Authored by Omid Ghoreishi via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

While Canada’s resource sector was dealt a blow with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline’s permit by the United States, Canadian officials are facing another challenge as Michigan’s governor tries to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline.

The Line 5 pipeline, which crosses Wisconsin and Michigan, brings oil from Western Canada east, where it is refined in Sarnia, Ont., into products like gasoline, diesel, and home-heating fuel. Shutting down Line 5 would have a major impact on the crude oil supply of Eastern Canada and cost thousands of jobs.

Some activist groups in Minnesota are also hoping to stop Calgary-based Enbridge’s Line 3 project, launching legal challenges and even hoping U.S. President Joe Biden will cancel the project like he did Keystone XL. Line 3, along with the Trans Mountain expansion project and Keystone XL, before the latter’s permit was revoked, are the three major oil pipeline projects currently underway in Canada.

But impediments to Canada’s pipeline and resource projects aren’t limited to the ones crossing the border. In recent years the country has seen a number of cancellations and hold-offs on energy projects located within its own borders. Some were due to market conditions and prioritization decisions by owners. But a considerable number of projects have been cancelled due to cited uncertainty in the regulatory process and environmental policies, as well as indigenous consultation complexities.

Ottawa has introduced new environmental legislation, including Bill C-69, which faced challenges from some provinces for increasing the regulatory burden. Bill C-69, which became law in 2019, set out a new federal process for the environmental impact assessment of major projects. The opposition Conservatives and industry groups said the legislation will scare away investors, while the Liberals said the existing legislation didn’t provide adequate environmental protections and that was why projects were getting stalled in the courts.

A 2019 study by the C.D. Howe Institute said that announcements of new energy and mining projects in Canada slowed after 2015. And between 2017 and 2018, the planned investment value of major resource sector projects went down by $100 billion, equivalent to 4.5 percent of Canada’s GDP, the study said.

“Many projects in Canada have faced environmental assessments that take much longer than in comparator jurisdictions: Canadian timelines for mining projects are substantially longer than in Australia, and Canadian pipeline approvals are protracted relative to those in the United States,” the study said.

The infographic below shows some of the energy projects that have been cancelled in Canada for various reasons between 2015 and 2020, adding up to an estimated investment loss of over $175 billion. Also shown are the three major pipeline projects: Keystone XL, the Trans Mountain expansion, and Enbridge’s Line 3.

In many cases, the cancellation of energy projects has had the impact of reducing market access for Canadian oil and gas exports. In the case of the Energy East pipeline, which was to deliver crude oil from Western Canada to Eastern Canada, the cancellation meant more reliance on foreign imported oil for Eastern Canada, more oil exported from Western Canada to the United States at a discount, and more use of other means of transportation to move the oil.

In 2019, Canada exported 3.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, with 3.7 million barrels per day of those exports going to the United States. That amounted to 98 percent of all Canadian crude oil exports, with Canada supplying 48 percent of the total U.S. crude oil imports. That year, Canada imported 0.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, with those imports primarily coming from the United States (79 percent), followed by Saudi Arabia (12 percent) and Russia (2 percent).

Click to enlarge

In yet another curveball thrown by the Biden administration just days before President-elect Trump is to enter the Oval Office, Washington is removing Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list.

“An assessment has been completed and we do not have information that supports Cuba’s designation as being a state sponsor of terrorism,” a Biden official said Tuesday. The removal comes in the context of an initiative by the Roman Catholic Church to secure the release of political prisoners.

However it’s not being welcomed by the Trump administration and Republicans, and is expected to be reversed soon after Trump takes office. 

This Catholic Church-mediated deal will see “many dozens”” of political prisoners and others deemed by the US to be unjustly detained will be released as a result. The release is set to come on the very last day of the Biden administration—at noon on Jan. 20.

“In taking these steps to bolster the ongoing dialogue between the government of Cuba and the Catholic Church, President Biden is also honoring the wisdom and counsel that has been provided to him by many world leaders, especially in Latin America, who have encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced in a statement.

Other “good will” actions are expected to be included in the policy change. The Latin American island nation has been under full US embargo going back to the Kennedy administration in the 1960s and at the height of the Cold War, and since then Cuba lost an estimated $130 billion over the sixty years that followed, according to some studies.

Since the 2000s Cuba policy has been a matter of tug-of-war between alternating Republican and Democratic administrations. Obama sought to improve relations, a policy continued lately with Biden. Obama eased restrictions on travel and remittances for Cuba from the first year he entered office, in 2009.

And then in 2014 Obama and Raúl Castro announced the restoration of full diplomatic relations amid a continued thaw. By 2015 Cuba was removed from the terrorism list the first time around, and Cuba and the US reopened their respective embassies. The next year Obama became the first sitting US president in nearly ninety years to visit Cuba and meet with government leaders.

But it was Trump who in his first term reversed many of these policies, eventually returning Cuba to the state sponsors of terrorism list. This was also under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo:

The U.S. State Department returns Cuba to its list of state sponsors of terrorism, reversing another Obama-era step toward normalization, as Trump prepares to leave office. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cites Cuba’s harboring of U.S. fugitives and Colombian rebels, as well as its support for Venezuela’s regime.

Trump’s incoming Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio is expected to return to taking a hardline approach to both Cuba and Venezuela, akin to the position of Trump’s first administration.

Imagine the courage it took to lift this extra layer of the economic strangulation of Cuba just days before leaving office – just so Trump and Marco Rubio can re-impose it hours after inauguration https://t.co/hzDSZttg3R

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 14, 2025

Some Democrats, chiefly in Florida, have blasted Biden’s removal of Cuba from the terrorism list as “naïve”.

“While any return of political prisoners from the clutches of Communist Cuba is cause for celebration, the regime’s treatment of the Cuban people continues to be one of the biggest human rights violations of the last century,” Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried said Tuesday.

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued a public warning, raising concerns about potential copycat vehicle ramming attacks like the New Year’s Day incident in New Orleans that left 14 dead and dozens injured.

“The FBI and DHS are concerned about possible copycat or retaliatory attacks due to the persistent appeal of vehicle ramming as a tactic for aspiring violent extremist attackers,” the agencies noted in a joint alert issued on Jan. 13.

The New Orleans attack, reportedly motivated by ISIS propaganda, involved a vehicle plowing into a crowd. The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, then exited the vehicle and was killed by police in an exchange of gunfire.

Similar attacks are particularly concerning due to their simplicity and the accessibility of vehicles that can be rented, stolen, or owned outright, the agencies noted in the alert. Besides using the vehicle itself as a weapon, suspects in similar attacks have used other means to inflict more carnage.

“Some have used additional weapons, such as firearms and knives, to attack individuals after the vehicle has stopped,” the FBI and DHS noted.

“Additionally, attackers may attempt to conceal and pre-position improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to supplement a vehicle attack.”

The suspect in the New Orleans incident had additional weapons—including an IED—in the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck that he used to mow people down along a three-block path along Bourbon Street. About an hour before the attack, Jabbar put homemade bombs inside two coolers and placed them elsewhere in the French Quarter, a part of town teeming with New Year’s revelers. Law enforcement officials have said that the two IEDs planted by the suspect failed to go off because he used the wrong device to detonate them.

In their warning about potential copycats, the FBI and DHS noted that targets for such attacks typically include large gatherings of civilians, law enforcement, and military personnel, and heavily trafficked venues such as festivals, shopping centers, and places of worship. With the potential for widespread destruction and loss of life, the agencies urged heightened vigilance.

“The FBI and DHS urge bystanders to promptly report suspicious activities potentially related to violent extremist activity, including indications of possible online radicalization to violence and mobilization for attacks,” the alert reads.

The notice also highlighted resources available to law enforcement, first responders, and community leaders aimed at reducing vulnerabilities to such attacks. These include training materials and best practices for identifying threats and enhancing security protocols in public spaces.

Initially, officials believed that Jabbar may have had accomplices in orchestrating the deadly New Orleans attack. In the course of the investigation, however, they determined that he acted on his own in a “lone wolf” type attack.

The warning was issued on the same day the FBI said there were no known threats to the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony in Washington, at which President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office.

Trump faced two attempts on his life during his presidential campaign, including one where a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed his ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In the second incident, a gunman laid in wait at the Trump International Golf Course at West Palm Beach, and fled without firing his weapon after a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of his firearm and fired several shots in his direction.

William McCool, Secret Service’s special agent in charge, said during a Jan. 13 press conference that roughly 25,000 law enforcement and military officials will be onsite to ensure security on Inauguration Day.

“We have a slightly more robust security plan. We’ve been planning for this event for 12 months,” McCool said. “All attendees will undergo screening. Designated checkpoints will be set up for members of the public interested in attending the inauguration.”

Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

I expect 2025 to be a year of profound transformation, where old paradigms are rendered obsolete.

While nothing is certain, I think we can count on radical changes in 2025.

Navigating new paradigms in finance, geopolitics, and energy will be crucial for investors.

A primary focus in my research is to put together the pieces to reveal the true Big Picture and get positioned in unstoppable investment trends ahead of the crowd with smart speculations.

I’m more interested in getting the Big Picture right than gambling on short-term trades in rigged markets.

Understanding the Big Picture has always been essential. But given the scale of changes looming, I can’t think of another year in living memory where it will be more critical than in 2025.

Of particular importance is the US governments financial situation, which has been gradually deteriorating for decades. It’s not surprising that many people are complacent. They’ve long heard about the debt problem, and nothing has happened.

However, I think there’s an excellent chance that 2025 could be the year we see a paradigm shift, shattering conventional mental and financial models for the federal debt.

A crucial tipping point was reached in 2024 when the interest expense on the federal debt exceeded the defense budget for the first time. It’s on track to exceed Social Security and become the BIGGEST item in the federal budget.

Historian Niall Ferguson summed it up nicely:

“Any great power that spends more on debt service (interest payments on the national debt) than on defense will not stay great for very long.

True of Habsburg Spain, true of ancien régime France, true of the Ottoman Empire, true of the British Empire, this law is about to be put to the test by the US beginning this very year.”

The US government will soon have to choose to:

1. Cut defense spending amid the most chaotic geopolitical period since WW2.

2. Default on its promises regarding Social Security, Medicare, Veterans’ Benefits, and welfare generally.

Though it may try, the US government cannot continue to pay for entitlements and defense even if their current levels stay flat into the future. But they won’t stay flat. Both are set to grow significantly in the years ahead.

Tens of millions of Baby Boomers—about 22% of the population—will enter retirement in the coming years. Cutting Social Security and Medicare is a sure way to lose an election.

With the most precarious geopolitical situation since World War 2, defense spending is unlikely to be cut. Instead, defense spending is all but certain to increase.

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently said: “Barely staying even with inflation or worse is wholly inadequate. Significant additional resources for defense are necessary and urgent.”

In short, efforts to reduce expenditures will be meaningless unless it becomes politically acceptable to make chainsaw-like cuts to entitlements, national defense, and welfare while reducing the national debt to lower the interest cost.

In other words, the US would need a leader who—at a minimum—returns the federal government to a limited Constitutional Republic, closes the 128 military bases abroad, ends entitlements, kills the welfare state, and repays a large portion of the national debt.

However, that’s a completely unrealistic fantasy. It would be foolish to bet on that happening.

That’s why Elon Musk and DOGE are being set up for failure.

The Bottom Line

The government cannot even slow the spending growth rate, let alone cut it.

Expenditures have nowhere to go but up—way up.

The most likely outcome is that the US will try to have its cake and eat it too by paying for both growing defense and domestic obligations via currency debasement.

That’s why I’m confident that ever-increasing currency debasement is the inevitable outcome of the US government’s debt spiral.

It’s a self-perpetuating doom loop from which they cannot escape.

It’s like being on a runaway train with no brakes.

I suspect 2025 will be the year this becomes evident as previous mainstream conceptions about the national debt collapse.

• “We owe it to ourselves.”

• “Deficits don’t matter.”

• “Treasuries are risk-free return.”

• “The national debt is sustainable as long as we can print money.”

• “The US will never default.”

These have long been ridiculous tropes that many investors believed.

2025 could be the year the people who believe this nonsense receive a harsh reality check.

As this trend unfolds, I expect the rate of debasement will far exceed the nominal yield that Treasuries and most other bonds will offer.

That means people will look for alternatives to park their savings to preserve their purchasing power.

Instead of parking their savings in Treasuries, I believe people, companies, and countries will increasingly park their savings in gold. It’s already happening in a big way.

While this megatrend is already well underway, I believe the most significant gains in precious metals are still ahead.

Holding physical gold bullion in a private non-bank vault in a wealth-friendly jurisdiction like Singapore, Switzerland, or the Cayman Islands is a good idea.

That’s why I just released an urgent new PDF report with all the details. Click here to download it now.

There is a standoff going on outside the presidential residence in Seoul as police seek to execute a warrant to arrest South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. 

The standoff has ensued all day, also attracting crowds of protesters, in what began as a huge security operation in the predawn hours of Wednesday (local time). This is the second, and biggest, time an attempt has been made to arrest the sitting president.

It all stems from last month’s botched attempt by the president to impose martial law, after which lawmakers impeached him over potential insurrection. 

The Washington Post reports, “In extraordinary scenes that unfolded in the early hours of Wednesday morning, rows of police buses blocked the main road outside the presidential residence in one of Seoul’s ritziest neighborhoods, stopping traffic and forcing city buses and delivery vehicles to turn around.”

“Throngs of Yoon’s supporters — 6,500 of them, according to a police estimate — gathered outside the residence in an apparent effort to stymie the operation. Some had been camping on the street outside his residence for days,” the report continues.

Yonhap News Agency says that some 3,000 police are involved in the operation. Other reports say that it’s at least 1,000 officers. The efforts to raid the presidential residence have been stymied as lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party have made a big showing, at one point forming a human chain to block police from entering.

According to the latest BBC update, “Right now, the police seem to be pushing into the residence – entering from multiple points.” Authorities are also trying to breach the back of the compound.

Predawn scene outside Yoon’s residence:

Attempted arrest of Yoon reportedly underway, with over 1,000 officers mobilized

Protesters have gathered in front of the presidential residence to block it https://t.co/kkbwllzqdS pic.twitter.com/fGs8uxJ0wA

— RT (@RT_com) January 14, 2025

There is a clearly a Constitutional crisis unfolding as the courts and Yeol – along with loyalist lawmakers – are clashing over who exactly is still in charge of government:

This is a picture of the political crisis that South Korea finds itself in.

You’ve got two branches of executive power: the police – essentially law enforcement officers that have a legal arrest warrant that they’re trying to execute – and presidential security staff, who are blocking them.

This raises the question of who exactly is in charge.

The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is heading up the police raid, argues that it has the legal right to make an arrest, while the People Power Party has declared the operation to be unlawful.

“Stop the Steal” signs have been spotted amid the chaos:

More and more protesters are gathering near the presidential residence in South Korea in an attempt to stop 2000+ police officers trying to arrest President Yoon.

The president is protected by a military unit of around 200 soldiers.

The Stop the Steal movement is growing 🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/nPQdIaR0Op

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 14, 2025

BBC has issued the following timeline of the tumultuous events leading up to the standoff at the presidential residence as follows:

• 3 December: President Yoon declared martial law, plunging South Korea into political chaos – hours later he was forced to back down as furious protestors and lawmakers gathered outside the National Assembly. He then apologised for his actions and said they would not be repeated
• 7 December: Opposition MPs tried, but failed, to impeach Yoon having fallen a handful of votes short

• 14 December: Yoon was suspended from office after another vote saw lawmakers vote to impeach him, however the president can only be removed from office if the decision is upheld by the country’s constitutional court
• 31 December: A court in South Korea issued an arrest warrant for Yoon
• 3 January: Dozens of investigators attempted to arrest him but subsequently gave up after a six-hour stand off with the Presidential Security Service (PSS) outside his official residence
• 14 January: South Korea’s Constitutional Court held its first hearing to decide if the suspended president should be removed from office – the hearing ended in just four minutes because of Yoon’s absence and the next trial is scheduled for Thursday

Scenes outside/near Yoon’s residence pic.twitter.com/HYCdUZRsW8

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) January 14, 2025

Despite the country’s top court having issued a warrant, he has not responded to any court summons, and investigators have been unable to reach Yoon.

Via Open The Books,

The Department of Defense spent $79.1 billion on contracts and grants in September 2024, making it the military’s most expensive month for such purchases since 2008.

Not since George W. Bush was president has the military funneled so much cash out the door so quickly.

The dollar total includes $33.1 billion spent in the last five working days of September, which was 7% of the Pentagon’s contract and grant spending for all of fiscal year 2024. Only 11 other countries typically spend that much on their entire military in a full year.

On Friday, Sept. 27 alone, the DoD spent $11.7 billion on contracts and grants.

Federal agencies typically go on spending sprees at the end of the fiscal year, likely due to “use-it-or-lose-it” funding rules. They’re worried that spending less than their budget allows will cause Congress to give them less money the following year.

The largest expenses were in line with expectations, including $3 billion spent on ammunition and $7.9 billion spent on aircraft.

Others were a bit more surprising.

The military spent $103.7 million on meat, fish and poultry in September, partially because they ordered raw lobster tail 147 times for $6.1 million. They also dropped $16.6 million on ribeye steak, $6.4 million on salmon and $407,000 on Alaskan king crab.

Another $81.1 million went towards fruits and veggies. Blueberries were the most popular, with three orders each exceeding $100,000. There was no grape juice; maybe there’s still some left from the DoD’s $586,000 purchase in September 2023.

Not all the groceries were as healthy. The DoD ordered ice cream 79 times for $113,230 and spent $117,787 on fresh doughnuts.

The military also spent $1.2 million on musical instruments of over a dozen varieties, including $12,480 for “piano tuning.”

Other spending highlights from September 2024 include:

• At least $5.1 million on Apple products, including 130 iPhone 16 Pro Max devices

• $16.3 million on cartons, crates and tool boxes

• $211.7 million on new furniture and its installation

• $24.4 million on books, pamphlets and newspapers

• $36,000 on footrests

There were 19,043 different companies that received Pentagon contracts last September, but 31% of the money went to just 10 vendors. Lockheed Martin received $9.4 billion, almost twice as much as any other entity.

The vast majority of spending went to American businesses, but the DoD still sent nearly $2 billion to foreign companies last September.

Germany led the way with $481.5 million. The Pentagon is helping the chemicals company AlzChem Group build a plant in America to produce nitroguanidine, a substance found in gunpowder and other explosives, which accounted for $150 million.

The fourth-largest foreign purchase was $55.1 million worth of explosives from Canada, which the Pentagon sent to Ukraine. The DoD did the same thing the previous September – at a cost of $181.8 million

Saudi Arabian companies got $4.6 million and Qatar received $2.6 million.

Thankfully there were no foreign parking tickets this year, after the Navy paid a $7,136 ticket from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in September 2023.

September has been the DoD’s most expensive month almost every year since at least 2008. The only exception was 2020, when the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March increased expenses.

The DoD spent $455.2 billion on contracts in grants in fiscal year 2024 overall, which was 52% of its total budget.

Earlier this year, news broke that the Pentagon had failed its seventh consecutive audit, while the National Defense Authorization Act Requires them to achieve a clean audit by 2028.

According to a report by DoD Inspector General Robert Storch, “many of its identified weaknesses have not improved since 2005…achieving a clean audit does not rest solely in the hands of financial management professionals, but encompasses the entirety of processes and systems that track the accountability and use of DoD assets.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration could be the most militarized in U.S. history, according to a report released Monday.

Citing U.S. officials, The Telegraph reports that nearly 7,800 soldiers will join approximately police officers to patrol Washington, DC during the “peaceful transfer of power.” The newspaper also reveals that two FBI field offices, a swarm of drones, and at least 30 miles of fencing will be used to keep Trump and inauguration guests— including world leaders and top U.S. lawmakers from across the country—safe from a series of potential violent threats. Despite receiving no specific threats targeting Trump, law enforcement officials are “prepared” for the worst, according to the outlet.

Additionally, National Guard members from all 50 states will operate checkpoints, where inauguration observers will enter the National Mall in front of the Capitol building, while the federal government will enact a no-fly zone over D.C. A host of items have been barred from the inauguration area, including laptops, water bottles, and even selfie sticks.

Tensions will no doubt be running high during Trump’s swearing-in, as a coalition of left-wing organizations, including Planned Parenthood and Abortion Access Now, are set to hold a so-called “People’s March” on Saturday to protest Trump’s landslide win over his Democrat opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Officials moved to increase security for Trump’s inauguration following the ISIS-inspired terror attack on January 1 in New Orleans, which saw 14 people killed and 35 injured. U.S. Secret Service assistant special agent Matthew Young said following the attack that the agency “adjusts our security plans as needed.”

“[W]e’re flexible and adaptable…we’re going to be prepared,” he added.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also vowed to keep the area secure for the peaceful transfer.

“We take pride in this responsibility, and we’re grateful to our federal partners, local agencies, and community members who work together to ensure a safe and secure event,” Bowser said.

The Secret Service has been the subject of intense scrutiny after a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump during a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in July. US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in wake of the shooting amid scrutiny of security lapses related to the assassination attempt. Cheatle, while testifying before Congress regarding the shooting, admitted that there were “significant” and “colossal” issues with the security at the rally.

Two months later, another gunman allegedly sought to kill the president-elect at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Incoming First Lady Melania Trump said in an interview that aired on Jan. 13 that the transition to the White House this time is different from the period following her husband’s first election victory.

“The difference is I know where I will be going. I know the rooms where we will be living. I know the process,” Melania Trump, 54, said in an interview aired by Fox & Friends. “The first time was challenging, we didn’t have much of the information.”

The incoming first lady said that everything is already packed, and she has selected the furniture that will be installed once President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and their family vacate the White House on Jan. 20. In a space of just five hours, transition staffers will move the Bidens out and move the Trumps in.

Melania Trump said she will spend most of her time in the White House, although there will be days when she needs to be in New York, or Palm Beach, Florida.

Barron Trump, the 19-year-old son of Melania Trump and the president-elect, who lived at the White House in the first term, will visit the White House in the upcoming four years, she said. Barron Trump is preparing to take classes at New York University.

Melania Trump said that her 2024 memoir has drawn scores of responses from fans, who wanted to hear more from her. That prompted a new film project that started shooting in November of that year. The movie will show her day-to-day life, including her preparation for returning to the White House, she said.

She said on Fox that she is looking forward to being first lady again.

“I think it will be an exciting four years. We have a lot to do, to put the country back in shape,” she said.

Melania Trump is still hiring for her team. She plans to leave a few positions open until after the Trumps move back into the White House.

“I don’t want to hire too many people on my team and spend too much taxpayer money. I want to make sure that every position, they are talented, they have merit, they know what they are doing, and … they are team players. They don’t have their own agenda. They’re serving me, they’re serving my office, and they’re serving the country.”

She said she would continue her “Be Best” campaign, which she started when she was first lady from 2017 through 2021. “Be Best” focuses on youth mental health, including protecting children against cyberbullying.

The incoming first lady said that she has also seen a change in how people treat her.

“I feel I was always me the first time … I just feel that people didn’t accept me, maybe. They didn’t understand me the way maybe they do now. And I didn’t have much support,” she said. “Maybe some people see me as just a wife of the president, but I’m standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts, I have my own ‘yes’ and ‘no.’”

Melania Trump said she does not always agree with what her husband is doing or saying. She gives her husband some advice, she said.

“Sometimes he listens, and sometimes he doesn’t, and that’s OK,” she said.

US President-elect Donald Trump has unveiled plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very quickly” after being sworn in on January 20, he said in a Monday interview. He was interviewed by conservative news outlet Newsmax and was asked about specifics on his strategy to end the Ukraine war, to which Trump replied “there is only one strategy, and it’s up to Putin.”

Trump explained, “I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled with the way it’s gone, because it hasn’t gone exactly well for him either.”

“I know he [Putin] wants to meet, and I’m going to meet very quickly,” the president-elect said. “I would have done it sooner, but… you have to get into the office.” These words came the day after Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), told ABC News that “the preparations are underway” for a meeting between Trump and the Russian leader.

“I do expect a call … at least in the coming days and weeks,” Waltz said. “So, that would be a step, and we’ll take it from there.”

Various reports in the last weeks have made clear that meeting with Putin and seeking a breakthrough toward Ukraine peace is Trump’s biggest foreign policy priority at this point, though his eye is still on China as a top priority too:

Trump noted at the time he’s had “a lot of communication” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and has spoken with numerous other world leaders. But he has yet to speak with Putin.

“But President Putin wants to meet. He’s said that even publicly, and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Trump said of the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin statements issued in the past days have reaffirmed openness to such a meeting, “but that any concrete steps to set up such talks could be made only once Mr. Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20,” The New York Times recently noted.

“We need a mutual desire and political willingness to engage in a dialogue,” Putin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters last Friday. “We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to solve issues via dialogue. We welcome that.”

Peskov added that Russia’s understanding is that there is a “mutual readiness for a meeting” but that “it looks like things will start to move after Trump enters the Oval Office.”

Prior reporting on the ‘Trump peace plan’ suggests that the US side will offer Ukraine a twenty-year waiting period before it can hope to join NATO; however, Moscow has rejected even this possibility as a non-starter.

Without doubt, Moscow sees itself in the driver’s seat – even as Ukraine tries to inflict as much damage as possible through drone and missile strikes on Russian territory. Russian forces have made weeks of rapid gains in the Donetsk, including having captured another key industrial town just this past week.

While the MTA has yet another hand in your pocket with NYC’s new congestion tolls, taxpayers are getting even less from the mass transit service in New York, which is on the “brink of collapse” a new report says. 

The city’s subway system isn’t just teetering—it’s already breaking down, according to a new report from Gothamist. 

Train delays caused by faulty infrastructure surged 46% last year compared to 2021, and major incidents delaying 50 or more trains hit their highest level since 2018, according to MTA data.

A Gothamist investigation revealed the crumbling state of the system through tours of restricted transit facilities and interviews with over 100 riders from nearly every subway line.

MTA records reveal service breakdowns could surpass those of the 2017 “summer of hell,” when subway reliability hit record lows. Officials blame decades of deferred maintenance, keeping outdated equipment in use. Experts warn similar failures are imminent, risking widespread system disruptions.

The MTA has long been criticized for underfunding its infrastructure, a problem worsened by reduced maintenance during the 1970s financial crisis and massive debt from state funding cuts in the 1990s.

The Gothamist piece notes that now, the agency seeks $65 billion for system repairs and upgrades over five years but has less than half the needed funds. State lawmakers, debating how to cover the $33 billion shortfall, recently vetoed the plan as they negotiate potential new or dedicated taxes for the MTA.

The MTA’s $65 billion plan excludes $15 billion from Manhattan’s congestion pricing tolls, intended for transit upgrades first proposed in 2019.

MTA Chair Janno Lieber claims subway service is at its peak but admits many trains are barely held together. Even the ambitious plan falls short of addressing all urgent repairs. Experts blame the city’s exorbitant construction costs, among the highest globally, for delays and overspending.

The East Side Access project, completed in 2023, took 55 years and went $8 billion over budget. Despite reforms, critics argue the MTA’s inefficiencies and high costs remain a major challenge.

Century-old pumps, like those at the 116th Street station, struggle to manage flooding, leaving the system vulnerable during heavy rains. Even on dry days, outdated equipment, some predating the Great Depression, operates at minimal capacity, far below modern standards.

The MTA plans to allocate $700 million to upgrade pump rooms with advanced technology capable of handling significantly higher water flow, but repairs are long overdue, and the system remains fragile.

The subway’s repair tools and facilities are also failing. Diesel-powered work trains, many from the 1960s, frequently break down, stalling critical maintenance. At repair facilities, outdated equipment and poor conditions delay work, compounding the system’s inefficiencies.

Weekend commuters bear the brunt of these issues as service disruptions grow. With major delays happening more frequently, the MTA’s proposed $65 billion modernization plan promises relief but will also intensify short-term outages while funding remains uncertain.

You can read the full length investigation here.