Well, well, well…. According to a breaking State Department release T-Rex will be headed to Beijing the day after tomorrow (Thursday) through Sunday.   Yup, everything proceeding swimmingly.  A very predictable plan, for an intensely smart geopolitical strategy.  Walking in a Winner Wonderland !

STATE DEPT – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Beijing September 28 – October 1 to meet with senior Chinese leaders. Secretary Tillerson will discuss a range of issues, including the President’s planned travel to the region, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and trade and investment. Secretary Tillerson’s visit to China reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to further broaden and enhance U.S. economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

(more…)

President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin are is using the newly constructed sanctions authority to punish eight North Korean banks and 26 bank workers living abroad.
The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions (full outline below) rely on an executive order President Donald Trump signed last week to target North Korea’s access to the international banking system. The Trump/Mnuchin action comes as as a separate outcome from the recently passed United Nations sanctions package targeting North Korea.

The eight banks are all in North Korea. The Treasury Department says the 26 individuals are North Korean nationals employed by those banks who work in Russia, China, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the U.S. is targeting those “across the globe” who facilitate financial transactions for North Korea. He says it’s part of the effort to isolate North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. (link)

Treasury announcement below.
(more…)

Today President Donald Trump meets with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy Brey and will be holding a joint press conference at the conclusion of their meeting.  Approximate start time 1:30pm – 1:45pm EDT
UPDATE: Video Added

(more…)

For those who have followed the months-long strategy of President Trump toward North Korea and China, the latest words from China fall squarely into place. Unfortunately for those who have not followed the approach, the consequential nuance will be lost.
What is happening publicly is entirely predictable when we accept what is happening privately, against the backdrop of activity that has taken place since February of this year.
Remember the Trumpian objective of creating the “Magnanimous Panda” as you read these latest words from Beijing:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Reacting to remarks by North Korea’s foreign minister on Monday, China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told Reuters the escalating rhetoric between North Korea and the United States was getting too dangerous and the only solution was negotiations.
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters that President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers even if not in its air space.

(more…)

Well, at least Jake Tapper defined his intent honestly in this interview where he explains his role is to advocate for the devil.  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talks with CNN’s Jake Tapper about President Donald Trump’s criticism of athletes kneeling during the national anthem and the the administration’s tax cut plan:

(more…)

Round three of NAFTA begins this weekend in Canada.  According to a leaked possible itinerary obtained by Reuters the auto-sector “rules of origin” will be discussed on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The auto sector rules of origin have been exploited by China to send auto manufacturing parts into Mexico, including massive electronic components, where they are assembled and shipped into the U.S. under NAFTA.  This trade maneuver is an exploitation, a back-door per se’, of the NAFTA agreement by China which Secretary Ross and USTR Robert Lighthizer are committed to stopping.
Secretary Wilbur Ross explains in this recent CNBC interview. WATCH:

(more…)

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Nikki Haley holds a press availability in New York City on September 21, 2017 to discuss ongoing diplomatic engagements.

.
No-one in the media has yet to fully grasp the Trump Doctrine’ as it pertains to leveraging the scale and influence of the U.S. economy, all aspects, to gain national security outcomes.  This is what happens when a non-politician, a problem solver, becomes U.S. President.
(more…)

Jumping ju-ju bones, now that we’ve read the stunning content of this executive order it is completely obvious why Beijing took action today with their central bank instructions.
President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin have structured this executive order in such a way that the downstream consequences from any economic engagement with the DPRK effectively cuts off that entity from engaging in commerce or economic activity with the United States.

It’s a jaw-dropping, and effective, way to blockade any economic engagement with North Korea. That reality, and accepting that POTUS Trump gave a heads’ up to Xi Jinping, is obviously what precipitated Beijing to get out ahead of the executive order lest any Chinese entity be directly impacted and blocked from trade with the U.S.
[I bullet pointed the sections below]:
(more…)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will be holding a press conference shortly to outline the latest sanctions against North Korea, and discuss the impact of Beijing’s central bank barring economic transactions between Chinese banks and North Korea.  Start time estimated between 2:45pm and 3:00pm EDT
Update: Video Added

Trump's new executive order bans ships and aircraft that have visited North Korea from visiting the U.S. for 180 days, White House says.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 21, 2017

SECTION TWO: Sec. 2. (a) No aircraft in which a foreign person has an interest that has landed at a place in North Korea may land at a place in the United States within 180 days after departure from North Korea. (link to Executive Order)
(more…)

During a luncheon with South Korea (Moon Jae-in) and Japan (Shinzo Abe), U.S. President Donald Trump announces new sanctions against North Korea (Kim Jong-un).
Moments prior to President Trump’s statement, Beijing (China’s Red Dragon ‘old guard’ communists), announced their central bank has instructed all of China’s banks to stop financial transactions with DPRK entities (proxy provincial financial systems).  Beijing (Red Dragon) is attempting to retain their panda mask as an economic necessity to the international community.  President Trump’s economic pressure is unrelenting:

-Panda Sees Lion Tracks In Shrinking Bamboo Forest-

China has no cultural or political space between peace and war; they are a historic nation based on two points of polarity.  Beijing sees peace and war as coexisting with each other. China accepts and believes opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.  Flowing between these polar states is a natural dynamic to be used -with serious contemplation- in advancing objectives as needed.
The Chinese objective is to win, to dominate, using economic power.
(more…)