Tag Archives: First 100 days

May 1 2017

Democrats Count of Press to Blame Trump if Social Security Defaults Temporarily


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted May 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Default USA-1

The Debt Ceiling issue is back and of course people will sell the dollar as if the USA would actually default. The bulk of the debt is owned by the government so any default would send the economy down and pension funds from Social Security to government pensions.  Nobody pays off their debts. All countries just add to it year after year.

This time the Democrats are deliberately trying to now force a default so people on Social Security are harmed because they know they have mainstream media plotting with them to destroy the Trump Administration. Why we even have a debt ceiling is absurd since it always has to be raised anyhow and there is no way the debt will ever be reduced. This is another one of those strange things nobody can answer in Washington.

The imminent default of the US government of course would not happen. If I was President, I would cut all salaries and expenses for those in government FIRST. Nobody in Congress will have 10 cents until such a budget is passed. Congress decided on Friday in the fast procedure a bridge financing that will last until the May 5th to avoid the imminent so-called “government shutdown”. But there maybe a deal – no funding for Trump’s Wall, symbolic to Democrats, and the budget will pass til September.

The Congress has not yet adopted the budget for the 2017 financial year, which ends on 30 September. The Democrats want to block the plan of Trumps Republicans in to construct a wall on the border with Mexico, and they are fighting to prevent any cuts to Obamacare. They are deliberately trying to sacrifice Social Security now to fund heathcare for “undocumented” illegal aliens and help their insurance companies who have doubled most people’s premiums.

The new emergency budget in the House of Representatives until May 5th, was adopted by 382 votes to 30 votes. In the Senate, approval was given by hand.

The Democrats are trying to orchestrate a shutdown and the media will blame Trump and can be counted on to make sure they will NOT report the truth. The danger with this strategy is more and more institutions will begin to realize our models are correct – avoid government paper and shift to top grade corporate. AAA Corporates do not default and their debt is backed by the assets of the company. Government debt is backed by politicians who can never tell the truth. Once government debt loses confidence among big money, it’s not coming back so fast.

Puck-Evil-Press-1988-Nove-21

Thank you ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post for your undying patriotism to defend ALL the people of the nation. No doubt they hatred of Donald Trump will fit in nicely with the ultimate drop in confidence in government overall, which part of Big Bang. Here is an illustration from Puck Weekly Magazine “The Evil Spirits of the Modern Day Press”, published Nov. 21, 1888. See history repeats because the passions of man never change. You guessed it – that was the US presidential election of 1888 held on Tuesday, November 6, 1888. It saw the incumbent Grover Cleveland (Democrat), challenged by the Republican Benjamin Harrison who won. Then too, the general election was pretty close with Cleveland winning the popular vote like Hillary, but by almost 1%, while Harrison managed to win the electoral vote 233 to 168. The more things appear to advance, the more they remain the same.

May 1 2017

North Korea – Beware of Internal Events


Armstrong Economics Blog/War

Re-Posted May 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Kim Jong Un

QUESTION: Marty; I find it really amazing how your computer picked Ukraine, then Syria, and then you said in an interview that you regard Korea as the most dangerous of the three. Is this all cyclical based?

Thanks

Looking forward to Hong Kong

PL

ANSWER: Yes. We feed all information into the system that is both economic and social or more specifically war/civil unrest. When you correlate everything into the Economic Confidence Model, it becomes clear that war and civil unrest emerge only from an economic downturn. The only exception is the conquest model from the theory of empire building. We are not “imperialistic” today as was the case during the 19th century. The US model moved from conquest to puppet vassal states – national building rather than occupying.

Nikkei-Y 4-30-2017

IBJYUS-Y 4-30-2017The Marco Polo Incident took place on July 7th, 1937 (1937.515), and is regarded as the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, which became World War II in the Pacific venue. If we look at this from Japan’s perspective, the peak of that 51.6 year wave picked the high in the Japanese economy and confidence in the Japanese government – 1989.115. If we add 72 years to the 1937.515 target, we come to 2009.515. Adding the War Cycle, this brought us to 2012.605. This lined up with the change in trend for the dollar/yen. The yen peak against the dollar was 2011. Successful launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 satellite aboard a three stage rocket (December 12, 2012) was in line with the War Cycle turning up 2012.605 with regard to Asia. So far, everything is in sync.

In the conflict with North Korea cannot be solved with posturing or some show of force. The only way to deal with them is to open direct talks. This nonsense of refusing to talk to North Korea until they comply is like kids in a schoolyard. Trump did say in his Reuters interview that the diplomatic efforts could ultimately fail. “There is a possibility that we will end up with a great, big conflict with North Korea.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called for stricter sanctions against the communist country. However, this has never worked and only provokes rocket and nuclear tests as a show of defiance and strength.

North Korea cannot reach California yet. The real danger of a North Korean nuclear attack is on Seoul or Tokyo. Keep in mind that this would be a desperate act most likely provoked by a domestic rise in civil unrest. If there is a fear that control will be lost, then an external enemy is needed to retain power. We should be more concerned about internal events right now. As long as his power is not threatened internally, then such an attack would not make sense. He does not have an arsenal of weapon to keep up a war. Beware of internal events – they are often the issue the drives madmen to act in desperation.

Apr 30 2017

Judge Jeanine Pirro Interviews Corey Lewandowski…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 29, 2017 by

Corey Lewandowski probably knows President Trump better than almost anyone.  Corey is grinning ear-to-ear after the Pennsylvania rally:

Apr 30 2017

President Trump Invites President Rodrigo Duterte To White House…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 30, 2017 by

{{snickering}} Well, who didn’t see this coming?…

(New York Post) President Trump spoke by phone Saturday with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte — praising the strongman for “fighting very hard to rid his country of drugs” and inviting him to Washington.

The two leaders also discussed regional security, including concerns over South Korea, the White House said in a statement.

No details were given on when Duterte would visit the US, but Trump also said he looked forward to visiting the Philippines in November for a summit with other Asian nations. (link)

As we shared five days ago – this is all part of a much, much bigger strategy.  Full explainer about how President Duterte fits in AVAILABLE HERE.  The insufferable media can’t even see it…. their intellectual dishonesty is becoming very annoyi

Apr 29 2017

Report: Secretary T-Rex Begins Reducing State Dept. Bureaucrats…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 28, 2017 by

A report from Bloomberg highlights the anxiety within the professional state department apparatus as Secretary Tillerson begins substantive cuts in the number of pontificating elitist bureaucrats.  It’s amazing how the ankle-biters never seem to recognize these consequential shifts in policy and approach toward dismantling the bureaucracy.

The State Department is the cornerstone of Deep State operations. It is a massively bloated institution filled with some of the most entrenched political globalists and ideologues.

(Via Bloomberg) The State Department plans to cut 2,300 U.S. diplomats and civil servants — about 9 percent of the Americans in its workforce worldwide — as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson presses ahead with his task of slashing the agency’s budget, according to people familiar with the matter.

The majority of the job cuts, about 1,700, will come through attrition, while the remaining 600 will be done via buyouts, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been publicly announced. William Inglee, a former Lockheed Martin Corp. official and policy adviser in Congress, is overseeing the budget cuts and briefed senior managers on the plan Wednesday, the people said.

The personnel cuts, which may be phased in over two years, represent the most concrete step taken by Tillerson as he seeks to reverse the expansion the department saw under former President Barack Obama’s administration and meet President Donald Trump’s demand — outlined in an executive order signed last month — to cut spending across federal agencies. A draft budget outline released in March for the year that begins Oct. 1 seeks a 28.5 percent reduction in State Department spending from fiscal 2016.  (read more)

He is moving “forward” at speeds Obama could not even dream of.

You and I will be anti-Trump trolls one day and MAGA heroes the next. Get used to it. Trump speed is the new normal. Some will call it flip-flopping, but that’s not what it is. Trump is dodging and weaving through reality faster than the reality can react to disrupt his plans.

I was explaining this to my wife. This is a roller-coaster now. Trump is no longer waiting for people to keep up. He is taking his bewildering art-of-the-deal campaign schtick into geopolitics, and for a lot of people who can’t keep up or hold on, it will be a rough ride.

Trump is no longer playing only with evil and cunning players who are still predictable, easily beatable dopes, like Hillary. He is playing against killers, with his own team of killers, and all the while he has scheming creeps like Hillary, BGI, SPLC, and the neocons gunning for him. Snake Ryan ready to bite when nobody is looking. “Warhead” McCain screaming for Russian blood. Psycho Kim and Samoa Obama plotting some kind of intrigue to take him down. And THOSE are the lightweights.

This is the majors now. Trump has to outwit world-class adversaries and “frenemies” by defining the deals that they will agree to. One minute they will think Trump is their friend – the next minute, a cunning, bitter foe.

And he has to do this with evil cheerleaders like Warhead, Linderace, Dipsy Dowd, Maggie Haterman, and Fake Yapper trashing him or praising him alternately, no matter which way he goes. They can’t keep up, either.

Neither can many around him. I think that half of the problem with advisers crashing into each other is they don’t realize what Trump is doing.

And people will trash you, and they will trash me. Get used to it. I’ve already caught plenty of people mocking me. Well, just wait a week in Trump time. Look stupid and conned by Trump one minute, and you look like a sage three days later.

Trump will not find perfect solutions. He will find OPTIMAL solutions. We cannot ask for more. Trump has stood by and watched Perfect murder Good for 8 years – maybe longer. He’s not gonna do it. He’s going to deliver the best outcome possible, and he’s not waiting for us to feel relaxed about it.

Best presidency ever! Just hang on. More winning is coming, but a lot of people are going to scream that it’s all over at EVERY turn.

The best way through this is to define viewpoints, not people, because people will shift as they change position and velocity in Trump gravity. Bash the neocon, warmonger, and dopey globalist positions – not the people who are going to hold them one moment and come loose from them later.

Trump is Jupiter moving through the asteroid belt. He is going to pull people into his orbit. A few will get slung off into space, but most will come along for the ride of their lives.

I am ON the Trump Train for good, even if I scream that I want off and can’t take it.

In the end, I only want to scream “TOO MUCH WINNING!!!”  (link)

….”And we will win, and you will win, and we will keep on winning… Believe me. And we will win so much, you will get tired of winning; and you will say: please Mr. Trump, we can’t take all of this winning… And I will say to you, NO. …We will win more, and we will keep winning,.. and we will win, and we will keep on winning…. I love you”…

~ President Donald Trump

Apr 28 2017

Vice President Pence Swearing-In Ceremony For Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 28, 2017 by

Earlier today Vice President Mike Pence participated in the final presidential commission ceremony for a cabinet member of the President Trump cabinet, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.

.

The Senate finally voted 60-38 yesterday to confirm Alex Acosta to the post. Acosta accepts the presidential commission and becomes the 27th labor secretary. The son of Cuban immigrants will lead a sprawling agency that enforces more than 180 federal laws covering about 10 million employers and 125 million workers.

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Apr 27 2017

Democrat Congressional Leadership Now Demand Trump Administration “Punish” China…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 26, 2017 by

It was only a few months ago when congressional democrat leadership were clutching their pearls because President-elect Trump held a phone call with the political leadership of Taiwan.  House and Senate Democrats rose to defend the honor of China around the precept of the Obama administrations’ acquiescence to the “one china” policy, and Trump’s audacity to call it into question.

Then something weird happened.

President Trump took office January 20th, and after many diplomatic contacts within the administration and their Chinese counterparts, President Trump and President Xi Jinping began to formulate a friendship.

April 5th/6th President Trump and President Xi Jinping met in Mar-a-lago for two days and the outcome has been historic and stunning cooperation between the U.S. and China.  China began pressuring North Korea to stop the military drum-beating.

President Trump obviously held a long strategy and outlook toward China and how the geo-political landscape could be remolded to benefit the U.S. if a new era of mutually beneficial action could begin [SEE HERE].

Quick, new talking points are needed.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer along with lesser house and senate leadership underlings tell their political operatives the new Democrat narrative demands that China must be attacked – because Trump.  Even if it means war, or something.

In a hilariously transparent 180° change in direction, the full Trump Derangement Syndrome took over immediately amid the Democrats.  China went from being a country worthy of the U.S. and Obama’s respect, to a country that is now the arch enemy and personification of all things anti-American.   This actually happened in the span of about two weeks.

Today the severity of the TDS was full frontal as Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen demanded the Trump administration begin “punishing” China, and called for “strong economic sanctions” against China to “force North Korea” to heel.

Following the briefing by Rex Tillerson (State), James Mattis (Defense) and Dan Coats (ODNI) of the full senate, many politically obedient democrats were quick to the microphones to demand more aggression by the White House toward China, because Trump.

These Democrat knuckleheads, who previously hailed China as a wonderful strategic ally, would have us go to war with China simply because President Trump is being much more successful diplomatically than the previous Obama administration.

Thankfully the Trump administration is not driven by such insane political ideology:

STATE DEPT – Past efforts have failed to halt North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs and nuclear and ballistic missile tests. With each provocation, North Korea jeopardizes stability in Northeast Asia and poses a growing threat to our Allies and the U.S. homeland.

North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is an urgent national security threat and top foreign policy priority. Upon assuming office, President Trump ordered a thorough review of U.S. policy pertaining to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.).

Today, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford, we briefed Members of Congress on the review. The President’s approach aims to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programs by tightening economic sanctions and pursuing diplomatic measures with our Allies and regional partners.

We are engaging responsible members of the international community to increase pressure on the D.P.R.K. in order to convince the regime to de-escalate and return to the path of dialogue.

We will maintain our close coordination and cooperation with our Allies, especially the Republic of Korea and Japan, as we work together to preserve stability and prosperity in the region.

The United States seeks stability and the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. We remain open to negotiations towards that goal. However, we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our Allies.  (link)

 

 

Apr 27 2017

BREAKING: NAFTA Call With President Trump, President Nieto (Mexico) and PM Trudeau (Canada)


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 26, 2017 by

Art of the deal glaringly visible in less than one-half of a single day’s media cycle.  Simply amazing.  These phone calls are also further evidence of how much leverage the U.S. carries in the entire NAFTA Trade construct.  [White House Press Release]

Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call With President Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada

Late this afternoon, President Donald J. Trump spoke with both President Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada.  Both conversations were pleasant and productive.

President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries.

President Trump said: “it is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation. It is an honor to deal with both President Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better.”   ###

 

Apr 27 2017

Citing New Soft Wood Import Tariff, Maine Lumber Mill to Add Jobs and Second Shift…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House  on April 26, 2017 by

President Trump has a simple economic platform: “Buy American and Hire American“; toward that goal all economic and fiscal policies are now directed to assist U.S. manufacturing companies and retain U.S. workers.  Period.

Two days ago Commerce Secretary Wilbur “Wilburine” Ross announced a 20% tariff, countervailing duties, on imported Canadian soft wood lumber.  Today, Pleasant River Lumber Co. in Jackman Maine announces their wood mills will now expand as a direct result of the beneficial impacts of even trade practices.

This is a big deal for this community.

MAINE – The Dover-Foxcroft-based Pleasant River Lumber company is expanding its Jackman sawmill in anticipation of increased demand for American lumber amid the U.S. government’s plans to levy tariffs on Canadian softwood.

In a media release Tuesday, Pleasant River Lumber said it is expanding its Moose River spruce mill in Jackman to add drying capacity this summer and hire up to 20 new workers for a second shift starting this fall.

“We have confidence with the recent tariff announcement a level playing field will exist that will allow us to invest in and expand our facilities in Maine,” said Jason Brochu, co-president of the family-owned Pleasant River Lumber.

The company employs 300 workers at its spruce and pine sawmills in Dover-Foxcroft, Jackman, Hancock and Sanford. The company acquired the Moose River Mill in Jackman in 2015, and it now produces about 85 million board feet of dimensional lumber a year.  (read more)

Some people might think this is not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.  However, it is a very big deal to that community; it is a very big deal to those families; it is a very big deal to those who will now have good paying jobs.

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

[SOURCE]

Apr 26 2017

More Visible Dots The Media Ignore In Trump’s Strategy Against North Korea…


Re-Posted from the Conservative Tree House on April 26, 2017 by

Hours before the Trump administration briefed 100 senators today on the issues surrounding North Korea, a more consequential announcement was made.

The jaw dropping announcement (hidden by U.S. media) appears to show just how long President Trump has been putting the North Korea strategy together.  However, before discussing that aspect, we review the Senate Briefing at the White House:

Today Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presided over a meeting meeting to brief Senators.

The details of that meeting have not been made public because of their classification and sensitivity.  The meeting lasted about one hour and discussed various financial and military options available for pressuring North Korea to end its nuclear program. (link)

Here’s where it gets really interesting.

For months the media have, at random, ridiculed President Trump for not distancing himself from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.  President Duterte has been cracking down on Filipino drug gangs in his country and his approach has been severe and extremely tough.  Indeed Duterte’s zero tolerance approach has been brutal.

However, shortly after his election, December 3rd 2016, President Trump chose not to refute Duterte for his approach toward confronting the Filipino drug gangs and drug epidemic.  The media were apoplectic.   Duterte responded by calling President Trump “a deep thinker“. Duterte said he was greatly pleased with the “rapport” he has established with the newly elected U.S. president.

Instead of President Trump calling out President Duterte for the severity of his approach, President Trump moderated any criticism and said he understood that Duterte was confronting the problem the best way he knew how for his country.

That was in December of 2016.

Well, guess who is now the rotating (every year) Chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)?

Yup, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

And just yesterday, after a visit last week from Vice-President Pence, ASEAN announced:

Southeast Asian nations would adopt a softer than usual tone about South China Sea disputes at a leaders’ summit on Saturday in Manila, and exclude references to militarization or island-building, according to a draft of the chairman’s statement.

Although some Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders will express “serious concern” over the “escalation of activities” in the disputed sea, ASEAN will drop references, or even allusions, to China’s construction of artificial islands and the military hardware it has placed on them, according excerpts of the draft seen by Reuters. (link)

China has been expanding its seven man-made islands in the Spratlys (South China Sea) for several years, and the action has been a considerable point of angst for the region and for U.S. geo-political strategists in the former Obama administration.

However, despite the activity, and despite the protestations by the Obama White House and Obama State Department, the general consensus has been there’s nothing any nation can do about it because China exerts tremendous economic leverage in the entire region.  Additionally, the man-made Islands are too far along for any substantive international efforts to thwart them. 

The horse giant panda is now fully out of the barn.

There’s no President Trump policy capable of reversing the position of China in this action.  Done is done.  However, the international view of legitimacy around these islands still carries some major political leverage if applied toward a greater regional need of similar consequence.

Enter the need for the international community, and ASEAN specifically, to see North Korea pull-back from their doomsday nuclear ambitions…. and President Trump understanding that given the nature of entire issue – it all comes down to leveraging China, using complex terms of political currency, valuation and international legitimacy, against North Korea.

The Giant Panda can eliminate the problem that is Kim Jong Un.

ASEAN Chairman, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, modifying the confrontational tone of Asian nations toward China is yet another useful carrot by U.S. President Trump to stimulate China’s increased pressure upon North Korea.

That’s a really big ‘get’ for President Xi Jinping.

“Complicated business folks, ….Complicated business”…  

Again, a review of the activity timeline reveals a long-term strategic approach: 

♦February 10th – President Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Abe at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago, w/both spouses, to discuss regional issues (including N-Korea).

♦February 27th – President Trump and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi meet in the White House Oval Office to discuss regional issues (including N-Korea).

♦March 15th – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits Japan, South Korea and China to follow up on February’s conversations and discuss the forward path (including N-Korea).

♦April 6th and 7th – President Trump hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago where they discussed all of the critical bilateral and regional issues (including N-Korea).  President Trump seeded the background by appointing Ambassador Terry Branstad, a 30-year personal friend of President Xi Jinping.

♦April 8th – Secretary Rex Tillerson debriefs the media.  <– CRITICAL READ

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

  • For the first time ever, China did not support Russia in a U.N. Security Council veto vote surrounding Syria.   China abstained.
  • China turned around 12 fully loaded cargo ships laden with imported coal from North Korea.  400,000 metric tonnes refused unloading.   China begins an embargo against North Korean coal.  China begins importing coking coal for steel-making from the U.S. coal mines.
  • Additionally, in furtherance of economic sanctions – China halts oil exports to North Korea.
  • Additionally, in furtherance of political isolation – China halts direct flights between Beijing, China and Pyongyang, North Korea.
  • And in the most stunning seismic shift of geo-political alliances, China says it is now open to discussions of a denuclearized North Korea, meaning getting rid of N-Korean nukes, WITHOUT N-Korea being included in the talks. Hello?  China, the United States, Japan, Russia and South Korea discussing how to de-nuke North Korea.  (A new Marshal Plan of sorts)

♦April 14th – President Trump announces policy directive to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin that there’s no need to label China as a currency manipulator.

♦April 15th – Vice President Pence arrived in Asia for a ten day visit (South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, Australia); positioned as the steady, stable and reliable administration policy closer (including N-Korea).

♦April 23rd – President Trump followed up on Pence’s visit with personal phone calls to China’s President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; again, the topic was North Korea.

♦April 24th – U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley brings the U.N. Security Council to the White House for lunch with President Trump.  The President spoke of the need for the U.N. to fulfill its original charter.

♦April 25th – ASEAN (Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte – rotating ASEAN Chairman) releases policy statement saying Southeast Asian nations agree to go easy on Beijing over South China Sea dispute.

Although some Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders will express “serious concern” over the “escalation of activities” in the disputed sea, ASEAN will drop references, or even allusions, to China’s construction of artificial islands and the military hardware it has placed on them, according excerpts of the draft seen by Reuters.

♦April 26th – President Trump invites all U.S. Senators to the White House for a classified briefing on North Korea.

♦April 28th – (THIS FRIDAY) U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be traveling to the U.N. to speak to the Security Council personally.