White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds an impromptu press conference with an argumentative and combative press corps. Topics surround the possibility of closing the U.S-Mexico border to cope with the growing crisis, and the Democrat narrative du jour around security clearances.
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Additionally, Ms. Sanders held a formal interview earlier today.
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Published on Apr 1, 2019
Earlier today at the White House, President Trump held an upbeat event to celebrate prison reform and passage of the first-step act. Boy howdy, do the media ever want to bury this event… Every participant becomes an ambassador for Trump 2020 [Video and Transcript Below]
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[Transcript] East Room – 6:01 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. Please. Thank you. We are very honored to be joined by our incredible Vice President. Mike — please, stand up, Mike. (Applause.) Mike Pence.
Today we’re here to celebrate the truly extraordinary bipartisan — that’s a very pleasant word — (applause) — that’s a pleasant word — achievement of the FIRST STEP Act. Very important. This landmark legislation will give countless current and former prisoners a second chance at life and a new opportunity to contribute to their communities, their states, and their nations. And that’s what they’re doing. Many distinguished — (applause) — that’s true. (Applause.)
Many distinguished guests are here with us for today’s — really, this is a ceremony that’s something that’s very special. And I want to just recognize a few of them: Attorney General William Barr. Thank you. (Applause.)
A man doing a great job — Secretary Alex Acosta. (Applause.) Where’s Alex?
Ben Carson. Ben. HUD. (Applause.) Setting records over at HUD. Really good, Ben. I’m proud of you.
Secretary Rick Perry — former Governor of Texas. (Applause.) And I have to say Rick really pioneered what we’re here for today. He was an early advocate and has done a great job in a lot of ways, but as Governor of Texas also. An early pioneer of what we’re doing today. Thank you, Rick. (Applause.)
And a very special thanks also to members of Congress. We have with us Senators Chuck Grassley. Where is our Chuck? (Applause.) Chuck. Chuck. Thank you, Chuck. And I’m glad I found him. I’d be in trouble if I didn’t find him. (Laughter.) Bill Cassidy. Bill. (Applause.) Thank you, Bill. Senator Cassidy. Mike Lee. Mike? Thank you, Mike. (Applause.) Thank you. Senator Rob Portman. (Applause.) Thank you, Rob. Cindy Hyde-Smith. (Applause.) Ran a great race. Ran a great race. Good job. Congratulations, Cindy. Great job. And a friend of mine — Roger Wicker, senator. (Applause.) Thank you.
And a lot of congressmen and women are here. But just to introduce a few of them: Congressman Doug Collins. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Josh Gottheimer. Thank you, Josh. (Applause.) And Tom Reed. No Labels. (Applause.)
A lot of governors are here, and some we’re going to leave out — (laughter) — because I don’t like them. But that’s okay. I’ll get to like them. Kentucky Governor — a man I do like — Matt Bevin. (Applause.)
An incredible guy, a friend of mine and all of us for a long time, and he’s going to be leaving the governorship one day soon, and we’re not going to be happy about that at all: Phil Bryant. Fantastic governor. (Applause.) He is a fantastic governor. And he built the African American Museum, and it’s one of the best jobs I’ve seen in a long time. A lot of money but under budget and ahead of schedule, right, Phil? And he was proud of that. (Applause.) You don’t see that often in government.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Doug? Thank you, Doug. (Applause.) And Mrs. Burgum. And Mrs. Burgum. Thank you very much. And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. (Applause.) Thanks, Ken. Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine. Karl, thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, Karl. And Florida’s former Attorney General, Pam Bondi — respected by everybody. (Applause.) Where’s Pam? Thank you, Pam.
And they’re joined by many faith and law enforcement leaders. We have tremendous numbers of people here today that are just such strong believers in not only what we’re doing but also faith. And faith is a good thing. In my book, it’s a great thing.
I also want to recognize someone that you all know well, who worked tirelessly on this project. And to achieve it he went through a lot. And I’ll tell you what — he got there, and he got there with flying colors, because he believes, and a lot of other people believe — both conservative and liberal, and those in the middle: Jared Kushner. (Applause.) Jared?
And he did not want me to do that. Because I saw this beautiful line and — (laughter) — and he didn’t want it but other people did. They insisted that I do it and it was real easy. But, you know, Jared has had a very easy life. He was doing phenomenally in New York, and everything he touched has turned to gold. And then, one day, he said, “I want to come down and I want to have peace in the Middle East. And I want to do criminal justice reform. And I want to do all these wonderful things.” And his life became extremely complex. (Laughter.)
And he wouldn’t trade it. I don’t think he’d trade it, because what he’s doing is incredible. And he is doing great in the Middle East. I think you’re going to have, someday — before we’re finished, I think you’re going to have something very important signed, and I hope so. You’re doing a great job. Thank you. (Applause.)
So, many people said — in fact, I guess we could say almost all people said — that criminal justice reform would never pass. But we came together as a group, we worked across party lines, and we got it done. And it’s an incredible thing when you see some of the people here — so conservative and then some so liberal. And we just have a lot of great people that came together. They knew it had to be done.
As President, I pledged to work with both parties for the good of the whole nation. And that’s what it is: It’s for the good of the whole nation. And it’s something that is so important to me in terms of this and lots of other things. And it’s happening. Slowly, but surely, it’s all happening.
The more I met and spoke with those involved in our criminal justice system, the more clear it became that unfair sentencing rules were contributing to the cycle of poverty and crime like really nothing else before. It was time to fix this broken system — and it’s a system of the past — and to improve the lives of so many people.
And you look at the safety and all of the things that are happening now as a result of the FIRST STEP — as an example, non-violent prisoners will have opportunities to participate in vocational training, education, and drug treatment programs. When they get out of prison, they will be ready to get a job instead of turning back to a life of crime. (Applause.) All right?
And I’m really — I’m thrilled to report that, since I signed the FIRST STEP Act, more than 16,000 inmates have already enrolled in drug treatment programs. (Applause.) And my administration intends to fully fund and implement this historic law. It’s happening, and it’s happening fast. And it’s a lot for some people to understand. As soon as they understand it, they say, “Wow, why didn’t we do this a long time ago?”
And some of the great governors that are here with us today have already implemented it. And they were a step ahead and now they’re going a step further. And I want to just congratulate them. And these are states that I won’t name because I don’t know if I should be naming them, but these are states that you wouldn’t think necessarily would be at the forefront of criminal justice reform. You understand that. (Applause.) Thank you.
The FIRST STEP Act serves as a model for criminal justice reform as the state level and all over the state level — all over every aspect of what we do — and throughout many states that are following our lead and already moving similar legislation forward — many of them are — including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi.
The FIRST STEP Act also ensures that those in prison are placed closer to their families and home communities so they can have that communication that they need, greatly easing their return to society. (Applause.) It’s really important. Really important. Right?
And finally, the law rolls back provisions of the 1994 Clinton crime law that was so devastating to some many and that disproportionately impacted the African American community. Nobody believes how much, and now they understand it.
In less than four months, more than 500 people with unfair sentences have been released from prison and are free to begin a new life. (Applause.)
One of these newly freed Americans is Troy Powell, who is with us today. In 2004, Troy was sentenced to 20 years for doing a drug offense. During his 15 years in prison, he took courses and worked as an electrician, and he got really good at being an electrician. Really good. In fact, if you ever lose your job, come see me. I need electricians. (Laughter.) We could use them right here in the White House, Troy, if you want to know the truth. (Laughter.)
In February, Troy was released under the FIRST STEP Act. Nine days later, he was hired at Boone Lumber Company in Lenoir, North Carolina. And now Troy is saving — and really saving a lot of money because he’s doing well. You know, our economy is helping a little bit, Troy. I’ll tell you. (Laughter and applause.) But he’s saving money to buy a home. And he’s got one in mind. One particular home in mind. He’ll get it, I have no doubt about it. So, Troy, congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.) Do you want to say a couple words?
MR. POWELL: Yeah, sure.
THE PRESIDENT: He didn’t know about it. (Applause.)
MR. POWELL: Oh, my God. Man, this is crazy. Well, first of all, I’d like to say thank you to everybody here on Capitol Hill for finally getting this bill pushed through. I mean, I know there was a lot of work involved in it. And I would like to say thank you to the organizations that got me here, like #Cut50, and Amy, CAN-DO. And them people, I mean, they’ve done so much for me. It’s unbelievable how much they’ve done for me. I never thought — I never thought this bill would pass, and coming home and finding places like Boone Lumber Company that took a chance on me right out the door. I mean, “No problem. Come home to work.” You know?
I can’t thank everybody enough for that, and — but more than just thanking everybody for these things, there’s more that can be done. I left so many people behind in prison doing 40 and 50 years for nothing. I mean, absolutely nothing. I mean, should I have went to prison? Absolutely. I committed a crime.
But for 20 years for the small things that I had done? I should’ve definitely went to prison. And I don’t know what to say. I think there — I think there should be a second step, that’s what I say. (Applause.) I think there should be a second step. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Now, could I have said it better than that? (Laughter.) His statement about so many people — and that’s true. So many people in there that really are serving 40- and 50-year sentences for things that you wouldn’t even believe; that some people wouldn’t even be going to prison for today. So I want to — I just think that was incredible.
And don’t worry, I’m going to ask a couple. But, you know, none of them know they’re going to speak, and that makes it — (laughter) — that usually produces a much better speech.
We’re also proud to have with us on stage five more Americans who have been released under the FIRST STEP Act and transformed their lives, and that includes Gregory Allen. Where’s Gregory? Gregory. (Applause.) Hi, Gregory. You want to say something? Come on.
MR. ALLEN: Mine is real short. Two months ago, I was in a prison cell and I’m in the White House. (Laughter.) That’s going to tell you to make America great again. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: That’s great. And you know what? The people of our country feel the same way as you people.
MR. ALLEN: Absolutely.
THE PRESIDENT: They do. They feel it.
Yvonne Fountain. Yvonne? Yvonne, thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you very much, Yvonne. (Applause.) Oh, she wants to come up? Come up, Yvonne. She wants to — she wants to come up. (Applause.) Come on, Yvonne.
MS. FOUNTAIN: Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you.
I just want to say I am so grateful. First, I want to thank God because God got me through a lot in prison. Yes, I went to prison. I did my time. I was good the whole time. I worked. I stayed out of trouble. I programmed. I did what I needed to do. When you y’all passed this, I could’ve fell through the floor. (Laughter.) Because I had to wait for years and years for them to pass that mandatory bill. And that’s a hard thing.
But I’m grateful. I thank everybody who put their hands in it, all the hard work. And I really thank you for signing that bill. (Applause.) When you signed that, I really could have fell through the floor. Thank you so much.
THE PRESIDENT: April Johnson. April. Come up, April. (Applause.)
MS. JOHNSON: I just want to thank — thank you for signing the bill. I got compassionate release from my daughter. And because of that, I’ll be able to spend what time she has left with her.
MR. ALLEN: Take your time. Take your time.
MS. JOHNSON: She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September and they have since gave her a grave prognosis. And because of the bill and FIRST STEP Act, I’ll be able to spend the rest of her time with her. And I thank you. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sweetheart. You take care. (Inaudible.)
MS. JOHNSON: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Beautiful.
Catherine Toney. Catherine? Catherine? (Applause.) Catherine — I thought that was you, Catherine. Come.
MS. TONEY: Good evening, everyone. First of all, I would like to thank God. Then I would like to thank the President for signing the bill. (Applause.) I also would like to thank Jared. (Applause.) I would like to thank Van Jones, Jessica Jackson, #Cut50, Amy Povah. I would also like to thank Harry Jackson — Bishop Harry Jackson. He’s been great through my release. (Applause.) I would like to thank Jared for calling corporate of Walmart, giving me — getting me my first job in 16 years. (Applause.)
I would also like to thank Becky, which is here. Ms. Becky, could you please stand up? Becky Sadler. She has worked with me since I’ve left the White House the first time, getting me this job at Walmart with Jared — reached to them. And I just want to thank everybody, both parties.
And what I have to say is I feel as if the FIRST STEP Act needs to be fully implemented and it needs to be fully funded in order to make this step work. It’s so many people that we left behind that needs the same opportunity that we on this stage have. And if they had the full funding that this step need, it would be many of us on this stage. So I just want to thank everyone. And God bless you all. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: And a man who’s actually become much more famous than me, or anybody else in the room — (laughter) — his story is an incredible story, and it’s been inspiring. And I’d just like to introduce quickly, Matthew Charles. (Applause.) Matthew. Come here, Matthew.
MR. CHARLES: Thank you. I’m truly humbled. Nobody could be more famous than you. I’m truly humbled. I’m grateful. I’m thankful. Jared, the President, I’m thankful that you were insistent about getting this bill passed and signed. When it stalled in the Senate, and you informed Mitch McConnell you wanted to actually do this before that Senate in Congress went out, I’ll always remember that. So I’m just humble, thankful. In all, I’m still pleasantly overwhelmed and it’s an experience that I’ll never forget. Thank you. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: And I want to thank you all. And a woman who I think is a terrific woman and spokesman, and I’ve watched her, and we helped her a little bit. She was in jail for a long time, and she had a long time to go. And I’d like to say — is Alice here? Where’s Alice? Come up here, Alice, will you please? (Applause.) Alice Johnson. Alice Johnson. Come up.
MS. JOHNSON: Thank you so much. First of all, everyone knows me — I have to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, first. (Applause.)
And I want to thank our incredible President, President Donald John Trump. (Applause.) I just told him I finally get a chance to hug you and properly say thank you for believing in me. And I’d like to thank all of the advocates who have fought so long for me, who have been working behind the scenes trying to magnify my case.
I thank everyone in this room for your prayers. And I also want to thank the media for being so kind to me — (laughter) — because you have really — you have really helped magnify my story. (Laughter and applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Are you sure? (Laughs.) Good!
MS. JOHNSON: But thank you. I’m an example of a woman who has been given a second chance in life. There are so many others who deserve that same second chance. And so I’m grateful for platforms like this, for events like this today, that magnifies that need — because somehow, when you see a face, when you see another human being like me who has been separated from their family almost 22 years, that changes things, that changes heart.
God bless you and God bless America. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, Alice. You know, when you said — Alice said, “I want to also thank the media,” I sort of bent over and said, “Are you sure?” (Laughter.) She said — and I do, too. I think it’s fantastic. That’s great. (Applause.)
And a couple of people: Van Jones, please stand up. Please. (Applause.) He goes after me on occasion — (laughter) — but you know what? He came together with this one. We all agree this is very, very strong. This is a great bonding. And we appreciate it. You worked very hard on it, along with Ivanka. Please stand up. Ivanka. (Applause.) And Charlie Kirk. Stand up real fast. (Applause.) And Matt Schlapp. Stand up real fast. (Applause.) You guys — now, that’s an example of seriously conservative people and they’re totally into it, right? I mean, so many. So many.
So, to recognize the dignity and the potential of every American, I have designated April as the “Second Chance Month.” And we have a beautiful certificate coming. (Applause.)
As a result of our incredible economic turnaround — we had a big stock market day today, so that makes it even better, but a big day — there has never been a better time for those who need a second chance and they get a fresh start.
It’s so incredible to see people coming out of prison. They’ve done, historically, as you know, very, very poorly, oftentimes having to go back. Because they come out; they can’t get a job. Nobody wants to hire them because they were in prions. And because the economy is so strong, they’re getting an incredible start, as we say.
And it’s also maybe even more incredible to see what the people that are doing the hiring are saying. They are in love with what’s happening. (Applause.) They’re hiring people that are great, and they’re letting everyone know it. Everyone know it. Pretty incredible.
So the good economy is really giving them a chance — and a second chance, and in some cases, really a third chance. And they’re working out. I can’t say everybody, but the word is that it’s been terrific. It’s been just terrific. Employers all over the country are helping out. And Walmart has been a big factor. Ivanka, I know that was through you. And other of the major companies, but also smaller companies. And they are — the results are incredible. They’re just really good. And we’re very, very happy about that. So congratulations to everybody in the room.
Since my election, we’ve created more than 5.3 million jobs. Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in more than 50 years. Last year, a record 73 percent of new jobs went to people who were out of the labor force — totally out; totally out — and now they’re coming off the sidelines and going back to work. (Applause.)
And you’ve seen where I’ve said a lot because I’m very proud of it. And I said, “What do you have to lose?” And people would say, “Well, maybe you shouldn’t say it.” But I meant that because it was tough. African American unemployment is the lowest level in the history of our country right now. (Applause.) And that goes for Hispanic American, Asian American. Women are very close. Women are at a 64-year low. It’s up to 64. Soon to be historic, I hope. And it’s been incredible.
African American income, by the way, and Hispanic American income is the highest level it’s ever been in the history of our country. That’s a big factor, too. (Applause.)
But to take advantage of everything, those with criminal records still face many barriers toward gainful employment.
When Catherine Toney was released in February, she had difficulty finding work due to her past record. She applied to the local Walmart in Daphne, Alabama. As part of our Pledge to America’s Workers, Walmart is looking to change its hiring practice; it has already started very strongly, and is hiring a lot of great people. And some are getting a second chance, and some are getting a little bit more than that. And I want to thank Walmart.
And I really want to thank some of the big companies of our country. They’re doing an incredible job. What they’re doing is — I think, even if you go back, Van, 5 years, 10 years, you go back just a short while ago, nobody would believe what’s happening with respect to exactly what we’re talking about today. Very few people would believe it. So we’re very, very proud.
They interviewed Catherine. They were really impressed by her resolve, her ability to speak so beautifully. She’ll probably end up running for office. (Laughter.) And two weeks ago, she began her first day on the job. And I have no doubt she’s going to be very successful, and she’ll do a terrific job.
So, Catherine, we can’t wait to see you and all that you achieve over what will be a long, long life. And we appreciate it very much. (Applause.) We appreciate it very much. Thanks, Catherine. We look forward to that.
Americans with criminal records are unemployed at rates up to five times higher than the national average. Today, I am announcing that the Second Step Act will be focused on successful re-entry and reduce unemployment for Americans with past criminal records. And that’s what we starting right away. (Applause.)
And I’m very proud to say that we’re leading the way, but a lot of states are now following us. They’re liking it; they’re following us. And, believe it or not, it’s great for our people, it’s great for the people that it so deeply affects. But, you know, it’s also great for the economy. We actually — it’s hard to believe, we save a tremendous amount of money because people are coming out with these 40- and 50-year sentences for what you would consider to be everything serious, but not that serious. And they’re getting out and they’re working instead of being in prison. And we’re saving hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars and doing good at the same time. So that’s sort of a rare occurrence. (Applause.)
Our goal is to cut the rate to single digits within five years. And I think that’s very, very achievable, especially if the economy keeps going the way it is. And we’re going to keep it going the way it is.
When we say “Hire American,” we mean all Americans, including former inmates who have paid their debt to society. And they’ve paid it, in many cases, more than many of the people that we think of in our society. They have really paid their debt.
Our bond with our fellow citizens is what stitches us together as one united nation, sharing one common destiny.
We will achieve our goal by encouraging employers to adopt Second Chance hiring practices. That’s a movement that’s very, very en vogue. But, when I say “en vogue,” it’s something that’s happening and it’s happening all over. And, again, we’re going to lead that way, but we are really being studied by a lot of great governors in a lot of states. And some are even with us. I don’t want to let them get too far ahead of us, because I would hate to have that down. (Laughter.) We came in second; that’s no good. But they really are. They’re doing a fantastic job at the state level.
We’re also making it easier to work by removing obstacles to securing housing, and driver’s licenses and occupational licenses. And we’re promoting mentorship through proven programs such as Prison Fellowship — something that people really find very important and very good. (Applause.) Right?
My administration is also supporting funding for re-entry programs, including $88 million for Second Chance Act. You know that. (Applause.) And an estimated $28 million for the Pell Grants pilot program. Great, great program. (Applause.) And really, I think maybe more than anything else, we’re now proving that we are a nation that believes in redemption. (Applause.)
And to remind us what is possible, we are joined by a couple of people. First of all, is Pastor Scott here? Darrell Scott. Where’s the pastor? Is he here someplace? He’s worked so hard. I wanted to point him out. Darrell, thank you very much. Thank you, Darrell. (Applause.) Darrell Scott. Thank you. Worked so hard. Every time I see him on television, I say, “I don’t want to go against that guy.” (Laughter.) He’s a tough pastor and a good friend.
And also a man who has served time in federal prison but today he’s with us, and he’s now a Professor of Law at a place called Georgetown University — and one of his students happens to be my daughter, Tiffany — so, Shon — hey, could I ask Shon to come up, please? (Applause.) Where is Shon? Are you here? Where is Shon? Shon, come up. (Applause.)
Is my daughter okay as a student?
MR. HOPWOOD: She is.
THE PRESIDENT: She better be. (Laughter and applause.)
MR. HOPWOOD: It’s fun to get to come back here. The one thing I realized when we worked on FIRST STEP was I got to meet a lot of really cool people. And we worked on this together, and I have become friends with so many of you.
It’s astonishing to me that so many people want to come work and help people that are in prison. Because when you’re in prison, it feels very lonely and there’s not a lot of hope. And now there is more hope in the federal system than there ever has been at any point since I have been watching. And that’s because of the work that everybody in this room has done.
Thank you for helping people like me. Thank you for giving second chances. I think you are going to be rewarded in a way that you cannot even imagine when we get more people like my friend, Matthew Charles — who, by the way, came over to our house last night for dinner. And you know what my daughter said?
THE PRESIDENT: What?
MR. HOPWOOD: My 7-year-old daughter said, “Dad, how do I talk to Matthew? He’s so famous!” (Laughter and applause.)
So, thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership on this. You have gotten things done that has taken decades of work from a lot of people in this room. And to see the fruits of your labor is just amazing to watch. Thank you, sir. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Keep up the good work.
And the FIRST STEP Act proves that, really, beyond almost anything we can think of, our country can achieve amazing breakthroughs when we put politics aside and put the interests of all Americans first. It’s true. It’s so true. Especially in these times. (Applause.)
If we work together for the common good, we can forge a future of even greater safety, opportunity, dignity, and freedom for the families across this incredible nation of ours.
I want to again thank everybody in the room, everybody for being with us. So many leaders. I see Paula White; she’s worked so hard on bringing the faith-based community together. (Applause.) And where’s Paula? That’s great. So hard. (Applause.) I want to thank you. I want to thank you. Such a great job.
And most importantly, I want to congratulate all of the people that have been so incredibly successful. They’ve left a place called prison, and as you said brilliantly, they arrived at the White House. They go from prison to the White House. And you know what? You’re going to have an incredible future. Everybody in this room — you know who we’re talking about — and the people standing on this stage, you’re going to have an incredible future.
And it’s my honor and it’s the honor of all of the folks in this room that have helped to have been part of a process, I think, that’s going to go down as a tremendous day in the history of our country. A lot of tremendous things are about to happen. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Living a Dream
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (U-DC) appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss his plans for investigative obfuscation and oversight. On a positive note, Graham is considerably less optimistic as he discusses his efforts to pressure AG Bill Barr to establish a special counsel. Previously Graham expressed “confidence”, now he’s expressing “hope”. Hmm, perhaps AG Barr is less favorable to another special counsel.
It also sounds like someone has informed Senator Graham the preferred direction for accountability is support for criminal referrals and direct investigation/prosecution. Perhaps that subtle shift is connected to his re-election effort.
The conversation then shifts to border security, China and North Korea. Senator Graham affirms he is aligned with President Trump on those three critical issues.
White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway appears on Fox News with the insufferable swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace to discuss the Mueller report. Wallace begins his interview with a predictable set-up scenario to Ms. Conway, hoping to bait her with a discussion of Joe Biden. It goes downhill from there.
President Trump’s Campaign Mananger, Brad Parscale, talks with Fox News’ Jesse Waters about the Mueller report, and the campaign plans for the 2020 trail ahead.
[Originally posted in 2017] To understand the China ‘One-Belt / ‘One-World‘ economic trade strategy it becomes necessary to understand how structurally weak the Chinese economy was when created.
People often talk about the ‘strength’ of China’s economic model; and indeed within a specific part of their economy -manufacturing- they do have economic strength.
However, the underlying critical architecture of the Chinese economic model is structurally flawed and President Trump with his current economic team understand the weakness better than all international adversaries.
Lets take a stroll and lightly discuss.
China is a central planning economy. Meaning it never was an outcropping of natural economic conditions. China was/is controlled as a communist style central-planning government; As such, it is important to reference the basic structural reality that China’s economy was created from the top down.
This construct of government creation is a key big picture distinction that sets the backdrop to understand how weak the economy really is.
Any nations’ economic model is only as stable (or strong) as the underlying architecture or infrastructure of the country’s economic balance.
Think about economic strength and stability this way: If a nation was economically walled off from all other nations, can it survive? …can it sustain itself? …can it grow?
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 nation to survive it is less strong than a nation whose economy is more independent.
Most Americans don’t realize it, but China is an extremely dependent nation.
When the central planning for the 21st century Chinese Economy was constructed, there were several critical cultural flaws, dynamics exclusive to China, that needed to be overcome in order to build their economic model. It took China several decades to map out a way to economic growth that could overcome the inherent critical flaws.
♦Because of the oppressive nature of the Chinese compliant culture, in the aggregate the citizens within China do not necessarily innovate well or create new innovation. The “Compliance Mindset” is part of the intellectual DNA strain of a Chinese citizen.
Broadly speaking, the modern era Chinese are not able to think outside the box per se’ because the reference of all civil activity has been a history of box control by government, and compliance to stay (think) only within the approved box. The lack of intellectual thought mapping needed for innovation is why China relies on intellectual theft of innovation created by others.
Historically American culture is based around freedom of thought and severe disdain of government telling us what to do; THAT freedom is necessary for innovation. That freedom actually creates innovation.
Again, broadly speaking Chinese are better students in American schools and universities because the Chinese are culturally compliant. They work well with academics and established formulas, and within established systems, but they cannot create the formula or system themselves. The modern Chinese strategy has been to compensate for this deficit by having Western universities train and educate their youth.
♦ The Chinese Planning Authority skipped the economic cornerstone. When China planned out their economic entry, they did so from a top-down perspective. They immediately wanted to be manufacturers of stuff. They saw their worker population as a strategic advantage, but they never put the source origination infrastructure into place in order to supply their manufacturing needs. China has no infrastructure for raw material extraction or exploitation.
China relies on: importing raw material, applying their economic skill set (manufacturing), and then exporting finished goods. This is the basic economic structure of the Chinese economy.
See the flaw?
Cut off the raw material, and the China economy slows, contracts, and if nations react severely enough with export material boycotts the entire Chinese economy implodes.
Insert big flashy sign for: “One-Belt / One-Road” HERE
Again, we reference the earlier point: Economic strength is the ability of a nation to sustain itself. [Think about an economy during conflict or war] China cannot independently sustain itself, therefore China is necessarily vulnerable.
China is dependent on Imports (raw materials) AND Exports (finished goods).
♦The 800lb Panda in the room is that China is arguably the least balanced economy in the modern world. Hence, China has to take extraordinary measures to secure their supply chain. This economic dependency is also why China has recently spent so much on military expansion etc., they must protect their vulnerable interests.
Everything important to the Chinese Economy surrounds their critical need to secure a strong global supply chain of raw material to import, and leveraged trade agreements for export.
China’s economy is deep (manufacturing), but China’s economy is also narrow.
China could have spent the time to create a broad-based economy, but the lack of early 1900’s foresight, in conjunction with their communist top-down totalitarian system and a massive population, led to central government decisions to subvert the bottom-up building-out and take short-cuts. Their population controls only worsened their long term ability to ever broaden their economic model.
It takes a population of young avg-skilled workers to do the hard work of building a raw material infrastructure. Mine workers, dredge builders, roads and railways, bridges and tunnels etc. All of these require young strong bodies. The Chinese cultural/population decisions amid the economic builders precluded this proactive outlook; now they have an aging population and are incapable of doing it. They also rely on a labor workforce from North Korea that few people ever discuss.
This is why China has now positioned their economic system as dependent on them being an economic bully. They must retain their supply chain: import raw materials – export finished goods, at all costs.
This inherent economic structure is a weakness China must continually address through policies toward other nations. Hence, “One-Belt / One-Road” is essentially their ‘bully plan’ to ensure their supply chain and long-term economic viability.
This economic structure, and the reality of China as a dependent economic model, also puts China at risk from the effects of global economic contraction. But more importantly it puts them at risk from President Trump’s strategic use of geopolitical economic leverage to weaken their economy.
Nuance and subtlety is everything in China. Culturally harsh tones are seen as a sign of weakness and considered intensely impolite in public displays between officials; especially within approved and released statements by officials representing the government.
Historic Chinese cultural policy, the totalitarian control over expressed political sentiment and diplomacy through silence, is evident in the strategic use of the space between carefully chosen words, not just the words themselves.
China has no cultural or political space between peace and war; they are a historic nation based on two points of polarity. They see peace and war as coexisting with each other. China accepts and believes opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Flowing between these polar states is a natural dynamic to be used -with serious contemplation- in advancing objectives as needed.
The Chinese objective is to win, to dominate, using economic power.
Peace or war. Win or lose. Yin and Yang. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with China; they are not constitutionally capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome. If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war. In politics or economics the same perspective is true. It is a zero-sum outlook.
Therefore, when you see China publicly use strong language – it indicates a level of internal disposition within Beijing beyond the defined western angst. Big Panda becomes Red Dragon; there is no mid-status or evolutionary phase.
♦U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. economic team fully understand this dynamic and fully understand the inherent needs of China. When you are economically dependent, the ‘bully plan’ only works until you encounter a ‘stronger opponent’. A stronger opponent is an economic opponent with a more broad-based stable economy, that’s US.
President Trump, Commerce Secretary Ross, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer, represent the first broad-based national team of economic negotiators who know how to leverage the inherent Chinese economic vulnerability.
Every American associated with investment, economics and China would be well advised to put their interconnected business affairs in order according to their exposure.
President Trump will not back down from his position; the U.S. holds all of the leverage and the geopolitical economics must be addressed. President Donald Trump and his team are entirely prepared for this.
Donald Trump has been discussing this for more than two decades. We are going into economic combat with China!
China’s objective is conquest. China’s tool for conquest is economics. President Trump’s entire geopolitical strategy, using economics in a similar way, is an existential threat to China’s endeavor. Communist Beijing calls the proverbial DPRK shots.
♦Squeeze #1. Trump and Mnuchin sanctioned Venezuela and cut off their access to expanded state owned oil revenue. Venezuela now needs more money. China and Russia are already leveraged to the gills in Venezuela and hold 49% of Citgo as collateral for loans outstanding. Now China and Russia will need to loan more, directly.
♦Squeeze #2. China’s geopolitical ally, Russia, is already squeezed with losses in energy revenue because of President Trump’s approach toward oil, LNG and coal. Trump, through allies including Saudi Arabia, EU, France (North Africa energy), and domestic production has driven down energy prices. Meanwhile Russia was bleeding out financially in Syria. Iran is the financial reserve, but they too are energy price dependent.
♦Squeeze #3. Trump, Tillerson and now Pompeo put Pakistan on notice they need to get involved in bringing their enabled tribal “extremists” (Taliban) to the table in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s primary investor and economic partner is China. If U.S. pulls or reduces financial support to pressure Pakistan toward a political solution in Afghanistan, China has to fill void.
♦Squeeze #4. China’s primary economic threat (competition) is next door in India. President Trump has just embraced India as leverage over China in trade and pledged ongoing favorable trade deals. The play is MFN (Most Favored Nation) trade status might flip from China to India. That’s a big play.
♦Squeeze #5. President Trump launched a USTR Section 301 Trade Investigation into China’s theft of intellectual property. This encompasses every U.S. entity that does manufacturing business with China, particularly aeronautics and technology, and also reaches into the financial services sector.
♦Squeeze #6. President Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Robert Lighthizer renegotiated NAFTA to create the USMCA. One of the primary objectives of team U.S.A. was to close the 3rd party loopholes, including dumping and origination, that China uses to gain backdoor access to the U.S. market and avoid trade/tariff restrictions. [China sends parts to Mexico and Canada for assembly and then back-door entry into the U.S. via NAFTA.]
♦Squeeze #7. President Trump has been open, visible and vocal about his intention to shift to bilateral trade renegotiation with China and Southeast Asia immediately after Team U.S.A. concluded with NAFTA renegotiation. Those negotiations are now ongoing.
♦Squeeze #8. President Trump positioned ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as trade benefactors for assistance with North Korea. The relationship between ASEAN nations and the Trump administration is very strong, and getting stronger. Which leads to…
♦Squeeze #9. President Trump has formed an economic and national security alliance with Shinzo Abe of Japan. It is not accidental that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un fired his last missile over the Northern part of Japan. Quite simply, Beijing told him to.
♦Squeeze #10. Tariffs.
Add all of this up and you can see the cumulative impact of President Trump’s geopolitical economic strategy toward China. The best part of all of it – is the likelihood China never saw it, meaning the sum totality of “all of it”, coming… until 2018.
The Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace and war. The symbol in any figure’s right hand has more significance than one in its left hand. Also important is the direction faced by the symbols central figure. The emphasis on the eagles stare signifies the preferred disposition. An eagle holding an arrow also symbolizes the war for freedom, and its use is commonly referred to the liberation fight of righteous people from abusive influence. The eagle on the original seal created for the Office of the President showed the gaze upon the arrows.
The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop’s Fable
An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.
Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.
CTH is finding it difficult to dismiss the likelihood that both Democrat and Republican corporate club members are intentionally working to make the border crisis worse in an effort to fracture the base of support for President Trump… That purchased approachseems in line with Tom Donohue’s Big Club strategy.
Earlier today President Trump tweeted about the growing crisis at the U.S-Mexico border. Additionally this follows after he answered a press question yesterday about closing some of the border entry points:
Q Mr. President, if you close the border, would it be to all trade? Would you close the border to trade?
THE PRESIDENT: It could be to all trade. Mexico is making absolutely a fortune with the United States. They have a trade surplus of over $100 billion, which is far bigger than anybody understands. They’ve had it for many years. And either they’re going to stop — they have the strongest immigration laws anywhere in the world. And we have the weakest, the most pathetic laws. Number one, Congress has to act. And number two, Mexico — they make so much money from the United States and so many other things, so many other assets, they have to grab it and they have to stop it.
We have, right now, two big caravans coming up from Guatemala. Massive caravans walking right through Mexico. So, Mexico is tough. They can stop them, but they chose not to. Now they’re going to stop them. And if they don’t stop them, we’re closing the border. They’ll close it. And we’ll keep it closed for a long time. I’m not playing games. Mexico has to stop it. They have people coming right through Mexico. It’s a long, very dangerous journey. Mexico sends busses, they send trucks, they do absolutely — they started, at one point, a little bit — stopping. They don’t do anything to stop it right now.
So the caravan has formed. I’ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras, and to El Salvador. No money goes there anymore. We were giving them $500 million. We were giving them tremendous aid. We stopped payment to Honduras, to Guatemala, and to El Salvador. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and we’re not paying them anymore because they haven’t done a thing for us.
They set up these caravans. In many cases, they put their worst people in the caravan; they’re not going to put their best in. They get rid of their problems. And they march up here, and then they’re coming into their country; we’re not letting them in our country.
Our Border Patrol, the job they’ve done, is incredible. The job that ICE is doing is incredible. And we have run out of space. We can’t hold people anymore. And Mexico can stop it so easily. They don’t go through a court system every time somebody steps on our land. You step on our land: “Welcome to the United States.” It’s ridiculous.
So Congress — and I know you guys are going to work hard on it — but Congress has to fix our broken immigration laws. We’re the laughing stock all over the world. People pour into this country and we stop them because Border Patrol is so incredible. But there’s a point at which you can’t stop them anymore. We have no detention space, no nothing.
So, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador have done nothing. Mexico has done nothing. And I’ll tell you something: Colombia — you have your new President of Colombia. Really good guy. I’ve met him. We had him at the White House. He said how he’s going to stop drugs. More drugs are coming out of Colombia right now than before he was President. So he has done nothing for us.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Q Will you put DACA back on the table to speed up deportations?
THE PRESIDENT: It’s in the Supreme Court right now. After the Supreme Court.
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Steve Bannon appears on CNBC to discuss the economic objectives of China and how President Trump and USTR Lighthizer are confronting three very important convergences.
Bannon does a good job outlining the three Chinese priorities: ¹One-belt, one road; ²Made in China 2025; and ³Huawei 5G rollout; and how those efforts conflict with U.S. interests.
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