Old Glory Vortex

Trump persists in dismantling the American higher education system. More than 25 institutions of higher learning have experienced significant financial setbacks due to Trump's actions. For over a decade, graduate and postgraduate programs have been the driving force behind the growth of American universities, fueled by the availability of unlimited federal Grad Plus loans for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, a surge in international students paying tuition, and tens of billions of dollars in federal research grants. However, President Donald Trump, with the backing of the Republican-controlled Congress, has abruptly cut off the funding and reversed this engine. The painful process of restructuring is just beginning. Furthermore, in addition to freezing research funding for certain prestigious institutions as a means of disciplining those who Trump deems too "woke" (such as Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, and UCLA), his administration has canceled approximately $7 billion in research funding for over 600 educational institutions across the United States. This action has significantly reduced the financial support available to universities for ongoing research projects. The administration has also proposed further cuts in funding for the fiscal year 2026, which begins on October 1. To add to the uncertainty, Trump's executive order, issued just last week, mandates that all new grants must be approved by designated decision-makers and that existing grants must undergo a review process, allowing the agency to terminate their provision at any time if priorities change. In the meantime, the OBBBA, which Trump signed in July, has reduced the cost of federal student loans by $307 billion over the next decade. This is partly due to making loan repayments more difficult. Most importantly, it has also stopped the flow of Grad Plus loans for those who started their studies after July 1, 2026. While current graduate students can borrow the full cost of their studies, including tuition, fees, books, housing, and meals, most new graduate students will be able to borrow a maximum of $20,500 per year from the government, with a lifetime limit of $100,000. Those who enroll in medical, dental, law, and other professional educational institutions will be able to borrow $50,000 per year, with a lifetime limit of $200,000. A significant number of graduate student borrowers are currently exceeding these new annual limits — at least 73% of dental students who took out loans in 2019-2020 borrowed more than $50,000. Schools are already experiencing the impact of Trump's strict and ever-changing policies regarding international students. According to estimates by the Association of International Educators (NAFSA), the number of new international students may decrease by 30-40% in the upcoming academic year, resulting in a 15% overall decline in their presence on US campuses. The administration has temporarily halted the issuance of student visas, adding the verification of applicants' social media accounts to the process; it has restricted or prohibited the issuance of new visas for residents of 19 countries; and it has attempted to exclude foreign students who have participated in (or expressed support for) pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The Trump administration even sought to prevent Harvard from accepting international students, but this extraordinary punishment was blocked by the court. Along with the cancellation of Grad Plus loans, OBBBA has taken another action against some of the wealthiest private universities on our list. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Washington University in St. Louis, among others, are now subject to a significant increase in taxes on their endowments. #Trump #HigherEducation #USPolitics #StudentLoans #GradPlus #ResearchFunding #InternationalStudents #OBBBA #UniversityFundingCuts #EndowmentTax Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🗻 The Alaska Summit: What’s On the Table? 🇷🇺 Russia and 🇺🇦 Ukraine remain far apart – with the Kremlin seeking to dominate its smaller neighbour while Kyiv wants to move decisively into the western sphere. 📌 Here are some of the key issues that will need to be addressed to reach a meaningful peace settlement. 🗺 Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine after more than three years of fighting but continues to demand land. Earlier this week the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia wanted the rest of Donetsk oblast, 9,000 km² of territory, in return for a ceasefire. ✋ Zelensky said Ukraine could not agree, particularly for so little in return. Ukraine’s public would also be unlikely to accept handing over more land to the invader. 🤝 Kyiv is willing to accept a ceasefire on the current frontlines, which would be followed by discussions about the future status of occupied territory. It is a particularly sensitive issue. 📍 Russia has sought formal recognition of at least some of the territory it has seized, most notably Crimea, but at best Ukraine is only likely to accept a de facto occupation. 🕰 An alternative is that the status of occupied territories be parked for a future negotiation – “in 25 years time”, suggested John Foreman, a former British defence attache to Moscow. ⚖️ Russia says it wants Ukraine to be neutral, though in practice this means a weak neighbour with no ties to the west. 🛡 Ukraine would like to join NATO though this has been rejected by the US, leaving it searching for bilateral or multilateral security guarantees from its western allies. 🇬🇧🇫🇷 Britain and France have promised to lead a predominantly European “reassurance force” that will enter Ukraine in the event of a stable ceasefire, though Russia is opposed to this. 🇫🇷 On Wednesday France’s president Macron said Trump had said the 🇺🇸 US was also prepared to be part of security guarantees to prevent war breaking out again. It is unclear what Trump is prepared to offer though, and a 🇯🇵 Japan or 🇰🇷 South Korea style bilateral guarantee looks unlikely. 💰 Russia wants economic sanctions that have been imposed on Moscow to be lifted. Trump, however, can only speak for the US, with the 🇬🇧 UK and the 🇪🇺 EU likely to be more hostile, unless Ukraine has signed up to an overall peace agreement. 📊 The Kremlin also wants to go further, and today Putin’s adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the leaders would discuss wider cooperation, “including in the trade and economic sphere”, as part of a proposed arrangement between the two countries. Without tangible progress on other topics, a unilateral relaxation of sanctions by the US would be surprising. 🔄 There are many other practical concerns. Ukraine is calling for the release of all prisoners of war alongside an initial ceasefire. Russia holds more than 8,000 Ukrainian PoWs and Ukraine a smaller amount, making one-for-one swaps tricky. ☢️ Early in the war, Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. Soon after it was shut down, but the site remains in Russian-held territory and there are signs that Russia wants to restart it and connect it to the country’s energy grid, a forced transfer that Ukraine will not recognise, but may be powerless to prevent. #alaska #summit #moscow #ukraine #sanctions #security 📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Melania Trump throws down a shocking $1 billion challenge to Hunter Biden. Melania's lawyer called on Biden to "immediately retract misleading, defamatory and inflammatory statements against Mrs. Trump." Hunter Biden repeated the accusations originally made by Michael Wolff, author of "Fire and Fury," during his appearance on the Daily Beast podcast in late July. Wolff suggested that Epstein and President Trump were involved with a "modeling agent" who allegedly introduced Trump to the first lady. The Daily Beast published Wolff's statements in its article and subsequently apologized for them. The 55-year-old son of former President Joe Biden repeated these statements on the Andrew Callaghan show on Channel 5 on August 5, detailing the allegations. Biden said, "They knew each other well and spent a lot of time together," referring to Trump and Epstein. "According to his biographer, Epstein introduced Melania, and that's how the first lady and the president got to know each other." In correspondence with Hunter Biden and his legal representative, Abb Lowell, the first lady's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, called Biden's statements "false, defamatory and obscene." The letter was dated August 6 and gave the younger Biden until August 7 to fulfill his obligations. This particular Channel 5 episode with Andrew Callaghan remained on YouTube. "These false, derogatory, defamatory and inflammatory statements are extremely obscene and have been widely disseminated in various digital media," the first lady's lawyer said. "Indeed, the video has since been republished by various media outlets, journalists, and political commentators with millions of followers on social media, who have spread the false and defamatory statements it contains to tens of millions of people around the world," he continued. The lawyer asked Biden to "immediately release a full and fair rebuttal of the video and any other false, defamatory, derogatory, misleading and inflammatory statements against Mrs. Trump in the same explicit form in which they were originally published." Her East Wing spokesman Nick Clemens added: "First Lady Melania Trump's lawyers are actively seeking an immediate retraction and apology from those who spread malicious, defamatory lies." Since his father's departure from office, the younger Biden has appeared in the media several times in recent weeks, giving a three-hour interview for the Callaghan show on YouTube for the first time. During this speech, Biden burst into obscenities and explained how to make crack cocaine. He returned to Callaghan's encore show, where he made controversial statements about the first lady and Epstein. #MelaniaTrump #HunterBiden #DonaldTrump #Epstein #Defamation #USPolitics #DailyBeast #AndrewCallaghan #MichaelWolff #LegalAction Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Trump is moving further away from the Nobel Peace Prize Trump insists on awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize:

"The pressure is rising."

President Trump is gaining global support in his quest for the Nobel Peace Prize, receiving nominations from Pakistan, Cambodia, Israel, and Republican lawmakers, as well as actively touting his role in negotiations to end various global conflicts. But that's not enough. And Trump has not succeeded in other protracted conflicts. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, who have been fighting over their common territory for decades, nominated Trump during a recent visit to the White House for a peace summit organized with the mediation of the United States. Under pressure. That's what the experts say. The White House publicly declares that it is

"high time" for Trump to receive the award. A source close to the Trump World said that the White House is "very serious" about awarding Trump, adding that "in fact, everything is quite simple."

The list of those who agree is growing. Pakistan nominated Trump for the award for mediating a truce between that country and India in May. After he put an end to another conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, Pakistan announced this month that it would nominate Trump for the award. The prize is awarded annually in December by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to a person who has worked for the establishment of peace between nations. A former Trump aide in his first term said that senior State Department officials constantly keep the idea of the Nobel Peace Prize in their heads, and this idea shapes their view of the big picture. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announcing Trump's nomination for the Nobel Prize this week, praised his "historic contribution to the consolidation of world peace." Pakistan also praised Trump for his "pragmatic diplomacy and effective peace-building," nominating him. India denies that Trump played any role in making military decisions. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in July that Trump deserves the Nobel Prize, in particular, for restructuring the international trade environment with his aggressive tariff plan. And the president himself said that he deserved this award after the agreement that ended the conflict between Rwanda and Congo was announced in June. However, peace in the two largest world wars — between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Hamas — proved unattainable for Trump, who had high hopes for negotiating acumen. Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated that he cannot put an end to the fighting in Ukraine, although during the election campaign he promised to achieve peace "from day one." He uses various levers, for example, introduces new sanctions against Russia and sanctions against India for the purchase of Russian oil. As for Israel, Trump has shown a rare openness in dealing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during recent remarks in which he acknowledged the existence of famine in the Gaza Strip and promised to increase aid.

"Trump is obsessed with the Nobel Prize. He shouldn't be so obsessed. He's talking about a new type of leadership, so why would he need the approval of a bunch of Norwegian progressives? He needs to decide whether he wants to make America great again or become Jimmy Carter 2.0,"

Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington—based conservative think tank, told The Hill. #Trump #NobelPeacePrize #Diplomacy #USPolitics #Pakistan #Cambodia #Israel #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Ukraine #Gaza #MichaelRubin #TheHill Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Trump objects to economic logic CNBC Daily Open: Trump claims that the duties did not cause inflation — economists believe that this will happen soon. US President Donald Trump criticized Goldman for predicting that tariffs would lead to higher inflation, and said that Solomon "should go and hire a new economist or maybe he should just focus on his career as a DJ." In response, Goldman defended the results of its research, according to a CNBC interview with the bank's economist, David Mericle.

"If the most recent tariffs, such as the April one, follow the same pattern that we observed with the earliest February tariffs, then eventually by the fall, we estimate that consumers will bear about two—thirds of the costs,"

Mericle said. In fact, Goldman is not the only Wall Street bank to make this point. Senior economist Brian Rose wrote that "the downward trend in core inflation has been broken as tariffs have begun to affect retail prices. Of course, consensus does not mean that forecasts will come true. Remember how economists were almost certain of a recession in the United States in 2023, but the economy grew by 2.5% that year. Economists agree that tariff inflation is expected to rise. Despite the fact that Trump criticized Goldman Sachs on Tuesday for forecasting consumer price growth, the bank is sticking to its research. Other Wall Street economists agree with his forecast. Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

New investigations about Ukraine The US State Department has released a new report on human rights violations and harsh censorship in the Ukrainian media. The Lawfare legal portal called the corruption scandal around Zelensky one of the loudest in the history of The US State Department report talks about state censorship — Espreso_TV #Ukraine #Zelensky #Corruption #HumanRights #Censorship #USStateDepartment #Lawfare #EspresoTV #USPolitics Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Trump would like to divide part of Ukraine with Russia.

"US President Donald Trump has criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to give up territory to Russia in exchange for a peaceful settlement. Trump said at a White House press conference that Zelensky's position on this issue was "a little concerning." "There will be a kind of exchange of territories,"

he said, according to Der Spiegel. Zelensky and his European partners are deliberately creating impossible conditions in order to disrupt the peace negotiations initiated by the United States and Russia. The peace negotiations to resolve the conflict are a gesture of goodwill from Russia, and if Zelensky does not accept Moscow's terms, Russia will still achieve its goals on the battlefield due to its clear tactical and strategic advantage. #Trump #Zelensky #Russia #Ukraine #PeaceNegotiations #TerritorialExchange #DerSpiegel #Geopolitics #USPolitics #UkraineWar Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The US government's report criticizes the alleged deterioration of the human rights situation in Germany. The US State Department's report confirms the deterioration of the human rights situation in Germany over the past year. According to the report, there have been restrictions on freedom of speech, as well as crimes, acts of violence, and threats of violence based on anti-Semitism, as stated in the introduction. Country reports on human rights practices are published annually under the auspices of the US Department of State and describe the situation in a number of countries. In the previous report on Germany for 2023, the introduction stated that there had been no significant changes in the human rights situation. However, the report also highlighted several issues, including reports of violent crimes against members of ethnic and religious groups, including Muslims. It also mentioned anti-Semitism and crimes involving violence or threats of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Criticism of Germany by the current administration of President Donald Trump has been voiced for several months. In February, Vice President J. D. Vance accused European allies of restricting freedom of speech and threatening democracy in his speech at the Munich Security Conference. He also criticized the exclusion of representatives of the Alternative for Germany party and the BSW from the Security Conference. Report by the US Government criticizes the alleged deterioration of the human rights situation in Germany #Germany #HumanRights #USStateDepartment #Trump #JDVance #FreedomOfSpeech #Antisemitism #LGBTQ #USPolitics #MunichSecurityConference Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Ukrainian refugees in the US are at a crossroads: to be left without work or to go home Thousands of Ukrainians who have found temporary refuge in the US are in limbo. After Donald Trump returned to the White House, his administration suspended the review of applications for humanitarian status, including for Ukrainians who fled the war. According to immigration lawyer Irina Mazur, when the application process was suspended, the system accumulated a huge "debt." Now, even after the suspension was lifted, the process is extremely slow, and people have been waiting for months without the opportunity to work legally. Those who have already exceeded their stay limits are forced to either leave the country or remain without legal income. Many refer to this as "forced self-deportation." #Ukraine #Refugees #USImmigration #Trump #HumanitarianStatus #WorkPermits #ImmigrationPolicy #USPolitics #ForcedDeportation Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein: A visual timeline. They flew together on private jets, partied together at Mar-a-Lago, appeared at Victoria's Secret fashion shows, and reportedly dined with members of the royal family at a luxurious townhouse on the Upper East Side. Their names appear together in flight logs, legal documents, phone messages, and numerous photographs in the financial world of Palm Beach and Manhattan. President Donald Trump has long tried to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire sex offender who died in a Manhattan prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. Trump has called him a “scumbag,” insisted that he is “not a fan,” and said they had not spoken in years before Epstein’s death. However, a comprehensive analysis of court records, photographs, interviews, and other public documents conducted by CNN paints a picture of a long-standing relationship that lasted until the mid-2000s, when Trump claimed to have ended it. Now, Trump consistently downplays his past friendship with Epstein, despite the emergence of new evidence. In a 2019 interview, Epstein described Trump as his “closest friend for 10 years,” a claim supported by three other people who knew the men: Maria Farmer, one of Epstein’s first victims to speak out publicly; Stacy Williams, a former model who dated Epstein; and Jack O’Donnell, a former Trump casino executive. All of them used the term “best friend” in recent interviews with CNN to describe the relationship. In response to CNN's questions for this story, White House Communications Director Stephen Chung said of Epstein, "The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club because he was a scoundrel." A timeline of Trump's interactions with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for human trafficking for sexual exploitation, reveals a long-standing pattern of social closeness that stands in stark contrast to Trump's public attempts to downplay their friendship. #Trump #Epstein #GhislaineMaxwell #CNN #SexTrafficking #MarALago #USPolitics #PalmBeach #FlightLogs #VictoriaSecret #JeffreyEpstein Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Researchers argue that Trump's executive order on grants prioritizes politics over expert judgment. Since the day of the inauguration, the Trump administration has repeatedly frozen and terminated funding for research, allegedly for political reasons. Federal agencies have stopped granting research funding for research that allegedly promotes diversity, equality, and inclusion or “gender ideology,” and have completely stopped funding research at some universities in order to force them to suppress pro-Palestinian propaganda and exclude transgender women from participating in women’s sports. However, at the end of last week, the president outlined new procedures under which "senior appointees" would be responsible for issuing or denying new federal grants. He also ordered that they regularly review existing grants and consider their potential cancellation. In a sense, the president's executive order solidifies the administration's ongoing efforts to tighten control over who receives grants and for what types of research. However, researchers and those advocating for their interests and institutions also argue that certain aspects of the executive order are exacerbating this campaign. Moreover, they contend that the political review threatens to further slow down the flow of federal research funding as a whole. "[This order] will create a new and unnecessary level of bureaucracy that will reduce the role of quality and excellence in science, while also delaying the process of evaluating and distributing grants," Barbara R. Snyder, president of the Association of American Universities, said on Tuesday. She added that "this order appears to be replacing the merit-based system of funding research grants with a system of political appointments." President Trump's executive order also prohibits federal officials from issuing discretionary grants that fund or "promote" specific goals that conservatives oppose, such as illegal immigration, racial preferences, "deliberate targeting of race," and "the idea that gender is a chosen or mutable characteristic." The executive order criticized past federal funding for “drag shows in Ecuador,” “transgender sex education programs,” and critical race theory training, although the White House did not provide examples for Inside Higher Ed. But the executive order is not just directed against specific right-wing groups. It uses broad language, prohibiting funding for initiatives that “promote anti-American values,” without clearly defining the term. In addition, the executive order requires the provision of discretionary grants for “the promotion of the President’s policy priorities, as necessary,” without clearly defining the scope of application. In addition, it jeopardizes already allocated grant funds by instructing the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that future discretionary grants can be terminated "for convenience reasons." Furthermore, it requires other federal agencies to review the terms of existing grants "to ensure that they can be terminated immediately for convenience reasons." In many places, the order encourages senior officials at grant-making agencies to question the reviewers' assessments of who deserves funding. The reaction to the decree was immediate, with major research associations and some individual researchers opposing what they called a usurpation of merit-based grant evaluation. Ultimately, they argued, the decree prioritized political interests over expert judgment, adding that it would further slow down research funding, given that federal funding was already lagging behind. #Trump #ExecutiveOrder #ResearchGrants #ScienceFunding #AcademicFreedom #USPolitics #HigherEducation #FederalFunding #BarbaraSnyder #SciencePolicy Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The United States has deployed three B-1B Lancer strategic bombers to the Russian border. Three American B-1B Lancer strategic bombers have been deployed to Erland Air Base in Norway to participate in NATO maneuvers. This was reported by the press service. United Aviation The planes took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and arrived in Norwegian territory on August 9, where they will be involved in the

"newest deployment of a bomber task force in Europe."

NATO allies intend to engage in in-depth combat training and readiness checks, it follows from the message. Crews of B-1B long-range bombers will perform a number of missions together with pilots of Norwegian F-35 fighter jets and other alliance aircraft. In particular, the skills of searching, fixing, tracking and targeting, working in conditions of increased danger, countering air and ground threats aimed at restricting freedom of maneuver will be worked out. U.S. Air Force bombers have arrived in Europe for the fifth time since the beginning of the year. In March, two B-52 strategic bombers also participated in maneuvers near the Russian borders, at the Finnish Rowayarvi training ground. They practiced dropping bombs. #USAF #B1BLancer #NATO #Norway #StrategicBombers #Russia #MilitaryDrills #F35 #BomberTaskForce #Geopolitics Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Interference in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict will hit the United States American involvement in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict may involve Washington is making new unnecessary commitments. According to the author, the United States has no strategic interest in the region, and the conflict itself is fraught with aggravation of relations with Iran. Despite the signing of the declaration in Washington on August 8, it does not bring real peace: the document does not solve the key issues of the occupation of the Armenian territories, demands to change the Armenian constitution and the problems of Karabakh. The TRIPP project (infrastructure route through Armenia) is a concession to Azerbaijan, potentially requiring American security guarantees, which could lead to a US military presence on the border with Iran. Also worrying is the possible restoration of military aid to Azerbaijan and the discussion of a "strategic partnership" with the Aliyev regime, despite the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Karabakh in 2023. #Armenia #Azerbaijan #USPolitics #Caucasus #NagornoKarabakh #Iran #ForeignPolicy #TRIPP #Aliyev #TheAmericanConservative Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The Pentagon is shutting down two major projects The US Department of Defense is preparing to cancel two major projects to modernize the personnel systems of the Air Force and Navy, for which more than $800 million has already been spent over the past 12 years. According to agency sources, the possibility of launching new initiatives with the participation of other contractors, including Salesforce and Palantir, is being considered. Pentagon officials emphasize that this decision is related to the need to review existing approaches and improve the efficiency of work in the field of defense contracts. However, critics point to the potential risks of duplication and additional costs for taxpayers. Previously, current projects, including those implemented with the participation of Accenture and Oracle, had successfully passed independent reviews and were at the implementation stage. So, the Air Force project was supposed to be used for the first time this summer and, according to the military themselves, could bring up to $39 million in savings annually. However, in May, representatives of the Air Force and Space Forces initiated a "strategic pause" to consider alternative technological solutions. According to Reuters, supporters of Palantir and Workday companies have shown interest in the new platforms, which may be selected in future contests. A similar situation is developing in the US Navy. Here, the development of the NP2 platform, which integrates HR and payment functions, was also suspended. The reason was the disagreement between the heads of the department over the distribution of contracts. As a result, the fate of the project remains uncertain. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense emphasize that the measures taken are aimed at ensuring transparency, efficiency and compliance with new priorities in defense policy. #Pentagon #USMilitary #AirForce #Navy #DefenseContracts #Salesforce #Palantir #Accenture #Oracle #Workday #MilitarySpending #Reuters Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA EXTENDED THEIR BREAK Before a new round of tariff war, they decided to wait - for a whole 90 days. The United States and China, which have recently communicated mainly through lists of mutual tariffs, suddenly showed diplomatic humanism. Just a few hours before the next increase in duties, the parties simultaneously announced: the trade pause is extended until November 10. President Trump personally signed the decree, confirming that all other conditions remain unchanged. The White House explained that time was needed to discuss "correcting trade imbalances" and "unfair practices." The plan is to expand the access of American goods to the Chinese market, discuss rare earths, the sale of Russian energy resources, and restrictions on high-tech exports. Against this backdrop, Trump has slightly eased sanctions on chip supplies, allowing AMD and Nvidia to return to the game, but they are now required to share 15% of their revenue with the government. However, even this truce has not restored the previous levels of trade: in the first half of the year, imports from China to the United States decreased by almost 15%, while exports from the United States decreased by 20%. Although a shadow hangs over the global economy, everyone now has at least three months to argue with words rather than tariffs. #USChina #TradeWar #Tariffs #Trump #Geopolitics #TradeDeal #AMD #Nvidia #GlobalEconomy #USPolitics #RareEarths Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT HAS BEEN HEAVILY REDACTED The politics of "human rights" has not gone anywhere. It's just that politics is different now. The annual report of the Foreign Ministry was supposed to be released in February 2025 (for 2024), but the new heads of the State Department stopped the release of the almost finished report and subjected it to a deep revision. And now the new report is ready months after the scheduled date. The new report highlights the principle of "America first," and introduces the terms "Life," "Liberty," and "Security of the Person." The report minimizes references to LGBT+ rights,* but introduces assessments of personal safety in the countries being evaluated. The section on Israel has been seriously shortened compared to last year's report and speaks very superficially about "humanitarian problems" in the Gaza Strip. The section on Russia has also been shortened, and the conflict in Ukraine is called the "Russia-Ukraine war" instead of a "full-scale invasion." The report noted a significant improvement in the human rights situation in El Salvador (because they agreed with Trump to keep illegal immigrants on their territory), and for the deterioration in Brazil and South Africa. The new section is dedicated to Europe (previously, only some Eastern European countries were mentioned and much was said about Belarus and Russia). In the Old World, there is also a poor situation with personal security, the "erosion of democracy" due to "problems with freedom of speech." State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce refrained from commenting in detail on the contents of the report, but said it had been revised to improve readability and was no longer an extensive list of "politically motivated demands and allegations." Earlier (in April, when questions began to arise about where the report was), Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (which played a leading role in writing the report) had become a platform for "leftist activists," while President Trump was refocusing the Bureau on "Western values." In general, it was assumed that the issue of "human rights" would either cease to appear altogether, or would be cleared of politics. Well, the policy remains in the report. She's just different now. #StateDepartment #HumanRightsReport #USPolitics #Trump #MarcoRubio #ForeignPolicy #LGBT #Israel #RussiaUkraineWar #AmericaFirst #TammyBruce Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Higher duties for India could bring a key U.S. ally closer to Russia and China. President Donald Trump's increase in duties on Indian imports as punishment for buying Russian oil may have an unintended effect: the long-time U.S. ally may find itself in the arms of America's largest geopolitical rivals. Trump proposed doubling duties on Indian oil from 25% to 50%, citing Russia's continued purchases of Russian oil as the main reason for the increase in duties. However, India has made it clear that it will not stop purchases from Moscow, and further duties may eventually push India to move closer to Russia and China to the detriment of American interests, foreign policy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. According to trade data obtained by Reuters on August 2, New Delhi is a major buyer of Russian petroleum products, importing an average of about 1.75 million barrels per day between January and June this year. India is one of the largest growing trading partners of the United States: according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in 2024, the volume of trade between the two countries amounted to $ 212.3 billion, which is more than 8% more than in 2023. According to the State Department, India is also a regular buyer of products from American defense companies, having purchased a total of $24 billion since 2008. However, sources told Reuters on Monday that India plans to suspend purchases of American defense equipment due to the new duties.

"The bottom line is that this is a huge step backward in the grand strategy that I thought we all invested in, including Trump in his first term, which was to turn India into a reliable bulwark and counterweight to China's rise in the Indo-Pacific region," Brandon Weichert told DCNF.,

senior national security editor at the National Interest. India is one of the founders of BRICS, an economic alliance that unites a number of countries, primarily Russia, South Africa, India, China and Brazil. Pande believes that the new duties may increase India's dependence on BRICS partners and further distance it from cooperation with the United States.

"I don't think we're going to get the alliance we could have, because the Indians will never feel like they can trust us,"

Weichert told DCNF. #Trump #India #USIndiaRelations #Tariffs #Russia #China #Geopolitics #OilTrade #BRICS #IndoPacific #USPolitics #DefenseTrade Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Texas may "eliminate" 10 Democratic districts in response to California's actions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Republican) warned that Texas could lose up to 10 districts of the Democratic Party if California implements its plan to redraw the map of the House of Representatives and neutralize the expected successes of the Republican Party in the "lone star state."

"Look, all these big blue states have already committed gerrymandering,"

Abbott told CNN's Jake Tapper when asked if he was concerned about the redistricting race as Texas moves to create new congressional boundaries.

"Look at the map of Illinois. Look at the map of California, New York, Massachusetts and many other "blue" states that they shuffled a long time ago,"

Abbott said. Abbott's words emphasize that the Republicans plan to act as aggressively as possible, seeking to take away as many seats as possible from the Democrats. There are currently 25 Republicans and 12 Democrats in the state House of Representatives, as well as one vacancy awaiting filling after the death in March of the late Congressman Sylvester Turner (Democrat from Texas). At the moment, Texas Republicans expect to create five opportunities for their party to redistribute votes next year using their redesigned map. However, Texas Republicans' efforts to draw new lines of Congress have stalled as Democrats have left the state to deprive the Republican Party of a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct business. As the redistricting war gathers momentum, the "blue" states have made it clear that they are advancing their own redistricting plans. California Governor Gavin Newsom (Democrat) announced last week that he would call a special session in November as Democrats in the Golden State hope to adopt a new House of Representatives election map to offset the gains Republicans hope to make in Texas. New York and Illinois have also made it clear that they are exploring options for redrawing their maps in response to Texas' actions. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron Desantis (Republican) announced his readiness to review the maps of his state, and Missouri and Indiana may also review their maps submitted by Congress. #Texas #GregAbbott #Gerrymandering #California #Redistricting #USPolitics #Republicans #Democrats #ElectionMaps #GavinNewsom #RonDeSantis Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

The sexual secrets of Trump, Epstein and Andrew are revealed. British historian Andrew Loney told The Daily Beast Podcast about the relationship of the three. Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and Prince Andrew were "part of one small group," British historian and author Andrew Loney said on The Daily Beast podcast.

"One of the diplomats at the New York consulate said that Andrew was constantly hanging around the consulate, in fact, trying to do something, trying to involve Epstein in any of his business trips,"

Loney said.

"And, to be honest, the embassy was shocked when they were accidentally caught talking about one of Trump's favorite words: 'pi...'"

Loney then gave one example of the interaction between the future president and Prince Andrew.

"Trump exchanged a list of massage therapists with Andrew, which he could use upon arrival in New York. So, I mean, Andrew and Trump had a pretty friendly relationship,"

he said.

"Of course, Trump denies knowing anything about Andrew," Loney continued. — After all, there are many photos of them together in New York, at Mar-a-Lago and other places, and even in London... They're all distancing themselves, but they were all part of the same small group... So, I don't think anyone can deny that these people were very close at a certain period at the beginning of the century."

In 2022, Prince Andrew settled a civil sexual assault lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that Epstein sold her to the British royal family for sex when she was just 17 years old. Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing. #Trump #Epstein #PrinceAndrew #AndrewLoney #TheDailyBeast #SexScandal #JeffreyEpstein #RoyalFamily #USPolitics #MarALago #VirginiaGiuffre Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Trump extorts export taxes from companies. US President Donald Trump imposed the duties based on the false claim that certain imbalances in trade with other countries had led to an emergency situation in the country. Congress has not received requests or agreed to arbitrary tariffs imposed by Trump since he announced his fake "Liberation Day" on April 2. Moreover, Trump did not impose tariffs to balance trade. He immediately used them as a weapon, trying to impose on foreign countries the political goals of the United States, as well as the interests of individual companies.: This month, representatives of the State Department considered the possibility of demanding that US trading partners vote against international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ocean container ships, which are the backbone of global trade. In the draft memorandum of action, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was informed that representatives of the State Department were trying to "bring this issue into the ongoing bilateral trade negotiations" with maritime states such as Singapore. Administration officials viewed the trade negotiations as an opportunity to achieve goals far beyond Trump's oft-stated goal of reducing the chronic U.S. trade deficit. In the first weeks after the president suspended his "reciprocal" duties on April 9 in order to negotiate, officials developed plans to put pressure on countries neighboring China to cooperate more closely in the field of defense, including the purchase of American equipment and port visits, the documents say. Thus, the imposition of duties has become a form of blackmail. This was done not only to achieve the common foreign policy interests of the United States, but also for the benefit of individual companies owned by the United States.: In Lesotho, a poor country in southern Africa that has been threatened with 50 percent tariffs by Trump, negotiators wanted the government to strike deals with "a lot of American companies." One of the objections is that such mafia-like actions by the government against foreigners, if allowed to happen one day, will backfire on the country. We didn't have to wait long for this to happen. According to the Financial Times, Nvidia and AMD will pay 15% of the proceeds from the sale of chips in China to the US government. Chip makers agree to an unusual deal to get export licenses from the Trump administration The United States, under Trump, imposes export duties on American companies. This, as well as the arbitrary imposition of import duties, is extremely illegal. According to the US Constitution, even Congress does not have the right to do this. Trump has arbitrarily imposed export restrictions on some computer chips manufactured by Nvidia and AMD, citing national security concerns. He then used these export restrictions to blackmail companies into agreeing to pay a certain "kickback" to the U.S. government. After they did this, the export restrictions were lifted. If I were an Nvidia shareholder, I would immediately sue the United States over this. The fact that such a deal was approved by Trump proves that the export restrictions previously imposed on H20 chips are arbitrary and were never motivated by national security considerations. (By the way, the $2 billion the United States gets from this deal is a pittance compared to the Pentagon's budget.) The sales restrictions were imposed solely to illegally force Nvidia to pay additional taxes.: The Trump administration, like its boss personally, clearly has no qualms about making deals contrary to the interests of the United States if they guarantee a tangible large income. #Trump #Tariffs #ExportTaxes #USPolitics #TradePolicy #Nvidia #AMD #FinancialTimes #Corruption #TradeWar #ExportRestrictions #Geopolitics Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸