President Donald Trump signs the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (S. 1862) which tightens criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.

After discussing the issues surrounding the horrific human trafficking network, President Trump connected the human trafficking crisis to urgent need for border security.  The President also answered questions from the media about ongoing issues within government.

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President Trump has signed four bills in recent weeks that demonstrate the bipartisan commitment to end human trafficking.

• Today, the President is signing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (S. 1862) which tightens criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.
• The President signed the Abolish Human Trafficking Act in December, which strengthens programs supporting survivors and resources for combating modern slavery.
• President Trump signed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, authorizing $430 million to fight sex and labor trafficking.
• The President signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (S. 1312), establishing new prevention, prosecution, and collaboration initiative to bring human traffickers to justice.
• In addition to these efforts, Congress needs to pass legislation that strengthens border security and prevents human trafficking in all forms.

• The President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons is working across the United States Government to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent these crimes before they take place.
• In one of his first acts in office, President Trump signed an executive order to combat transnational criminal organizations that engage in international trafficking and exploit people.
• The Administration is fully enforcing our laws to ensure human traffickers receive the full measure of justice they deserve.
• In FY 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made 1588 Human Trafficking arrests while identifying and assisting 308 victims of the same heinous crime. ICE-HSI also made over 4,000 criminal arrests for human smuggling violations.
  • 1543 of the 1588 arrests HSI made in FY 2018 for human trafficking were for sex trafficking violations.
• The new United States Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiated by President Trump includes tough forced-labor provisions.
• The Department of Labor has led efforts to combat child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking by cataloging goods made with forced labor and child labor and developing tools for companies and other stakeholders to address these abuses in their global supply chains.
• Reaffirming this Administration’s commitment to abolish modern slavery, President Trump proclaimed January 2019 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

• There are nearly 25 million victims of human trafficking worldwide.
• In the United States, more than 8,500 human trafficking cases were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline last year alone.

Comprehensive border security, and funding for a barrier therein, is the central topic in President Trump’s first Oval Office address.  President Trump will speak directly to the American people at the close of Day 18 of a partial government shutdown.  The anticipated start time is 9:00pm EST.   WH Livestream Link

UPDATE: Video Added

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[Transcript] Oval Office – 9:01 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: My fellow Americans: Tonight, I am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border.

Every day, Customs and Border Patrol agents encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. We are out of space to hold them, and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country.

America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation. But all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration. It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages. Among those hardest hit are African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border. More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War.

In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records, including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings. Over the years, thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who illegally entered our country, and thousands more lives will be lost if we don’t act right now.

This is a humanitarian crisis — a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.

Last month, 20,000 migrant children were illegally brought into the United States — a dramatic increase. These children are used as human pawns by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs. One in three women are sexually assaulted on the dangerous trek up through Mexico. Women and children are the biggest victims, by far, of our broken system.

This is the tragic reality of illegal immigration on our southern border. This is the cycle of human suffering that I am determined to end.

My administration has presented Congress with a detailed proposal to secure the border and stop the criminal gangs, drug smugglers, and human traffickers. It’s a tremendous problem. Our proposal was developed by law enforcement professionals and border agents at the Department of Homeland Security. These are the resources they have requested to properly perform their mission and keep America safe. In fact, safer than ever before.

The proposal from Homeland Security includes cutting-edge technology for detecting drugs, weapons, illegal contraband, and many other things. We have requested more agents, immigration judges, and bed space to process the sharp rise in unlawful migration fueled by our very strong economy. Our plan also contains an urgent request for humanitarian assistance and medical support.

Furthermore, we have asked Congress to close border security loopholes so that illegal immigrant children can be safely and humanely returned back home.

Finally, as part of an overall approach to border security, law enforcement professionals have requested $5.7 billion for a physical barrier. At the request of Democrats, it will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall. This barrier is absolutely critical to border security. It’s also what our professionals at the border want and need. This is just common sense.

The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year — vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress. The wall will also be paid for, indirectly, by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico.

Senator Chuck Schumer — who you will be hearing from later tonight — has repeatedly supported a physical barrier in the past, along with many other Democrats. They changed their mind only after I was elected President.

Democrats in Congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis. And they have refused to provide our brave border agents with the tools they desperately need to protect our families and our nation.

The federal government remains shut down for one reason and one reason only: because Democrats will not fund border security.
My administration is doing everything in our power to help those impacted by the situation. But the only solution is for Democrats to pass a spending bill that defends our borders and re-opens the government.

This situation could be solved in a 45-minute meeting. I have invited Congressional leadership to the White House tomorrow to get this done. Hopefully, we can rise above partisan politics in order to support national security.

Some have suggested a barrier is immoral. Then why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences, and gates around their homes? They don’t build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside. The only thing that is immoral is the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized.

America’s heart broke the day after Christmas when a young police officer in California was savagely murdered in cold blood by an illegal alien, who just came across the border. The life of an American hero was stolen by someone who had no right to be in our country.

Day after day, precious lives are cut short by those who have violated our borders. In California, an Air Force veteran was raped, murdered, and beaten to death with a hammer by an illegal alien with a long criminal history. In Georgia, an illegal alien was recently charged with murder for killing, beheading, and dismembering his neighbor. In Maryland, MS-13 gang members who arrived in the United States as unaccompanied minors were arrested and charged last year after viciously stabbing and beating a 16-year-old girl.

Over the last several years, I’ve met with dozens of families whose loved ones were stolen by illegal immigration. I’ve held the hands of the weeping mothers and embraced the grief-stricken fathers. So sad. So terrible. I will never forget the pain in their eyes, the tremble in their voices, and the sadness gripping their souls.

How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?

To those who refuse to compromise in the name of border security, I would ask: Imagine if it was your child, your husband, or your wife whose life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken?
To every member of Congress: Pass a bill that ends this crisis.
To every citizen: Call Congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border.

This is a choice between right and wrong, justice and injustice. This is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty to the American citizens we serve.

When I took the Oath of Office, I swore to protect our country. And that is what I will always do, so help me God.
Thank you and goodnight.

END – 9:11 P.M. EST

RSBN Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream Link – GST Livestream Link – PBS link

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The New York Times is quick to the typeset to explain how Brussels is desperately offended because President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have lowered the importance of the EU.   Officials from the European Union are apoplectic that U.S. officials have downgraded their status amid the official registry of diplomatic protocols.

BRUSSELS — The Trump administration downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union’s delegation to the United States last year without making a formal announcement or informing the bloc about the change, a European official said on Tuesday.

After protest from Brussels and discussion between the European Union and the Trump administration, the reclassification of the delegation and the consequent demotion of the ambassador, David O’Sullivan, is understood to have been reversed, at least temporarily, the official said.

Mr. Trump has been critical of multilateral institutions, and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, delivered a provocative speech in Brussels on Dec. 4 in which he questioned the value of multinational organizations and institutions like the United Nations and the European Union. Mr. Pompeo then asked whether the European Union was “ensuring that the interests of countries and their citizens are placed before those of bureaucrats here in Brussels.”

The next day, the European Union’s demotion from a member state to an international organization became clear at the funeral of President George Bush, when Mr. O’Sullivan’s name was not called in the expected order, dictated by diplomatic protocols. The names of diplomats who had gathered in Washington to pay their respects were spoken, as is, custom, from the longest-serving to the newest ambassador, a European Union official told the German news agency Deutsche Welle. “But he was called up as the last person.”  (read more)

Oh, the horror…

…”as Brussels tries to strengthen its international role, again in reaction to Mr. Trump, she said, “a lack of recognition by key partners that the E.U. is more than just an international organization, or even a withdrawal of that recognition, undermines these efforts.””….

This is a representative example of the nonsense focus of the European elitist mindset, and yet somehow these same pontificating knuckleheads openly ponder why those pesky ‘yellow vests‘ keep appearing.

White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp discusses the partial government shutdown over the border wall funding and the most recent call by Democrats’ to raise taxes.

Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett appears with Lou Dobbs to discuss the strength of the U.S. economy, the partial government shutdown and the Trump administration’s trade talks with China.

Mr. Hassett, a happy warrior, walks through the recent economic data and jobs report.

The timing here is subtle as a brick through a window.  As the U.S. and China sit down for the first preliminary trade discussions…. simultaneously, Chairman Kim Jong-un arrives in China for a pre-scheduled meeting with Chairman Xi Jinping.

Those who follow the strategy of Beijing will note China’s historic approach has been to leverage antagonism by their proxy province of North Korea to gain economic leverage over their U.S. adversary. It would appear Xi Jinping is sending exactly that message, yet again.  China controls the DPRK and they will deploy that leverage as needed.

(BNO News) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in China for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, making it his fourth visit in less than a year, the Chinese government announced on Tuesday.

Kim arrived in China on Monday and will be staying until Thursday, according to a spokesperson for the ruling Communist Party, who added that the visit is taking place at the invitation of Xi.  Other details about the visit were not immediately known.

Kim is believed to have arrived in China at 10:15 p.m. local time on Monday when his train passed through the Chinese border city of Dandong, according to the Yonhap news agency. It said the train is expected to arrive in Beijing just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday.  (read more)

Previously President Donald Trump made it clear he is well aware of this manipulation:

…. And so “the dance“ continues.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discusses the ongoing U.S. -vs- China trade confrontation and the current status of China’s economic contraction.

Secretary Ross outlines that China has now internally admitted their reliance on access to the U.S. market; and Team Trump’s continued willingness to deliver death by 1,000 cuts to Beijing if needed.

Secretary Wilburine is one of the top targets for Wall Street, GOPe, Democrats and the collective group of beneficiaries from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is effective; he is unrelenting; they want/need him to be removed.   The inability to influence the White House economic policy team is the biggest threat to the corporate lobbying community.

President Donald Trump has announced a public address from the Oval Office tomorrow at 9:00pm EST about the current “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The address comes amid a partial government shutdown caused by Democrat insistence that border barriers are immoral and the Southern border must remain unsecure. CNN is reporting that network executives are debating whether to show the speech; or defer to the requests of their political allies in the Democrat party and refuse to air the broadcast.

President Trump has requested $5 billion to build additional fence/wall on the border and congressional Democrats are refusing to fund any aspect of homeland security that includes a fence or wall.

Additionally, the White House has announced that President Trump is planning a trip to the southern border on Thursday, to highlight the security and humanitarian crisis.

The official, albeit preliminary, U.S.T.R. delegation from the United States is on the ground in China to begin initial discussions of “technical details” surrounding the ongoing trade dispute.  The preliminary talks are today (Jan 7th) through Wed (Jan 9th).

The prior notice from USTR announced the delegation: •Ambassador Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (pictured above – center); •Ambassador Gregg Doud, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator; •Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, U.S. Department of Agriculture; •Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Gilbert B. Kaplan, U.S. Department of Commerce; •Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, U.S. Department of Energy; and •Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The delegation will be accompanied by senior officials from the White House, USTR, and the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, State, and Treasury. (link)

Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for World Trade Organization Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing is quoted as saying Beijing’s first phase will be focused on technical details before more important voices “make hard political decisions.”

The Trump administration should be able to sense if Beijing is just playing Panda games to delay and outlast the administration.  It is widely anticipated China will deploy their historic strategy, giving the illusion of progress in order to avoid tariffs that are scheduled to trigger on March 1st, 2019.  However, the problem for China is their adversary, President Trump, is well aware of their traditional approach.

The Chinese government will also be relying on support from lobbyists throughout Washington DC, specifically the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, hired by Chinese interests to undermine the position of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and President Donald Trump.

Despite several threats, so far U.S. CoC President Tom Donohue has not been able to influence Trump, but he does control Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and roughly 15 United States Senators, known collectively as “The Decepticons.”  The Chinese communist government and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce currently have a joint financial enemy in the White House.

The Chinese economy is under a great deal of pressure from the aggregate approach being deployed by President Trump well beyond the issue of tariffs.  The Chinese have recently admitted they underestimated the resolve of President Trump.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and the action continues. The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately.  The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.

It is specifically because he understands that Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Chairman Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine of the Xi regime.

In essence Trump is mirroring the behavior of China while confronting their economic duplicity.

President Trump is putting on a MASSIVE economic squeeze.

♦Squeeze #1. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin sanctioned Venezuelaand cut off their access to expanded state owned oil revenue. Venezuela needs more money. China and Russia are already leveraged to the gills in Venezuela and hold 49% of Citgo as collateral for loans outstanding.  China and Russia now need to loan more, directly.

However, China cannot engage in economic commerce with Venezuela or they risk losing access to the U.S. banking system.  Therefore all current Chinese aid to Maduro comes in the form of IOUs.  These ongoing loans are likely impossible to be repaid.

♦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 influenced global energy prices.  Additionally, President Trump is demanding NATO countries, specifically Germany, stop supporting financial dependence on Russia.

Meanwhile, and directly connected, Russia is bleeding out financially in Syria. Iran is the financial reserve, but they too are energy price dependent and President Trump is now putting pressure on Iran vis-a-vis new sanctions and new demands on allies.

♦Squeeze #3. In 2017 Trump and Secretary Tillerson, now Secretary 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. The U.S. removed $900 million in financial support to pressure Pakistan toward a political solution in Afghanistan, China has to fill void.  [NOTE: Last month the World Bank began discussions about a financial bailout for Pakistan.]  Again, more one-way bleed for China.

♦Squeeze #4. China’s primary economic threat (competition) is next door in India. President Trump has embraced India as leverage over China in trade and pledged ongoing favorable trade deals. The key play is MFN (Most Favored Nation) trade status might flip from China to India. That’s a big play.  It would have massive ramifications.

♦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.

In March of 2018 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer completed a section 301 review of China’s trade practices.  [SEE HERE] Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the President to take all appropriate action, including retaliation, to obtain the removal of any act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or is unjustified, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.  However, as talks with China progressed, President Trump shelved the 301 action to see where negotiations would end-up. The May and June, 2018, negotiations between the U.S. and China provided no progress.  The 301 review of China was back off the shelf, and President Trump assembled his trade-war strategy.  After the December G20 dinner and the agreement to pause (90-days) the 301 tariffs/sanctions; they are currently being held by U.S.T.R Robert Lighthizer pending the outcome of the current talks.

♦Squeeze #6. President Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Robert Lighthizer dissolved NAFTA in favor of the USMCA. One of the primary objectives of team U.S.A. is to close the 3rd party loopholes, including the dumping and origination trickery 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 was 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. [Current discussions with Japan are ongoing]

♦Squeeze #8. President Trump positioned the U.S. relationship with the E.U. as a massive potential loss for Europe (via Steel, Aluminum, and Auto tariffs) if they did not: (A) shift their trade relationship toward greater reciprocity; and (B) reconsider the size of their trade relationship with China.  After initially trying to push-back, Europe acquiesced.

♦Squeeze #9. President Trump has positioned ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as trade benefactors for assistance with North Korea. Last year the KORUS (South Korea and U.S.) trade deal was renegotiated, and announced in March. The relationship between ASEAN nations and the Trump administration is very strong, and getting stronger. Which leads to…

♦Squeeze #10. 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.  However…

♦Squeeze #11. President Trump cut-off the duplicitous Beijing influence over North Korea by engaging directly with Kim Jong-un.  The open exchange and ongoing dialogue has removed much of the ability of Beijing to leverage the DPRK nuclear threat for their own economic benefit.  This dialogue was as much, if not more, about dismantling the Beijing geopolitical influence as it was about denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.  However, no-one caught on to that part of the strategy.

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 –as we previously stated– is the likelihood China never saw it, meaning the sum totality of “all of it”, coming…. at first.

(Via VoA) […] Beijing has tried in vain to recruit France, Germany, South Korea and other governments as allies against Trump. They criticize his tactics but echo U.S. complaints about Chinese industrial policy and market barriers.

The European Union filed its own challenge in the World Trade Organization in June against Chinese rules that the 28-nation trade bloc said hamper the ability of foreign companies to protect and profit from their own technology.

For their part, Chinese officials are unhappy with U.S. curbs on exports of “dual use” technology with possible military applications. They complain China’s companies are treated unfairly in national security reviews of proposed corporate acquisitions, though almost all deals are approved unchanged.

Some manufacturers that serve the United States have shifted production to other countries to avoid Trump’s tariffs.

UBS said Friday that 37 percent of 200 manufacturers surveyed by the bank have shifted out of China over the past 12 months. The threat of U.S. tariff hikes was the “dominating factor” for nearly half, while others moved because of higher costs or tighter environmental regulation.

“Most firms expect the trade war to escalate,” the bank said. (read more)