The level of media opposition and snark against President Trump is simply so ridiculous at this point there’s a desperation to it.  So let us consider…
From the outset of Donald Trump’s entry into the world of politics he espoused a series of key tenets around what he called his “America-First” objectives:

1. The U.S. needed to have control over our borders, and a greater ability to control who was migrating to the United States.  A shift toward stopping ‘illegal’ migration.
2. The U.S. needed to stop the manufacture of goods overseas and return critical manufacturing back to the United States.  A return to economic independence.
3. The U.S. needed to decouple from an over-reliance on Chinese industrial and consumer products.  China viewed as a geopolitical and economic risk.

Donald Trump was alone on these issues.  No-one else was raising them; no-one else was so urgently pushing that discussion. In 2015, 2016 and even 2017, no-one other than Trump was talking about how close we were to the dependence point of no return.
Given the status of very consequential issues stemming from the Chinese Coronavirus threat; and the myriad of serious issues with critical supply chain dependencies; wasn’t President Trump correct in his warnings and proposals?
In early 2017 President Trump and his administration coined the phrase: “economic security is national security”, and the economic team set about starting a very complex process to ensure the past three decades of trade policy was reversed.
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Earlier today President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin held a meeting of key banking executives to discuss the economic impacts of COVID-19, banking stability and financial mitigation.   [Video and Transcript Below]
Attendees include: Rob Nichols, President and CEO, America Bankers Association; Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Bank of America; Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO, Blackstone; Ken Griffin, CEO, Citadel; Michael Corbat, CEO, Citigroup; Richard Hunt, President and CEO, Consumer Bankers Association; David Solomon, Chairman and CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.;Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and Chief Executive Officer, Independent Community Bankers of America; Gordon Smith, Co-President and COO, JPMorgan Chase; Kelly King, Chairman and CEO, Truist Financial Corporation; Andrew Cecere, Chairman, President and CEO, U.S. Bank and Charlie Scharf, CEO and President, Wells Fargo & Company.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. And we are having a meeting — a very important meeting — with the, I would say, the greatest bankers in the world, the most important banks in the world, financial centers, and having a good discussion. We’re discussing the economy. We’re discussing how it relates to jobs and all of the things that are happening right now with the virus that we’ve become so familiar with.
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Amid growing fears and uncertainty over the threat of Coronavirus; and after numerous meetings with legislators, cabinet officials and economic advisors from the private and government sector; President Trump has announced he will address the nation from the oval office at 9:00pm ET tonight:

Earlier in the day President Trump also sent the following tweets about the issues.

Bernie Sanders came into mini-Tuesday hoping for Michigan and Washington State to help him stay within closing distance of DNC favorite Joe Biden.  However, Bernie was crushed in Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan by the machine – not by Joe Biden.
Bernie was left with a possible 50/50 split in Washington State where over 125,000 voters mailed-in ballots for Elizabeth Warren (mailed prior to withdrawal), not accidental, all by Club design.  The Club is in control now, full control; and Biden is the malleable vessel the administrative state hopes to utilize to take control of all government function.

Bernie lost the heavily union influenced state of Michigan by over 200,000 votes (53/37); many of those union votes were against losing their Cadillac healthcare plans.  A stunning defeat for Senator Sanders in a state he narrowly carried in 2016. The losses in Mississippi (81 to 15) and Missouri (60 to 35) were by even wider proportions.
Michigan was a big loss because…. To make matters worse, Bernie Sanders now sees the Club has out maneuvered his last remaining hope.  Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona all vote on March 17th.
Florida (219 delegates) is a lost cause.  ‘Fidel’ Sanders will likely see a similar outcome he received in Mississippi, no delegates.  Illinois (155 delegates), like Michigan, is under the full control of the Club – no viable hope.  Bernie’s road-map included Ohio (136 delegates), but the Club knee-capped him on that possibility; intentionally and smartly, by cancelling all indoor rallies under the auspices of Coronavirus.  That only leaves Arizona (67 delegates); but by then it’s likely too late, and the best possibility is another 50/50 split.
So Bernie Sanders campaign is done.
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Good news.  President Trump has endorsed Tommy Tuberville over Jeff Sessions for the Alabama senate race.  This is a resounding message to Sessions showing just how badly his tenure at the DOJ is considered by President Trump:

Congratulations Tommy Tuberville.  Additionally, a recent poll today showed Tuberville leading Jeff Sessions by 12 points (52/40) in Alabama. [LINK]

The House Rules Committee is releasing text of proposed changes to FISA (full pdf below).  The “deal” is intended to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.
[scribd id=451141467 key=key-Jw0Ie6bFOBTwiIulOvCo mode=scroll]
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(House Rules Link pdf)

Earlier today President Trump and VP Mike Pence traveled to Capitol Hill to brief congress on the efforts of the Coronavirus task force and hold discussions on what legislative measures might be needed.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: So we just had a great meeting. Tremendous unity in the Republican Party. And we’re working on a lot of different things. We’ve also had some very good updates on the virus. That’s working out very smoothly. Tremendous people. It’s a tremendous task force. They have done a great job — not a good job, a great job.
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Earlier today President Trump met with a group of health insurance executives to discuss the ongoing Coronavirus mitigation effort.   [Video and Transcript Below]
Participants include: Gail Bourdreaux, President & CEO of Anthem, Inc.; Dave Wichmann, CEO UnitedHealth Group; Bruce Broussard, President and CEO Humana; Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman, President, and CEO Centene Corporation; Matt Eyles, President and CEO Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP); Tim Wentworth, CEO of Express Scripts and Cigna Services; Justine Handelman, Senior Vice President, Office of Policy and Representation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association; Karen Lynch, President of Aetna Business Unit, Executive Vice President, CVS Health; Gregory Adams, Chairman and CEO Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. We’re meeting with the top executives of the health insurance companies, the biggest companies in our country — probably the biggest companies in our country, probably the biggest companies in the world. I can’t imagine being much bigger.
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In November of 2019 buried deep in the congressional budget Continuing Resolution (CR) was a short-term extension to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.  As a result of the FISA CR inclusion the terminal deadline was pushed to March 15, 2020.

~ Something has to happen this week ~

AG Bill Barr traveled to Capitol Hill today for meetings with House and Senate leadership.  However, Tom Fitton is correct in this interview.  Nothing currently being called “reform” is going to address abuse when those who abused the system are not held accountable.

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One of the biggest fears I have is that in 2024 people will not understand just how bad Nikki Haley is.
Electing Haley after President Trump in 2024 is the equivalent of electing George Bush following Reagan in 1988.  This scheming, conniving, lying and corrupt politician is worse than John McCain, George Bush and Mitt Romney combined.
Nikki Haley is bad news.  Very bad news.
Today Romney in a skirt, aka Nikki Haley, endorsed Kelly Loeffler over Doug Collins for the Georgia senate seat.

[…] Haley, a Republican governor of South Carolina before serving as the Trump administration’s U.N. ambassador, headlined a campaign event in Marietta, Georgia, and officially endorsed Loeffler’s election bid. The rally, which was billed as Loeffler’s biggest since being appointed to the seat, was aimed at shoring up GOP support for her campaign. (read more)

Kelly Loeffler was appointed by Georgia Governor Kemp because Loeffler is married to Jeffrey Sprecher; a GOPe party insider, mega-donor, and multi-millionaire CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).  Jeffrey Sprecher is the founder and CEO of ICE, which now owns the New York Stock Exchange. Kelly Loeffler’s company, the financial platform Bakkt, is a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange.
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