Earlier this afternoon President Trump announced an initiative to provide federal grants to assist communities with drug abuse and prevention. Marking the 20 year anniversary of the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grant awards, today President Trump announced $90.9 million in grants to 731 local drug prevention coalitions.
Continuing the tradition of transparency in government; during the media availability for the round-table President Trump answered numerous questions. The round-table discussion begins the video below. The impromptu presser begins around 14:40 of the video:
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*Asked about Don McGahn* – President Trump called him a really good guy, added that he has a lot of affection for Don; said McGahn is likely headed to the private sector. Asked if he was concerned about McGahn’s cooperation with Mueller. POTUS replied: No, adding that he had approved of McGahn speaking to the special counsel.
*Asked about trade negotiations with Canada* – President Trump said negotiations were going really well. Noted that White House and Canadian officials “negotiated late into the evening” last night. A lot of trade deals are working out well.
*Asked about Ron DeSantis remarks today* – President Trump said he didn’t hear DeSantis remarks, but continued to praise him, calling him extraordinary. Hes an extreme talent.
*Asked about the governments response to Puerto Rico following last years hurricanes* – I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico. We’ve put a lot of money and a lot of effort into Puerto Rico. Said Puerto Rico had previously been grappling with electric plant issues before last Hurricane season.
*Asked if he wants to further regulate Google* – We just want fairness. You know what we want? Not regulation…fairness. Reiterated that he thinks Google and Facebook treat conservatives unfairly.
During analysis of the U.S-Mexico trade agreement terms it became obvious that *if* Canada was going to join the pact they would have to almost completely acquiesce and reverse on their former positions. It now is entirely plausible that just might happen.
When entering the meeting with U.S.T.R. Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke specifically about “Canadian workers”. Justin from Canada has been very cautious in his word choices also speaking about “Canadian workers”. As Freeland exited the first meeting with Lighthizer the reasoning for their collective word choice is becoming apparent. Canada is preparing to take a knee, and they are positioning for the least amount of political damage possible. WATCH the exit of first meeting:
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Team Trump has positioned this perfectly. By using NAFTA section 2202, to construct a modification of the original 1993 agreement, Lighthizer is intending to send a 90-day notification letter to congress informing them the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to modifications of their bilateral trade agreement.
This approach allowed Trump/Lighthizer to positioned Canada with a take it or leave it option. If Canada didn’t accept, Lighthizer files a simultaneous section 2205 notificationwithdrawing the U.S. from a NAFTA partnership with Canada. If Canada did accept Lighthizer adds them to the 2202 (modification) notification.
A 2205 withdrawal meant Canada and the U.S. would need to enter a bilateral trade deal entirely separate from the U.S-Mexico deal. President Trump already publicly said what the terms of that bilateral would entail. In the interim he would initiate a 25% tariff on Canadian made automobiles (massive leverage).
However, in order for Canada to accept or join, via 2202 modification, they would need to agree to the modification terms. For Canada they would have to: drop their protectionist tariffs on the dairy sector, open their telecommunications and banking sectors and eliminate the subsidies on aeronautics and soft-wood Lumber sectors. In essence open their economy to fair market competition and agree to intellectual property protections.
Canada had to choose between taking on Trump individually, a NAFTA withdrawal, or accepting the terms of modification. The prism for Canadian decision-making is entirely about politics. Justin and Chrystia have to make a political decision, or change their perspective and look at the economics. Incredibly, it now appears Canada is going to accept the modification route.
Today the Bureau of Economic Analysis presented the second estimate for the second quarter GDP growth. The second review increased the growth upward to 4.2%.
(1) The upward revision to nonresidential fixed investment was mostly accounted for by investment in software. (2) Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down. Within goods, the downward revision was widespread, the largest contributor was petroleum.
In addition to presenting revised estimates for the second quarter, today’s release presents revised estimates of first-quarter wages and salaries, personal taxes, and contributions for government social insurance. Wages and salaries are now estimated to have increased $122.5 billion in the first quarter of 2018, an upward revision of $0.4 billion. (source data)
For more than three decades all U.S. economic policy was elevating Wall Street and diminishing Main Street. As a result the middle America blue-collar workers have not had wage gains keeping up with inflation for over 30 years…. Then came the era of Trump.
Overall the MAGAnomic policy of the Trump administration is working on multiple sectors of the Main Street U.S. economy simultaneously. Keep in mind, all of this is happening BEFORE the trade policies and renegotiated trade deals kick in.
As the Main Street economy continues to expand, wages are increasing. It is noted that all wage measures are continually being revised upward as the value of labor within the economy continues to thrive. Due to increased labor value, in combination with decreased tax burdens, workers, specifically middle-class workers, are seeing large increases in actual take-home pay. This means more spending power, more disposable income, which also fuels the expanding economy. It’s an upward growth spiral.
More money into the U.S Treasury and less dependence on welfare/social service programs have a combined exponential impact. You gain a dollar, and have no need to spend a dollar – the saved sum is doubled. That is how the SSI and safety net programs are saved under President Trump.
When you elevate your economic thinking you begin to see that all of the “entitlements” or expenditures become more affordable with an economy that is fully functional and expanding. Growth-Growth-Growth. Jobs-Jobs-Jobs.
As the GDP of the U.S. expands, so does our ability to meet the growing need of the retiring U.S. worker. We stop thinking about how to best divide a limited economic pie, and begin thinking about how many more economic pies we can create.
The economic models of the entire last generation+ are based on the assumptions of continuing globalist economics which advances, and has advanced, the interest of Wall Street over Main Street. They were driving a “service-driven economy” message.
Simultaneous to domestic capital investment inside the U.S., the ability of our nation to provide goods and services to meet the economic expansion, means less reliance on imported materials, goods and/or services. We are making more of our own stuff; exporting at a larger rate; and importing less – specifically due to the energy independence strategy within the larger Trump policy.
Every granular policy is like a small part in a larger machine. Each individual part of the MAGAnomic policy is working to compliment the larger objective.
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; You seem to be the only reliable source one these machinations of Russiagate. There are those who say that the neoconservatives used Ukranian politicians financed by Washington to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine and to put in office a government hostile to Russia. The intent was to use Ukraine, a Russian province for more than three centuries, to create problems for Russia that would absorb Russia’s attention and return a free hand to Washington and Israel in the Middle East. The neocons rejected the Crimeans actually voted to reunite with Russia when they were ethnic Russians. It seems they spin conspiracies to further Russiagate. Can you shed any light?
Thank you so much
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ANSWER: Let me explain something. I have many friends in Ukraine. I had personal friends on the barricades. Here is a photo of a Russian soldier we published before there was an acknowledgment that there were Russian soldiers in Eastern Ukraine. It was taken by a friend who asked if they were there to protect them and asked if they could take a picture. I cropped out my friend.
I had many people on the ground. The revolution was the people against Yanukovich. He was really from the East and could not even speak proper Ukrainian. He and his sons were oligarchs and they were shaking down businesses. The people rose up against the corruption – plain and simple.
The CIA and European powers ENETERED to hand pick who they wanted to lead the nation. The people were told that if they rose up again, they would not be supported by the West.
The CIA and neocon could not create that revolution. They took advantage of it, but they could not create it. The language map shows clearly that Donetsk and Crimea were predominantly Russian. All these conspiracy theorists twist things around and do not accept that sometimes things happen on their own. We are witnessing massive demonstrations now in Romania for the very same reasons. These are not CIA plots. The people are rising up against government corruption everywhere. Even in China, Xi came to power to cleanse China of corruption. I had a friend in Donetsk who reported to me when Russian tanks came down the street.
Not everything is a CIA plot. These people give WAY TOO MUCH credit to people who lack that sort of all-powerful status. They have insulted the Ukrainian people who they regard as mindless fools incapable of standing up for their rights. There were snipers on the roofs killing people on the barricades. There has never been any prosecution of such people.
A few months ago we highlighted a discussion between Ezra Levant and Manny Montenegrino when they first began to notice the direction of Trump strategy and the duplicitous political agenda of Justin from Canada. After the announcement of the U.S./Mexico trade agreement yesterday, Levant and Montenegrino revisit the discussion.
While both Canadians seem to overlook the importance of President-elect Lopez-Obrador, Jesus Seade, and the mutually beneficial alignment with U.S.T.R. Lighthizer, their perspective on the motives of Justin from Canada and President Trump circle close to the target.
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Meanwhile Chrystia from Canada has now arrived in Washington DC:
Today President Trump welcomed FIFA President Gianni Infantino and U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro to the White House for a meeting and discussion of the 2026 World Cup.
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[Transcript] Oval Office – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. We very much appreciate the fact that we have won a very important event: the World Cup in 2026. And we’ll be hosting it along with Mexico and Canada. And it’s a very special event. I think it’s probably certainly one of the biggest, and maybe the biggest sporting event in the world.
And soccer has come such a long way. Soccer is a game — I guess you call it “football.” But, over here, maybe at some point, they’ll change the name. I’m not sure, but we’ll see.
MR. INFANTINO: Lets see. Let’s see. We can negotiate that.
THE PRESIDENT: But it’s working very well either way. But I just want to thank Gianni Infantino for being here. He’s the president of FIFA and a highly respected man. In fact, when my son heard he was going to be here, he said, “Dad, I’d like to meet him.” So you’re pretty famous, right? Pretty important and pretty famous.
MR. INFANTINO: Yeah, it looks like it.
THE PRESIDENT: He likes — my son, Barron, loves soccer. And soccer has to be one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. And the job you’ve done is really fantastic, Gianni. So thank you very much.
And I want to also pay my respect to Carlos Cordeiro, who — as president, in this country, of soccer — has been incredibly instrumental in helping us to get the World Cup. And he’s worked so hard, so long. And they were calling me constantly to try to get me to come onboard, but it only took one call because when I heard “World Cup,” I wanted to do it.
And again, we want to thank you. It’s all signed up. It’s all set to go. And it’ll be a special event. I think it’s going to be something, really, very special.
And, Gianni, maybe I’d ask you to say a few words, and then Carlos.
MR. INFANTINO: Definitely. Well, thanks. Thanks, President, for welcoming us here. It’s a great honor to be here. And thanks for everything you are doing to support our sport as well. Obviously, 2026, the World Cup — biggest event — sporting event for sure, but probably even social event in the world.
We just had the World Cup in Russia. More than 4 billion viewers. The final only — over 1 billion viewers. It’s massive. It’s huge. So, in Russia, President, we said that you would organize the best World Cup ever. Right?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Right.
MR. INFANTINO: And we did organize the best World Cup ever.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
MR. INFANTINO: In the U.S., together with Canada and Mexico, we want to organize the greatest World Cup ever, if you agree.
THE PRESIDENT: Right, okay. Well, we’ll do it.
MR. INFANTINO: And for this, we will work together and do whatever we can to make sure that this be a fantastic event. But I’m looking very, very much forward — and the world is looking that much forward to that.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s very exciting. Everybody is talking about it, and it’s very exciting.
And Carlos.
MR. CORDEIRO: Well, Mr. President, thank you for hosting us today. For my part, for my federation — the U.S. Soccer Federation for the United Bid representing the U.S., Canada, and Mexico — we are really very honored. Very honored. Deeply honored to be hosting this event in 2026. It’s right around the corner. We have a lot for work to do, but we look forward to working with you and your administration.
Let me also thank you, Mr. President, for your help and support throughout the campaign — your written assurances and warranties. I think without out that we wouldn’t have won quite such a convincing victory. So thank you very much for that.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Carlos. And I have to also thank Bob Kraft, who I know that you were working very hard with. Bob originally called me and he said, “What do you think of the idea of trying to get the World Cup to the United States?” And I said, “I think we really like it.” And then we got Canada, we got Mexico involved, and we’re going to have a great partnership. And it’s going to be very special. I look forward to it.
So let’s see, 2026 — I won’t be here. I won’t be here. Maybe they’ll extend the term because I know they’d love to see some — (laughter.) Because if they don’t extend —
MR. INFANTINO: With good reason.
THE PRESIDENT: — the media is going to be very boring. It’s going to be very boring. They’ll all be out of business, I guess.
But we will — we will be there and it will be a very, very important and a very special event.
And I think, also, having it in the United States is very important for soccer.
MR. INFANTINO: It is. It is.
THE PRESIDENT: Especially in light of the fact that soccer has done so well.
MR. INFANTINO: Yeah, and it’s growing.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, my friend. I appreciate it very much.
MR. CORDEIRO: Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
MR. INFANTINO: Mr. President, I have a little —
Q Mr. President, do you think Google should be investigated?
MR. INFANTINO: — I have a little thing for you. Can I give it to you first?
THE PRESIDENT: Sure. I’d love that. Thank you.
MR. INFANTINO: Before the questions come.
Q I have a question for you, too.
MR. INFANTINO: Thank you.
Q Can I ask him a question?
MR. INFANTINO: Yeah.
Q So I want to know if you guys are discussing —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: What — excuse me. Excuse me.
MR. INFANTINO: One second.
THE PRESIDENT: Can you just hold it. Where are you from?
Q Brazil.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay.
MR. INFANTINO: Soccer country.
Q We have the best team in the world. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Except it had a little problem last time.
Q A little bit.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay.
Q No fair. It wasn’t fair.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Let me stand up, Gianni.
MR. INFANTINO: And you are part of the FIFA team now.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s good. That’s good. Great. Thank you very much. That’s very nice.
MR. CORDEIRO: And if I could get the U.S. jersey.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes. Wow, look at that.
MR. INFANTINO: And no less with the President’s name.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s pretty good. Thank you. Thank you, fellas. That’s really very nice.
MR. INFANTINO: And one more thing that could be useful for you. You know, in soccer, we have referees, right?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.
MR. INFANTINO: And they have cards. Yellow cards and red cards. Yellow card is a warning. And when you want to kick out someone — (inaudible). (Laughter.) Like this.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s true. That’s true. Right? That’s very good.
MR. INFANTINO: So this could be useful. I don’t know.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like that.
MR. INFANTINO: That’s for you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like that.
MR. CORDEIRO: The next media session.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you, Carlos. Congratulations.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
Q (Inaudible) with Mexico about paying for the wall?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. The wall will be paid for very easily by Mexico. It will ultimately be paid for by Mexico.
Q Do you think that Google should be investigated?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, I think Google has really taken advantage of a lot of people. And I think that’s a very serious thing, and it’s a very serious charge. I think what Google and what others are doing — if you look at what’s going on at Twitter, if you look at what’s going on in Facebook, they better be careful, because you can’t do that to people. You can’t do it.
We have tremendous — we have literally thousands and thousands of complaints coming in. And you just can’t do that. And so I think that Google and Twitter and Facebook, they’re really treading on very, very troubled territory. And they have to be careful. It’s not fair to large portions of the population.
As Foreign Minister Chrystia from Canada arrives in Washington DC to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is interviewed by CNBC.
Triple Play: Finalize NAFTA (or two bilats); fill in the details on previously agreed EU deal; then face-down red dragon (China).
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Additionally, Mnuchin had some impromptu remarks (below):
Today DOJ Official Bruce Ohr is testifying in a closed-door session to a joint House Oversight and Judiciary Committee. The republican representatives asking questions were selected by Chairman Bob Goodlatte. Democrats are relying on staff.
According to Kyle Cheney (Politico) Bruce Ohr has four lawyers with him, personal lawyers and lawyers representing the interests of the DOJ. Initial indications are Ohr has provided testimony that directly conflicts with Fusion-GPS Glenn Simpson, and prior testimony from witness Lisa Page to the joint committee.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
ANSWER: Let me explain something. I have many friends in Ukraine. I had personal friends on the barricades. Here is a photo of a 
Centinel2012 