Earlier today President Trump presented the commander-in-chief trophy to the U.S. Army team during a Rose Garden event.

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President Donald Trump calls in to Fox Business with Trish Regan to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, the problems at the U.S. southern border and the Mueller probe.

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China, Russia and Cuba are financing and supporting the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.  Russian and Chinese military equipment was previously shipped into the country and military members from Cuba are fighting on the ground.
In response to the violence and presence of the Cuban military, President Trump is now threatening a full and complete embargo of Cuba by the U.S.

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Perhaps the weaponization of the NSA database was the biggest research project we ever took on.  That said, CTH prudence requires a lack of commentary.  For a background on this story see the [“SIDE NOTE“] previously presented HERE.  “The candle is not worth the flame.”

(WASHINGTON DC) The National Security Agency has recommended that the White House abandon a U.S. surveillance program that collects information about Americans’ phone calls and text messages, saying the logistical and legal burdens of keeping it outweigh its intelligence benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.

The recommendation against seeking the renewal of the once-secret spying program amounts to an about-face by the agency, which had long argued in public and to congressional overseers that the program was vital to the task of finding and disrupting terrorism plots against the U.S.

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President Donald Trump meets with military leadership at the White House prior to a dinner event.  During the briefing session President Trump took some questions from media about the security incident at Mar-a-Lago and a new demand from congress to review his income tax returns.  [Video Below – Transcript will follow]

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President Donald Trump participates in the posthumous Medal of Honor ceremony for Staff Sergeant Travis W. Atkins, United States Army.  Atkins’ initial award, the Distinguished Service Cross, was upgraded to the Medal of Honor after a Defense Department review. His son, Trevor, and parents will represent him at a White House ceremony.  Anticipated start time 4:00pm EST
UPDATE: Video Added

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THE UNITED STATES AND OUR GLOBAL PARTNERS HAVE LIBERATED ALL ISIS-CONTROLLED TERRITORY

“American and coalition forces have had one military victory after another over the last two years against ISIS, including the retaking of both Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. We’ve liberated more than 20,000 square miles of territory.”  ~President Donald J. Trump

[White House] LIBERATING ALL ISIS-CONTROLLED TERRITORY: The territory once held by ISIS in Syria and Iraq is now 100 percent liberated.
Upon taking office, President Donald J. Trump empowered our commanders in the field and enabled our allies and partners on the ground to take the fight to ISIS.
The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, including the United States, Iraqi Security Forces, and partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces, have liberated all of the territory previously held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
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As of today the geographical ISIS caliphate, the open control over territory, has ended.  There is no longer a geographic land mass under the control and ownership of the extremist ISIS group known as ISIS.  All their territory has been removed.
An review of multiple DoD, State and Media reports essentially boils down to ISIS returning to an insurgency, a loosely connected ideological terror group without control over any specific area.
Interestingly, the foreign fighters who traveled to Syria to fight for ISIS were reported as the last ones to give up the caliphate fight.  Presumably because they would be unable to assimilate into the local communities, those foreign fighters were the last to be eliminated.

BAGHOUZ, Syria — The caliphate has crumbled, and the final offensive is over. While the official announcement hasn’t yet been made – Fox News has been told that this village, the last ISIS stronghold, is liberated.

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Earlier this afternoon President Donald Trump delivered a speech in Lima, Ohio, at an Army tank plant.  The overall speech held a jobs and economic focus highlighting a strong U.S. economy that continues to expand.
Within the remarks President Trump mixed in a wide variety of current event topics including U.S. military success against ISIS; and the need for GM and the UAW to come to terms, then sell or re-lease the Lordstown, Ohio, auto plant.

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UPDATE Transcript Added – [Transcript] – 3:15 P.M. EDT – AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you better love me; I kept this place open, that I can tell you. (Applause.) They said, “We’re closing it.” And I said, “No, we’re not.” And now you’re doing record business. The job you do is incredible. And I’m thrilled to be here in Ohio with the hardworking men and women of Lima. (Applause.)
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China has no cultural or political space between peace and war; they are a historic nation based on two points of polarity.  They see peace and war as coexisting with each other.
China accepts and believes opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.  Flowing between these polar states is a natural dynamic to be used -with serious contemplation- in advancing objectives as needed.
Peace or war. Yin and Yang. Panda or Dragon. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with communist China; they are not capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome.  If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war.  In politics or economics the same perspective is true.  It is a zero-sum outlook.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford confirm to the Senate Armed Services Committee that Google’s work in China is directly benefiting the government and Chinese military.

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