President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife to a summit at Mar-a-lago, President Trump’s private Florida beach resort and residence.

President Xi and his wife were greeted by President Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate before making their way to dinner.

Ahead of the dinner, Trump said he and Xi already had had a long discussion and had “developed a friendship,” and then joked, “I have gotten nothing, absolutely nothing.”

The White House said the location was selected to give the two days of discussions a more relaxed feel. A number of Trump’s top advisers were in attendance, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.  (AP report)

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According to ADP payroll processing U.S. private employers are estimated to have added 263,000 jobs in March.  This is likely more than the number employers hired in February and well above economists’ expectations.  This is the largest anticipated job growth in the past two years.

The earlier forecast by ADP National Employment Report estimated growth of 187,000 jobs, with median-range economic estimates spanning 110,000 to 225,000.  The current report is jointly developed with Moody’s Analytics.

The U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report comes out on Friday and will include both public and private-sector employment.  Economists polled by Reuters were looking for U.S. private payroll employment to have grown by 175,000 jobs in March, less than the 227,000 in February – so the 263,000 estimate has caught them off guard.  The ADP results are much stronger (100,000 more) than anticipated.

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Secretary Rex Tillerson delivered very important remarks today in Palm Beach Florida ahead of ongoing discussions with the Chinese delegation and President Xi Jinping meeting with President Donald Trump.

Following the segment by T-Rex outlining the parameters for the meetings today and tomorrow, Tillerson communicated a position of the Trump administration that Syrian leader Bashir Assad should step down from power.

“With the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no rule for [Assad] to govern the Syrian people.

The process by which Assad would leave is something that I think requires and international community effort, both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country to avoid further civil war, and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving.”

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Neither Secretary Tillserson or President Trump are proposing military action to remove Assad.  However, the remarks by Secretary Tillerson about Syria and Bashir Assad are a shift in approach, and were almost simultaneously communicated by President Trump (albeit with nuance) aboard Air-Force One en route to Palm Beach.   See below: (more…)

The DC pantomime continues today following a VERY FAMILIAR UniParty pattern. Once you see the strings on the marionettes it’s impossible to go back to a time when you didn’t see them.   Do not lose any of your peace over this. The DC UniParty is as predictable as the sunrise.  Fugheddaboudit, and go MAGA.

There was/is never going to be an outcome of significance to the DC pantomime being conducted in front of the capitol building’s House Intel Committee Potemkin village and visitor center.  It’s a show, a pretense, a charade, complete with scripts and roles to be played etc., countermeasures deployed.

Viewers and voters will tire of it. Just like the VA scandal; just like Fast and Furious; just like Benghazi; just like the IRS hearings; and the remaining visible corruption simply melts back into the swamp to reconstitute for the next public event du jour.

Left-wing activist groups ‘Democracy 21’ and ‘Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’ filed a lawsuit accusing House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes of ethics violations following Nunes’ public statements about President Trump and his transition team being targets of intelligence community surveillance by the Obama administration.

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President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and Karen Pence participate with Secretary Shulkin (VA) and Secretary Zinke in a White House tribute to the Wounded Warrior Project:

[TRANSCRIPT] 9:28 A.M. EDT – THE VICE PRESIDENT:  To all the heroes who are gathered here, to their families, to the patrons of this great project, members of Congress, on behalf of my wife, Karen, it is my great honor standing beside the President of the United States and the First Lady to welcome you all to the White House.  (Applause.)

We’re grateful to have so many who are of such great consequence to our armed forces with us today, as well as those who serve our veterans — our Secretary David Shulkin, Secretary Ryan Zinke — who serve in this Cabinet.  But on behalf of the President and the First Family, a special thank you to Lieutenant General Michael Linnington and Deven Schei.  The Wounded Warrior Project is a source of great comfort to our veterans across the country, and it is an inspiration to the nation.  (Applause.)

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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

Sean Spicer 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 †

CTH Susan Rice Back Story:

• Susan Rice appears on MSNBC to Explain
• Rice Explanation Points to President Obama’s Daily Briefing

Today, Catherine Herridge is reporting the unmasking requests made by former National Security Adviser were requests for details of daily surveillance of President Trump’s transition team regarding their daily life activity.

(New York) The intelligence reports at the center of the Susan Rice unmasking controversy were detailed, and almost resembled a private investigator’s file, according to a Republican congressman familiar with the documents.

“This is information about their everyday lives,” Rep. Peter King of New York, a member of the House Intelligence committee said. “Sort of like in a divorce case where lawyers are hired, investigators are hired just to find out what the other person is doing from morning until night and then you try to piece it together later on.”

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It was August 15th 2015 when I realized candidate Donald Trump knew the agenda, scope and scheme of the GOPe, the Republican Guard.   Since then it has actually been a little humorous to watch politician Trump navigate around the GOPe, choosing when to battle against republicans exclusively on his terms.

The Trump approach at choosing the battle-space timing and geography has proven to be successful.  Indeed, it makes no sense to wage a fight on your rear while the frontal assault is ongoing; the goal is always forward progress.  Beyond the battle-lines this larger understanding of strategy has also been a key element in comprehending how President Trump positions the GOPe party members.

So when Mrs. Rubio rises today at the U.N. to decry the horrible Syrian dictator Bashir Assad, what we witness is just another example of a predictable and useful placement. Everyone selected by Trump was for a reason and a purpose.  Everyone has a role to play, and Mrs. Rubio is playing her role exactly as President Trump would expect.

If you think that President Trump’s larger goals are being undermined by Mrs. Rubio, you are undervaluing President Trump’s understanding of his adversaries in the Republican Party.

Mrs. Rubio strokes the war-mongering GOPe panda fur in the direction that keeps them satiated. A comfy, unconcerned and content GOPe is part of the Trump political strategy to accomplish change.

It’s the U.N !

Nothing would be better for President Trump than to have Ambassador Mrs. Rubio spend a few weeks constructing a U.N. Security Council resolution against Bashir Assad, when two of the five permanent veto-holding member nations are China and Russia.

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Fox News Brett Baier had a lengthy interview with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi earlier today which was partially broadcast on Fox.  Within the interview al-Sisi spoke about his perspective of President Donald Trump and the optimistic outlook he holds toward the new relationship which has emerged after their meetings.

[…] “I fully trust the capabilities of President Trump … he can succeed in so many fields that others cannot.  I trust him wholeheartedly.”…

President al-Sisi delivered a message of strong appreciation toward President Trump and allowed his presentation to express an exceptionally optimistic outlook.  The road map for the Freedom Alliance is looking good; believe me.  Bigly good.  Very Bigly.

It’s a great interview.  (Sorry about the sketchy format of the video, it’s Fox’s upload):

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Brett Baier:  Your assessment of President Trump?

al-Sisi: “I first saw the campaign of his excellency President Trump, and I listened to his speech of the neccessity of facing and confronting terrorism all over the world; that he is a great personality and a unique individual, and that he will find great success.”

“I fully trust the capabilities of President Trump, and I have full conviction that he can do things, exert efforts, that very few people can do.  And he can succeed in so many fields that others cannot.  I trust him wholeheartedly.  And again, I congratulate you for having him.”

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