National Security Adviser John Bolton appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss recent reports that Kim Jong-un is moving toward more nuclear testing.

Obviously that discussion moves quickly into the influence of China and Chairman Xi Jinping.

The frustrating question no-one ever seems to ask is not “if” China controls the DPRK government, but rather “to what extent”?

It has become more obvious in the past few years that North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un has much less control over officials and military leadership within his own government than previously thought.

Does Chairman Xi and Beijing structurally control everything around Kim? Is Kim a hostage; forced to ride a dragon he doesn’t control?  I think the answer is yes.

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Once people start to realize that China controls North Korea as a proxy province, then the discussion can evolve toward the true nature of the challenge, and the way President Trump is precariously negotiating a hostage release while refusing to pay the ransom.

In the second part of the interview Ms. Bartiromo discusses the scale of the threat from China; military, economic and national security. Here’s where John Bolton becomes less valuable to President Trump, and oddly Bolton even seems to admit it.

NSA John Bolton can assist and advise President Trump on the best way to move troops, position logistics, and bomb the shit out of an geopolitical adversary. However, the concept of using trade, finance and economics, as a much more powerful national security tool, is outside Bolton’s skill-set.

As a direct consequence of Bolton’s lack of expertise in the use of economics to achieve national security objectives, in the Dance with The Dragon he becomes less influential; you can see it in his responses…. that stuff is just foreign to him.

Deep inside the geopolitical fight against China the most valuable Generals are corporate titans, captains of industry, apex predators and business ‘killers’ who know how to contracts to remove the flesh from a financial adversary and enjoy the challenge of doing it.

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National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss economic policy, budgets and taxes. Since the discussion is the economy, Wallace quickly puts on his doomsday hat.

The White House has announced that Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will visit with President Trump on March 19th for bilateral discussions.  The media are framing the visit around the ongoing crisis within Venezuela; however, there’s also an important element as it relates to the panda dance.

President Donald Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro both have a strong nationalist perspective and share a common geopolitical outlook.

In fact, during the 2018 election many dubbed Bolsonaro the ‘Brazilian Trump‘.  President Bolsonaro also made headlines last year when he said he was open to a U.S. military base and alliance.

Yes, it’s true the turmoil in Venezuela is a likely top issue for discussion, but the U.S. and Brazil are now aligned with a commonality toward China…. and it just so happens the U.S. and Brazil are #1 and #2 in production of China’s number one import, soy beans.

China has an almost unquenchable thirst for soybeans, which are crushed to make cooking oil and used in the protein-rich animal feed ingredient soymeal.  The U.S. is the worlds largest producer of soybeans at 108 million metric tonnes. Brazil is the second largestproducer with around 87 million metric tonnes.

In July 2018, when China initially wanted to strike back against the U.S. for import tariffs, Beijing initially tried to boycott U.S. soybeans and purchase their needs from Brazil and Argentina; However, that didn’t last too long.  There’s just not enough global production of soybeans to supply all of China’s needs without the U.S.

At a critical juncture in the U.S-China trade negotiations; and with China seeming to slip back into manipulative dragon-mode recently; the timing for a Trump and Bolsonaro summit couldn’t be better…. almost, well, as if it were by design.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will host Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Washington on March 19, the White House announced Friday. They are expected to discuss the turmoil in Venezuela.

Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 and his upcoming visit to Washington comes as Brazil’s border with Venezuela has become a flashpoint in the ongoing political crisis facing the oil-rich country and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Brazil has sided with the U.S. in supporting Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as the legitimate head of state.

Food and medicine shortages under Maduro’s rule have caused a flood of Venezuelans to flee across the border into neighboring countries. The U.S. has sent relief supplies to the region but the political and economic crisis shows no signs of ending soon.

According to the White House, Trump and Bolsonaro are also expected to discuss trade issues and military ties between the two countries.  (read more)

In the dance with the dragon, always watch the more subtle gestures.

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow discusses the February jobs report, wage gains, stimulus from the European Central Bank, and President Trump’s ongoing trade confrontation with China.  [Solid Interview]

Chairman Kudlow notes some interesting dynamics at play including the recent National Household employment survey which showed 225k additional workers resulting in a drop in the overall unemployment statistics to 3.8%

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Additionally, the globalist-minded Wall Street crowd are disappointed that a March summit between Chairman Xi and President Trump has been scuttled. In aggregate terms, this cancellation backdrops USTR Robert Lighthizer’s strong granular demands of the Chinese delegation toward contractual enforcement terms. It is most likely Chairman Xi is not happy with the feedback he is receiving from his team. Too bad.

The BLS employment report for February is very underwhelming with a mere 20,000 new jobs calculated and results that fall far short of expectations.  The recent private sector ADP payroll reportshowed 183,000 gains.  Despite the low reported jobs gains, the national unemployment number dropped to 3.8%.

Further confounding the low February BLS calculations, revisions to December and January were upward. December’s jobs were revised up from +222,000 to +227,000 (gaining 5k), and the change for January was revised up from +304,000 to +311,000 (+7k). With these revisions, employment gains in December and January combined were 12,000 more than previously reported. Job gains now average 186,000 per month over the last three months.

On a very positive note the calculated wage growth continues to reflect a tight labor market where employers are increasing wages well beyond inflation. “In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $27.66, following a 2-cent gain in January. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.4 percent.” That is the strongest sustained wage growth in a decade.

(Source Link)

“Aside from the headline number, this is a solid report for wages that gained +0.11. That brings them to +3.4 year-over-year and the labor participation rate held steady at 63.2 after the recent gains,” Wall Street analyst Tim Anderson at TJM Investments, said.

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Charles V Payne

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Jobs Report: Most Important Highlight
Non-Supervisory Wages continue to surge and outpace overall wage increases
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The White House could possibly be evolving from a dynamic of confronting political opposition, into a more necessarily aggressive war against all Swamp adversaries. Following grandma’s rule, well, I am not disappointed in this departure…

From the White House: “Assistant to the President and Communications Director, Bill Shine offered his resignation to the President yesterday evening, and the President accepted. Bill continues to support President Trump and his agenda and will serve as Senior Advisor to the 2020 re-election campaign.”

•From Bill Shine: “Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life. To be a small part of all this President has done for the American people has truly been an honor. I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s reelection campaign and spending more time with my family.”

•From President Trump: ““Bill Shine has done an outstanding job working for me and the Administration. We will miss him in the White House, but look forward to working together on the 2020 Presidential Campaign, where he will be totally involved. Thank you to Bill and his wonderful family!”

•From Mick Mulvaney: “Bill has been an asset of invaluable importance to this West Wing. I have enjoyed working with him and witnessing firsthand his unmatched talent, expertise and, and skills. I am grateful that he will continue to be an important member of team trump. I look forward to all of his future contributions.”

•From Sarah Sanders: “Bill Shine has been a great leader on our team and someone we have all loved working with every day. He has brought a tremendous amount of talent and expertise to the Administration. Bill has become a real friend and his generosity and his passion for our country will be sorely missed. It is a big loss for the White House, but a huge gain for the President’s reelection campaign.”

From Sundance: OK, now lets get down to business…. FIREWORKS!

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President Trump and first lady Melania Trump flew to the worst impacted areas of eastern Alabama today to review damage from a recent series of tornadoes and comfort victims. Traveling aboard AF1 was Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, and Representative Mike Rogers.

President Trump toured Lee County, Alabama, where 23 people were killed by a massive EF4 tornado almost a mile wide. After Air Force One landed at a military base along the Georgia border, the President took Marine one for an aerial tour of the damage while press followed in two Ospreys.

The President and First Lady then traveled to Beauregard, Alabama, where at least one tornado had maximum impact and visited with survivors of the storm.

After the Ariel tour President Trump, Melania Trump, Secretary Ben Carson and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen were met by Governor Kay Ivey, Senator Doug Jones, MG Sheryl Gordon – Adjutant General of the Alabama National Guard, Director Brian Hastings – Alabama Emergency Management Agency, Sheriff Jay Jones of Lee County, Alabama, Chairman Bill English, Lee County, Alabama Commission and Mayor Gary Fuller, Opelika, Alabama

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