Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Moscow. Today, President Trump reciprocates with a welcome of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Washington DC.

WHITE HOUSE – President Donald J. Trump met today with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia, following on the visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Moscow last month.

President Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, in particular, underscoring the need for Russia to rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies.

The President raised Ukraine, and expressed his Administration’s commitment to remain engaged in resolving the conflict and stressed Russia’s responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements.  He also raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The President further emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia. (WH link)

There are more pictures below of President Trump, Foreign Minister Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Kislyak in the oval office. (more…)

During a ceremony today at the State Department, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivered remarks of remembrance and honored fallen foreign service workers.

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The media gnats, and some doofus conservative punditry, quip about President Trump talking to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Duterte is also the rotational President of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).  Meanwhile, President Trump and Secretary of State Tillerson remain keenly focused on the BIGGER PICTURE in Asia and how ASEAN policy relates to N-Korea.

Thankfully the grow-ups are in charge.

STATE DEPT – Secretary of State Tillerson hosted the Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a special U.S.-ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting, reinforcing the Strategic Partnership between the United States and ASEAN and commemorating the 40th anniversary of U.S.-ASEAN relations.

Secretary Tillerson underscored that the Asia-Pacific region is a top priority for the Trump Administration and that ASEAN is an essential partner. ASEAN Ministers welcomed the continued commitment by the United States to ASEAN, including the Association’s community-building and regional integration efforts.

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We are entirely clear-eyed as to the scope of the challenge. No-one amid our association is naive to the seemingly impossible scale against the backdrop of history.  It may be that their task is impossible. Yet, if they do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if they do not try, it most certainly won’t be done…

There is absolutely no doubt of the work that has been going on for months, quietly, mostly under the radar.  National media are completely deficient for not covering the ongoing events and the diplomacy that has been taking place all year.

We have a front row seat to what President Trump has been assembling, and I would never bet against the ability of President Trump and the people now aligned in consequence.

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The Diplomatic Timeline below:

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This presentation is so good and so important, we’re sticking it to the top of the page for a while. 

“The Trump Doctrine”

Earlier today Secretary of State Rex Tillerson talked to the employees at the State Department and delivered outstanding remarks to explain the Trump administration foreign policy approach.  T-Rex talks about the ongoing State Dept. mission and how values and policies intersect with the larger ‘America-First’ strategy.

Specifically T-Rex explains how the distinction between U.S. ‘values’ relates to U.S. ‘policy’ but determinations of influence and our best interests cannot necessarily be contingent upon foreign governments accepting values that are inherently different to their culture.

These remarks delivered to State Dept personnel are exceptionally well presented and intensely interesting.

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[Transcript] SECRETARY TILLERSON: Good morning. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you.  Are we on? Can you all hear me back there in the back? Can you hear me now? (Laughter.) Can you hear me now?

AUDIENCE: Yes.

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Earlier we shared the remarks by Secretary Rex Tillerson as he opened a U.N. Ministerial Session on North Korea’s nuclear ambition. However, what we were unable to find was video of the closing remarks.

The closing remarks by T-Rex were intensely direct. The video is available on the State Department Website HERE. (w/ Transcript Below)  There are some critical forward policy points outlined in the T-Rex closing.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: I shall now make a further statement in my capacity as Secretary of State of the United States.

First, I appreciate all of the statements that have been made by you, and I have received those statements in the constructive spirit in which I know they’ve been offered. I also want to acknowledge the presence of a large number of ambassadors with us today. Your presence gives strength to the importance of this issue. It is a visible demonstration of the importance of this issue to the international community, and I welcome you, and I appreciate you being here.

It has been stressed repeatedly in many of your statements today North Korea has failed to honor its commitments of the past. It has made promises which it has broken. Had this body fully enforced and stood behind resolutions it had enacted in the past, vigorously enforcing sanctions with full compliance, perhaps we would not have found ourselves confronted with the high level of tension that we face today.

We will not negotiate our way back to the negotiating table with North Korea. We will not reward their violations of past resolutions. We will not reward their bad behavior with talks. We will only engage in talks with North Korea when they exhibit a good-faith commitment to abiding by the Security Council resolutions and their past promises to end their nuclear programs.

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{{snickering}} Well, who didn’t see this coming?…

(New York Post) President Trump spoke by phone Saturday with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte — praising the strongman for “fighting very hard to rid his country of drugs” and inviting him to Washington.

The two leaders also discussed regional security, including concerns over South Korea, the White House said in a statement.

No details were given on when Duterte would visit the US, but Trump also said he looked forward to visiting the Philippines in November for a summit with other Asian nations. (link)

As we shared five days ago – this is all part of a much, much bigger strategy.  Full explainer about how President Duterte fits in AVAILABLE HERE.  The insufferable media can’t even see it…. their intellectual dishonesty is becoming very annoying.

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Chinese government officials returned a Texas businesswoman, Ms. Phan-Gillis, to the United States just days after convicting her of espionage charges:

WASHINGTON – […] Phan-Gillis was arrested in 2015 on charges of having spied for the United States in 1996. The Obama administration and United Nations condemned the arrest as a case of “arbitrary detention,” but Chinese authorities proceeded with a case against her that culminated in her receiving a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence on Tuesday. Within days, however, she was returned unexpectedly home — deported, rather than being required to serve her sentence.

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Oh noes, how is the U.S. media going to find a way to spin this?  It was only a matter of time.  President Trump and Secretary Tillerson played out the global strategy perfectly.

By assembling international allies in a coalition of influence, specifically by pulling China into a close relationship with President Trump, Russia has been cast into a brutally diminished role.  Secretary Tillerson’s exceptionally well received visit to the U.N. Security Council yesterday appears to have been the final straw.

The panda fur has been stroked perfectly.  China is literally on the cusp of calling for five-party talks, sans N-Korea, over the entire Asian crisis; and all regional U.S. partners are perfectly positioned to support Trump/Tillerson in that endeavor. Additionally, the delicate sensibilities of the U.N. have been cultured, praised, and Patrone’ Trump has personally laid down reasonable expectations which the participants applauded.

The international diplomacy of President Trump, Vice-President Pence, Secretary T-Rex and even Ambassador Nikki Haley has been incredibly well received.  Starting in the mid-east, through Europe and NATO all the way to the Asia-Pacific, international leadership has been effusive in praise for what President Trump is making possible.

As hard as it is for the media to admit, that’s the backdrop reality for this:

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A report from Bloomberg highlights the anxiety within the professional state department apparatus as Secretary Tillerson begins substantive cuts in the number of pontificating elitist bureaucrats.  It’s amazing how the ankle-biters never seem to recognize these consequential shifts in policy and approach toward dismantling the bureaucracy.

The State Department is the cornerstone of Deep State operations. It is a massively bloated institution filled with some of the most entrenched political globalists and ideologues.

(Via Bloomberg) The State Department plans to cut 2,300 U.S. diplomats and civil servants — about 9 percent of the Americans in its workforce worldwide — as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson presses ahead with his task of slashing the agency’s budget, according to people familiar with the matter.

The majority of the job cuts, about 1,700, will come through attrition, while the remaining 600 will be done via buyouts, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been publicly announced. William Inglee, a former Lockheed Martin Corp. official and policy adviser in Congress, is overseeing the budget cuts and briefed senior managers on the plan Wednesday, the people said.

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