlas Network)

Front Organizations

Canada’s explosive claims against India put US in a pinch

Canada’s explosive claims against India put US in a pinch

The U.S. reportedly worked closely with Canada in investigating the apparent murder on its soil. President Biden has not publicly commented on the allegations, highlighting the tricky balancing act of standing by Canada without alienating India.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that several senior officials of Canada’s Five Eyes allies, of which the U.S. is a member, were informed of the allegations ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi. Nevertheless, no public comment was made by any senior leaders among the group’s members, which also include the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

“The fact is that the Canadians have allowed some pretty dodgy people to use Canadian soil and to spread violent messages,” Dhume said.

“Under Trudeau, the foreign policy choices have been subordinated to domestic diaspora politics, given the importance of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, which have been important liberal voters. Trudeau, who has a minority in [Canadian] parliament, is only in power because of the [New Democratic Party] led by Jagmeet Singh,” Dehejia told The Hill.

Singh is the first Sikh to lead a major federal party in Canada, and helped Trudeau form a minority government last year after the Liberals failed to win a majority in parliament.

Reuters reported that an unnamed senior Canadian government source said Ottawa worked “very closely” with the United States on the intelligence assessment.

Related:

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