Escalation Dominance
Subjects of Empire,
The current version of western financial empire operates upon value-extraction through $US banking and finance, necessitating that wealthy people and countries participate in the system to sustain it. Creating $US to lend at interest, which must be repaid via deliveries of actual goods and services to the financial institutions and their investors, is a very profitable arrangement. It does require continuing expansion of the debt-based $US money supply.
Participants can be induced to remain in this system by carrots for wealthy investors, who are assured real returns on their investments, and military sticks for nations who might be reluctant to be bled by the system, countries such as Iran and Russia, for instance.
This imperial financial system replaced and grew out of the system promulgated under the British Empire, run from London, but now $US based and run from multiple nodes, including London, New York, Washington, Frankfurt, Paris and Tel Aviv.
Both rewards for large investors and threat of military attack are important to keep the world engaging through this system. SWIFT transaction framework makes this very smooth, unless a country or bank is excluded, when it is forced to find or devise a workaround. Exclusion from SWIFT has been done repeatedly in recent decades, including to Russia and Iran. Other large countries like China and India have seen that the existence of an alternative settlement mechanism is in their interest, so as to maintain national autonomy against such a coercive attack.
Somehow, both Russia and Iran have weathered financial and military attacks from this financial and military empire, and are now sustaining wars of attrittion against the empire. The empire is low on defensive missiles like Patriot and PAC-2&3 family, each of which takes 2 years to make, and which manufacturing lines cannot be readily expanded, due to complexity and lack of both materials and expertise. There are about 400 contractors required to make a Patriot or PAC-2&3 missile.
Russia, China and iran all have more centralized manufacturing, at far higher production rates, already scaled-up for attrittional war, and not diminishing towards any limits during ongoing warfare. Iran has deeply buried critical facilities rather than invest heavily in anti-missile systems, which it has bought from Russia and China, and largely holds in underground reserves.
US/NATO have ramped up offensive drone and missile supplies to Ukraine, in an effort to force Russian battlefield concessions, but it has not worked yet, as Russia has also escalated strikes against Ukrainian fueling stations and trucks, which supply the forward armies, drones and missile attacks. This has successfullly pushed the Ukrainian launch points hundreds of miles farther away from the Russian border, allowing ample time for Russian air defenses to prepare and engage, shooting down most Ukrainian missiles and almost all drones.
Russia has accellerated ground advances, also, getting close to taking all of Donbas this summer, and also other historically Russian areas, like Kharkiv and Odessa. Odessa is Ukraine’s remaining Black Sea port, in which the UK has a lot of interest. The UK might lose most interest in Ukraine if it lost that asset. Russia continues to prevail in the war of attrittion, with long civilian gas lines, but a highly functional military economy, as well as strained, but functional civilian economy.
President Trump would like to negotiate a ceasefire to rebuild Ukrainian capabilities, but Russia will not do that. Russia still insists upon a signed treaty to end the war on Russian terms, which remain the same for over a year, and will be realized militarily if not diplomatically.
Iran has now unified during the largest funeral in history for assassinated leader Ali Khameini. The unjustified US/Israeli murders of schoolgirls, civilians and elected political figures, scientists, diplomats and military leaders are very much in the public mind, along with realizations that the US and Israel have thrown their worst at Iran, except for nuclear weapons, and have run low on both defensive and offensive missiles. Iran sees traffic in the Strait of Hormuz diverting from the US-approved Omani corridor to the Iranian-approved corridor, especially after Iran hit Omani-corridor tankers with anti-ship missiles, not just drones. No ship can afford to take that route now, as there will be no insurance policy sold under those conditions.
European NATO members are invested in the Ukraine proxy-war against Russia, and are unwilling to let it be settled, presumably for the financial losses they will be forced to admit, but also for maintenance of their control-narrative of Russia-the-external-threat, which is not even much believed in those countries.
The US under Trump wants to disengage from the Ukraine-war tar-baby without losing too much prestige, and with some case to make for “winning” something. Trump needs Putin to give up something big enough for him to show as a trophy. That does not appear likely this summer.
Putin’s party needs to win elections in September, and is likely to escalate the war to some decisive victory in August, perhaps by decapitation strikes against Zelensky and other high Ukrainian officials. Ukraine is making noises about holding September elections to re-legitimize Zelensky, but such elections might replace him with former army Commander in Chief, Zaluzhny just as well.
In the Mideast the Strait of Hormuz is again closed, with a lot of Iranian tankers out to sea, storing oil in international waters, vulnerable to the US Navy, and which Treasury’s Bessent now says that nobody can buy. Saudi Arabia is currently exporting about 70% of its pre-war baseline through its Red Sea port, which the Houthis could block, if they decided to, but it is moving.
Liquified natural gas remains in short global supply, especially in Europe, which will need it badly again this winter. The US can’t increase export to Europe much more, if at all.
China used oil reserves for a few months, but is now buying oil again, after demonstrating that it was immune to attacks on supplies on a scale of months. The Strait closure has been shown to pressure Europe and Asia, but not to significantly pressure China.
It appears that the hostages to the Strait of Hormuz are global agriculture, which already missed spring-planting fertilizer, Europe, Asia, and the $US based global financial system, which needs investors to stay invested, not sell assets, and needs to maintin the position of the $US as global reserve currency, in the face of sustained central bank increases in gold holdings, which are now the primary reserve currency holding, having replaced $US recently.
Trump is in a position of needing to appear to hold the upper hand militarily, to hold escalation-dominance, while Iran sees the opportunity to prove decisively that the US has lost escalation dominance, and is now a “paper-tiger” before the world.
At such time as Trump may be forced to back down and accept Iranian terms of control of the Strait of Hormuz, and the right to collect transit fees, the US will have been demoted from “hegemon” to “has-been”.
Some kind of nuclear-agreement would be face-saving, but Iran has said for decades that it will not develop immoral nuclear weapons, and has not been willing to discuss further constraints than that until the US makes Israeli troops leave Lebanon, which was an agreed precondition with JD Vance, promptly undercut by Marco Rubio’s negotiations with Israel and the corrupt and ineffectual Lebanese government.
Iran closing the Strait and keeping it closed will eventually cause western financial system rupture, which Trump is certain to be monitoring. He can further attack Iran, but he can’t open the Strait, and he apparently can’t make Iran relinquish the right to control passage of tankers carrying oil, gas and fertilizer out of the Strait. The government of Iran is in a position to stand-firm on moral principles with the backing of the people of Iran, and help from Russia, China, coast-hugging shipping and overland transportation routes. Iran, Russia, China and neighbors can already do business without SWIFT.
If the current Western financial system is brought to crisis, and undergoes a collapse like 2008, it will not be able to negotiate a return to a dominant position in global finance. Various forms of trade and investment arrangement will probably take a decade or more to be forged into a new global financial system, and it may be multipolar. It would apparently be gold-based initially.
New Strikes On Iran Significantly Stronger Than Earlier Attacks, As IRGC Targets US Navy Warships US strikes on Iran announced, as ‘heavy costs’ for earlier targeting of multiple commercial vessels
Oil rises as Treasury revokes June 21 Iran oil waiver
Hormuz Threat Level Raised To “Severe”
Three maritime incidents reported on Hormuz in last 24 hours https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/qatari-lng-tanker-hit-iranian-missile-hormuz-chokepoint
Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: Both Sides Declare Their MoU To Be Ineffective At the beginning of the week more tankers took the southern route along the Omani coast instead of the northern route on which Iran, following the Memorandum of Understanding, insists. The Omani route is under observation and protection by U.S. military assets.
Iran is not the only one which interprets clause 5 of the MoU – “the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements …” – to give it exclusive rights to regulate the traffic in the Strait.
Gérard Araud @GerardAraud – 19:59 UTC · Jul 7, 2026
At the first reading by any diplomat, the MoU was obviously giving Iran a free hand in the strait of Hormuz. …
On Tuesday Iran fired drones against some five cargo ships which took the U.S. protected Omani route. Other ships on the same route immediately started to divert. Some returned to their anchoring positions while other proceed along the northern route.
Late Tuesday the U.S. canceled its regulation which had lifted U.S. sanctions against the sale of Iranian oil. The lifting of sanctions had been one of the MoU provisions.
On Wednesday morning a large U.S. attack was launched against targets along the Iranian coast. Some 60 of the targets were random civilian fishing vessels which the U.S. claimed to be IRGC speed boats.
Iran announced ‘consequences’ and stated that the U.S. was (again) in breach of the MoU provisions:
The [foreign] ministry said the strikes constituted “a flagrant violation” of the first clause of the Pakistan-brokered MoU, which requires the cessation of military operations.
It said that the attacks, coupled with the US Treasury Department’s decision the previous night to revoke Iran’s oil sales authorization, were in violation of arrangements concerning the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the continuation of Israeli military aggression and terrorist acts against Lebanon, had rendered “important and fundamental parts” of the agreement ineffective.
“The responsibility for the dangerous consequences of this escalation rests with the treaty-breaking US regime,” the statement said.
Iran warned its neighboring Gulf states of providing bases for U.S. aggression:
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has declared that the origin of any support provided to the “aggressor US military” in attacks against Iran’s sovereignty and territory would be regarded as a legitimate target for the Iranian Armed Forces.
Iran responded to the U.S. attack by launching missiles and drones against U.S. military positions in Kuwait and Bahrain. It also downed an expensive U.S. MQ-9 ‘Reaper’ drone.
Trump declared the ceasefire to be over:
Asked whether the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with Iran is now over after the latest attacks, Trump said it was.
“It’s a very interesting question to me. I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” Trump said.
“They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by people, and they’re vicious, violent people.” He added: “And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
Oil prices have risen 6% and are now likely to increase further.
Should the oil prices continue to increase it is likely that Trump, who spoke of “the Islamic Republic of Japan”, will again change his mind. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/07/war-on-iran-both-sides-declare-their-mou-to-be-ineffective.html
Iran Threatens To Choke Off Hormuz Again As US Readies Blockade; Trump Says Tehran Wants To Assassinate Him Iran threatens to reclose the Strait of Hormuz and suspended final talks with the US.
The US earlier revoked an Iranian oil waiver & now signals readiness to restore a maritime blockade.
Trump said the ceasefire is over and warned of fresh US strikes on Iran, probably “tonight”.
Oil jumps above $80 as fears of renewed conflict & return to Hormuz Strait closure intensifies. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/theyre-scum-trump-says-us-iran-ceasefire-over-sending-oil-higher
Rutte the sycophant: NATO Chief Backs Renewed US Strikes On Iran As ‘Absolutely Necessary’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nato-chief-backs-renewed-us-strikes-iran-absolutely-necessary
Iran War: Expected Hardening of Iran Posture in Wake of Funerals for US-Israel War Martyrs; Iran Hits Two Tankers Transiting on Oman Side; China Buying Non-Iran Gulf State Oil, Opposes Iran Control Plans; Yet More on Oil Price Anomalies as Crack Spreads Widen Further Iran may have decided not to make any big moves while the services for the Supreme Leader and other martyrs are still underway.
Or it may be that they decided that a few actual strikes that seriously damaged tankers would be sufficient for Mr. Market, here insurers and reasonably-prudent ship operators, to pull back. As Shanaka Anslem Perera said on Twitter:
Iran fired missiles at two civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, according to two US officials, and the missiles were never meant to actually sink them.
The missiles were rather meant to reprice them.
The tankers were hit for using the route drawn by Uncle Sam and Oman instead of the one drawn by Iran, and a single strike on that lane does something a blockade cannot. It makes this particular whole route “uninsurable”. An uninsurable lane is actually a closed lane, and Iran just found how to shut the strait without shutting it. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/iran-war-expected-hardening-of-iran-posture-in-wake-of-funerals-for-us-israel-war-martyrs-iran-hits-two-tankers-transiting-on-oman-side-china-buying-non-iran-gulf-state-oil-opposes-iran-control-pl.html
From July 3, Times of Israel: Trump claims ‘spoiled child’ Iran has agreed to most US demands in negotiations US president asserts Iran defeated militarily, now has ‘more rational’ leadership, ponders how American Jews can vote for Democrats when he is ‘best president in history of Israel’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-claims-spoiled-child-iran-has-agreed-to-most-us-demands-in-negotiations/
From July 3, Iran’s Mehr News: Iran to come out victorious over US: Russia’s Medvedev says https://en.mehrnews.com/news/245861/Iran-to-come-out-victorious-over-US-Russia-s-Medvedev-says
July 3, Mehr New, Iran: Lebanon’s peace, security Iran’s principled approach: MoD https://en.mehrnews.com/news/245860/Lebanon-s-peace-security-Iran-s-principled-approach-MoD
ANKARA, July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he thought Israel would withdraw troops from southern Lebanon because it wanted to take that step, despite comments from Israel’s leader indicating otherwise.
Trump told reporters at the NATO Summit in Ankara that he had discussed a withdrawal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Yeah, I think they’re going to. I think they want to,” Trump said. “So we have a deal with Israel and Lebanon. Yeah, they’ll leave. And I think it’s going to work out very well.” Netanyahu visited Lebanese territory occupied by the Israeli military last week, telling soldiers that Israel would not withdraw from the country’s south as long as Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to pose a threat. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-07-08/trump-says-he-thinks-israel-will-withdraw-troops-from-southern-lebanon
July 7, Double-Tap Bombing Rips Through Damascus Near French President Macron’s Hotel https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/double-tap-explosion-rips-through-damascus-near-french-president-macrons-hotel
Today, July 8: Why the Damascus blasts during Macron’s visit are a blow to al-Sharaa
The twin blasts that rocked Damascus during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Syria this week underscore the fragility of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s authority and the security challenges he faces. They also undermine the message of stability that Damascus is striving to convey to the international community. No group has taken responsibility for the explosions. Syria’s interior ministry said one bomb was placed inside a car parked on the side of a road and the second was planted in a garbage bin. It said they exploded “while preparations were underway” to dismantle them. “These acts of sabotage carried out today... were intended to undermine the French president’s visit,” said Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab, who visited the scene. https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260708-why-the-damascus-blasts-during-macron-visit-are-a-blow-to-al-sharaa
Hamas Announces Dissolution Of Gaza Government, But Israel Warns It’s A Sham Hamas formally announced Monday the final dissolution of its government in Gaza amid preparations to hand power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal... ..The development has been met with mixed reactions, with Israeli officials asserting this is a deceptive PR stunt with no real significance.
“The alleged resignation of the Hamas government, where all of the Hamas members stay in their positions, is a spin that has no significance,” an Israeli official told the Times of Israel.
The response came on the heels of Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, having announced that “only technical and professional staff” would remain in their positions to run the Gaza Strip’s daily administrative affairs.
“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” he said at the press event held in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
Additionally, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem touted that it marks “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”
At the start of this year, back in January, special envoy Steve Witkoff said the second phase of the ceasefire plan would move the Palestinian enclave into a period that will see the demilitarization of Hamas and the establishment of a technocratic governance model. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hamas-announces-dissolution-gaza-government-israel-warns-its-sham
Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-08 The truce didn’t just fray, it died: overnight the US struck 80+ targets across Iran, revoked Iran’s oil-export waiver in the same hour, and Iran answered with missiles and drones on 85 Gulf sites in Bahrain and Kuwait — Trump then declared the MOU “over.” Oil gapped +5-6%, and the Korean market broke separately from the war news, entering a bear market as Samsung’s record profit still triggered a chip-wreck. Continuation underneath it all: JGB and US long-end yields at multi-decade highs, China’s gold-hub machinery switching on, and Russia’s ballistic strikes on Kyiv still going uníntercepted.....Trigger was a tanker campaign in Hormuz. Iran hit the Qatari LNG Al Rekayyat, Saudi VLCC Wedyan and UAE LPG Al Maryah — 4-5 vessels over 24h (MenchOsint, HormuzLetter). Traffic has collapsed onto Iran-designated lanes; the US-Omani corridor is effectively empty... ..Long-end yields at multi-decade highs on both sides of the Pacific. Japan’s 10Y hit 2.87%, a 30-year high (Barchart, Hedgeye); the US 30Y jumped to 5.05%, highest since May... ..Iran’s Foreign Ministry formally declared the war-termination deal “ineffective” and put Gulf hosts on notice as complicit (MarioNawfal). Iran also fired anti-ship missiles and drones at US warships in the Sea of Oman... ..Saudi Arabia is selling crude at a discount for the first time since 2020 (Barchart) even as 321 crack spreads scream tightness (chigrl). The US SPR sits at a 43-year low (Hedgeye) — a thin buffer heading into a reopened conflict.
Russia’s side of the ledger is worse: Urals crashed to $42/bbl (zerohedge), and Ukraine’s deepest strike of the war (~2,500km) halted the Omsk refinery, Russia’s largest at 8-10% of national capacity... ..Gold/silver: Hong Kong’s clearing machinery goes live as the West drains its vaults
Hong Kong’s central gold-clearing hub launched with a “Delivery Connect” link to the SGE and planned yuan-denominated gold futures, targeting >2,000 tonnes storage by 2030 (KingKong9888); SGE is closing leveraged retail gold accounts by July 24 and migrating the business offshore (Dioclet). HSBC is expanding its HK vault to 200 tons (David Lee). Confidence: HIGH.
PBOC added 15 tonnes in June — 20th straight month, now 2,346 tonnes (KrishanGopaul); 82% of central banks now hold physical gold, up from 71% (KobeissiLetter).
COMEX open interest is at a 10-year low with 448t gold and 6,000t silver drained from vaults... ..US trade deficit widened 40%+ to $77.6B, tied partly to AI-datacenter hardware imports — a real drag hiding inside the capex boom...
..Russia-Ukraine: ballistic strikes on Kyiv keep landing unopposed; the fuel war widens
Overnight Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles hit Kyiv with 9 impacts across 2 waves and zero intercepts — no Patriot PAC-2/3 interceptors left — striking a Nova Poshta logistics warehouse (Russia claims a Flamingo/drone component plant) (AMK Mapping, AMK Mapping). Confidence: HIGH.
Ukraine hit back at the shadow fleet: 8 oil tankers, a dry-cargo ship and a ferry struck in the Azov Sea (AMK Mapping); Russia claims 415 drones downed overnight with the Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Saratov refineries reportedly hit.
Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-07-07 Israel-Turkey friction: Netanyahu made the Fox case for confronting Turkey and asked Trump not to supply F-35s (atrupar); separately he asked Trump not to sell Turkey air-defense arms (zerohedge/Axios).
Thoughtful and well informed, by Irishman Conor Gallagher, A Bang or a Whimper? Comparing Imperial Collapse in the US to the UK’s Decline https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/will-the-us-empire-end-with-a-bang-or-a-whimper-comparing-imperial-collapse-in-the-us-to-the-uks-decline.html
Trump calls Putin on US Independence Day
The US and Russian leaders spoke for nearly 1.5 hours on the 250th anniversary of American independence, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov
According to Ushakov, Moscow initiated the previous phone call on June 14, Trump’s 80th birthday, while this time it was the American side that proposed speaking on the day of the 250th anniversary of US independence.
The presidents agreed to remain in contact and hold another call in the near future, according to Ushakov. Putin also reminded Trump that he has a standing invitation to visit Moscow. https://web.archive.org/web/20260705081908/https://www.rt.com/news/642587-putin-trump-phone-call/
John Helmer, HOW NOT TO LOSE (JOB, ELECTION, WAR) This question, published on July 4, has been put bluntly by Dmitry Rogozin — former Russian ambassador to NATO, former deputy prime minister for the military-industrial complex, former chief of Roskosmos, and currently senator for the Zaporozhye region and front-line commander.
Rogozin, 62, also a veteran of Russian presidential election campaigning, is still campaigning. “The winner is not the one who can shoot down more drones. The winner will be the one who will be able to make each subsequent enemy strike less effective and more expensive, and his own defense will become cheaper, more massive and automated. That’s what the real technological race is about today.” ... .. When he spoke with President Donald Trump on July 4, according to the Kremlin’s version of their conversation... Putin — said his spokesman Yury Ushakov — was trying to persuade Trump not to sign a statement of unified warfighting strategy against Russia at the NATO summit meeting; this will be held later this week in Turkey.
With the Europeans at the G-7 summit meeting in France on June 16-17, Trump had already signed his backing for escalation of the drone war. “We commit to increase the pressure on the Russian war economy,” Trump signed with the Europeans. “In this context, we will strengthen our sanctions, including those on the oil and gas sectors. We consider this the right moment to proceed with additional measures.”
To Putin, according to Ushakov, Trump replied that “his special envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – will carry on their mediation efforts and are ready to come to Moscow at our convenience.” Putin’s answer to that has not been reported.
Putin did remind Trump of the bribes Witkoff and Kushner have been discussing with Putin’s representative, Kirill Dmitriev. “There is colossal potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries,” Putin reportedly said. Trump replied: “for these prospects to be realised, it is necessary to put a stop to the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible.”
A Moscow source in a position to know claims the Russian bribes have not yet been paid to the Americans...
..This is Rogozin’s answer:
“The military use of drones seems cheap only at the level of an individual product. An FPV [First-Person View], a copter, or a simple aircraft UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] can cost disproportionately less than the target they hit and the means by which they have to be shot down. But at the system level, the opposite is true: drones dramatically increase the cost of war for both sides.
The attacker buys a cheap entrance ticket: housing, motor, camera, communications, warhead. But then operator training, reconnaissance, retransmission, logistics, repairs, batteries, ground stations, losses, failed launches, defects, modernization and a constant change of tactics begin.
The defender pays even more. He needs a continuous loop: detection, confirmation, communication, duty shifts, electronic warfare, optics, thermal imagers, radars, mobile groups, ammunition, training, redundancy, exercises, false alarm analysis, situation centers and interaction with air defense. A cheap goal forces you to build an expensive counteraction environment. And all this happens symmetrically.
This is how the war economy spirals. The problem is not that the drone cannot be shot down — the problem is that it is often too expensive to shoot it down. You can technically win every single interception and economically lose the war. An expensive rocket versus a cheap FPV plane is bad math. But an interceptor drone without a detection, classification, and guidance system loop does not work either.
Therefore, the main question now is not just ‘how to shoot down?’, but ‘at what cost to disrupt the enemy’s task?’. A massive cheap threat cannot be countered with massive expensive interception. It is necessary to transfer the struggle from destroying the apparatus to disrupting its function (ideally, the functions of its operators). The real answer is a layered defense economy: first, the cheapest sufficient measures, then the more expensive ones, and only as a last resort, the most technically complex and expensive means. But we must act decisively, systematically and without delay.
The winner is not the one who can shoot down more drones. The winner will be the one who will be able to make each subsequent enemy strike less effective and more expensive, and his own defense will become cheaper, more massive and automated. That’s what the real technological race is about today.” https://johnhelmer.net/how-not-to-lose-job-election-war/#more-94582
Presumably guided to Azov Sea targets by NATO: Ukrainian Drone Swarm Attack Hits Eight Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tankers https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/ukrainian-drone-swarm-attack-hits-eight-russian-shadow-fleet-tankers
Trump Greenlights Patriot Missile Production In Ukraine, Praises Deep Strikes Into Russia While in Turkey for the annual NATO summit, President Trump commented on the issue of Ukrainian drone strikes deep into Russian territory on its oil refineries and defense manufacturing facilities, which has unleashed a fuel crisis in various parts of Russia and especially Crimea.
“It’s an escalation but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end [of the war],” the US President told the NATO summit. After heaping lavish praise on Ukraine forces for supposedly turning the tide of battle and momentum in Kiev’s favor, Trump also said, “We have a lot of pressure on President Putin. I don’t think he likes what’s going on.” He added: “But I talked to President Putin a lot. He wants to end the war.”
The Wall Street Journal comments in the wake of Trump’s remarks:
President Trump said he supported Ukraine striking targets deep inside Russian territory, calling it an escalation that could help end the war.
...In a marked contrast to past meetings between the two leaders, Trump opened his press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky by offering warm words and fresh promises of military cooperation with Ukraine, providing a major boon for Kyiv and its supporters in Europe. Trump praised Ukraine’s bravery, signaled he would consider granting Kyiv a license to produce U.S. Patriot missile interceptors and said he would consider travel to Kyiv at the right time in peace talks.
On this, Trump said Washington would give Ukraine “the right to make Patriots” - after Zelensky has for at least six months been relentless in requesting this, framing it as urgent and for the protection of cities and civilians.
“We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump stated, describing the system as “very complex” - though he also said the Ukrainians would “figure out the complexity quickly.”
Trump continued by saying that American defense firms are already building “four plants” and claimed that “all of our companies will be able to do this in two to three months.”
However, there have notoriously been immense backlogs when it comes to Patriot production, and there’s said to be great global demand among US allies, especially given depletions which have come as a result of the Iran war. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-greenlights-patriot-missile-production-ukraine-praises-deep-strikes-russia
Zelensky In Ankara Still Insistent On Ukraine Joining NATO: ‘Alliance For The Future’ Zelensky said “Europe urgently needs its own capability to produce anti-ballistic systems and the missiles they require.” He added: “The one thing we still need to do here in Europe is build a strong defense against Russia’s ballistic missiles. It’s a big challenge… this is Russia’s last major advantage.”
It’s interesting that Zelensky is arguing that his country should become a full-fledged NATO member based on already in effect being militarily integrated.
This was one of the Kremlin’s very rationales for launching the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine in the first place. Also interesting is that Moscow is now referencing it as a ‘war’ on a much more official level... ..Russia still has as a main front-and-center demand that Ukraine definitively and permanently reject aspirations to join NATO. Moscow also still requires full political recognition over the four eastern annexed oblasts, as well as Crimea.
Western officials have still been reluctant to fully back some kind of rapid NATO membership track for Ukraine, knowing it would take the Ukraine crisis from more of a proxy war situation strait into WW3-style direct war between Russia and NATO. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-ankara-still-insistent-ukraine-joining-nato-alliance-future
Military Summary: CONTROLLED ESCALATION - US Licenses PAC-3 for Ukraine - Kyiv Hammered - Azov Fleet Blocked, MS 08.07.2026
Trump lashes out at NATO as first day of summit wraps in Turkiye United States President Donald Trump has declared he is “very disappointed with NATO” on the first day of a summit of leaders of the mutual defence alliance in Turkiye that exposed tensions over European defence spending, the Russia-Ukraine war and the future of Greenland.
Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for the summit along with other NATO leaders. The main session will be on Wednesday.The summit comes at a fragile time for the 77-year-old alliance, which has seen Trump sow discord over Iran, Greenland and Washington’s commitment to protecting fellow members.
After criticising NATO allies during a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said that if the summit “weren’t held in Turkiye, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended”.
Trump also named European countries who he perceived as unsupportive during the US-Israel war on Iran, saying, “We weren’t treated well because we did something in Iran.”
“Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars when they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them,” he said.
“Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down.”
The US president cast a brighter eye toward Ankara, remarking on the “chemistry” between the US and Turkiye, vowing to remove sanctions and saying he would soon decide about the potential sale of F-35s. “We have a very good relationship,” he said. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/7/trump-lashes-out-at-nato-as-first-day-of-summit-wraps-in-turkiye
Recap of the final day of the NATO summit Trump hailed a “very successful” NATO summit and praised President Erdogan for hosting the alliance.
The NATO summit declaration has reaffirmed its “ironclad commitment” to collective defence under Article 5.
Turkiye’s President Erdogan says the summit in Ankara laid the foundation of a stronger NATO, adding that Turkiye hosted an “historic summit”.
Trump said he has not yet decided whether to sell F-35 jets to Turkiye, but was considering how good an ally Erdogan had been.
Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Trump that emphasised strengthening Ukraine’s air defences amid intensified Russian attacks.
The US president had earlier said Ukraine will be allowed to produce US Patriot missile systems.
Trump also said NATO nations will send minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/7/8/nato-summit-live-trump-world-leaders-meet-in-turkiyes-ankara
Trump Tells Bessent To Halt US Trade With Spain, Calls Madrid A “Wasted Cause” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-tells-bessent-halt-us-trade-spain-calls-madrid-wasted-cause
Spain: 70% Of Tested ‘Unaccompanied Minor’ Immigrants Are Actually Adults https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/spain-70-tested-unaccompanied-minor-immigrants-are-actually-adults
John Helmer on those prank-calling Russian rascals, at it again: GREECE HAS DECLARED DRONE WAR ON RUSSIA – “IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT” – ON CONDITION THE WAR DOESN’T DAMAGE GREEK TOURISM AND SHIPPING BUSINESS The war against Russia is being won in each capital of the NATO alliance, and will continue to be a winner, so long as there are no money-costing and vote-losing “accidents” or “incidents”.
Those are two terms from Athanasios Dokos, who acknowledged “that’s a bit scary, to be honest.”
Dokos is the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Educated at Cambridge and Harvard, he was an academic, think tanker and advisor to the Greek Defence and Foreign Ministries until 2019 when he became the National Security Advisor. Last year Mitsotakis promoted Dokos to cabinet-level rank as Secretary-General for National Security.
When he was telephoned from Kiev on June 24, he thought he was talking to Rustem Umerov, now the head of the National Security and Defense Council, formerly Ukraine’s Defense Minister and part-time resident of Florida. They had met the week before (June 18-19) Umerov reminded Dokos at the start of their call, but Dokos didn’t recognize the bogus voice; he thought he recognized Umerov, but never suspected he was looking at an AI-generated image, a deepfake. Dokos also didn’t know that Russia’s intelligence services have his personal telephone number and the security codes in use at the Prime Ministry. Dokos was talking to Russia’s most famous penetration spies – the telephone pranksters Vovan and Lexus. To them pretending to be Umerov, Dokos revealed that as part of Greece’s long-term war strategy against Russia, it is continuing to implement plans for co-production of Ukrainian drones and Ukrainian drone warfare operations on Greek territory... ..Onshore Ukrainian drone command and control systems – this is the top secret which Dokos has revealed he was asking Umerov and Zelensky to continue running without “incidents” and “accidents”.
Dokos also revealed that the head of the Greek intelligence agency EYP, Themistoklis Demiris, was in Kiev shortly before his conversation was recorded to meet his SBU counterpart Yevgeny Khmara to go over the secret terms of the drone plan and its deployment in Greece without further public discoveries and embarrassments.
Dokos and Demiris, “Umerov” was told, want to make sure that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian vessels in the waters off Greece, launched from “onshore Ukrainian drone command and control systems” – Greek and NATO bases in the region — should not interfere with Greek shipping operations or deter tourism in the Greek islands... ..Manos Tzafalias, a Greek investigative journalist who has been reporting on the “incident” and “accident”, has exposed the misreporting of the Greek press and the misinformation issued by the Greek Defence Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Prime Ministry. The cover-up is an attempt to conceal from Greek voters the collaboration between Athens and Kiev in the drone war against Russian tankers on the high seas, especially the Mediterranean. Greek voter sympathy for Russia and opposition to the US and NATO war are the highest in Europe. https://johnhelmer.net/greece-has-declared-drone-war-on-russia-its-as-simple-as-that-on-condition-the-war-doesnt-damage-greek-tourism-and-shipping-business/#more-94565
Exclusive: The EU banning the ESN party is a ‘realistic scenario,’ warns German MEP and president of Sovereignty Foundation
“I think this is the easier route for them than banning the AfD at national level. There is less attention on the European political party,” MEP Alexander Sell tells Remix News in an exclusive interview about EU efforts to destroy the right-wing ESN The Europe of Sovereign Nations Group (ESN), which includes nine right-wing European parties, has been relentlessly attacked by the EU establishment since its founding in 2024. The ESN’s largest party member, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has also been the target of efforts for an outright ban at the national level in Germany. While left-wing and establishment parties are struggling to implement a ban on the AfD in Germany, at the European federal level, democratic checks and balances and the rule of law are far weaker.
Now, the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) is seeking to de-register the ESN, which would strip it of all its funding and de facto lead to the end of the party. https://rmx.news/article/exclusive-the-eu-banning-the-esn-party-is-a-realistic-scenario-warns-german-mep-and-president-of-sovereignty-foundation/
Ian Davis, on our current form of governance, often called by nicer names: Functional Oligarchy Oligarchy is a very old system of governance and one we have never really escaped. More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle stated that oligarchy (oligarchia) becomes the governance system “when men of property have government in their hands.” Today, we define “oligarchy” as “government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes.” When oligarchs exercise political power by virtue of their wealth, we call it “plutocracy.”... ..We are told that we live in “representative democracies” precisely because oligarchy is widely viewed as unacceptable. Despite the fact that “representative democracy” is the antithesis of democracy, the purported virtues of our fake democracies are constantly extolled simply to convince us that we don’t live in oligarchies. Political science, though, clearly reveals that we do.
The worst wealth-disparity since 1929: How America’s Wealth Distribution Has Changed Over The Last 40 Years The top 1% built its wealth primarily through stocks and businesses, assets that have soared in value for decades. In fact, every group below the top 1% has lost share since 1989: even the next 9% of households, from the 90th to 99th percentiles, slipped from 38.0% to 36.4%.
Wealth further down the ladder is tied mostly to the family home, which appreciates far more slowly than the stock market. Much of the bottom 50%’s net worth is home equity, and many households in that group have little or no net worth at all. That’s why the gap between the top and the bottom has widened over the last 36 years. https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/how-americas-wealth-distribution-has-changed-over-last-40-years
How is the tulip-bulb reserve doing? US Bitcoin Reserve Stalls As Treasury And Commerce Vie For Control: Report https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/us-bitcoin-reserve-stalls-treasury-and-commerce-vie-control-report
The Ethical Skeptic, in an age of AI, and increasing technocracy, asks: What is Agency? Before the advent of social media, agency was largely a function of intent enabled through capability. An individual’s or institution’s ability to translate purpose into action depended primarily upon what they sought to accomplish and the means available to them. In the age of AI, however, agency becomes fundamentally reflexive. Every exercise of intelligence simultaneously generates information about itself, creating a continuous feedback loop between actor and observer. Effective agency is therefore no longer determined solely by intent and capability, but by the interaction between (1) intent and capability, (2) the ability of others to infer that intent and capability from accumulated behavioral traces, and (3) one’s own ability to accurately perceive and regulate one’s true motivations, assumptions, and operational footprint... ..Agency, in effect, transforms from being a property of the individual node to becoming a property of the network. In doing so, agency undergoes an ontological shift. It no longer resides principally within the individual, but emerges through the individual’s participation in a larger reflexive intelligence or club architecture... ..Perhaps the most visible societal example is the transition from one-to-many messaging toward AI-assisted microtargeting and synthetic media. Campaigns and influence operations can rapidly generate tailored content for different audiences while AI simultaneously measures reactions and refines subsequent messaging, creating a reflexive feedback loop between message, audience, and strategy. Increasingly, social media platforms learn what captures our attention and then give us more of it.
Over time, we are exposed to fewer ideas that genuinely challenge our thinking and far more that reinforce it. The result is not merely an echo chamber, but what might more aptly be termed a thunder chamber — an environment in which selected narratives are continuously amplified until they begin to feel like independent thought. Participants gradually come to believe that “consensus” shares their views, when in reality they are often experiencing a carefully curated representation of the world rather than the world itself. https://theethicalskeptic.com/2026/07/05/what-is-agency/
Tucker Carlson Unveils Major Political Plan Speaking with the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview published Wednesday, Carlson said he plans to “help build a third party,” just months after publicly breaking with President Donald Trump over the U.S.’s involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
“I’m going to help build a third party. There should be a good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country,” Carlson said.
During the same interview, Carlson insisted that he still has no interest in seeking public office. “I don’t want to be a candidate,” he said. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tucker-carlson-unveils-major-political-plan
Charles Hugh Smith points out, Without Subsidies, AI Is Unaffordable Let’s pull all this into an undeniable conclusion: AI is based on massively subsidizing users’ costs.
DeepSeek Developing In-House AI Chip In Bid To Cut Nvidia Reliance https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/deepseek-developing-house-ai-chip-bid-cut-nvidia-reliance
Air Force Engineer Accused Of Cutting Down AI Cameras Becomes Unlikely Hero, Raises Thousands For Legal Defense Jeffrey Sovern, a 41-year-old Air Force engineer and mechanic from Virginia, is accused of cutting down multiple Flock Safety license plate reader cameras. He now faces 13 counts of destruction of property, along with six counts each of petit larceny and possession of burglary tools.
The case comes as Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader network continues to spread rapidly across the country. Supporters say the cameras help police solve crimes, while critics argue they create a growing surveillance network that tracks the movements of ordinary Americans and raises serious privacy concerns...
..Sovern has made no secret of his views. In a GoFundMe campaign created to cover his legal expenses, he framed the case as a fight over privacy rights. “My name is Jeff and I appreciate my privacy. I appreciate everyone’s right to privacy, enshrined in the fourth amendment,” Sovern wrote... ..Originally seeking $8,500, the campaign has gained momentum as news of the case has spread. It has now brought in more than $15,000 from over 400 contributors, far surpassing its initial goal. [It is up to $34,158 as pf this writing.]
In a recent update following a preliminary hearing, Sovern thanked supporters for helping bring attention to the issue.
“Thank you to those that had the time to show support this week!” he wrote. “We have seen a huge uptick in awareness of the system and this case.”
He also urged supporters to continue advocating against what he called an expanding surveillance network, encouraging people to “reach out to the local governments and demand that these systems are taken down.” https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/air-force-engineer-accused-cutting-down-ai-cameras-becomes-unlikely-hero-raises-thousands
This pleasant and informative video advises stock investors to hold their positions until December. Why? THIS is The EXACT Date of The Next Stock Market Crash.
EPA Greenlights PFAS Pesticides Never Before Used in U.S. for Use on Corn, Wheat, Soy and Other Food Crops
The controversial approval of the two new “forever chemical” pesticides came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Bayer and the Trump administration in limiting Americans’ ability to sue pesticide companies for harms linked to pesticides. Diflufenican and epyrifenacil, never before used in the U.S., can now both be used on the two most widely grown U.S. crops. Epyrifenacil has also been approved for wheat. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/epa-greenlights-pfas-pesticides-never-before-u-s-corn-wheat-soy-food-crops/
CDC Study Finds 24% of Adults in Hard-Hit States Carry Alpha-Gal Antibodies Linked to Meat Allergies
New data suggest Alpha-Gal Syndrome is far more widespread than previously recognized.
Mother of Twins Who Died 8 Days After Vaccinations Charged With Murder
Police in Payette, Idaho, arrested Andrea Shaw on Tuesday afternoon, more than a year after her two children — fraternal twins Dallas and Tyson Shaw — were found dead at their home on May 1, 2025, eight days after receiving their 18-month vaccines. Police charged Shaw with two counts of first-degree murder. Shaw said doctors ignored her when she warned that the twins’ father had previously experienced a bad reaction to a flu vaccine. A 23-year-old mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her twin toddlers was set to be arraigned later today, after an Idaho grand jury indicted her late Monday, the Payette Police Department said in a press release.
Police arrested Andrea Shaw on Tuesday afternoon, more than a year after her two children — fraternal twins Dallas and Tyson Shaw — were found dead at their home in Payette on May 1, 2025, eight days after receiving their 18-month vaccines.
The Payette Police Department said the arrest follows “a lengthy and thorough investigation” and said it would have no further comment regarding evidence in the case. “Future information will be presented through the judicial process,” officials said.
Shaw alleges that her twins’ deaths were caused by the vaccines they received at a routine doctor’s appointment.
Nurse Angela Wulbrecht, an advocate for people injured by vaccines and who has been supporting the Shaws, told The Defender she was “ shocked and heartbroken” to learn of Shaw’s arrest.
“Over the past year, I have had the privilege of walking alongside Andrea and her family after the unimaginable loss of her twin babies,” Wulbrecht said. “I have witnessed a mother’s profound grief, unwavering love for her children, and determination to seek answers.”
Andrea gave birth to a new baby, born three weeks prematurely, on June 25, Shaw’s attorney Joseph Filicetti told the local KTVB7 news station. Her husband is caring for the newborn while she is incarcerated. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/andrea-shaw-idaho-mother-twins-died-8-days-after-vaccinations-charged-murder/
K.P. Stoller MD, They Vaccinated Her Twins. The Babies Died. Now They’re Charging the Mother With Murder. The heartbreaking case of Andrea Shaw exposes everything wrong with America’s untouchable vaccine program Andrea Shaw did what responsible parents are supposed to do. She told the pediatrician there was a family history of severe reactions to vaccines, specifically the flu shot.
The doctor dismissed her concerns.
On April 23, 2025, the twins received the flu vaccine, Hepatitis A, and DTaP. Within hours they became lethargic and ill. The next morning their lips were blue. They could barely move.
The emergency room doctor literally diagnosed them with a “post-immunization reaction.”
The symptoms continued. One week later, Andrea found both toddlers unresponsive. She called for help.
And from that moment, the system turned on her.
Police immediately treated the parents as suspects. They floated theories of asphyxiation and “postpartum blackout.” They ignored the documented medical reaction that began the day after the shots. The family filed a VAERS report.
Instead of investigating the vaccines, authorities spent over a year building a homicide case against the grieving mother.
Exclusive: Sen. Ron Johnson Demands Journal Turn Over Records Related to SIDs and Vaccines Study
In a letter made public today, Sen. Ron Johnson called on the editor-in-chief of Toxicology Reports and the CEO of Elsevier, which owns the journal, to release all records related to the decision to remove vaccine researcher Neil Z. Miller’s peer-reviewed analysis of VAERS data showing that many more SIDS reports were filed in VAERS in the first few days after vaccination compared to later on after vaccination. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/exclusive-sen-ron-johnson-demands-journal-turn-over-records-related-sids-vaccines-study/
Steve Kirsch, Data from a large autism specialty medical practice shows over 50% of sudden regression autism happened within 2 days after vaccination I was finally able to find an autism specialty practice to share their patient data summary statistics with me. The data is preliminary but the statistics leave little room for doubt.
Maryanne Demasi, Ph.D. ‘Germ Games’: Gates, World Bank, NIH Modeled Pandemic Response After U.S. Military War Games In January 2016, senior figures from the Gates Foundation and the World Bank proposed a new approach to pandemic preparedness: large-scale simulations modeled on military war games. Newly obtained internal emails show how the idea — referred to as “Germ Games” — gained rapid momentum and gained favor with the NIH. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/germ-games-gates-world-bank-nih-pandemic-response-u-s-military-war-games/
Jessica Rose Ph.D details stated-assumptions which are just wrong: Fact check of new Lancet paper authored by mRNA tech developer Anna Blakney et al. Persistence, integration, and the gene therapy questions
Meryl Nass MD, Evidence showing who paid to go after doctors who challenged the COVID narratives: Big Pharma. But there is a lot more to be discovered about money changing hands. I missed this from 2023.
Dr. Marian Laderoute explains how some cells of your immune system disappear in their successful efforts:Trained immunity of M1-like foamy macrophages: A key role of human endogenous retrovirus K102 particles. - How disappearing foamy macrophages generate reductions in all cause mortality.
Paul Marik MD shows evidence for benefits from green tea, vitamin-D, Curcumin, omega-3 fats, healthful diet and exercise: Preventing Cancer: The ROOT Protocols By Paul Marik, MD and Justus Hope, MD
Dr. Marik on stress hormones facilitating cancer growth and spread, and blocking them: Propranolol and the Stress–Cancer Axis - Blocking the stress hormones
A Japanese frog intestinal bacterium, injected intravenously, eradicated colon cancer in mice. A Frog Derived Bacterium that Fights Cancer on Two Fronts
Sustaining Healthy Microbiomes (pictured with repeatedly-weeded black-eyed pea patch)
Every sunrise has a matching sunset.