The Bureau of Economic Analysis, BEA, finally released the fourth quarter growth rate estimate for 2018.  The 4th quarter growth result at 2.6% exceeded expectations, and shows the U.S. economy is growing stronger than almost all economic forecasts.

WASHINGTON DC – In the fourth-quarter, U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2.6%, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Thursday’s report beat expectations, with consensus economists polled by Bloomberg looking for growth to slow to 2.2% during the final three months of the year. The domestic economy grew at a pace of 3.4% in the third quarter and 4.2% in the second quarter.

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Despite several positive and remarkable comments from Kim Jong-un, President Donald Trump and the North Korean Chairman could not come to a substantive agreement after two days of negotiations on the process to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
During a press conference prior to departing Hanoi, Vietnam, President Trump cited two issues: (1) A North Korean demand for the immediate removal of all multinational economic sanctions; and (2) The unwillingness of North Korea to be fulsome about their missile and nuclear locations. WATCH:

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UPDATE:  Here is a link to the transcript.  Additional Thoughts:
In the backdrop of the Hanoi summit, and as U.S-China trade negotiations continue, the Trump administration suspended the implementation of the March 1st tariff increase on Chinese goods.  Unfortunately, attaining this goal may have empowered a cunning Chairman Xi Jinping to influence the demands of DPRK Chairman Kim.
A covert influence connection will become clear if President Trump now takes an even more firm trade and tariff position toward China. We’ll keep watching closely.
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You might want to bookmark this congressional testimony from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to the House Ways and Means Committee for specific purposes…
There are many people who are understandably worried that any U.S. trade agreement between the U.S. and China might not have the most ferocious teeth behind a binding enforcement provision.  If you listen to Ambassador Lighthizer he makes clear that President Donald Trump, and the negotiating team, will not accept any agreement that does not have the strongest enforcement mechanisms at every level.

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In his testimony Lighthizer walks through the basic outline of what a U.S. successful agreement would look like.  While increased Chinese purchases to lower the deficit are a part of the goal, they are a VERY SMALL part of the goal.
The protection of U.S. intellectual property; the removal of non-tariff trade barriers; the confrontation of currency manipulation and the sector by sector enforcement provisions are the primary objective.
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On the sideline of the President Trump and Chairman Kim summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, President Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong participate in a signing ceremony worth a combined $21 billion value in U.S. trade.
Contracts were signed by Kevin McCallister – President and chief executive officer of Boeing commercial airplanes; and Allen Paxson, Vice President of GE aviation.  On the Vietnamese side: Nguyen Thanh Hung, Vice Chairman of VietJet Air; and Nguyen Thi Phurong Thao, President and CEO VietJet.  WATCH:

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Details include: VietJet will buy 100 Boeing 737-Max jets and 215 GE/CFM joint venture engines.  Bamboo Airways will buy 10 Boeing 787-9 jets, and Vietnam Airlines will buy $100 million in services and technology from Sabre Corporation. “These deals will support more than 83,000 American jobs and provide increased safety and reliability for Vietnamese International travelers.” (link)

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There’s a considerable backstory {Go Deep} to the announcement today where Fiat Chrysler will be investing $4.5 billion in new manufacturing, and 6,500 additional jobs.
Fiat Chrysler’s Mike Manley watched legendary CEO Sergio Marchionne dealing with President Trump in 2017 during two sets of meetings with key auto leaders. POTUS and titan Marchionne got along great; both old school deal-makers. There was a lot of respect between the two leaders. There’s no doubt Mike Manley took heed of Sergio Marchionne’s approach when he took over as CEO of Fiat Chrysler in 2018.

(Via CNBC) […] The automaker says it will hire 6,500 workers and invest $4.5 billion by adding a new assembly plant in Detroit and boosting production at five existing factories.
CEO Mike Manley said expanding in Detroit is a logical decision given the company’s facilities in the area and the desire to produce Jeeps in the U.S. “We’re an American brand. We’re proud of that within the Jeep brand,” he said in a statement.

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President Trump has been executing a foreign policy, a clear doctrine of sorts, where national security is achieved by leveraging U.S. economic power. It is a fundamental shift in approaching both allies and adversaries; summarized within the oft repeated phrase: “economic security is national security.”
The Trump Doctrine of using economics to achieve national security objectives is a fundamental paradigm shift.  Modern U.S. history provides no easy reference.

“Peace is the prize” ~ President Donald Trump

The nature of the Trump foreign policy doctrine, as it has become visible, is to hold manipulative influence agents accountable for regional impact(s); and simultaneously work to stop any corrupted influence from oppressing free expression of national values held by the subservient, dis-empowered, people within the nation being influenced.
There have been clear examples of this doctrine at work. When President Trump first visited the Middle-East he confronted the international audience with a message about dealing with extremist influence agents. President Trump simply said: “drive them out.”
Toward that end, as Qatar was identified as a financier of extremist ideology, President Trump placed the goal of confrontation upon the Gulf Cooperation Council, not the U.S.
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Tonight President Donald Trump, First-Lady Melania Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and Second-Lady Karen Pence, together with the cabinet, attend the 2019 Governors’ Ball in Washington DC.
President Trump delivers remarks to the audience:

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[Transcript] “This has been really a great couple of days. We’ve had a lot of fun together. We’ve gotten to know each other, we’ve gotten to like each other in almost all cases. Let’s see – one or two cases – every case. [Laughter] Every single case.
“I just want to thank Vice President Mike Pence and our Second Lady, Karen, thank you very much. And I especially want to thank our really great Cabinet for being here. We have most members of the cabinet and our great new Attorney General, Bill Barr, and Mrs Barr, thank you very much.
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We are living in historic times.
It was not coincidental that North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un took the long train out of the DPRK yesterday while U.S.T.R Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He were still engaged in the extended U.S-China trade negotiations.  Quite simply Kim’s early exit from Pyongyang meant Chairman Xi’s geopolitical trade leverage was diminished.
If you’ve listened to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo describing Team USA and Team DPRK delegations, both holding discussions in Hanoi all last week, the early exit of Chairman Kim takes on an enlightened context.  Meanwhile, the U.S. media is oblivious.

Since mid 2017 the long-game plan of the Trump Doctrine toward China (on trade) and their proxy province of North Korea (nuclear hostilities) has been clear. However, being able to see it unfold means accepting President Trump held a strategy.  Fortunately for us we have a front row seat.
President Trump has been engaged in a two-year long hostage rescue mission.  We are now entering the final stages of carefully designed hostage negotiations.
The Chinese trade delegation, led by Vice-Premier Liu He, could not leave Washington DC without some structural progress in U.S-China trade discussions that would avoid the looming March 1st 25 percent tariff on over $200 billion worth of Chinese imported products.  With a summit between President Trump and DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un on the calendar, Vice-Premier Liu stayed in Washington DC for an extra two days.
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Multiple media outlets are reporting that North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un has departed Pyongyang en route to Hanoi Vietnam by train.  It’s approximately a two day train ride for the journey.  The summit with President Trump is scheduled for February 27th and 28th.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea on Sunday confirmed for the first time that its leader Kim Jong Un will hold a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, days ahead of the high-stakes nuclear meeting set to take place in Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi.
Kim left Pyongyang by train on Saturday afternoon for the Feb. 27-28 summit accompanied by senior North Korean officials, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said.

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Today in presidential history is a day when the import of consequence doesn’t surface until historians apply hindsight.  However, those who carry the longest-lens are enjoying these moments in history…. We make with our support of Trump such a sound as all history from these days forward are forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.  And when we are gone, our beneficiaries will sing of these deeds in forbidden songs while tending the flickering flame of liberty; for we few lived in the era of Trump.

[Transcript] Oval Office – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s a great honor to be with the Vice Premier of China, a very highly respected man in China. And we’re negotiating trade and the trade agreement. And we have many representatives from China and — as you’d know, and most of you know who they are — many representatives from the United States.
I think we’re getting along very well. Ultimately, I think the biggest decisions and some even smaller decisions will be made by President Xi and myself. And we expect to have a meeting sometime in the not-too-distant future.
And I can only say talks are going along well, but we’re going to have to see what happens. I think there’ll be some points that this group won’t agree on because maybe they’re not supposed to agree on, allowed to agree on. And I think President Xi and I will work out the final points, perhaps. And perhaps not.
So I just want to say, Mr. Vice Premier, it’s a great honor to have you.
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