Big Win For President Trump !

As we expected the Supreme Court has granted the petition for a writ of certiorari and will hear cases related to attempts to gain President Trump financial records and tax filings.

The Supreme Court has issued a stay upon all lower court action and consolidated the cases into one writ.  The court will hear arguments in March and release a ruling later in the summer of 2020.

President Trump went to the Supreme Court after the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One seeking President Trump’s tax records. In his request to the court [Read Here] Trump asked SCOTUS to block the subpoenas on the ground they go beyond the committees’ powers.

Justice Ginsburg stayed the lower court decision and ordered the House of Representatives to file a response by Wednesday, December 11.  The cases and issues were then discussed at their private SCOTUS conference.  Today’s writ is the outcome.

The underlying House case has several defects.

Attorney Ristvan previously provided a good encapsulation of the problems for the House that explains why President Trump could likely win the case:

House Oversight is one of three committees that 26USC§6103(f) requires the IRS to turn over individual returns “upon request”.

They requested (PDJT taxes for 6 years 2013-2018) long before Pelosi announced her impeachment inquiry, way before the House vote on same, to which Pelosi said Sunday, (paraphrased) “We haven’t decided to impeach. We are only inquiring about it.”

The ‘upon request’ is not as absolute as it seems. The request must still be predicated on a legitimate legislative purpose. SCOTUS has held (I skip the rulings, since previously commented on here many months ago) that there are only two valid purposes, both constrained to legislative powers expressly granted by A1§8.

1. An inquiry into making, repealing, or amending an A1§8 law.
2. Oversight of executive administration of an existing law.

With respect to (1), a legitimate legislative purpose would be reviewing real estate tax law for possible changes. BUT then, the request should have come from Ways and Means (Neal) where tax laws originate. AND, it should have included requests for tax returns from other big real estate developers also. Singling out only PDJT is a fatal defect to this purpose.

With respect to (2), after Nixon/Agnew the tax code was amended to require a special IRS audit of annual POTUS and VPOTUS returns, with the results held in the National Archive. Reviewing those special audits by IRS would be a proper Oversight and Reform legislative purpose, BUT ONLY for 2017-2018 after PDJT was inaugurated. The earlier 4 years demanded are a fatal defect to this purpose.

Both these valid points were raised by President Trump and were already on their way to SCOTUS. Now the committee is trying to ‘cure’ these fatal request defects by claiming the returns are necessary for impeachment. This raises four new issues where PDJT can also win.

1. Impeachment is not a legislative purpose within A1§8.
2. Articles of Impeachment have historically been the the province of Judiciary, NOT Oversight.
3. The demand was made BEFORE the impeachment inquiry unofficially started and cannot be retrospectively cured.
4. No tax ‘high crimes of misdemeanors’ have even been alleged. Impeachment fishing expeditions are unconstitutional.

IMO this case has the potential to set a major constitutional precedent about POTUS harassment via political impeachment. The constitutional convention minutes and Federalist #65 both make it clear why ‘maladministration’ (the original third test after treason and bribery, and which WOULD allow for political impeachment) was replaced by ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’. The phrase was borrowed from prior British law, has a specific set of meanings, and DOES NOT allow political impeachment. (link)

The quest for President Trump’s financial records is essentially a legislative fishing expedition in an attempt to gain opposition research for their Democrat candidate in the 2020 election.

President Trump hosts a press availability prior to a bilateral meeting with President Abdo Benitez of Paraguay.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s great to have the President of Paraguay here. We’re doing a lot of work with Paraguay on terrorism, on drugs, on trade — a lot of different things. And we’ve had a great relationship. So, Mr. President, it’s an honor to have you. Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT ABDO BENÍTEZ: Thank you very much, Mr. President. It is a great honor for us to be here, for my country; I believe also for the region, Mr. President — for the one who stood firmly defending democracy in the region.

And the President of Paraguay here reaffirms our bilateral and our historic friendship.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT ABDO BENÍTEZ: Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Really tremendous. We look forward to the meeting.

I want to congratulate Boris Johnson on a terrific victory. I think that might be a harbinger for what’s to come in our country; it was last time. I’m sure people will be thrilled to hear that, but a lot of people will be, actually — a very big percentage of people. Because this was a tremendous victory last night, and it’s very interesting. The final votes are being tallied right now, but the numbers are tremendous. So I want to congratulate. He’s a friend of mine. It’s going to be a great thing for the United States also, because it means a lot of trade. A tremendous amount of trade. They want to do business with us so badly.

Under the European Union, it was very, very hard for them to do business with us. We just made our big deal, as you know, with Mexico, Canada. We have a tremendous trade deal that’s going through the House now. It’s going to be obviously approved. And it’s tremendous for our country. It’s really tremendous for the region, but it’s fantastic for the U.S.

We have — the China deal, as you know, it was just approved a little while ago. And it’s — to me, it’s not complicated, but that’s what I do. It’s a phenomenal deal. The tariffs will largely remain at 25 percent on $250 billion. And we’ll use them for future negotiations on the phase two deal, because China would like to see the tariffs off, and we — we’re okay with that. But they’ll be used as a negotiating table for the phase two deal, which they would like to start immediately, and that’s okay with me. We were going to wait until the after the election, but they’d like to start them sooner than that, and that’s okay. So we’ll start that negotiation soon.

This is a very large deal — the China deal. It covers tremendous manufacturing, farming — a lot of rules, regulations. A lot of things are covered. It’s a phase one deal, but a lot of big things are covered. And I say, affectionately: The farmers are going to have to go out and buy much larger tractors, because it means a lot of business — a tremendous amount of business.

And we’ve had a very big week. A lot of things have done. Space Force, as you know, was approved. That’s a tremendous — that’s another branch of the military. I mean, very few people have that in their legacy. And we have that, just like the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Coast Guard. We have another branch of the military, to think of what that means. But very vital. It’s going to be — with time, it’s going to be certainly one of the most important branches.

We’ll have our own representative. It will have its own representative on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It’s a big deal — something that a lot of people thought couldn’t be done. But the Space Force will be a very important component of our defense and, frankly, our offense, and it’ll be very important for our country. So we’re very honored by that.

And we had many other things that we’ve done this week. This has been a wild week. And if you have any questions, please go ahead.

Q Mr. President, your reaction to the vote in the House Judiciary this morning?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I was actually, believe it or not, finishing up the final — I was doing the final touches on the China deal. And that’s going to be one of the great deals ever. And it’s going to ultimately lead to the opening of China, which is something that is incredible, because that’s a whole, big, untapped market of 1.5 billion people. And so I was actually doing the finals.

But I got to see enough of it, and certainly I spoke to my people. It’s a witch hunt. It’s a sham. It’s a hoax. Nothing was done wrong. Zero was done wrong. I think it’s a horrible thing to be using the tool of impeachment, which is supposed to be used in an emergency. And it would seem many, many, many years apart.

To be using this for a perfect phone call, where the President of that country said there was no pressure whatsoever — didn’t even know what we were talking about. It was perfect; the relationship is perfect. I’ve done much more for them than Obama did for them. It’s a scam. It’s something that shouldn’t be allowed. And it’s a very bad thing for our country.

And you’re trivializing impeachment. And I tell you what: Someday there’ll be a Democrat President and there’ll be a Republican House, and I suspect they’re going to remember it. Because when you do — when you use impeachment for absolutely nothing, other than to try and get political gain —

Now, with that being said, my poll numbers, as you know, have gone through the roof. Fundraising for the Republican Party has gone through the roof. We’re setting records. We’ve never — nobody has ever seen anything like it because the people are disgusted. The people are absolutely disgusted. Nobody has ever seen anything like this.

And I watched yesterday — I got to see quite a bit of it yesterday — and I watched these Democrats on the committee make fools out of themselves. Absolute fools out of themselves. And I also saw them quoting, all the time, incorrectly. They kept saying “me.” It wasn’t about me, it was about us. The word was “us.” So, they would — kept saying “me” instead “us.” “Can you do ‘us’ a favor?” “Our country,” comma, “our country.” Then it talked about seeing the Attorney General of the United States.

For these people to say “me” — they would say “me.” “You said, ‘Do me a favor.’” No, it didn’t say that. It said, “Do us a favor — our country.” Talking about the past election. Talking about corruption.

The other thing nobody remembers and nobody likes to talk about — and I talk about it all the time — is why isn’t Germany, why isn’t France, why aren’t other European countries paying? Because we’re paying. The suckers. You know, for years, we’ve been the suckers. But we’re not the suckers anymore. Big difference.

But why isn’t Germany paying big money? They’re the ones — I mean, they have a much bigger benefit than we do because Ukraine is really a stoppage between Russia and parts of Europe — the major part of Europe. Why aren’t European countries paying? Why isn’t France paying a lot of money? Why is it always the United States? We’re 7,000 miles away. Why is it always the suckers that pay? So we’ve changed that, but nobody brings that up.

I think that the whole impeachment thing — “hoax,” I guess you could call it, because it is a hoax. And Nancy Pelosi and knows it. By the way, they duped her yesterday. She was on an interview, and she said, “We’ve been working on this for two and a half years.” So she’s — she was working on it, in other words, two years before we ever spoke to Ukraine. She said, “We’ve been working on impeachment for two and a half years.” And the reporter was shocked when they got this answer, because it showed she’s a liar.

So it’s — it’s a very sad thing for our country, but it seems to be very good for me, politically. And again, those people — because I watched some of the dishonest, fake media — they’re saying, “Well, the polls have remained the same.” No, the polls have not remained the same. I think you understand that, John. The polls have gone through the roof for Trump. Because peop- — especially with independent voters, and especially in swing states. I could show you numbers that nobody has ever seen numbers like this before.

So the impeachment is a hoax. It’s a sham. It started a long time ago, probably before I came down the escalator with the future First Lady. It started a long time ago.

And when you look at the IG report and you look at these horrible FBI people talking about, “We got to get him out,” “insurance policies” — you know, the insurance policy is just in cases she loses — meaning, Crooked Hillary, who’s crooked as a three-dollar bill. “Just in case Crooked Hillary loses, we’ve got an insurance policy.” But we’ve been going through the insurance policy now for three years, and it’s a disgrace.

Thank you very much everybody. Thank you.

Q (Inaudible.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it?

Q Can you say how much China will be buying? Will they hit $50 billion?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think they’ll hit $50 billion in agriculture.

Q Can you say —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, much more than 50 [billion], because it’s also manufacturing and other. But I think, in agriculture, they will hit $50 billion. Yes.

Q Next year? Or when? What’s the timeline for that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Pretty soon. They’ve already stepped it up. My deal with them was two months ago. We had it in pretty good form. I said, “Do me a favor: Start buying agriculture.” And they started. If you look — I mean, they’re already buying. Even before the deal is signed, they’re buying.

Q Are you going to speak about Venezuela, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re with the people of Venezuela 100 percent. It’s so important to us, and we’re going to be discussing Venezuela today. It’ll be a big subject.

Okay?

Q Mr. President, do you prefer a short process in the Senate or a more extended process?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I have heard Lindsey Graham, who’s terrific, and I heard his statement, and I like that. And I could also — I can do — I’ll do whatever I want.

Look, there is — we did nothing wrong. So I’ll do long or short. I’ve heard Mitch. I’ve heard Lindsey. I think they are very much on agreement on some concept. I’ll do whatever they want to do. It doesn’t matter.

I wouldn’t mind a long process because I’d like to see the whistleblower, who’s a fraud — the whistleblower wrote a false report, and I really blew it up when I released the transcript of the call.

And then Schiff gets up and he — and I blew him up, too — because he went up in front of Congress and he made a statement about what I said that was totally false. And then a long time after he made it, when he got caught, he said, “Oh, well, that was parody. Parody.”

No, Schiff is a crooked — he’s a corrupt politician and a disgrace. And because of the fact he’s in Congress, he’s got immunity, so you can’t do anything. But he went up there — you know that — he made a totally false statement. The whistleblower wrote a totally false statement. So it’s a fraud.

Then I say, “Where is the informer?” — the one that informed the whistleblower? He had an informer. He disappeared. You know why he disappeared? Because I released the transcript. Had I not released that transcript, we would have had an informer; we would have had another whistleblower.

By the way, where is the second whistleblower? Remember that? “We have a second whistleblower. We have breaking news.”

Look, not all of it, but much of the media is corrupt. These are bad people. They’re sick people and they’re corrupt.

And we’re fighting the Democrats and we’re fighting a lot of the corrupt media. But I ask the corrupt media: Where’s the second whistleblower?

Now, had I not had a transcript — I’m lucky we had this transcript, which, by the way, has now been verified by the Lieutenant Colonel — Lieutenant Colonel, okay? He’s another beauty.

So where is — where is all of this stuff that was going to happen? Once I released it — and I released it quick but — quickly. But once I released it, all of a sudden the second whistleblower disappeared. The first whistleblower, who was all set to testify, he — all of a sudden, he becomes this saint-like figure that they don’t need him anymore. The one that everybody wanted to see, including Schiff, was the whistleblower. Once I released the text of what happened — the transcript — that was the end. Everybody disappeared.

So now there’s no informer. There’s no second whistleblower. Everybody has gone. And, by the way, a guy like Sondland — nobody ever says it — he said very strongly that I said, “I want nothing” and “no quid pro quo.” Nobody says that. That’s what he said. He said it in Congress. Nobody ever says that.

So, look, we’re dealing with a lot of corrupt people. There was nothing done wrong. To use the power of impeachment on this nonsense is an embarrassment to this country. The President just said it. It’s an embarrassment to our country. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

END 11:56 A.M. EST

Last night President Trump congratulated Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his great win in the U.K. election, noting the possibilities for a big trade boost are “massive”:

Not accidentally, the geopolitical economic and trade planets have aligned splendidly.   The cornerstone USMCA agreement has bipartisan support and will ratify quickly in congress.  A “phase one” trade agreement with China is likely, and prior plans for a strategic trade deal with the U.K. have increased as a result of the U.K. election.

First rule in geopolitics, it’s always about the economics.  Second rule in geopolitics: refer to rule #1.    Understanding this basic truism is the key to understand how President Trump is able to be so effective.  There are trillions at stake, and many interests.

“Economic security is national security.” ~President Trump

All politics circles back to the underlying economics; whether it is an individual financial self-interest for a specific politician, or whether it is a larger financial interest for a group or even a nation.  Everything is always about the money; and that essential truth is why Donald Trump is so uniquely qualified, influential and stunningly effective.

Donald J Trump isn’t a politician at heart, he’s a businessman.  From that outlook he appears to be working through a plan for what he views (we agree) is bigger than politics.

The economics of all things is the priority for President Trump…. step into that lane, or bring forth a policy directive that crosses into that economic lane, and you step into an administration agenda item completely controlled and directed by Donald Trump.

Every policy engagement from the big to the small goes through the prism of economics first and last. Essentially this is the foundation of the Trump doctrine. Brexit, Huawei, Iran, China, North Korea the larger EU etc. all geopolitical issues cross paths with President Trump’s primary focus, U.S. economic wealth, influence and security.

President Trump doesn’t leave economic policy to chance. He’s full bore economic obsessive compulsive! …And unapologetic about it. President Trump has single-handily begun resetting the global economy and is bringing  massive amounts of wealth back into the United States.

In essence Titan Trump is engaged in a process of: (a) repatriating wealth (trade policy); (b) blocking exfiltration (main street policy); (c) creating new and modern economic alliances based on reciprocity (tariffs); and (d) dismantling the post WWII Marshal plan of industrial trade and one-way tariffs.

Every element within this process, no matter how small, has President Trump’s full attention. He has assignments to many, but he relies upon none.  In prior review of President Trump’s discussions with Boris Johnson there was a clear outline of a possibility.

In the details of a Brexit trade agreement with the EU it appears the EU can, likely would, punish the UK for having more favorable trade agreements with other nations.  Meaning if the UK gives better deals to others than it does the EU, the EU will increase tariffs against the UK and use non-trade barriers to restrict access to the EU market for UK products.

But that’s the limit of what the EU will be able to do….

Meaning, the EU cannot stop the UK from entering a trade deal with North America (think USMCA); and there’s a very visible likelihood President Trump is constructing a U.S-U.K trade agreement with that in mind.

Meaning the U.K. could have preferential access to North America; and USMCA countries (Mexico, U.S. and Canada) will in turn have preferential trade treatment with the U.K.

This is important.  The EU will not be able to influence the U.S-U.K. trade agreement beyond imposing tariffs and restrictions on Britain as punishment.  This is where the importance of Donald Trump comes in.

Trump can, I would say: likely will, give preferential treatment to exports from the U.K., so long as PM Boris Johnson is reciprocal toward the U.S.

Simultaneously, President Trump can hit the EU much harder than the EU can hit Great Britain.  If, say, the EU hits the UK with a 25% tariff as punishment for a better trade deal with the U.S. on any individual segment, Trump can hit the EU with a 25% tariff back on the EU.

The EU needs access to the $20 Trillion U.S. market much more than the EU needs access to the newly freed U.K. market.  It takes building a level of trust, but President Trump and PM Johnson can work together to leverage this trade situation to both of their benefits.

The EU will want to keep selling their stuff into the U.K. (less important); but the EU *has to* keep selling their stuff into the U.S. (very important) in order to survive.

Trump and Johnson can work on a U.S-U.K. trade superhighway.   Our research already sees this construct in the discussions.  Simultaneously, Trump can pummel the EU with tariffs.

[Keep in mind the U.S. won a WTO ruling for $7.5 billion a year in countervailing duties the EU cannot legally try and counteract (Boeing case); and USTR Lighthizer has calculated a $2.4 billion countervailing duty against France for their internet tax scheme]

Combine the $7.5 billion WTO ruling against the EU (writ large), with the $2.4 billion duty against France, and overlay the potential for President Trump to hammer additional duties against the EU for adverse trade action within the Brexit customs authority, and what we see is an EU that can threaten action, but has limited recourse (just like China).

As inferred recently by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, President Trump is not adverse to triggering more tariffs against the EU.  Arguably he is looking for any economic excuse to do so.  Brexit provides just that excuse.

Once the U.K exits the European Union, President Trump can provide trade incentives for EU products that come from the U.K. – that do not come from the EU itself.   No U.S. tariffs on Great Britain, while Trump, Ross and Lighthizer put heavy tariffs on the EU.

The result of this process would push EU manufacturers and suppliers into the U.K. as a trade hub for access to North America, specifically the United States.  EU companies wanting to avoid the U.S. tariffs against the EU could distribute their products through operations within the U.K.

As described this trade network provides PM Boris Johnson with the ability to pick and choose the EU entities that he would permit to operate in the U.K.  In essence, this provides Prime Minister Boris Johnson with leverage against the EU for “other issues” of importance.

It’s all about the economics.

Without money to finance a big government ideology, everything stops.

All of the above stated, this is another reason why Nancy Pelosi and the ideological leftists were trying to stall the USMCA. The North American Trade agreement is the trade fulcrum for a massive global economic reset that impacts Asia and Europe.

The corporate multinational profit schemes that exploit China/Asia, and the political ideology behind the socialists/leftists that align with the EU (ie. “share the wealth”), are both weakened by a North American trade alliance, USMCA, that establishes the best return on international investment in North America.

At the center of this realignment is “America First“. A reestablished economic leverage that can reward allies and punish adversaries.  Globalism becomes a thing of the past and is replaced by economic nationalism; an international tide to lift all boats – peacefully.

“Economic security is national security”…

President Trump begins by saying “we’re having a very exciting month in Washington DC”, and later remarks “we’re going to have a fantastic year.”  Doesn’t sound like President Trump is too concerned with the impeachment fiasco. Lead on Mr. President, lead on.

Earlier today President Trump outlined principles for common sense, innovative child care policy reforms and practices that increase access to quality care, choice, and flexibility for America’s working parents.  [Video and Transcript Below]

The booming economy and strong labor market are allowing Americans of all backgrounds to find work and succeed.  The Child Care and Paid Leave initiatives are designed to support the needs of the U.S. workforce and simultaneously support a strong family life.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) What a nice group. Thank you very much. Hi, everybody. Hi. Well, thank you very much. And I had a very busy time and a very busy day, and my daughter said, “You will be here.” So — (laughter) — that was the end of that busy day, right? When a daughter says, “You have to be here.” But she’s done such an incredible job.

So I want to thank Ivanka. And from the very beginning — (applause) — that’s true. Yeah. From the very beginning, it’s been an extraordinary — she has been so extraordinary, in terms of her advocacy for America’s working families. Fourteen million people she’s gotten jobs for, where she would go into Walmart, she would go into our great companies and say, “They really want help. They really want you to teach them,” because the government can’t teach like the companies can teach. And companies would take a half a million people, a million people.

And her goal when she started it two years ago was 500,000 jobs; she’s done over 14 million. So that’s really something. (Applause.) And that’s on top of everything else, including what we’re here for today.

I want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for being here, and to the White House Summit on Child Care and Paid Family Leave — a subject that’s a very big subject nowadays.

We’re pleased to be joined by Secretary Alex Azar. Alex, thank you very much. (Applause.) And thanks as well to Governor Phil Bryant, my friend for a long time. (Applause.) And we have — thank you, Phil. And we really — we have developed a fantastic relationship over the years. And it’s been incredible. And what a job he does.

And I don’t know, I have a feeling he’s leaving office, not because he had to — he was leading everybody in the polls in that great state where we just had a tremendous victory, in Mississippi. But he was leading by a lot. I’d say, “Phil, why don’t you run again?” “No, I think we’re going to take it a little easy.” See? He has a lot of confidence in himself. (Laughter.) Non-confident people would say, “I got to run. I got to run.” But, Phil, you’ve done a fantastic job and we appreciate it.

And Mayor Betsy Price. Mayor, thank you very much. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you.

We’re also grateful to be — and have with us members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. And many of them participated today. I saw a list of who’s who in Congress. And we appreciate it very much. They’ve — many of them have spoken.

We’re here today to support the heroic calling for working moms and dads — to really help them. We’re going to help them. And we’re going to help them a lot. American families are the heart, soul, and backbone of our nation. Strong and loving families build up our neighborhoods, sustain our communities, invigorate our cities, pass down our values, and make a brighter future for every citizen.

In the Trump economy, which is setting records every day — in fact, the stock market is up very substantially today, as some of you may know. And when it goes up, I think of 401(k)s. I used to think about stock; now I think about 401(k)s and I think about jobs. But it’s up tremendously today.

In the Trump economy, American families are thriving like never before. Just last week, we announced that we smashed expectations and created 266,000 jobs in November — a number that was unthinkable a day before. A day before, they were guessing, “Would it be 80? Would it be 90? Would it be 160?” Somebody said — an optimist. And this was 266,000, plus you can add from the previous months, because we’re adding some of the jobs they miscalculated on our side, as opposed to the opposite side — the positive way. So 266- — almost 300,000 jobs in November, which is an incredible number.

Seven million jobs have been added since Election Day. And I have to say, other nations are not doing well. Other parts of the world are not doing well at all. You look at Europe, you look at Asia, look at a lot of different places. We won’t talk about China, because we’re working a deal with China, but I wouldn’t say, up until now, they’ve loved me. (Laughter.)

Unemployment is at a 50-year low. And the African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American unemployment rates have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. So the lowest level ever recorded — the history of our country. (Applause.)

And, by the way, for women, the lowest in 71 years, but soon, it will be historic also. So I have to apologize for the 71 years. That’s probably my worst statistic. Best in 71 years. I was saying, “Can you imagine?” Normally that would have been a great statistic for us, Phil. But nowadays we’re a little spoiled, right?

But we’ve lifted nearly 1.4 million American children out of poverty. And this year, 40 million American families will benefit from the Republican child tax credit, each receiving an average of over $2,200 dollars. That’s something. (Applause.) And that’s — let’s put the word “Republican” again. Let’s emphasize it, because I noticed every time we do something, the Democrats try and say, “Well, we really did it, you know. We did.” They didn’t do it, but we’ll be very nice. We want to be bipartisan. (Laughter.)

In everything we do, we’re putting the American families first. And frankly, we’re putting America first. But American families are coming first. With more women working today than ever before, we now have a historic opportunity to enact long-overdue reforms. It’s time to pass Paid Family Leave and expand access to quality. (Applause.)

So we’re going to have really an expanded access to quality, affordable child care, in addition, for all American parents. And that’s something that could take a long time before it ever got done, but we’re going to get it done and we’re working with a lot of tremendous people, many of whom are in the room. And I want to thank you for that.

An estimated one out of every four American moms returns to work within two weeks of giving birth because they cannot afford to miss a paycheck or risk losing their job. We want every mother to have the chance to spend those precious few weeks with her newborn or adopted child. And I understand, statistically — they show, statistically, it’s so much better for the baby in growing up, even in later years. I can imagine that.

And, Martha, I want to thank you for being here. I just see you. Martha McSally, everybody — Senator. That’s very nice. Thank you. (Applause.)

And I’ll tell you — would you please stand up? All of you. It’s so great. (Applause.) So great. Thank you. Thank you. Congresswomen have done a fantastic job. Thank you.

That’s why it’s my state — and in my State of the Union Address, I called for Congress to pass Paid Family Leave into law. And it was very well received, I have to say. One week ago, we were thrilled that members of Congress introduced bipartisan — really, a very strong bipartisan legislation, Paid Family Leave legislation. And that’s what it’s called.

We did criminal justice reform and we called it by a slightly different name. A lot of people don’t know that it’s criminal justice reform. I said, “Change the name.” But somebody put it with the name. It’s the FIRST STEP Act, which is good, but it’s criminal justice reform. And in this case, we’re going to just go with a very perfect name: Paid Family Leave legislation. Jackie, is that good? Yes? I think, Jackie, we’ll do it for you, okay? (Applause.) There’s something about using a name that sort of — you don’t have to think too much, right? (Laughter.)

This week, my administration reached a historic deal with Congress: The federal government will now give 12 weeks of paid family leave to all federal employees. Something that nobody expected. (Applause.)

And as a candidate for President, I pledged to advance paid family leave. With this important step, we are delivering. And we are really delivering like nobody has, I think, ever delivered before — if you look back, certainly within the first three years of a presidency. And we’re still short of the third year. We’re, you know, getting close. Hard to believe we’re getting close. January 20th, we’ll be there. But in less than three years, we’ve done things — and I always say that I fulfilled more promises than I made, which is the first for a politician. (Applause.) For a politician, that’s a first, Martha.

My administration is also focused on expanding access to high-quality, affordable child care. Last year, I was proud to sign into law the largest-ever increase in Child Care Development Block Grants to states. The states understand that very well. A lot of governors — (applause) — a lot of governors come up to me and they thank me for that.

In more than 60 percent of American homes, both parents work. Yet many struggle to afford child care, which often costs more than $10,000 per year. And it’s devastating to families, frankly. Devastating.

Here with us today is Tseyon Mamo, who has benefited from child care assistance and is now earning her degree in early childhood education while raising her two young, beautiful children. Tseyon, would you come up, please, and say a few words? Tseyon. (Applause.) Please. Nice to — nice to see you. Please.

MS. MAMO: Thank you, Mr. President. Last year I started working at the Guadalupe Center in Kansas City as an assistant teacher. At the same time, I began taking classes to earn a credential in early childhood education. Before I started my job, my husband and I were able to put our youngest daughter into daycare with the help of child care subsidy. If we didn’t have this support, we wouldn’t have been able to afford daycare and I wouldn’t have been able to work and go to school to become a teacher.

Now, both of my daughters are going to preschool in the same building where I work. It’s very convenient for my family and I. I’m so close that I was able to check on my daughters during the day she got sick. So thank you, President —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Tseyon.

MS. MAMO: — for everything that you’re doing to support families like mine. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for saying that. Beautiful. Thank you, Tseyon.

As Ivanka announced earlier this morning, the White House released our Principles for Child Care Reform. Our goal is simple: We want to expand child care options and reduce unnecessary regulations so that parents can choose the best care for their children, including, and very importantly, in-home and faith-based care. (Applause.)

With us today is Bethany — Brittany Hasemann, a single mother who runs her own child care center in Fruita, Colorado. And, Brittany, if you could, please come up and say a few words. Please. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

MS. HASEMANN: Wow. What an honor it is to be here today. Thank you so much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

MS. HASEMANN: And you, Ivanka Trump, thank you so much for all you do. It’s truly a blessing.

About 11 years ago, I was put in a tough position: My husband passed away in a car accident. I was a now-single mom of soon-to-be three children. I had to provide for them all by myself. And child care for three, all under the age of three — and my oldest with autistic tendencies — was not an option. I was going to school for criminal justice at this time and could no longer have that as my dream, for my three children only had one parent.

I opened up a child care in 2010 out of my home. Now I own a large home site. I signed on with the Early Learning Ventures in 2015. Now I am an executive director to my very own center. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Great.

MS. HASEMANN: Thank you. Thank you. Being in the child care business, I know all the struggles. There are some major challenges: the cost of child care for our families; background checks — and those timelines are very challenging; hiring staff based on credentials, not growing teachers that fit the right reasons with what’s best for the children and their age groups; and the cost of qualified teachers.

That being said, my dreams for them — children have just begun. It takes a county and a state and a country to be the best. Thank you, President Trump, for making it priority to help our families get access to quality care.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

MS. HASEMANN: Yes. (Applause.)

On behalf of Little Imaginations, we would like to invite Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump: If you guys ever get in Colorado, come see our site. Thank you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we’ll do that. We’ll be in Colorado. Thank you. Great job.

MS. HASEMANN: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much, Brittany. And we’ll be in Colorado a lot, actually. (Laughter.) We have a great senator in Colorado. We have to get him extended. I’ll be there a lot. (Laughter.)

So we know that every American parent, like Brittany, wants the best for their child, and every American family strengthens and uplifts our country. That’s why on issues from child care to paid family leave to school choice, my administration is putting control back into the hands of parents, where it belongs.

With this initiative, we have a chance to give all moms and dads the resources and support they need to succeed, thrive, flourish, prosper, and help their sons and daughters reach their amazing God-given potential. It’s what’s happening. It’s what’s happening with our country as a whole. As Americans, we know the single-most important investment we can ever make is in our nation’s children.

I want to again thank everybody for being here. And thank you all — to the people that work so hard. I mean, I know how hard and tirelessly you fight for the American family constantly.

I want to thank my daughter, who has — who is every minute of every day is working on something that’s good. In this case, right now, that’s what we’re doing. But she’s — she’s got other things in mind also. It’s incredible what she’s able to get done. And I have to give her a very special thank you. Ivanka is a very special person. (Applause.) And I just — thank you.

I just say, God bless everybody in the room. Thank you very much for the incredible work. You work so hard, so tirelessly. But the rewards are there. With this administration, you get the rewards. With other administrations, it just never worked. But we get it done. They may like me, they may not, but we get it done. (Laughter.) Okay, thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

[End Transcript]

President Trump is meeting with the wolverines to discuss the current status of terms for a “Phase One” U.S-China trade deal.  Additionally POTUS tweeted a deal was close:

As we have noted the general objective from President Trump on a “Phase One” deal is a $50 billion agriculture purchase from China that would allow the U.S. to discontinue the supplemental bridge payments to farmers using tariff income.  Details of this possible deal are unknown, but look for a delay in the next round of the December 15th tariffs to secure the Ag purchase.   President Trump will want a written purchase contract.

The financial pundits, most beholden to the needs of the Wall Street multinationals, are overestimating the scale and scope of issues likely resolved within “phase one”.   There is not likely to be resolution to the bigger issues in the U.S-China trade conflict.

Bloomberg reported: “U.S. negotiators offered to reduce tariffs on about $375 billion in Chinese goods by 50% across the board and suspend tariffs on $160 billion in goods scheduled to go into effect on Sunday.”

I would advise to take the Bloomberg report with a grain of salt; their Wall Street-centric voice generally tries to push narrative negotiations to the benefit of multinationals.

Instead, the Trump big picture common sense business approach is: the value of tariff reduction will be directly related to the value of a WRITTEN CONTRACT China purchase.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told senators that announcements were possibly “imminent” regarding U.S. tariffs on China, a top Senate Republican said on Thursday.

Lighthizer made the comments during a briefing for senators on the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal, the revamped version of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Senator John Cornyn said. Cornyn did not provide additional details.

The United States is scheduled to impose tariffs on almost $160 billion worth of Chinese imports on Dec. 15. Earlier on Thursday, President Donald Trump said in a Twitter post that Washington and Beijing were nearing a trade deal. (link)

China is suffering a slow death by a thousand paper-cuts. The bleeding of cash in combination with the direct loss of $75 billion in annualized exported products that U.S. companies have now sourced from alternative ASEAN nations is biting hard.

The direct outcome is also a drop in China’s purchasing of industrial goods they would normally use in the manufacturing process. This lack of Chinese purchasing is one of the top reasons for the stall in the European economy.

There is no actual intent to reach a trade deal with China where the U.S. drops all tariffs and returns to holding hands with a happy panda playing by new rules. This fictional narrative is a figment of fantasy being sold by a financial media that cannot fathom a U.S. President would be so bold as to just walk away from China.

That ‘walk away’ is exactly what President Trump did when he left all of those meetings in Southeast Asia in 2017; and every moment since has been setting up, and firming up, an entirely new global supply chain without China.

President Trump is not currently engaged in a substantive trade agreement in the formal way people are thinking about it. Instead “Phase-One” is simply President Trump negotiating the terms of a big Agricultural purchase commitment from Beijing, and also protecting some very specific U.S. business interests (think Apple Co.) in the process.

The actual goal of President Trump’s U.S-China trade reset is a complete decoupling of U.S. critical manufacturing within China.

There is a natural lag as supply chains reorient. The ASEAN nations that have picked up U.S. manufacturing contracts first go through a process of increased productivity, expanded utilization of existing manufacturing, before they need to expand to new facilities. Machines operate 20 hours daily – instead of 16 hours; more shifts are added, etc. Until production reaches 100% capacity no ASEAN group is going to purchase the warehoused industrial machinery, not purchased by China, and being stored in the EU.

In this investment, lending and financing dynamic, is where the current Wall Street multinational corps, banks and hedgefunds are stalled and watching closely.

No-one wants to drop $100 million to help expand a U.S. manufacturer in Asia, if Mexico -via the USMCA- ends up being a more cost efficient location.  This dynamic is where ratification of the USMCA is a key part of President Trump’s global trade reset.

Earlier today President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted a Hanukkah Reception at the White House.  The event included a historic signing ceremony for an executive order combating anti-semitism.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. And a friend of mine, Tim Scott, from South Carolina — a senator — where are you, Tim? You’re — there he is. And I said, “You know what, Tim? You have a big vote coming up. I think you want to go back to the Senate.” So I will tell you, without, Tim, this wouldn’t have happened. Tim Scott, thank you very much. We love you. Go back to the Senate and vote. (Laughs.) (Applause.) Thanks, Tim.

Melania and I are delighted to welcome so many friends and families to this incredible house, the White House, to celebrate this, really, sacred season and a very special time. To everyone here today: Happy Hanukkah. (Applause.)

We’re delighted to be joined by Vice President Mike Pence and his incredible wife Karen. (Applause.) And if you’d both come up. Mike? Wherever you may be. Come on up, Karen. Please, come up.

Also, as you know, Ivanka and Jared have worked very, very hard in this whole — (applause) — endeavor and many other endeavors, I will tell you. They’re doing an incredible job, and I’m very proud that the Jewish faith is a cherished part of our family. Very proud of it. (Applause.)

I’d like to recognize Secretary Steven Mnuchin; Secretary Betsy DeVos; Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen — hi, Jeff; as well as Senators Tim Scott, who just left, and he’s a fantastic guy, and James Lankford. Where’s James? Where is James? James come up here, will you please, James? Did he have to go for the vote too? All right, tell him we mentioned his name. A lot of these people are voting on some very important things right now. I’m saying, “You know what? Get out and vote,” right?

And we have Representatives Doug Collins, Josh Gottheimer, David Kustoff, Elaine Luria, Max Rose, and Lee Zeldin, all here. Where are they? (Applause.) Raise your hands. Are you here? Come on up, if you want, fellas. Even the Democrat can come up. What the hell. (Laughter.) Come on up. Come on up. What a job they’re doing. Come on up. Nice to see you all. Hi. Good. Hi, Doug. That’s great. Hi, Lee. Good job, Lee. Wow. What a lawyer. I’d hire you anytime, Lee.

I also want to bring a friend of mine up. He’s a tremendous success in so many other businesses, but they only know him because he signs Tom Brady’s check every week. (Laughter.) And he’s a really — he’s a champ, he’s a winner. His wife, Myra, passed away a longer time ago than we think, Bob. That was a big — that was a big, tough time for you, and for me too, and for Melania. I just want to tell you, you’ve been a special friend of Israel. Nobody closer to Israel than Bob Kraft.

So, Bob, please come up. Please come up. (Applause.)

And, as usual, his team is mired in first place. Have you ever been in second place? Not too often. You know what I’d like you to do, Bob, while you’re here — because we could all learn from Bob; he’s a champ, he’s a winner — if you could say a few words about Israel. Please.

MR. KRAFT: Thank you. (Applause.) Well, thank you, Mr. President. I’m honored to be here at this time, at this event, because this is really a bipartisan issue. And I know previous administrations had tried to do something in this area. And we know that college campuses are a place where you bridge-build and you include people and have education, and not be something that is exclusive and drives people away and generates hatred.

So, I’m so proud that, at this time, we’re doing something that is so bipartisan. And my wife, a blessed memory, would be smiling now because she loved America first, and Israel, and wanted to build bridges between the two places and have tikkun olam. And I think this, more than anything, is going to help do that. So thank you very much. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Bob. Thank you. Thank you very much, Bob.

I also want to extend my appreciation to Israel’s Ambassador, a man who’s become a friend of mine, and terrific guy: Ron Dermer. Where’s Ron? (Applause.) Thank you, Ron, very much.

As we gather this afternoon, our thoughts turn to the grieving families in New Jersey. Yesterday, two wicked murderers opened fire at a kosher supermarket and killed four innocent souls, including a brave police officer who faced down the shooter and very bravely faced the shooter down.

With one heart, America weeps for the lives lost. With one voice, we vow to crush the monstrous evil of anti-Semitism whenever and wherever it appears. And we’re working very hard on that. (Applause.) And I can tell you that — that we have a lot of people in government working very, very hard on that, and we appreciate their work. It’s not easy.

Joining us on stage for this event are two great Jewish-American patriots: Army veteran Oscar Stewart and Border Patrol Agent Jonathan Morales. (Applause.) As many of you remember, both of these heroes were at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue when a killer opened fire.

And, by the way, Robert Jeffress, I see you right here. And what a tremendous faith leader you are and a tremendous man you are. Pastor, thank you for being here so much, also. We appreciate it. We have so many people and so many great faith leaders here, and I want to thank you all for being here. It’s fantastic. This is a great, great day. (Applause.) We appreciate it very much, Robert. Thank you very much.

They raced towards the gunfire and saved countless American lives. Oscar and Jonathan, thank you both for responding to the worst evil with the best of American valor.

This afternoon, we celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah. More than 2,000 years ago, a ruthless tyrant persecuted the Jewish people and desecrated the Temple of Jerusalem. But a group of Jewish patriots defeated a powerful army, rededicated the temple, and won back their right to worship God in freedom.

Recently, I received a remarkable letter from a 12-year-old boy named Austin Polonsky, from San Francisco, California. In the letter, Austin summed up the meaning of Hanukkah. He said, “On Hanukkah…it is a tradition to light the menorah and place it by the window. We do this to exemplify how we are not afraid to show who we are or what we believe in.”

In Austin’s letter, [DEL: we :DEL] [he] asked if he could celebrate Hanukkah with my family at the White House. And this year, we are thrilled to let you know that Austin is with us today. Where is Austin? Where is Austin? (Applause.) Come on up here, Austin. Come on up here, Austin. Good-looking guy. Good. Come on, Austin. Don’t be shy. It’s only Bob Kraft. (Laughter.)

You want to say a few words? Huh?

MR. POLONSKY: Uh, sure.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you want to say — come on, Austin. Come on, Austin. Let’s get with it, Austin.

MR. POLONSKY: Thank you for having me at the White House today. It was very unexpected. My mom pulled me out of school when the White House called, and I was in the middle of lunch. (Laughter.) Probably one of the first times I was ever speechless. (Laughter.) Yeah. Thank you for having me here.

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. You can — (laughter and applause.) That’s — that’s a good — good job, Austin. (Applause.) Come here. Thank you, Austin. Great job. Thank you.

He didn’t know he was going to do that. You did a good job, huh? — (laughter) — considering we got you by surprise a little bit, right? Thank you. Stay with the First Lady. (Laughter.)

Do you know Bob Kraft and everybody onstage, right?

MR. KRAFT: A Trump yarmulke.

THE PRESIDENT: Is that a Trump yarmulke? Oh, it’s a Trump yarmulke. Wow, I like that. (Laughter.) Can I have that, Austin? I want that.

Across our country, Jewish Americans strengthen, sustain, and inspire our nation. As President, I will always celebrate and honor the Jewish people, and I will always stand with our treasured friend and ally, the State of Israel — that, I can tell you. (Applause.)

So, two years ago, I recognized the true capital of Israel, and we opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem. (Applause.) And we got it built. They were thinking anywhere, for one billion to two billion dollars. I did it for $350,000. You know that. (Applause.) We got a building that was in beautiful shape, in the best location — best location there is. And we got it done. We got it done. We had it opened in four months, and it’s right now opened.

And, I don’t know, maybe someday they’ll build a more expensive version of it, but it can’t get much better. Right, Robert? I think — and Ron can tell you, it can’t get much better than what we have. We have the best location. They were going out. They wanted me to sign an order for anywhere from $1 billion to $2 billion, and they were going to look for a piece of land, but they said land in Jerusalem is very rare and very expensive. I said, “Do you think we have a piece?”

And David Friedman, our great ambassador, did a fantastic job. (Applause.) You did a fantastic job. I said, “David, they want to spend $2 billion.” I said, “Go check it out. Let me see. Call me back.” And he said, “Sir, I think we can do it for about $250,000, maybe $300,000.” So we’ll save $1 billion. And we have a better location than any location we could have gotten, Ron, right?

And it’s been open now for a long time. So, it was great. And we used all Jerusalem stone. Friends of mine like Jerusalem stone. Over here, it costs a fortune. Over there, it wasn’t so expensive. (Laughter.)

I’ve also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. That was another big one. (Applause.) And I said to Bob, “So…” — Bob Kraft — I said, “So what was bigger, Bob? What we did for Israel in terms of Jerusalem and moving the embassy to Jerusalem, becoming the capital of Israel? Or the Golan Heights, which you’ve been looking to do?” For 52 years, they’ve been having meetings on the Golan Heights. Nothing happened until I came along.

I said, “Bob Kraft, which is bigger? Which is more important to the Jewish people?” He said, “Neither.” I said, “What does that mean?” He said, “What you did by terminating the Iran nuclear deal is bigger than both.” (Applause.) I think that’s true. (Applause.) I think that’s true, Jeff. You know? Could be true. I said, “I sort of agree with that.”

But today, we’re taking another historic action. In just a few moments, I’ll sign an executive order to combat anti-Semitism. This action makes clear — (applause) — that Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act — which prohibits the federal funding of universities and other institutions that engage in discrimination — applies to institutions that traffic in anti-Semitic hate. (Applause.)

So this is a very powerful document that we’re signing today. And it’s been a very big story over the last number of days, when they heard. As you know, they had almost universal support in Congress, and yet they didn’t get it done. And this has gone on for years and years. They’ve almost had universal support, but there was always a roadblock.

But this year, there’s no roadblock because I’m doing it myself. It’s much easier. (Applause.) And we have support from many in Congress. This is our message to universities: If you want to accept the tremendous amount of federal dollars that you get every year, you must reject anti-Semitism. It’s very simple. (Applause.)

My administration will never tolerate the suppression, persecution, or silencing of the Jewish people. We have also taken a firm stand against the so-called Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS. You know that very well. (Applause.)

And, I have to tell you, Jared Kushner and Ivanka, they’ve been talking to me about this for three years now, maybe longer than that. But I go back about three years where it’s something that I could do about it, you know. In this position, we can do things about it. Before that, not — not quite as much. I’d be just like you: successful, doing nicely, but not for this. But they’ve been talking — from the beginning of the administration, they’ve been bringing this up. And we forcefully condemn this anti-Semitic campaign against the State of Israel and its citizens.

We are profoundly honored to be joined this afternoon by Rosalee Glass, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, the darkest chapter of human history. After the war, Rosalee came to America and started a drapery manufacturing business. Now she has written a book, starred in an award-winning film, and is going strong at the age of 102. (Applause.) Where is Rosalee? Where is — hi. You’re looking good. Thank you, Rosalee. Thank you for being here. It’s an honor. And you do — you really fill our hearts with open joy, Rosalee. So many people. And we know of your story.

In honor of Rosalee and the millions of Jews who suffered unthinkable persecution, we renew our pledge now and always: Never again. Never again. (Applause.)

Today, we thank God for the Jewish people, whose love and loyalty, brilliance and bravery, resilience and resolve, spirit and strength bless America and the world.

Before I sign the executive order, I’d like to ask Oscar to say a few words, and Jonathan will light the menorah. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

Oscar, please. (Applause.) Thank you, Oscar.

MR. STEWART: Thank you, Mr. President. Oh, boy, this is a great moment.

So what I want to say is: In Scripture, it teaches us that when the Jewish armies went to fight and to conquer the land of Israel from the Canaanites, it says the generals would speak to their men and say, “Leave, if you’re afraid.” I always wondered why it says this — that if you’re afraid, to leave — because God was fighting for them. So I came up with some of my own: It’s because you had no faith in God.

Well, today I stand with a group of people who have tremendous faith in God. And we are all of different faiths and we’re all here with one — with one thing in mind, and that is to end hate. And I am so proud to be standing here the day that this was signed. This is a momentous moment in my life.

And I want to thank the President and the First Lady for everything that they’ve done for Israel, but more important for what they’ve done for America. (Applause.) America is a nation of many, many people, and we need to remember whatever God you pray to, whatever religion you practice, we are all Americans and we need to love each other, and that will conquer hate. (Applause.)

Once again, thank you very much, Mr. President. I’m deeply honored.

THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic job. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

And, by the way, I see Alan Dershowitz. Come on up here for a second, Alan. Wow. (Applause.)

And I’d like to ask my friends, the pastors, to come up here. You know, Robert — and I have to say this to the other pastors, some of whom have been very kind — all of them have been very kind: We’ve never had such evangelical Christian support.

Jeff, come on up. Jeff. Come on up here, Jeff. (Applause.) You’re the one that’s doing such a good job legally to make sure all of this happens. But Robert Jeffress — I didn’t know him, but he — I watched him. And I’d watch him on different shows, and I’d say, “I like that guy. Man, he talks really great about me. And I like people that talk well about me.” (Laughter.)

And he was saying, “You know, he may not be the greatest Christian I’ve ever seen. He may not know the Bible quite as well as the rest of us. In fact, he may not know it very well at all.” (Laughter.) “But that guy is a real leader. And he’s going to a job.” And I appreciated that statement. I don’t know if I should have, but I did. (Laughter.) And I think we have led because I think we’ve made more progress toward faith leaders. We got rid of the Johnson Amendment, which was a disaster.

So I’d like to ask if — Robert, if you could say a couple of words, and if I could also ask Alan Dershowitz to say, and then we’re going to sign a very important document. Okay? Robert, please. (Applause.) Thank you.

PASTOR JEFFRESS: It is true, I believe President Trump is the most pro-faith President in history — (applause) — when you look at what he has done for people of all faiths.
And, Mr. President, you know, Jewish and Christian believers alike believe what God said to Abraham in Genesis 12 — that God would bless those who bless Israel and He would curse those who curse Israel.

And I want to thank you, Mr. President, for being the kind of President who has the courage to stand up and be, when it comes to Israel, on the right side of history. But most importantly, you’re on the right side of God. And that’s why you are not going to fail, and we’re going to stand behind you 100 percent. (Applause.) Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Jared.

MR. DERSHOWITZ: Great. For 65 of my 81 years I have spent at universities all over the country and all over the world, there is no more important event in those 65 years to turn universities away from being bastions of hatred and discrimination than this executive order being signed today. (Applause.) It is a game changer. It will go down in history as one of the most important events in the 2,000-year battle against anti-Semitism.

Thank you, Mr. President. You did a great, great job. The people who helped you do this did a great, great job. And you will be remembered by history for all time for having signed this very important order. Thank you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, should we do it?

AUDIENCE: Yeah!

(The executive order is signed.) (Applause.)

MR. KUSHNER: I just want to thank President Trump for all of his leadership on behalf of America. What we’ve seen the President accomplish over the last three years have been extraordinary.

When President Trump decided to run, there were a lot of people who weren’t sure what somebody who had never done anything in politics before would do. And I would say that all of our expectations have been greatly exceeded. (Applause.)

The plans that the team has put in place under the President’s leadership have produced economic miracles for this country. And I am confident that the best is to come. But what I believe is even more important is the President’s commitment to keeping all Americans safe, to keeping America free, to keeping America respectful of people of all faiths and religions. And the work that the President has done to ensure that is something that will have an impact for generations to come.

So I just want to thank you for your amazing leadership and for all that you do to protect so many people.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.

MR. KUSHNER: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: And we’ll light the menorah. (Applause.) Will you do that?

MR. KUSHNER: I think Jonathan is going to do that.

THE PRESIDENT: How about that? We’ll light the menorah. Please.

MR. KUSHNER: Jonathan. I think you’re going to light —

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, Jonathan.

(Border Patrol Agent Jonathan Morales lights the menorah.)

THE PRESIDENT: So, everyone, thank you very much. Again, Happy Hanukkah. This has been a great day. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much.

END 4:49 P.M. EST

U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer traveled to Mexico to put the finishing touches on the revised USMCA agreement.  Ambassador Lighthizer delivered remarks at the signing ceremony hosted by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer stressed the United States has a stake in Mexico’s success as representatives from the United States, Mexico and Canada gathered in Mexico City to sign modifications to the USMCA, a historic trade agreement.

Washington, DC – United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer issued the following statement today on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement:

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we have reached an historic agreement on the USMCA. After working with Republicans, Democrats, and many other stakeholders for the past two years we have created a deal that will benefit American workers, farmers, and ranchers for years to come. This will be the model for American trade deals going forward.”

(LINK)

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Additional remarks from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland:

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Full Event Video:

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Incredible Team

Chopper pressers are the best pressers; but twilight chopper pressers in the rain are even better.  President Trump delivers remarks to the press poll as he departs the White House for a rally in Pennsylvania. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Okay. It’s pretty wet out here. We’re going to Hershey, Pennsylvania, tonight. We have a big rally — a lot of people, tremendous lines, great enthusiasm. There’s never been this enthusiasm, in my opinion, for the Republican Party. The Republicans have stuck together through the witch hunt. It’s a terrible thing, but even the Democrats — they couldn’t find very much because they put up two articles that, frankly, are very weak. And they’re very weak.

Also, they approved, today, of all days — we’ve been waiting a year — and they approved today the USMCA. And I call that the “silver lining” to impeachment. Because without the impeachment, they would have never approved it, in my opinion. The impeachment is the reason they approved it.

And interestingly, one hour after the news conference, they went out and did a news conference on the big trade deal — the great trade deal, one of the greatest trade deals ever made for our country. And the reason is they wanted to muffle down the impeachment because they’re embarrassed by it, and they couldn’t get the votes. And that’s exactly what happened.

So it’s a terrible thing when they do something like that. But now it goes to, I guess, a vote. And I assume they will probably — you have to have the votes. They’re very weak articles.

But, very importantly, today we get USMCA. And that’s going to be a great thing for our farmers, our manufacturers, for our — for just about everybody. That’s good for everybody, unions included.

I spoke with Richard Trumka. I spoke to James Hoffa. And we had good talks. That’s the union people. I did that a few days ago. We had some very good talks. And everybody is really loving the USMCA. So we’re very happy about that. Very, very happy.

Q Mr. President, sir, do you believe your impeachment is inevitable, sir? Do you believe your impeachment is inevitable?

THE PRESIDENT: Say it. You go ahead.

Q Do you believe that your impeachment is inevitable, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: Is what?

Q That your impeachment is inevitable. Do you think you will now be impeached? The fourth in history — third.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the Democrats — I can’t imagine they vote for it because we did nothing wrong. There was absolutely nothing done wrong. They’ve analyzed my conversation every way you can.

And when you talk about — you know, the word “favor” was mentioned, and it was mentioned — not me a “favor.” You just saw the way it was. And it was nothing to do with me; this has to do with the United States. The word was “us.” “Can you do us a favor?” Then we talk about the country, and we talk about seeing the Attorney General of the United States.

When you look at it — and that was just a part of it — it was a congratulatory call. And there were two of them. Nobody even mentions the other one. We had another one, where they won — originally, he won the election.

And I think it’s a disgrace that people can make impeachment out of nothing. That was a perfect conversation. If you looked at Mark Levin, he analyzed the conversation — one of the great constitutional lawyers. Many of them have. They were perfect conversations. There’s nothing to impeach on, and I think it’s a disgrace. I think it’s an absolute — I think it’s an absolute disgrace.

So, let’s say they vote on it. I don’t know when they’re going to vote. Who knows? All I know is they were very embarrassed by it, and that’s why they brought up USMCA an hour after, because they figure it’ll muffle it a little bit.

And if you look at — if you look at the poll numbers, the Firehouse poll just came out, and we’re way ahead of everybody in every state, every — you know, most of the — I think most of the swing states. We’re way ahead.

And you know what? I don’t know if that’s impeachment or the fact that we have the best economic numbers that we’ve ever had in our country. We have the best unemployment numbers and employment numbers. We have the best numbers we’ve ever had in our country. And so I think that has something to do with it.

You saw, on Friday, 266,000 jobs — new jobs. And other countries, all over the world, they’re not doing well. We’re doing great. We’re the hottest country in the world. So I think that has a lot to do with it.

So I’m going out to now — we’re going out now —

(Cross-talk.)

Excuse me. We’re going out now to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Some of you are coming, I assume. We’ll see you there. We’re going to make a comment about it.

Thank you all very much.

[END TRANSCRIPT]

Chopper pressers are the best pressers; but twilight chopper pressers in the rain are even better.  President Trump delivers remarks to the press poll as he departs the White House for a rally in Pennsylvania. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Okay. It’s pretty wet out here. We’re going to Hershey, Pennsylvania, tonight. We have a big rally — a lot of people, tremendous lines, great enthusiasm. There’s never been this enthusiasm, in my opinion, for the Republican Party. The Republicans have stuck together through the witch hunt. It’s a terrible thing, but even the Democrats — they couldn’t find very much because they put up two articles that, frankly, are very weak. And they’re very weak.

Also, they approved, today, of all days — we’ve been waiting a year — and they approved today the USMCA. And I call that the “silver lining” to impeachment. Because without the impeachment, they would have never approved it, in my opinion. The impeachment is the reason they approved it.

And interestingly, one hour after the news conference, they went out and did a news conference on the big trade deal — the great trade deal, one of the greatest trade deals ever made for our country. And the reason is they wanted to muffle down the impeachment because they’re embarrassed by it, and they couldn’t get the votes. And that’s exactly what happened.

So it’s a terrible thing when they do something like that. But now it goes to, I guess, a vote. And I assume they will probably — you have to have the votes. They’re very weak articles.

But, very importantly, today we get USMCA. And that’s going to be a great thing for our farmers, our manufacturers, for our — for just about everybody. That’s good for everybody, unions included.

I spoke with Richard Trumka. I spoke to James Hoffa. And we had good talks. That’s the union people. I did that a few days ago. We had some very good talks. And everybody is really loving the USMCA. So we’re very happy about that. Very, very happy.

Q Mr. President, sir, do you believe your impeachment is inevitable, sir? Do you believe your impeachment is inevitable?

THE PRESIDENT: Say it. You go ahead.

Q Do you believe that your impeachment is inevitable, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: Is what?

Q That your impeachment is inevitable. Do you think you will now be impeached? The fourth in history — third.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the Democrats — I can’t imagine they vote for it because we did nothing wrong. There was absolutely nothing done wrong. They’ve analyzed my conversation every way you can.

And when you talk about — you know, the word “favor” was mentioned, and it was mentioned — not me a “favor.” You just saw the way it was. And it was nothing to do with me; this has to do with the United States. The word was “us.” “Can you do us a favor?” Then we talk about the country, and we talk about seeing the Attorney General of the United States.

When you look at it — and that was just a part of it — it was a congratulatory call. And there were two of them. Nobody even mentions the other one. We had another one, where they won — originally, he won the election.

And I think it’s a disgrace that people can make impeachment out of nothing. That was a perfect conversation. If you looked at Mark Levin, he analyzed the conversation — one of the great constitutional lawyers. Many of them have. They were perfect conversations. There’s nothing to impeach on, and I think it’s a disgrace. I think it’s an absolute — I think it’s an absolute disgrace.

So, let’s say they vote on it. I don’t know when they’re going to vote. Who knows? All I know is they were very embarrassed by it, and that’s why they brought up USMCA an hour after, because they figure it’ll muffle it a little bit.

And if you look at — if you look at the poll numbers, the Firehouse poll just came out, and we’re way ahead of everybody in every state, every — you know, most of the — I think most of the swing states. We’re way ahead.

And you know what? I don’t know if that’s impeachment or the fact that we have the best economic numbers that we’ve ever had in our country. We have the best unemployment numbers and employment numbers. We have the best numbers we’ve ever had in our country. And so I think that has something to do with it.

You saw, on Friday, 266,000 jobs — new jobs. And other countries, all over the world, they’re not doing well. We’re doing great. We’re the hottest country in the world. So I think that has a lot to do with it.

So I’m going out to now — we’re going out now —

(Cross-talk.)

Excuse me. We’re going out now to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Some of you are coming, I assume. We’ll see you there. We’re going to make a comment about it.

Thank you all very much.

[END TRANSCRIPT]