Economic security is national security… In July 2017 President Trump traveled to Polandto attend the Three Seas Initiative Summit, a gathering of countries bordering the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Sea (Poland, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia).

The primary purpose of the visit was to discuss security initiatives including how to diminish Russian influence through a cooperative agreement over energy.  President Trump took the SME’s, and delivered a speech in Warsaw, Poland:

[…] “President Duda and I have just come from an incredibly successful meeting with the leaders participating in the Three Seas Initiative. To the citizens of this great region, America is eager to expand our partnership with you. We welcome stronger ties of trade and commerce as you grow your economies. And we are committed to securing your access to alternate sources of energy, so Poland and its neighbors are never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy.”

Well, today a massive multi-billion energy contract for the United States sale and Poland purchase of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) was announced.  While financial terms were not disclosed, the agreement is for the sale and purchase of approximately 2.7 billion cubic meters per year (after regasification) – enough natural gas to meet about 15 percent of Poland’s daily needs.  The contract is for 20 years of purchases.

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Port Arthur LNG, LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), and the Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG) today announced they have entered into a definitive 20-year sale-and-purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Port Arthur LNG liquefaction-export facility under development in Jefferson County, Texas.

Today’s announcement is an important milestone as Sempra Energy pursues its long-term goal of exporting 45 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of North American LNG.

“This agreement marks an important step toward Poland’s energy independence and security,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “As demonstrated with the launch of the Strategic Dialogue on Energy in Poland last month, the Trump Administration remains committed to increasing energy diversity, advancing energy security, strengthening national security, and creating a future of prosperity and opportunity in Poland and throughout the region.”

“This agreement with PGNiG represents an important expansion of our portfolio of contracts for LNG exports and major step forward in the development of our Port Arthur LNG project,” said Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy.  “Last month, we began the commissioning phase of our Cameron LNG liquefaction-export facility in Louisiana. This agreement, along with the great progress on Cameron LNG, continue to validate our growth strategy as we advance our vision to become North America’s premier energy infrastructure company.”  (read more)

When I read this announcement, the first picture that came to my mind was a meme CTH shared well over a year ago while watching Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the audience at Trump’s Warsaw speech:

CTH has now achieved master level meme prediction skillz.

Robert Palladino

✔@StateDeputySPOX

In #Poland, Deputy Secretary Sullivan reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the @NATO Alliance, commended Poland’s commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defense by 2030 and celebrated the centennial of Poland’s reclaimed independence. https://go.usa.gov/xExAM 

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2:53 PM – Dec 19, 2018

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The White House says U.S. has started returning troops home from Syria as it transitions to next phase of campaign.  Additionally, all U.S. State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours (link).

White House – “Five years ago, ISIS was a very powerful and dangerous force in the Middle East, and now the United States has defeated the territorial caliphate. These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign. We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign. The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders.”  (Link)

The UniParty Decepticons will not be pleased…

As expected the UniParty legislature in Washington DC; bought and paid for by lobbyists with specific intention to oppose President Trump; have constructed a short-term funding mechanism that kicks-the-can to February 2019.

Mitch McConnell announced on the Senate floor the stopgap funding mechanism, for departments and agencies not already funded for fiscal year 2019, would run through Feb. 8th, 2019.  The Big Club lobbyists control the UniParty.  President Trump pushes back by announcing a U.S. military withdrawal from Syria…

(Via Roll Call) […] “Later this morning I’ll introduce a continuing resolution that will ensure continuous funding for the federal government,” McConnell said. “Even if the face of a great need to secure the border and following good-faith efforts by the president’s team, our Democratic colleagues rejected an extremely reasonable offer yesterday.”

“It would have cleared the remaining appropriations bills which have received bipartisan support in committee and provided an additional $1 billion to tackle a variety of urgent border security priorities,” the majority leader added.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said that while it was not ideal, the short-term bill would be acceptable.

“I’m glad the leader thinks the government should not shut down over the president’s demand for a wall. And Democrats will support this CR,” Schumer said after McConnell announced the plan.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said House Democrats would go along with it, as well. (more)

There are many voices very angered by an announcement that the U.S. State Department is providing $10.6 billion to Mexico and Central America while congress fights over $5 billion in funding for a Southern Border Wall. CTH is not one of those voices.

First, the article (emphasis mine):

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States pledged $5.8 billion in aid and investment Tuesday for strengthening government and economic development in Central America, and another $4.8 billion in development aid for southern Mexico.

The U.S aid aims to promote better security conditions and job opportunities as part of a regional plan to allow Central Americans and Mexicans to remain in their countries and not have to emigrate.

The plan was announced in a joint U.S.-Mexican statement released by the State Department and read aloud by Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in the Mexican capital.  “In sum I think this is good news, very good news for Mexico,” Ebrard said.

Newly inaugurated President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador waxed poetic about the plan to provide jobs so people won’t have to emigrate.

“I have a dream that I want to see become a reality … that nobody will want to go work in the United States anymore,” Lopez Obrador said at a morning news conference before the announcement.

The combination of public and private investment for the stay-at-home effort doesn’t require congressional approval, unlike Trump’s signature project to stem illegal immigration — a border wall. (read more)

What I see here is President Trump deploying a root-cause workaround for the current border argument, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo carrying it out.

I strongly suspect there was an agreement of this sort long before the USMCA was finalized and made public.  As part of an agreement with President Lopez-Obrador, [insert Jared Kushner here] these funds will be used to secure Mexico’s border effectively cutting-off the Central American migration flow before it can reach the Southern U.S.

This approach is entirely in line with nationalist AMLO’s objectives for a larger and more stable economy within Mexico specifically by partnering with nationalist U.S. President Trump toward that common goal [See USMCA details].

If Trump can’t get congress to agree to defend the U.S. border, he can damn sure leverage and entice Lopez-Obrador to do it a few miles south.  This approach is POTUS Trump working on optimal solutions while encountering domestic political roadblocks.  This is exactly what President Trump does…. find solutions.

President Trump can sit around righteously fighting with the swamp over the security issues (historic political approach); or he can fight the swamp while simultaneously deploying a solution that mitigates the issue at its root cause (thinking outside the box).

What would a businessman president do?

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday he will appoint GOP Rep. Martha McSally to the Senate to fill the seat of the late Sen. John McCain.

“All her life, Martha has put service first — leading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times. She served 26 years in the military; deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan; was the first woman to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat; and she’s represented Southern Arizona in Congress for the past four years. With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done.” ~ Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

We interrupt your regularly scheduled political anxiety with a brief intermission…

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Thank you.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled state of angst.

More Pictures Here

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ps. don’t forget to enjoy life.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivers the White House press briefing for December 18th, 2018:

CEA Charman Kevin Hassett is a happy MAGAnomic warrior as he continues to explain the disconnect between the strength of the U.S. economy -vs- the world; and how the disconnect impacts the multinationals (Stock Market).

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The interview is in two segments. Part II is below:

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