Yesterday President Trump gave an interview to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.  The interview aired earlier today (4/12/17).

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The entire Bannon -vs- Kushner storyline is beyond silly for all the aforementioned reasons.  However, The Hill is reporting today that R&R Mercer may have recalled Bannon for duties elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the ridiculous presentation of the Hill outline completely skips the entire connection between Robert Mercer, Rebekah Mercer, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway and Breitbart media.  The article makes it seem as if they are disparate entities.

[…] Two two sources briefed on the meeting told The New York Times that Bannon met with Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of major Republican donor Robert Mercer, last Friday.

According to the newspaper, the meeting took place in Mercer’s office at Cambridge Analytica in New York and focused on possibilities for Bannon if he decides to leave the White House. (read more)

If you know the relationship between each of the aforementioned entities I would strongly suggest you read the article to see just how obtuse The Hill can be in one outline.

For those who don’t know the relationship, here’s a quick explainer.

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President Trump gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal where he changed a prior position on declaring China a “currency manipulator”:

(Via ABC) According to the Wall Street Journal, the president said the decision came in consideration of talks with China over its role in countering North Korean weapons testing. Trump said that any move to attach the designation could hamper China-U.S. relations. He claimed that, in recent months, China’s currency manipulation has halted. (link)

Is this a change in position? Yes.

It is an arbitrary change, or even an unexpected shift? Hell no.

As we have pointed out since the February 2016 GOP debate, the Trump approach toward North Korean hostilities is to leverage China to get control over N-Korea. –Expanded Backstory–

President Trump is realigning U.S. geopolitical relationships based on America-First interests.   President Trump is using economic leverage to provide security and global stability. President Trump knows how to stroke the panda fur.

Last night President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held another consultation call.  (more…)

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND NATO SECRETARY GENERAL JENS STOLTENBERG IN JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE

White House East Room

[Transcript] 4:03 P.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. Secretary General Stoltenberg, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to the White House — especially at such an important moment in our great Alliance.

I also want to acknowledge the great work being done by our Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to strengthen the NATO Alliance, as well as the Secretary’s trip to Moscow to promote the security interest of the United States and its allies. He did a terrific job. Just watched parts of it — an absolutely terrific job.

Sixty-eight years ago this month, not far from where we are gathered today, President Harry Truman spoke at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. In the nearly seven decades since Harry Truman spoke those words, the NATO Alliance has been the bulwark of international peace and security.

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We said yesterday that “Putin flinched“. We were wrong, it was much more than a flinch.

Russian President Vladimir Putin relies upon the appearance of strength for his domestic political influence. What most of the media are missing from today’s visit by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the duration of time Putin met with T-Rex. Russian State TV provides propaganda the same way U.S. MSM gaslight the grubered U.S. audience.

The meeting was, according to all narratives framed, an “unexpected” audience. This narrative would be funny if the issues were not so consequential.

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not hold two hour “unscheduled” or “unexpected” meetings as as function of some diplomatic protocol or gesture of his magnanimity.

Putin fears T-Rex and Trump.

Bigly.

Important to note China did not back the Russian Veto. President Trump is isolating Russia and stroking panda fur just right. https://t.co/7Wf1JFhKgq

— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) April 12, 2017

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President holds joint press conference with NATO Sec. General Jens Stoltenberg hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, April 12th.
The press conference is scheduled to start at 4:00 pm eastern time.

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Following a lengthy five hour meeting in Moscow with Foreign Minister Lavrov, and following an “unscheduled” meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are scheduled to hold a joint press conference at 130pm Wednesday, April 12:

Update – Video Added

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a lengthy bi-lateral meeting earlier today on the heels of considerable political posturing surrounding the Syrian conflict and Assad’s use of chemical weapons.

Lavrov enters the meeting with a weak hand as the international community has fully supported the approach of U.S. President Donald Trump toward halting Bashar al-Assad’s attacks on his political opposition within Syria.

Gamesmanship and optics are very important to Russian President Putin as his position in Russia is entirely dependent upon his projection of strength.

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Minister Lavrov and President Putin do not yet know how to approach Secretary Tillerson and President Trump because the U.S. administration is now entirely different from their former frame of reference. That unsettled nervousness comes through in Lavrov’s comments and statements.

The weaker player within bilateral diplomacy is always the one using the most words to justify their position. In the transcript below, the “tells” are emphasized by me.

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President Trump and Defense Secretary Mattis both gave almost identical responses today when asked about the future administration policy toward Syria.   Secretary Mattis speaking from the Pentagon stated:

…”I think what we have to look at here is a policy decision by the United States.  There is a limit to what we can do.  And when you look at what happened with this chemical attack we knew that we could not stand passive on this.  But it was not a statement that we could enter full-fledged, full-bore, into the most complex civil war probably waging on the planet at this time.”  (link)

President Trump speaking to the New York Post stated:

(Via New York Post) Amid complaints that his aides are saying different things about Syria and his policy is confusing, President Trump emphatically cleared the air.

“We’re not going into Syria,” he told me yesterday in an exclusive interview. “Our policy is the same — it hasn’t changed. We’re not going into Syria.”

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Earlier today President Trump lead a discussion forum at the State Department library with cabinet members and corporate CEO’s to discuss ongoing economic policy and hear about the challenges.

One of the main challenges communicated by the business group was… wait for it.., yep, ObamaCare.  This concern is directly connected to any tax reform plans, and cuts to the heart of President Trump’s earlier economic strategy.

ObamaCare is, at the core, a massive tax program; and it becomes more difficult to navigate tax reform, with the anchor of ObamaCare dragging down opportunity for economic growth and the revenue growth that accompanies expansion.

[Transcript] 10:55 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all for being here.  Very much appreciate it.  I want to thank Steve Schwarzman for putting together this very incredible group of world-class business leaders.  That’s what you are.

Also, joining us are Secretary Betsy DeVos, Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary Elaine Chao, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, and my budget director, Mick Mulvaney.  That’s an easy job.  Where’s Mick?  (Laughter.)  Such an easy job.  It’s the easiest job of anybody in the government — right, Mick?

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