Interesting dynamics at play.   President Trump has announced via Twitter the U.S. advance team has arrived in North Korea to position for a possible June 12th summit between President Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.

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Yesterday South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un held an impromptu summit/meeting in the DPRK to display their unified smiles.

The influence agent, Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, has been unusually quiet since President Trump asserted that Chairman Xi was the agent provocateur behind Kim Jong-un’s diplomatic bi-polarism.  Apparently, Chairman Xi did not anticipate President Trump being so public with the sunlight; and there’s no way Xi anticipated the economic consequences POTUS Trump outlined in the 232 Auto-Sector review.

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In the last several hours Tropical Storm Alberto has quickly gained strength.  Forecast track puts the storm coming ashore on the Florida Panhandle early tomorrow morning, Memorial Day. The Florida panhandle into much of Alabama and western Georgia can expect 4 to 8 inches of rainfall, with isolated locations receiving as much as 12 inches. (NHC Advisory)

The Tennessee and Ohio Valley areas should pay close attention.

At 7:30 PM CDT (0030 UTC), the center of Subtropical Storm Alberto was located near latitude 28.4 North, longitude 85.7 West. The storm is moving toward the northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h). A northwest to north-northwest motion with some decrease in forward speed is expected overnight. A north-northwestward to northward motion is expected Monday through Wednesday.

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Fox News Host Trish Reagan sits in for Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures and interviews former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummings on the current issues surrounding the Spygate scandal:

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It is important to note Democrats in general, and their media allies writ large, are having increasing difficulty obfuscating around direct questions about this scandal. The average American has a very adept BS monitor.

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Following on the FtN interview with James Clapper, Representative Mark Meadows discusses the ramifications of Spygate with Margaret Brennan. Additional conversation surrounds immigration.

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Margaret Brennan starts off the interview asking former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper why presidential candidate Donald Trump would not have been informed of any potential issue if the intelligence community was truly concerned about Russia interfering in the election.

Watch his response; and more specifically listen to the language.  “Tactical judgement”?  Even the words he uses to explain the non-action involves admission of an operation:

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Note how Clapper states he is unaware of the “predicate” for the FBI origination of the Spygate operation. Also note the proactive briefing mentioned for both campaigns was specifically framed around “cyber-intrusion”.

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President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani discusses current issues surrounding Special Counsel Robert Mueller, SpyGate and the vast interplanetary Russian conspiracy theory:

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Mr. Giuliani also appeared on CNN for an interview with Dana Bash.

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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 †

After the sandwich-maker summit the two Korean boys held hands and began skipping in circles around the park while the band played Ode To Joy. So goes the end of the latest chapter in the ongoing komance between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in.

If you don’t believe it, just look at this quote directly from Reuters:

…”Kim said he feels closer to Moon after talking again.”

SEOUL (Reuters) – After a surprise meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump keeps his planned meeting with Kim in June, Seoul-based news agency Yonhap reported Sunday. (link)

Additionally, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed “his fixed will” on a possible June 12 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in a meeting on Saturday with the president of South Korea, North Korea’s state news agency said. During what it called in-depth discussions, Kim and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in agreed to hold high-level talks between their two nations on June 1, news agency KCNA said.  (more)

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This evening President Trump welcomed home Joshua Holt, a young man who had been imprisoned in Venezuela for nearly two years.  Mr. Holt and his family are from Utah.  The family, the State Department team and a group of U.S. politicians who participated in the negotiations for his release, held a short Oval Office press availability.

Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah), Senator Bob Corker (Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee), Senator Mike Lee (Utah), Representative Mia Love (Utah) and a number of key State Department officials were present. Toward the end of the remarks President Trump spoke briefly about the latest discussions surrounding a possible summit with North Korea.

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