Holding the second impromptu press conference of the day, President Trump, Secretary of State Tillerson, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and National Security Adviser HR McMaster delivered remarks following their national security meeting discussing North Korea and global issues.
Speaking clearly, on point and entirely extemporaneously, President Trump and Secretary Tillerson answered questions on a variety of issues. WATCH:

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President Trump is drowning the MSM in news. The media are aging before our eyes. Good stuff.
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It must be weird for the ordinary person around the world to view U.S. politics through the prism of the American MSM lügenpresse.  We’re often left wondering if international observers realize how much deception and fraud exists in media broadcasts of President Trump.
However, that said, a few days ago CTH predicted via twitter that Friday would bring a “breaking news” revelation that President Trump’s administration had been in ongoing negotiations with North Korea.  Today, exactly that happened.

(Via ABC) Despite the bombastic rhetoric exchanged between North Korean and American leaders this week, the Trump administration has been quietly engaged in back-channel diplomacy with North Korea for several months, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The ongoing talks, which were first reported by The Associated Press, included discussions about U.S.-North Korean relations and Americans imprisoned in North Korea, the source said.

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Serial fibber Brian Williams leads his interview segment with a moment of honesty.  During his introduction to a panel segment he leads with the set-up: “tonight our job is to scare you”. WATCH:

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Seriously folks, CTH readers, MAGA supporters, and those who travel the deep weeds of politics and have followed Donald Trump can spot the strategy he is deploying.  The strategy is all about economics and leverage.  The media will NEVER discuss it, because they need to act willfully blind to it and use fear as a weapon.
The media is simply taking advantage of “fear” to position yet another anti-Trump narrative. However, all of their hyperbolic analysis of the North Korea situation takes on new understanding when idiots like Williams let it slip that their job is to “scare people to death on this subject.” He makes it clear their goal is to drive down the public’s trust in the President to handle this threat.
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President Donald Trump, together with Labor Secretary Acosta and Education Secretary Devos, spoke about jobs, his apprenticeship initiative and answered questions about North Korea during a statement at a workforce roundtable in New Jersey on Friday.
President Trump is meeting with Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary T-Rex later today.  Everything is going according to plan.

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There’s something rather enjoyable about watching President Trump discuss North Korea when you fully understand he has ZERO, Nada, Zippo intent on a military approach. When you accept words are just words, and the real confrontation will take place with China over economics, this entire enterprise takes on a rather interesting and enjoyable dynamic….
President Trump has the media, and the entire globe, right in the sweet spot where he likes and enjoys them; everyone is laser focused on the dancing red dot.
Seriously, no kidding, only he could pull this off.  Epic.
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There is a considerable amount of debate surrounding how much pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping is receiving from the hard-line communist party apparatus.  Some believe Xi Jinping is actually in conflict with the party apparatus and most of the old guard of Hujintao.
There is a line of logic that states the current Chinese rhetoric is not Xi Jinping’s outlook, but rather the position of the communist party controlling the narrative and trying to reassert itself to cause diversion from the tenuous economic position of the Chinese economy.  Whichever perspective might be true, China just officially announced a position that is rather concerning.  According to the latest official communist party position:

♦If North Korea strikes first, China promises to remain neutral.
♦If The U.S. strikes first, China promises to fight on the side of the DPRK.

CHINA – […] Beijing is not able to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down at this time. It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China’s interests, China will respond with a firm hand.
China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.

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Following a briefing and meeting with cabinet members and national security officials President Trump and Vice-President Pence held a rather lengthy Q & A with media reporters to answer a myriad of questions surrounding national security and ongoing administration policy.
The president discussed North Korea, regional partners, the United Nations, China, Russia, Syria as well as leaks, Jeff Sessions, Mitch McConnell, healthcare reform, taxes etc. together with Vice President Mike Pence in Bedminster, New Jersey.

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Speaking from Bedminster New Jersey, President Trump answers questions from media surrounding the ongoing issue with North Korea, and the intransigent republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his inability to move legislation.

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It’s always about the economic folks.  President Trump is the first U.S. president to fully appreciate, and utilize, economic leverage to achieve U.S. national security objectives.

…”If China helps us with North Korea I will feel a little differently about trade”…

~President Donald Trump

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Apparently CTH and Asian expert Gordon Chang are on the same intellectual page in analysis of the ongoing North Korea issues.  In this interview Mr. Chang outlines the dynamic between U.S. President Trump, North Korean President Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Gordon Chang also agrees that mounting economic pressure on China will be the pathway to getting the DPRK into line.

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The North Korean commentariat today has all been centered around a “response” to a precipitous strike by the United States. As previously outlined by Secretary Tillerson, via the “four no’s”, and backed up by the entire U.S. policy team, there is no intent on the U.S. to initiate a North Korean regime change. That leverage approach is China’s to utilize; while we hold China accountable.
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Well, many of us were waiting for this – and we have discovered exactly what most CTH readers anticipated, China is a paper tiger.
Last night China finally delivered the official communist government position outlining their perceived leverage over the U.S. and President Trump’s economic diplomacy and economic security platform.
China has always used The Global Times to communicate their official communist state positions.  Last night China delivered their warning; oh, you’re gonna love this:

“US needs correct logic in dealing with North Korea”.

[…] The US asks China for help when it cannot solve its problems with North Korea. Some US elites even want to urge China to claim full responsibility for the issue or they will threaten to retaliate. Under this logic, isn’t it reasonable for North Korea to attack its southern neighbor when it is under military threat from the US?
Moreover, those US elites may not have considered the leverage China has over the US. What if China restricts the usage of iPhones and the number of Chinese students to the US, or imports fewer US agricultural products? (link for more)

Now, it is critical to emphasize this is the official outlook of the Chinese Communist regime and what they perceive as their leverage over the United States.  This is the official outlook of the party apparatus behind Xi Jinping.
So let’s look at their position in sequence.
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State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert delivers the press briefing for August 9th, 2017.  The insufferable media gnats remain fixated on President Trump’s remarks about North Korea – remarks, combined with months of created leverage, that are actually delivering results.
After ignoring all of the action President Trump, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mnuchin, and Secretary Ross have taken to shape the geography; and without even seeing the leverage Trump has positioned on China, Russia and North Korea; the pool reporters are floating questions from a parallel universe called ‘bizarro world’.
Seriously, questions about possibly needing a new “diplomatic direction” are ridiculous against the backdrop of the greatest international diplomatic win in years happening only a few days ago with the 15-0 UNSC unanimous vote on North Korea sanctions.
U.S. journalists are embarrassing.

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[Transcript will be added later]
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