United States

Submitted by Jason Hirthler via Counterpunch.org,

According to recent economic reports, US consumer confidence is soaring, but it depends who you ask. Based on the latest Evercore ISI survey, while there has indeed been a post-election spike in US consumer sentiment, it is mostly confined to states that supported Trump in the Presidential election, leading to the observation that "Post-Election Confidence Lifting Christmas Tree Sales In Trump States."

A Cold War-era storage facility in the Netherlands has been reopened and about to be restocked with tanks by the US military, as part of a drive to demonstrate NATO’s power amid rising ‘Russian aggression’. 1,600 vehicles are due to be stored at a six-warehouse complex in the southeastern village of Eygelshoven, near the Belgian and German borders. RT reports: The facility was originally opened in 1985 during the Cold War, when it was used by US troops to practice drills in case of a possible Soviet attack.

Update: moments after the original post, Trump has corrected his spelling error in a follow up tweet which, correctly, accuses China of engaging in an "unprecedented act" by seizing the US naval drone.

China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016

The U.S. army has deployed tanks and military personnel to Europe amid mounting fears of a war with Russia following accusations that they influenced the U.S. election.  Following Obama’s announcement that he would take “action” against Russia for interfering in the election, the U.S. army were ordered to send tanks to a Cold War site in the Netherlands in preparation for a potential conflict. Theantimedia.org reports: The U.S. and Dutch military reopened the Eygelshoven site on Thursday.