Aaron Maté : Their Blood, Our Bullets

Venezuela oil profits and sanctions relief1:31

• Judge Napolitanoassertion

  Reports that the Wall Street Journal says Trump's Venezuela oil bonanza has sputtered

• Trump (quoted)clip

  Boasted 'to the victor go the spoils' about profiting from Venezuelan oil

• Aaron Matéassertion

  Trump's oil profit claims are opaque and unverified, and Venezuela still needs sanctions relief and investment to repair its industry

US sanctions deliberately starving Cuba5:03

Maté describes new U.S. sanctions imposed last month that target Cuban shipping companies, making it harder for Cuba to import food on top of an existing energy blockade and decades-old embargo. He calls this policy 'sadistic' and says it is aimed at starving Cubans into submission amid open hints of a regime-change push, though Cuba has proven resilient to such campaigns for decades.

Trump's Hamas-Israel peace plan repudiated by Netanyahu6:26

• Judge Napolitanospeculation

  Netanyahu's public rejection was likely meant to energize his domestic base before Israeli elections, not to humiliate Trump

• Aaron Matéopinion

  Agrees the rejection was for domestic Israeli politics, and argues Trump tolerates Israel having carte blanche to bomb and occupy Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria

FBI investigated Trump as a Russian agent over Ukraine arms language10:12

• Aaron Matéassertion

  The FBI's counterintelligence probe of sitting President Trump was based on a trivial, non-existent RNC platform controversy over Ukraine arms language, reflecting neoconservative dogma that made diplomacy with Russia impossible

• FBI document (quoted)clip

  States that softer language on arming Ukraine 'could be favorable to Russian interests,' used as grounds to investigate the sitting president

Russia dismisses Witkoff-Kushner talks as pointless17:29

• Russian major general/Duma member (relayed by Judge Napolitano)clip

  Russia views the U.S. as a co-belligerent and does not take U.S. diplomatic efforts seriously

• Aaron Matéassertion

  Trump also owns the Ukraine war by continuing Bolton-era policies, and neither Trump nor a likely Democratic successor would seriously address Russian concerns

• Judge Napolitanospeculation

  Speculates Russia is in a holding pattern waiting for a new U.S. president in two and a half years

Rubio gutted the Alaska summit peace plan18:58

• Marco Rubio (relayed)clip

  Claimed the 28-point peace plan was written by Russia

• Aaron Matéassertion

  Disputes that framing, saying the plan was jointly drafted by Russia, Witkoff and Kushner, and that Rubio stripped out key provisions to sabotage it

No functioning US-Russia diplomatic relations20:09

• Aaron Matéassertion

  The Moscow embassy is nearly empty and the ambassador post is vacant, showing there are effectively no U.S.-Russia diplomatic relations

• John Sullivan (quoted memoir)clip

  Russian statements about wanting diplomacy should be treated as 'pure disinformation'

US remains a co-belligerent in Ukraine under Trump21:46

Maté says the U.S. has continued acting as a co-belligerent in the Ukraine war under Trump just as it did under Biden, citing prior reporting that U.S. officials ran the war from a military base in Germany by selecting targets and providing intelligence and weapons. He adds that CIA Director John Ratcliffe appears to have spearheaded Ukraine's long-range drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, concluding that despite Trump calling it 'Biden's war,' it is now Trump's war.