Showing posts with label The Second Trump Administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Second Trump Administration. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 12, the Deflect and Deny edition.


October 2, 2026.

We are, of course, about one month away from the General Election and it's universally agreed that, at least as of right now, the economy is not doing well, which is to say that it's not doing well for average people.  Having said that, all the monkeying around Trump has done with the economy has not resulted in a general collapse, as some feared.  This tends to give credence to the assertion that some make that the American economy in general is so strong that it tends to keep on chugging along in spite of everything.  

Having said that, prices on many things have gone up, and are now at the paint point for average people.  Beef prices, for example, are up about 25%.  That can't really be blamed on Trump, as its due to a historically low cattle heard, but Trump's efforts to address it were pretty much non existent at first, and the ineffectual when they were tried.

Beef Imports Haven’t Lowered Prices As Hoped. ‘I Told You So,’ Says Wyo Rancher

Addressing the price can only really come through a recovery of the North American herd.  Trump's constant crazy hatred of Canada and Canadians isn't helping this at all, as Canada is part of the North American market.  Mexican cattle, which had been banned from coming into the US due to screwworm, which we're not hearing much about, which is concerning, have started to come back in. That is likely to  have some effect.

Petroleum prices have shot up enormously since Trump started an ill advised and poorly planned war on Iran for no real discernable critical objective.

Wars are inflationary by their very nature, but attacking a critical global petroleum supplier is definitely going to be inflationary, and this is set to really start hitting home.  Everything in the US, whether it moves by truck, by rail, or in the air, uses petroleum.  That impacts the price of 100% of American goods.  Gasoline, Diesel fuel and Aviation fuel is way up in price.  Heating oil is up 50% to 70% just as we're entering the season where it starts to be used on the East Coast. NOAA, which usus science, predicts a warm winter in the East, like last years, so that might not be as impactful as it could be.  The Old Farmers Almanac, which I put no stock in whatsoever, predicts a cold winter.

An interesting side impact of the cost of things is that even Wyomingites are looking at electric vehicles.  I overheard a conversation the other day in which two people were wishing to get them, and they're both highly conservative individuals.  A report on increasing EVs appeared in one of the local online journals today.

Is Wyoming Going Electric? EV Registrations Surge Tenfold In Two Years

There are still a lot of naysayers out there, but there were when automobiles started to become common for that matter.

Anyway, the Trump Administration has handed out its flood of excuses for all of this, starting at first with "it's Joe Biden's fault".  Everything is Biden's fault according to Trump, whom while he routinely falls asleep in public still calls Biden, on occasion, "Sleep Joe".

The it's all Biden's fault is no longer selling very well so the "it's not much to pay to keep Iran from getting a bomb" has been tried and is still being tried, but it's not selling that well . First of all, well informed people know that while Iran is a very secretive state, the evidence that it was about to make a nuke is thin.  And frankly Israel's major early role in the war made it pretty clear that this was a joint Israeli American adventure in which the Trumpites had been heavily influenced by Israel.  That's adding to an anti Israeli sentiment that's been building in the US for several years and you'll even now hear, in response to the suggestion that it's all worth it to keep Iran from getting a bomb, that maybe we don't really care if Iran has a bomb.

We didn't care enough about North Korea having one in order for the US to attack it, and Trump loves the communist leader of North Korea.

So that excuse isn't working either.

So time to distract.

The government just announced that children under 16 years of age are being automatically enrolled in "Trump" savings accounts. The Government, which has no money whatsoever as it's borrowing piles, will place $1,000 of the money it doesn't have into such accounts, but parents need to claim it.

Will this achieve something?

Well, it might, or might now.  Truth be known with inflation being what it is, $1,000 that can't be touched until a person is 18 years old isn't going to seem like that big of a deal right now  But it might turn out to be.

Trump also promised people $5,000 if the GOP retains both houses of Congress, but then that would require Congress to do it, and Trump earlier promised everyone a $2,000 tariff dividend.  The government handing out cash it doesn't have isn't a good idea and frankly I thought it was a horrible idea when President Biden started handing out cash during COVID.  I've heard the Trump proposal compared to that, and that was a bad idea.

The Administration also just sent out $500.00 checks as supposed refunds for Obamacare overcharges.  They seem rather strategically placed, however.  

Anyhow, stayed tuned for coming attractions. The trade war with Canada is just starting, the war is no where near over, and prices are really set to climb.  Trump has less than thirty days to address all of this, or even some of it, which won't be easy at all.  Voters who are inclined to vote their pocketbooks are likely pretty much set in their opinions by now.

October 6, 2026

Casper's Grant Street Grocery closed.

Grant Street Grocery, Casper Wyoming


Grant Street Grocery in Casper Wyoming is the only surviving small neighborhood grocery store in the town and even advertises the same.

Opened in 1921, the store was converted into a specialty grocery store and deli some years ago, and features meats and cheeses, as well as many other items, that are unlikely to appear on the counters of regular grocery stores.  It's featured here for its simple sign, as well as being a remnant of something that was once very common, a neighborhood store.

President Trump signed an order allowing for the temporary sale of red diesel, which you tend to only find easily in farm country, for regular diesels.  Effectively its a sort of kind of temporary suspension of the Federal tax on diesel.

I'd quite frankly question the Presidents ability to legally do this, but if I see red diesel for sale, I'm buying it.  

I probably won't find it for sale.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 10, The Autarky Edition.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 10, The Autarky Edition.


Autarky is the economic concept of producing everything a nation consumes within its own borders.  It's been tried numerous times, and inevitably leads at best to high prices and deprivation. At worst, it results in warfare.

Autarky was the official economic model of the Nazi Party after German economist Hjalmar Schacht joined the party in 1926 and after Gregor Strasser was ousted from party influence.* Nazi Germany provides a perfect example of how it doesn't work.  Germany was a major industrial power leading up to, during and after World War Two (it still is), but it could never produce enough of anything for its own economy, even in peacetime.  Moreover, it didn't have the raw materials to supply all it did produce.  It imported 20% of its food supply in the early 1930s, and by the late 1930s the Nazis had only managed to boost that to 83%.

The solution was simple.

What the Germans did have, they could just seize from neighboring countries through war, and then either kill off the native population or subjugate it.  That's exactly what it attempted to do.  It pursued that murderously in Poland and the Soviet Union, and through vassal states in the form of France, Romania and Spain.  Where that proved to be impossible. . . for the time being, it used bullying and threats, such as in regard to Sweden.

Even at that, it was never able to do it.

That seems to be to some extent what Donald Trump is advocating right now.

If we were playing hardball, all we'd do is say we're going to do no trading with Canada. If we did no trading with Canada would save $90 billion.

We could do tremendous good for ourselves by just not trading with countries..  We lose with Mexico $195 billion a year. They have nothing that we have to have, I mean. Hot tamales, tomatoes, a couple of things

Trump seems to believe that by closing the economic border with Canada and Mexico, and everyone else, unless they essentially become vassal states, the US can simply go it alone and not be harmed.  Where it's obvious that won't work, we'll force acquisition, as we have now done in Venezuela and keep threatening to do with Greenland.  

This is immoral, and stupid.

You'd think that a guy who went to Wharton would have a basic grasp of economics.  Open economic borders, truly open economic borders, make countries rich, not poor.  That doesn't mean that there's never a place for tariffs, including for protectionism, but it's generally a bad idea.  

What makes for more sense is for the United States, Mexico, and Canada, to have a seamless economy with no tariffs at all.  The US and Canada had a nearly duty free relationship prior to Trump, save for the infamous very high ones on dairy, poultry, and egg products.  Those latter tariffs were absurd, but the US also has absurd tariffs in the agricultural sector.  The US relationship with Mexico is, right now, duty free.

An absolute lack of tariffs is how it should be between the three major North American economies.  Only an an economic ignoramus would disrupt that.

And only an immoral person would advocate taking the oil of another nation that is providing it under the gun.  The US has been an oil addict for a century, but was showing signs of getting off the stuff.  Trump, with his "it's always the 1950s" mindset can't seem to get out of that.

Trump should really know better.  Wharton has a reputation as one of the best, maybe the best, business school in the country.  He owes us an explanation, which he seems to be incapable of articulating, for his idiotic economic views. Wharton, and I'm serious about this, does as well.  I know one Wharton graduate personally, and he is brilliant. But the example of Donald Trump is to weird to explain. For that matter, the example of Wyoming's Chuck Gray, who is an absolute Trump sycophant, is as well.

We need a combination of supreme moral sensitivity and economic knowledge. Economically ignorant moralism is as objectionable as morally callous economism. Ethics and economics are two equally difficult subjects, and while the former needs discerning and expert reason, the latter cannot do without humane values.

Wilhelm Röpke, A Humane Economy: The Social Framework of the Free Market

September 8, 2026

Retaliatory Canadian tariffs took place today with duties ranging from 15% to 50% across hundreds of U.S. products worth a total CA$27.6 billion, including dairy, agricultural equipment, paper, household appliances and electronics.

This will hurt Canadian consumer through increased cost to them, and American producers due to decreased demand.

Cont:

September 8, 2026

And as this wasn't enough, 5he United States is banning the import of some dairy products motorcycles and  most alcoholic beverages from Canada.

This is rank stupidity.  Peter Navarro ought to be sent to kindergarten and Wharton declared a clown college.


So, if you can, go out and buy a Can Am motorcycle and some Crown Royal.


Well, probably not.  I'm too old to start riding a motorcycle (I'd much prefer a mule) and I can't stand Crown Royal.  But if I liked Canadian whiskey, I'd go buy some for spite.

I may just for spite.

September 10, 2026

Cont:

U.S. wholesale inflation hits 5.4% annually in August 2026.

More good news from the Trump administration.

September 11, 2026

Lame duck defeated state senator Bob Ide used the Hilltop disaster to say something monumentally stupid.

Hilltop Bank Shutdown Just Confirms Why Wyoming Needs Gold, Lawmaker Says

Bob, that's stupid.

September 15, 2026

Oil everywhere is up over $100/bbl and set to rise.

Prices at the pump are at record highs.

This appears to be set to get extremely bad.

September 16, 2026

The Fed raised interest rates, contrary to the wish of King Donald.

cont:


This guy is a Wharton graduate?

September 17, 2026

Railroad surcharges on grain have doubled over the past year.

September 18, 2026
If we buy $2 billion worth of bananas from Brazil, we’re actually losing $2 billion. So if we stop eating bananas, we actually save $2 billion.
Donald Trump

Oh for goodness sakes.  What an idiotic statement.

But one Trump appears to really believe.

First of all, a trade deficit in and of itself, unless you believe in autarky, si not a bad thing.  A rich country, which Trump is helping to end our status as, will probably have a trade deficit.  Trade deficits can be bad, but not simply because they exist, but for other reasons.

And, this is a classic example from the Wealth of Nations.

The US produces hardly any bananas.  Just some in Florida, which stay in Florida, and some in Hawaii.  

The US imports hardly any bananas from Brazil. Brazil only exports about  $21 million to $24 million anywhere.  Brazil does import $11.23 billion in fuel from the US.  And this economic analysis is moronic.

Even assuming that we bought bananas from Brazil, which we do not, if we are to eat bananas, and people like bananas, we have to buy them from a foreign source.  We given them money, we get bananas.  

That doesn't make us poor, it actually does the opposite.

Which, once again, leads to this:

WHARTON, WHAT THE FUCK IS MATTER  WITH YOU?  HOW DID THIS GUY GRADUATE WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE BEST ECONOMIC SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD?

September 24, 2026

The Secretary of Agriculture reports that if you don't like beef prices, you can switch to chicken or pork.

That's frankly quite true, and it's a thing that producers need to worry about.  Pork was the primary meat for most Americans up until the post Civil War era.  Once people make a major shift in diet, they tend to stick with it.

September 21, 1946 advertisement from the American Meat Institute featuring a leg of lamb.

On this topic, the news relates that a top Texas BBQ joint will no longer offer beef brisket. Too expensive.  That isn't a good sign.

Also regarding meat, the USDA is recalling 167,000 lbs of uninspected beef, pork and goat meat.

On all of this, the meat prices would be easy to blame on Trump, as the Wharton School of Business seems to be economically incompetent.  This, however, is largely due to other factors, although I don't know how to explain the inspection glitch.

One thing that will impact the price of meat. . .and everything else, is the price of fuel.  Indeed, after a year that featured record cattle prices, for those who had cattle to sell, profits are now being lost to diesel fuel.

A common cry out there in the hinterlands right now is to impose an export ban on diesel fuel.  Such a ban was in place from 1975 to 2015.  It's really debated what lifting the ban would do.  Midwest GOP candidates started crying for it recently, but Wyoming's Congressional representation opposes it. That doesn't tell us much, however, as Wyoming's delegation probably wouldn't oppose a proposal to nuke the state.

Anyhow, Trump indicated support for a temporary ban, and then energy secretary Chris Wright walked it back, which is extremely interesting, particularly as farmers in the Midwest are now having real second thoughts about King Donald now that they realize he's fucking them with his policies, and not other people they didn't car about.

September 29, 2026

The Trump ban on the importation of Canadian alcohol, dairy and motorcycles, comes into effect today.

The ban is moronic.

Trump rolled back fuel efficiency standards on automobiles, as he's an ancient fool about to die and lives in the past in many ways.

And, on fuel, this item:

As Wyoming Tries Again To Build Out EV Charging Network, Trump Goes The Other Way

Wyoming has always had some progressive and farsighted people working behind the scenes while, at the same time, the troglodyte faction of the GOP, particularly strongly represented in the Wyoming Freedom Caucus From The South seek to believe it's 1861.  

Electric vehicles are coming, and diesel at $6.00 will help revive interest in them.  The comments on this, of course, are "dem new fangle aut o mobiles won't replace the horse", basically.  EVs are coming, like it or not, and when the Trump administration is in the outhourse of history where it so richly belongs, they'll significantly revive.

September 30, 2026

A flood of Chinese soda ash has Wyoming’s industry swimming in troubled waters

And with the following item, we'll close out this installment:

The soaring cost of diesel means a bumpy road for school buses in Colorado

Footnotes

*Strasser was permanently ousted from influence in the Night of the Long Knives.

Schacht is interesting in that he was never a Nazi himself and was involved in prewar anti Nazi plots.  He served in the German government nonetheless.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 9, 25th Amendment Watch, 23d Edition. The Canadian Harvard and Oxford doctor in economics vs. the Wharton playboy. The Trade War with Canada edition.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Embarrassing leader delivers embarrassing UN speech.

Trump delivered what was effectively a campaign speech at the UN.

The Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency Donald Trump, president of the United States of America.

I request protocol to escort His Excellency in.

Invite him to address the Assembly.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Mr. Secretary general, First Lady of the United States, distinguished delegates, ambassadors, and fellow leaders.

It's my great honor to welcome the world to America as we celebrate 250 years of glorious freedom and independence.

Two and a half centuries after the cause of liberty found its home on this continent, I can report to you with pride that America is back And our country is stronger today than ever before.

Our economy is the envy of the world.

Our military is the most powerful on earth.

Our technology is second to none and we are leading in virtually everything.

Our energy is fueling the planet.

America is rising.

Our nation is growing.

Our power is expanding.

Our country is doing better than ever before, and our future is very, very bright.

Since I took office, we have created more than 1 million new private sector jobs, and more Americans are working today by far than ever before.

Last week, it was announced that the poverty rate has reached its lowest level in American history.

We lifted 1.5 million Americans out of poverty last year alone.

Another record, the African American and Hispanic American poverty rates are at all time lows.

Real household incomes for Americans have soared to the highest level in history, 87,000 on average, surpassing the prior record that I set in my first term.

From day one, my administration has worked to remove every single unnecessary regulation and obstacle to doing business in America.

We passed the largest tax cuts in American history, and as a result, more money is being invested in the United States right now than has ever been invested in any nation, anywhere in the world.

U.S. stock markets have set all time records.

And that's just in the last 12 months.

We've secured commitments for $21 trillion in new investments from all over the planet, compared to less than $1 trillion in four years in the previous administration.

Two years ago, our country was dead, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.

Before I took office, we had the worst and most dangerous border on earth.

And now we have the most secure border in American history.

Nobody comes in unless they're invited.

Unless they have permission.

In the past 16 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.

And that's done by some very sophisticated people.

It's not done by the Trump administration.

Zero.

As a result, last year we achieved the largest drop in violent crime ever recorded.

The murder rate has plummeted to its lowest level in 125 years.

Since the year 1900, I sent our crime busters into Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and crime in each place went down over 80% and will go down still further.

More importantly, when I arrived on January 20th of last year in Washington, D.C., it was riddled with crime.

And now crime is down 87% and we're going for 100.

Tourism is, if you take a look and I guess a lot of you have been there.

Tourism is thriving.

Restaurants are bustling, and people are proud of our nation's capital.

They're proud like never before.

We've invested more money in the United States military in the past 12 months than ever before And this term, it will be $1.5 trillion.

We inherited a dark Age of America from the previous administration, and we turned it into the golden age of America.

The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit, and momentum of a newly energized and a very powerful United States of America.

And just as we moved quickly to address problems we inherited at home, we have acted with decisiveness and speed to reshape the world stage and solve problems that have plagued us for far too long.

Every leader in this room and your great leaders, many great leaders.

I know all of you very well, but they know that given only a short time to make this world better, safer, and more prosperous for our children, for the people on earth, we have to take advantage of it.

As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day.

I do not believe in letting problems fester.

They only become harder to solve.

So while others have talked, I have acted, while others have spoken of peace.

I have made peace while others have ignored threats.

I have confronted them while others have talked of courage.

America has shown it, while others have promised strength.

I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world.

Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of intractable challenges, and we are settling years of unfinished business.

And we're doing it well.

There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond.

They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.

From the first day I entered the political arena, I've been unwavering.

I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

Upon taking office last year, I immediately opened negotiations with Iran and offered them full economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program and support for terror.

But they refused.

They absolutely refused.

That was a big mistake Then in Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. military obliterated their nuclear program beneath mountains of rubble.

And again, I urged Iran to make a deal.

And again they refused.

The regime continued building a vast missile and drone stockpile that threatened the security of every American service member in the region and everyone else in the region They also made a missile that was capable of hitting Europe, and they were very proud of it.

I hope the Europeans realize that Iran's goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb from behind this conventional ballistic missile shield.

If they had succeeded, that wicked regime would have been free to spread terror and death forever, knowing that any attempt to stop them would face an arsenal of nuclear annihilation.

In America, we just marked the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attack in history, September 11th, which killed 3000 people just a few miles from here.

It was an unbelievably terrible time.

In two weeks, we will mark the third anniversary of the October 7th attack in Israel, where terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated and killed 1200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies, babies, little tiny, beautiful babies.

Iran's supreme leader celebrated that massacre and called it a service to humanity The same regime slaughtered over 72,000 of its citizens this year.

Recently, 10,000 were killed for protesting.

Just imagine such a vile regime wherever empowered to carry out large scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield.

This was the reality we had to confront, a reality that far too many preferred to ignore.

They all ignored it.

Many presidents and many others just wanted to ignore it.

They were unwilling to do anything about it, but they knew the problem.

After giving Iran every chance for a deal, I took action to ensure that neither the United States nor any nation is Hall would ever have to face such a nightmare, such a catastrophic problem.

As a result of Operation Epic Fury, all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea.

Likewise, their air force is gone.

Their radar is gone, their anti-aircraft equipment is gone.

Their missiles and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone.

Their economy is gone.

The only thing that isn't gone is inflation, which is destroying their country and is now well over 300%.

Yet even after we agreed to a cease fire for nuclear discussions, Iran promptly violated it with brazen acts of terrorism against civilian ships from other countries.

I want to thank the U.N. Security Council for voting overwhelmingly to pass a resolution condemning Iran's despicable terrorist attacks on commercial shipping.

Thank you very much.

That resolution, I'm pleased to say, received more co-sponsors from U.N. member nations than any Security Council resolution in history.

That's something.

Now, we must be equally united in maintaining pressure.

The United States Navy has recently escorted more than 1 billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, and more oil is flowing than at any point since the start of the war.

We're taking 22, 25, 30, 32 and 37 ships out, respectively, every single day, every single night.

But I have a big decision to make.

Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?

Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East, or even the world.

Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?

Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?

But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn't make sense for them not to.

They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.

What they don't realize is that I'm not running.

I did that already and won in a landslide.

We won in a giant landslide, and I'll be here for two and a half years.

The Republican Party is running and I'll be helping them, but I am not running.

I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election.

When it comes to Iran, it doesn't even enter my mind.

The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

The cowards and traitors.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions, but that's not true.

We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using, and we're building them at levels that we have never done before.

We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before.

Top of the line stuff.

In addition, in the very near future, massive munition plants will be opening.

There are 18 of them being built by the greatest defense companies in the world right now 18 under construction.

Some of them very quickly will be completed.

They're almost there.

And that rapid construction will be leading to very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type, and will be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we're doing right now.

I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran.

Until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror.

The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate.

If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51 year menace of Iranian terror.

And oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict.

And they were very low in the United States.

They were really low.

With courage and resolve.

Anything is possible.

Big changes can happen and happen fast.

One year ago, when I addressed the great leaders in this hall, the war in Gaza was still raging brutally.

The hostages were still deep in Hamas tunnels and there was no end in sight.

It was never going to be resolved.

But here on the sidelines of the General Assembly, we took the first steps.

That changed everything.

A few weeks later, we ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives.

We also brought home all remaining hostages, both living and dead.

Every single one of them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Everyone thought it was a miracle that we were able to do so.

And people celebrated in the streets.

I want to express my gratitude to the United Nations Security Council for their unanimous endorsement of our 20 point Gaza peace plan, and for officially approving the Board of Peace.

Going to be a very significant group of people.

Nearly 30 countries have joined the board, which I am honored to chair, and we're thankful to many of those member nations for contributing billions and billions of dollars to relief.

And it goes right to the rebuilding and relief of Morocco, Bahrain.

These are the countries that gave Qatar, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and many more.

That money goes right to the source, right where they need it, and they desperately need it.

And those countries are very have been very generous, and others also are stepping up at numbers that nobody would even believe because they want to see people live.

They want to see the humanitarian thing happen properly.

They've been fantastic.

I also want to thank those who have committed troops police and training to help stabilize Gaza, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Jordan and more.

Since I took office, it has been my great honor to settle eight wars and in so doing, become friendly with the leaders of many of those countries.

It was a great honor to do it.

Numerous of these wars have gone on for many years and even decades.

The reason I was able to make these settlements was the use of my relationships.

Very special relationships to this day, very, very special trade, the use of tariffs and the threat of tariffs and various other reasons depending on the country.

Among them, terms of settlement, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

And of course, the war in Gaza, which, as I stated previously, includes the return of all hostages, both living and dead.

Almost every one of these countries wrote me a letter of thank you.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, terrific man, said that Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives, and probably many more than that.

The president of Azerbaijan said President Trump had six months, did a miracle.

It was an absolute miracle that nobody thought could be done.

The prime Minister of Armenia said this breakthrough would simply not have been possible without President Trump's personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace.

A president of Cambodia stated President Trump's extraordinary statesmanship, marked by his commitment to resolving conflicts and preventing catastrophic wars through visionary, innovative diplomacy was most recently demonstrated in his decisive role in brokering an immediate and unconditional cease fire and peace.

This timely intervention which averted a potentially devastating conflict, was vital in preventing a great loss of lives and paved the way towards the restoration of peace.

The president of Rwanda said when President Trump saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it.

This conflict has lasted for 32 years.

Millions and millions of people have died.

We got it settled.

We've seen countless mediations and efforts, but none has succeeded in resolving the underlying issues.

President Donald Trump issued a new and effective statement that really has brought great peace and space through really a breakthrough that we thought was impossible.

We're working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we will get that one done.

It's going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand.

They've they've had it 25000 young people, mostly soldiers a month, are dying 25000 a month.

And I look at those battlefield pictures and I, I really don't want to see them anymore.

It's so horrible to see 25,000 a month.

Both sides.

In addition, the United States and Iran will definitely get it done.

We will get it done one way or the other.

It's going to be done.

It's going to be done fast.

A lot has happened since we last gathered here one year ago in January.

At my direction, the United States military conducted a massive military operation penetrating deep into the Venezuelan capital.

Caracas descended on a heavily defended and fortified military base, one that was supposed to be flawless against attack, and arrested the outlaw dictator, real criminal Nicolas Maduro.

Since that day, hundreds of Venezuelan political prisoners have been freed.

They've let them out of jails, and we're working closely with the leaders of Venezuela to forge a much better future for the Venezuelan people.

Last month, we signed the largest oil deal in history, covering 65 billion barrels of oil, which will benefit both Venezuela and the United States enormously and help drive down the cost of energy all over the world.

And that is starting to perk right now.

It's coming out.

The biggest oil companies in the world are going in, and the numbers are absolutely incredible.

When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world.

So it's perhaps the biggest deal.

It was a war, but it's perhaps the biggest deal ever made.

To the victor belong the spoils.

You've all heard that our actions in Venezuela are proof that the United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

And if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States.

As you know, Venezuela had the finest equipment in the world from other countries.

And guess what It didn't work.

Didn't even come close to working.

For decades, other administrations allowed much of this region to be dominated by vicious gangs and bloodthirsty drug cartels, destabilized by uncontrolled migration and infiltrated by hostile foreign adversaries, foreign sick, demented adversaries.

But not anymore.

We are reasserting American power, including American military power, where necessary in our region and around the world, to create a safer future for all of us.

It's happening, and it's happening quickly.

Upon taking office, I designated the drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and unleashed the United States Armed Forces to eliminate them.

The cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere, not good people, their enemies at war with civilization using murder, rape, torture, and extortion as instruments of terror.

Like ISIS.

They should be killed, exiled, or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we're doing.

To that end, the United States has carried out dozens of strikes on cartel drug boats, destroying 97% of the drugs coming into the ocean and sea.

You've seen it.

They disappear very quickly, and we're down 90%.

They're down 97%.

Nobody thought that was possible.

It was a big source of delivery.

And three months ago, we terminated the leader of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua Mexico is the epicenter of the cartel violence.

Unfortunately, it's unacceptable for the United States to share a 2000 mile border with a territory controlled by cartels, so Mexico must reclaim control of its soil from the enemies of humanity.

My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they've ever been under.

It's an absolutely failed state.

It's failing like never before, and it will fall.

Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation.

He's deep into negotiations with Cuba.

Let's see what happens.

We'll not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.

It's right at our doorstep.

The Cuban regime has also spent decades coordinating with the left wing radicals and communist networks here in the United States.

As our State Department has detailed, they've cultivated ties to subversive and radical groups such as the Communist Party, USA, Antifa, and the Democrat Socialists of America.

Communism will never be coming to America, but freedom will be coming to Cuba, and safety and security will be coming to Mexico.

I'm very proud to tell you we have a very good relationship with the Mexican government.

We've made great strides, very great strides with Mexico.

They don't want the cartels either.

And when that day comes, this entire region will be a better, safer and more beautiful place in which to live and thrive.

As I announced just days ago, the United States has also reached an unprecedented agreement regarding the northern frontier of North America, the large and strategically vital piece of land known as Greenland.

This agreement, made with the Kingdom of Denmark, an incredible, beautiful country, and the Greenland people itself gives the United States permanent control over security and all other needs.

On that territory, we will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places.

No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore, or make sensitive investments there.

Without our express written approval, we will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations.

We will be building two very major military bases.

This agreement will be signed later today, and I look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland.

It's been a great experience, amazing experience, and we've really formed a bond in doing it.

By expanding America's footprint in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

This deal also protects Europe in addition to America and greatly protects them.

It also very much enhances NATO with who has a great leader in.

Mark, I know you're in the audience and you are indeed a great leader, Mark Rutte, which is now growing stronger than ever before.

NATO is doing things that nobody thought they would be able to do, including raising their number to 5% from 2% number.

That's a protection that's going to be much greater protection for them.

We continue to seek an end.

The disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine, which is killing, as I said, thousands and thousands of people every month Last week, in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, I signed a powerful new law passed by Congress providing me with enormous new tariff authorities And if necessary, I will have to use them.

It's time to stop the killing.

I also want to recognize the extraordinary work of our great First Lady, who has secured the safe return of many displaced Ukrainian and Russian children back home to their families.

So many.

Thank you very much, First Lady.

Thank you.

Very much.

Where is our First lady?

Where is she?

She's around here someplace.

Can you imagine?

I can't see the First lady.

Thank you very much, first lady.

Great job.

She worked so hard on it this year.

She also became the only first lady in history to preside over a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

And she did it very well.

And today, she's hosting a gathering of fostering the Future Together, which has nearly 60 members to help improve the lives of young people all over the world.

So, Melania, thank you very much.

Great job.

Great job you're doing.

LED by Ambassador Michael Waltz here at the United Nations, we have also worked with many countries in this room to implement the most sweeping U.N. reforms in history.

We cut the U.N. budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15% in 2026 and eliminating more than 4000 positions from the U.N. bureaucracy.

The United Nations has great, great potential.

I've said that for many years, but it must stop imposing the far left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected.

Last year, my administration was forced to intervene to stop an obscure U.N. body, the International Maritime Organization, from secretly establishing a first ever global carbon tax, very expensive tax to raise international shipping costs by 10 to 20%.

And maybe more than that, there is no global government.

And while I'm president, there will be no global taxes.

The United States is equally opposed to the out of control.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

The United States is equally opposed to the out of control institution known as the International Criminal Court.

We will never allow U.S. service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us or an evil group of people.

I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately.

It is equally unacceptable that with all the genuine atrocities in the world the UN's top human rights officials spend their time criticizing the United States for protecting our children from transgender utilization and transgender insanity, and enforcing our immigration laws.

What they do is unbelievable what they do.

It's transgender mutilation of our children, the craven hypocrites of Human Rights Council have little to say about the persecution of Christians.

Christians.

I mean, Christians are being persecuted all over the world.

It's not even believable.

I never thought I'd say it, but it's been happening for a long time.

So this is persecution of Christians or the crimes of the world's most repressive regimes Yet they want America to open up our borders to gangs and criminals from world's most dangerous places.

They want the worst people to come in from the worst places on earth, and we don't do it anymore.

We did do it, but we don't do that anymore.

It is deeply ironic that the United Nations has an entire institution, the U.

Nesco group of people and countries devoted to protecting cultural heritage.

Yet with their ceaseless promotion of mass migration, these globalists are actively destroying the greatest cultures and most extraordinary heritage in all of history.

There is no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation, and we want to remain a sovereign nation.

And so should you.

The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now here and after officially called superintelligence, changing the name, and that the use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake, it makes it sound fake.

And it is not fake.

It's actually amazing But we have to be careful.

In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports.

From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world will be changed to use the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial.

So it's super intelligence.

In other words, welcome to the new world of superintelligence dash SISI.

Let's see if that goes.

It sounds much better.

It is much better, and it's much more accurate.

Let's see if I have any power.

Maybe I do and maybe I don't.

We're going to find out pretty soon.

Superintelligence.

Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception.

Yet the very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming, a name since reborn to climate change because the planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead.

These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster.

Same group of people.

This is the group that came up with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, the Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine hoax, climate change, open borders, whoever wins AI, you have to remember this.

And now I say, whoever wins s I, whoever wins, superintelligence wins.

That's the group that wins.

And we're leading now over China by a lot and everyone else.

And we're going to keep it that way.

We're going to keep it very, very straight and very strong.

I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution, many say bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet itself.

And we will be very careful.

And that's why we have a Department of Justice that we've already used it having to do with this very subject and used it very powerfully.

Everything worked out very well and very quickly.

And other law enforcement bodies that will reign things in if we have to do that.

But we will only encourage superintelligence.

We're going to encourage it, not rein it in We're going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice.

The United States leads the world in superintelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly.

Americans have never been a nation that retreats from a frontier or shrinks from a challenge, no matter how great or how daunting that challenge may be.

Freedom was not a gift that Americans won easily after 250 years, and it is not one that we will ever, ever, ever surrender.

It was right here in New York City that George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence read to his troops in 1776 as they listen to those immortal words for the first time, the patriots could see across the waters of New York Harbor to a British invasion fleet more than 100 ships strong, which had just arrived to crush the cause of liberty.

Thousands of soldiers getting off those ships.

Nobody stood a chance.

But we won.

And we won decisively.

Those first Americans knew that it is not enough merely to believe in great principles.

We must also have the will and the courage and the strength to defend them As we gather in this same city two and a half centuries later, to discuss the great events of our time.

That is the challenge for every nation in this room.

If we go forward, strong and united against the enemies of all humanity, if we reject the voices who would have us give in to fear and doubt, if we refuse to shrink from our duties to our people, then together, through bold action, we will make this world far safer and a far better place.

We will leave our nations far stronger.

We will grow our economies far bigger.

And we will not just speak of peace, prosperity, and justice.

Here at the United Nations.

We will stand for them all over the world.

Together, we will build a future for our people that is brighter, more hopeful, and more magnificent than ever before.

Thank you.

God bless the nations of the world and God bless America.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Thank you.

On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the president of the United States.

Trump's popularity is sinking like a rock so he's acting more and more erratically.  This speech shows that.  It was designed to appeal to his MAGA base, which is dwindling.

Amongst other dumbass statements, Trump advanced his weird effort to rename Artificial Intelligence.