As CTH provides an overview of President Trump’s historic visit to communist China the majority of our review is toward the geopolitical aspects.  China is a communist nation; many people forget that.  China’s central command and control authority goals are to dominate the globe with a disposition that China is the world’s center.

Therefore the optics and presentations from Beijing contain more audiences, and more nuance, than what is customary in a state visit with a non-adversarial free society.
China, Xi Jinping and Beijing’s communist old guard, approach the U.S. presidential visit from a dynamic unfamiliar to most U.S. observers and political watchers.  There are multiple audiences, internally and externally for China, being managed in this visit.   Additionally, the engagement with President Trump and First-Lady Melania Trump is both cultural and political.
Despite the complexity of the dynamic it is possible to locate indicators within this controlled script that later allows us to analyze the U.S. and Chinese engagement as future events present.   These important reviews of how Beijing is controlling the visit are not related to personal relationship dynamics or disrespect toward the U.S. President. The considerations are about the politics not the personality.
The personality of the participants may change; but the dynamic of the politics, the geopolitical face, presented by Beijing toward their ongoing goals and objectives, will remain constant for many years.  For our endeavors, it is the dynamic of the geopolitical face that becomes more important.  We are looking beyond the mask; whether it’s a panda mask or a dragon mask, it matters not. It’s always a mask. [Hope that makes sense.]
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Those who have followed the Chinese strategy of President Trump will note strong signals of success therein amid an advanced visit ground report from Reuters News Service.
BACKDROP – From the outset the Trump administration displayed a very specific strategy where respect toward China’s leadership was coupled with visible praise for their business acumen and kind words toward the culture of the Chinese people.
This became evident in Mar-a-largo when Prime Minister Xi Jinping and President Trump spent a weekend getting to know each other.
While the surface impression of the relationship is geopolitical adversaries, President Trump has also positioned himself inwardly toward the Chinese people as a modern counter cultural figure not concerned with political correctness and not ashamed of his business success.   This approach is intensely well received in the bamboo forest.
In a culture where the political and sociological influences have historically presented an outlook of affluence and influence as the measure of success, the image of unabashed and unapologetic opulent Trump represents the external personification of this perspective.
Quite simply, it becomes impossible for China’s control authority to ridicule a successful businessman -now influential politician- when they have been selling that image as an honorable goal for decades amid their own culture. The timing is remarkable in consequence.
Simultaneous to this impression, and in a very methodical plan to counter the expansive influence of China, President Trump has used the scale of the U.S. economy to create massive changes in geopolitical economic landscape.
While Trump’s Grandkids sing sweet Mandarin Chinese songs to Xi Jinping and Peng Liyaun (Xi’s wife and herself a cultural icon), he has simultaneously cultivated a powerful counter-leverage position with India’s Prime Minister Modi. In essence, President Trump has positioned himself -and as a consequence the United States- as a powerhouse to be courted by both sides.
India and China are direct and consequential economic adversaries.  President Trump has maneuvered our own U.S. economic policy into the position where that competitive dynamic is now leverage for U.S. economic engagement, trade deals, national security and long-term interests.
It is not coincidental that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson first injected the term “Indo-Pacific” into the geopolitical lexicon of U.S. policy.   It’s a brilliant strategy and paying huge dividends. Bigly.
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As any interested geopolitical observer will undoubtedly note, the Trump administration is systematically deconstructing the capability of multinational corporate interests to continue their decades-long exploitation of political and economic control.
Within that geopolitical battle President Donald Trump assembled a team of the sharpest, smartest and most patriotic U.S. economic insiders any administration has ever put together.  These are, quite frankly “the killers” President Trump talked about during the campaign.
The killers, dragon slayers amid the big and consequential battles, are, as an outcome of their intended objective, an existential threat to the influence of globalists who have held exclusive multinational economic control and influence for the past 30+ years.
Chief among the team is Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross; a multi-billionaire in the strata of trade and finance, who, like Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, set aside his own life of wealth accumulation and went to work on behalf of team ‘America-First’.  The goal of Ross is to deconstruct and restructure international trade agreements which have been killing the American middle-class for decades.   In that role, Wilbur Ross is a preeminent threat.
It cannot be overstated how effective the America-First team are in carrying out their strategy.  USTR Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are crushing their globalist opponents.
On virtually every continent the state actors within the multinational systems are reacting to the tectonic changes in geopolitical economics. India, China, Russia, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Mexico, South America, Africa, Australia and the larger economies within the ASEAN nations are all changing or reversing their economic positions specifically because there’s a new head at the table of influence commanded by President Donald J Trump.
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President Trump and First Lady Melania depart Hawaii at 7:20am (local) / 1:20pm (EST) Saturday for their flight to Japan.  This should be an enjoyable portion of the 12-day trip as President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are good friends, and Mrs. Melania Trump and Mrs. Akie Abe have met several times and have a good relationship.

On Sunday morning, President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will arrive in Tokyo, Japan. The President and the First Lady will participate in a Yokota Air Base event. In the afternoon, the President will have lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and professional Japanese golfer Mr. Hideki Matsuyama. The President will then golf with Prime Minister Abe and Mr. Hideki Matsuyama. In the evening, the President and the First Lady will have dinner with Prime Minister Abe and Mrs. Akie Abe.
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United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was interviewed by Fox News host Laura Ingraham ahead of his important participation in the Asia trip.
Within the interview Ambassador Lighthizer shows his wolverine attitude toward the ongoing trade deals and his role within the larger geopolitical strategy of the Trump Doctrine.  There’s solid, affirming and unwavering economic insight within this interview.
Interestingly Lighthizer mentions the national security aspects inherent within the administration’s economic trade strategy. He details how his role, within the larger policy, is to focus intensely on achieving the best ‘America-First‘ trade deal possible. “Killers”.
Secretary Wilbur Ross (commerce), Secretary Steven Mnuchin (treasury), Secretary Rex Tillerson (state) and Secretary James Mattis (defense) then collate the outcome and ultimately President Trump makes the final decision.  Working in concert, together they map how to use the leverage within the Lighthizer’s deals to achieve national security objectives.

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At the invitation of Prime Minister Abe, President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump speaks at the World Assembly for Women in Japan about female participation in the economy. [Transcript Below]

Thank you very much Prime Minister Abe, for that kind introduction. And thank you for your gracious hospitality to my family.
This is my first visit to Japan, and the warmth you have shown us, the beauty of your landscape, and the vibrancy of your culture are truly incredible gifts to all who come to this country. Yesterday evening, as I arrived in Tokyo, I was struck by the magnificence of the skyline – and this morning I was awed by the ancient beauty of the Imperial Palace. The wonders of this land are a testament to the creativity and resilience of the Japanese people.
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Robert Mercer the multi-billionaire hedge fund co-chief of Renaissance Technologies; owner of Breitbart media; previous backer of Ted Cruz and currently reformed supporter of President Trump is making significant moves.
The overarching direction of the repositioning appears to be common sense. The end result, at least from a 30,000 ft level, positions Mercer toward the pragmatic MAGA Trump movement (CTH perspective) and politely distanced from the gnats and Bannon Bros.

Mr. Mercer sent a letter to his hedge fund principles (investors and pension advisers) notifying them of his stepping down from Renaissance Tech, including the board of directors, though he will remain deeply involved in the research and analytics side of the operation.
Additionally, Mercer appears to have caught-on to the general direction where the gnat swarm was/is headed and is now distancing himself from the nuttery side of right-minded political engagement.  Mercer is shifting controlling ownership of Breitbart media to his two daughters.  This is good news for team common sense and bad news for the hungry gnats.
In a very rare statement attributed directly to Mr. Mercer, he explains his perspectives on Steve Bannon and how despite the general agreement on intent, the methods and approach by Bannon is not always in alignment with Mercer’s own outlooks on politics.
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President Trump has announced his nominee for Federal Reserve Chairman.  Moments ago President tapped Fed Governor Jerome Powell to become head of the U.S. central bank to replace Janet Yellen when her term expires in February 2018.
Mr. Powell was appointed to the Fed board in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama and  emerged as the preferred choice from group of five possible nominees that included current Chair Janet Yellen – as well as others who would have represented a sharp change in monetary policy. During a Rose Garden announcement, President Trump called Powell a strong, committed and smart leader:

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Earlier today President Donald Trump held a meeting with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and all participants in the tax reform proposal.
Interestingly, and in a typically Trump power play dynamic, POTUS Trump invited U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue to the meeting and after finishing his prepared remarks put Donohue directly in the spotlight (Video 04:00).  The U.S. CoC is the biggest lobbyist for globalist economics. Donohue is essentially MAGA enemy #1.
You might remember Tom Donohue specifically targeting President Trump for personal criticism in the last round of NAFTA negotiations.  POTUS Trump positioned Donohue physically directly across from him at the table and it was obvious President Trump was planning to put Donohue on the spot.  The look on Gary Cohn’s face is priceless.

[Transcript] 11:41 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for being here, for the incredible work you’re doing to help us pass the really historic tax cuts. There’s never been anything like this in the history of our country. It’s cuts and it’s relief and it’s also reform. And frankly, it’s also simplification. So we’re covering everything.
There has never been anything like it, and it’s so important. The economy is doing very well but it can do much better. A lot of jobs are going to come from this and a lot of companies are going to start pouring back into the United States. In fact, we’re going to be announcing one big one sometime very shortly — a very big one coming back into the United States.
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The U.S. Conference Board is an economic think tank in partnership with Nielsen surveys which provides predictive economic analysis based on consumer and economic surveys within the larger U.S. economy.  The latest monthly report from the board shows a stratospheric level of consumer confidence, 125.9 the highest level since 2000.
Accordingly, “consumers were even more optimistic in October than economists polled by Reuters expected.”  The media and economic teams who thrill at the possibility of being able to talk-down the U.S. economy are apoplectic…

(Reuters) U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a near 17-year high in October, with households upbeat about the labor market and business conditions, which could underpin consumer spending and boost the economy in the final three months of the year.
The economy’s prospects were further bolstered by other reports on Tuesday showing an acceleration in wage growth in the third quarter and sustained increases in house prices in August.  (read more)

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