British officials are desperate to keep Nigel Farage and President Trump separate during the state visit next Thursday and Friday. [::snicker::… you know what that means… nudge, nudge… wink, wink… say-no-more, say no more] Mr. Nigel Farage discusses the current U.K. climate that awaits President Trump.
President Trump heads to Europe on Tuesday for a series of meetings in several EU nations. On Wednesday and Thursday (11th/12th) the NATO summit. On Thursday and Friday (12th/13th) a U.K. Visit. Saturday and Sunday (14th/15th) a visit to Scotland; and Monday the 16th a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Finland.
The EU and U.S. media are one-upping themselves every few hours with apoplectic proclamations about horrible Trump and the high-minded need to save the angelic NATO mission of unbridled altruism; a liberally canonized Saint Merkel of Deutschland; as well as Londonistan’s Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Theresa May, from the horrors of a swaggering U.S. vulgarian… Cue the audio visual:
With McCain dying, and Corker and Flake retiring, the Decepticon side of the deep swamp is being purged. President Trump’s direct America-First policies and pragmatic common sense has severed one head from Cerberus, the three headed hound protecting Hades, DC.
In the geopolitical realm President Trump is using the U.S. atomic sledgehammer to reset decades of insufferable economic policy constructed specifically to the financial benefit of ideological ‘allies’; who have elevated their financial standing on the backs of U.S. deficits.
With Decepticons weakened, and many in DC realizing President Trump isn’t going to stop swinging the battle axe until the last one is crushed, politicians like Lindsey Graham have begun talking more truthfully about issues. Watch in this interview as Graham is questioned about North Korea, and he immediately -and somewhat surprisingly- accurately identifies the core issue…. it ain’t North Korea.
White House national security adviser John Bolton appears on Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan to discuss North Korea and Russia. Within the interview Bolton says the U.S. could dismantle North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs within a year if the North Koreans committed to scrapping their arsenal in accordance with the agreement reached in Singapore last month.
“No more stupid trade deals” ~ U.S. President Donald Trump
From the G7 Mission Statement outlining the objectives of their meeting: “From May 31 – June 2, 2018, G7 Ministers responsible for development cooperation met in Whistler, Canada, to discuss their shared priorities on some of the most pressing global development and humanitarian challenges, including advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”
However, as the G7 finance ministerial sessions wrapped up today, all the talk centered around their collective, and stunningly hypocritical, angst at new United States trade policy; specifically the imposition of Steel and Aluminum tariffs on imported goods.
France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Italy all have trade tariffs and trade barriers far higher than the U.S. Each of the G7 nations has exploited the overwhelmingly one-sided access to the U.S. market for decades. As President Trump demands “reciprocal and fair” trade agreements – those same nations now balk at the same rules and duties they impose on the U.S. now being imposed against them.
The European Union is a non-enumerated member of the G7, and does not chair nor hosts Summits; however, the EU head joins with the G7 in collective angst against a U.S. trade reset. It’s hilarious to watch them going bananas.
WHISTLER, British Columbia (Reuters) – Finance leaders of the closest U.S. allies vented anger over the Trump administration’s metal import tariffs but ended a three-day meeting in Canada on Saturday with no solutions, setting the stage for a heated fight at a G7 summit next week in Quebec.
The Wall Street Journal is publishing a report the European Union is likely to lose their exemption on Friday June 1st, from the U.S. Steel (25%) and Aluminum (10%) tariffs. Despite their article outline almost everything is still speculation at this point; however, our own review of the trade position indicates the administration is very prepared to begin delivering the metal tariffs on all nations, including NAFTA partners, without reservation.
President Trump positioning the auto-industry 232 review, May 23rd, was one of the key ‘leverage signals‘ something was about to change.
Despite massively one-sided EU imposed tariffs against U.S. products, the EU is demanding to be permanently exempted from any U.S. reciprocal tariff measures or they will block the import of U.S. products. The hypocrisy is typically European.
Adding fuel to the speculation the tariff exemptions will be allowed to expire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated earlier today, at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) summit – a multinational trade conference, that any/all trade discussions are entirely possible regardless of whether the U.S. begins the tariff against steel and aluminum imports.
WSJ – […] Mr. Trump has threatened to punish EU car exports if the bloc retaliates, and Mr. Ross is pursuing a study of car and auto-part imports similar to the one he completed on steel and aluminum.
Officials in some EU member states are already angry at Washington over Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Still, others, including some German officials, want to seek a solution that prevents economic damage.
President Trump met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House today for a bilateral meeting on EU security and trade issues. During the Oval Office press availability both made remarks but president Trump took the opportunity to have an impromptu presser on other current issues. WATCH:
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Hopefully everyone paid attention to the North Korea topic. It was not coincidental the stompy-feet assertions of Kim Jong-un and the DPRK were timed at the exact moment Chinese Vice-Premier Liu arrived in the U.S. for important trade talks. Once again Chairman Xi Jinping is using his proxy province of N-Korea to leverage economic benefits:
WASHINGTON – Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy and Vice-Premier Liu He arrived in Washington on Tuesday afternoon. Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue, is leading a Chinese delegation for the talks.
It is interesting to watch the Trump Cabinet debate the Obama Cabinet (U.S. media). In this interview between White House National Security Advisor John Bolton and ABC’s Martha Raddatz the central topic is Iran; the detailed conversation is deep weeds therein.
After Bolton presents the administration position and reasoning for exiting the deeply flawed, unsigned and unenforceable Obama Iran “deal” (not treaty), essentially a JCPOA pathway to the land of broken promises, Ambassador Bolton then reaches the part of the discussion where sanctions against European companies come back into play. This is the best part. WATCH:
Massive U.S. economic leverage, and the strategic application therein, is an aspect that drives the left-wing Iranian apologists bananas. A weaponized $20 trillion U.S. economy is the unavoidable atomic sledgehammer at the foundation of the Trump Doctrine. It is far more powerful than a military weapon and drops all nations to their knees in compliance.
Everything is about the economics. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Every point of opposition; every forward MAGA policy; every initiative, including freedom; every move toward success; everything is about the economics.
Look at the immediate take-away published by Reuters.
Remarks by President Trump and German Chancellor Merkel earlier today in the Oval Office.
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm CIA chief Mike Pompeo as President Trump’s next secretary of state. Secretary Pompeo was confirmed on a 57-42 vote. All Republicans present voted to confirm Pompeo. Seven Democrats voted yes.
After the vote, Pompeo was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in the West Conference Room of the Supreme Court:
I am pleased with the Senate’s confirmation of Mike Pompeo to serve as our country’s top diplomat. Having a patriot of Mike’s immense talent, energy, and intellect leading the Department of State will be an incredible asset for our country at this critical time in history. He will always put the interests of America first. He has my trust. He has my support. Today, he has my congratulations on becoming America’s 70th Secretary of State.