Today, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the State Department’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget.

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[Transcript] SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, some of you may have seen a press release that was put out just before I arrived announcing that at the President’s direction, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea. He is on his way, en route home, to be reunited with his family.

We continue our discussions with the North Korean regime regarding the release of the three other American citizens that have been detained. We have no comment on Mr. Warmbier’s condition, out of respect to him and the family, and that is the statement that was released.

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UPDATE:  Absolutely brilliant strategic approach taken by President Trump and Secretary of State Tillerson; essentially supporting the GCC against Qatar via a mediation role that resembles Bad Cop/Good Cop.   Those closely following the deep-weeds diplomacy will note the predictability of exactly this approach.

This is not the first time this issue has surfaced.  Qatar is a financier of terrorism and extremist Islamic sentiment via their support for the Muslim Brotherhood.  In 2014 the Arab nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), confronted Qatar and pulled their diplomats to force Qatar to expell the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood….

Against President Trump renewed call to “drive out” the extremists and confront terrorism, the GCC is once again calling out Qatar.  President Trump is the big stick  enforcer expressing understanding for the GCC approach; Secretary Tillerson is the diplomat trying to change the behavior of Qatar with carrots.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis are in Sydney, Australia, June 5–6, participating in the 2017 Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations hosted by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne.

T-Rex, Mattis and their Australian counterparts are discussing a full range of U.S-Australian cooperation on bilateral, regional, and global issues.

Press Conference Video:  (U.S. media show publicly why T-Rex dislikes them at 16:30, who was that idjit.)

Secretary Tillerson will then travel to New Zealand to discuss strategic interests with Prime Minister English and Foreign Minister Brownlee.

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Showcasing a unique aspect of the President Trump common sense approach toward coalition building, today the United Nations security council voted unanimously, in public, to increase sanctions against North Korea.   Yes, ‘unanimously’.

China and Russia voted in alliance with the permanent security council members the U.S., France and the United Kingdom to support increased sanctions.  They voted in alignment publicly.  Don’t look for the anti-Trump media to make note of this critical point.

(Via Reuters) […] Adding names to the U.N. blacklist – a global travel ban and asset freeze – was the minimum sanctions measures the Security Council could have taken and comes after five weeks of negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

“The Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today – stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences,” Haley said.

The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, sanctions four entities, including the Koryo Bank and Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People’s Army, and 14 people, including the head of Pyongyang’s overseas spying operations.

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AP is reporting the leaders of France (Macron), Germany (Merkel), and Italy (Genteloni) have released a joint statement saying the Paris Climate Treaty is irreversible and cannot be renegotiated. Effectively shutting down the only option President Trump left on the table for them:

Pay attention to the last sentence in the AP joint statement snippet:

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni said in a joint statement Thursday that they take note “with regret” the U.S. decision to pull out of the 2015 agreement.

The three leaders say they regard the accord as “a cornerstone in the cooperation between our countries, for effectively and timely tackling climate change.”

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(Via Reuters) The United States has started distributing arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters battling to help retake the city of Raqqa from Islamic State, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday, as the United States moved ahead with a plan despite concerns by ally Turkey.

The official said distribution of the arms had started in the past 24 hours, based on authority given by President Donald Trump earlier this month. (read more)

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Quick, to the fainting couches. T-Rex’s State Department is offending the delicate sensibilities of Andrea Mitchell.

The offenses?

• Not enough advanced notice of press briefings; and, wait for it, O.M.G, the horror, • Secretary Tillerson had the audacity to ride his motorcycle and never asked permission from State Department Correspondents.

This Must Not Stand !!

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President Trump’s EU strategy is swimmingly effective. Truly, President Trump’s multinational approach is jaw-droppingly transparent (they’ve obviously never read any of Trump’s books), and today France’s Emmanuel Macron showed just how thoroughly disconnected he is from understanding his own position.

Wunderkind Emmanuel Macron, following the exact same advisory recommendations which planted egg on Obama’s face, threatens Vladimir Putin and Bashir Assad with a red-line of military action if chemical weapons are used in Syria:

“Any use of chemical weapons would results in reprisals and an immediate riposte, at least where France is concerned,” Macron said, standing next to Putin in the Versailles palace outside of Paris.  (link)

Emmanuel Macron threatening unilateral action if Syria’s Bashar Assad uses chemical weapons? Hilarious, if it wasn’t so substantively dangerous.

The orbit of influence surrounding the wunderkind (all caviar liberal socialists) have convinced Macron that now is the time to project a strong EU image to compensate for President Trump’s bold stance pointing out the EU need to step out from behind the skirt of NATO and provide for their own defense.  Politically, Macron’s yapping might play well with a domestic or EU centric audience…. (more…)

OK, there were a lot of requests for a picture of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson riding his motorcycle in the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day tribute. Yesterday we shared the video from the rally location just prior to the Noon start of the kickoff ride.

However, T-Rex didn’t want to create a stir or draw attention away from the purpose of the event – so he was his customary self, low key.  That said, after pouring through video footage I FOUND HIM.

The video is below the fold:

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Suspicious cat remains increasingly suspicious whenever a sketchy GOPe member presents public praise.  From Senator Bob Corker: