Earlier this evening President Donald Trump spoke at the NRCC dinner in Washington DC.  CTH would be remiss if we did not draw attention to @40:10:

…”We’re doing very, very well; and I think you’re going to have something very, very, special take place in a short period of time”…

Earlier today President Trump hosted leadership from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and national law enforcement officials to discuss the ongoing issues with Sanctuary Cities and immigration.

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WHITE HOUSE – SANCTUARY CITIES ARE UNDERMINING LAW ENFORCEMENT: Sanctuary jurisdictions obstruct Federal immigration enforcement efforts and put law enforcement at greater risk.

A “sanctuary city” generally refers to a State or local jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with Federal immigration enforcement, often by rejecting “detainer” requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and refusing to share information relating to potentially removable aliens.

• Detainers are used to request that a State or local law enforcement agency hold a criminal alien in local custody for up to 48 hours after their release on state charges to allow ICE to take custody of the alien and initiate removal proceedings.
• State and local law enforcement agencies routinely detain suspects for violating Federal laws at the request of federal authorities.
• The Constitution and Federal statues allow for ICE to detain illegal aliens, and for local police to do so at ICE’s request, relying on ICE’s determination of probable cause.

Detainers themselves establish probable cause of an alien’s removability and it would be absurd to require ICE to obtain a judicial warrant every time it detained an illegal alien.

Indeed, Congress authorized immigration officers, rather than Federal judges, to issue administrative warrants to arrest aliens based on probable cause to believe they are in violation of the immigration laws.

♦If this was necessary under the Fourth Amendment, immigration enforcement would grind to a halt.

• When sanctuary cities refuse to comply with detainer requests, law enforcement officers must carry out their immigration enforcement duties in workplaces, residences, and in the streets.

This can lead to ICE having to enter dangerous environments to arrest criminal aliens.
Some sanctuary city officials have gone as far as warning illegal aliens about upcoming immigration enforcement actions, allowing criminal aliens to prepare themselves and putting law enforcement, the public, and the aliens at even greater risk.

♦ENDANGERING COMMUNITIES: Reckless sanctuary policies endanger the safety of our communities and obstruct immigration enforcement actions which can prevent further crime.

Too many criminal illegal aliens have been released into American communities and gone on to commit crimes which could have been prevented had ICE been able to take the individuals into custody.

• In 2016, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) arrested a criminal illegal alien for possession of cocaine for sale and other charges.
• The individual had been deported three times previously and had prior convictions for similar offenses but was still released.
• SFPD arrested the individual again in 2017 on charges involving the sale of narcotics, yet the city again refused to comply with an ICE detainer request and the individual was released.
• SFPD arrested an illegal alien and alleged gang member more than ten times between 2013 and 2017 for charges including rape, assault, domestic battery, robbery, and vehicle theft.
• On each occasion ICE’s request to have the individual transferred to their custody or receive notice before his release was denied.

A criminal illegal alien was arrested in Cook County, Illinois in 2011 for driving on a suspended license from a prior conviction for driving under the influence (DUI).

• ICE issued a detainer request but the individual was released from jail and arrested less than a year later for aggravated DUI causing death.
• Activists say sanctuary policies make illegal aliens feel safe enough to report crimes to police.
• Illegally present crime victims and witnesses are eligible for certain immigration benefits, like the U-visa and T-visa, to encourage their cooperation in reporting crime.

♦IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: President Trump’s Administration has and will continue to pursue strong immigration enforcement based on the rule of law.

President Trump’s Administration has taken action to ensure our Nation’s immigration laws are faithfully enforced.

The Department of Justice has filed a legal action regarding three California laws that intentionally obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration law, regulate private entities that seek to cooperate with Federal authorities, and impede consultation and communication between Federal and State law enforcement officials.

During fiscal year (FY) 2017, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) made more than 140,000 administrative arrests and effected more than 225,000 removals.

• From President Trump’s inauguration through the end of FY 2017, ERO made more than 110,568 arrests compared to only 77,806 in all of FY 2016.

However, more resources are needed to ensure law enforcement is able to do its job and enforce our immigration laws.

• There are nearly one millions aliens in the United States with final orders of removal but not enough officers or resources to enforce the orders.
• Many sheriffs have backed off of holding criminal aliens for fear of lawsuits.

President Trump meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS) today at the White House. This is their first meeting since the “Great Realignment” began {Go Deep} and there is much to discuss:

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[Transcript] 12:07 P.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. It’s a great honor to have the Crown Prince with us.

Saudi Arabia has been a very great friend and a big purchaser of equipment and lots of other things. And one of the biggest investments in the United States is their — I guess it’s your big investment — is buying stock in companies and various other things in the United States and creating jobs.

We’ve become very good friends over a fairly short period of time. I was in Saudi Arabia in May. And we are bringing back hundreds of billions of dollars into the United States. And we understand that, and they understand that.

Some of the things that — have been approved and are currently under construction and will be delivered to Saudi Arabia very soon, and that’s for their protection. But if you look, in terms of dollars, $3 billion, $533 million, $525 million — that’s peanuts for you. (Laughter.) You should have increased it. $880 million, $645 million, $6 billion — that’s for frigates; $889 million, $63 million — and that’s for various artillery.

Some of the things that we’re now working on and that have been ordered and will shortly be started in construction and delivered: the THAAD system — $13 billion; the C-130 airplanes, the Hercules, great plane — $3.8 billion; the Bradley Vehicles — that’s the tanks — $1.2 billion; and the P-8 Poseidons — $1.4 billion. And what it does is it really means many, many jobs. We’re talking about over 40,000 jobs in the United States.

So we make the best equipment in the world. There’s nobody even close. And Saudi Arabia is buying a lot of this equipment, and a lot of people are at work making the equipment, not only for us — because we, as you know, we’re getting a $700 billion military proposal. And that’s even a lot for you guys. But we’re getting a $700 billion military plan this year, and 716 will be next year — $716 billion.

So we really have a great friendship, a great relationship. I would really have to say the relationship was, to put it mildly, very, very strained during the Obama administration. And the relationship, now, is probably as good as it’s really ever been, and I think will probably only get better. Tremendous investments made in our country. And that means jobs for our workers, jobs for our people.

Also, defense. We’re talking about defense, and we’re working very hard with Saudi Arabia. And they’re also footing a big part of the bill for defense — the whole Middle East. And we know what’s happened in the Middle East. And it has not been a pretty picture for the United States or for anybody.

And a lot of things are changing, and they’re changing very rapidly. As you know, ISIS is now — we’ve recaptured almost 100 percent of the territory, as you probably have heard before anybody. But we’ve captured close to 100 percent of the territory held by ISIS. We’ve moved very rapidly, very quickly. And that’s, really, coming to an end in that part of the world — it’s coming to an end. And we’ll be able to get out of certain areas that we’ve wanted to get out of for a long period of time. And other countries can handle it. At this point, they’ll be able to handle it.

So it’s a great honor to have you and your representatives here. Crown Prince, thank you very much. Thank you for being here.

CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN: Thank you, Mr. President. Actually, the relations between Saudi Arabia and United States of America, it’s old relation. We are the oldest ally for the United States of America in the Middle East.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN: More than 80 years of alliance and big interest — politically, economically, and security, in different area — a lot of area. And the foundation for relation, it’s really huge and really deep.

And a different issue — we know that today, the relation, it’s the cause of more than 4 million jobs in the United of States of America, directly and non-directly. Also, it’s a cause for a lot of jobs in Saudi Arabia directly and non-directly.

And, as you know, Mr. President, from day one you’ve reached this office, we’ve planned to tackle 200 billion U.S. dollars for opportunities in the next four years, but it end up with 400 billion U.S. dollar for opportunities.

We’ve talked to you, Mr. President, about the military deals, the implementation, and it is more than 50 percent. And, also, the implementation overall in the 400 billion U.S. dollar of opportunity, more than 55 percent.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN: We planned this for next 10 years, but it happens in one year, we implement 55 percent, though. So this is signal that there is a lot of things could be tackled in the close future, and more opportunities. And that why we are here today, to be sure that we’ve tackled all the opportunities and achieve it, and also get rid of all the threats facing our both countries and the whole world.

So I am very glad to be here today.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well that’s right. And you know, one thing that you have been really focused on is the terrorism threat and the funding of terrorism. And whether it’s Saudi Arabia or other countries, as we know, there will be no funding. It is — we have a zero tolerance for the funding of terrorists, and we’re working very hard. And I will say that Saudi Arabia has been working very hard on that, as are certain other countries in the Middle East.

When I was there in May, I think it was one of the most incredible two-day meetings that I’ve ever seen — that anybody has ever seen. It was an amazing two-day period. We had 56 countries. We had — everybody was there at the head of every country. Virtually — I guess, in every case, it was the head of the country. And we talked about terrorism and the funding of terrorism. And it will not be allowed. It will not be allowed. That would be the one thing that would end the relationship with any country. So I think there’s a very big focus on that — the funding of terrorism — meaning, it’s over.

And the other thing that I really am very happy about is that we talked about 400 billion dollars’ worth of investment, of which we’ve already invested and seen invested $200 billion to our companies, to various other places, and people that make things. So a lot of places throughout the United States are benefitting by this massive investment made by Saudi Arabia to buy product from the United States.

And again, we make the best military product in the world, whether it’s missiles or planes or anything else. There’s nobody that even comes close. So I just want to thank you and I want to congratulate you on everything. Thank you very much.

CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN: Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.

Q Can you comment on the bombings in Austin, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The bombings in Austin are terrible. The local, state, and federal are working hand-in-hand to get to the bottom of it. This is obviously a very, very sick individual, or maybe individuals. These are sick people, and we will get to the bottom of it. We will be very strong. We have all sorts of federal agencies over there right now. We’re searching.

What’s going on in Austin — a great place, tremendous place — is absolutely disgraceful. So we have a lot of power over there. We’re looking; it’s not easy to find. But these are sick people and we have to find them as soon as possible. We have to find them, really, immediately.

I will say, working with Texas, working with the local governments has been great. But we have to produce, we have to find this very sick person or people.

Thank you all very much.

Q How was your call with President Putin?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on the victory — his electoral victory.

The call had to do, also, with the fact that we will probably get together in the not-too-distant future so that we can discuss arms, we can discuss the arms race. As you know, he made a statement that being in an arms race is not a great thing. That was right after the election — one of the first statements he made.

And we are spending $700 billion this year on our military, and a lot of it is that we are going to remain stronger than any other nation in the world by far.

We had a very good call, and I suspect that we’ll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control, but we will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have. And also to discuss Ukraine and Syria and North Korea and various other things.

So I think, probably, we’ll be seeing President Putin in the not-too-distant future.

Q How are you going to counter Iran? This is a Saudi —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re going to see what happens. The Iran deal is coming up. It’s probably another month or so, and you’re going to see what I do. But Iran has not been treating that part of the world, or the world itself, appropriately. A lot of bad things are happening in Iran. The deal is coming up in one month, and you will see what happens. Okay?

Q Your Royal Highness, should the President pull out of the Iran deal?

CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN: Well, we’ll talk about that today.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: (Laughs.) Okay? Thank you very much, everybody.

END – 12:18 P.M. EDT (LINK)

Against the backdrop of ‘Phase 2’ trade policy initiatives based on reciprocity, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross talks to CNBC about tariffs, carve-outs and protecting national security ahead of his meeting with the European commissioner for trade.

The hypocritical European Union has expansive protectionist tariffs against U.S. products and has threatened retaliation if the U.S. enforces the Trump administration about trade reciprocity.

Additionally, the Trump administration (Ross, Lighthizer, Navarro and Mnuchin) are focusing on China’s trade theft of intellectual property. According to Reuters reporting there is a possibility of $60 billion in trade tariffs being enforced against China for their IP violations and practices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is expected to unveil up to $60 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports by Friday, targeting technology, telecommunications and intellectual property, two officials briefed on the matter said Monday. (more)

However, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang puts the panda mask on by saying: “We don’t want to see a trade war” with U.S., and hopes to negotiate disputes. The U.S. market is the customer for the manufactured products by China and Beijing understands the U.S. team holds the leverage.