It has long been one of Wall Street’s unspoken rules that whoever controls Korea’s mob of momentum-chasing fanatics, controls price manipulation discovery. And in Korea (that would be South for those who are unsure, North Korean brokerages are… rather nonexistent yet), allegiances are rapidly shifting. 

South Korea’s retail investors are losing faith in Tesla’s stock, instead ramping up their selling last month amid growing disillusionment with the electric carmaker – or at least lack of the upward momentum – and rising interest in cryptocurrencies.

According to Bloomberg calculations, individual investors in Korea – which just like their retail peers in the US exert outsized control on price pressure, whether on the buy or sell side – and sold a net $657 million of Tesla stock in August, the largest outflow since at least early 2019. Instead of TSLA, local momentum chasers are now favoring even more volatile, but more momentum-heavy, bets such as Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), seen as a proxy for Ether, which drew $253 million of net inflows, having become the Ether version of MicroStrategy with its recently launched ETH treasury platform.

An analysis by Vanda Research found that BMNR was also the stock that attracted the most investor attention in the US, with a Vanda Flow sentiment score of 98.4%, surpassing every other stock in the list.

The $1.8 billion exodus from Tesla during the past four months signals waning enthusiasm among one of Elon Musk’s most loyal global retail investor bases, whose buying sprees once amplified the stock’s rallies. Korean traders, who had been drawn to high-profile US tech companies such as Tesla during the Covid era, are now putting their money elsewhere.

“Tesla used to offer a lot of inspiring narratives but it has failed to win people’s hearts,” said Han Jungsu, a 33-year-old individual investor who first bought Tesla the stock in 2019 but sold out earlier this year to focus on names he sees having more upside. “It has failed to lead with its own AI narrative.”

Still, Tesla remains the top foreign stock among Korean retail traders, who hold about $21.9 billion of the company’s stock, the data show. By comparison, Nvidia and Palantir ranked a distant second and third among Korean retail favorites. The exchange-traded fund TSLL, which offers double-leveraged exposure to Tesla, also saw its biggest monthly outflow since at least early 2024, with $554 million withdrawn in August, according to depository data.

In the US, retail interest in TSLA is still high, although as the latest retail flow tracker from Vanda Research shows, net retail purchases in the name are less than half of Nvidia’s which is the category leader. And while OTM call turnover in TSLA among retail investors remains the highest of all stocks, retail flow sentiment in the name has clearly soured with TSLA no longer appearing in the top 30 names.

Update(1831ET): More details of the military action against an allegedly drug-laden boat which departed Venezuela have been revealed by President Trump in a Truth Social post:

“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump said. “The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action.”

A sizeable U.S. armada currently sits afloat in the waters where the strike occurred. Four destroyers carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 4,500 Marines and sailors are deployed in the area.

Eleven deaths in the US military action in the south Caribbean is quite significant, and if they are found to be Venezuelan citizens, it will certainly raise tensions much higher with Caracas. Trump has released footage of the strike:

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just released the video of the U.S. military STRIKING a drug boat from Venezuela heading to America carrying ELEVEN Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists, who were kiIIed in the strike

TRUMP: “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces… pic.twitter.com/axQAWxjJhm

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 2, 2025

As for President Maduro, he alleged on Monday that Trump is “seeking regime change through military threat.” As for the US claim that these slain narco-“terrorists” were directly under Maduro or were state-linked, this is still anything but proven. In fact, there could be evidence to the contrary…

Trump claims that the strike targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. He also claims the gang is “under the control of Nicolas Maduro,” but that contradicts a declassified US intelligence memo that says Maduro’s government doesn’t control TDA (link in reply) pic.twitter.com/9S0uYMOEvi

— Dave DeCamp (@DecampDave) September 2, 2025

* * *

Geopolitical fireworks have erupted in the Caribbean amid the tense showdown that’s ensued with US Navy warships moving into the region with an eye on Maduro’s Venezuela. Maduro has in the last days been engaged in his own ‘show of force’ – sending extra troops into Venezuelan border areas.

The White House has confirmed Tuesday that the US military carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that earlier departed Venezuela’s coast. President Trump announced the surprise development from the Oval Office: “When you leave the room, you’ll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally, shot a boat – a drug-carrying boat,” he told reporters, describing that there were “a lot of drugs” on the vessel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately announced on X that the vessel was being operated by a “designated narco-terrorist organization” – calling it a lethal strike.

The ship had “departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization,” Rubio wrote. The Pentagon has not offered any initial comment in the immediate strike aftermath, and few other details are known of the incident. According to newswires:

• US CONDUCTED STRIKE AGAINST DRUG VESSEL FROM VENEZUELA
• VENEZUELA BONDS HIT SESSION HIGH AFTER US DRUG BOAT STRIKE

Venezuela has clearly been back in Trump’s crosshairs, after last month it was first reported that some eight US Navy vessels were en route to patrol Caribbean waters near Venezuela.

Trump will surely come under criticism from some sectors of his base, after he repeatedly promised to not start new wars. However, the administration is selling this fresh action and the naval deployment as part of drug enforcement.

This is what Tulsi Gabbard had to say the last time the Trump Administration was running a regime change op in Venezuela. Now they’re doing it again — except with much more firepower this time — and she’s part of it. Kind of like how she did a complete 180° on her Iran views pic.twitter.com/5ib4TmWiGl

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) September 2, 2025

Last Friday, Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, described that the fresh military build-up off Venezuela and in regional waters is to “combat and dismantle drug trafficking organizations, criminal cartels and these foreign terrorist organizations in our hemisphere.”

Analysts have questioned just how a larger military presence will disrupt the drug trade, as opposed to conventional law enforcement mechanisms which have for decades been involved. According to a Reuters backgrounder:

Among other things, most of the seaborne drug trade travels to the United States via the Pacific, not the Atlantic, where the U.S. forces are, and much of what arrives via the Caribbean comes on clandestine flights.

Venezuelan officials believe their government might be the real target. In early August, the United States doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million over allegations of drug trafficking and links to criminal groups.

Maduro, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and the country’s ambassador to the United Nations Samuel Moncada have said the U.S. is threatening the country with the naval deployments, in violation of international treaties. They have also scoffed at U.S. assertions that the country and its leadership are key to major international drug trafficking.

Trump strike on a Venezuelan drug boat is more than a naval operation…

it’s a political message reshaping the Caribbean scene 🇺🇸🌍🇻🇪#US #Venezuela #Trump pic.twitter.com/f0DNAuET1z

— سيف الدرعي (@saif_aldareei) September 2, 2025

Venezuela’s Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said last Friday: “Venezuelans know who is behind these military threats by the United States against our country.” He emphasized, “We are not drug traffickers, we are noble and hard-working people.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is fuming after the Trump administration blocked Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders from attending the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York scheduled for later this month.

PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is not being issued a visa to enter US soil (along with his delegation), as retribution for his leading the charge in support of a Palestinian state, and for waging a ‘lawfare campaign’ against Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. Erdogan said this only plays into Israel’s hands, which is busy conducting “massacres” and “cruelty” in Gaza.

The move “does not fit the United Nations’ raison d’etre,” Erdogan told reporters on a flight after leaving China, where he attended the SCO Tianjin Summit 2025. “The decision needs to be urgently revised. The United Nations General Assembly exists for the issues of the world to be discussed and for solutions to be found,” he said.

“The Palestinian delegation not being at the General Assembly would only please Israel,” he added. “What is expected from the United States is to say ‘stop’ to Israel’s massacres, cruelty.”

Turkey has throughout much of the conflict been hands down the most vocal global critic of Israel, denouncing what Erdogan has called the mass murder of Palestinians and Israel’s “genocidal policies”. A trade war has also ensued. Many products from Israel have been banned from entering Turkey.

Meanwhile, one of the things that Washington and Tel Aviv fear most is the growing trend of recognition of Palestinian statehood among the West.

Belgium is the latest EU nation to announce it will recognize the State of Palestine at the UNGA. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot announced, “Palestine will be recognized by Belgium at the UN session! And firm sanctions will be imposed against the Israeli government.”

The statement said that “Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists.” It added, “This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground.” It previewed that “firm” sanctions are coming.

France has meanwhile been leading the way on this, and it’s somewhat unprecedented that significant European countries one by one would also be bringing sanctions against Israel. Canada, Australia, and Britain have made similar declarations – ramping up the pressure on Israel. But these sanctions have been limited mostly to products coming from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Belgium’s announcement, urging other nations to also “intensify practical efforts to stop the crimes of genocide, displacement, starvation, and annexation, and to open a real political path to resolve the conflict.”

A statement on X said the PA considers Belgium’s right actions “to be in line with international law and United Nations resolutions, and protective of the two-state solution and supportive of achieving peace.”

Via Headline USA,

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York says he will not run for reelection next year, according to an interview published Monday night by The New York Times.

Nadler told the Times that watching then-President Joe Biden’s truncated reelection campaign last year “really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that.”

He suggested a younger Democratic lawmaker in his seat “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”

Nadler, 78, is serving his 17th term in Congress. He was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023, then served as ranking member on the panel after Republicans won House leadership. He stepped down from that role late last year.

Nadler’s decision to relinquish that spot came a day after fellow Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin announced his bid for the job and quickly amassed support from colleagues.

“I am also proud that, under my leadership, some of our caucus’s most talented rising stars have been given a platform to demonstrate their leadership and their abilities,” Nadler wrote then in a letter to Democrats that was obtained by The Associated Press.

Without naming names, Nadler suggested to the Times that some of his Democratic colleagues should also consider retirement.

“I’m not saying we should change over the entire party,” Nadler said in the interview posted Monday. “But I think a certain amount of change is very helpful.”

In April, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Nadler was dubbed by his colleagues as the “worst-smelling” man in Congress.

Nadler, who stands at 5-foot-4 and underwent weight-loss surgery in 2002, has been the subject of ongoing criticism and mockery. For instance, President Donald Trump once dubbed him “Fat Jerry.” 

Former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., said that Nadler “barrels through everyone” when making his way through the House floor. However, sometimes, he “doesn’t really need to barrel through because his stench kind of clears the way and it equates to his personality, which is nasty and most people want to keep away from.” 

A fellow House Democrat added, “Members of Congress don’t want to sit next to him because of it. Yeah, he smells. I don’t know what he does. Maybe he doesn’t take a bath, I don’t know what it is.” 

A New York congressman echoed these remarks, declaring that Nadler “reeks” before adding: “It’s not just like a guy who didn’t take a shower. I don’t know if it’s surgery or a colostomy bag, but it’s bad.” 

President Vladimir Putin while in China vehemently denounced and condemned Western assertions that Russia seeks to expand its special military operation into other European states. He described such statements and assumptions coming out of European officials as either a provocation or a sign of utter incompetence. He said this at a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Beijing on Tuesday.

“They are constantly stoking hysteria that Russia is allegedly nurturing plans to attack Europe. I think that it is clear for same people that this is either a provocation or a sign of utter incompetence,” Putin said, as translated in TASS. He appeared to be directly responding to recent words of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“Any sane person clearly realizes that Russia has never had, does not have, and will never have any intention to attack anyone,” he added.

The Russian leader reiterated that Russia only seeks to protect its legitimate security interests in Ukraine, and that the conflict started with the West and NATO’s own behavior. “As for ‘Russia’s aggressive plans regarding Europe,’ I’d like to emphasize once again that this is unfounded nonsense,” Putin emphasized.

His words come as hawkish European leaders continue to speak in terms of Cold War-era domino theory, with the assumption that Russia aims to take over European countries one by one.

This is exactly how Chancellor Merz sounded in telling German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday that Ukraine has to be defended, and not compromise, or else Germany could be next to be at risk of Russian invasion. He also said on this basis that the Ukraine war is likely to drag on with no end in sight.

While he described he hasn’t lost hope of a Trump-brokered ceasefire – he said he still “harbors no illusions” and that backing Ukraine’s defense remains an “absolute priority”.

“We are trying to end it as quickly as possible. But certainly not at the price of Ukraine’s capitulation. You could end the war tomorrow if Ukraine surrendered and lost its independence,” Merz said.

“Then the next country would be at risk the day after tomorrow. And the day after that, it would be us. That is not an option,” the German chancellor stated.

Putin in Beijing had some further interesting commentary on Ukraine and its security:

In his remarks, Putin said that that Moscow had never opposed Ukraine’s potential membership of the European Union, and dismissed claims that Moscow was somehow planning to attack Europe.

He argued, in comments reported by Reuters, that with Nato expanding eastwards, the alliance wanted to absorb the entire post-Soviet space, and Russia simply had to defend its interests. He also repeated that Ukrainian membership of Nato would have been unacceptable to Russia.

Fico has been receiving severe pushback from other EU countries for attending events in China hosted by President Xi.

Fico tells Putin an ancient Chinese parable.

“As EU and NATO members were talked against coming here. But many in the EU are like the frog in a well. They sit at the bottom, and they cannot see what is happening in the world.

So I would like to say openly – we are interested in… pic.twitter.com/rPG9vUHld9

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) September 2, 2025

The Slovak PM is expected to attend China’s big military parade on Wednesday. Putin told him Tuesday that Russia “highly values the independent foreign policy that you and your team, your government, are pursuing.”

Meanwhile, on the battlefield Russian forces continue to make gains in the east, with Moscow’s Defense Ministry announcing Tuesday the capture of the village of Fedorivka in Donetsk region.

Authored by Roger Kimball via American Greatness,

Writing elsewhere last month, I suggested that Donald Trump end the National Endowment for Democracy once and for all. Like most so-called “non-governmental organizations,” the NED is in fact an all-governmental organization. It depends absolutely on a subsidy from the state department, i.e., from the federal government, i.e., from the taxpayer, i.e., from you.

The NED began life in the Cold War as a way of projecting “soft power” against our Communist adversaries. But as James Piereson noted in February of this year, the NED has undergone a familiar process of mission creep and moral and political entropy.

“With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Piereson wrote, “the NED adjusted its mission to support democratic reforms in countries in non-communist countries with authoritarian governments, many of which were never adversaries of the United States in the first place.”

Over the years, the NED adopted a view of democracy that held that nationalist and populist leaders campaigning for office around the world were, in fact, authoritarians and a threat to democracy. Many foreign leaders were tossed into that bucket—not only Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but also Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki, and others. Many of these leaders were popularly elected but were nevertheless branded by the NED as authoritarians. It surprised no one when NED officials deemed Donald Trump, too, an authoritarian, lumping him together with these leaders.

The bottom line is that for some $315 million of taxpayer pelf, the NED has been busy fomenting a foreign policy that was not just separate from that articulated by the duly elected president of the United States but actively opposed to it.

So it was no surprise when Trump and his cost-cutters at the Department of Government Efficiency took aim at the NED. Earlier this summer, NED’s subsidy had been zeroed out in Congress’s proposed budget.

But no NGO goes gentle into that good night. When politicians get together to haggle over budgets, lobbyists tag along. Members from interest group A whisper in Congressman X’s ear about their pet—and usually lucrative—project. Words like “constituents” and “donations” are bandied about. Often as not, that line item that had been zeroed out is fully restored. The lobbyists go home happy. The Congressman feels reassured. Only the taxpayers suffer. And the voters, too, whose feelings in the matter are usually completely ignored.

So it was with the NED. What had been zero was suddenly restored to $315 million, with provision for additional contracts added in for good measure.

In olden days, that generally would have been it. A president confronted with such recalcitrance, not to say connivance, would simply have moved on. As usual, Trump’s response was something more aggressive. On Friday, the White House said, in effect, I’ll see your rescission and raise you two.

Employing a seldom-deployed, controversial maneuver called a “pocket rescission,” the White House promised to eliminate “woke, weaponized, and wasteful spending.”

Now, for the first time in 50 years, the President is using his authority under the Impoundment Control Act to deploy a pocket rescission, cancelling $5 billion in foreign aid and international organization funding that violates the President’s America First priorities.

CNN was joined by other dyspeptic chihuahuas—Senator Chuck Schumer, chief among them—to wail that “Trump bypasses Congress to cancel nearly $5 billion in foreign aid.”

Will the republic survive these cuts? Among the items to flutter to the dustbin of the unfunded are such critical enterprises as efforts to advance “inclusive democracy” in South Africa through the Democracy Works Foundation, which has published articles such as “The Problem with Whiteness” and “The Problem with White People.” That effort was done for $2.7 million, now gone.

Then there was $4 million for the New Alliance for Global Equality to advance “global LGBTQI+ awareness,” $3.9 million to promote “democracy” for LGBTQI+ populations in the Western Balkans, $2 million for “Organizing for Feminist Democratic Principles” in Africa, and $107 million for the International Labor Organization (ILO), “a group that works to unionize foreign workers and punish U.S. corporate interests abroad.” Your tax dollars at work.

Will the NED finally be cancelled if Trump’s “pocket rescission” succeeds?

From what I have read, it is not entirely clear.

Many of the cuts—totaling many hundreds of millions of dollars—are from State Department initiatives that are consanguineous, as it were, with the NED. But I have not seen the NED explicitly named in the cuts.

As I noted last month, what is needed to extinguish the NED is not some magic potion but the concerted attention of Donald Trump. Perhaps, I suggested, the President had thought he had gotten rid of the NED already. I am here to remind him once again that that essential piece of work is yet to be accomplished. It is time to finish the job.

The real ‘fear’ index – of fiscal folly – hit a new record high overnight following its breakout last week…

Finally https://t.co/WYqQNRtc0U pic.twitter.com/oJV68H2DRj

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 29, 2025

…topping $3500 for the first time as hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio warned Donald Trump’s America is drifting into 1930s-style autocratic politics — and told The FT that other investors are too scared of the president to speak up.

The Bridgewater Associates founder told the Financial Times that “gaps in wealth”, “gaps in values” and a collapse in trust were driving “more extreme” policies in the US.

“I think that what is happening now politically and socially is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930-40 period,” Dalio said.

State intervention in the private sector, such as Trump’s decision to take a 10 per cent stake in chipmaker Intel, was the sort of “strong autocratic leadership that sprang out of the desire to take control of the financial and economic situation”, Dalio said.

Dalio also warned about the threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence days after Trump launched an unprecedented move to sack one of its governors.

Dalio said a politically weakened central bank, pressed to keep rates low, “would undermine the confidence in the Fed defending the value of money and make holding dollar-denominated debt assets less attractive which would weaken the monetary order as we know it.” 

Dalio said he also believed many years of big deficits and unsustainable debt growth had brought the US economy to the brink of a debt crisis, although he noted “presidents from both parties” had overseen a worsening situation before Trump’s latest fiscal plan.

“The great excesses that are now projected as a result of the new budget will likely cause a debt-induced heart attack in the relatively near future,” he said.

“I’d say three years, give or take a year or two.”

The veteran investor also took aim at a rising impulse towards state control under Trump.

Dalio resisted calling the president’s model authoritarian or socialist, but described the mechanics bluntly:

“Governments increasingly take control of what is done by central banks and businesses.”

Read the full catastrophizing interview here at The FT.

Goldman Sachs notes that there was good re-engagement from Chinese specs overnight as LBMA approaches the all-time-highs.

Western macros appear under-positioned given price has ignored all perceived catalysts (US debt, Trump vs Powell etc) until last Thursday / Friday when we saw re-engagement

We’re still ~5% away from the SHFE gold ATH (which is arguably more important given Chinese volumes).

President Trump is preparing to announce the relocation of the U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama.

According to the Department of Defense, the announcement is scheduled for mid-afternoon.

The Defense Department’s DVIDS website states that President Trump is scheduled to make a major announcement today at around 1:50 p.m. EST. While details remain scarce, a Reuters report indicates the announcement will concern relocating Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

Looks like Space Force is relocating to Sweet Home Alabama!
President Trump is reversing a Biden ‘error’ decision and moving Space Force from Colorado Springs to Huntsville Alabama!
Bravo! pic.twitter.com/lo3WYDq6dJ

— GrrrGraphics-Ben Garrison 🤠 Cartoons 🇺🇸 (@GrrrGraphics) September 2, 2025

As of 11:45 p.m. EST… 

Reuters noted, “The decision would reverse a move made under former President Joe Biden’s administration, which had selected Colorado Springs as the permanent home for the military’s newest combatant command in 2023,” adding, “Trump has often linked federal funding decisions and politics.” 

Huntsville appears to be the better fit, given its nickname is “Rocket City” because it’s home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program was developed. Defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, L3Harris, and Northrop Grumman all have significant operations in the area. 

Via American Greatness,

Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) has introduced HR 5066 the Safe Students Act which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, putting an end to what he calls “the default federal policy of making schools soft targets.”

Massie’s push for repealing the Gun-Free School Zones Act comes on the heels of a high-profile attack against a Catholic school in Minnesota by a deranged gunman who wrote in his manifesto that he targeted the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, in part, because he believed it  “seems like the kind of school to not arm their teachers.”

My Safe Students Act, HR 5066, would repeal the dangerous Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, ending the default federal policy of making schools soft targets.

HR 5066 would make it easier for state governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearm policies. pic.twitter.com/K73LMhyEme

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 29, 2025

Massie said his bill would repeal the federal law put in place by president George H.W. Bush and “make it easier for state governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearm policies.”

According to Breitbart, Bush’s 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act which banned possession of a firearm in a school zone, inadvertently created numerous unarmed “soft targets in place filled with defenseless children, teachers and school staff.”

Historically, mass shooters have sought out venues where the public is forbidden to be armed in order to maximize their opportunity to create as much carnage as possible with minimal risk of being stopped by their intended victims.

In a post on X last week, Massie wrote: “Deranged shooters choose schools because they know their victims are vulnerable. This one even admitted it. There’s never been a shooting like this in a school that allows staff to carry.”

Massie has introduced a bill to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act in each session of Congress in which he has served, seeking to equip teachers, staff and other law-abiding citizens with the ability to protect themselves and their students from potential threats.

Gun rights organizations like Gun Owners of America and the National Association for Gun Rights are lauding Massie’s bill and are calling for Congress to abandon the failed federal policy of making schools into soft targets.

The GPS of the airplane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was jammed while she was en route to Bulgaria on Sunday, an EU spokesperson said on Monday, adding that Russian involvement is suspected.

“We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” the EU spokesperson said.

As Security Affairs’ Pierluigi Paganini reports, Von der Leyen’s jet lost GPS near Plovdiv, forcing a manual landing with analogue maps after circling for an hour. Officials blame Russian interference. Bulgarian authorities reported a surge in GPS jamming and spoofing since 2022, which disrupts aircraft and ground system operations.

“A jet carrying von der Leyen to Plovdiv on Sunday afternoon was deprived of electronic navigational aids while on approach to the city’s airport, in what three officials briefed on the incident said was being treated as a Russian interference operation.” reported The Financial Times.

Bulgarian authorities confirmed the plane’s GPS signals were neutralized, and air traffic control provided alternative landing guidance using terrestrial navigation tools to ensure safety.

“The whole airport area GPS went dark,” said one of the officials.

The European Commission said “threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions” and that the incident would reinforce its commitment to “ramp up our defence capabilities and support for Ukraine”.

However, as Moon of Alabama reports, skepticism over Van der Leyen’s accusations is warranted: 

Here is what Flightradar was seeing at that time:

Flightradar24 @flightradar24 – 17:16 UTC · Sep 1, 2025

We are seeing media reports of GPS interference affecting the plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen to Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Some reports claim that the aircraft was in a holding pattern for 1 hour.

This is what we can deduce from our data.

* The flight was scheduled to take 1 hour and 48 minutes. It took 1 hour and 57 minutes.

* The aircraft’s transponder reported good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing.

Flightradar24 @flightradar24 – 17:50 UTC · Sep 1, 2025

The transponder signal transmitted by the aircraft contains a NIC value.
The NIC value encodes the quality and consistency of navigational data received by the aircraft.
Flightradar24 is using these NIC values to create the GPS jamming map at https://flightradar24.com/data/gps-jamming

The flight with Ursula von der Leyen on board transmitted a good NIC value from take-off to landing.

Āris Cēders @arisceders – 1:14 UTC · Sep 2, 2025

Still, they radioed about the “GPS issue” and requested ILS approach which is significantly less convenient in this particular case.

Flightradar24 @flightradar24 –

“Issue with GPS” can be any technical issue unrelated to GPS jamming. The aircraft was reporting a perfect signal. For sure they were not holding for 1h so the whole story just doesn’t make any sense.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the FT that “your information is incorrect.”