Representative Ron DeSantis appears on Maria Bartiromo to discuss the referral of Andrew McCabe to federal prosecutors and the remaining characters within the FBI and DOJ who were involved in the weaponization of government for political operations.

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In the past 48 hours South Korea (Moon Jae-in) and North Korea (Kim Jong-un) have been working out the details of their upcoming summit.  Within the discussions between North and South Korea some stunning news has surfaced.

♦ Yesterday Moon Jae-in announced that North Korea had agreed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula without any preconditions or expectations of changes in the relationship between the U.S. and South Korea:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has expressed its commitment to “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula and is not seeking conditions, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday, as the United States vowed to maintain “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang.

[…] “I don’t think denuclearization has different meanings for South and North Korea,” Moon said during a lunch with chief executives of Korean media companies. “The North is expressing a will for a complete denuclearization.”

“They have not attached any conditions that the U.S. cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea,” he continued. “All they are talking about is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security.”  (read more)

As the summit discussions continued today; and to assure the previous U.S. envoy CIA Director Mike Pompeto; and in affirmation of direct talks with President Trump; North Korea made an even more stunning statement from the Korean Central News Agency:

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint press conference at the end of their two-day bilateral summit in Mar-a-Lago. Anticipated start time 6:15pm EST

UPDATE: Video Added

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After a round of golf together earlier today President Trump joins with Vice President Mike Pence to host Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his delegation for a working lunch between close allies.  Japan is well positioned for a golden-trade-ticket. A joint press conference will follow later in the day.

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During the Easter holiday weekend, CIA Director Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang North Korea and met with Kim Jong Un, laying the groundwork for an upcoming summit between Kim and President Trump.  There were no leaks about the meeting.

“We’ll either have a very good meeting or we won’t have a good meeting; and maybe we won’t even have a meeting at all, depending on what’s going in. But I think that there’s a great chance to solve a world problem.”  ~ President Trump

White House Press Briefing by National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Matthew Pottinger. Today’s briefing is happening during a Presidential summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Kudlow is discussing the trade and economic issues; Pottinger is discussing national security issues surrounding negotiations with North Korea.  As Secretary Ross has stated frequently: “Economic Security is National Security.”

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[Transcript] West Palm Beach, Florida – 12:20 P.M. EDT – MR. KUDLOW: I’ll just say to start, before we take some questions, this is a very important meeting. A lot of really key issues are on the line. You obviously know about the foreign policy side regarding North Korea, which is a major, major issue for Japan and for the United States.

On the economic and trade side, there will also be very important issues. Japan is a great friend and ally. We have certain disagreements with respect to some of the trading issues. We’ll iron those out, hopefully.

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“We’ve also started talking with North Korea directly. We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea. I really believe there’s a lot of good will. Well see what happens, as I always say. Because ultimately its the end result that counts.”  ~ President Donald Trump

The formal bilateral meeting began shortly before 4 p.m.  POTUS Trump and PM Abe together with translators and delegations.  The U.S. side: Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, US Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty and National Security Council  Asia director Matthew Pottinger.

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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said their one-on-one meeting was productive. On North Korea, “for the first time in the history of the world there will be a summit meeting between the United States and North Korea”, Abe said. Prime Minister Abe said “Trump has applied maximum pressure on the North and credited it for leading to the direct talks.”

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President Donald Trump welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.  The President and PM Abe have a long-standing friendship.

Among the topics for the summit will be ongoing U.S./Japan trade initiatives, and important discussions about security for Japan as talks continue between South Korea (Moon Jae-in) and North Korea (Kim Jong-un).

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There was a possibility widely discussed and debated a year ago, where President Trump’s geopolitical doctrine of using economic leverage for national security would create the “leverage” for a denuclearized North Korea.  And eventually the “economic” value for a unified Korean peninsula.

Seven months ago we wrote:  “Turning rockets into ploughshares is a good strategy.”

Stunningly today, a significant step in that direction is being outlined.

(Via CNBC) North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end to the officially declared military conflict between the two countries, daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South Korean official.

Ahead of a summit next week between North Korean premier Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, lawmakers from the neighboring states were thought to be negotiating the details of a joint statement that could outline an end to the confrontation.

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In retaliation for $50 billion in U.S. trade tariffs against Chinese imports, China laughably hits back with $3 their own billion tariffs against the U.S.  According to most reporting Beijing has selected U.S. pork and scrap aluminum as targets for a 25% tariff, along with wine and fruit tariffs around 15%.

It should be emphasized the approach by China is rather ridiculous considering the Chinese government purchased the largest U.S. pork manufacturer Smithfield in 2013 for $5 billion; at the time the purchase price was 30% more than the company was worth.  Smithfield, now a Chinese company, represents 25% of all U.S. pork products.

Do you really think China is going to not import it’s own pork products… or subject them to a domestic tax?  Think about it.  It’s ridiculous.  China knows they have ZERO leverage in a trade-dispute with the U.S., they cannot afford to lose access to the U.S. market.

The example of Smithfield foods is exactly what we have outlined in how China cannot sustain itself and needs to control the assets of foreign countries.  Hence, their one-road/one-belt program for securing products and raw materials.  China is a dependent economy, they need to exploit global trade to survive.  China cannot feed itself. This is the inherent flaw within their short-sighted authoritarian government-controlled economic model.

Again, for emphasis, the Chinese government underwrote the purchase of Smithfield foods in 2013.  They paid 30% more than the company was worth because they were securing access to food just like they would any other raw material (uranium, minerals, etc).  China also purchases U.S. politicians to retain their ability in this regard.

Now look at the cartoon from the unofficial Chinese state-run media today:

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