Sunday Talks: National Security Advisor John Bolton Discusses North Korea…

The administration’s media point person for discussions following the Hanoi Summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un is National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Ambassador Bolton appears on the Sunday talk circuit to discuss the ongoing negotiations. As anticipated none of the interviewers focused on the Chinese aspect at all.  Don’t look for President Trump to respond to Chairman Kim directly; instead watch how President Trump’s entire team responds to China.  Chairman Xi Jinping controls Kim Jong-un.
Likely Treasury (Mnuchin) and State (Pompeo) will focus on DPRK sanctions violations; likely USTR (Lighthizer) and Commerce (Ross) focus on hard-line trade position; likely USTR, Commerce and State focus on tech issues (Hauwei and 5G) and pressure allies.  All of these targeted approaches rightly focus on China (cause), not North Korea (symptom).
Ambassador Bolton appears on Fox News:


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Ambassador Bolton also appeared on CBS (below):
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Canadian Economy Halts – GDP Growth Drops to 0.1 Percent, and No-One Is Talking About Why…

The Canadian government shocked the professional financial and economic media with their latest fourth quarter GDP release showing the economy has essentially come to a grinding halt at 0.1% growth.  [Compare to U.S. GDP growth of 3%]
The Canadian Q4 GDP growth isn’t one percent, it’s one-tenth of one percent: 0.1%, essentially halted; but everyone discussing this is missing something very important.
First, The Financial Post headline:

[FP] Canada’s economy practically came to a halt in the final three months of 2018, in a much deeper-than-expected slowdown that brings the underlying strength of the expansion into doubt.
The country’s economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, for an annualized pace of 0.4 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday from Ottawa. That’s the worst quarterly performance in two and a half years, down from annualized 2 per cent in the third quarter and well below economist expectations for a 1 per cent annualized increase.

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They're Ba-aack: Big Club Koch Brothers Announce Primary Efforts Against MAGA Candidates….

Well, we cannot say we have not seen this Decepticon maneuver before.  The open-border, pro-amnesty, globalist Koch Brothers have announced, yet again, they will take action in the 2020 primary races to remove any/all nationalist-minded blue-collar populist (MAGA) candidates…. in an effort, once again, to install their Wall Street globalist crew.

This is where the Koch Brothers join in common cause with Tom Donohue and Mitch McConnell. The Big Club is nothing if not entirely predictable:

OXON HILL, Md. The Koch political network for the first time plans to intervene in GOP primaries as part of a deliberate 2020 strategy to reverse years of essentially rubber-stamping the Republican Party in general elections.

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IMPORTANT – Kudlow on China: Layered, Sequential, Sector Tariffs as Enforcement Mechanism…

Okay, now USTR Robert Lighthizer’s cautiously worded enforcement testimony starts to take on a fuller context.  When Ambassador Lighthizer was testifying before the mostly decepticon House Ways and Means Committee, he started to outline his newly designed trade enforcement mechanism… but he stopped; he didn’t want to reveal too much.
Now listen to Larry Kudlow describe “enforcement”.  WATCH:


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If you watched the USTR testimony you would have seen how the “enforcement” mechanism within the U.S-China trade negotiations was the priority for Lighthizer’s focus; and he specifically mentioned “layered” enforcement triggers, specific to each sector, and issue.
CTH has never seen a U.S. Trade Representative so structurally willing to clear-cut the entire bamboo forest if needed. Lighthizer is intensely focused on enforcement.
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CEA Chairman Kevin Hassett Discusses GDP Growth…

White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Kevin Hassett discusses the U.S. economy’s 2.6 percent growth in the fourth quarter, and the outlook for the U.S. economy through the rest of 2019.


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Notice how most of the financial pundits are focusing on what the “global economy” needs; specifically what the EU and China need to do to gain economic growth.  From that position, the U.S. trade reset is adverse to their financial interest; those financial interests are driven by Wall Street not Main Street.
Economic nationalists who understand the concept of ‘America First’ focus on what the USA economy needs, and do not accept a position that the U.S. should acquiesce our position to benefit the economic needs of other nations.  That’s the primary difference.
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NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow Discusses Status of Economy, 4th Quarter GDP Result, China Trade…

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears on CNBC to discuss the latest releases of economic stats and the on-going trade talks between the U.S. and China.  Kudlow notes the U.S. and China are making progress specifically due to USTR Robert Lighthizer.  Interesting interview.


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Nuance and team subtlety are important here. Larry Kudlow is a loyal soldier, no question, but his economic leaning is toward trade outcomes that benefit Wall Street… Robert Lighthizer is a fierce battle-hardened trade expert, with an outlook that is multi-generational toward Main Street.
Listen to Lighthizer talk about the economic future for his grandkids in his congressional testimony yesterday and you’ll see what I mean. NO COMPROMISE with China.  Lighthizer is prepared to fight all of Main Street’s enemies, including congress.
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GDP Release: 4th Quarter Growth 2.6%, 2018 Annualized 2.9%, 2018 Yearly Real GDP 3.1%…

The Bureau of Economic Analysis, BEA, finally released the fourth quarter growth rate estimate for 2018.  The 4th quarter growth result at 2.6% exceeded expectations, and shows the U.S. economy is growing stronger than almost all economic forecasts.

WASHINGTON DC – In the fourth-quarter, U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2.6%, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Thursday’s report beat expectations, with consensus economists polled by Bloomberg looking for growth to slow to 2.2% during the final three months of the year. The domestic economy grew at a pace of 3.4% in the third quarter and 4.2% in the second quarter.

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*UPDATE* Talks End With No Deal – Second Half / Day Two: Trump-Kim Summit, Hanoi Vietnam…

Update from the White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the Hanoi Summit:

“President Donald J. Trump of the United States and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had very good and constructive meetings in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27-28, 2019. The two leaders discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts. No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future.”

As the Summit concludes with no agreement, President Trump will be holding a press conference shortly.
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Epic Bilat Moment During Hanoi Summit – Kim: "If I'm not willing to denuclearize I won't be here right now"….

We can somewhat throw out the schedule; President Trump and Chairman Kim held a much longer one-on-one, and informal small group discussion….. Culminating in this historic moment with the media present and the formal bilat about to begin.
First, watch Chairman Kim Jong-un take questions from U.S. media.  That’s historic. Second, and more importantly, listen carefully to the answers: MUST WATCH

U.S. Journalist: “Chairman Kim are you willing to denuclearize?”

Chairman Kim Jong-un: “If I’m not willing to do that, I won’t be here right now.”

POTUS Trump injected: “That might be the best answer you’ve ever heard.”


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