☕️ THUNDER DOME ☙ Saturday, March 29, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠

Zelensky loses his minerals deal; USAID shut down for good; Fourth Circuit clears its dismantling; and a single tweet may have triggered the final battle to control America. And even more.

Good morning, C&C, it’s Saturday! That means it’s time for the weekend edition roundup: Zelensky loses his generous minerals deal and is now chasing a contractual lion; Secretary of State officially closes USAID for good on very short notice; Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for USAID to keep being fed into the woodchipper; and what could be the most important story of the Millennium as a single quiet tweet signaled the start of the final, apocalyptic battle to control the country. Not exaggerating.

🌍 WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY 🌍

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The New York Times ran an innocuous-sounding story yesterday boringly headlined, “Reworked U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal Proposal: What to Know.” It was very bad news for Ukraine.

“After intense negotiations on a minerals deal,” the Times blandly reported, “Ukraine last month managed to soften some of Washington’s toughest demands and reached an agreement that Kyiv considered more acceptable. But the deal collapsed after a disastrous Oval Office meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky.”

Disastrous is right.

Last month’s short, gentle memorandum of understanding presented to the green-sweatshirted former comedian last month has, Hulk-like, now transformed into a savage 55-page contract with harshly demanding terms. Trump’s new proposal “effectively turns Ukraine into an American colony,” said Ukrainian economist Roman Sheremeta, with only modest hyperbole.

It’s a much bigger demand. It’s a whole lot of “alls.”

The new offer requires Ukraine to cough up royalties and interest from all its natural resources —not just ‘rare earths’— including oil, gas, and all types of minerals. And not just from its state-owned companies, but from all private resource development companies as well. Ukraine must repay the United States for all the aid it has received plus 4% interest, with the United States deciding how much goes to the U.S. and how much Ukraine can keep.

Nor does the new deal include any security guarantees, apart from the implicit protection arising from the existence of the U.S. interests themselves. That implied protection arises from Russia’s expected reluctance to invade the failed state while the U.S. remains heavily invested there.

🔥 The much harsher terms make perfect sense from the U.S.’s standpoint. Rumors have long swirled about Ukrainian corruption, with dark hints of secret, undisclosed deals that already pledged first-tier interests in the country’s mineral rights to Ukrainian oligarchs and Europeans— particularly the sneaky British, who two months ago signed a ‘100-year deal’ with Ukraine including ‘secret’ provisions. Which everyone believes

Womp, womp. Zelensky could have had a good deal last month, if he’d just kept his broken English to himself and signed. Instead, he humiliated himself and got ejected from the Oval Office like a crazed climate protestor perp-walked off the White House lawn. His wee temper tantrum gave America more time to think a little harder about everything and —since Zelensky is holding no cards— to tighten up the terms.

It’s the classic “no-cards” negotiation, where the stronger party gets frustrated and starts raising its price instead of continuing toward the middle.

Yesterday, the chattering classes reacted by wondering whether the new uncompromising terms were really a mean strategy to force the peace talks to collapse, giving Trump cover to walk away. Maybe. Even if that wasn’t the goal, it had the same effect.

Zelensky’s Twitter feed was uncharacteristically quiet, and the Times’ article included no quotes from Ukraine’s Martial Law Administrator. He did pop up on Ukrainian news, ranting about never paying for America’s help, so maybe he’s about to make another mistake.

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In a story potentially much more significant than it looks, and despite mountains of desperate lawfare, the deep state’s slush fund met its inglorious end yesterday. The Washington Post ran the story headlined, “Trump administration moves to formally abolish USAID.” The sub-headline added, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the era of USAID is now over.” (I omitted the Times’ sneering scare quotes.)

Yesterday, the handful of remaining USAID employees “received an email that instructed them to vacate their desks by 1 p.m.” A half-day’s notice! Termination at the speed of DOGE.

But you can’t say they couldn’t see it coming. All surviving USAID programs have been rolled into the State Department. Border Patrol got the USAID building. And early yesterday, the State Department officially notified Congress of its plans to eliminate the agency, which massively triggered the perpetually outraged denizens of BlueSky.

Secretary Rubio explained, “USAID strayed from its original mission long ago … Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over.”

🔥 Grifters, including Somali lesbian pot smokers and Afghani transgender puppeteers, were hardest hit. “Humanitarian workers” —who receive USAID grants— and former USAID officials” —formerly on payroll— “blasted what they labeled a ham-fisted shuttering of a crucial operation of the U.S. government.” Uh huh. Also, it caused “fierce backlash from Democrats,” who relied on the benighted agency to spread transgenderism and kindergarten sex-ed worldwide.

Haha, a crucial operation of the U.S. government. Good one, WaPo. It was such a “crucial operation” that nobody ever heard of it before Trump pulled the plug in February. Guess what the main “fierce backlash” argument was? Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) impotently warned that, thanks to closing USAID, “Diseases we worked for decades to confront and eradicate are now at risk of landing on our shores.”

Diseases!

For decades, they’ve relied on America’s germaphobic fears of Hollywood-style outbreaks to justify anything they wanted to do. It’s their new slogan, replacing the overused shibboleth it’s for the children. Missiles for marxists? It’s to stop germs. CIA bases in Ukraine? It’s for preventing pandemics. Billions to pay protestors to topple democratic governments in the global South? It’s for disease prevention.

We aren’t buying the disease thing anymore. They need a new mantra.

🔥 In yet more good news yesterday, and probably not coincidentally, Politico ran a story headlined, “Appeals Court clears the way for Musk, DOGE to resume cuts to USAID.”

Earlier this month, Maryland District Judge Theodore Chuang (Obama appointee) had coughed up a preliminary injunction forbidding anybody —DOGE, Elon Musk, or even Marco Rubio— from working on USAID. Yesterday, a three-judge panel on the Fourth Circuit (Trump, Bush, Clinton) ruled 3-0 to toss Judge Chuang’s injunction and ordered that DOGE can keep on cutting while the lawsuit continues.

There isn’t much left to cut.

🔥 The court’s decision explained, “While defendants’ role and actions related to USAID are not conventional, unconventional does not necessarily equal unconstitutional.” For those of you following my primer on injunctions, as I predicted, the appeals court found the plaintiffs failed to prove the two hardest elements: they failed to prove a likelihood of success on the merits and failed to prove any irreparable harm.

“To the extent these alleged harms are cognizable damages at all,” the Court explained, “most can be remedied by money damages. Generally, injuries that can be cured by monetary relief, by law, are not irreparable.”

Then, for good measure, the Court briefly considered the government’s case. It did find irreparable harm— for DOGE. “The district court has, based on alleged injuries from a handful of plaintiffs, issued injunctive orders that dictate and restrict a separate branch of government. Unlike the harm alleged by plaintiffs, this harm cannot be remedied by monetary damages. It truly is irreparable.”

That was the shot heard ‘round the world’s courtrooms: District judges enjoining the President are causing irreparable harm.

Finally, warming to its theme, the order added several more refreshing comments about district courts minding their own business. I bet this language will soon begin appearing in all the government’s briefs:

In short, the Trump Agenda sprang forward yesterday like greased lightning. Alas, the lawfare beatings threaten to continue until morale improves. “Supporters of the agency,” WaPo said, meaning grifters and deep-staters, “promised further litigation over the new cuts announced Friday.” Meaning, further litigation in friendlier circuits.

But USAID is already closed, disbanded, and its offices given away. They salted the USAID field.

Why’d they tackle that obscure agency first, and why so fast and hard against USAID? The next story will blow your mind.

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Are you ready for the final battle? In a perfect metaphor for an unseen spook war reaching its silently concussive climax, yesterday’s most explosive DOGE story was virtually ignored by corporate media. Of the big US platforms, only Bloomberg carried the narrative-bending story, headlined “Elon Musk Set to Visit Central Intelligence Agency Next Week.” Right on schedule.

Trump-aligned independent reporter Catherine Herridge broke the story on X early yesterday. All we know for sure —all they are publicly saying— is that newly confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe “invited” Elon Musk, personally, to come to CIA HQ on Monday to start discussing DOGE and efficiency. That’s it. Sounds boring.

But it was somewhat curious news because, until now, the security agencies were considered safely DOGE-exempt.

I believe that Herridge’s tweet was a muted declaration that Trump’s war against the Deep State just entered its final, conclusive chapter. And the outcome will change history forever— for better or for worse. Let me explain.

👻 Was it purely coincidental that Rubio unexpectedly shuttered USAID on Friday and Ratcliffe unexpectedly invited DOGE into CIA the following Monday? Behold the timeline of just what we can see:

— On his first day in office, Trump created DOGE.

— DOGE’s first project was to wood-chip the CIA’s global laundromat, USAID.

— Weird legal fights erupted over the obscure “independent” agency.

— DOGE —solely under Trump’s control— continued penetrating most of the government.

— The Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA Director.

— Ratcliffe immediately fired an unknown number of CIA staff. (Battlefield preparation?)

— The JFK disclosures were body blows against the CIA. (More battlefield preparation?)

— Trump declassified (not yet produced) Crossfire Hurricane. (Even more?)

— Yesterday, Rubio officially ended USAID by Congressional notice.

— Yesterday, Ratcliffe publicly invited Musk into the CIA.

So many questions! Why Musk, and not a regular DOGE team? Why announce it? Why is the media pretending this story is a nothing burger?

Let’s speculate a smidge. Has Herridge’s mysterious January 19th tweet come full circle?

👻 One can imagine all the problems new CIA directors face upon entering the Agency. Like his predecessors, however loyal to the Administration, Ratcliffe entirely depends on CIA’s permanent staff to truthfully and transparently tell him what the Agency is really up to. That top-secret information is surely compartmentalized —especially the blackest (and most interesting) ops.

Director Ratcliffe has no login to see where all the money is going. Just what they tell him.

But, things are different this time. Having softened up the CIA, Ratcliffe is now bringing in DOGE, which can “efficiently” scoop all the CIA’s operations up into a single, controllable, digital, blockchained portal.

DOGE can make it so Ratcliffe can see for himself. He’ll no longer be spoonfed.

👻 Think about it: This isn’t about DOGE or efficiency or cost cutting. It’s about information control. It’s about access to a deliberately opaque, compartmentalized, self-financing black-budget machine that’s historically operated with zero accountability, even to its own directors.

Every CIA director since Dulles has faced the same problem: They don’t really run the Agency.

Career staff run it. Career staff who’ve been barnacled in place since the Cold War. Career staff who know where the money’s buried, who control the classified compartments, and who can easily “forget” to tell the Director things, or follow super-top-secret compartmentalizing commands.

Ratcliffe, like anyone assigned the Director’s chair, walked into a fortress within a fortress.

But DOGE can help him tear down the fortress walls.

👻 Imagine a new, AI-powered, top-secret, digital DOGE dashboard at Langley that can show Ratcliffe everything in real-time: every dollar, every operation, every contract, every overseas asset being paid — and only Trump’s team will hold the keys. Once such a dashboard were installed, the Agency’s permanent staff couldn’t play their covert games anymore. No more secret drug ops. No more unauthorized coups. No more backchannel slush funds.

No more resist Trump operations.

If DOGE can pull this off, the Agency will properly become an extension of the White House, rather than the other way around.

👻 In other words, DOGE at CIA is the nuclear option. It is a breathtaking vision of a brand-new reality that could dismantle the entire postwar geopolitical model. Now, permanent, unelected bureaucrats and spies hold the real power, because they control the money, secrets, and the levers of influence, while manipulated elected officials come and go like figure skaters blissfully unaware of all the busy little crustaceans teeming right below the ice.

If CIA-DOGE integration is real, and it sticks, then the Deep State will evaporate into a shallow pond. The DOGE dashboard would collapse the financial hydra into a one-necked money chokepoint. It would move the levers of control back into the White House. No more shadow government. No more covert meetings between “resisters” discussing how to undermine the elected President and thwart his agenda.

To be perfectly clear: DOGE in intelligence suggests, not just draining the swamp, but the engineered desertification of the swamp.

👻 If I’m right, this is war. When Musk strolls into Langley HQ, it will signal the final, climactic battle. The Deep State cannot let Trump seize the intelligence machinery. If he does, their decades-long system of autonomy, black budgets, and unaccountable operations dies forever. Not “set back.” Not “dismantled” so it can later be rebuilt.

Eradicated forever.

The CIA’s permanent staff, their global financial network, and the entire shadow government lose everything the moment their money and operations become visible and thus controllable by the White House. Their only option is to stop this, at all cost.

On the other side, Trump obviously understands what happened to him in his first term. He did not govern, he was governed— by an unaccountable, uncontrollable bureaucracy. They ran Crossfire Hurricane, UkraineGate, two impeachments, and countless other regime-change operations— because they controlled the machine.

And they gleefully survived his presidency intact. Trump knows he won’t survive this second round unless he finishes the job.

It’s not politics anymore. This is an epic existential battle, for both sides.

👻 What’s coming next could make the Trump 1.0 “resistance” look like kindergarten dodgeball.

Tesla dealership firebombs may be only the warmup act. Expect massive, all-out lawfare against Musk and DOGE. Look for more wild intelligence leaks designed to destabilize Trump and Ratcliffe. Even more addled progressive terrorists will be activated to cause mayhem. As the Swamp recruits its overseas allies, anticipate coordinated global backlash —the media, the EU, the UN, the NGOs— all screaming about “dictators,” “tyranny,” “kings,” and “creeping authoritarianism.”

Given what we already know, we can expect false flag attacks pinned to DOGE or Musk, to force public outrage and political blowback. Remember 2020’s Summer of Protest during covid? Those masked protests may look tame in contrast.

But Trump has been planning for this battle. He has done everything possible to pull its teeth. He pulled much of its funding. He activated the DOJ. He deported many of the known terrorists. He purged the Pentagon. He set the military on the border. He sidelined the big health agencies. He secured the tops of the intelligence agencies. He inflicted narrative injury on the CIA— drawing first blood. How much chaos can be contained remains to be seen.

I have a funny feeling Monday’s Signal leak somehow triggered the beginning of the end.

👻 For better or worse, in his first 70 days, Trump engineered this apocalyptic showdown, making it inevitable and unescapable. This really is the final battle; there will be no round 3. If Trump loses, they will make sure that nothing like this can ever happen again.

If they survive, they’ll build an impenetrable fortress around the Swamp this time.

The media is frozen in panic, waiting for narrative orders that, so far, have not arrived. The people who issue those orders are now fighting for survival, instead of creeping around just out of sight. The intelligence agency’s tools are covert, indirect, and obscure. It was never even an option to hold this secret war in public. How much will spill out into the open remains to be seen.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about all of this. Maybe Elon is just visiting CIA to give the Agency’s budget a tiny trim. Maybe John Ratcliffe just wants some advice about improving the CIA’s P.R. on X, or he wants to green the CIA by buying it some spook-friendly, James Bond-style electric cars.

But it sure looks to me like this is the final cage match. It’s the Thunderdome. Two secret armies enter— one army leaves. And things will happen fast. This high-stakes battle for control of the United States government will unfold at the speed of DOGE.

What do you think? Am I exaggerating the significance of yesterday’s least-reported story? Give me your take in the comments.

Have a wonderful weekend! Scramble back here on Monday morning as we wind up March and kick off a brand-new week of essential news and commentary.

Don’t race off! We cannot do it alone. Consider joining up with C&C to help move the nation’s needle and change minds. I could sure use your help getting the truth out and spreading optimism and hope, if you can: ☕ Learn How to Get Involved 🦠

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