The Men Behind the Curtain: the Trilateral Commission

A deep-dive into David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski's elite think tank, who've shaped foreign policy, groomed presidents, and filled their cabinets for the last 50 years.

Who are the proverbial men behind the curtain? 

It is indisputable that there is a ruling class in this world that wields undue influence over the news media and world governments through multinational corporations, investment management firms like BlackRock and the Vanguard group, as well as private organizations such as England's Royal Institute of International Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the World Economic Forum. 

The longer this information war drags on, the more imperative it becomes that we accurately identify the individuals and institutions that have laid the groundwork for the modern deep-state establishment.

In part one of this series, we discussed the Council on Foreign Relations, a shadowy think tank created shortly after the First World War. To briefly recap, we learned that the CFR was initially funded by a who’s who of early 20th-century “cabal” players, men like John D. Rockefeller, Paul Warburg, Jacob Schiff, Otto Kahn, and representatives of the family of J.P. Morgan, all of whom had intimate ties to the Rothschild Banking Dynasty. The group still exists today and is comprised of government officials, business executives, journalists, educators, philanthropists, religious leaders, military brass, and members of the intelligence community.

For the longest time, the CFR was the only real ruling power in this country, that is, until the creation of the Trilateral Commission.

While this explanation comes from second-hand sources, the story goes that by the late 1960s, it was becoming apparent to David Rockefeller, chairman of the CFR at the time, that the council was becoming too well known. An unacceptable percentage of the American population was becoming aware of the secretive organization, and conspiracy-minded reporters were having a field day. It is said that in an attempt to deflect public attention, Rockefeller instigated the creation of a slightly more public offshoot organization that would officially bring Japan into the globalist fold: the Trilateral Commission. 

The Trilateral Commission is seen by many as the spiritual successor of the Council on Foreign Relations. Both groups are are held out by researchers as the epitome of covert organizations that guide public policy in directions opposite to those either in the best interest of or desired by the public.

Additionally, this group may very well have laid the groundwork for the union between Big Tech and the intelligence community that the Twitters Files are exposing today.

More on that later.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, Father of Trilateralism

The idea for the Commission did not originate with David Rockefeller, that credit goes to a man named Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was then head of the Russian Studies Department at Columbia University. (#) Zbigniew Brzezinski, the father of political commentator Mika Brzezinski, had been researching the need for closer cooperation between Europe, North America, and Asia while at the Brookings Institution. 

Zbigniew Brzezinski

In the early 1970s, Brzezinski wrote in the CFR’s publication Foreign Affairs that:

 “A new and broader approach is needed—creation of a community of the developed nations which can effectively address itself to the larger concerns confronting mankind. ... A council representing the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, with regular meetings of the heads of governments as well as some small standing machinery, would be a good start.” (#)(#)

Less than a year later, he published a book titled Between Two Ages: Americas Role in the Technotronic Era. This book was essentially Brzezinski’s vision for the future, where he accurately predicted a society that:

 “...is shaped culturally, psychologically, socially, and economically by the impact of technology and electronics—particularly in the area of computers and communication."

 "...Regionalization is in keeping with the Tri-Lateral Plan which calls for a gradual convergence of East and West, ultimately leading toward the goal of one world government. National sovereignty is no longer a viable concept.” (#)

He also predicted:

 "movement toward a larger community by the developing nations . . . through a variety of indirect ties and already developing limitations on national sovereignty."  (#)

Brzezinski suggested that this larger community be funded by "a global taxation system." In explaining that a cooperative hub, such as the Trilateral Commission, might set the stage for future consolidation of power, he reasoned that:

"Though the objective of shaping a community of developed nations is less ambitious than the goal of world government, it is more attainable." 

It took a couple of years for Brzezinski’s commission of trilateral nations to take shape. It would first have to be presented before the creme de la creme of the ruling elite at the Bilderberg group in April of 1972, in the quaint Belgian town of Knokke-Heist, where it was reportedly met with enthusiasm. (#) Many of the financiers present were concerned over Nixon's devaluation of the dollar, surcharges on imports, and budding detente with China, all of which were causing relations with Japan to deteriorate. (#) In addition, energy problems were growing in response to price increases by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). (#)

With the blessings of both the CFR and the international Bilderbergers secured, the Trilateral Commission began organizing on July 23-24, 1972, at Kykuit, Rockefeller’s 3,500-acre estate in Pocantico Hills, a subdivision of Tarrytown, New York. (#)(#)

Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate

The attendees of this private meeting included Rockefeller, Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to both JFK and LBJ McGeorge Bundy (who hails from the purportedly elite Bundy family), Brookings Institution director of foreign policy studies Henry Owen, diplomat and scholar Robert Bowie, economist and policy advisor C. Fred Bergsren, corporate law expert Bayless Manning, Karl Carstens (who, with the help of the commission, would eventually become president of Germany), Roman Nobel Guido Colonna di Paliano, European political analyst Francois Duchene, Rene Foch, Max Kohnstamm, National Diet of Japan member Kiichi Miyazawa (who would become Prime Minister), Japanese economist Saburo Ikita, and Tadashi Yamamoto. These founders were hand selected by both Rockefeller and Brzezinski. (#)(#)

The Trilateral Commission was officially founded on July 1st, 1973, with David Rockefeller as chairman, and Brzezinski as the founding North American director. (#) North American members included Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, congressman and lawyer John B. Anderson (another presidential candidate), and Time, Inc. editor-in-chief Hedley Donovan, Foreign founding members included the late Reginald Maudling, Lord Eric Roll, Economist editor Alistair Burnet, FIAT president Giovanni Agnelli, and French vice president of the Commission of European Communities Raymond Barre. 

The Commission maintained an annual publication for the first few years after its inception called Trialogue, which claimed:

"The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 by private citizens of Western Europe, Japan, and North America to foster closer cooperation among these three regions on common problems." 

Suspicious researchers see the Trilateralists’ "closer cooperation" as "collusion" between the multinational bankers and corporate elite who want to move society toward a one-world government.

The Commission is based in New York, Tokyo, and Paris. An executive committee of 35 members administers the commission, which meets roughly every nine months, rotating between the three regions. (#)

More than a Club?

Spokesmen for the Commission insist that the group does not receive any government funding. A report in 1978 showed that commission funding from mid-1976 to mid-1979 was $1,180,000, much of which came from tax-exempt foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which in 1977 alone put up $120,000. (#) Donations also came from the Ford Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the German Marshall Fund, and corporations such as Time, Bechtel, Exxon, General Motors, Wells Fargo, and Texas Instruments. (#)

A good skeptic might wonder, "How do we know that the Trilateral Commission is anything more than another fancy club?" Consider the following stories…

In the first two years of its existence, the Commission would regularly issue “Task Force Reports," called “The Triangle Papers.” One such paper, titled The Crisis of Democracy, was put out by the commission in 1975. It was written by Samuel P. Huntington who claimed that what America really needed was “a greater degree of moderation in democracy.” Huntington argued that democratic institutions were incapable of taking prompt action against crises, using the Three Mile Island nuclear accident as an example. The paper suggested that leaders with "expertise, seniority, experience, and special talents" were needed to "override the claims of democracy." 

Essentially, Huntington was trying to popularize the idea of globalists circumventing the Constitution. Within the decade, Huntington would be named coordinator of security planning for Carter's National Security Council. In this capacity, Huntington prepared Presidential Review Memorandum 32, which led to the 1979 presidential order creating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a civilian organization with the power to take totalitarian control of government functions in the event of a national "emergency." (#)

They say that the wheels of government grind slowly, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the wishes of the Trilateralists. What started out as a paper in the Commission’s publication led to the creation of a new federal agency in just five years. And not just any agency either— FEMA is quite a storied organization in conspiracy circles.

This is just one of many examples of how a commission-generated idea became a reality. 

Richard Cooper, a Yale University economist who headed the commission's task force on monetary policy, recommended selling off official gold reserves to private markets. Cooper would eventually become the undersecretary of state for economic affairs and just happened to be presiding as the International Monetary Fund sold off a portion of its gold. Cooper would also serve as Chair of the National Intelligence Council under President Bill Clinton.

Another Trilateralist named John Sawhill authored an early commission report titled, Energy: Managing the Transition, which made recommendations on how to manage a movement to higher-cost energy. Carter appointed Sawhill deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. C. Fred Bergsten aided in the preparation of a commission report called Interdependence and the Reform of International Institutions then went on to become assistant secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.

Many trilateralists find themselves in positions of power where they are able to implement the policy recommendations of the commission; recommendations that they themselves prepared on behalf of the commission. 

The Commission could be seen as a cabal of powerful men out to control the world through a supernational community dominated by multinational corporations. U.S. News & World Report took note of the commission's globalist agenda, reporting, "The Trilateralists make no bones about this: They recruit only people interested in promoting closer international cooperation. .. ." (#)

Researchers Anthony C. Sutton and Patrick M. Wood summed it up nicely in their book Trilaterals Over Washington:

"The Trilateral Commission was founded by the persistent maneuvering of David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Rockefeller, [then] chairman of the ultrapowerful Chase Manhattan Bank, a director of many major multinational corporations and 'endowment funds' has long been a central figure in the mysterious Council on Foreign Relations. Brzezinski, a brilliant prognosticator of one-world idealism, has been a professor at Columbia University and the author of several books that have served as 'policy guidelines' for the CFR. Brzezinski served as the (Trilateral) commission's executive director from its inception in 1973 until late 1976 when he was appointed by President Carter as assistant to the president for national security affairs."

The Administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan

Jimmy Carter’s administration was so thoroughly infested with trilateralists that it could be seen as one of the Commission’s greatest accomplishments, if not the most overt display of influence. It was Brzezinski himself who recruited Carter for the Trilateral Commission in 1973, and once he won the oval office, the group would become the subject of much debate in the mainstream media. 

Zbigniew Brzezinski and President Jimmy Carter

The Washington Post of all places published in early 1977:

 "But here is the unsettling thing about the Trilateral Commission. The President-elect (Carter) is a member. So is Vice-President-elect Walter F. Mondale. So are the new secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury, Cyrus R. Vance, Harold Brown and W. Michael Blumenthal. So is Zbigniew Brzezinski, who is a former Trilateral director and Carter's national security advisor, also a bunch of others who will make foreign policy for America in the next four years."(#)

This trilateral-heavy administration of Jimmy Carter included White House economic aide Henry Owen, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Director Paul Warnke of the now dismantled Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Ambassadors Andrew Young, Gerard Smith, Richard Gardner, and Elliot Richardson, Undersecretaries of State Richard Cooper for economic affairs and Lucy Benson for security assistance, Undersecretary of the Treasury Anthony Solomon, Robert Bowie of the CIA, and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. Many of these individuals enjoyed cross-membership with the CFR and would go on to serve in future administrations as well.

Upon first glance, it would seem that the Commission is an unspoken executive arm of the Democratic party, but many prominent Republicans filled the secretive group's ranks as well. These include globalists like Henry Kissinger and George Bush (surprise surprise), and a cadre of others who would be installed in various positions of power. (#)

A move that further fanned the flames of speculation was Carter’s selection of banker Paul Volcker to head up the Federal Reserve. He was reportedly appointed on instructions from David Rockefeller, Volcker had been the North American chairman of the Trilateral Commission as well as a member of those other secret groups, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderbergers. He was replaced as chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Reagan administration by Alan Greenspan, also a member of the Trilateral Commission, the CFR, and the Bilderbergers. (#)(#)

It’s not difficult to see why so many people believed that U.S. policy was being directed by these Rockefeller-dominated organizations. 

Former Arizona senator and then-presidential candidate Barry Goldwater spelled it out succinctly when he wrote:

"What the Trilaterals truly intend is the creation of a worldwide economic power superior to the political government of the nation-states involved. As managers and creators of the system they will rule the world." (#)

David Rockefeller moved to squash this criticism and defend the commission in a 1980 edition of the Wall Street Journal:

 "Far from being a coterie of international conspirators with designs on covertly ruling the world, the Trilateral Commission is, in reality, a group of concerned citizens interested in fostering greater understanding and cooperation among international allies.. .."

But criticism continued to present itself.

Then-Secretary of State Ed Muskie charged that Brzezinski was making foreign policy rather than coordinating it. (#) William Sullivan, who had been U.S. ambassador to Iran, accused Brzezinski of sabotaging U.S. efforts to ease relations with Iran following the departure of the Shah. "By November 1978, Brzezinski began to make his own policy and establish his own embassy in Iran," complained Sullivan. (#)(#)

These concerns prompted fear and speculation in Washington over secret and even semi-secret organizations. The criticism made its way into the American Legion, which, in 1980, passed Resolution 773, calling for a congressional investigation of the Trilateral Commission and its predecessor, the Council on Foreign Relations. The following year, a similar resolution was approved by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). (#)(#)

It was the late Congressman Larry McDonald who introduced these resolutions in the House of Representatives, where they unsurprisingly fizzled out into nothing. In a chilling turn of events, McDonald, who as national chairman of the John Birch Society was a vocal critic of these secret societies, died in the still-controversial downing of Korean Airlines 007 on September 1, 1983. (#)

In 1980, Republican candidate Ronald Reagan went on the record blasting the nineteen Trilaterals in the Carter administration—including Carter himself—and vowed to investigate the group if elected. While competing with George Bush for the nomination, Reagan highlighted Bush's membership in both the Trilateral Commission and the CFR during the debates and pledged not to allow Bush a position in the Reagan Administration. (#) 

But at the Republican national convention, a strange series of events took place.

Reagan was a shoo-in as the presidential candidate, but the vice presidency was still up for grabs. About halfway through the week, mainstream pundits suddenly began talking about a "dream ticket" of President Reagan with Vice President (and former president) Gerald R. Ford. Momentum began building for this concept, which would have created a shared presidency and, hence, divided power. It was even suggested that since Ford had been president, he should choose half of the Reagan cabinet. 

Faced with the prospect of presiding over half a government, Reagan rushed to the convention floor late at night and announced: 

"I know that I am breaking with precedent to come here tonight, and I assure you at this late hour I'm not going to give you my acceptance address tonight. .. . But in watching the television at the hotel and seeing the rumors that were going around and the gossip that was taking place here ... let me as simply as I can straighten out and bring this to a conclusion. It is true that a number of Republican leaders . . . felt that a proper ticket would have included the former president of the United States, Gerald Ford, as second place on the ticket.... I then believed that because of all the talk and how something might be growing through the night that it was time for me to advance the schedule a little bit.... I have asked and I am recommending to this convention that tomorrow when the session reconvenes that George Bush be nominated for vice president." (#)

And almost like magic, Reagan never again spoke out against the Council on Foreign Relations or the Trilateral Commission. In fact, according to historian and author Jim Marrs, Reagan's fifty-nine-member transition team was composed of twenty-eight CFR members, ten members of the elite Bilderberg group, and at least ten Trilaterals. He even appointed prominent CFR members to three of the nation's most sensitive offices: Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger, and Secretary of the Treasury Donald Regan. (#)

Additionally, he named Bush's campaign manager, James A. Baker III, who then served as chairman of the Reagan-Bush campaign committee, as his chief of staff. Baker is a fourth-generation member of a family long connected to Rockefeller oil interests. You might recognize his son, James Baker IV from the Trump-era Russiagate scandal, and more recently as the lawyer who was fired by Elon Musk after the Twitter Files were released. (#)

Of course, a discussion about Ronald Reagan and the Trilateral Commission wouldn’t be complete without getting into the storied assassination attempt.

Only months after being inaugurated, President Reagan was struck by an assassin's bullet. A bullet that, but for a quarter of an inch, would have placed Trilateralist George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office seven years before his time. Interestingly enough, the brother of the would-be assassin, John W. Hinckley, had scheduled dinner with Bush's son Neil the very night Reagan was shot. (#)(#)

The irrefutable ties connecting America's political leadership to the CFR and the Trilateral Commission—along with the fact that globalist banker David Rockefeller was a leading luminary in both groups—has incited plenty of conversations among conspiracy writers on both the Left and Right.

The commission’s agenda continued on through both the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush Jr., culminating in the Obama administration. Barack Obama appointed eleven members of the Trilateral Commission to key top-level positions in his administration within his first ten days in office. Author Patrick Woods has gone so far as to claim that Obama was groomed by Zbigniew Brzezinski himself, and served as his principal foreign policy advisor. (#)

The commission remains a force in the world today, though it garners significantly less attention from the media and even the alt-media. Despite the commission’s waning influence, they still support the same globalist agendas that we see espoused by the Davos crowd and Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum, particularly: climate change, inequality, and the “digital revolution.” (#)

It comes as no surprise that a new elite organization would come along to carry on the agendas of those that came before. It has been posited that the Council on Foreign Relations was merely a continuation of goals laid down two hundred years prior by the Bavarian Illuminati, continued on through the Trilateral Commission, and is now championed by the World Economic Forum.

The end goal remains the same, the consolidation of global power and the extermination of all other governments and religions. At least, that’s what legions of conspiracy theorists believe.