President Donald J Trump delivers the weekly address for W/E August 25th from the White House.

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, National Security Adviser HR McMaster, Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bosser hold an extensive press briefing to cover: Current events, Venezuela, Afghanistan, the debt ceiling and Hurricane Harvey.

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On Venezuela it is important to note the brilliance of the U.S. strategy and leverage.  The U.S. is the only remaining cash purchaser of Venezuelan oil for refinement. Both China and Russia purchase Venezuela oil, however their purchases are made via pay-downs to previous loans from China and Russia to the Maduro regime. Since the corrupt election the U.S. has not refined oil shipments from Venezuela putting massive financial strain on the regime.  (ie. economic leverage)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A tanker carrying a cargo of about 1 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude has been stranded for more than a month off the coast of Louisiana for lack of a bank letter of credit to discharge, three sources have told Reuters.
[…] Major banks are cutting exposure to Venezuela as a result of political upheaval in the South American country. Some have closed accounts linked to officials of the OPEC member who have had sanctions leveled against them by the U.S. government and have refused to provide correspondent bank services or trade in government bonds.

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Hurricane Harvey has strengthened to a Category 3 storm and is anticipated to impact the central Texas coast with landfall overnight Friday into Saturday morning.  Most forecasts are very concerned about the storm surge, rain and flooding that is anticipated.

National Hurricane Center HERE

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

The Alabama Senate Republican run-off to fill the vacant seat from AG Jeff Sessions has become a referendum on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  This is a very valuable situation for voters who understand how individual races, at specific moments, can create inflection points and change political history.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s defeat in 2014 was an example of one such moment.  Cantor’s defeat by challenger Dave Brat actually killed comprehensive immigration legislation, which included amnesty, 48 hours before the vote was scheduled to take place.

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is actively working to undermine the Make America Great Again legislative priorities of Republican President Donald Trump.  There is a grand list of McConnell’s activity showing direct and specific evidence in that regard:

•President Trump already gave congress a budget that reduces a trillion in spending; the Senate republicans balked and said reducing spending is not an acceptable goal. •Those same republicans and Democrats are suing President Trump trying to force the State Department to spend money on USAID and NGO’s. •Those same Senate republicans supported Omnibus spending bills. •Those same Senate republicans will not support removing ObamaCare. •Those same Senate republicans are fighting renegotiated trade deals including NAFTA. •Those same Senate republicans supported TPP. • Those same Senate republicans supported launching ridiculous Russian conspiracy investigations; and the list goes on, including •those same senate republicans using a strategic maneuver to block their own Republican President from recess appointments.

Well, you get the picture. There’s ample evidence of Senate Republicans opposing the President, and most of that opposition is fueled by Leader Mitch McConnell.
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In January Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted support for massive increases in migration into Canada:

However, policy has consequences. Eight months later, the same Justin Trudeau is now overseeing the largest mass deportation increase in the history of Canada:

TORONTO (Reuters) – As an influx of asylum seekers crossing from the United States strains Canada’s immigration system, the country is ramping up its deportation of migrants, government data shows.
Deportations of Mexicans, who have flocked to Canada in growing numbers after a visa requirement was lifted in December, was already 66 percent higher in the first eight months of 2017 than the total from the previous year.

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China is the #1 investor in Pakistan, and by extension of President Trump’s strategic decision to put Pakistan in the spotlight for supporting extremist elements within Afghanistan, China is also in the geopolitical spotlight. It’s a brilliant play by President Trump and Secretary Tillerson.
If there was no symbiosis between China and Pakistan, there would be no reason for China to have an opinion. However, understanding the nature of how their geopolitical ally has been called out, China is now exposed, and responds by trying to get the burden of responsibility removed from Pakistan.

BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States must value Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call, according to Chinese state media.

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a speech today in Kentucky.  A speech which yet again personifies the disconnect between the insufferable professional republicans within the party and the MAGA insurgency that has taken it over.
WATCH SPEECH HERE
CTH has been transparent with our support for Donald Trump, and the specific reason for it.  We want the GOPe machine torn down, dispatched to earth orbit, and nuked while there regardless of consequence, because we’re sick of having to be brutalized and used by Republican liars hiding within it. Period.
If President Trump shows up to the next MAGA rally in a banana costume, 5″ stiletto heels and starts twerking a cardboard cutout of Mitch McConnell, he’d still have our full support.
Senate Majority Mitch McConnell is the personification of the intransigent GOPe.  He is quite simply that vindictive doddering fool down the road with the signs on his law forbidding anyone to dare touch the grass.  The entire neighborhood hates him.  Harsh? No, try reality. THAT is the face of the swamp. Mr. Mumbles.  Good grief, no wonder Democrats are always grinning.
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Hurricane Harvey is quickly intensifying over warm water in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Maximum sustained winds now exceed 85 MPH and strengthening is expected. Harvey is anticipated to carry a massive amount of rain.
People in the path of Harvey should complete their hurricane preparations in the next 24 hours. [Timeline and possible path below] Considerable inland flooding is also possible.

National Hurricane Center HERE

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