President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hold bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France.  The U.S. and Japan have agreed to the terms of a trade deal. [Video and Transcript Below]

.
[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s a great honor to be here. We’re having some very good discussions, maybe even great discussions. And I will say that our relationship with Prime Minister Abe and Japan has been, I think, the best it’s ever been. I don’t know, I’ll let you speak to that. But I think it’s the best it’s ever been.
(more…)

U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a working breakfast prior to the Sunday session of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France.  The primary topics include Brexit and trade. [Video and Transcript Below]

.
[Transcript] PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. We’re having a very good meeting — a very good series of meetings. Last night, we had dinner. It worked out. I think it was fantastic.
PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON: It was fantastic. We covered — well, we covered three subjects, actually. We were going to cover 10 subjects, but in the end, we did three.
(more…)

An interesting line-up of scheduled meetings (bilats) for U.S. President Donald Trump as the first official full day of the G7 Summit agenda takes place.
French President Macron has scheduled summit priorities around gender studies, global inequities, climate issues and planetary justice. However, the majority of international media focus will likely be on President Trump and Boris Johnson’s economic discussions.

♦ 2:15am EST / 8:15am CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in a working breakfast with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Biarritz, France
♦ 3:20am EST / 9:20am CEST – THE PRESIDENT departs Hotel du Palais en route to Centre de Congrès Bellevue, Biarritz, France
♦ 3:25am EST / 9:25am CEST – THE PRESIDENT arrives at Centre de Congrès Bellevue, Biarritz, France, the primary venue for the G7 Summit.
(more…)

An announcement from China on Saturday, pledging a full economic war against the United States, will likely not come as a surprise for most CTH readers.  However, it does serve as emphasis for our 2017 statement: “prepare your affairs accordingly“…

When we followed up a few months later with the warning:

“There is no upper limit to the level of economic pain Team U.S.A. (America First) is willing to inflict upon China. There is no ending perimeter of action too far for President Trump to travel. Trump will battle his adversary far beyond traditional horizons and will follow them in retreat if that’s what it takes to ensure the safety of the our economic nation.”

Those words were not written lightly.  We accept Trump’s history; we accept three decades of his expressed intent on these issues; and we also accept the historic and cultural position of China which takes us into this conflict.   From Beijing today:

China on Saturday said it would continue fighting the trade war with the US “until the end” after the two sides slapped further tariffs on each other’s goods.

The commerce ministry issued a statement calling on Washington not to “misjudge the situation and underestimate the determination of Chinese people” after US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports. “The US should immediately stop its wrong action, or it will have to bear all consequences,” the statement said.

(more…)

The stakes are high at this G7 Summit in Biarritz France.  Against the rising tide of populist nationalism -pushing against the globalist/corporatist world order- perhaps these stakes are the highest in the modern political era.

(Where are the spouses?)

Italian President Giuseppe Conte’ is a lame duck summit participant having just quit his job due to economic and immigration backlash from his Italian population.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has steered her export dependent economy into a recession; and has announced she won’t seek reelection while simultaneously putting the EU central bank into a 28 nation economic quagmire filled with unsustainable IOU’s….
French President Emmanuel Macron, the host for this year’s summit, has spent the better part of the last year trying to violently block the rising yellow vest populist movement, and he is desperate for any distraction away from his own economic reality.
Meanwhile EU President Donald Tusk is locked in an economic death match with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the terms of the U.K. Brexit from the union; while simultaneously dealing with a lack of tax receipts from the aforementioned banks of Germany and France…
The EU’s only North American ideological ally, Justin from Canada, is essentially useless. Trudeau has used his political self-identification to hurt his own citizens economically;  Canada is experiencing a continued loss in private-sector employment amid the malaise Justin coordinates; and his tenuous (at best) re-election is scheduled for October 21st…
(more…)

Against the backdrop of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arriving for the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, EU President Donald Tusk holds a press conference to announce the EU will work to block Britains’ exit from the collective, and will not accept terms.
The hubris and arrogance within this declaration, in advance of Johnson’s arrival, is exhibit ‘A’ for exactly the reason British citizens want out of this nonsense. Watch:

.
The likelihood of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump forming an alliance against this insufferable EU collective is beginning to show in the relationships.
(more…)

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump depart tonight for an overnight flight to Biarritz, France to attend the G7 summit.  The first couple will arrive at 1:00pm Saturday / 7:00am Eastern.  Biarritz is 6 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Timezone.
The original function of the G7 was to focus on economics and world trade.  President Trump and the U.S. delegation are returning the emphasis toward that original intent during this G7 summit.  At the request of President Trump, there is a G7 Sunday morning session dedicated to global economics, international trade, and economic security.

(Background Details from White House)  SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. Thank you so much, [senior administration official]. And I guess it’s morning or good afternoon there, everyone. I am now in Biarritz, France. I’m the [redacted].
So what I wanted to do is start by outlining the schedule of events and various sessions that are taking place over the next few days. And then I will go through and highlight some of the key themes that the President is going to be talking about and pushing out while he is here over the weekend.
(more…)

Former FBI Director James Comey (aka participant “Z”) and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe (likely participant “Y”) deliver responses to CNN about claims made by Overstock founder and former CEO Patrick Byrne.
Mr. Byrne claims he was recruited by FBI agents to conduct a counterintelligence operation and cultivate a relationship Russian national Maria Butina. [Full Backstory]
Mr. Byrne further alleged that top officials in the Obama administration, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Bill Priestap and John Carlin were involved in various aspects of the overall operation; which included FBI requests to Byrne which were carried by FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok to lower level FBI agents.
According to the responses presented by CNN, James Comey and Andrew McCabe deny ever participating in instructions to Mr. Byrne to engage in a “romantic” relationship with Maria Butina:

(Via CNN) […] Reached Thursday evening by CNN, Comey called Byrne’s claim “ridiculous.” “The FBI doesn’t work that way,” Comey said.

(more…)

President Trump has announced the raising of tariffs on China effective Sept 1st and October 1st, 2019.  This is one arrow in a quiver filled with economic consequences:

• The preexisting 25 percent tariff on $250 billion in Chinese goods will increase to 30 percent effective October 1st, 2019.
• The pre-planned 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods will increase to 15 percent, effective September 1st, 2019.

This targeted tariff approach is only a small sample of the economic action that is available to President Trump.  There are a host of tools and targeted economic weapons available to President Trump that are far more damaging to Beijing.
This announcement also sends a clear message to the members of the G7 as they prepare for their meetings in France.
(more…)

Within the dynamic of the U.S -vs- China trade confrontation, CTH has long noted the Wall Street (globalist) multinationals would always go bananas.  There are trillions at stake and President Trump is confronting three decades of financial influence from Wall Street’s multinational corporate lobbyists.
To the angst of Wall Street, POTUS Trump tweets the dynamic.
President Trump will not back down from his position; the U.S. holds all of the leverage and the issue must be addressed.  President Trump has waited three decades for this moment.  Main Street U.S.A has waited for this moment.  This President and his team are entirely prepared for this battle…. Now we fight!

We are finally confronting the geopolitical Red Dragon, China!
President Trump has been brutally consistent for more than three decades on his intent and purpose with the Chinese.  President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides nefarious motives behind the panda mask.
Additionally, while carrying out the objectives of the confrontation, Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Ross, Ambassador Lighthizer and adviser Peter Navarro are well aware of Beijing’s duplicitous panda mask; POTUS Trump will never let them forget about it.
(more…)