Earlier today President Trump welcomed 2018 NASCAR champion Joey Logano to the White House. (Video and Transcript Below)

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[Transcript] South Lawn – 3:56 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Very talented people. Great musicians. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. And good afternoon. Today it’s my pleasure to welcome the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Joey Logano, and Team Penske to the White House. Joey, congratulations. Fantastic. (Applause.)

Team Penske raced across the finish line in the Ford Fusion. You liked the car?

MR. LOGANO: I loved it.

THE PRESIDENT: You better say that. (Laughter.) You better say that.

Parked right here on the White House South Drive. And that is one truly beautiful car. That is technologically something, Roger. I guess very special, right?

MR. PENSKE: Very special.

THE PRESIDENT: Went a little faster than the other ones. But it also had to do with your right foot, I think. (Laughter.)

MR. LOGANO: A little bit.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re delighted to be joined by some tremendous people who are doing a great job for our nation: Secretary Alex Acosta. Alex, thank you very much. Labor. Secretary Elaine Chao. Elaine, thank you. Transportation.

And many of the great members of Congress: Representative Jim Banks. Where is Jim? Hi, Jim. Tim Burchett. Tim. Where are you, Tim? Thank you very much. Very good. And I know you like this sport, don’t you, huh? (Laughter.) Thank you, Tim. Rodney Davis. Rodney, thank you. Mark Green. What a great job you do on television, Mark. Thank you. He’s always defending me. That’s very nice. Thank you. (Laughter.) Richard Hudson. Thank you very much, Richard. Thank you. And Dusty Johnson. Thank you very much.

And we have a lot more in there. Let’s see, I think we have Ralph Norman. Is Ralph here? My friend — central casting. I always call him “central casting.” (Laughter.) Bill Posey. Thank you, Bill. Phil Roe. The great Phil Roe, huh? Thanks, Phil. Mike Thompson. Thank you. Michael Waltz. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Good job. Great job. And Steve Watkins. Thank you very much. Thanks, Steve.

And many of the state and local leaders. Too many politicians to announce. We won’t bother with the rest of you guys. Just — you can be angry at me for a week only. (Laughter.)

I also want to thank nice NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton for being with us. Thank you, Mike. I’ve been with you for a long time. I sort of consider you a friend. I watch you on television. And you’re as famous as NASCAR, in its own way. Right? But you’ve done a great job, Mike — for being here.

As well as Team Penske’s Chairman and Founder, a friend of mine for a long time — I won’t say how long because it will tell us about our age and we don’t to discuss it — but we’ve been friends for a long time. I know a lot about Roger. Too much. I know too much about Roger. He’s a great man and a great guy.

And over the course — this is incredible to me because I looked at these stats before getting up — over the course of the 2018 season, the Number 22 team earned 26 top-10 finishes, led 934 laps — that’s a lot, right? Huh? Won three races and competed against three former champions in the playoffs, and came out ahead.

The battle for the championship was a nail-biter right to the end. In the final race of the season, at the Homestead-Miami Speedway — a nice one — Joey took the lead in a daring high-line pass with only 11 laps to go, clinching the title. So when you get out in front, it’s tough for the — you just don’t — you will not allow somebody to come back, right?

MR. LOGANO: Don’t look back. (Laughs.)

THE PRESIDENT: He’s a good frontrunner, fellas, I guess. Huh? If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be standing up here, right?

It was a heart-pounding, high-octane NASCAR action finish. And it was a great race and a great season.

While Joey might be the star out there on the track, Team Penske could have never made it without all of the great crew that we have with us today.

So to Joey, Vice Chairman Walt Czarnecki — Walt? Walt? Hi, Walt. That’s what I thought, Walt. Say hello to your wife. He said his wife likes Trump. And I said, “And I like her, too.” Right? (Laughter.) Team President Tim Cindric — Tim? Great job. Fantastic Job. Crew Chief Todd Gordon — your times are good in there? Huh? Hit a little danger with that stuff, right? Not when you have him driving. It’s the other guys you have to watch out for. Great job. It’s a fantastic job.

And the Number 22 team, I just want to congratulate you. Todd Gordon, the whole crew — I hear it’s just incredible what you’ve done. You’ve set records of your own. Where’s Todd? Yeah. You’ve set the records of your own. And truly talented people. We appreciate it. I watch it all the time and I marvel at how you can do that. I marvel at how you do it. And so — it’s precise. It’s a great thing for the people of this country to watch, and plenty of them do. I want to congratulate you. Great team.

And I want to congratulate all of the speed records, the strength, the stamina — and that’s true; that’s really true — that carried you on to victory.

Team Penske proudly claims 517 major race champions and race victories, 34 national championships — here’s something incredible — and 17 Indy 500 wins over the course of its history. So you won 17 Indy 500s. And I know a lot of people that have tried to win the Indy 500. They weren’t so successful in winning one or coming in second, third, or tenth. And you won 17. So, Roger, that’s like an incredible — (applause) — it’s an incredible achievement. It’s called, “They’re winners,” right? They’re winners. The team is a winner. And NASCAR is a winner.

Fresh off the 2018 championship season, this year, Roger Penske was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Roger began his career as a driver in 1958 before he made a name for himself as a team owner. And, Roger, I have to say, I’ve watched you from business to racing to ownership of cars, and I just watched you have victory after victory. No matter what you do, it turns to gold. So keep doing it for a long time to come. It’s an amazing achievement what you’ve done. Thank you, Roger. (Applause.) Thank you. There are few people like that. Few. Very few.

I also want to recognize Joey’s wife, Brittany. Where’s Brittany? Come on up here, Brittany. Come on up here. Come on. Come on, Brittany. (Applause.) Great. Great. And Brittany and Joey have a one-year-old son, Hudson. Does he have that kind of talent?

MR. LOGANO: (Laughs.) Not sure yet.

THE PRESIDENT: You want him racing, someday? I don’t know. Keep him out of those cars. (Laughter.) I don’t think so.

At the end of his championship race, Joey celebrated by placing little Hudson inside of the very NASCAR Cup Series trophy — well, it can’t be that one. Yeah, that one. (Laughter.) It’s a very small baby. I’m saying, “Where’s the trophy?” And that was quite a scene. It was all over the place. It was quite a scene.

As Joey said that night, “Winning a championship is great, but it’s nothing compared to being a dad.” Boy, is that central casting, that statement. That’s a perfect statement. (Applause.) Here’s the great, also, Sarah Huckabee. You never heard of Sarah Huckabee, right? Sarah Sanders. Thank you, Sarah.

NASCAR is not only a thrilling display of skill and power, but a celebration of the American spirit. So true. No matter who wins the race, you never forget what matters most: God, family, and country. (Applause.) And nobody embodies that more than you folks, I’ll tell you.

And with champions like you, I am confident that NASCAR will continue to excite and inspire millions of devoted fans across our nation. I’m a fan. And I have friends that know every driver, every car, every number. I say, “What else do you do?” That’s what they do. They love it. And they have great respect for you and admiration for your courage and your skill.

So to every member of this championship team: Congratulations again on your amazing achievement.

And with that, I’m really honored to welcome to the podium the Chairman of Penske Corporation, and one of the truly great people of this world — not only our country; I really mean that — one of the truly great people of our world, Roger Penske. (Applause.)

MR. PENSKE: Thank you, Mr. President. Certainly an honor for me to be here today and to have you invite our team to be a part of this great celebration of the 2018 Championship.

To me, the opportunity for us to be at the nation’s capital today was amazing for our team. The chance to visit the White House is something you dream about, and we can tell our grandkids forever of this great opportunity.

But I would be remiss — me, personally, and the team want to thank you for the support of our men and women in the military and the first responders who keep this country safe and secure. (Applause.) Without that, we wouldn’t be here today.

And when I think about this sport and what’s taken, for me, a common thread through our businesses. And today, this group — team — over here of people represent Joey and the 22 Team. But we have 500 members, Mr. President, back in Mooresville and 60,000 Penske Corporation employees that thank you and the people here today to have us as part of this celebration. It’s just amazing.

I want to thank the France family and Mike Helton and the team at NASCAR to give us these stadiums around the country so we can compete.

Let me tell you a little about Joey Logano. Joey is a racer. His family — all of us family helps us get to where we are, but Joey’s dad and his mom have been a big part of his championship run. We were fortunate enough to get him on our team several years ago. But he delivers not only on the racetrack — and I want to say not only on the racetrack, but Brittany and Joey give so much back to the community.

And I’ll tell you a story. The night before the race, Mr. President, at Homestead, Joey and Brittany were at a Publix, giving out 100 turkeys to homeless people. That’s the man that’s the championship in 2018. (Applause.)

So, with that, I’d like to introduce Joey Logano. I know he has some comments to make. And thank you, Mr. President.

MR. LOGANO: Well, thank you. It’s such an honor to be speaking here. Actually, I kind of got to pinch myself to think what I’m doing here right now. But what an amazing day we’ve had, an amazing run we had last year, to be able to win the championship.

And like Roger and Mr. President said, it takes an amazing team to make that happen. And today we had quite the experience to see your team — the team that makes our amazing country be what it is. And this is a great reminder for myself, and I’m sure I’m speaking for my whole team, of what goes into our great country and our freedom and everyone that’s fought for that. So I need to thank, obviously, our military and our leaders that give us the opportunity to go out there and do what we love every day.

Whether it’s driving racecars or watching it, or playing golf — whatever it may be, whatever you’re into — we get to do that because we live in an amazing country.

So I just need to thank everyone for that. I still can’t get over my car sitting here in front of the White House. (Laughter.)

But I want to leave you guys with something before that. You know, to be a champion, you know, you don’t have to drive a racecar. You don’t have to have a ring or a trophy. Sometimes, being a champion, you can be doing the smallest things, and it’s just doing the right thing at the right moment, and helping those that need it the most.

So, you know, I just want to thank everybody for giving me the opportunity to drive a racecar and live my dream in an amazing country.

So, with that, we want to give you a little gift as — thanking you for being our President and giving us this amazing day. So we have a helmet over here that we wore during the championship season — or I wore during the championship season. And hopefully it doesn’t smell that bad for you. (Laughter.) So we wanted to give you that, along with a trophy that looked just like the actual trophy.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, that’s beautiful. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Well, I really — I’ll have a great place in the Oval Office for that, actually.

MR. LOGANO: Awesome.

THE PRESIDENT: We have some wonderful champions — some Super Bowl champions and others. And that will be right at the top of the list. We appreciate it.

And I said to Joey, “Do you think that the crew would like to see…” — we rarely do this — “but would they like to see the Lincoln Bedroom?” Do you have any interest in seeing the Lincoln Bedroom? Have you seen the Lincoln Bedroom before? Not too many people have. It’s very special.

So I thought we’d take, maybe, the crew. And I don’t know if you congressmen and women want to come up? Let’s go, okay? We’ll go see the Lincoln Bedroom together, okay? I’ll give you a personal tour. It is special, and you are special, special champions.

So congratulations to all of you. And, Joey, fantastic job. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you.

END 4:11 P.M. EDT

China, Russia and Cuba are financing and supporting the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.  Russian and Chinese military equipment was previously shipped into the country and military members from Cuba are fighting on the ground.

In response to the violence and presence of the Cuban military, President Trump is now threatening a full and complete embargo of Cuba by the U.S.

(link)

Well, it looks like the outcome of a horsetrading deal is starting to assemble.  President Trump meeting with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer et al, to discuss a $2 trillion infrastructure deal.   Despite their schemes and plots this is worth watching:

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Democrats don’t want the baggage of a tax increase heading into 2020… so Schumer punts the financing of the $2 trillion to President Trump; forcing the White House to deal with the dirty part (likelihood a gas tax increase), while Schumer/Pelosi keep clean hands on the high-brow aspect of beautiful infrastructure. That part is politically predictable.

That said, CTH can see the outline a deal where Democrats exchange votes for President Trump’s trade deals (specifically USMCA); to offset the Wall Street Republicans that will vote against the trade agreements; in return for provisions of an infrastructure deal that will benefit Pelosi/Schumer.

The devil is going to be deep in the details because Democrats will attempt to use any massive spending bill to purchase (and repay) votes and activism from their political constituents, ie. Union Leadership.

(White House) Press Secretary’s Statement on President Trump’s meeting on Infrastructure:

“Today, President Donald J. Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Tom Carper, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Ben Ray Lujàn, Representative Richard Neal, and Representative Peter DeFazio had an excellent and productive meeting on rebuilding our Nation’s crumbling infrastructure including roads, highways, bridges, tunnels and railroads, modernizing our air travel system, and expanding broadband access for our great farmers and rural America.

The United States has not come even close to properly investing in infrastructure for many years, foolishly prioritizing the interests of other countries over our own. We have to invest in this country’s future and bring our infrastructure to a level better than it has ever been before. We will have another meeting in three weeks to discuss specific proposals and financing methods.

The President and the Democrat leaders also agreed to a meeting in the near future to discuss prescription drug prices. We look forward to building on this Administration’s success in having lowered drug prices for the first time in 50 years. President Trump feels there is a long way to go – drug prices should be much lower than they are today.

The President looks forward to working together in a bipartisan way and getting things done for the American people.”  (link)

Flashback – Three Days after inauguration, January 23, 2017:

(January 23rd, 2017)

Earlier today the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National Champions: The Baylor Lady Bears, visited the White House.

The U.S. economic numbers continue to gain strength.  Ahead of his departure to China for ongoing trade negotiations, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discusses the current state of the economy with Maria Bartiromo.

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Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Lighthizer arrive in China tomorrow.  This meeting will determine their recommendations to President Trump as to whether a deal can be reached. If no, the potential to re-institute delayed round-two tariffs is possible.

The professional financial punditry can’t explain it.  Flummoxed academics run around bumping into walls amid economic numbers that continue to defy expectations.  All caused by a simple return to common sense ‘America First’ MAGAnomics.

Low unemployment (3.8%); wages growing (+3.2%); inflation stable (1.6%). These measures all have a cumulative impact on paycheck-to-paycheck Americans. Prices for durable goods are stable and wage growth is exceeding inflation. That means more disposable income in the middle-class…DUH. Which, when combined with the increased pay from lower middle-class tax rates, is exactly the intended outcome of MAGAnomics.

Today the BEA is out with consumer spending results for the first quarter that defy expectations.  Consumer spending on goods increases 1.7%. Overall spending +.09 in March, reaches highest gain in ten years. The deplorables are spending their higher wages.  Go figure.  Meanwhile core inflation drops to 1.6%.  The pundits are shocked.

(Reuters Headline) “U.S. consumer spending roars back, but inflation tame” – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending increased by the most in more than 9-1/2 years in March as households stepped up purchases of motor vehicles, but price pressures remained muted, with a key inflation measure posting its smallest annual gain in 14 months.

[…]  “The economy is in a sweet spot for now with not enough inflation to cause the Fed to raise rates, and with inflation not low enough to worry Fed officials that economic demand is weakening, which could require rate cuts,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, surged 0.9 percent. That was the biggest rise since August 2009 and was also driven by increased healthcare expenditures. Spending rose 0.1 percent in February.

Data for January was revised up to show consumer spending rising 0.3 percent instead of the previously reported 0.1 percent gain.

[…]  In March, spending on goods rebounded 1.7 percent, with outlays on long-lasting manufactured goods such as cars shooting up 2.3 percent. Spending on goods fell 0.5 percent in February. Outlays on services increased 0.5 percent last month, driven by healthcare spending, after rising 0.4 percent in February.

Inflation was benign, with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding the volatile food and energy components unchanged in March after edging up 0.1 percent in February. That lowered the year-on-year increase in the so-called core PCE price index to 1.6 percent, the smallest increase since January 2018, from 1.7 percent in February. (more)

It really is quite funny to watch the professional financial class try to wrap their arms around what is happening.  Cue the audio visual:

The “Vhobbles”

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Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, it just ain’t that complex.  The U.S. is where the growth is.  We are in the period where exporting U.S. wealth (globalist policies) has been slowed/halted.  We are confronting protectionist tariffs abroad which impede our exports, and simultaneously applying reciprocal tariffs toward those who want access to our U.S. market.  As a consequence, capital investment is returning to Main Street USA (nationalist policy).

This is the heart of MAGAnomic policy.

Low unemployment; rising wages; stable inflation and resurging U.S. blue-collar manufacturing is the key (steel/aluminum tariffs assisting).

This internal dynamic means the U.S. consumer can fuel the the U.S. economy while President Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and Ambassador Robert Lighthizer utilize the leverage of tariffs, to negotiate better America-First trade deals.

CTH 2016[…]  Understanding the distance between the real Main Street economic engine and the false Wall Street economic engine will help all of us to understand the scope of an upcoming economic lag; which, rather remarkably I would add, is a very interesting dynamic.

Think about these engines doing a turn about and beginning a rapid reverse.  GDP can, and in my opinion, will, expand quickly.  However, any interest rate hikes (fiscal policy) intended to cool down that expansion -fearful of inflation- will take a long time to traverse the divide.

Additionally, inflation on durable goods will be insignificant – even as international trade agreements are renegotiated.  Why?  Simply because the originating nations of those products are going to go through the same type of economic detachment described above.  [What the USA previously went through]

Those global manufacturing economies will first respond to any increases in export costs (tariffs etc.), by driving their own productivity higher as an initial offset, in the same manner American workers went through in the past two decades.  The manufacturing enterprise and the financial sector remain focused on the pricing.

♦ Inflation on imported durable goods sold in America, while necessary, will ultimately be minimal during this initial period; and expand more significantly as time progresses and off-shored manufacturing finds less and less ways to be productive.   Over time, durable good prices will increase – but it will come much later. [By that time, U.S. manufacturing will have reestablished position and offset any import pressure.]

♦ Inflation on domestic consumable goods ‘may‘ indeed rise at a faster pace. However, it can be expected that U.S. wage rates will respond faster, naturally faster, than any fiscal policy influence because inflation on fast-turn consumable goods becomes re-coupled to the ability of wage rates to afford them.

The fiscal policy impact lag, caused by the distance between federal fiscal action and the domestic Main Street economy, will now work in our favor.  That is, in favor of the middle-class. (full outline)

We have not had the benefit of this economic success in the past 40 years because corrupt multinational interests were paying and bribing -via lobbyists- politicians and public officials within the administrative state to block independent U.S. wealth.

Wilbur Ross, keepin’ it simple.

♦The Modern Third Dimension in American Economics – HERE

♦The “Fed” Can’t Figure out the New Economics – HERE

♦Proof “America-First” has disconnected Main Street from Wall Street – HERE

♦Treasury Secretary Mnuchin begins creating a Parallel Banking System – HERE

♦How Trump Economic Policy is Interacting With The Stock Market – HERE

♦How Multinationals have Exported U.S. Wealth – HERE

President Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale joins CBS Margaret Brennan for an interview taped April 9, 2019, which was broadcast today.

President Donald Trump hosts Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a round of golf today, while First Lady Melania Trump hosts Madame Akie Abe in DC.

The relationship between the Trump’s and the Abe’s goes back quite a while and is rooted in a genuine friendship.  The president and prime minister are strong competitors on trade and economic policy; however, the competition is founded on respect.

Prime Minister Abe’s economic policies are rooted in the growth process taught by Edwards Demming.  If you follow their professional business ideology, it is easy to see how President Trump and Prime Minister Abe would face-off around a standard of excellence.

When combined the economies of the United States and Japan account for approximately 30 percent of all global gross domestic product.

This is really old-school business stuff.  Each leader, is essentially an economic policy coach for his country; creating strategies and championing growth in a challenge to see who can succeed the most.  They respect each-other, but this is old school. PM Abe isn’t about to concede to a deal where Japanese growth is ceded; however, he will not cheat to achieve success (unlike Xi).  So friendly adversarial negotiations continue.  Good stuff.

Meanwhile First-Lady Melania Trump and Madame Akie Abe toured some of the historic sites in the capital, including the Washington Monument and US National Arboretum.

Tonight President Donald Trump is holding a massive ‘Make America Great Again’ rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin at the Resch Center. President Trump is expected to highlight the U.S. economic growth, jobs and continued success following a first quarter GDP result that exceeded all expectations.

The President will speak at approximately 7:00pm CDT / 8:00pm EDT with ongoing event festivities and speakers earlier.  UPDATE: Video Added

RSBN Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream Link – GST Livestream Link

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