God bless Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for having the diplomatic restraint to stand next to the absolute worst diplomat on the planet and retaining his cool.  Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stands atop her proverbial high-horse and pontificates a diatribe that only a smug leftist can deliver.
If you are familiar with world events,… and you don’t want a blood pressure cuff to explode,… then don’t watch this joint press conference. [Transcript likely later today]  If you’ve ever watched two diplomats pretend to have any commonality, while simultaneously jabbing each-other in the eye, this is an audio-visual exhibition:

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To say the Trump administration and Trudeau administration are ideologically oil and water would be the understatement of the year. The U.S. and Canadian, political, cultural, geopolitical and economic outlooks are entirely divergent.
That reality is one of the reasons why an open U.S. Ambassador to Canada position is unlikely to be filled.  Seriously, who wants to talk to these smug and condescending jerks?
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sits down for a wide-ranging interview with Martha MacCallum to discuss ongoing multi-layered issues between the U.S. and China.

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With Iran now openly engaged in hostile efforts against western maritime navigation, and hijacking western oil tankers, I find it remarkable -albeit predictable- how U.S. media refuse to reference Former Secretary of State John Kerry’s instructions to Iran just a few short months ago. [Reference Article late 2018] [Reference article early 2018]
Reminder of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s anger:

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There is a direct line, a direct connection, between former President Obama and former Secretary Kerry’s engagement with Iran -and the advice presented therein- only a few months ago, and the current hostile conflict Iran is attempting. Yet despite the connection, U.S. media are silent on the association.
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This is one of my favorite changes in executive governance since a ‘People’s President’ won the 2016 election.  President Trump is the FIRST U.S. President to allow the American people to see the workings of an administrative cabinet.  President Trump has done this so frequently people have stopped recognizing the incredible level of transparency.
President Trump uses these cabinet meetings to inform the electorate what is happening and also work around the manipulative presentations by DC media:

…”And if the press wants to stay, you can. If you’d like to leave — it’s like I said the other day: I don’t mind. If you want to leave, that’s your option. You can leave anytime you want, okay?”…

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[Transcript]  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Our Cabinet meeting. And we’ll start with a prayer, please. Rick Perry.
SECRETARY PERRY: Yes, sir. Mr. President, thank you. Just as a — to put this all in perspective: On the 4th of July, I had a prayer that came true, which is a good thing — to pray and for the good Lord to agree that your prayer is a good one.
So Griffin James Perry came into the world on the 4th of July, at about 8:10 in the morning. So I have a grandson.
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Well, this will not come as a surprise to CTH readers, but it affirms prior suspicion of Chairman Xi Jinping’s motives and intents in the pre-G20 trip to North Korea.  There is also an aspect to this propaganda highlighting that Beijing actually had this narrative written prior to the outcome, I’ll explain below.

As predicted, China’s state media are proclaiming that Chairman Xi Jinping, playing the role of magnanimous panda, is responsible for the success and restart of the discussions between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea:

CHINA – […] Ten days before the Kim-Trump meeting, President Xi Jinping made a historic visit to North Korea, with one of the key aims being to show political support and help North Korea and the US to break the deadlock in their negotiations, Zheng said.
Xi also met Trump in Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on Saturday, when they also discussed the peninsula issue. Xi has encouraged both Kim and Trump to push forward negotiations and reach an agreement eventually.
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President Trump has completely reset the pre-existing hostile dynamic that existed between the U.S. and North Korea.  By focusing on the root cause of the issue, Beijing China, Trump has been able to reach a position with Kim Jong-un that seemed impossible two years ago.
All over southeast Asia the media reports are optimistic, positive and upbeat with the possibility of a generational crisis finally coming to an end.   President Trump is being called a hero bringing peace to Korea.

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The North Korean state-run media has broadcast the video below.
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With President Donald Trump making massive strides toward peace and stability surrounding North Korea, the media cannot accept -nor allow- the common sense solutions to succeed.  President Trump is clearly perceived as a risk because his success highlights just how useless and manipulative a professional political class of consultants, advisors and DC think-tanks really are.
The U.S. media are desperate to find something to criticize and openly cheering for failure, so long as it provides fuel for their anti-Trump narrative.  It is stunning to watch against the backdrop of President Trump cutting the Gordian knot known as North Korea.

Perhaps by training, by habit or by unintended consequence, the DC proletariat have developed a system for themselves where the process itself as the end result.  This allows them to wax philosophically about problems; but it is within the discussion of the problem itself where their industry exists.  Solutions are not wanted because that stops the process.
DC journalism has evolved into reveling about the never ending process and, as a consequence, media completely ignore the end point, miss the bottom line, don’t actually SEE the subject matter, and never actually attempt to discover solutions.
If you watch this nonsense long enough you realize those inside the industrial media complex avoid the subject matter deliberately; because if they get their heads around it and nail it home, they won’t have anything to talk about – they will have exhausted their stash.
As part of their unspoken strategy when they encounter a solution driven approach, the media (writ large) fall back on the Gruber Principle: relying on “the stupidity of the American voter” not to understand how the lies and talking points are being distributed.
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President Donald Trump will be delivering remarks to business leaders; then holding a bilateral meeting with President Moon Jae-in today in South Korea.  Following the bilat the two leaders will hold a joint press conference (12:05am EDT).
Then President Trump will travel to the demilitarized zone where the world waits to see if the U.S. President will meet North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un, possibly making history. (1:30am EDT)

The DMZ schedule is tentative and might be subject to change; however, the world will be watching to see if the Trump-Kim meeting and handshake takes place (approximately 1:30am EDT). No sitting U.S. President has ever stepped foot in North Korea. If this was to happen it would be a historic moment.  Full Schedule Below:
10:00am ROK / 9:00pm EDT THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks to Korean business leaders, Seoul, Republic of Korea
10:50am ROK / 9:50pm EDT THE PRESIDENT departs the Hotel en route to Blue House, Seoul, Republic of Korea
11:00am ROK / 10:00pm EDT THE PRESIDENT arrives at Blue House, Seoul, Republic of Korea
11:10am ROK / 10:10pm EDT THE PRESIDENT participates in a restricted bilateral meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears on Fox News Sunday to debate antagonistic DC Swamp Guard Chris Wallace.  The primary topic was the recent attacks on shipping tankers by Iranian elements in the Gulf of Oman.
Additionally, Secretary Pompeo discussed the protests in Hong Kong against the growing influence from Beijing; the issues with North Korea to achieve a positive outcome with Kim Jong Un; the New York Times story on U.S. active measures against Russia; and the nonsensical -hypothetical- foreign opposition research issue.

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Secretary Pompeo also appeared on Face The Nation:
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In the early hours of this morning, two vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz towards the Indian Ocean were attacked by unknown entities causing hull breach explosions that rendered the vessels inoperable.  The sailors were evacuated.

The Norwegian owned “Front Altair” (cargo: 75,000 tonnes of naphtha), and the Japanese owned “Kokuka Courageous” (cargo: 25,000 tonnes of methanol) were struck in the Gulf of Oman; the same strategic sea lane where four oil vessels were sabotaged last month.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has identified Iran as the government responsible for the attacks.  [Press Conference Video]

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No doubt Iran feels empowered to attack Western interests partly due to the support expressed by former Secretary of State Kerry and former President Obama.  Both have created an open window for Iran by undermining President Trump.
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