According to the DOJ Attorney General William Barr will release the redacted version of the Mueller report on Thursday morning.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department expects to make a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation public Thursday morning, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The redacted report would be sent to Congress and also made available to the public, spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. (read more)

National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow holds an impromptu press conference today with media discussing the current state of the economy. Kudlow focuses attention to the economic gains amid the middle-class.

President Trump visits Nuss Truck and Equipment in Burnsville, Minnesota, where he participates in a roundtable discussion on the economy and tax reform.  Anticipated start time 2:30pm EST.

UPDATE: Video Added

WH livestream Link – Fox10 Livestream Link – GST Livestream Link (active)

The ninth circuit court of appeals has ruled unanimously in favor of staying an earlier ruling from Federal Judge Richard Seeborg which blocked President Trump from returning illegal aliens (economic migrants) to Mexico pending their asylum hearing.

The repatriation/deportation program can continue. A major win for President Trump

(Via Associated Press) 4:45 p.m. – A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a judge’s order that would have stopped the Trump administration from returning asylum seekers to Mexico.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay Friday.  (link)

Global economics, and the way the financial media spin, can be funny at times.  On one hand the pretentious global community scoffs at American Exceptionalism and claims the U.S. is only one country amid a international community of equals; on the other hand the reality of the U.S. being the leading economy in the world, and their need to retain access therein, slaps them in the face like a cold fish…

Investment capital flows to the location of highest return.  Amid the U.S. MAGAnomic growth; global investment is inbound to the USA.  The EU and Asia are in a period of low to stagnant growth…  lots of high-brow teeth gnashing.  To make matters worse, Trump is leveraging their weakness against them as he renegotiates reciprocal trade deals.

The G20 IMF and World Bank’s 2019 Annual Spring Meetings of finance ministers (fancy name to describe Mnuchin’s job) is taking place in Washington DC.  The finance ministers are stomping their feet at horrible Trump hoarding all the economic growth.

(Reuters) […] Policymakers from the Group of 20 industrialized countries are worried that the weakness evident in key economies could spread, especially if elevated trade tensions, such as those between the United States and China, escalate further.

“The balance of risks remains skewed to the downside,” Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said at a news conference following a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers. “We recognize the risk that growth prospects might deteriorate if weakening in key economies feed into each other.”

[…] As the chair country of this year’s G20 proceedings, Japan wants to deepen talks on global imbalances – an effort to divert Washington’s attention from bilateral trade imbalances and stave off U.S. pressure to negotiate two-way trade deals.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, speaking at an event on the sidelines of the meetings in Washington, said the rules-based order of multilateralism is increasingly under threat and leaders must uphold international cooperation.  (read more)

Horrible Trump is not following the “rules-based order of multilateralism”.  So what exactly does Germany mean by that?….

For the answer lets look at the EU proposal today to avoid Horrible Trump’s demands for fair and reciprocal trade agreements:

(Reuters 2) […]  The EU is expected next week to give final clearance to the start of formal trade talks with the U.S. that could lead to the removal of duties on industrial goods and ease transatlantic tensions.

However, those talks face a series of hurdles, not least the U.S. insistence that market access for its farm productsfeature in the negotiations, something the EU has ruled out.

Germany, whose exports of cars and parts to the U.S. account for more than half the EU total, wants to press ahead with talks to ward off tariffs its carmakers, including Volkswagen, Mercedes maker Daimler and BMW.

France, with few car exports to the U.S., has resisted, insisting that climate change provisions should feature in any deal – a difficult demand given Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. (more)

So the EU demands include: continued blocks to U.S. agriculture exports; keep open access for their German high-end automobiles; and force the U.S. to join the climate change nonsense.  This is their plan for “free, fair and reciprocal” trade?…. LOL.

Yet somehow they wonder why investment is flowing into the U.S.?

Go figure.

President Trump’s #1 economic challenge right now is to re-skill a new generation workforce to support all the expanded manufacturing investment in the U.S.  This is not a bad problem to have…  Hundreds of new and innovative vocational development programs are ongoing to increase the skills of the U.S. workforce.

Winnamins.

Earlier today President Trump tweeted his support for a plan to use sanctuary cities to house border crossers pending their asylum hearings:

In response to the tweet, President Trump was ask for additional commentary during a White House event to support 5G infrastructure development:

[Transcript] Q — can you tell us your plans about sanctuary cities and illegal migrants? (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, the people that are putting sanctuary cities where they’re not even wanted — because as you know, in California and other places, a lot of communities want to get out of sanctuary cities; they don’t want them. But they always seem to have open arms.

So we thought rather than moving the illegal immigrants to other parts of the country — first of all, we’re getting them and we’re doing the best we can with very bad laws. We have to change the laws. But we’re apprehending thousands and thousands of people a day, and the law only allows us to hold them, as you know, for 20 days because of the most ridiculous laws, probably, we have in this country.

If Ajit had laws like that for 5G, you wouldn’t have anything built. You’d never have the first cell put up.

But we have horrible, old-fashioned laws that are put in by the Democrats. We’re willing to change them. We can do it in — I used to say 45 minutes; we can do it in 15 minutes — whether it’s catch and release or chain migration or any of them.

The asylum laws are absolutely insane. They come up. In many cases, they’re rough gang members. In many cases, they’re people with tremendous crime records and they’re given a statement to read by lawyers that stand there waiting for them, “Read this statement.” And it says, “I have great fear for my life. I have great fear for being in my country.” Even though, in some cases, some of these people are holding their country’s flags and waving their country’s flags. And then they talk about the fear they have of being in the country — that the flag they were waving freely.

So we are looking at the possibility — strongly looking at it, to be honest with you. California, the governor wants to have a lot of people coming in, refugees coming in. A lot of sanctuary cities. So we’ll give them to the sanctuary cities, maybe, to take care of, if that’s the way they want it — because we can only hold them, under the current law, for 20 days. So we apprehend them by the thousands and thousands a day.

I have to say Border Patrol has been incredible. The job they’re doing is incredible. The wall is going up. It’s going up fairly rapidly. We’re doing another big section. We start another big section tomorrow. But we’re building miles and miles of wall.

And we’re going to have — I think we’ll be close to 400 miles built by the end of next year. We need that. Just got back from Texas, and some of the ranchers told me — you look at Brooks County, you look at other places — some of the ranchers told me you have bodies lying all over the land of people where the coyotes give them a can of soda and they give them a sandwich and they say, “Houston is 300 miles in that direction.” And the people don’t know what that means. That means they can’t make it. That means they have no chance and they die. It’s something I never heard. I never heard it to this extent. Many people die. And they’ll say, “Just head in that direction.”

And we are doing a lot about it. If we had the wall, we wouldn’t have that. If we had the wall, people wouldn’t be coming up. Mexico is now apprehending and bringing back to the various countries that we’re talking about — Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador — they’re bringing people back to those countries; Colombia, to a certain extent — and they’re going back to those countries.

But we could fix that and so fast if the Democrats would agree. But if they don’t agree, we might as well do what they always say they want: We’ll bring the illegal — really, you call them the “illegals.” I call them the “illegals.” They came across the border illegally. We’ll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it, whether it’s a state or whatever it might be.

California certainly is always saying, “Oh, we want more people.” And they want more people in their sanctuary cities. Well, we’ll give them more people. We can give them a lot. We can give them an unlimited supply. And let’s see if they’re so happy. They say, “We have open arms.” They’re always saying they have open arms. Let’s see if they have open arms.

The alternative is to change the laws, and we can do it very, very quickly, very easily. Okay? Okay?

♦  Q Are you asking for more troops on the border as well?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re going to put more troops on the border, yeah. We’re going to. And, you know, the thing is, our country is doing so well economically. We’re setting records that a lot of people are coming up for that reason. A lot of people are coming up for bad reasons too.

We have a lot of very, very bad people with big criminal records trying to get through. And the Border Patrol has done an incredible job with them. Those are our focus. They really have done a really incredible job. And when they have been through, and when they’ve been let through over the years — ICE — all over Long Island — and they come and they get them and they take them back, and we get them the hell out of here.

That’s happening all over our country. ICE. But the job that ICE and that, really, Border Patrol does is an incredible job. And law enforcement in this country is — the job they’re doing is really incredible.

You know, I don’t know if you saw the crime stats, but the statistics are that crime is way down in our country over the last year. Way, way down. And so that’s despite all of the problems we have at the border. And we’re straightening that out.

So, on sanctuary cities, as per your question, we are giving very strong consideration to having people — after a 20-day period — because, again you’re not allowed, legally, to hold them for more than that — we will move them into sanctuary cities.

Thank you very much everybody. Thank you.

END 2:57 P.M. EDT

President Trump and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai are delivering remarks today on the U.S. 5G wireless network deployment.  Chairman Pai is expected to announce additional funding for rural broadband internet access.

In February, Trump called on U.S. telecommunications companies to boost their work to build faster 5G wireless communications networks, saying they were lagging and at risk of being left behind other countries’ efforts.  Anticipated start time 2:30pm EST

UPDATE: Video Added

White House Livestream Link – Fox Livestream Link – Global News Livestream Link

White House Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Kevin Hassett gives an interview to discuss the current state of the U.S. economy.  After discussing President Trump’s Fed pick Herman Cain, Hassett outlines how inflation is non-existent; and also discussions around ongoing U.S-China trade discussions.

President Moon Jae-in the the Korean equivalent of Barack Obama.  Today President Donald Trump and First-lady Melania Trump welcome President Moon and Mrs. Kim Jung-sook to the White House.  During the oval office meeting President Trump took questions from the press corps [Video and Transcript below]

.

[Transcript] – 12:19 P.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s a great honor to have President Moon of South Korea with us and a very, very great privilege to have Mrs. Kim. Thank you very much. Very much. We hope you enjoy your stay.

We are discussing many, many important things, including, obviously, North Korea, the relationships with North Korea. I had, in many respects, a very good meeting. We did not fulfill what we wanted to, but in many ways, we — certain things were agreed to.

My relationship is very good with, as you know, Chairman Kim. And I think that it will go on that way. We’ll see. We’ll probably know. But we’ll be discussing that. We’ll be discussing trade, military, military purchases. South Korea buys a great deal of equipment from us, especially military equipment.

(Speaks to interpreter.) Please, go ahead.

We’ve just recently completed a new and very, very large trade deal with South Korea, and it’s just now going into effect. And it will very much increase trade both ways between our two countries. It’s a very important transaction and something we’ve been working on for quite a while. I know that, for years, they’ve been working on trying to redo it. And we have a new deal and it’s been, I think, very, very good for both our countries. Big difference.

President Moon and South Korea have agreed to purchase a tremendous amount of our military equipment, from jet fighters to missiles, to lots of other things. And we make the finest equipment in the world by far, and we appreciate the purchase. It’s a very large purchase. And we always appreciate that.

I think I can say that our relationship has never been better. Our relationship is, on a personal basis, very, very close. Our First Ladies, likewise — extremely close. And I think that that will continue to for a long time into the future — forever.

So we’ll be having individual meetings later on and all throughout the day with different people from different departments and representatives. The President and myself will be meeting right now in the Oval Office. Then we’ll meet with our groups in the Cabinet Room, as you know. And I think it’ll be very productive. It’s going to be a very productive day.

I just do want to tell you that great progress has been made and a great relationship has been made in North Korea too. Kim Jong Un has been, really, somebody that I’ve gotten to know very well and respect, and hopefully — and I really believe that, over a period of time, a lot of tremendous things will happen.

I think North Korea has a tremendous potential, and I believe that President Moon agrees with that. And we will be discussing that and even potential meetings, further meetings, with North Korea and Kim Jong Un.

So I want to extend my warmest wishes to the people of South Korea, and I think indirectly I can truly say I want to extend my warmest wishes to Kim Jong Un and the people of North Korea. I think the relationship has become far different and far better than it was when I first took office or at the end, certainly, of the Obama administration.

And it’s a great honor to be with you, Mr. President. And thank you very much.

PRESIDENT MOON: (As interpreted.) Mr. President, I would like to thank you for inviting our couple to the White House and also warmly welcoming us. In particular, last night at the Blue House, I saw the flowers — the beautiful flowers that you had sent — with a personally signed card. I was really moved by your meticulous care, and especially my wife was moved.

In particular, I have two accounts on which I would like to express my gratitude to the United States. First, recently, there was a big forest fire in Korea, in the province of Gangwon. At the time, the USFK supported us through the provision of many helicopters, and this really helped us put out the fire. And lots of Korean people were very grateful for this.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.

PRESIDENT MOON: (As interpreted.) And today is a meaningful day for all the Korean people because it marks the centenary anniversary of the establishment of the provisional government of Korea. And I heard that both at the Senate and at the House, they introduced a resolution celebrating this momentous day. So I would like to thank you for that also.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.

PRESIDENT MOON: (As interpreted.) And after you had met Chairman Kim in Singapore on June 12th, last year, we have witnessed a dramatic turnaround regarding the political situation on the Korean Peninsula. Previously, because of the repeated nuclear and missile test from North Korea, we saw that the military tension at the time had been at its greatest, and we were in a very precarious situation.

However, since you met Chairman Kim and you initiated personal diplomacy with him, we saw the dramatic, significant reduction of military tension on the Korean Peninsula, and now peace has prevailed.

And also, in terms of North Korean nuclear problem, all Korean people have now — now we believe that you will be able to solve this problem through a dialogue. So I have to say that this dramatic turnaround that we have witnessed is solely down to your strong leadership.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT MOON: (As interpreted.) Well, in this sense, I believe that the Hanoi Summit is not actually — was not a source of disappointment, but it is actually the part of a bigger process that will lead us to a bigger agreement.

So the important task that I face right now is to maintain the momentum of dialogue and also express the positive outlook, regarding the third U.S.-North Korea Summit, to the international community that this will be held in the near future.

So, in this regard, I’d like to express my high regard for how you have continued to express your trust towards Chairman Kim. And also, you have made sure that North Korea does not deviate from the dialogue track. I would like to express my gratitude for this.

And let me reiterate that the Republic of Korea is absolutely on the same page when it comes to the end state of the complete denuclearization of North Korea. And I can reassure you that we will remain in such great collaboration with the United States. There will be no daylight until we achieve our ultimate goal.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. I have to go just one step further and I want to thank China, who’s really helped us a lot at the border. I also want to thank Russia because they have helped us, and they’ve helped us quite a bit more than people think, at the border. So both China and Russia have really been quite good. That doesn’t mean they can’t get better, but they’ve been quite good at the border. And I just want to thank both of those countries.

As we’ve said, a lot of progress has been made. We will have further dialogue and I look forward to it. My relationship with Kim Jong Un has been a very strong relationship. I’ve had some very strong relationships with others, but I have a very, very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, and I think you see that.

And we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, it will end up in a great solution for everybody, and ultimately a great solution for the world. Because it is about the world. It’s more than just this area. It’s about the world. And, frankly, the world is watching.

I want to thank you for your leadership. Your leadership has been outstanding. And I look forward to talking about other things also, and in particular, all of that equipment that you’re buying. We like that in the United States. We like that you buy our great equipment. So again, thank you very much. And thank you for your leadership.

Q Mr. President, on economic projects for South Korea and North Korea, are you willing to allow some leeway in relaxing sanctions so that South Korea can pursue some more economic projects with North Korea?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we are discussing certain humanitarian things right now, and I’m okay with that, to be honest. I think you have to be okay with that. And South Korea is doing certain things to help out with food and various other things for North Korea. And we’ll be discussing different things inside.

Again, the relationship is a much different relationship than it was two years ago — you remember what that was all about — and certainly during the Obama administration, where nuclear weapons were being tested often, where rockets and missiles were being sent up, in many cases, over Japan. And we are in a much different situation right now.

So we’ll be discussing that very much, actually.

Q Mr. President, do you still love WikiLeaks?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing. And I know there is something having to do with Julian Assange. I’ve been seeing what’s happened with Assange. And that will be a determination, I would imagine, mostly by the Attorney General, who’s doing an excellent job.

So he’ll be making a determination. I know nothing really about him. It’s not my — it’s not my deal in life.

Q What would you like to see happen? What is it that your Attorney General —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t really have any opinion. I know the Attorney General will be involved in that and he’ll make a decision, okay?

Q Mr. President, are you pleased that your Attorney General yesterday said that there was spying into your campaign in 2016?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, I am. I think what he said was absolutely true. There was absolutely spying into my campaign. I’ll go a step further: In my opinion, it was illegal spying, unprecedented spying, and something that should never be allowed to happen in our country again. And I think his answer was actually a very accurate one. And a lot of people saw that, and a lot of people understand — many, many people understand the situation and want to be open to that situation. Hard to believe it could have happened, but it did. There was spying in my campaign. And his answer was a very accurate one.

Q Mr. President, do you have the third summit with North Korea’s Chairman in mind? And does that also include —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It could happen. A third summit could happen. And it’s step by step. It’s not a fast process; I’ve never said it would be. It’s step by step.

I enjoy the summits. I enjoy being with the Chairman. I think it’s been very productive. And it really is — it’s a step by step. It’s not going to go fast. I’ve been telling you that for a long time. If it goes fast, it’s not going to be the proper deal.

Q Is a three-way summit with the leaders of the two Koreas also (inaudible)?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, that could happen also. I think that would be largely dependent on Chairman Kim, because President Moon will do what’s necessary. I know President Moon has been fighting this battle for a long time. He’s done an excellent job. I consider him a great ally.

And a lot of good things are happening. A lot of good things are happening in the world. Our economy is the best it’s ever been. Our employment numbers — unemployment and employment — are the best they’ve ever been. We have more people working right now in the United States than we’ve ever had before — almost 160 million people. And likewise, South Korea is doing very well. Their economy is doing very well, and I think our trade deal has helped that process.

So, we’re sitting on two great countries right now, and we’re leading two great countries. And we think that — I can speak for myself, and I think I can speak for President Moon: We think that North Korea has tremendous potential and, really, potential under the leadership of Kim Jong Un. Let’s see how it all works out.

Q Mr. President, have you communicated with Kim Jong Un in the last few weeks since you told us —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t want to comment on that. But we have a very good relationship.

Q Mr. President, on the Mueller report, are you concerned that Barr said that he’s not going to redact that report to protect your reputation?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I’m not concerned about anything because, frankly, there was no collusion and there was no obstruction.

And we never did anything wrong. The people that did something wrong were the other side — the dirty cops. And a lot of the problems that were caused, it’s a disgrace what happened. And, again, it should never happen to a President again. You’re just lucky I happen to be the President, because a lot of other Presidents would have reacted much differently than I reacted. You’re very lucky I was the President during this scam — during the Russian hoax, as I call it.

So, no, I’m not concerned at all. The bottom line: The result is no collusion, no obstruction. And that’s the way it is. And I know a lot of people were very disappointed, but they knew the real answer.

You know, when the Democrats go behind the scenes and they go into a room backstage and they sit and they talk, they laugh because they know it’s all a big scam, a big hoax.

And it’s called politics, but this is dirty politics and this is actually treason. This is a very bad thing that people have done. And I just hope that law enforcement takes it up. Because if they don’t take it up, they’re doing a great disservice to our country.

Yes, go ahead.

Q Yes. Shared defense cost with South Korea — are you thinking a long-term agreement instead of year by year?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, we’re talking about long term, and we always talk about long term. We want to have long term. Our relationship South Korea is extraordinary, and we only think in terms of long term with South Korea. Okay?

Q (As interpreted.) How much do you support my President’s push for economic concessions, which include the resumption of the joint inter-Korean industrial complex and perhaps even the (inaudible)?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, at the right time, I would have great support. This isn’t the right time. But at the right time, I’d have great support with North Korea. Great support. I think that South Korea, and I think Japan, and I think that the U.S. — I think a lot of countries will be helping. China, I really believe, will help. I think that Russia will help. I think a lot of countries will help.

When the right deal is made, and when the nuclear weapons are gone, I just think that North Korea has potential as great as anything I’ve ever seen in terms of potential. They have an unbelievable location — surrounded by sea on two sides, and on the other side, Russia, China, and over here, South Korea. You just can’t do better than that. And they have magnificent land. It has tremendous potential.

Q (As interpreted.) If North Korea actually submits a roadmap regarding complete denuclearization, are you two — are the two Presidents — will you be discussing this issue at the summit meeting today?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, we will. We will be discussing it, certainly. That’s a very prime topic for our meeting today. And we hope that’s going to happen.

Yes?

Q Is your position still that sanctions should stay in place on North Korea until there is denuclearization? Or are you willing to consider easing sanctions to keep the talks going?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, we want sanctions to remain in place. And frankly, I had the option of significantly increasing them. I didn’t want to do that because of my relationship with Kim Jong Un. I did not want to do that. I didn’t think it was necessary. As you know, a couple of weeks ago, I held it back. But I think that sanctions are, right now, at a level that’s a fair level. And I really believe something very significant is going to happen. We could always increase them, but I didn’t want to do that at this time.

Q Mr. President, would you accept smaller deals to “keep the process going,” as President Moon called it?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’d have to see what the deal is. There are various smaller deals that maybe could happen. Things could happen. You can work out, step by step, pieces.

But, at this moment, we’re talking about the big deal. The big deal is we have to get rid of the nuclear weapons.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

Q Sir, a golf question: Who do you like in the Masters? Who do you think will win the Masters?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know, there are 15 players capable of winning. And I guess you could say there are a lot more than that. They’re great players.

I don’t think a field for the Masters has ever been this deep. I was watching late last night, and they were going over the different players. I think the field has never been so deep.

But always Phil and Tiger and Dustin. I mean, you have so many great players. But they were just saying they’re younger, they’re stronger, they’ve never hit the ball this long. They’ve never hit the ball this accurately. They’ve never putted better than they do now.

You know, the whole thing is pretty incredible. But the field is very, very deep. I think it’s going to be a great Masters. I hope so.

Thank you very much, everybody.

END 12:45 P.M. ED