(Via Reuters) With warm words from Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ended his first trip to Asia since taking office with an agreement to work together with China on North Korea and putting aside trickier issues. (link)  All lumps removed…


Chinese President Xi Jinping:

“You said that China-U.S. relations can only be friendly. I express my appreciation for this.” … “We both believe that China-U.S. cooperation henceforth is the direction we are both striving for. We are both expecting a new era for constructive development.” … “The joint interests of China and the United States far outweigh the differences, and cooperation is the only correct choice for us both.”

Secretary of State Tillerson:

“President Trump places a very high value on the communications that have already occurred, and he looks forward to enhancing that understanding in the opportunity for a visit in the future.” … “We know that through further dialogue we will achieve a greater understanding that will lead to a strengthened, strengthening of the ties between China and the United States and set the tone for our future relationship of cooperation.”

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Last Thursday Secretary T-Rex was in Japan (below left); Friday he was in South Korea (below right); tonight (tomorrow local) Secretary Tillerson will arrive in China.

During a flight between nations, Secretary Tillerson gave an interview to IJR reporter Erin McPike.  A full audio file has been provided CLICK HERE (will open in separate window) The interview is almost 30 minutes in duration and takes place aboard the flight.

In addition, IJR has posted a transcript of the interview which is AVAILABLE HERE.

I would again strongly urge everyone to ignore the media presentations of the comments from Secretary Tillerson, and instead go directly to the unfiltered source material.
The Audio Interview is very interesting.  Understandably, with the full content available, the DC media and their Deep State partnerships are frustrated and angry about their inability to manipulate the Tillerson narrative.
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Spidey Sense Level remains elevated…

(Via Reuters)  Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will make his first state visit to Washington during the first week of April at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump, Egyptian state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Sunday.
The trip will be Sisi’s first U.S. state visit since being elected president in 2014 as former U.S. President Barack Obama had never extended an invitation.

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Yesterday Japan, today South Korea, tomorrow China. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived at Osan Air Base in South Korea to begin his day of official discussions and meetings with South Korean leaders, diplomats and policy makers.
The topic of North Korean aggression was the central topic of discussion and T-Rex pulled no diplomatic punches when he stated the U.S. policy of strategic patience with North Korea has come to an end.

That remark stands as a direct announcement of a change in policy position toward North Korea. “Strategic Patience” was the policy of Secretary Clinton and President Obama that yielded no benefit as North Korea continued testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles throughout president Obama’s terms in office.
President Trump and Secretary Tillerson are taking a different path to shut down the hostilities and aggressions of the North Korean regime. We can anticipate Tillerson to forcefully deliver a message of expectation to China tomorrow. Expectation that China will step in and become more forceful in controlling the N. Korean provocations.
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Japan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, at the Ikura Guest House in Tokyo, Japan. The visit included a joint press conference. The first video below is edited down to present Secretary Tillerson’s statement as well as his answers to a few questions.
With all the challenges facing Asia: North Korea missile tests, China expansion into the S-China Sea etc., the ugly American press corps never fails to deliver the reality of their self-absorption. [04:35] The extremely predictable journalists within the State Department Correspondents Association (SDCA) ask Tillerson about State Department budget cuts; that’s what they are worried about.

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Tucked away from the attention of almost all of the Western media has been the quiet forward, front, visible and back channel communications playing out amid a very narrow pathway.   CTH continues to monitor these precarious -albeit optimistic- quiet steps because they are converging to form a very specific picture.  [Tweet Link]

(The Hill) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with an envoy from President Trump on Tuesday and told him that a peace deal is possible under the new president.
The meeting between Abbas and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Special Representative for International Negotiations, took place in Ramallah.
“President Abbas told Mr. Greenblatt that he believes that under President Trump’s leadership a historic peace deal is possible, and that it will enhance security throughout the region,” according to a statement from the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem.  (read more)

We have continued to express optimism for a confluence of events, people and activity that is happening quietly, and could stun the geo-political world.  The timing is right, because we view these activities through a different prism.  We review against the backdrop of President Obama’s mid-east failure, equitable misery.
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A Reuters filing en route to Asia showcases the bitterness, anger and seething rage of U.S. journalists who have been forced to fly First-Class Commercial to cover Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s Asia trip.
State Department correspondents are used to the exclusive wide-body private charters of the U.S. federal government’s airline fleet.  Previous heads of the Department of State have flown aboard Air Force 3.  Normally a Boeing 757.  At the very worst Air Force 3 would be a C17 Globemaster.
However, T-Rex is taking a smaller jet to Asia and only one journalist accompanies him.  To make matters exponentially worse, T-Rex did not select a journalist from the corporate stable of the refined and pedigreed media elites.

We can only imagine how Andrea Mitchell must be seething at having to take simple first-class commercial flight accommodations with ordinary people.  The scope of the almost unimaginable horror she has to face will soon pour from her pursed and vengeful lips.  We can predict a retaliatory report soon from the wrath of the ignored elitist within NBC.  This shall be, as they say, epic.
Secretary Tillerson has rebuked customs and norms.  The traveling correspondents will have to pass through customs and passport checks as if they are ordinary travelers.  There is a very real possibility no-one will recognize them or care diligently for their very individual and specific needs.
Can you imagine Mrs. Alan Greenspan flying all the way to Asia from the Eastern Seaboard and having to do that on a commercial flight?  My God, have we really dropped our standards of decency that far… (more…)

Earlier today President Trump signed an executive order initiating a full review of all federal departments to include a recommendations within 180 days for which departments and programs can be completely shut down. Almost immediately the Swamp trees begin convulsing spasmodically.
The notification ripples had yet to carry across the swamp water notifying all of the inhabitants when…   Apparently President Trump was not satisfied with the XO instructions alone.  Trump slams down the atomic sledgehammer in an epic budgetary notification to battalion commander T-Rex.

WASHINGTON DC – President Trump’s administration has told the State Department to cut more than 50 percent of U.S. funding to United Nations programs, Foreign Policy reported.

The push for the drastic reductions comes as the White House is scheduled to release its 2018 topline budget proposal Thursday, which is expected to include a 37 percent cut to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development budgets.

It’s not clear if Trump’s budget plan, from the Office of Management and Budget, would reflect the full extent of Trump’s proposed cuts to the U.N.

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Earlier today President Trump met with his cabinet members and outlined the administrations’ expectation they immediately conduct a wholesale review of each department in order to lower costs, shrink the size of their departments and utilize their leadership and executive skills to remove cost redundancy with extreme urgency.

To accomplish this goal, President Trump signed an Executive Order initiating an immediate reorganization of the executive branch –SEE HERE–   Including the elimination of “unnecessary agencies” as identified in the review.

Section 1.  Purpose.  This order is intended to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the executive branch by directing the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Director) to propose a plan to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies (as defined in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code), components of agencies, and agency programs.

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[Transcript] 3:07 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  I’m proud to welcome everyone to our first official Cabinet meeting. (more…)

Last night President Trump had a lengthy dinner and conversation with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in advance of several upcoming foreign emissary visits to the White House, and T-Rex’s strategic trip to Asia.
Today President Trump took Secretary Kelly (DHS), Secretary Ross (Commerce), Secretary Mnuchin (Treasury), Secretary Shulkin (VA), together with their spouses to Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
Accompanying the cabinet group was key staff: Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Clockwise from President Trump: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Hilary Ross, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Louise Linton (engaged), Karen Kelly and DHS Secretary John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Merle Bari Shulkin and Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin.

This type of exit from DC is really smart for multiple reasons.  It might be a little challenging for the convoy to drive 35 minutes, but it allows the cabinet team to synergize in a more relaxed environment with introductions and fellowship amid the spouses.
Additionally, it provides a fully private venue, with full pre-arrival security controlled by Team Trump (ie. no ears); and an escape from the toxic fumes which perpetually emanate from the DC Swamp.
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