President Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo participate in a working lunch with the Prime Minister of Israel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation of the UAE and the Foreign Minister of Bahrain.

“Today, nations across the region and throughout the world are joining together, united in their determination to build a better future.” – President Donald J. Trump

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SECURING HISTORIC AGREEMENTS: President Donald J. Trump hosted the official signing ceremony for the historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab nations.

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Today President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will participate in an Abraham Accords Signing Ceremony to celebrate the historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Anticipated start time 12:00pm.

President Trump helped broker a historic agreement between the UAE and Israel to normalize relations in August. Last week, Trump announced that Bahrain had also reached a deal with Israel to normalize relations. The parties will sign the agreement, dubbed the “Abraham Accords,” at this White House ceremony, marking a notable diplomatic achievement for President Trump and mid-east partners.

UPDATE: Video Added

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And absolutely stunning day for the White House, Israel, the Arab peace coalition and the larger international community as peace begins to settle across the middle-east. Incredible.

President Trump holds an oval office meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and takes questions from the press pool. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: (A ceremonial gold key is presented.) This was a special token of affection, given by myself and the First Lady to the Prime Minister and the First Lady of Israel. And it’s a key — we call it a key to the White House. And it’s a key to our country and to our hearts. And you’ve been an amazing leader for a long period of time. And this is — this is, in many respects, the big day, because this is something that’s very special.

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White House Senior Advisor to President Trump, Jared Kushner, is the lead liaison between the White House, Israel and mid-east interests.  In an earlier interview today Kushner discusses the historic importance of the new Arab-Israeli peace agreements and what they mean for U.S. national security interests.

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Start with the economics, not the conflict… then promote the goal of prosperity.

♦President Trump’s foreign policy approach brought North and South Korea together away from the table of conflict.  ♦President Trump’s foreign policy approach brought Serbia and Kosovo together away from the table of conflict.  ♦President Trump’s foreign policy rallied the Gulf Cooperation Council to stop Qatar’s support for Islamic extremists via the Muslim Brotherhood. ♦President Trump’s foreign policy brought Turkey and the Kurdish forces together away from war and conflict.  ♦President Trump’s foreign policy created a ceasefire to stop the bloodshed in Syria.  President Trump mediated a cessation of hostilities between India & Pakistan in the Kashmir region. ♦President Trump’s foreign policy brought Israel and the UAE together… and there will be more.

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According to the latest information from the National Hurricane Center Sally has weakened slightly and has a loosely defined eye wall. This a very slowly moving storm at only 2mph which unfortunately means a longer storm surge event.

Coastal communities in SE Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama should pay close attention. A long duration storm surge and a great deal of rain is anticipated.

Hurricane Center – At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Sally was located near latitude 29.1 North, longitude 88.2 West. Sally is moving toward the northwest near 2 mph (4 km/h). A slow north-northwestward to northward motion is expected this afternoon,followed by a slow northward to north-northeastward motion tonight through Wednesday night.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Kayleigh McEnany Twitter @PressSec

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Hurricane Sally is now holding with 100mph winds and slowly moving (5mph) toward the West Northwest near the coastal region of the western Florida Panhandle.

The outer bands of Sally are moving onshore in the Florida Panhandle. Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Hurricane-Force Winds, and Flash Flooding Likely Along Portions of the Northern Gulf Coast Starting Later Tonight and Tuesday.

Residents in Western Florida, Alabama coastal area, Mississippi coastal area and Eastern Louisiana should pay close attention.  All hurricane preparations should be rushed to completion. The storm is expected to turn north, but the timing is uncertain.  The wind field is small; however, due to the slow movement the storm surge is a great concern.

Hurricane Center – Sally is moving toward the west-northwest near 5 mph (8 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue through Tuesday morning. A northward turn is likely by Tuesday afternoon, and a slow north-northeastward to northeastward motion is expected Tuesday night through Wednesday night.

On the forecast track, the center of Sally will move near the coast of southeastern Louisiana tonight and Tuesday, and make landfall in the hurricane warning area Tuesday night or Wednesday.

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Those who have followed the Trump administration’s decoupling strategy will note the potential conflict from within this approach is a ‘nothing to lose’ proposition from Donald Trump’s perspective.

The Trump administration announced today the Department of Homeland Security, via U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, are about to start blocking the import of products from five specific entities in western China’s Xinjiang region.  The objective is to block products that come from forced Uighur labor in Xinjiang, China.

The authority comes from U.S. “Withhold Release Orders” (WRO’s) that allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detain shipments based on suspicion of forced-labor involvement under long-standing U.S. laws to combat human trafficking, child labor and other human rights abuses.  Ken Cuccinelli explains to Lou Dobbs.

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At first blush this might seem detrimental to the objectives of the U.S-China Phase-One trade deal. However, if you have followed the decoupling process closely; including the warnings given by Trump to U.S. multinationals; you will note there is no specific downside to this confrontation.

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Earlier today President Trump traveled to McClellan California for a briefing on the current status of current efforts to battle California wildfires.  The briefing was held in a Cal Fire hangar.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Great to be here. Great to be with the Governor. We’ve been speaking a lot about the problem, and it’s a big problem, and it’ll get solved. We want to pay our love and respect, and we say “God bless you” to those that were killed in this horrible fire, because it’s a series of fire. You put them together, and it’s a big monster, Gavin. Right?

GOVERNOR NEWSOM: A big monster.

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