President Trump delivers remarks at the beginning of a cabinet meeting today. Several topics are covered including the safe return of three American detainees from North Korea; and the upcoming summit.

[Transcript] 11:37 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. We have a lot of things happening, as you know. But last night was a very big night for the Republican Party. Every candidate that we wanted won, and they did very well. There was tremendous enthusiasm.

And with the economy going so strong and so good with all of the things that are happening, including a tremendous foreign affairs picture. If you look at what’s going on with so many different elements, including the fact that, right now, flying back are three, what they were calling “hostages.” We call them “fine people.” Three really fine people. Seemed to be healthy.

They’ll be landing at two o’clock in the morning at Andrews Air Force Base, and I’ll be there to greet them. Mike will be with me. It will be, I think, a very special time — because nobody thought this was going to happen. And if it did, it would be years or decades, frankly. Nobody thought this was going to happen. And I appreciate Kim Jong-un doing this and allowing them to go.

We’ve picked a time. We’ve picked a place for the meeting, or “summit,” as you like to call it. And I think it’ll be very successful. But as I always say, “Who knows?” Who knows what’s going to happen. But it’s going to be a very important event.

Again, I think this is something that nobody thought was going to happen for years or more. And I really believe it’s going to be a great thing for North Korea, a great thing for South Korea and Japan. I want to thank President Xi. He was very helpful to us two days ago on something very specific. President Xi of China. China has been very helpful.

And we’re working trade with China. And they’re doing okay because they’re helping us, and I guess they’re probably doing a little bit better because they’re helping us. But they have really helped us on North Korea. We appreciate it and we appreciate President Xi.

I just spoke to President Moon and explained what was taking place with respect to the three gentlemen. And President Moon of South Korea was very, very happy to hear it. He, likewise, has been incredibly helpful.

So the relationships we have with Prime Minister Abe, President Moon, President Xi, I think it all goes into what is taking place right now. And we very much look forward to having the meeting between the United States and North Korea. And that will be announced over the next couple of days as to timing.

We have a lot of things going on within our country. We’ve very much toughened up the border, but the laws are horrible. The laws in this country for immigration and illegal immigration are absolutely horrible. And we have to do something about it — not only the wall, which we’re building sections of wall right now. We have $1.6 billion. We’re fixing a lot of wall that basically is non-existent because it’s been ripped to pieces. It was poorly built and it wasn’t — it was really only temporary, in some cases.

San Diego has asked us to go forward with their section of the wall in California. And rather than not doing that and letting them lobby for us with Governor Brown, we decided to do it. And we’ll have a little bit less of a lobby, but we’ll have a lot of people happy in San Diego.

We have, I think, the numbers coming out from the economy. And you’re seeing what’s going on; they’re extraordinary. The stock market is up almost 35 percent from the election, but I think companies are doing even better than that, and they’re really ready to rock.

The conference we had yesterday was a very important one. You look at the deal that we had with Iran, it was a one-sided deal that ultimately was going to lead to nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East. And they were talking about it; other countries were talking about it. It was going to lead to that. They are all very happy at what I did. That was a one-sided deal that we spent $150 billion and $1.8 billion in cash on getting done. And it was not good, and it was not appropriate.

And we’ll see how we do with Iran. Probably, we won’t do very well with them, but that’s okay too. They’ve got to understand life, because I don’t think they do understand life. If you look at what’s happening in the Middle East with Syria, with Yemen, with all of the places they’re involved, it’s bedlam and death. And we can’t allow that to happen.

So we have terminated a terrible, terrible deal that should have never, ever been made. And we will be putting on among the strongest sanctions that we’ve ever put on a country. And they’re going into effect very shortly. They’re mostly constituted and drawn already, and we’ll just have to see what happens.

But we can’t allow a deal to hurt the world. That’s a deal to hurt the world; that’s not a deal for the United States. That’s a deal to hurt the world and, certainly, Israel. You saw Benjamin Netanyahu get up yesterday and talk so favorably about what we did.

Some of the senators, I watch them now as they say, “Oh, he shouldn’t have done it.” But they don’t say it — the Democratic senators — they don’t say with their full throat; they don’t say it with heart. Because they have one problem: They were totally against it. Like Chuck Schumer was totally against the deal. He voted against the deal. He was fighting with Obama. In fact, I remember reading at the time they ended up in a fight together over this deal because he wanted to protect Israel. And he knows this deal is very bad for Israel and very bad for the Middle East. But I know that they voted against it, and then you’ll see Chuck Schumer say, “Oh, he shouldn’t have ended the deal.” It’s like, oh — perhaps he changed his mind. But, by the way, the deal only got worse.

So we have a lot of exciting things happening, and I think that’s going to be an exciting thing. And perhaps — and Iran will never say it because they’re great negotiators. Kerry never had a chance against the gentleman he was negotiating with. The first time I saw that man, I watched him on a certain show — a show of an anchor who is no longer with us. He was taken down. But it was an interesting show. And I looked at him, and after about three minutes of watching the show, I said, “There’s no way that Kerry can negotiate against this gentleman.” And that turned out to be a fact.

So we’re going to make either a really good deal for the world, or we’re not going to make a deal at all. And Iran will come back and say, “We don’t want to negotiate.” And of course, they’re going to say that. And if I were in their position, I’d say that, too, for the first couple of months, “We’re not going to negotiate.” But they’ll negotiate, or something will happen. And hopefully that won’t be the case.

So I just want to let you know the United States is strong. Our military is in a position that we haven’t had in a long time. We have $700 billion approved and $716 billion for next year, numbers that we’ve never had before. We’re rebuilding our military to a level that it’s, frankly, never been. And these are good times to have a strong military, and hopefully we’ll never have to use it. You know, peace through strength, which I believe in very strongly.

So we’re honored by the fact that the three gentlemen are coming home, and I look forward to seeing you — probably, some of you, maybe a lot of you. It’ll be two o’clock in the morning. It’ll be quite a scene, and it’ll be — to me, it’s very exciting because it represents something. It represents something very important to this country.

People never thought a thing like this could happen and can. People never thought you were going to have a situation where we’re having serious and positive communication with North Korea, and we are. What happens? Who knows. We have a chance at something really great for the world and great for North Korea, and great for everyone.

So I want to thank you all for being here, and we will see you at two o’clock in the morning. We’re very excited.

Q When is the summit going to take place?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re going to announce that in three days, Jon. Within three days.

Q Within three days?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re just working arrangements.

Q Will it be the DMZ?

THE PRESIDENT: It will not be there, no.

Q Do you deserve the Nobel Prize, do you think?

THE PRESIDENT: Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it. (Laughter.) You know what I want to do? I want to get it finished. The prize I want is victory for the world, not for even here. I want victory for the world. Because that’s what we’re talking about. So that’s the only prize I want.

Q Could something still scuttle this meeting, the summit?

THE PRESIDENT: Everything can be scuttled. Everything can be scuttled. Doesn’t mean — a lot of things can happen. A lot of good things can happen, a lot of bad things can happen. I believe that we have — both sides want to negotiate a deal. I think it’s going to be a very successful deal. I think we have a really good shot at making it successful. But lots of things can happen. And, of course, you’ll be the first to know about it if it fails.

But I think we have a really good chance to make a great deal for the world. Thank you very much.

Q What are you going to do if Iran starts up their nuclear program again?

THE PRESIDENT: Iran will find out. They’re going to find out. I don’t think they should do that. I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program. I would advise them very strongly.

If they do, there will be very severe consequence. Okay?

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

END 11:49 A.M. EDT

This is very good news.   Earlier today President Trump tweeted about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo having secured return of the American detainees from North Korea.

Excellent.   According to President Trump the date, time and location of the summit between himself and Chairman Kim Jong-un will be announced within the next 72 hours.

Notice little panda is being called “Chairman” Kim Jong-un.  Just like big panda next door, Chairman Xi Jinping.

National Security Advisor John Bolton appears on Fox News with Laura Ingraham to discuss President Trump’s decision to exit the failing Iran deal, and the ongoing talks with North Korea.

There are key mid-term primary races taking place today in multiple states.  Some of the primary challenges and outcomes could potentially have larger ramifications for the November mid-terms.

In Ohio the race for governor and Senate is interesting. The former Obama ideologue from within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Democrat Richard Cordray, is up against outsider Dennis Kuchinich for the Democrat governors race. Additionally, there are multiple Republican candidates hoping to win their party position for a Senate challenge to incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown.  Also, a bright young Republican candidate, Christina Hagen, is seeking a congressional seat in the Ohio 16th district.

Indiana has a closely watched Senate race. In a state where Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 19 points in 2016, two GOP representatives, Todd Rokita and Luke Messer, and State Rep. Mike Braun will battle it out to determine who takes on Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly, considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election this year.

Then in West Virginia there’s a very visible Republican primary contest to determine who will square off against Democrat Senator Joe Manchin.   Trump beat Clinton by over 40 points in West Virginia and the GOP primary is a toss-up.  Rep. Evan Jenkins battling Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and outsider Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy Co.  This race is being widely watched.

CNN Election HQ Results – Available HERE

Fox News Election HQ – Available HERE

New York Times Election Results – Available HERE

NAFTA is at a critical stage.  Mexico has committed themselves to a full-court press this week in an effort to retain the investment influx from multinational corporations.  To retain their advantage, Mexico needs to keep the NAFTA loophole allowing Asia and EU to use Mexico and Canada as back-doors to the U.S. market.

Additionally, AM-LO, a self-described soft-Marxist (similar to Hugo Chavez) is likely to win the July 1st Mexican election.   Yesterday, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray travels down the street to the State Department for a meeting with Secretary Pompeo. From the U.S. perspective, anything from Secretary Videgaray is essentially moot at this point; the Mexican government is moving toward a more socialistic economic model.

[Transcript] SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon. Today it is my pleasure and a great honor to welcome the Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray to the State Department. Welcome.

We had a great discussion and we had so because Mexico is one of the United States’ closest partners. Together we are working to build a more secure, prosperous, and democratic hemisphere. We are neighbors, allies, and friends.

The conversation, as I said, was forthright. We talked about a range of issues. In particular, we spoke of four vital areas in which we work with Mexico every day: trade; management of our shared border; security; and the shared regional and global priorities of our two countries.

First, it comes as a surprise to no one that our economic interests are deeply intertwined. Mexico is our second largest export market, third largest trading partner. The importance of modernizing NAFTA cannot be overstated, and we will continue to work towards an agreement with Mexico and with Canada.

Second, we manage a couple-thousand-mile border. Every day more than $1.7 billion in trade crosses that border back and forth, supporting thousands of jobs on both sides of that border. We seek to improve efficiency at our ports of entry to support the legitimate flow of commerce between our two countries.

Third, we work together to enhance our shared security by disrupting transnational criminal organizations. We recognize the demand of – for drugs is principally on the American side of the border, and that this problem is destroying communities and tearing families apart. That is why the President has renewed efforts to prevent and treat addiction here at home and to combat the flow of drugs coming into our country from abroad.

Our security is linked to one another’s. It will take our shared resources and commitment to disrupt criminal groups that illegally traffic drugs, weapons, and human beings. Continued cooperation under the Merida Initiative advances our mutual security objectives. We’ve made some progress through the U.S.-Mexico Strategic Dialogue to disrupt these transnational criminal organizations. We should be proud of that. This will continue to be a priority for the administration.

Fourth, and finally, we work together with Mexico on regional and global challenges. For example, we are working with our partners in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to reduce insecurity and violence, enhance economic opportunity, and fight corruption. These shared efforts address the underlying conditions driving illegal immigration. We also cooperate with Mexico to build regional consensus on the crisis in Venezuela. Thank you for your leadership, Secretary, on this issue in particular. I echo the message of Vice President Pence from earlier today at the OAS meeting: We urge our entire hemisphere to impose strict accountability on the corrupt and brutal Maduro regime.

We are always looking for new ways to deepen our partnership with Mexico. Today, good news: the signing of the U.S.-Mexico Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement further expands our relationship and will benefit the North American and U.S. suppliers in the nuclear energy industry.

Again, Foreign Secretary, I want to thank you for coming here today to discuss the many pressing issues facing our two countries. I’m deeply appreciative of having my first press conference here at the State Department with you. Thank you, Foreign Minister.

FOREIGN SECRETARY VIDEGARAY: Thank you very much, Secretary. Although I’ll be speaking in Spanish in a moment, I just want to say that I am very, very proud and very honored to have this first conversation with you as Secretary of State, because we’ve met before, but not in your role as Secretary of State, so I am very, very, very honored. And we had, as you said, a very productive, very frank first conversation as such. Let me switch to Spanish.

(Via interpreter) Since the beginning of the administration of President Trump, the Mexican Government, the government of President Pena Nieto, has promoted and offered an institutional relationship of mutual benefit and mutual respect. We acknowledge that we share threats, that we have opportunities that we can take advantage of together; and we also need to say we also have some differences, some of which are public and well known, but we cannot allow those differences to define this relationship. We need to be able to work for the interest of two neighboring countries and two neighboring peoples who are brothers so as to overcome our differences. Mexico, Mr. Secretary Pompeo, is a large country, a proud country, proud of its history, enthused about its future, and we are a sovereign state. And as a sovereign state, we offer the United States our friendship, the will to work together on the issues that join us to do good things – good things for the people of the United States and of course for the people of Mexico.

The relationship between Mexico and the United States finds itself at a turning point of the decisions made between our governments in the next few months, even in the next few days. Well, this will determine the relationship between our two countries for the next years and even the next few decades.

We find ourselves at that crucial moment in the renegotiation and modernization of NAFTA, a renegotiation that Mexico faces in good faith with constructive spirit, convinced that North America can be the most competitive region in the world, and with the belief that we have huge, concrete opportunities for prosperity and well-paid jobs for all of our inhabitants.

We have shared challenges on the issue of security, and moments ago Secretary Pompeo was mentioning the work we’ve done throughout a new high-level group to fight transnational criminal organizations. We will continue along that path. This is what we have agreed upon on the understanding that the problem does not have to do with supply or demand; the problem is a market at the regional level that needs to be disarticulated so as to be able to fight successfully this phenomenon.

With regards to migration, we face common challenges. Mexico has stopped become – being simply an origin country; we are also becoming a country that receives migrants. We need to continue to think about priority to the fundamental dignity of migrants, whatever their migratory condition. Of course, we will continue to work on the regional issues where we share values and a vision. This is the case with regards to Central America. In particular with the countries of the so-called Northern Triangle – Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras – we will continue to promote development and security. We have agreed upon the fact that in the next few weeks we will have in the city of Washington the second conference that puts together Mexico and the United States as cohosts with the three governments of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and other regional partners that will continue to be part of this effort.

With regards to Venezuela, we share to a very large extent the concern given the situation of systematic disruption of democracy. We will continue to call for a solution arising from Venezuelans themselves who can find a peaceful solution to re-establish democracy in their country. Of course, we will continue to work on different causes at multilateral organizations where we share values and purposes.

I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to underscore the fact that the Government of Mexico is very pleased with the progress made to achieve the denuclearization of the North Korean Peninsula. We recognize the work of Secretary Pompeo in this regards. This is an issue that affects us all around the world.

Finally, I’d like to thank the Department of State, the Department of Energy, and the entirety of the Trump administration who was part of this for the signature of the Cooperation Agreement for the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy. This agreement, which will be presented throughout a newsletter in the next few minutes, will allow us to continue strengthening cooperation, specifically in the area of technological transfers so that Mexico can continue to develop its nuclear energy so that the next governments in Mexico can continue to develop the use of nuclear technology for medical purposes, for example, or for the generation of electricity if that is decided in the future.

Thank you, Secretary, for the signature of this agreement which I believe it is important to highlight; beyond everything we see on the media and the differences we might have, this shows we continue to work together, we continue to address specific issues that are useful for our peoples and creating a better future for our region. I wish you the greatest of success. It is an honor for me to be back at the Department of State and to be here with you at your first message to the media in this hall. Thank you, Secretary Pompeo. We are ready to continue working together.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you very much. This is wonderful. Thank you so much.

[End Transcript]

President Trump is scheduled to make an announcement about his final determination on the future of the Iran Deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Due to EU allies desire to remain in the sketchy deal with Iran, the most likely announcement is a staged U.S. exit over 90-days prior to the re-imposition of sanctions.

The announcement will be delivered during public remarks in the diplomatic room of the White House. Scheduled Time 2:00pm EST.

WH Livestream Link – GST Livestream Link – PBS Livestream Link