Quick Takes from the Past 24-48 Hours

The following is an installment of Trump-Vance team accomplishments (each article is linked for further info):

1. FBI Director Kash Patel Spearheads Efforts to Counter Chinese Influence in the U.S.

Kash Patel has vowed to root out espionage and intellectual property theft perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Patel has made it a top priority to investigate and dismantle networks allegedly linked to Chinese intelligence operations.

He asserted:

The CCP’s aggressive campaign to steal our technology, infiltrate our institutions, and undermine our way of life will not go unchecked.

The FBI is fully engaged in identifying and neutralizing these threats.

The director pointed to several high-profile cases in recent years, including the arrest of Chinese nationals accused of stealing trade secrets from American companies. Patel also highlighted the Bureau’s efforts to combat Chinese influence in academia, where he claims Beijing has sought to exploit research partnerships and student exchanges to gain access to sensitive information.

The FBI has ramped up its counterintelligence operations, collaborating with other agencies to identify and disrupt Chinese espionage activities. Patel stressed these efforts target the CCP and its agents, not the Chinese people as a whole.

He said:

We welcome the contributions of Chinese immigrants and visitors who enrich our society.

Our focus is on the authoritarian regime in Beijing and its operatives.

2. When Will Americans Feel Ripple Effects from President Trump’s Global Tariffs?

President Trump announced reciprocal tariffs to address import duties and what he called “horrendous imbalances” in trade with foreign countries Wednesday during a Rose Garden event.

Contrarily, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expressed uncertainty on Friday about the effects President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs would have on the economy.

Powell said during prepared remarks:

The new administration is in the process of implementing substantial policy changes in four distinct areas: Trade, immigration, fiscal policy and regulation.

Our monetary policy stance is well positioned to deal with the risks and uncertainties we face as we gain a better understanding of the policy changes and their likely effects on the economy.

Further:

It is not our role to comment on those policies. Rather, we make an assessment of their likely effects, observe the behavior of the economy and set monetary policy in a way that best achieves our dual mandate goals.

In an executive order signed Wednesday that imposed the tariffs, Trump cited multiple industries he wanted to see return to America, including pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding, automobiles and machine tools.

Powell said:

While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent.

Further:

Avoiding that outcome would depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects, and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.

Trump urged Powell to cut interest rates in a post on Truth Social:

This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly.

Further:

Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69%, and Jobs are UP, all within two months—A BIG WIN for America.

And:

CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME,

AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!

3. What President Trump Told His Opponent during Her Concession Call Left One of Her Aides Furious

The aide, Chris Whipple, wrote in his book that What’s-Her-Name “respectfully” addressed Trump after, of course, she had referred to him as a fascist and an “existential threat” to America and democracy just days prior and had repeatedly smeared him as a racist bigot throughout the campaign as well.

The author further noted she was cordial despite feeling “the weight of the crushing defeat.”

As reported, Trump responded with pure class, praising her for running a tough campaign and complementing her husband, Doug.

Trump said:

You’re a tough cookie. You were really great. And that Doug—what a character! I love that guy.

While every sensible person would find this statement magnanimous, her woke aide, Whipple, took severe offense.

She whined, according to Whipple:

I was like, what? Honestly, I felt like, what is this

She added:

It’s so manipulative. He’s a sociopath.

If President Trump is a “sociopath,” then what does that make his opponent, who happily allowed the crime syndicate to remove Biden in a sleazy coup so she could take his rightful place atop the ticket? Recall, she also brazenly stole from several sources including Wikipedia to write a book called “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer” during the campaign for California Attorney General in 2010.

Final thought: A tough cookie? No, more like a rum-soaked, confused cookie.

4. Maximum Pressure from Trump Admin Has Iran’s Currency Hitting Near-Record Lows

President Trump, on resuming office, reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran. And it is working. Iran’s currency, the rial, is in the basement and still sinking.

Iran’s currency hit a new low on Saturday with $1 costing 1,043,000 rials, and it could fall even further as global tensions rise.

This is going to hit the regular Iranian people hardest, of course. The mullahs and the ruling class will not be much affected, personally; rulers of rogue nations like Iran rarely are. Most importantly, however, their ability to influence affairs in the rest of the Middle East will be diminished. Their ability to provide streams of weapons and ammo to their proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic State, and the Houthis–will be likewise diminished.

When the president imposed sanctions on Tehran during his first term, 55,000 rials was equivalent to $1, according to Reuters. That’s a big, big difference.

Iran imports a great deal of materials and products it cannot make. Their top imports are machinery, vehicles, cereal grains, oil seeds, optical and medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals, just to name a few. Cereal grains alone make up many of their imported foods, with corn, rice, barley, and wheat topping the list. All of these things are now more expensive, dramatically so. And that expense, along with the inevitable shortages, will be landing on everyday Iranians.

In summary, Iran’s economy depends in large part on imports, and the Trump sanctions are not only squeezing the rial to near Weimer Republic-level devaluation, but the president has also made inroads into Iran’s major export—oil.

There’s an old saying that throughout history, peasant rebellions have frequently succeeded because there are so many peasants. Iran’s population is a little over 90 million. If a strong plurality of their population decide enough is enough and the mullahs have to go—the mullahs will have to go.

5. President Trump Shares Incredible Footage of Strike on Houthis, Pro-Terror Simps Lose Their Minds

On Friday, Trump decided to do a little messaging, having posted incredibly clear footage of a strike on the Yemeni terrorists.

He then dunked on them:

These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis.

Of course, the same terror-simps who spend all their time defending Hamas are chiming in, claiming the Trump administration actually blew up tribal members attending a celebration.

To be clear, however, the above picture is not of the same people who were bombed in Trump’s footage.

Most tellingly, though, is that the Houthis did not rush out to post names, pictures, and videos claiming it was an attack on civilians.

The ability to reach out and touch terrorists is a beauty to behold.