Michael Pillsbury traveled to Hong Kong recently to help explain the goals and objectives of President Trump’s U.S-China trade position.  During an interview, Mr. Pillsbury warns Beijing interests not to interpret the current U.S. position as aggressive, because the dragon has yet to see the severe side to Trump’s position.

During an interview with the South China Morning Post, Pillsbury points out there are a great many more ways that President Trump is prepared to respond if the combative trade position from China remains hostile to any concessions.  This first option was their best option.  However, should they choose further trade conflict, President Trump will happily oblige.
CTH research on Trump’s outlook, vis-a-vis China, has led us to believe there is no upper limit to the economic weapons President Trump is willing to deploy; and considering that Pillsbury can be relied upon to deliver honest, accurate and deliberate remarks about the White House position, these warnings from a close advisor to the President should be weighted accordingly.

(South China Morning Post) – The United States is set to ramp up the pressure on China if a trade deal is not agreed soon, a key White House adviser said, adding that Washington has so far imposed only “low level tariffs” on the Asian giant.

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To fully absorb the backstory to the latest allied effort between politicians and the intelligence apparatus, it is helpful to remember when the Vice-Chair of the SSCI, Senator Dianne Feinstein, abdicated her position after the 2016 election.

For years CTH has discussed the internal dynamic of Democrat politicians (legislative branch) working in concert with Intelligence Community (executive branch) officials to protect their interests. Ultimately the biggest example of this surfaced when Donald Trump won the 2016 election despite the efforts of the deep state. Trump became target #1.  Remember also, Feinstein’s chief-of-staff, Dan Jones, leaving and going to work on the outside including paying Fusion-GPS to keep up their efforts?
We have provided the trail of overwhelming evidence, showing how the intelligence apparatus writ large, including select members of the Gang-of-eight, were working with politicians (House and Senate) against candidate, president-elect and President Trump. No doubt the internal plans therein was a step too-far for Feinstein. She bailed.
However, Feinstein’s departure was only one aspect, there were many more – including: Senator Harry Reid working with CIA Director John Brennan on the dossier distribution (letter to FBI etc.); the 2017 censure of HPSCI Devin Nunes, after discovery of the Trump campaign unmasking etc; the 2016 use of FBI/NSA databases by political operatives and “contractors” to extract opposition research; and obviously the combined efforts of the CIA, DNI, FBI and DOJ in what is now known as “spygate”, the surveillance of the Trump campaign.
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Fox News host Maria Bartiromo had Kevin McCarthy and Larry Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss the status of ratification for the USMCA agreement.   After McCarthy outlines the politics of Nancy Pelosi intentionally holding back the ratification vote, and states if the agreement is not passed prior to Thanksgiving it will not be done, Larry Kudlow follows up with a more optimistic outlook.

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Keep in mind, Speaker Pelosi doesn’t know that close trade followers are aware of her deal with Justin Trudeau to hold back on ratification in an blatantly political effort. Here’s Kevin McCarthy’s full interview.
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Promises made – Promises Kept…

President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the media today while touring border wall construction in Otay Mesa, California.   As a builder himself, the president outlined some of the more particular details of the construction project including the difference between compressive strength and tensile strength of 5,000/lb concrete.  There is apparently some additional aspects to the wall that are kept secret (they’re wired for sound).

The President was briefed on the project by Douglas Harrison (Acting San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent, United States Customs & Border Protection); Kathleen Scudder (San Diego Sector Deputy Chief Patrol Agent, United States Customs & Border Protection); Scott Garrett (San Diego Sector Division Chief, United States Customs & Border Protection); James O’Loughlin (Border Wall Program Lead, Emergency Action Programs, Department of Defense), and various local officials.
[Video Below, Transcript Will Follow]

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Oh, the modern hypocrisy is almost as funny as the historic event. Photographs have surfaced of Justin Trudeau in 2001 wearing “brownface” (apparently a less troublesome modification of ‘blackface’) during a school party when he was a teacher at the West Point Grey Academy.  [*Update* Justin give press conference below]
Justins’ über-leftist and politically-correct media support groups are now twisting themselves into pretzels while defending his cultural appropriation…. too funny.

(TIME) Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, wore brownface makeup to a party at the private school where he was teaching in the spring of 2001. TIME has obtained a photograph of the incident.
The photograph has not been previously reported. The picture was taken at an “Arabian Nights”-themed gala. It shows Trudeau, then the 29-year-old son of the late former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, wearing a turban and robes with his face, neck and hands completely darkened. The photograph appears in the 2000-2001 yearbook of West Point Grey Academy, a private day school where Trudeau was a teacher.

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DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified before congress today on matters relating to the overall IG office.  However, with Democrat majority chairs refusing to call Horowitz for testimony on the recent Comey Report, republicans on the House Oversight Committee took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions about the FISA investigation and the prior IG reports on James Comey and Andrew McCabe.
The full hearing is below. However, to save time the key parts of the discussion are time sequenced and identified (each prompted, just hit play):
[@59:55] IG questioning by Rep. Hice begins to center on issues related to the IG report on FISA.  Mr. Horowitz discusses the current status of the FISA IG report as under rough draft review by AG Bill Barr, where decisions on classification are taking place.

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Housing starts (and permits) have been a long-term key performance indicator for the economic stability and strength of Main Street USA for generations. Across all key metrics, the economics of middle-class America is defined by confidence in housing. A strong housing market reflects worker/purchaser confidence in their economic position.

The U.S. Commerce Department reports today that U.S. housing starts and permits has reached a 12-year-high. [data here] This is a key point because it cuts to the heart of the difference between a thriving Main Street economy and the disconnect surrounding issues with Wall Street (multinational) financial markets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. homebuilding surged to more than a 12-year high in August as both single- and multi-family housing construction accelerated, suggesting that lower mortgage rates were finally providing a boost to the struggling housing market.

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Elizabeth Warren is the Democrat primary candidate with momentum.  While the top five names have not changed, the support is firming up.  Joe Biden remains at the top of the poll with 31 percent. Elizabeth Warren has now surged to second with 25 percent; and it appears most of angry Sanders loss in support has gone to ‘I’ma-git-me-a-beer‘ Warren.

NBC/WSJ Poll: Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, holding distinctly different advantages, have separated themselves from the crowded Democratic presidential field, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows.
In the survey, conducted after the third in the Democratic Party’s series of debate, the former vice president draws 31% compared to 25% for the Massachusetts senator. At 14%, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders trails Warren by a double-digit margin while 15 other candidates receive support of 7% or less.

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Corey Lewandowski is exploring a run for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire:

Stand With Corey – Link

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On February 8th, 2018, Senator Lindsey Graham first revealed an inauguration day email from Susan Rice to herself. That’s 585 days ago and yet we still don’t know what is behind the removed and classified paragraph.  Why is this being kept hidden?

(L-R) Ruemmler, Obama, Monaco and Rice

At 12:15pm on January 20th, 2017, Obama’s outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote a memo-to-self. Many people have called this her “CYA” (cover your ass) memo, from the position that Susan Rice was protecting herself from consequences if the scheme against President Trump was discovered. Here’s the email:

On January 5, following a briefing by IC leadership on Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election, President Obama had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director Jim Corney and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in the Oval Office. Vice President Biden and I were also present.
President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities “by the book“.

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