Very interesting posting earlier from U.S. President Donald J. Trump regarding Ukraine, in which he states: “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offensive. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia. Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND defend — Interesting times ahead!!!”

Something has happened or appears to be happening behind-the-scenes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly “doubled-down” on his previous demands for an end to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, demanding that Ukraine give up all of the Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, renounce ambitions to join NATO, commit to neutrality, and keep Western troops out of the country, three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters. In exchange, Russia has agreed to freeze the frontline in both the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts of Southeastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky states that they believe several missiles which targeted an American-owned electronics factory in the Zakarpattia Oblast of Western Ukraine during last night’s Russian drone and missile attack, were not accidental; adding that the factory, owned and operated by Flex Ltd, was manufacturing home appliances, not military products for Ukraine.

Footage has been released by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, showing yet another attack today against the Unecha Oil Pumping Station in the Bryansk Oblast of Western Russia. Unecha is the second pumping station on the Druzhba Oil Pipeline, which transports oil from Russia to Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia and several other counties in Eastern Europe, to have been targeted within the last week by Ukraine.

The FBI today raided the Maryland home of John Bolton, who previously served as President Donald J. Trump’s National Security Advisor and has since been a staunch critic of the President. The raid was reportedly part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records,” according to an official who spoke with NBC News.

One person was killed and a suspect is in custody following a shooting this morning at Ingalls Shipbuilding Yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which is a primary shipbuilder for both the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. The shooting occurring at around 7:30am in the vicinity of the USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129), a Future Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyer launched in March 2025 and expected to be commissioned by the Navy in 2026. The motive of the shooter is still unknown, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

Posts on X by both FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, following this morning’s FBI raid against the Maryland home of John Bolton.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered Airmen and Soldiers with the National Guard who are patrolling the streets to Washington, D.C. to be armed beginning Friday, with roughly 2,000 troops now deployed to the city from several Republican-led states and the District of Columbia. No details or reason for this change was given by the Pentagon.

According to CBS News, on July 20, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), issued a directive ordering the U.S. intelligence community to classify all analysis and information regarding peace negotiation between Russia and Ukraine as “NOFORN” or no foreign dissemination, preventing information about the negotiations from being shared with the Five Eyes (FVEY), an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), citing a “loss of confidence” in his command ability, a term which has previously been used by Hegseth and the Trump Administration as a reason to dismiss dozens of senior defense, intelligence, and military officials since January. Kruse’s firing follows a preliminary assessment from the DIA back in June, which stated that strikes by the U.S. Air Force and Navy against three of Iran’s main nuclear sites only resulted in setting the Iranian nuclear program back by a number of months, which prompted vicious backlash from the Trump Administration after it was first reported by CNN and the New York Times.

The Department of Justice has released the redacted audio and written transcripts from last month’s interviews, lasting a total of nine-hours, between Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and convicted sex offender and close-associate of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell.