During a February interview which broadcast just before the Superbowl, President Trump recalled riding with former President Barack Obama to the Inauguration on Jan. 20 when he asked Obama to list the three greatest issues America was facing.

[…] “I asked him what you think our biggest problem is and he told me,” Trump said, recalling the limousine ride to the U.S. Capitol with Obama.

“I can’t tell you,” Trump said after O’Reilly interrupted to ask about specifics. “But it’s a problem, its a military problem with a certain place. No, it’s not China. But it is – he did mention, cause I did ask him what would you say our number one, two, three problems are and the number one problem that he felt – I was a little bit surprised, but I fully understand.” (link)

Almost every mainstream political pundit and political observer believes the concerning country within that conversation was North Korea. Indeed, if you were to evaluate the comment in isolation, against the backdrop of world media headlines, N-Korea seemingly becomes a natural conclusion.

However, CTH does not believe North Korea was the country of concern. President Obama viewed and acted upon all foreign affairs through the prism of ideological belief. Every action taken by the Obama administration was in furtherance of an ideological world-view that was personal to the small circle of like-minded fellow travelers.

(more…)

Vice-President Mike Pence continues his 10-day trip to Asia with a day-two visit to the DMZ and discussions with interim South Korean President Hwang.  VP Pence delivered remarks during a meeting with President Hwang:

[Transcript] THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon. Ahn-young Ha-shim-nika.

To Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, thank you for the kind words and the hospitality you have shown me and my family in welcoming us to the Republic of Korea, my very first stop in the Asia Pacific as Vice President of the United States.

(more…)

National Security Advisor HR McMaster has been selected by conspiracy nuts and alt-reality moonbats as a necessary evil foil to retain their pearl-clutching placement at the table of doomsday drum-beating.

Apparently, when candidate Trump, then president-elect Trump, and now President Trump said: “bomb the s**t out of ISIS“, “rebuild our military” and recreate “peace through strength” – a sketchy handful of fools perceived such statements possible without actually ‘bombing‘, ‘rebuilding‘ or ‘reasserting strength‘.

Yes, cognitive dissonance relies upon use of the Mamet Principle; and yes, it happens on the fringe elements of both sides of the circular political continuum.

In the most recent proclamations of the Moonbats any adviser to the President who would be connected with presenting ‘bombing‘, ‘rebuilding‘ or ‘reasserting‘ options of military use to the President, necessarily becomes a war-mongering pod carrier intent on lulling a 70-year-old President to sleep and exit the room converted to John McCain.

The people selling this narrative are both nuts and gnats.

Please pay attention to HR McMaster in this interview laying out a very reasonable perspective on the various regional issues, his praise for the diplomatic approach by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and his accompanying overview to include (@10:38) the answer to the question: “do you think we need more troops in Syria?“.  McMaster’s response: “I don’t think so“.

(more…)

Deputy Asst. to President Donald Trump, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, sat down with Maria Bartiromo for an interview discussing the White House global policy.

…”The President is not an interventionist commander-in-chief. Nothing has changed from November 7th to today.  He’s been explicit, we are not invading other peoples’ countries, we are not occupying them. This is not some neo-conservative Bush era administration.”…

~ Dr. Gorka.

(more…)

Representing U.S. Asian interests overall, and specifically the White House expressions of stability toward a region during a time of tenuous action by North Korea, Vice-President Mike Pence arrived in South Korea during Easter Sunday.

Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence placed a wreath at the National Cemetery in South Korea’s capital, shortly after arriving at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia.

.

Following the wreath ceremony and accompanying S-Korean services, Mr. and Mrs. Pence deliver remarks to thank US troops at a fellowship meal to celebrate Easter Sunday. Stay with it, the last half of this speech is personal, moving and effective. Believe me.

(more…)

The media are full-frontal Trump Derangement Syndrome today, against the backdrop of foreign affairs, exhibiting a rather humorous unwillingness to accept that President Trump has a long-term strategy.

The severity is not necessarily evident in this interview with KT McFarland, but rather in the aggregate of apoplectic punditry. President Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor, KT McFarland sits down for an exclusive interview with Chris Wallace to discuss if the U.S. can count upon China to leverage North Korea toward non hostile action.

(more…)

At approximately the same time Vice-President Mike Pence was in Alaska refueling Air-Force-2 en route to South Korea, the North Korean regime attempted a missile test and failed.

https://t.co/ki6dcVGkdx

— Jamie (@jamieedurann) April 15, 2017

LA TIMES – […]  U.S. Pacific Command said it detected a missile at about 6:20 a.m. Korean time. The device apparently “blew up almost instantly,” Cmdr. Dave Benham, a command spokesman, said in a statement.The type of missile is still unknown, he said. (more)

Defense Sec Mattis said they're "aware of North Korea's most recent unsuccessful missile launch" and "the president has no further comment."

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 16, 2017

(more…)

Continuing the theme of Presidential administration firsts…

WASHINGTON DC – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer reported, in uniform, to the Pentagon Friday to fulfill his U.S. Navy Reserve duty, a White House official told Fox News.

Spicer reported to fulfill his duty at the Joint Chiefs of Staff offices, a White House official told Fox News. The well-known spokesman holds the rank of commander — which sits just under the higher rank of captain in the Navy.

(more…)

The LA Times is providing an update to the ground assessment from the use of the 10+ ton MOAB bomb dropped in Afghanistan.  The number of ISIS killed rises to 94.

“The bomb’s reverberations wave frightened me so badly. I have witnessed thousands of battles, but no bomb scared me like this one did.”  ~ Hanifullah (62-year-old Shodal Resident)

Afghans describe how the MOAB destroyed the ISIS camp and may have killed 100 fighters. 36 ISIS are confirmed dead. pic.twitter.com/ojAZgOWfBL

— Kevin W. (@kwilli1046) April 14, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
.

Via LA Times –  Afghan officials said Saturday that 94 militants were killed in a massive U.S. bomb blast targeting Islamic State’s regional affiliate, nearly three times as many as was reported a day earlier. (more…)

A background briefing transcript from yesterday might aid in larger understanding of White House policy and strategic objectives toward Syria, Russia, North Korea and China.

[Transcript] – SENIOR ADMINISTRATON OFFICIAL:  (In progress) — on the relationship between the leaders of the United States, our President and Premier Xi, and then applying that newly formed relationship to complex problem sets from the Middle East to Northeast Asia, and then a result in the United Nations, it helps advance our mutual interests and the interests of all civilized people.

So I think it’s difficult to portray this as anything but a really great week for our citizens and the United States.

♦  Q    Thanks so much.  Japanese media is reporting that the USS Carl Vinson is in operations with the Japanese naval forces.  As you know, they have a (inaudible.)  What happens if there is a confrontation this week between North Korean forces and Japanese and U.S. forces?  And how will you prevent this from spiraling into a broader military conflict?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATON OFFICIAL:  Well, as you heard from the President many times, we’re not in the business of trying to predict with a high degree of certainty precisely what our response is going to be.

I think what we demonstrated last week was the ability of the President’s national security team to come together, convened by the National Security Council, to look at events such as those that might occur on the Korean Peninsula, quickly analyze those events, place them in context with U.S. vital interests, establish objectives that protect American citizens and advance our interests, and then develop and present the President with options.

So we have a team that is, I think, particularly adept at doing that.  And if there were to be continued destabilizing and aggressive behavior by the North Korean regime, that’s how the national security team would respond. (more…)