“No more stupid trade deals” ~ U.S. President Donald Trump

From the G7 Mission Statement outlining the objectives of their meeting: “From May 31 – June 2, 2018, G7 Ministers responsible for development cooperation met in Whistler, Canada, to discuss their shared priorities on some of the most pressing global development and humanitarian challenges, including advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

However, as the G7 finance ministerial sessions wrapped up today, all the talk centered around their collective, and stunningly hypocritical, angst at new United States trade policy; specifically the imposition of Steel and Aluminum tariffs on imported goods.

France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Italy all have trade tariffs and trade barriers far higher than the U.S.  Each of the G7 nations has exploited the overwhelmingly one-sided access to the U.S. market for decades.  As President Trump demands “reciprocal and fair” trade agreements – those same nations now balk at the same rules and duties they impose on the U.S. now being imposed against them.

The European Union is a non-enumerated member of the G7, and does not chair nor hosts Summits; however, the EU head joins with the G7 in collective angst against a U.S. trade reset.   It’s hilarious to watch them going bananas.

WHISTLER, British Columbia (Reuters) – Finance leaders of the closest U.S. allies vented anger over the Trump administration’s metal import tariffs but ended a three-day meeting in Canada on Saturday with no solutions, setting the stage for a heated fight at a G7 summit next week in Quebec.

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The Wall Street Journal is publishing a report the European Union is likely to lose their exemption on Friday June 1st, from the U.S. Steel (25%) and Aluminum (10%) tariffs. Despite their article outline almost everything is still speculation at this point; however, our own review of the trade position indicates the administration is very prepared to begin delivering the metal tariffs on all nations, including NAFTA partners, without reservation.

President Trump positioning the auto-industry 232 review, May 23rd, was one of the key ‘leverage signals‘ something was about to change.

Despite massively one-sided EU imposed tariffs against U.S. products, the EU is demanding to be permanently exempted from any U.S. reciprocal tariff measures or they will block the import of U.S. products. The hypocrisy is typically European.

Adding fuel to the speculation the tariff exemptions will be allowed to expire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated earlier today, at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) summit – a multinational trade conference, that any/all trade discussions are entirely possible regardless of whether the U.S. begins the tariff against steel and aluminum imports.

WSJ – […]  Mr. Trump has threatened to punish EU car exports if the bloc retaliates, and Mr. Ross is pursuing a study of car and auto-part imports similar to the one he completed on steel and aluminum.

Officials in some EU member states are already angry at Washington over Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Still, others, including some German officials, want to seek a solution that prevents economic damage.

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President Trump met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House today for a bilateral meeting on EU security and trade issues.  During the Oval Office press availability both made remarks but president Trump took the opportunity to have an impromptu presser on other current issues.   WATCH:

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Hopefully everyone paid attention to the North Korea topic. It was not coincidental the stompy-feet assertions of Kim Jong-un and the DPRK were timed at the exact moment Chinese Vice-Premier Liu arrived in the U.S. for important trade talks. Once again Chairman Xi Jinping is using his proxy province of N-Korea to leverage economic benefits:

WASHINGTON – Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy and Vice-Premier Liu He arrived in Washington on Tuesday afternoon. Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue, is leading a Chinese delegation for the talks.

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It is interesting to watch the Trump Cabinet debate the Obama Cabinet (U.S. media). In this interview between White House National Security Advisor John Bolton and ABC’s Martha Raddatz the central topic is Iran; the detailed conversation is deep weeds therein.

After Bolton presents the administration position and reasoning for exiting the deeply flawed, unsigned and unenforceable Obama Iran “deal” (not treaty), essentially a JCPOA pathway to the land of broken promises, Ambassador Bolton then reaches the part of the discussion where sanctions against European companies come back into play.  This is the best part.  WATCH:

Massive U.S. economic leverage, and the strategic application therein, is an aspect that drives the left-wing Iranian apologists bananas.  A weaponized $20 trillion U.S. economy is the unavoidable atomic sledgehammer at the foundation of the Trump Doctrine.  It is far more powerful than a military weapon and drops all nations to their knees in compliance.

Everything is about the economics. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Every point of opposition; every forward MAGA policy; every initiative, including freedom; every move toward success; everything is about the economics.

Look at the immediate take-away published by Reuters.

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Remarks by President Trump and German Chancellor Merkel earlier today in the Oval Office.

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The Senate voted Thursday to confirm CIA chief Mike Pompeo as President Trump’s next secretary of state.  Secretary Pompeo was confirmed on a 57-42 vote.  All Republicans present voted to confirm Pompeo. Seven Democrats voted yes.

After the vote, Pompeo was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in the West Conference Room of the Supreme Court:

I am pleased with the Senate’s confirmation of Mike Pompeo to serve as our country’s top diplomat. Having a patriot of Mike’s immense talent, energy, and intellect leading the Department of State will be an incredible asset for our country at this critical time in history. He will always put the interests of America first. He has my trust. He has my support. Today, he has my congratulations on becoming America’s 70th Secretary of State.

~ President Donald J Trump

When President Trump left the Davos economic forum, Secretary T-Rex traveled to Poland for a bilateral meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.  Many readers are aware how the U.S. and Poland have formed a very strong bond, a very strategic alliance, since the Trump administration took office.
Last year President Trump visited Warsaw to solidify a geopolitical relationship based on common interests and a desire to help Poland push back against Russian leverage based on energy dependence. Poland is a key strategic ally for the Trump administration, and more importantly a trusted ally; arguably more so than the U.K.
T-Rex held a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz. Video:

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After the visit to Poland, T-Rex flew to London (there now) for the opening of the new U.S. Embassy.  While in the U.K. T-Rex will be meeting with Boris Johnson to discuss mutual interests and continue trying to determine if the U.K. is a willing trade partner.
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Following a year where Europe has suffered more casualties from terrorist attacks than all other threats, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has spent the past two days meeting with NATO leadership.
Following those talks, today Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivered remarks and answered questions during a NATO press conference in Brussels, Belgium. One of the topics during the Q&A regarded Israel and the movement of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
In the first answer to a ridiculous question from U.S. AP Reporter Josh Lederman, T-Rex verbally beat the idiot over the head. [Transcript Below Video]

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SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, good afternoon, all. It truly is a pleasure to be back in Brussels. Someone reminded me this is my seventh trip to Europe already this year. But it is great to be back. I had a great visit with our tri-mission here in Brussels. These are the people who represent America’s interests here at NATO, but it – with the EU and here in Brussels, as well. Really working hard. And had a chance to meet their newest member of their family, a two-week-old son that was born to one of our folks that’s located here from the U.S.
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Just because western media doesn’t understand how President Trump executes a geopolitical strategy based on economic leverage, that doesn’t mean adversaries are not fully aware of the effectiveness of the approach.
The Trump Doctrine has two avenues toward dealing with national security adversaries.
The first route is direct assignment of responsibility toward the enablers: see China for North Korea; The Gulf States for Qatar (Sunni extremism); Russia for Syrian terrorism (Assad); and Pakistan for Afghanistan (Taliban); as recent examples.

However, when the geopolitical threat stems directly from the enabler, and not the enabled, the Trump Doctrine has a distinctly different and far more encompassing, approach.  Route two goes through leveraging regional allies and partners: See ASEAN and India for ¹China; and France, Poland, Baltic States for ²Russia.  And now President Trump is beginning to shift toward ³Iran.
In each case: China, Russia and Iran, unlike Western media, these powers assemble volumes of research to assist them in understanding the most likely sequence of events President Trump will take.
When we say volumes of research, we indeed mean hundreds of people researching and drafting position documents based upon every scintilla of every deal Donald J Trump has engaged in.  No expenses are spared as these state actors assemble information toward their own strategy to counter the most unpredictable adversary they have faced.
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Good interview with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and CBS John Dickerson.  Worth noting the nuance in Tillerson’s statements about messaging toward China, specifically Beijing.  Those who have followed CTH analysis of the administrations China/DPRK strategy will note how Tillerson discusses the enmeshed relationship and the strategy of using economics as leverage toward China.
Tillerson also discusses the upcoming President Trump U.N. speech and the geopolitical alliances the administration has assembled to confront freedom’s adversaries.

QUESTION: Good morning and welcome to Face the Nation. I’m John Dickerson. We’ll get to the story that dominated news coverage most of last week, that of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, but there’s a lot of other news coming up this morning and so we’re going to begin by talking to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Mr. Secretary, welcome. Let me start with the Paris climate accord. The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration was looking for a way to stay in it, but in June President Trump said it was time to exit. So what is the administration position?
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