Louisiana congressional representative and house minority whip Steve Scalise discusses current trade and economic initiatives from President Trump’s agenda.  Representative Scalise outlines the importance of the challenge to China and the benefits within the USMCA agreement.

Beyond the economics, Scalise notes the recent report about running for Louisiana governor stemmed from a short, off-the-cuff, conversation with President Trump and he dismisses the seriousness of the discussion.

Last month President Trump accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a state visit to Japan May 25th through 28th. The Japanese government is honoring President Trump as the first state guest of the Reiwa Era, introduced with the coronation of Emperor Naruhito.

The official visit itinerary will include the first formal state banquet hosted by the Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.  The visit is a big honor intended to convey the importance of the relationship between the U.S. and Japan.

Today Reuters is reporting that U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer will be heading to Japan (in advance of President Trump), to meet with Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.  It seems there’s a possibility Trump and Abe have something planned….

(Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will visit Japan on May 24 to meet Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi to accelerate trade talks ahead of a leaders’ summit a few days later, two sources with direct knowledge of the plan said on Monday.

After a late-April meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump had said it was possible for the two allies to reach a new bilateral trade deal by the time he visits Tokyo in late May.

Kenji Wakamiya, chairman of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said he expected the United States would not be as tough on Japan as it had been on China, though adding it was not certain a deal could be reached this month. (read more)

“Possible”…

… as if, it wasn’t, um, planned.

.

{{{*ahem*… nudge-nudge… wink-wink… say-no-more…. say-no-more}}}

.

[::: walking away whistling now :::]

President Trump gave a lengthy interview to Steve Hilton on a variety of topics.

Interview continues (just hit play):

.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has to be the coolest cat in the crew. On May 15th at 6:00pm Ross blacklists Chinese Company Huawei, requiring Commerce Dept. licensing prior to any “American technology transferring to a company or person on the Entity List.” An hour later… Wilbur Ross is chillin’ in the East Room at a black tie dinner:

President Trump […] … And Wilbur had a very big day today. You probably have read about it. It came out at about 6 o’clock in the evening. So, we’re surprised to see you here, Wilbur. You should be working right now, Wilbur — (laughter) — wherever you are. (link)

The Chinese communists hate U.S.T.R. Lighthizer, but I bet they tremble more over Ross.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, in a blow to the Chinese technology company that the U.S. government has sought to blacklist around the world.

The move could hobble Huawei’s smartphone business outside China as the tech giant will immediately lose access to updates to Google’s Android operating system. The next version of its Android smartphones will also lose access to popular services including the Google Play Store and Gmail and YouTube apps.

“Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google,” the source said. (read more)

Notice how Wallace never interrupts a Wall Street Decepticon?   Senator Pat Toomey (U-CoC) and swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace discuss tariffs on China, the immigration crisis and a possible threat from Iran.