President Donald Trump used twitter today to begin a process. [BACKSTORY HERE] This is another example of using brutal honesty in digestible doses to change the reference points of most international observers.  Few have any real understanding of the dynamic between the U.S. and North Korea vis-a-vis China.
This tweet is serious business.  It is fired directly into the heart of Beijing.  It is the mother of all truth bombs, and it takes away the ability of Chairman Xi to act in sunlight.

“Subtle” like a brick through a window. [Backstory available here.]  President Trump is removing the Panda mask to reveal the authentic nature of Chairman Xi Jinping.  Simultaneously Trump is trying to rescue Kim Jong-un from the clutches of the Red dragon behind the mask.
Watch Steven Mnuchin to see if enhanced treasury sanctions resurface now.
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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

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

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 †

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha hold a joint press conference following a trilateral debriefing of ongoing negotiations with the U.S. and North Korea.

[Transcript] FOREIGN MINISTER KONO: Thank you. It is my glad pleasure to welcome Secretary Mike Pompeo and Minister Kang Kyung-wha to Tokyo for this trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting. The last time we gathered in Seoul was less than a month ago, immediately after U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore. The timing and the frequency of the meeting have enabled smooth and effective trilateral coordination; its outcome could then be fed into the process between the U.S. and North Korea.
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British officials are desperate to keep Nigel Farage and President Trump separate during the state visit next Thursday and Friday.  [::snicker::… you know what that means… nudge, nudge… wink, wink… say-no-more, say no more]  Mr. Nigel Farage discusses the current U.K. climate that awaits President Trump.

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Oh, it continues…. When in the course of corrupt events it becomes necessary for one president to confront the political bands which have connected politicians to each other; and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which national laws and common sense entitles them, a decent respect to the intellect of voters requires that he should declare the cause which impels him to the confrontation:

They just didn't get it, but they do now! pic.twitter.com/9T50NupkDy

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2018

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President Trump heads to Europe on Tuesday for a series of meetings in several EU nations.  On Wednesday and Thursday (11th/12th) the NATO summit.  On Thursday and Friday (12th/13th) a U.K. Visit. Saturday and Sunday (14th/15th) a visit to Scotland; and Monday the 16th a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Finland.

The EU and U.S. media are one-upping themselves every few hours with apoplectic proclamations about horrible Trump and the high-minded need to save the angelic NATO mission of unbridled altruism; a liberally canonized Saint Merkel of Deutschland; as well as Londonistan’s Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Theresa May, from the horrors of a swaggering U.S. vulgarian…  Cue the audio visual:

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Seriously, after a while all of these faux-intellectuals begin to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher. “The louder they spoke of their honor, the faster we counted the spoons“…
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With McCain dying, and Corker and Flake retiring, the Decepticon side of the deep swamp is being purged.  President Trump’s direct America-First policies and pragmatic common sense has severed one head from Cerberus, the three headed hound protecting Hades, DC.
In the geopolitical realm President Trump is using the U.S. atomic sledgehammer to reset decades of insufferable economic policy constructed specifically to the financial benefit of ideological ‘allies’; who have elevated their financial standing on the backs of U.S. deficits.
With Decepticons weakened, and many in DC realizing President Trump isn’t going to stop swinging the battle axe until the last one is crushed, politicians like Lindsey Graham have begun talking more truthfully about issues.  Watch in this interview as Graham is questioned about North Korea, and he immediately -and somewhat surprisingly- accurately identifies the core issue…. it ain’t North Korea.

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Four of the twelve Thai schoolboys were rescued by divers in part one of an exhaustive international effort. The remaining boys will have to wait until oxygen tanks are replaced and equipment resupplied along the underwater system for the next attempt.
According to local officials it is expected to take at least 10 hours to re-stage the rescue equipment before attempting round #2 of the rescue. Each rescue team takes another 6 hours to navigate and guide the boys through a 4,000 meter long underwater labyrinth. There are more than 90 divers working on the rescue mission including 50 international divers from around the world.

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) – Four of 12 Thai schoolboys were rescued from a flooded cave on Sunday in a daring and dangerous operation to save the children and their soccer coach who have been trapped underground for more than two weeks.

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