Trump's Winning Trifecta

All of Trump’s crises look like they are coming up roses.

The “big beautiful budget bill”, Iranian nuclear ambitions and stopping the Ukraine war are all looking good.

Budget: House fiscal hawks are dropping their opposition to Trump’s tax cuts now that it is clear that they won’t increase the deficit at all or add to the national debt.

Until now, the projections of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have been the gospel that underscores the consideration of Trump’s budget and tax cuts. But now it turns out that the Democrat-leaning CBO’s warnings that the “big beautiful bill” will add $4 trillion to the deficit/debt were based on the absurd prediction of zero economic growth during the ten year window.

Crazy. Using a 3% real growth rate, a far more likely scenario, the bill adds nothing to the deficit.

And, on review, three of the recommendations of t

he fiscal hawks make sense and can easily be incorporated in the legislation:

• Start the work requirement for Medicaid benefits now, not in 2029 as the first draft of the bill called for.

• Front load the $750 billion in cuts to the Biden “green new scam.” (Aka the Green New Deal)

• Scale the corporate tax rate back to 15%. Currently, with the deductions that most businesses take, the effective rate is 15% anyway but the bill should set the official tax rate at 15% without deductions.

So, after the Gang of Four deficit hawks —- led by Congressman Chip Roy of Texas —have secured their places in the news cycle by voting against the bill on Friday, incorporating these changes gave them the permission they needed to vote “present” and allow the big beautiful bill to go to the House Rules Committee and then to the floor.

Ukraine: Like the little engine that could, whenever this feisty freedom-loving country appears to have its back to the wall facing the big bear, it bounces back strong because of its courage, resourcefulness, and skill. Now, Ukraine’s massive use and production of drones has again turned the tables on Russia.

Ukraine is overwhelming the battlefield with 200,000 largely Ukrainian made drones each month. Eighty percent of Russia’s casualties (now approaching a million men since Moscow invaded) are due to drone strikes.

Ukraine recently dealt a major blow by knocking out 10 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity with drone attacks.

Drones have neutralized the Russian edge in tanks and reduced the Red Army to attacking on motorcycles. One Russian soldier reported that he hadn’t seen heavy Russian armor on the battlefield “in a long time and that everyday, we see five to eight assaults using motorcycles.”

Retired Lt. General Keith Kellogg, President Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, said Russia isn’t winning — He reports that “after three years, they’ve gained meters, not miles.” One Russian commander said “We cannot afford to continue fighting in this manner. We simply do not have enough population for that type of military tactics.”

And the Russian economy is collapsing under the strain of the war. The Hill reports that “Russia’s economy, once resilient, is now faltering. Growth has plummeted from around 5 percent to near zero since late 2024. Trump’s tariff war has rocked oil prices, which also exposed how vulnerable Russia is.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has publicly warned of Russia’s possible disintegration. Another Russian commentator added, “I feel sorry for us. We’re being beaten.”

With such battlefield reverses, look for Putin to accept, gracefully, Trump’s offer of mediation and a quick cease fire and settlement.

Iran: It is no accident that Trump preceded his talks with Iran by visiting Teheran’s financial backers in the Arab world. While Trump loudly showcases his achievements in inducing the Saudis and the Emirates to invest in America, he likely also is getting them to cut or even end their aid to Iran, forcing the Ayatollah to negotiate with Trump. Look for a deal soon where Iran agrees to stop enriching Uranium entirely stopping the countdown to nuclear weapons.

Trump’s sanctions are clearly working and laying the basis for an Iranian surrender.

The budget, Ukraine and Iran. Wow! What a president