We had to wait a few weeks to see how the Beijing communists and Xi Jinping hardliners were positioned for new trade talks; and now things make sense.
Initially it seemed at odds with Beijing’s prior position to restart U.S-China trade negotiations with Vice-Premier Liu He.  The prior three months of negotiation came to a collapse when Beijing resoundingly rejected the trade terms organized by Liu He.  If the Red Dragon was so opposed to conciliatory terms, why would team Xi restart with the same negotiator?  Now it makes sense, they didn’t.

China’s Commerce Minister Zhong Shan has been assigned the role to harden the position of the communist regime and override any panda presentations by Liu He.  Vice-Premier Liu retains the panda mask, but Zhong is the ultimate control agent.  The message within Zhong’s placement tells the true nature of the Chinese position: Trade War !
Beijing attempts to downplay the position of their hard-line commerce addition, but the reality of the re-started trade discussions tells a more fulsome story.  Chairman Xi took the strategically presented bait and is going to engage in full confrontational trade war with President Trump and the U.S. team.

SCMP – The participation of China’s Commerce Minister in the latest trade discussion with the United States was “normal”, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday, playing down the eye-catching change in Beijing’s negotiating team.

(more…)

Senator Lindsey Graham traveled to the U.S-Mexico border region on Friday with Vice-President Mike Pence.  Graham appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss that visit and the politics of congressional inaction to stop the border crisis.

(more…)

CTH has tracked this issue so closely through the years it often feels futile for another reminder. However, with the insufferable political games in the headlines over the issue of illegal immigrants and children, perhaps it is worth another visit.
There is no greater disconnect from ordinary Americans on any singular issue than the policy positions of Democrats and Republicans in Washington DC surrounding illegal immigration. President Donald Trump is confronting their unified interests.

Understanding The Big Racket.

Massive illegal immigration is supported by both sides of the professional political machine. There are few issues more unifying for the K-Street purchased voices of DC politicians than keeping the U.S. borders open and the influx of illegal aliens as high as possible. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce pays politicians to keep this system in place.
All Democrats and most Republicans support mass immigration. Almost no DC politicians want to take action on any policy or legislation that stops the influx. There are billions at stake. None of the GOP leadership want to actually stop illegal immigration; it’s a lucrative business. Almost all of the CONservative groups and politicians lie about it.
(more…)

As immigration enforcement leads the Sunday headlines, White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway appears on Fox News to debate the international defender of all downtrodden economic migration, Chris Wallace.
The ever-insufferable Wallace takes his natural Fos/GOPe cocktail circuit position that all immigration enforcement is antithetical to the global rights of humans to have unfettered access to the United States.

(more…)

U.S. President Donald Trump is attending an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, today to discuss the importance of a North American trade bloc and support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal.
Anticipated start time approximately 2:25pm EST.
UPDATE: Video Added

(more…)

Rather than listen to media pundits explain what President Trump and AG Bill Barr said today at the White House, here’s the transcript:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much everyone. Are you a citizen of the United States of America? “Oh, gee, I’m sorry, I just can’t answer that question.” And that’s after spending billions and billions of dollars. There used to be a time when you could answer questions like that very easily. There used to be a time when you could proudly declare, “I am a citizen of the United States.”
Now they’re trying to erase the very existence of a very important word and a very important thing: citizenship. They’re even coming after the Pledge of Allegiance in Minnesota. I’m proud to be a citizen. You’re proud to be a citizen. The only people who are not proud to be citizens are the ones who are fighting us all the way about the word, “citizen.”
(more…)

In a stunning press conference today U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explains why she she has taken no action to curb the illegal immigration influx into the U.S.
While explaining why she will not allow congress to debate, change or modify U.S. immigration laws, Pelosi outlines how the United States is part of a global society, without borders and without any sovereign right to impede the “human society” from entering our nation.  Therefore, according to her outlook and worldview, U.S. politicians have no right to stop any migration movement.

.
Keep this in mind as we approach the 2020 election.  The Speaker of the House is essentially saying, openly, publicly and without any reservation or concern, the United States of America is no longer a sovereign nation.
(more…)

USCG Frogmen Rule!  The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro are back in San Diego after running a series of 14 separate drug smuggling vessel interdictions and disruptions off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America by three Coast Guard cutters between May and July 2019.  WATCH:

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) crew members board a self-propelled semi-submersible suspected drug smuggling vessel (SPSS) June 18, 2019, while operating in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Purpose-build smuggling vessels like SPSSs are designed to hold large quantities of contraband while evading detection by law enforcement authorities.

As a result of their latest deployment the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro will offload more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana worth a combined estimated $569 million, which was seized in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to deliver remarks today at 2:45pm EST -from San Diego- while thanking the crews.
(more…)

White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on the U.S.-China trade talks where recontact has been established and now officially restarted. As noted, President Trump is in no hurry; the status-quo is leverage in our favor.
Additionally Director Kudlow discusses the potential benefits of the USMCA trade deal and whether the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates.

.
Regarding “inflation” these pundits just don’t get it.  For over three years CTH has been explaining how President Trump’s maganomic policy would reverse three decades of stagnant Main Street economic growth.  The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) consistently confirms our earlier predictions releasing data where inflation is essentially nonexistent.
(more…)

Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, battles through the manipulative ‘open-border’ narrative of CBS Margaret Brennan to discuss ICE removals, border conditions, and asylum laws:

.
How the heck did never-Trump leader Ken Cuccinelli end up with a position in this administration? This is the same guy who tried to lead a 2016 convention effort to change the rules and remove Donald Trump as the Republican nominee.
ADD: After thinking about it, this series of Sunday talk appearances is likely a trial run to test Cuccinelli and see if he has genuinely had a ‘come-to-MAGA‘ change in outlook.
(more…)