Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks to the media following his presentation to the U.N. surrounding ongoing issues with Iran, the failed JCPOA and the updated U.S. sanction policy.

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[Transcript] SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon, everyone. We had a productive Security Council meeting where the United States made clear that Iran’s ballistic missile activity is out of control and that they are defying the UN Security Council 2231 in numerous ways.

Iran has been testing – on a testing spree and a proliferation spree and this must come to an end. We want to work with all members of the Security Council to reimpose tougher restrictions on the Iranian ballistic missiles. The restrictions that were in place under UNSCR 1929 are the place that the world needs to be today. This threat is real and upon us. We clearly see that the JCPOA didn’t succeed in stopping this malign activity. This Security Council has a responsibility to protect citizens in the Middle East, Americans traveling through the Middle East, Europeans who are now at risk from Iranian missiles, and we called upon every member of the Security Council to undertake actions that would achieve that.

With that, I’m happy to take a couple of questions.

MR PALLADINO: Let’s start with CBS, Pam Falk.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. It’s Pamela Falk from CBS. Do you envision any additional sanctions on either Iran or on the European Union given the fact that the SPV, according to Iran’s chief of staff of the president, is about to go into effect in two or three weeks, meaning avoiding U.S. sanctions given what you said today about the proliferation?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Sure. So I never get out in front of decisions that we make about sanctions. We have to evaluate the facts as they present themselves. But we’ve been unambiguous with respect to those things that are permissible and those that are not. Should it be the case that the Europeans develop an SPV, we’ll look at it. There are humanitarian exemptions in the sanctions that have been put in place for foodstuffs and medicine. If the activity that is undertaken is consistent with that, we obviously won’t emplace sanctions. But to the extent that there are violations of our sanctions, we intend to enforce them with great rigor against any party who is a participant in those violations.

MR PALLADINO: (Inaudible) BBC.

QUESTION: Right here. Right here. Thank you, Secretary. BBC. Good afternoon.

SECRETARY POMPEO: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Secretary, you heard your European allies expressing their continued support for JCPOA. You also – even the French ambassador talking about how pressure and sanctions might not change a dynamic much alone. If you’re here exactly where we are one year from now, another 2231 meeting where your sanctions haven’t changed the behavior of the Iranian regime, they are still adhering to the deal, and their missile activity or regional activity is (inaudible) less as where we are, what is next? I ask that because Mr. Hook standing here just two weeks ago talked about military option, and many of your critics are saying you’re basically repeating the Iraq playbook and that this is all a pretense for war. What is the next step if your sanctions do not work a year from now?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So back to first principles. The first thing that didn’t work was the JCPOA. All the ballistic missile activity, save for the last two that I spoke about today, occurred during the JCPOA. So if you’re looking for an agreement that was unable to contain assassination efforts in Europe, the establishment of an equivalent of Lebanese Hizballah on the cusp of being achieved in Yemen, malign activity in Iraq by the Iranians, the missile activity to which we were debating today – if you’re looking for bad activity, this all occurred during the JCPOA. So if you’re looking for a failed agreement, I got a good one for you.

Now it’s time for this Security Council to get serious about this real risk from proliferation from the Iranian regime. And it is our determination to do everything we can, everything within – as the President says, everything we can to make sure that we do the right thing. We’re going to exert American leadership to build a coalition – and you heard today, you heard 11 members of the Security Council join the United States in expressing their concerns about the Iranian missile proliferation. We’re going to work with a coalition to build out a set of responses that deliver deterrence against Iran and its continued proliferation of ballistic missiles and ballistic missile systems that have the potential to carry nuclear warheads.

MR PALLADINO: Fox News, Adam Shaw, please.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Adam Shaw, Fox News. We saw a lot of support for the JCPOA from the European countries today. We also saw a lot of criticism of Iran’s destabilizing activities. Are you getting any sense that European countries are beginning to come around to your way of thinking on Iran?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So I’ll let the European countries speak for themselves with respect to where they are, but this much is clear: We have a different view on the JCPOA, as we should – or we’re not ambiguous when I speak with my European counterparts. We’re very clear about that. They view it as the linchpin. I view it as a disaster and I think President Trump does as well.

Now the challenge is this: We continue to see the Islamic Republic of Iran behaving in ways that are inconsistent with keeping people safe all around the world, and we need to figure out how together we can build out a coalition to push back against that. There are lots of places that can occur. It can occur while the JCPOA is still in effect, that is, while they’re still inside of it. But make no mistake, American leadership is determined to work not only with the Europeans – we think of Germany, France, and Britain, but many other European countries who share our concerns as well, countries throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa all joining with the United States under our leadership to – first, as a first step, acknowledge the risk that Iran presents and then set up a response that will ultimately deter them.

MR PALLADINO: Last question. Al Jazeera, James Bays.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, James Bays from Al Jazeera.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: You were today in the chair that’s normally occupied by Ambassador Haley. She said in an interview the – about responsibility for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, she said, “It was the Saudi Government, and MBS is the head of the Saudi Government. So they are all responsible and they don’t get a pass.” Do you agree that Mohammed bin Salman is responsible?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So I think Ambassador Haley said something that’s very consistent with what President Trump and I have both said, which is that we have already held accountable a large number of persons who were responsible for the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi, that we will continue to investigate and take the facts where they lead, and get to a place where we hold those responsible accountable. We’ll do that.

At the same time, and I didn’t hear these remarks by Ambassador Haley, but I’m confident that she would share my view that America’s interests in the region are important. And our partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an important one. It has delivered American security in important ways in President Trump’s first two years in office, and we intend to continue to work with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to keep America safe.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you all.

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President Donald Trump invites the media to stick around and watch as he highlights the resistance between his administration and democrats on border security.

Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer are very uncomfortable allowing the media to hear their resistance discussion.

President Trump signs H.R. 390: The “Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018,” which authorizes assistance to entities engaged in aiding individuals and communities in Iraq or Syria who are being, or are likely to be, targeted for genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.

After signing the bill [@03:00] President Trump took questions from the media.

Early this morning China transmitted and interesting tweet position that was/is a transparent display of their panda mask. In essence the panda play was a call for team USA to drop the zero-sum outlook and seek a win/win. Given the historic nature of Chinese negotiations the tweet was rather funny. However, it does highlight the dance.

Additionally, a few hours later President Trump tweeted about ongoing U.S-China trade discussions and something to watch for:

Moments ago we received the first indications of Chairman Xi’s panda play:

(Via Wall Street Journal) China agreed to reduce tariffs on U.S. autos to 15%, down from 40% currently, during a phone call with U.S. officials that opened the latest round of trade talks aimed at settling a trade dispute festering between the world’s two largest economic powers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He informed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer of the move in a phone call late Monday, according to the person. It wasn’t clear when the change would take effect, but Washington is pushing Beijing to make concessions as soon as possible.  (read more)

Here’s the precursor tweet from China.  For those who are interested in following the dance, it is important to note this message was transmitted *after* the phone call between Premier Liu, Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Lighthizer.

Obviously those who follow standard negotiation tactics from China will note the transparent panda mask message behind this tweet.  China doesn’t do win/win, they never have.  Historically Beijing has no concept of win/win negotiations where each party gains a benefit; it is not part of their DNA strain to even fathom such an approach.  For China the negotiation strategy is simple: if it doesn’t benefit China, it is not done. Period.

China requesting a win/win is simply the dragon putting on a cunning panda mask and messaging to enhance their position through the utility of their purchased Wall Street multinational allies inside the U.S. [People like CoC President Tom Donohue]

However, here’s where it gets really interesting….. and also how we can reconcile the 25 minute lead-off discussion from Chairman Xi at the G20 dinner in Buenos Aires.

President Donald Trump outmaneuvered Chairman Xi and the ruling Chinese communist party over North Korea. Through a well executed -and profoundly unorthodox- strategy, President Trump severed the influence of Beijing over Kim Jong-un.

President Trump did not confront Chairman Xi on this directly, instead he led China down a path where Trump controlled all the options.  Now that the Korean relationship is moving toward reunification there is no way for China to put their influence back into play.

South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un are essentially united.

This was all done by President Trump smartly taking a unique approach and removing the Beijing influence.

President Trump then communicated directly with Kim Jong-un; and that meant no turning back.  As a direct result China lost their primary geopolitical weapon against U.S. economic policy.

Many people saw what happened in North Korea; and most recognized Trump had established a paradigm shift in the trilateral relationship; however, few expanded their review of Trump’s DPRK strategy to contemplate: what he achieved was only one phase toward the president’s primary objective – a full and comprehensive U.S-China reset.

The geopolitical and economic confrontation with China is President Trump’s legacy initiative.  This is his signature objective; everything else is less-than.

Chairman Xi has now witnessed the cunning strategy of his adversary.  China can no longer underestimate the strategy.  It is critical to understand how incredibly out-played China was over the North Korean issue.  President Trump neutered decades of Chinese duplicity.  Chairman Xi, and by extension, communist China, was outmatched.

Simultaneously, Chairman Xi got a taste of his own medicine.  In the DPRK contest President Trump mirrored the panda mask approach.  Trump praised Xi to a level that his approach was routinely criticized by U.S. media as over indulgent; but that criticism didn’t matter – it actually played directly into Trump’s strategy.

Chairman Xi could not initially fathom an opponent that would use criticism as a weapon and allow the appearance of domestic weakness as an international strategy.  Beijing was caught off guard, and Xi allowed his perspective of Trump to be clouded by historic standards therein.  Additionally, Chairman Xi watched as POTUS initiated trade conflicts with his own allies over steel, aluminum, soft-wood lumber, and even washing machines.

As Xi looked out his window, surely Trump was bluffing against South Korea, Japan, the EU (writ large), Canada and Mexico…. but Trump doesn’t bluff.  If Trump was willing to walk through the firestorm of western allied criticism (over his trade policy) what would this same person do in trade conflict against a geopolitical foe?

Trump walked away from TPP. Trump walked away from the Paris Treaty.  Trump walked away from the G7 communique in Canada.  Trump walked away from the G20 climate communique in Buenos Aires.  Hell, Trump withstood the firestorm of criticism over Kashoggi and leveraged Saudi Arabia into increased OPEC oil production which hurts all of China’s strategic allies (Russia, Iran, Venezuela etc).

How do you think Chairman Xi reflected upon the mounting demands from an economic adversary (Trump) knowing what Xi was witnessing from this independent Trump toward his own economic allies? See the scale of shifting perspective?

Not only is this U.S. president willing to go to the trade mattresses, he was willing to go to these damned mattresses while simultaneously executing a DPRK strategy that removed the primary arrow from Panda’s quiver.

Chairman Xi, and his economic council of advisors writ large, have to accept that President Trump -through his eagle talon action- actually wants the conflict with China, while he simultaneously praises them in public.

Hundreds of years worth of China’s well-honed cunning negotiation strategy is being used against them.

Do they feel rucky?

A relatively rare interview with a key senior advisor and emissary for President Trump, Jared Kushner. Topics include: the upcoming chief of staff position; federal prison reform and the first-step act; and the ongoing dialogue in the middle east.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has updated the data for the number of jobs that are available in the U.S. economy.  More than 7 million jobs are available for an estimated unemployed labor force (job seekers) of approximately 6 million.

Additionally, what is interesting to note is the sectors where the rate of available jobs is increasing the most. [See Table A – as below]  What you can clearly see is the rate of highest job openings is within the Main Street economy (blue and white collar).

To consider the state of the economy; and contrast the punditry opinion of the economic strength therein; it is important to look at what types of jobs are growing.

Ex. as we can see the “manufacturing” sector available jobs continues to grow at a rate higher than the companies within the industry can hire workers to fill them.

Additionally, and importantly, another sector with expanded job openings is “retail”.  This is a key indicator of downstream consequences from economic growth. People have money to spend, and retailers need workers to support the shopping demand.

When considering the current health and future expansion of the U.S. economy it is an excellent sign that durable goods makers are continuing to add jobs.  More and more manufacturing capacity is coming on-line each month and that means more jobs.

The bottom line is the U.S. Main Street economy is very healthy; wage rates are increasing as a natural outcome of supply/demand within the labor market; and there’s no indication that dynamic is going to change anytime soon.

MAGAnomics makes a balanced economy.

The Trump economic policy simply works.

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

7,000,079 jobs currently available!

Lots of speculation around the DC circuit about who will replace President Trump’s outgoing chief of staff John Kelly.  However, one name seems to be gaining considerable consensus, congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC).

According to a statement from Mr. Meadows office:

“Serving as Chief of Staff would be an incredible honor. The President has a long list of qualified candidates and I know he’ll make the best selection for his administration and for the country.”

I hope y’all are hanging in there with me today because each of these Sunday posts is essentially an audio-video chapter in one singular book.  A stunningly deep book that explains the entire purpose of Trump from his/our perspective.

Here is an absolutely perfect, and in many ways jaw-dropping, interview with the head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Legarde.   It would be easy to write 10,000 background words on this singular interview alone. Decades of advanced globalist monetary/trade policy -vs- the recent uprising in economic nationalism.  THAT is the significant backstory at work here.

As her homeland France erupts in turmoil, elitist Legarde represents the personification of why those flames are present.  Freedom -v- Serfdom, with messaging from a control agent of the cloistered class.  However, here’s the stunner… pay real close attention at 04:34 of this interview where Legarde outlines the analysis (IMF economic model) where the IMF is forecasting U.S. GDP growth….  what number does she share?  WATCH:

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Did you hear that?

3.7% GDP growth for the U.S. is projected by the international financial community [global bankers].   This is the head financial liberal for the global elitist class admitting Trump has more than doubled the growth rate of the U.S. economy in two years.   Remember, simultaneous to this, when adjusted for inflation, the rest of the world is stagnant to shrinking in the same measure.

How is it possible that Trump is doubling the U.S. economic growth rate, and the rest of the planet is stagnant or shrinking?

3.7% GDP growth on an economy of $22 trillion is more than $700 billion.

President Trump is growing the U.S. economy at a rate greater than $700 billion per year.

Think about that.

Think about the scale of that.

Think about the scale of that in relation to the scale of all nation’s GDP.

President Trump is expanding the U.S. economy, each year, by an amount larger than the entire economy of Saudi Arabia.

Put another way – U.S. President Trump’s MAGAnomic policies are enlarging the U.S. economy, every year, at a rate that compares to approximately half of Canada’s entire economy and two-thirds of Mexico.

How is this possible in an era when all other developed countries show signs of stagnation and lack of growth?

The simple answer cuts to the core of why those nations, and the multinational benefactors within them, are aligned against Donald Trump….

…He is stopping the export of American wealth.

President Trump is the first U.S. president in history, to start dismantling the process that exports U.S. wealth to the benefit of all other nations.

After World War II, the U.S. allowed our economic trade models to be used to help rebuild Europe and Japan.  The tariffs put on U.S. goods helped both rebuild their economies; however, once rebuilt – the tariffs never came off.

Our politicians allowed the one-way economic benefit to remain in place even after our “allies” got back on their feet.   Those nations then started bribing (lobbying) our politicians to retain that process indefinitely.

President Donald Trump, through the execution of his policies and the global trade reset, is saying: “No More“!!

He is confronting them head-on, and they are going bananas.

Cue the visual…

The biggest flaw that people make is thinking POTUS Trump cares about the DC swamp enough to confront it, or expend energy on it….. in my humble opinion, he doesn’t.

He’s working on generational issues that are much bigger and consequential than the administrative state. The DC deep state is downstream from where POTUS is working.

Donald Trump is, well, essentially, John Galt.

Dutchman: […] “ALL this attack on DJT, the man, candidate and President, is NOT because of his demeanor, etc. It is BECAUSE he is taking on China, Globalists and D.C. swamp.

POTUS is largely focusing on China and trade, because if successful, the d.c. swamp becomes irrelevant.

As the economic engine switches from Wall st. to Main street, the swamp will realign its priorities.

On the other hand, putting a bunch of swamp creatures in jail, while leaving China and the globalist system in place, wouldn’t really accomplish anything of substance.

A new generation of swamp creatures would move up, and the behavior would continue.”

President Trump is the first U.S. President to confront Beijing directly -head on- and the Chinese respect him immensely for it. It is an inherently adversarial relationship; but it is also a conflict where opponents respect their enemy because the outcome is victory or death. Ultimately, this, from the perspective of China, is a zero-sum contest.

President Trump is also the first U.S. President to: (1) understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask; and (2) be willing to directly confront that dynamic. That’s where U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer comes in.

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Ambassador Lighthizer is willing to go to the mattresses because he knows that ultimately his kids future, and his bosses’ grand-kids future, are entirely dependent on victory.  Freedom or serfdom, those are the alternatives.  Yes, this is that big a deal.  The biggest of all big deals (pun intended) in the last century.

There is also no doubt in my mind that President Trump has a very well thought out long-term strategy regarding China.

President Trump takes strategic messaging toward the people of china very importantly. President Trump has, very publicly, complimented the friendship he feels toward President Xi Jinping; and praises Chairman Xi for his character, strength and purposeful leadership. President Trump knows how to play their panda/dragon games.

Nuance and subtlety is everything in China. Culturally harsh tones are seen as a sign of weakness and considered intensely impolite in public displays between officials; especially amid adversaries. Respect is earned through strength and cunning.

To build upon a projected and strategic message – President Trump seeded the background by appointing Ambassador Terry Branstad, a 30-year personal friend of President Xi Jinping.

To enhance and amplify the message – and broadcast cultural respect – U.S. President Trump used Mar-a-Lago as the venue for their visit, not the White House. And President Trump’s beautiful granddaughter, Arabella, sweetly serenaded the Chinese First Family twice in Mandarin Chinese song showing the utmost respect for the guests and later for the hosts.

Why the constant warm messaging?

What is the purpose?

What does all this have to do with a trade confrontation?

Historic Chinese geopolitical policy, vis-a-vis their totalitarian control over political sentiment (action) and diplomacy through silence, is evident in the strategic use of the space between carefully chosen words, not just the words themselves.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and then the action continues.

The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately. The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.

It is specifically because he understands that Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine of the Xi regime.

In essence Trump is mirroring the behavior of China while confronting their economic duplicity.

China has no cultural or political space between peace and war; they are a historic nation based on two points of polarity. They see peace and war as coexisting with each other.

China accepts and believes opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Flowing between these polar states is a natural dynamic to be used -with serious contemplation- in advancing objectives as needed.

Peace or war. Win or lose. Yin and Yang. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with China; they are not constitutionally capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome. If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war. In politics or economics the same perspective is true. It is a zero-sum outlook.

If it does not benefit China, it is not done !

Therefore the economic battle must be carefully waged to deliver a series of alternative thoughts in the mind of Beijing.  They must view specific action as their best interest.  Any reversal in the current standard of benefit is viewed as a loss; the Chinese will not cede to any losses.

To challenge those who hold this zero-sum position, you must first change the standard.

This means China must lose first before the negotiations can begin.  The baseline within the negotiation must be reset.  Once the baseline position is reset, then negotiation can be viewed by the Chinese as a gain.  This is the only way to get the Chinese to agree to any terms.

If the baseline losses to China are not currently firmed, meaning Beijing and Xi Jinping see their current position as the standard, then President Trump and Bob Lighthizer need to wait longer before engaging.

Big Panda must see their diminished bamboo forest as the natural, current, and diminishing forecast status.  Only then will Panda engage in negotiations.  China must be in a seemingly perpetual stasis of losing before they will contemplate their need to achieve gains.

This is an economic and geopolitical battle that requires nerves of steel and an incredible amount of cunning and strategy.  As Trump resets the baseline, China will make multiple simultaneous moves to counter any potential losses.

President Trump, Secretary Ross and U.S.T.R. Lighthizer must think well ahead of China (they have); and make moves early in the conflict (they have); long before China realizes they are being confronted (they did).   {Go Deep}

As we saw with the DPRK showdown Trump was several moves ahead of Xi, and blocked the counter-offense position of the Red Dragon before it was deployed.

President Trump will not back down from his position; the U.S. holds all of the leverage and the issue must be addressed. President Trump has waiting three decades for this moment. This President and his team are entirely prepared for this.

We are finally confronting the geopolitical Red Dragon, China!

The Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace and war. The symbol in any figure’s right hand has more significance than one in its left hand. Also important is the direction faced by the symbols central figure. The emphasis on the eagles stare signifies the preferred disposition. An eagle holding an arrow also symbolizes the war for freedom, and its use is commonly referred to the liberation fight of righteous people from abusive influence. The eagle on the original seal created for the Office of the President showed the gaze upon the arrows.

The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop’s Fable

An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.