Funny how that happens. Less than 24 hours after President Trump declared new tech telecommunication is a national security issue; and one day after Secretary Wilbur Ross bans Huawei (and affiliates) from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval; all of a sudden the UK is having second thoughts.
…Huh, go figure:

LONDON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei poses such a grave security risk to the United Kingdom that the government must not allow it to have even a limited role in building 5G networks, a former head of Britain’s MI6 foreign spy service said on Thursday.
In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried that 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.

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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump release their 2018 financial disclosure forms.  Summary: They’re Rich….
[scribd id=410345258 key=key-PdDjReoqA5XXdCMBC26t mode=scroll]
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A clear example of the Administrative State’s seditious alignment with global financial interests and DC indulgences.  This is the deep state at its deepest and most statist.

Mrs. Susan Thornton, the former acting assistant secretary of state in the Trump administration, tells her Beijing audience to stop negotiating until President Trump is removed from office in 2020.

(BEIJING) […] “I want to be optimistic,” said Thornton, whose 27-year career in Washington ended in July. “I tell all our foreign counterparts they should keep steady, keep their heads down and wait. [They should] try to not let anything change dramatically.”
“If this skeptical attitude towards talking diplomacy continues in this administration, you might have to wait till another administration,” Thornton said at an event held by National Committee of US-China relations and Shanghai’s American Chamber. (read more)

There was a prescient article written in Politico when Thornton announced her exit from the State Department. (more…)

Today President Trump is delivering remarks from the White House on “Modernizing Our Immigration System for a Stronger America.” A new immigration proposal from President Donald Trump focuses on bolstering border security and rethinking the green card system.
The shift would favor people with high-level skills, degrees and job offers instead of relatives of those already in the country. The anticipated start time is 2:30pm EDT:
WH Livestream Link – Global News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream

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On her television show Laura Ingraham reported her ‘sources’ inform her President Trump will execute the declassification directive next week. [Video Tweet Link] If accurate, the timing –in advance of the OIG draft report– makes sense.
The declassification of documents central to previous congressional inquiry, that also encompasses the Inspector General review of the Carter Page FISA application, is the subject of great interest and speculation.  However, it would make sense for President Trump to authorize the declassification of documents in advance of the IG report release.

Likely Inspector General Michael Horowitz has reviewed all of the documents in question.  If Horowitz wants to include the classified content in his draft report for principle review; and later within the final report; those documents would need to be declassified or else they would be held back, footnoted and outlined in a classified appendix.
If the DOJ and President Trump want the information more broadly available to the public and media, it would make sense to declassify the documents – pending the review and approval of the participating intelligence agencies (DOJ, DOJ-NSD, CIA, NSA, State Dept., FBI, ODNI, DoD, etc.)
♦ The process without controversy – First, each of the executive branch intelligence agencies will have to sign-off on the declassification request, and/or explain to the Chief Executive (that’s Trump), through the ODNI, why their specific intelligence product should not be made public.
Generally speaking, now that the Mueller investigation is complete; and if there is no substantive risk to national security; the intelligence agencies will adhere/defer to the request of the executive.  This is where the alignment and support from U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr is critically important.
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This evening President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump host the 2019 White House Historical Society Association Dinner.

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[Transcript] East Room – THE FIRST LADY: Good evening. Please, sit down. The President and I are delighted to be with you, all of you, this evening as we celebrate the incredible work of the White House Historical Association over this past year and prepare for our continued work to preserve and restore the People’s House in the years to come.
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The overall strategery here is brilliant.  After two years of rope-a-dope…. Trump exits the corner for the championship rounds in the trade fight: First the body blow, China boxed-in with trade confrontation and consequences of retreat from agreement (Mnuchin and Lighthizer);… Then whammo, the roundhouse XO placing telecom under national security review (Navarro and Pillsbury); then upper-cut, Wilburine places Hauwei and affiliates on Commerce Dept. trade blacklist…  Lions and Killers and Strategists, oh my.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday it is adding Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 70 affiliates to its so-called “Entity List” – a move that bans the telecom giant from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval.
U.S. officials told Reuters the decision would also make it difficult if not impossible for Huawei, the largest telecommunications equipment producer in the world, to sell some products because of its reliance on U.S. suppliers.
Under the order that will take effect in the coming days, Huawei will need a U.S. government license to buy American technology. Huawei did not immediately comment.

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Here we go….  President Trump is laying the groundwork to ban telecommunication companies based on identified risk to national security (ie. Huawei).  Nations who engage in 5-G technology agreements are on notice they may be cut-off from communication partnerships with the U.S.A.

[I think Wall Street just pee’d their pants a little..]

[Executive Order] By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services, which store and communicate vast amounts of sensitive information, facilitate the digital economy, and support critical infrastructure and vital emergency services, in order to commit malicious cyber-enabled actions, including economic and industrial espionage against the United States and its people.
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Earlier today President Trump delivered a speech during the 38th annual National Peace Officers Memorial tribute.  During remarks President Trump invited the family of slain police officer Ronil Singh to the podium. Singh was shot and killed in Newman, California during a traffic stop in December 2018. The accused gunman was in the US illegally and had previously been arrested twice for DUI.

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[Transcript] U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – 11:50am EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Please, thank you. What a beautiful day. Third time. And I have to say, this is the most beautiful weather, so that brings us a little luck and it brings us a little happiness.
Chuck, I want to thank you for the great job that you’ve done. Your devotion has been incredible. I’ve known you a long time. We work together. And congratulations, really, on doing a fantastic job. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Chuck. (Applause.)
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Good discussion between Tom Friedman and Steve Bannon on the ‘big picture’ of the U.S. -vs- China geopolitical trade confrontation.   Friedman is an insufferable prog on methods, but he recognizes the President Trump approach is necessary.  Worth Watching:

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Where academic Friedman is helplessly naive is on the key point of how a coalition approach toward China is a pipe-dream.  When it comes to economics each entity has unique self-interests.  Put fifty self-interested governments together (ie. TPP) and you end up with paralysis of analysis and no action; as each entity fights to hold their own interest over the group interest….. While China grows in the background.
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