Earlier today President Trump delivered a speech during the 38th annual National Peace Officers Memorial tribute.  During remarks President Trump invited the family of slain police officer Ronil Singh to the podium. Singh was shot and killed in Newman, California during a traffic stop in December 2018. The accused gunman was in the US illegally and had previously been arrested twice for DUI.

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[Transcript] U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – 11:50am EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Please, thank you. What a beautiful day. Third time. And I have to say, this is the most beautiful weather, so that brings us a little luck and it brings us a little happiness.

Chuck, I want to thank you for the great job that you’ve done. Your devotion has been incredible. I’ve known you a long time. We work together. And congratulations, really, on doing a fantastic job. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Chuck. (Applause.)

As President, I am deeply honored to join in this sacred commemoration for the third year in a row. Today, in the heart of our nation’s capital, we come together to pay tribute to the American Peace Officers who made supreme sacrifice, all in the line of duty, in many cases for people they never met, for people they didn’t know.

We’re here to remember their noble lives, to thank God for their profound courage, and to express our love, respect, everlasting gratitude for the heroes of law enforcement. And that’s what they are and were: the heroes of law enforcement.

We’re pleased to be joined today by Attorney General William Barr — doing a great job — (applause) — Secretary Acosta, Secretary Chao, and Acting Secretary McAleenan. Thanks also to the members of Congress in attendance, of which there are many, and to the leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police, including Jim Pasco, Linda Hennie, and Chaplain Wiggins.

To all of the families of our fallen officers: Our whole country is praying for you, embracing you, and pledging to you that we will never, ever leave your side, never disappoint you. Your loved ones were extraordinary and selfless Americans who gave everything they had in defense of our communities, our children, and our nation.

These brave heroes did not put on the uniform for praise or for glory. They wore the badge because it was their duty, their calling, their noble purpose to serve, protect like nobody has ever done it before. They embodied our highest ideals and greatest aspirations. They were the very best of us. There was nobody close.

Today, we engrave their memories into our hearts and inscribe their names into the eternal roll call of American heroes.

In honor of the fallen, we pledge to always support their brothers and sisters in blue. We stand firmly, strongly, and proudly with the incredible men and women of law enforcement. (Applause.)

You do not hear it nearly enough, but Americans across this country love you, they support you, they respect you — more than you would ever know; more than you would, frankly, ever think even possible. They have great respect for law enforcement and the job you do.

As we memorialize those officers who fell in the line of duty, we also grieve for the 87 officers who died in recent years as a result of exposure to toxic debris following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

I would like to ask all of the families and fellow officers of those 9/11 heroes to please stand. Thank you. Please. (Applause.) Thank you very much. I can tell you I live in that city, and lived in that city during that time, and the job they did was incredible.

Today we renew our solemn oath that we will Never Forget. Before we read the names of the fallen, I want to share a few of the stories that exemplify the courage of those we honor at this ceremony.

Last year, America lost two extraordinary officers from Brookhaven, Mississippi: Patrolman James White and Corporal Zach Moak.

James asked his mom to sign a waiver so he could enlist in the Army National Guard at the age of only 17. Nearly 18 years in the military, James became something that he always wanted to be: a police officer. His teammate, Zach, spent time caring for his nieces and nephews and family. On days when he worked the night shift, he would tell them, “While you are sleeping, I will always be watching over you.”

Last September, James and Zach responded to a report of shots fired at a home. When they arrived, they bravely engaged the shooters. It was a bad two minutes. It was violent and it was vicious. Within seconds, the killer shot James. At that moment, Zach could have raced to safety; instead, he raced to the side of his friend. As Zach tried to save his teammate, he too was shot and killed, giving his life for his brother in blue.

Today we remember the words James once told his mom. He said: “Mama, if I ever die in the line of duty, know that I died doing what I [truly] loved.”

This morning, we are honored to be joined by the families of both of these remarkable officers. To Patrolman James White’s mom Laurie, and dad Darrell, and sons JC and James, and to Corporal Zach Moak’s mom Vickie, dad Marshall, and brother Chris: Your heroes loved their job, they loved their country, and today their love shines down on you from Heaven. They’re watching right now. They’re watching. They’re looking down on you, and they’re proud.

So, please, could I have you just stand up? The families, please. Please. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Two great men.

Also here with us for this ceremony are the families of Investigator Farrah Turner and Sergeant Terrence Carraway, of the Florence Police Department in the great state of South Carolina.

Last October, Investigator Farrah Turner went to the house of a man suspected of a crime against a minor. When she and her fellow officers approached, a gunman opened fire from his second story window. Nobody knew it could happen. Nobody thought it was even possible. There was no evidence, no anything. But they knew it was trouble.

At that very moment, Florence Police Sergeant Terrence Carraway, a very popular person in that whole area of South Carolina — they all knew him; legendary guy — he was on his way home. He heard the call come over the radio. He sped to the scene, jumped out of his car, and was racing to the rescue. He knew the bullets were coming, but he kept going forward and he was struck by one of those bullets.

In total, seven officers were shot on that very terrible day. We lost Sergeant Carraway, a 30-year veteran of the department. As his pastor has said, he wore “a badge of love.” “And every time you were in his presence, you could feel that love.” That’s what they all say.

Investigator Farrah Turner was also fatally wounded. She passed away several weeks later. In her final days, hundreds of members of the community came to visit her in the hospital. They loved her. They spoke of the way she not only saved them from danger but changed their lives through her grace, her support, and her prayers.

To Investigator Turner’s mom Katie and sister April, and to Sergeant Carraway’s wife Allison and son Terrence, brother Daniel, and sisters Sanovia and Ngozi: Your loved ones died the day — it was a sad day. But they’re looking down on you now. They died as they lived: fighting to protect innocent people. We will always remember them.

We will always profoundly be grateful to have with us two of the surviving Florence officers who were shot that October evening: Brian Hart and Travis Scott. Brian and Travis, your continued service honors the legacy of your great friends. Thank you for being with us. (Applause.) Please stand. Please stand. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here.

The ambushes and attacks on our police must end, and they must end right now. We believe that criminals who murder police officers should immediately, with trial, get the death penalty — but quickly. The trial should go fast. (Applause.) It’s got to be fair, but it’s got to go fast. (Applause.) And that’s happening. Fair but fast, right? Fair but fast.

In the year before I took office, the number of officers killed in ambushes rose to the highest level in nearly 30 years. In the last two years, thankfully, the number of officers killed in ambushes has decreased by more than 70 percent.

I’m very proud to have sent to all of the police departments all over the country hundreds of millions — and even billions — of dollars’ worth of military equipment that wasn’t being used. Beautiful, wonderful, safe, great equipment that wasn’t being used. And other administrations didn’t want to send it. Someday, you’ll explain that one to me. (Laughter.)

But it’s been sent and it’s been used, and I’ve had so many people tell me how happy they were and how many lives it saved. We’ll never back down when it comes to protecting out police, ever. (Applause.) Ever.

In my administration, we strongly condemn hateful anti-police rhetoric. And you’re hearing it. You’re hearing it. We don’t understand it. We don’t think it’s even possible that they can think or feel this way. But there are some people out there that do.

In recent years, another dangerous trend has begun. A number of prosecutors in cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago have decided not to prosecute many criminals who pose a severe threat to public safety and community well-being. Every prosecutor takes an oath to uphold the law, not to advance a political agenda. (Applause.)

Last year, in Philadelphia, a robber shot and gravely injured a deli owner. He was a good man. He’ll never be the same. But he may serve — this criminal — a sentence that is very short. In fact, they’re looking at about three years, if you can believe this. Three years.

Dangerous criminals must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. That’s the only language they understand. (Applause.) And those who file false police reports should face full legal consequences. (Applause.)

Every American child deserves to grow up in a community that’s secure and safe from violence, and free of fear. Here with us today is the family of California Police Officer Ronil Singh. And I’ve gotten to know his family; they’re an incredible family. They just left the Oval Office. We took pictures. And it’s not an easy situation, what they’re going through. Frankly, they’re going through hell.

Ronil came to this country legally in 2003 with the dream of earning the badge of an American police officer. That was always his dream. And that’s exactly what Ronil did: He devoted his life to defending the laws of our country.

On Christmas night, he took a picture in front of the family Christmas tree with his beautiful wife, their beloved son, and Sam, their loyal police dog. It’s a picture that all of us saw. I remember it so vividly. I’ll never forget it. I didn’t know I’d get to know the family and greet the family and show the family the Lincoln bedroom at the White House. I didn’t know that. But it’s an extraordinary family. But I’ll never forget the picture.

Then, Corporal Singh headed out on duty — which he loved — to protect and to serve. You all know the story. Because hours later, he was gunned down and killed during a simple traffic stop. He was a vicious killer, this man that crossed into our country from the border just a little while before. A vicious killer that could’ve been kept out with border security, with the wall, with whatever the hell it takes. (Applause.) Could’ve been kept out.

But we’re getting it there. We’re building the wall. We’re beefing up like you wouldn’t believe. The military has come into action. People are trying to come into our country illegally because our country is doing well. They can’t come in illegally. They have to come in through the legal system. They have to come in through merit. They can’t come in like this killer came in — just rode across the border, went through every sign he could go through.

But the family is special. Ronil was special. And today we’re really grateful to be joined by Corporal Singh’s wife Anamika and their precious 10-month-old son Arnav. Where are you? They’re right here someplace. Stand up, please. (Applause.)

And also here are his great parents, Rohini and Veer, and his brother. Where is Reggie? His brother, Reggie. (Applause.) What a great family. Reggie, come up here, will you, please? Come on up. Come on.

This is unexpected, but this family, I tell you, I’ve — you know, you get to know some people. Come on up. They may let you up. I think so. (Laughter.) I think Reggie is okay. Come on up, Reg.

How about bringing that beautiful boy up? Come on up. Come on. Mrs. Singh, come up. (Applause.) Come on up. You know what? How about mom and dad, too? Come on up, mom and dad, and wife and baby. Come on up. Come. This is an incredible family. (Applause.)

That’s great. Got to see it to understand what it’s all about. It’s hard to imagine what they’ve been through. Hard to imagine. Come on up, Reg. You didn’t know you’d be doing this, Reggie. Sorry, Reggie. (Laughter.)

(Applause.)

MR. SINGH: I am the brother of Corporal Ronil Singh. I’d like to thank every single law enforcement officer over here. What you guys go through — I heard stories from my brother.

This man over here, the Singh family supports him. Whatever he is doing for the law enforcement, we support him. (Applause.) His team at the White House has reached out to us multiple times. Multiple times. I don’t think that ever happened before. Ever. This man is amazing, and my family supports him. Thank you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

MR. SINGH: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: I’m proud of you.

MR. SINGH: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Want to say something? Want to say? Thank you, sweetheart. So cute. (Laughter.)

Thank you very much, folks. Thank you. Please. Thank you. You take care of yourself. Great job. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

MRS. SINGH: Actually, I do want to say something.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh. She said, “No. No, I don’t want to speak. Actually, I do.” I like that. (Laughter.) I think that’s great.

MRS. SINGH: It’s something I didn’t get to do at the office. I actually want to thank you personally for — you’re the only one that actually reached out and said — gave your condolence to the family. And it actually means a lot to all of our law enforcement families that are here. For the sacrifice my husband and his brothers in blue, in (inaudible) blue, have given.

So I want to thank you for that. And we all — every family sitting out here wants justice for what happened to their loved ones. And that’s what I want for my husband. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. That’s really (inaudible). Thank you.

Thank you very much. So beautiful. Such a beautiful family. And there will be justice. Justice will happen. We have the people, and we have the spirit, we have the mindset. We’re taking care of our law enforcement officers and we’re taking care of everybody.

But we cannot imagine your pain — I mean, doing that — just doing that, Reggie, thank you very much — fathom what you’ve been through. But we pledge to you the unwavering love and support and devotion of this entire nation. We have a great nation, and it’s getting better and better every day. It’s getting stronger. We’re not relying on outside forces and outside countries that don’t really care about us, other than to take advantage of our people and our system. And our nation is strong again and getting stronger every single minute.

Joining the Singhs are more than 10 other family members and close friends, along with 22 of his fellow officers. Please stand, would you? Please stand. Twenty-two officers. Thank you. (Applause.)

So, was he as great as they say? Huh? He was.

PARTICIPANT: (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: He was. I had a feeling you might say that. He was. That’s what I hear from everybody. Good. Thank you very much for being here. We appreciate it.

You remind us all that when our heroes fall, our communities stand together as one. They get stronger. We’ll always remember Corporal Singh as a hero and a truly great American.

Not one more American life should be lost because our lawmakers failed to secure our borders. Tremendous problems are caused at the southern border — from drugs, to the wrong people being allowed to come in because of a corrupt and broken system that can be changed in 20 minutes — 20 minutes, if they want to change it.

In the meantime, we have to do it the tough way. And there’s no reason for that. That’s why we are calling on Congress to fix our terrible immigration laws, stop catch-and-release; you catch them and you release them. That doesn’t work too well with all these great officers I’m looking at. They never heard of a thing like that.

To end deadly sanctuary cities. To stop the visa lottery program, where they take lottery systems and a country will put you into a lottery and then deposit you into the United States. I don’t think most countries are giving us their finest. Do you agree? And that’s what’s happening. And it’s causing tremendous problems with crime and other things.

And I have to tell you, Border Patrol and ICE, and just law enforcement in general, the job they’ve done and the job they’re doing is incredible. What they have to go through — the bravery. I’ve gotten to know so many, especially at the border. And what they have to go through, and the danger, is incredible. But they do it. And to them, it’s something they love to do. They feel they’re doing it for their country. They love to do it. And they do it well.

To every mom and dad, brother and sister, spouse and child of the brave fallen officers we honor today, America joins together in expressing our love and our gratitude, our grief, and our firm resolve to be with you every single step of the way. We will never let you down.

Your loved ones were the finest and the bravest. And they’re all looking down. Right now, they’re looking down on their families. Every time they put on the badge, they knew they might not make it home. And so did their families know that. Each time they went on a shift, they knew it could be their very last. And when that time came where they knew there was danger, when evil lurked, they did not run, they did not hide. They always ran forward. They answered the call. They gave their lives for all of us.

The men and women of law enforcement devote their lives to protecting our children, securing our streets, and keeping our communities safe. Moms and dads can sleep soundly at night, kids can play with neighbors outside, and grandparents can feel at peace in their homes because they know America’s officers are the absolute best and they’re always on the beat.

The courage and sacrifice of our heroes is the reason our flag stands tall and bravely, our hearts beat with pride, and our country remains one people, one family, and one nation under God. (Applause.)

Today, we thank you, we honor you, and we forever cherish the memory of our fallen men and women in blue. You are very special people. There are nobody like you. Nobody.

God bless you. God bless our law enforcement. God bless the fallen. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

Good discussion between Tom Friedman and Steve Bannon on the ‘big picture’ of the U.S. -vs- China geopolitical trade confrontation.   Friedman is an insufferable prog on methods, but he recognizes the President Trump approach is necessary.  Worth Watching:

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Where academic Friedman is helplessly naive is on the key point of how a coalition approach toward China is a pipe-dream.  When it comes to economics each entity has unique self-interests.  Put fifty self-interested governments together (ie. TPP) and you end up with paralysis of analysis and no action; as each entity fights to hold their own interest over the group interest….. While China grows in the background.

Trump is a Gordian knot cutter.  He smartly understands that allies, specifically politicians, are now ‘globalists’ in their outlook.  Each nation within an assembly of nations actually undermines their own long-term interests because their emphasis is on scraps and retention of their percentage of a diminishing pie.

It takes a strong unilateral leader, who can take strong unilateral action, to confront the communist single-minded, deliberate and purposeful will.  There can be no half-measures when confronting systems that are purposefully designed to end with the loss of economic security for nations.  China is an economic bully; by the time a consensus is formed to confront the bully, the battle is lost.

President Trump is defeating China specifically because he carries a focus to protect the interests of the U.S. first and foremost; and by extension he is protecting the economic freedom of the allied global community.   This makes the international elites uneasy, because their opinion is not present in the war-room; but it is specifically because their voices are absent that Trump is able to achieve success.

President Donald Trump is not the refined soft-spoken general the international community wants; but history will show vulgarian Trump is exactly the general the international community needs at this specific moment in time.

This is the era when an economic Titan is needed.  We are fortunate to have such a dragon-slayer in President Trump.

The Friedman coalition should shut up, sit down, and just say thank you.

Today President Trump will be touring a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export facility in Hackberry, Louisiana before he delivers a statement on energy sector infrastructure and the economy.  The president is expected to deliver remarks at 3:10pm EDT.

UPDATE: Video Added

WH Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream Link – CNBC Livestream Link

Curtis Ellis was special advisor to Secretary of Labor Acosta in the Trump administration. He is now an outside government advisor to America-First Policies, an unaffiliated economic advisory board and advocacy group. In this video Ellis walks through the big picture behind the U.S. -vs- China Trade confrontation.

Chopper pressers are the best pressers. President Trump delivers remarks to the press as he departs the White House for an energy policy speech in Louisiana.  The president answered multiple questions about current events including China, Bill Barr, John Durham, Iran, Don Jr., and immigration.  [Video and transcript below]

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[Transcript] 11:21 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: So, the economy is doing very well by every measure. We’re having probably the greatest economy that we’ve had anywhere, anytime, in the history of our country.

We’re having a little squabble with China because we’ve been treated very unfairly for many, many decades — for, actually, a long time. And it should have been handled a long time ago, and it wasn’t. And we’ll handle it now.

I think it’s going to be — I think it’s going to turn out extremely well. We’re at a very strong position. We are the piggy bank that everybody likes to take advantage of, or take from. And we can’t let that happen anymore.

We’ve been losing, for many years, anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion a year with China and trade with China. We can’t let that happen.

The relationship I have with President Xi is extraordinary. It’s, really, very good. But he’s for China and I’m for the USA, and it’s very simple.

We are, again, in a very, very strong position. They want to make a deal. It could absolutely happen. But, in the meantime, a lot of money is being made by the United States, and a lot of strength is being shown. This has never happened to China before.

Our economy is fantastic; theirs is not so good. We’ve gone up trillions and trillions of dollars since the election; they’ve gone way down since my election.

So, that’s the way it is. That’s the way it stands. We’re going to do very well.

Yeah.

Q Mr. President, are you confident that there will be no recession while you’re in office?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you never can say that, but we’re doing very well. We’re doing — I think we probably have the greatest economy that we’ve ever had.

The employment numbers came out. As you know, they’re record levels in almost every category: African American — the best in history, if you take a look; Hispanic American, the best in history. Yesterday, Asian American numbers came in; they are the lowest in history — the history of our country. Women — I think in 61 years, and soon that will be historic, too.

So that we are doing — and as far as employment numbers, we have the most people working today in the United States than we’ve ever had before. Almost 160 million people. So it’s really good.

Q Mr. President, trade talks collapsed with China. Would you describe it —

THE PRESIDENT: You got a machine over there.

Q Have trade talks collapsed with China? Would you describe it like that?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I wouldn’t. We have a very good dialogue. We have a dialogue going. It’ll always continue. But we made a deal with China. It was a deal that was a very good deal. It had to be a good deal; otherwise, we’re not making it. Because we’ve been down so low in trade — and other Presidents should’ve done this a long time ago — we can’t just make a new deal. And I told that to President Xi.

But we had a deal that was very close, and then they broke it. They really did. I mean, more than just — more than renegotiate, they really broke it. So we can’t have that happen.

Q Mr. President, did you ask the Attorney General to launch a probe into the Russia investigation?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t ask him to do that.

Q Did you know he was going to do it?

THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t know it. I didn’t know it. But I think it’s a great thing that he did it. I saw it last night. And they want to look at how that whole hoax got started. It was a hoax. And even Mueller — not a friend of mine — even Bob Mueller came out: “No collusion.” And he had 18 people that didn’t like Donald Trump. They were Hillary Clinton fans. They contributed, many of them, to Hillary Clinton. They came out. It was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the people of this country.

And you know what? I am so proud of our Attorney General, that he is looking into it. I think it’s great. I did not know about it. No.

Q Mr. President, were you surprised by the Chinese retaliation, sir? You tweeted they “should not retaliate,” and then they did.

THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no. I wasn’t surprised. But you have to understand they do $600 billion, meaning we buy $600 billion and they buy $100 billion. We have all the advantage. It’s a very small factor for us. And we have a much bigger economy now. You know, since my election, we’ve gone up so much. We have a much bigger economy than China. But if you take a look, $600 [DEL: million :DEL] [billion] versus $100 [DEL: million :DEL] [billion]. It’s a different world.

Q Mr. President, (inaudible) $100 billion in additional tariffs, then?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re looking at that very strongly. About the $325 billion — we’re looking at it very strongly.

David.

Q Mr. President, did you tell DHS to round up immigrant families?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know anything about that. I read that. It’s probably fake news. But I read that this morning. I don’t know anything about it.

Q Mr. President, why is it unfair? Why is it unfair, sir, for Don Jr. to be subpoenaed if he’s pulled out of testifying twice?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, it’s really a tough situation because my son spent, I guess, over 20 hours testifying about something that Mueller said was 100 percent okay. And now they want him to testify again. I don’t know why. I have no idea why, but it seems very unfair to me.

Q Mr. President, are you planning to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East in response to Iran?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s fake news, okay? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that.

But I think it’s just — where was that story? In the New York Times? Well, the New York Times is fake news.

Go ahead.

Q You say this is a small squabble, but don’t you understand that American consumers may very well suffer because of this?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. So you have no tariff to pay whatsoever if you’re a business. All you have to do is build or make your product in the United States. There’s no tariff whatsoever. So that really works out very well.

Q Do you think you’re winning the trade war, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: I think we’re winning it. We’re going to be collecting over $100 billion in tariffs. Our people, if they want, they can buy from someplace else, other than China. Or they can — really, the ideal is make their product in the USA. That’s what I really want. Yeah, we’re winning it.

You know what? You want to know something? You want to know something? We always win. We always win.

How are you, Emerald?

Q I’m good. How are you?

THE PRESIDENT: Good. What’s up?

Q Do you have confidence in Christopher Wray after he said he wouldn’t exactly call it “spying”?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I didn’t understand his answer because I thought the Attorney General answered it perfectly. So I certainly didn’t understand that answer. I thought it was a ridiculous answer.

Thank you.

[Transcript End]

Once again the New York Times is getting out ahead of the story to reveal Attorney General Bill Barr has instructed U.S. Attorney John Durham to review the origins of the 2016 DOJ and FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign. [Durham Background Here]

The appointment looks like a way to keep the sensitive inquiry within Barr’s control as opposed to appointing a special counsel.  John H Durham, the U.S. attorney from Connecticut, has handled previous investigations into the intelligence community.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to examine the origins of the Russia investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter, a move that President Trump has long called for but that could anger law enforcement officials who insist that scrutiny of the Trump campaign was lawful.

John H. Durham, the United States attorney in Connecticut, has a history of serving as a special prosecutor investigating potential wrongdoing among national security officials, including the F.B.I.’s ties to a crime boss in Boston and accusations of C.I.A. abuses of detainees.

His inquiry is the third known investigation focused on the opening of an F.B.I. counterintelligence investigation during the 2016 presidential campaign into possible ties between Russia’s election interference and Trump associates.

The department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, is separately examining investigators’ use of wiretap applications and informants and whether any political bias against Mr. Trump influenced investigative decisions. And John W. Huber, the United States attorney in Utah, has been reviewing aspects of the Russia investigation. His findings have not been announced.

[…] Mr. Durham, who was nominated by Mr. Trumpin 2017 and has been a Justice Department lawyer since 1982, has conducted special investigations under administrations of both parties. Attorney General Janet Reno asked Mr. Durham in 1999 to investigate the F.B.I.’s handling of a notorious informant: the organized crime leader James (Whitey) Bulger.

In 2008, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey assigned Mr. Durham to investigate the C.I.A.’s destruction of videotapes in 2005 showing the torture of terrorism suspects. A year later, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. expanded Mr. Durham’s mandate to also examine whether the agency broke any laws in its abuses of detainees in its custody.  (read more)

Again, cautious optimism this appointment is a step in the right direction.

We would be remiss if we didn’t note the prior DOJ head-fake when U.S. Attorney John Laush was assigned to review and deliver documents to congress.  That effort resulted in absolutely nothing; the documents were never produced; the redactions were never removed; and the corrupt institutional schemes were unfazed by Laush’s assignment.

It would seem like most of the investigative material Mr. Durham might need is already present in the accumulated files from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.  Keep an eye open to see if John H Durham is given a staff, investigative resources and/or a budget therein.  If this is a genuinely motivated effort there should be visible activity.

This better-damn-well-not be another years-long investigation, specifically structured and coordinated to extend the tick-tock timeline of investigative inquiry into another 2020 election year, while the deep state institutional protectors say: “Trust Durham“.

Watching…

UPDATE: Prior letter from Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows to U.S. Attorney John H Durham in January of 2019, about the October 18, 2018, testimony from former FBI legal counsel James Baker where Baker’s lawyers identified Durham as a prosecutor investigating the claims of Baker leaking to media.

Good China -vs- Bad China

Michael Pillsbury discusses the ongoing U.S-China trade negotiation and notes the internal dynamic within China as their primary negotiator Vice-Premier Liu He was stripped of his title: “Special Envoy of Chairman Xi Jinping”.

Vice-Premier Liu He, no longer “special envoy”

Earlier this afternoon President Trump welcomes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to the White House for bilateral discussions.  During an oval office press availability both leaders answered questions from the media. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] Oval Office – 2:14pm EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s a great honor to have with us the Prime Minister of Hungary. And Viktor Orbán has done a tremendous job in so many different ways. Highly respected. Respected all over Europe. Probably, like me, a little bit controversial, but that’s okay. That’s okay. You’ve done a good job and you’ve kept your country safe.

We’ll be discussing NATO. As you know, Hungary is a proud member of NATO, and we are — we’ve really gotten to know each other a little bit. We’ll be discussing trade, very much so, and lots of other subjects. We’ll be meeting with representatives of Hungary later on, and with the Prime Minister. And we’ll spend some very good time together.

So, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for being at the White House. Thank you very much. It’s a great honor. Thanks.

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: May I have a word?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, please.

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: So, President, thank you very much for the invitation.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: May I just say here that we are proud that so many Hungarians contributed to the tremendous progress of United States. I’m very happy to be here again, and, may I say, to be young again. It was 20 years ago, first time here.

I have some expectations for this meeting this afternoon. First of all, to strengthen our strategic alliance. Then, to discuss global political issues because so many changes are going on, and we have some similar approaches. And I would like to express that we are proud to stand together with the United States on fighting against illegal migration, on terrorism, and to protect and help the Christian communities all around the world.

So, President, thank you very much for the invitation.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And you have been great with respect to Christian communities. You have really put a block up, and we appreciate that very much.

So we’re going to have some meetings now. A lot of subjects under discussion. And the relationship is very good with Hungary. Thank you all very much.

Q Mr. President, what’s your reaction to China’s decision today to retaliate on tariffs, and the market reaction to that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, the reaction is very simple. China has been taking advantage of the United States for many, many years. I’m not just talking about during the Obama administration. You can go back long before that. And it’s been taking out four hundred, five hundred, six hundred billion dollars a year out of the United States. And we can’t let that happen.

We’re in a very strong position. Our economy has been very powerful; theirs has not been. We’ve gone up a lot since our great election in 2016. And if you look at the numbers, they’ve gone down quite a bit.

We’re dealing with them. We have a very good relationship. Maybe something will happen. But we’re going to be meeting, as you know, at the G20 in Japan. And that will be, I think, probably, a very fruitful meeting.

But we’re taking in, right now, hundreds of billions of dollars. We’re taking in billions of dollars of tariffs. And those tariffs are going to be tremendously — if you look at what we’ve done thus far with China, we’ve never taken in 10 cents until I got elected. Now we’re taking in billions and billions.

Now, it went up, as of Friday, very substantially. It’s 25 percent on $200 billion. So now the total is 25 percent on $250 billion. In addition to that, we have another $325 billion that we can do if we decide to do it.

So we are taking in tens of billions of dollars. We’ve never done that before with — with China. We’ve never done that before with anybody, frankly, because we’ve been taken advantage of on all of our trade deals, practically.

This is a — a very positive step. I love the position we’re in. There can be some retaliation, but it can’t be very, very substantial, by comparison. And out of the billions of dollars that we’re taking in, a small portion of that will be going to our farmers because China will be retaliating, probably, to a certain extent, against our farmers.

We’re going to take the highest year, the biggest purchase that China has ever made with our farmers, which is about $15 billion, and do something reciprocal to our farmers so our farmers can do well. They’ll be planting. They’ll be able to sell for less, and they’ll make the same kind of money until such time as it’s all straightened out.

So our farmers will be very happy. Our manufacturers will be very happy. And our government is very happy because we’re taking in tens of billions of dollars. I think it’s working out very well.

Again, we do much less business with China than they do with us. If you take a look at $100 billion versus $600 billion — and just so you understand, we don’t have to pay any tariffs if you’re a manufacturer in this country. You pay nothing. Open your division or open up your product. Have it made in this country as opposed to made in China. Or, if you don’t want to do that — and that would be the ideal; that’s what it used to be a long time ago when we were smart, when we had an economy that was really something very special. Now we’re having a period of tremendous growth and tremendous success like we haven’t seen for a long time.

But in the old days, we made our product and we took our product, and that’s what it was. Now we go to China, and we buy it — not anymore.

And if they don’t want to pay tariffs, make it here or buy it from another country that’s a non-tariffed country. So whether you go to Vietnam or so many others, you can do that.

So, the bottom line is we are taking in a tremendous amounts of money. It already started as of last Friday, but it really started seven months before that. It’s in the form of tariffs or taxes, and it had a tremendous impact.

If you looked at the first quarter — which is always, historically, the worst quarter — we were at 3.2 percent. People were very surprised. Well, a lot of that was the tariffs that we were taking in from China. So we’re in a very good positon and I think it’s only going to get better.

Q Can you guarantee a trade deal with China by June 1st?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re in a great positon right now, no matter what we do. Yeah, I think China wants to have it because companies are already announcing that they’re leaving China because they can’t do that. They can’t compete if they’re in China, with the tax.

So what a lot of companies are going to be doing, quite naturally, is leaving China and going to other countries so they don’t have to pay the tariff. That’s something that’s a problem for China. They don’t want to have that. And we don’t want to have that necessarily happen to China.

But we had a deal with China; it was 95 percent there. And then, my representatives — as you know, Secretary Mnuchin and Bob Lighthizer — Ambassador Lighthizer — they went to China and they were told the things that were fully agreed to we’re not going to get anymore; they’re going to un-agree to them. That’s not acceptable.

I said, “Good. That’s fine. Put on the tariffs.” And again, so we have tens of millions of dollars pouring into our coffers — the coffers of the U.S. Treasury.

Q Are you at war with Iran? Are you seeking regime change there?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake. If they do anything. I’m hearing little stories about Iran. If they do anything, they will suffer greatly. We’ll see what happens with Iran.

Q Mr. President, will you meet with President Xi directly at G20?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’ll meet with him directly, yes. I’ll be meeting with President Xi of China. Yes.

Q What about President Putin? Will you also meet with him at G20?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, I’ll be meeting with President Putin also.

Q On Russia: Secretary Pompeo is there — or is heading there. What message do you have for him to send to Putin?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think the message is that there has never been anybody that’s been so tough on Russia but, at the same time, we’re going to end up getting along with Russia. It makes sense to get along with Russia.

Nobody has sanctioned Russia like I have. Nobody has talked about the pipeline going to Germany and various other places like I have. I said it’s very unfair — having to do with the United States and NATO. There has been nobody that’s ever done — and if you really look at something big, our energy business — we’re now the biggest in the world. We’re bigger than Russia. We’re bigger than Saudi Arabia. We’re bigger than anybody. That it all happened since I’ve become President because I’ve made it so that you can do that. And we’re taking in a lot of money.

Look, our country is doing really well. We’ve probably never done this well before, and it’s going to continue. We have tremendous signs. As far as the deal with China is concerned, believe it or not, it’s very important, but it’s a very, very small part of the kind of numbers that we’re doing right now, since my election.

Q Will you pursue the $325 billion in tariffs? The additional tariffs — are you going to pursue that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I haven’t made that decision yet. We have the right to do another $325 billion at 25 percent in additional tariffs. That is a tremendous amount of money that would come into our country. I have not made that decision yet.

Q Should Don McGahn be held in contempt of Congress?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t know anything about what’s going on. I can tell you that there has never been anybody so transparent as the Trump administration. And it was no collusion and no obstruction. And we’re wasting a lot of time with that stuff. But the Mueller report came out; it was a very good report for us.

Q Mr. President, are you concerned about democratic backsliding in Hungary under this Prime Minister?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, people have a lot of respect for this Prime Minister. He’s a respected man. And I know he’s a tough man, but he’s a respected man. And he’s done the right thing, according to many people, on immigration. And you look at some of the problems that they have in Europe that are tremendous because they’ve done it a different way than the Prime Minister. But I’ll let him speak to that question.

Mr. Prime Minister, please.

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: “From the people, by the people, for the people.” This is the basis for the Hungarian government. So, it’s a government which is elected by the Hungarian people several times, so we are happy to serve our nation.

Q What about democratic reforms, sir?

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: We have a new constitution accepted in 2011, and it’s functioning well.

Q Mr. President, you talked about —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Don’t forget they’re a member of NATO, and a very good member of NATO. And I don’t think we can really go into too much of a discussion unless that’s mentioned.

Yeah.

Q You talked about transparency, sir. If you’re so transparent, why continue to block these House Democrats who are looking for information from Secretary Mnuchin and others?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Because they’re asking for things that they’re not entitled to. I could ask them. I assume, if they ask me, I could ask them for the same kind of thing. They wouldn’t want to do it. All they’re doing is trying to win an election in 2020.

And I think we’re in very good shape. We’re have the strongest economy we’ve ever had. We have the single best employment numbers we’ve ever had — and unemployment numbers.

You know, it’s very interesting, but, Mr. Prime Minister, as of today, we have the most number of people working in the United States than we have ever had at any time in the history of our country. Almost 160 million people —

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: Congratulations.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: — are working. So, that’s a big — that’s a big number.

PRIME MINISTER ORBÁN: Congratulations.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I just saw the final number. We’re close to 160 million people. If you look at African American, Asian, Hispanic unemployment, it’s the lowest number it’s ever been.

So we’re doing really well. And all the Democrats want to do is find any way they can to stop it. They’re putting their own personal goals ahead of the country, and you can’t do that. You just can’t do that.

And we have a wonderful Attorney General. He’s done a very, very good job. And I’m sure it’ll all work out.

Q On your campaign, sir: Will you commit to not using any information stolen from a foreign adversary? Will you make that commitment?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I never did use, as you probably know. That’s what the Mueller report was all about. They said, “No collusion.” And I would certainly agree to that; I don’t need it. All I need is the opponents that I’m looking at. I’m liking what I see.

Q Mr. President, are you concerned about the attacks on oil tankers in the Middle East?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ll see what happens. It’s going to be a bad problem for Iran if something happens, I can tell you that. They’re not going to be happy. They are not going to be happy people. Okay?

Q What do you mean by that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You can figure it out yourself. They know what I mean by it.

Okay, does anybody else have a question other than these two? Any questions for the Prime — are there any questions for the Prime Minister, please?

Q Mr. President, what can you tell us about this American citizen that was rescued by the French in Africa?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, the French did a great job.

Q Who is she? Was it coordinated with your administration?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The French did a great job and we appreciate it very much. And I’ve already communicated that feeling. We worked with them on intelligence, and we were able to get that person back. And we thank the French very much. Great job.

Q Who is she? Who is she? What work was she doing there?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t want to — I don’t want to tell you that now. I’ll tell you at some later date, I’m sure.

Okay?

Q The farmer aid package, sir — the $15 billion — can you elaborate on what that looks like or where that’s coming from?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, it’s being devised right now. It’s something that has taken place over the years. And if you would like, speak to Sonny Perdue, Department of Agriculture.

We love our farmers. We take care of our farmers. Our farmers have been incredible. No country can get in the way of our farmers. Our farmers are great patriots and they’ve done a fantastic job. So our farmers are going to be very well taken care of.

Thank you all very much. Thank you.

END 2:29 P.M. EDT

President Trump is executing one of the most brilliant geopolitical economic resets in the history of global trade. It really is stunningly remarkable how President Trump has controlled the entire landscape. The consequential phase now begins.

It is fascinating how the financial pundits didn’t see this coming. Perhaps one of the best indicators of where things are today comes from this quote within the South China Post:

“The Administration’s Section 301 tariffs and China’s retaliatory tariffs will now further disrupt – or even break – many thousands of supply chains in both countries.”

[Nelson Dong, a senior partner at Dorsey & Whitney]

The quote by Nelson Dong is stated *as if* shifting/breaking supply chains is a flaw in the approach. It’s not. Exactly the opposite is true; this is a feature of the strategic reset.  A specific and purposeful feature designed by President Trump.

What Dong is predicting is the deconstruction of “one-belt, one-road”.

As President Trump highlighted today, over time (and it won’t take long) there will be an exodus of multinational manufacturing away from China.  Corporations will shift their purchase agreements, manufacturing and assembly plans to ASEAN countries outside the investment ‘risk zone’ that is now China.

Notice some of the nuance (specific references) within President Trump’s tweets. Japan, Vietnam (President Trang Dai Quang), South Korea (KORUS), Philippines and India are positioned to pick-up business.

To counteract the predictable exodus the Chinese state-run enterprises (and banks) will offer incentives to retain the corporate manufacturing business. This process means China, in essence, subsidizes the tariffs:

China has no choice if they want to retain their economic model. Remember, China’s economy is deep (manufacturing) but also narrow. They are dependent on raw materials, customers and market access. {Go Deep}

Additionally, President Trump announces today he has not made any decision on the next phase of 25% tariffs on the remaining $350 billion in Chinese products.  He doesn’t need to.  Merely the possibility of additional tariffs will pause any further investment; and some companies not currently impacted will make decisions to avoid the possibility of impact.

President Trump has walked Chairman Xi into a trap.  There is only downside for China in the current dynamic.  In an effort to avoid the downside, China will bleed cash to retain their economic position…. However, this can only last so long.

President Trump knows the strength of our U.S. position is that our economy is deep and wide.  The U.S. is a self-sustaining economy.  Almost 80% of our internal production and manufacturing is purchased within our own market.

In the big picture – economic strength is an outcome of the ability of a nation, any nation, to support itself first and foremost. If a nations’ economy is dependent on other nations to survive it is less strong than a nation whose economy is more independent.

The reality of China as a dependent economic model; heck, they cannot even feed themselves; puts them at greater risk from the effects of global economic contraction.  However, more importantly it puts China at risk from President Trump’s strategic use of geopolitical economic leverage to weaken their economy.  Trump is exploiting that risk.

As things go forward, China cannot sustain a long-term economic conflict with the U.S.  As each day passes the ASEAN alliance will see their investment grow as companies pull-out of China and invest in S-Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, India etc.  The GDP of our allies (including Mexico) grows, and the controlled GDP of China, as an adversary, shrinks.

(LA Times) GoPro Inc. will move most of its U.S.-bound camera production out of China by summer, becoming one of the first brand-name electronics makers to take such action to minimize the impact of the U.S.-China trade war.

“Today’s geopolitical business environment requires agility,” GoPro Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee said in a statement Monday. “We’re proactively addressing tariff concerns.” The company is still deciding where to put the manufacturing operation. (more)

All of this was entirely predictable.  President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer told the world what to expect in 2017:

Da Nang, Vietnam – United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer today released the following statement in response to President Trump’s speech on trade between the United States and the Indo-Pacific region, at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit (emphasis mine):

“The President spoke loud and clear: the era of trade compromised by massive state intervention, subsidies, closed markets and mercantilism is ending. Free, fair and reciprocal trade that leads to market outcomes and greater prosperity is on the horizon.

“President Trump understands that too many nations talk about free trade abroad, only to shield their economies behind tariff and non-tariff barriers at home. The United States will no longer allow these actions to continue, and we are willing to use our economic leverage to pursue truly fair and balanced trade.

“I look forward to doing as the President instructed me and to pursue policies that will improve the lives of our workers, farmers and ranchers.” (link)