Earlier this afternoon President Trump announced an initiative to provide federal grants to assist communities with drug abuse and prevention.  Marking the 20 year anniversary of the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grant awards, today President Trump announced $90.9 million in grants to 731 local drug prevention coalitions.
Continuing the tradition of transparency in government; during the media availability for the round-table President Trump answered numerous questions. The round-table discussion begins the video below.  The impromptu presser begins around 14:40 of the video:

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*Asked about Don McGahn* – President Trump called him a really good guy, added that he has a lot of affection for Don; said McGahn is likely headed to the private sector. Asked if he was concerned about McGahn’s cooperation with Mueller. POTUS replied: No, adding that he had approved of McGahn speaking to the special counsel.
*Asked about trade negotiations with Canada* – President Trump said negotiations were going really well. Noted that White House and Canadian officials “negotiated late into the evening” last night. A lot of trade deals are working out well.
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Polls close(d) in Florida at 7pm/8pm (two zones); in Oklahoma at 8pm; and in Arizona at 10pm EST.

♦In Florida: 7/8pm President Trump has endorsed Rep. Ron DeSantis for Governor, and Governor Rick Scott for Senate to challenge Democrat Bill Nelson.

♦In Oklahoma: 8pm Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and businessman Kevin Stitt are competing in a primary runoff; and republicans also have a runoff in NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine’s old 1st District, where Tim Harris and Kevin Hern are facing off.
♦In Arizona: 10pm republicans will select a candidate for retiring Jeff Flake’s senate seat. Rep. Martha McSally is favored but facing challenges from Kelli Ward and Joe Arpaio.

New York Times Results:  Florida HERE – Arizona HERE

CNN Election Results HERE

 

As Foreign Minister Chrystia from Canada arrives in Washington DC to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is interviewed by CNBC.
Triple Play: Finalize NAFTA (or two bilats); fill in the details on previously agreed EU deal; then face-down red dragon (China).

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Additionally, Mnuchin had some impromptu remarks (below):
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If you live in Florida, Arizona or Oklahoma you can find your polling place HERE.  Go Vote…. and if your registration is not up to date in your own home state, now is the time to get prepared for the November mid-terms.  Do not wait.

Oklahoma Polling Locations HERE – Florida Here – Arizona Here

“Donald Trump’s supporters are angry“, or “uneducated”, or “unenlightened”, or (fill_In_The_Blank).  This sentiment is clear within the latest sunlight upon officials within the United States Department of Justice and FBI. Now the corporate media narrative controllers are fully engaged.
The gaslighting is extreme as the same entities utilize their microphones in a brutal attempt to create a self fulfilling prophecy.  In essence, what they are really trying to save is themselves.  However, the reality disconnect only solidifies their irrelevance.
At this point, anyone still trying to convince us this entire assembly of our union is headed in the right direction, well, they might want to revisit their proximity to the 2018 election ballpark. Because they’re not just out of the city – they’re also out of the same state the election ballpark is located in….. But then again, the media know that.

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National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow holds an impromptu press gaggle at the White House to field questions about trade and related MAGAnomic matters.

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Additionally Kudlow had some scheduled media appearances (below).
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By choosing politics over fundamental trade economics Justin and Chrystia from Canada have painted themselves into an isolated position on the renegotiated North American Trade deal.  Here’s the basic Canadian conundrum.

The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to manufacturing origination terms; wage and labor improvements; elimination of AG subsidies and non tariff barriers; and removal of all protectionist tariffs – so long as the structural terms of commerce are upheld.
In order for Canada to join the U.S. Mexico deal they would need to:

• (1) eliminate soft-wood subsidies in the lumber sector;
• (2) eliminate protectionist tariffs in the AG (Dairy) sector;
• (3) accept the 75% rules of origin, eliminating the NAFTA loophole;
• (4) agree to the enforcement mechanisms for all the above;
• (5) allow U.S. banks to operate in Canada (financial sector).

Each of these five issues, now locked-in and agreed by the U.S. and Mexico are “take-it-or-leave-it” terms for Canada to join. There’s almost no-way, given the politicization of the Canadian plan, for Justin and Chrystia to agree to those terms and keep their fragmented political support base appeased.
Therefore, absent total acquiescence, it is likely Canada will keep their soft-wood lumber subsidies, keep their protectionist Dairy tariffs, keep their banking rules blocking U.S. access, and face a 25% duty on U.S. auto imports – effectively destroying their auto manufacturing sector.  Car companies (ex. Toyota) will simply leave Canada and return to building/assembling in the U.S.
Here’s the content from a conference call filling in more details:
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The corporate-owned, Wall Street-controlled, U.S. media are twisting, contorting, and in many cases hiding the consequential details of the U.S-Mexico trade agreement.
The reason for MSM disinformation campaign is quite simple: the deal helps the U.S. middle-class; helps both U.S. and Mexican workers; begins deconstructing the tentacles of Wall Street economic policy; and highlights a major success story for President Trump and the country in general.  The UniParty, Wall Street and the agenda of their purchased political class are being dismantled…. All of those interests are furious.
While it is still available, watch the 10 minutes of this report (and interview with U.S.T.R. Lighthizer) from 07:00 to 17:00 to get a generally good idea of how significant a day this is.  (prompted, just hit play)
https://youtu.be/Uen12x0jmXA?t=7m
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So much good news: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The trade deal between the United States and Mexico will stand even if Canada does not come to an agreement with the Trump administration in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico’s foreign minister said on Monday.

“If for any reason the government of Canada and the United States do not reach an agreement, we already know that there will still be a deal between Mexico and the United States.”
~ Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray (link)

Remember those “private meetings” between Jesus Seade and Robert Lighthizer?
It is said: a picture is worth a thousand words.  Cue the audio visual:

The incoming Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador,(AMLO)’s representative is Jesus Seade. The outgoing Mexican President Pena Nieto’s representative is Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo.
Why the joy in Seade and the defeated Guajardo?  The answer is in the details:
One of President Trump’s principal objectives in the renegotiation is to ensure the agreement benefits American workers.  The United States and Mexico have agreed to a Labor chapter that brings labor obligations into the core of the agreement, makes them fully enforceable, and represents the strongest provisions of any trade agreement.

Key Achievement: Worker Representation in Collective Bargaining

The Labor chapter includes an Annex on Worker Representation in Collective Bargaining in Mexico, under which Mexico commits to specific legislative actions to provide for the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

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Promises made, promises kept.  The CTH community is in a unique position to understand exactly what has taken place today as President Donald Trump announces the termination of NAFTA and simultaneously announces a bilateral trade agreement has been made between the U.S. and Mexico.  This is exactly what CTH predicted. Most, not all, but most of the media are absolutely clueless.
In an Oval Office announcement today President Trump put outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on his speaker phone as the press watched in the Oval Office. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo, and the key figure for incoming Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Jesus Seade was present for the announcement.
CTH will have much more on the details of the trade agreement.  This is the most comprehensive and complex trade agreement in U.S. history.  However, in the interim here’s the full video of the announcement (including nuance).  ENJOY:

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[Transcript] Oval Office – 11:09 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Hello everybody. It’s a big day for trade, a big day for our country. A lot of people thought we’d never get here because we all negotiate tough. We do, and so does Mexico. And this is a tremendous thing.
This has to do — they used to call it NAFTA. We’re going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and we’ll get rid of the name NAFTA. It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years. And now it’s a really good deal for both countries, and we look very much forward to it.
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After the Michael Cohen guilty plea. his attorney Lanny Davis began pitching a claim that the longtime Trump loyalist/lawyer had information Trump knew of the Russian hacking of Democratic emails ahead of time.
Davis said: “I believe that Mr. Cohen has direct knowledge that would be of interest to Mr. Mueller that suggests -I’m not sure it proves- that Mr. Trump was aware of Russian government agents hacking illegally, committing computer crimes, to the detriment of the candidate who he was running against, Hillary Clinton.”  And the media ate it up, and put Davis on just about every possible TV show imaginable.
However, in an interview with the Washington Post this weekend, Mr Davis not only walked back that claim, he entirely retreated from it:

(Via Washington Post) An attorney for Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, is backing away from confident assertions he made that Cohen has information to share with investigators that shows Trump knew in 2016 of Russian efforts to undermine Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

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