It was reported yesterday that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump had a cordial conversation about ongoing trade and security discussions. {link} The phone call likely took place as President Trump was aboard Airforce One returning from China.

Previous to this phone call, “Gerardo Mérida, a retired Mexican army general who served as public-security secretary in northwestern Sinaloa state, was detained on Monday in Tucson, Ariz., court records show. Mérida is one of 10 current and former Sinaloa officials, including Gov. Rubén Rocha, indicted last month in the U.S. for allegedly taking bribes from Sinaloa cartel leaders to protect their billion-dollar drug empire. U.S. prosecutors say that the Sinaloa cartel is one of the world’s top producers and smugglers of fentanyl into the U.S.” {link}

The Trump administration is not slowing down on the intention to remove Mexican drug and human smuggling cartels, despite the reported domestic protestations from within the Mexican government.  There appears to be a rather unusual dynamic at play.

Inside Mexico the federal government is publicly criticizing the U.S. position; however, simultaneously Mexican President Sheinbaum is promoting a working relationship with President Trump and the U.S. position.

According to the New York Times, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has now shifted the prosecutorial focus to charge the designated Mexican cartel targets as terrorists.

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer gives a broad overview of the current status of U.S. trade relations with China on the heels of the Beijing Summit.  Greer notes that China has agreed to fulfill all previous purchase agreements and the future of trade between the U.S. and China looks very stable.

Additionally, China has made major purchases for 200 Boeing aircraft and up to 500 jet engines that are worth multi-billions in benefit within the manufacturing sector for the United States.  Following the conflict points between the U.S. and Europe, specifically as it relates to outcomes from the military engagement in Iran and the weakening of selfishly motivated NATO alliance members, China does appear to be more open in their trade relations with the USA.  Perhaps this is driven by the new paradigm of energy dependency that Beijing is not familiar with.

The most interesting aspect to the Beijing trip was not and is not the trade success stories that surfaced during the trip {USTR Greer}. While President Trump brought titans of industry, tech and finance with him to Beijing, the emphasis was on relationships.

Perhaps President Trump was teaching those influential peers something akin to needing a perspective change.  Perhaps the nature of trade relations is so structurally under change, all those business interests within it need to look at things differently.

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Colorado Governor Jared Polis has commuted the sentence of Tina Peters who will now be released on parole June 01, 2026.

Peters was convicted in August of 2024 of three counts of attempting to influence a public official, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, official misconduct, violation of duty, and failure to comply with an order of the Secretary of State.

Colorado Governor Polis has commuted her sentence.

COLORADO – […] Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett was preparing to resentence Peters as directed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, which found in April that the nine-year sentence he issued “was based in part on improper consideration of her exercise of her right to free speech.”

“Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,” the appellate judges wrote. “It was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.”  A date for her resentencing hasn’t been set.

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President Trump gives quick comments to the assembled Press Pool at the White House upon return from China.  WATCH:

The most interesting aspect to the Beijing trip was not and is not the trade success stories that surfaced during the trip {USTR Greer}.  While President Trump brought titans of industry, tech and finance with him to Beijing, the emphasis is on relationships.

Stay elevated. Note the emphasis by Secretary Rubio was on geopolitical relations against the background of current events.  Note how much narrative energy is spent on the ‘relationship’ aspect to President Trump and Chairman Xi, from both leaders and also on direct questions to all pertinent current events.

When questioned about issues, Trump, Rubio and Xi spoke of relations – not details of policy or current events.  The venues within China were specific to something more akin to understanding motives behind policy, personal motives, historic motives from a personal perspective.  It wasn’t a trip of transactions; the vibe, the frequency of it all, was seemingly dominated by something more important to the moment than dollars and yuan.

It seemed critical for both leaders to convey their mutual alignment, ensuring and emphasizing the importance of no conflict between their nations, even if policy differences are present.  Both Rubio and Trump emphasized this overall tone.

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The noticing of things continues….

[SOURCE]

RUSSIA – “Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in Beijing for a one-day visit on May 20, just days after the conclusion of President Xi Jinping’s landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Sources told the South China Morning Post the visit was part of Moscow’s routine dealings with Beijing, with little expectation that there would be an elaborate parade or welcome.

It will be the first time that China has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month outside a multilateral setting, a reflection of Beijing’s efforts to manage ties with both and position itself as a pivotal power amid an increasingly fractured world order. (read more)

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In a remarkable development, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Cuba on Thursday to meet with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro.  Also present at the meeting was Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services.

In late April of this year, a few State Department officials visited Havana and held talks with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro about a potential diplomatic deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also previously spoken directly to Mr. Rodríguez Castro who appears to be acting as somewhat of a bridge between the Cuban government and various Trump administration officials.

VIA CUBAN GOVT Press Release – “Based on the request presented by the U.S. government that a delegation headed by the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, be received in Havana, the Directorate of the Revolution approved the realization of this visit and the meeting with its counterpart from the Ministry of the Interior.

The meeting took place on Thursday, May 14, in a context characterized by the complexity of bilateral relations, in order to contribute to the political dialogue between the two nations, as part of the efforts to face the current scenario.

The evidence provided by the Cuban side and the exchanges held with the United States delegation made it possible to demonstrate categorically that Cuba does not constitute a threat to the national security of the United States, nor are there any legitimate reasons for including it in the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

During the meeting, it was possible to verify the consistency and congruence in the historical position of our country with the actions of the Cuban government and its competent authorities, in the confrontation and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

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Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping hosted President Donald J Trump and the delegation of administration officials and leaders of U.S. businesses during a state dinner in Beijing, China.

The full video of the event is below, prompted to 12:37 where President Trump delivered remarks to the Chinese and American attendees.

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Alternative angle video also included below.

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Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping wanted to emphasize history and determination when he took President Donald Trump on a tour of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China.   The temple was used by Chinese Emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties where the rulers would pray for abundant harvests, good weather and good fortune for the people of China.  Apparently, Chairman Xi wanted to send a message that rulers of China follow a mandate that is in alignment with spiritual divinity.

It is a rather ironic view of stewardship considering that religion is subject to strict government regulation in communist China. The Chinese government officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and Daoism; however, the practice of each religion must follow communist rules and be in alignment with all CCP dictates.  Within China, this is known as “sinicization,” a requirement that all religious groups must adapt their beliefs and practices to align with Chinese culture and the Communist Party’s ideology.

The Temple of Heaven is near Tiananmen Square, and the most famous temple in Beijing.  Originally built along with the Forbidden City in the early 1400s the temple is also near the royal palace that President Trump and Chairman Xi toured with their spouses in 2017.  Video Below:

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio eloquently takes some geopolitical complexities and puts them into understandable terms.  During an interview aboard Airforce One en route to Beijing, Fox News pundit Sean Hannity asks some regional questions about high profile events.

Secretary Rubio accurately puts the perspective of Chinese interests into the context of current friction points between the USA and Iran.  WATCH:

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President Trump will be participating in a formal greeting ceremony with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping in Beijing China at 10:00am local, 10:00pm ET.

The event is being livestreamed.  Links Below:

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