Old Glory Vortex

The financial payoff from a new minerals deal between Ukraine and the U.S. is likely to take a decade or longer as investors face many hurdles to getting new mines into production in the war-ravaged country. ⛏️ Developing mines that produce strategically important minerals in countries with established mining sectors such as Canada and Australia can take 10 to 20 years, mining consultants said. ⏳ But most mineral deposits in Ukraine have scant data to confirm they are economically viable. Investors may also baulk at funnelling money into a country where infrastructure such as power and transport has been devastated by Russia's three-year-old full-scale invasion and future security is not guaranteed. ⚠️

"If anyone's thinking suddenly all these minerals are going to be flying out of Ukraine, they're dreaming,"

said Adam Webb, head of minerals at consultancy Benchmark Minerals Intelligence. 🧠

"The reality is it's going to be difficult for people to justify investing money there when there are options to invest in critical minerals in countries that are not at war." 🌍

#Ukraine #resources Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Mike Waltz will become Ambassador to the United Nations — his position will be temporarily occupied by Marco Rubio Shortly after the firing of Mike Waltz, Donald Trump officially announced who he had chosen as his successor: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will temporarily take the position of National Security Adviser to the United States. At the same time, he will continue to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Waltz, on the other hand, was comforted by another position. He should become the new permanent representative of the United States to the UN. Trump wrote about this on his platform Truth Social:

I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role. In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

#Trump #Waltz #Rubio Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Despite promises to cut spending during the campaign and his first few months in office, President Trump's federal government has spent more than $200 billion more in his first 100 days compared to the same time period last year. In fact, the government is now spending more, day to day, than was spent in nine of the last 10 years. The exception: 2021, when the government was spending trillions to fight the coronavirus pandemic and prevent an economic disaster. CBS News analyzed the Treasury Department's daily financial reports to track the money flowing out of every government account each day since Mr. Trump returned to office. Here's a breakdown of what we found for spending through April 29. We will be tracking and updating the spending throughout the year. #Trump #promises Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of 2025, contracting by an annualized rate of 0.3 percent — a stark reversal after nearly three years of solid growth, as tariff-related uncertainty upended spending patterns and raised fears of an impending recession. The new report on gross domestic product, released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Wednesday morning, showed the first deceleration of the U.S. economy since the pandemic-fueled supply chain woes of early 2022. This economic slowdown came primarily from a dramatic increase in imports — which count against GDP — as businesses rushed to purchase foreign goods ahead of President Donald Trump’s promised tariffs. #Tariffs #GDP #economy Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The White House took aim at Amazon on Tuesday after the e-commerce giant reportedly prepared to directly display to consumers the price increases associated with President Donald Trump’s tariffs—with Trump calling Amazon founder Jeff Bezos personally to complain—but the retailer denied it considered implementing such a wide-sweeping effort. #Trump #Tariffs #Amazon #Bezos Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

United Parcel Service revealed plans to slash 20,000 jobs after deciding earlier this year to slash the number of packages it delivers for its top customer, Amazon. Shares in UPS — which has about 490,000 employees — fell 1% in early trades on Tuesday after the package delivery giant revealed the job cuts. UPS said it expects to save $3.5 billion this year from the job cuts and by shutting 73 leased and owned buildings by the end of June. The company projects expenses between $400 million to $600 million during 2025, due to separation benefits and lease-related costs. Amazon last year accounted for 12% of UPS’s business, the company said. #Tariffs #UPS #Amazon Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🌍 Nowhere on earth is global warming proceeding more rapidly than inside the Arctic Circle. Over the past two decades, the Arctic has grown five degrees Celsius warmer. And the trend is accelerating, with the Arctic warming nearly four times as rapidly as the rest of the planet. 🌡️ Climate scientists expect that Arctic median temperatures will rise as much as 2 degrees Celsius annually over the coming decade. 🔥 Although temperatures normally change with glacial speed, in the Arctic those transformations are now noticeable to the naked eye: Last year marked a concerning increase in arctic wildfires and flooding. 🌊 And, as climate change continues unabated, the waters of the Arctic Sea, which stretch from Russia’s northern Siberian shores across Alaska to Greenland, are opening at an unprecedented pace. This is bringing regularly scheduled commercial navigation to the Arctic for the first time in recorded history. 🧭 Attempts to circumnavigate Eurasia are certainly not new. Almost three centuries ago, in 1728, Vitus Bering rounded the strait between Alaska and Siberia that bears his name to explore the polar seas. #Arctic #Russia #China Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🇺🇸 The US and Ukraine reached a deal over access to the country’s natural resources, offering a measure of assurance to officials in Kyiv who had feared that President Donald Trump would pull back his support in peace talks with Russia. ⛽ The deal will grant the US privileged access to new investment projects to develop Ukraine’s natural resources including aluminum, graphite, oil and natural gas. It’s been seen as critical to fostering Trump’s goodwill as his administration pushes to end the war that began when Russia mounted its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

🕊️ “This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

💼 Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a social media post that “together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country.” #Ukraine #Resources Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The Wall Street Journal newspaper warned Donald Trump: without a "reset", he will face a fiasco The publication, which belongs to the king of the conservative press, Rupert Murdoch, in an editorial column accused of Trump in the failure of economic promises. The newspaper criticized the tariff policy and compared it to Nixon's mistakes. According to the editorial board, the tariffs harm the United States and undermine confidence in the country. They were called "a blow to the American brand". Because of this strike, US allies are looking for new markets in China. The magazine acknowledged Trump's partial success in foreign policy, but accused him of putting dangerous pressure on Ukraine and making concessions to Putin. The editorial board believes that imposing conditions similar to capitulation on Kiev only fuses the fire of war. The newspaper accused Trump of putting pressure on Harvard and trying to restrict free speech through grant freezes and tax threats. #Trump #WSJ #Murdoch Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

President Trump signed an executive order Monday that requires commercial truck drivers in the United States to be proficient in English. The text of the order acknowledges the essential role that truck drivers play in the U.S. economy and the livelihood of American people.

“Every day, truckers perform the demanding and dangerous work of transporting the Nation’s goods to businesses, customers, and communities safely, reliably, and efficiently,”

the order said. Trump designated English as the country’s official language in an executive order in March. In his order Monday, the president said proficiency in English should be nonnegotiable for professional drivers.

“They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers,”

the order said.

“Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English.”

“This is common sense.”

Under the order, a driver must be able to read and speak English “sufficiently to converse with the general public” to operate a commercial vehicle in the U.S.

“My Administration will enforce the law to protect the safety of American truckers, drivers, passengers, and others, including by upholding the safety enforcement regulations that ensure that anyone behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle is properly qualified and proficient in our national language, English,”

the order said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will issue a new guidance on English proficiency testing and enforcement policies, according to the order. A violation of the English language proficiency requirement would put a driver “out-of-service,” the order said.

“You might not know, but there’s a lot of communication problems between truckers on the road with federal officials and local officials, as well, which obviously is a public safety risk,”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing Monday. The decision was celebrated by Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

“OOIDA and the 150,000 truckers we proudly represent strongly support President Trump’s decision to resume enforcement of English proficiency requirements for commercial drivers,”

OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a statement.

“Basic English skills are essential for reading critical road signs, understanding emergency instructions, and interacting with law enforcement.”

#Trump #truckers #English Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

👮‍♀️Police helped remove more than 27,000 homeless people from the street over a nine-month period last year, mostly in Lower Manhattan and Midtown, according to city data. But whether they ended up in a shelter, a hospital or just down the block isn’t clear. The data, which the city released last month under a new law, offers a glimpse into how often police are interacting with homeless people and where. Mayor Eric Adams and his administration have made addressing street homelessness a priority. This month he rolled out a new NYPD unit targeting quality-of-life issues such as panhandling and homeless encampments. Gothamist reviewed city data between January and September last year showing 42% of people removed were concentrated in one City Council district: an area running from the West Village and SoHo to Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and Times Square. #Police #NYPD #homeless Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

A top Pentagon official who was ousted in a dramatic purge earlier this month has criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for being preoccupied with disclosures to the press — while President Trump stood by the former Fox News personality and predicted that “he’s gonna get it together” in an interview published Monday. Colin Carroll, former chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, responded: “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure” when podcaster Megyn Kelly asked of Hegseth “Do you think he’s OK?” during a lengthy interview released Friday.

“He was very focused on the leaks, and I think it’s kind of consumed the team a little bit,”

Carroll added.

“If you look at a pie chart of the secretary’s day, at this point, 50% of it is probably [the] leak investigation.”

#Hegseth #Pentagon Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🎁 Toy makers, children’s shops and specialty retailers are pausing orders for the winter holidays as the import taxes cascade through supply chains. Factories in China produce nearly 80 percent of all toys and 90 percent of Christmas goods sold in America. 📦 The production of toys, Christmas trees and decorations is usually in full swing by now. It takes four to five months to manufacture, package and ship products to the United States. 💥 Mr. Trump’s 145 percent tariffs have caused a drastic markup in costs for American companies. Most of the entrepreneurs that have shared their plans with The New York Times have not yet canceled their orders. They hope that the president will back away from the tariff brinkmanship. ⚠️ But the alarm in the industry is palpable, with the companies predicting product shortages and higher prices. Some business owners, citing how crucial holiday sales are to their bottom lines, are consulting bankruptcy lawyers.

🗣 “We have a frozen supply chain that is putting Christmas at risk,”

said Greg Ahearn, chief executive of the Toy Association, a U.S. industry group representing 850 toy manufacturers.

“If we don’t start production soon, there’s a high probability of a toy shortage this holiday season.”

#Trump #Tariffs #economy Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🕵️‍♂️ National security agencies across the Trump administration are ramping up investigations into alleged leaks to the news media, in some cases using polygraph tests that current and former officials say are creating a climate of fear and intimidation 😨. At FBI Director Kash Patel’s direction, the bureau in recent weeks has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks, an FBI spokesperson said. The new use of polygraphs at the bureau, which are commonly known as “lie detector” tests, has not been previously reported 🔍.

🗣 “The seriousness of the specific leaks in question precipitated the polygraphs, as they involved potential damage to security protocols at the bureau,”

said the spokesperson, who declined to elaborate. ⚖️ The ramp-up has been bolstered by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s new legal guidelines that allow the Justice Department to subpoena reporters’ personal communications 📱 and broaden the scope of potential criminal prosecution to leaks of not just classified material, but also “privileged and other sensitive” information that the administration says is “designed to sow chaos and distrust” in the government 🧨. #FBI #security Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) did not rule out impeaching President Donald Trump if Democrats take control of Congress. Host Dana Bash said,

“Your colleague from Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff told voters at a town hall that he strongly agrees that President Trump should be impeached. Do you agree with him? Would that be a priority if Democrats were to take back Congress?”

#Trump #impeachment #Senate Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🏦en. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) are voicing their opposition to a “reckless” Republican budget by holding a sit-in on the U.S. Capitol steps on Sunday morning. The lawmakers began their sit-in just after 6 a.m. and addressed people online about the Trump administration’s proposed budget, which they say will make cuts that would hurt Americans while expanding tax breaks for millionaires.

“This is a moral moment in America. Sitting on the Capitol steps with Leader Hakeem Jeffries this morning to discuss what’s at stake with Trump’s budget and affirm the need for action to protect Medicaid, food assistance, and other safety net programs,”

Booker said in a statement online. The lawmakers have been live streaming since they began the sit-in earlier Sunday. Booker said his direct messages are open, and he wanted to hear from the American people about how they will be personally affected by the cuts to the budget. #Trump #budget #protest Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🍟Standing in front of a table stacked with food items at his New Jersey golf course last summer, Donald Trump complained that grocery prices had “skyrocketed” and promised to fix that if Americans made him president again: “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one.” Ninety-six days later, grocery prices have not come down, not even a little. In his first 100 days in office, Trump has managed quite a bit: upending the lives of hundreds of thousands of federal workers; unilaterally sentencing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of migrants to life sentences in a notorious El Salvador prison; switching sides in the Ukraine war to favor the aggressor; and costing Americans trillions from their retirement accounts while putting the country on the path to a trade-war-induced recession. One thing he has not done: lower Americans’ grocery bills. #Trump #prices Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

📈Fast-fashion giant Shein Group Ltd. raised US prices of its products from dresses to kitchenware ahead of imminent tariffs on small parcels, in an early sign of the potential effect of the trade war on American consumers. Most of the hikes in US prices came on Friday, with markups significantly higher in some categories than others, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The average price for the top 100 products in the beauty and health category increased by 51% from Thursday, with several of the items more than doubling in price. For home and kitchen products and toys, the average jump was more than 30%, led by a massive 377% increase in the price of a 10-piece set of kitchen towels. For women’s clothing the rise was 8%. #Trump #China #economy Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🇪🇺🇺🇸🇨🇳The relationship between Europe and the US is broken china. This tragedy — and it is definitely a tragedy — can be repaired only by some actions that are within the power of Europeans, and rather more requiring a behavior transplant in Washington. First, the easy part: what Europe should have already done. Trump’s almost only just demand is that US allies should bear a much larger share of the burden of Western defense. Europeans must look to our own powder; including saving Ukraine, if we so choose. There has been much hypocrisy in European conduct. Since 2022, we have talked a great game about our enthusiasm for Volodymyr Zelenskiy but done pathetically little to back fine words with munitions. Without the US, Ukraine would have long since become toast. Now it is time for us to pay up, or watch Putin gobble up his neighbor. That said, Trump has forfeited his claim upon virtue, by attempting to strike a deal with Russia for Ukraine’s partition, without engaging either the Europeans or Ukrainians. This represents arrogance almost as repugnant as his pursuit of American control of Ukrainian minerals. Nobody will ever describe Trump’s diplomacy, as did Churchill of wartime US Lend-Lease, as “the most unsordid act in history.” #Trump #EU Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🗳Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals retained power in the country's election on Monday, but fell short of the majority government he had wanted to help him negotiate tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump. The Liberals were leading or elected in 167 electoral districts, known as seats, followed by the Conservatives with 145, with votes still being counted. The Liberals had needed to win 172 of the House of Commons' 343 seats for a majority that would allow them to govern without support from a smaller party.

"Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over,"

Carney said in a victory speech in Ottawa.

"The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity for our country for decades, is over."

"These are tragedies, but it's also our new reality."

Carney said the coming months would be challenging and require sacrifices. Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, a polling firm, told Reuters the Liberal win hinged on three factors. #Kurl #Carney #Trump Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸