Earlier today, while attending Davos, President Trump sat down for a lengthy interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo.  The primary topic was trade and economics with additional insight around the impeachment fiasco and some current events.
Unfortunately Ms. Bartiromo did not ask if President Trump remembered there were documents he was going to declassify.

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President Trump begins day #2 in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum.
The U.S. Delegation includes: Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin; Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross; Labor Secretary, Eugene Scalia; Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao; U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer; Under Secretary for Growth, Energy and Environment (DoS), Keith Krach; Asst to the President, Ivanka Trump; Asst. to the President, Jared Kushner; and Asst. to the President / Deputy for Policy Coordination, Christopher Liddell.

Schedule below:
♦ 3:05am EST / 9:05am Local – THE PRESIDENT departs the hotel Location en route to Davos Congress Centre, Davos, Switzerland
♦ 3:15am EST / 9:15am Local – THE PRESIDENT arrives at Davos Congress Centre, Davos, Switzerland
♦ 3:20am EST / 9:20am Local – THE PRESIDENT has breakfast with American Chief Executive Officers and Business Leaders, Davos, Switzerland
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President Trump and the U.S. delegation participate in a dinner during the Davos, World Economic Forum, with international business leaders. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. And a man who is highly respected and a great — formerly great athlete, at least — (laughter) — in my opinion, he’s a great athlete. Johnny, please. Go ahead.
MR. INFANTINO: Thanks. Do I stand or do I sit?
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For the second bilateral meeting at the Davos summit, President Trump meets with President Simonetta Sommaruga of the Swiss Confederation. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, thank you very much, everybody. And we’ll be having a meeting largely based on trade — President of Switzerland and representatives from Switzerland.
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Prior to Davos bilat #1 President Trump holds a media availability with President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s great to be with the President of the European Commission and a woman who’s highly respected, I have to say, and I hear a very tough negotiator, which is bad news for us because we’re going to talk about a big trade deal. And we’ve been talking about it for a while, and hopefully we can get something done.
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President Trump traveled overnight to Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum.  [Livestream Links and Daily Schedule Below] I found it very interesting that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was not on the Dec. delegation list.
The U.S. Delegation includes: Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin; Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross; Labor Secretary, Eugene Scalia; Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao; U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer; Under Secretary for Growth, Energy and Environment (DoS), Keith Krach; Asst to the President, Ivanka Trump; Asst. to the President, Jared Kushner; and Asst. to the President / Deputy for Policy Coordination, Christopher Liddell.
The 2020 Davos economic conference will be a little more important to watch this year (as it was in 2017) due to the completed U.S. Trade Agreements (S Korea, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and China) and the predicted focus for the Trump administration to pivot from Asia to the EU and U.K. for the next critical phase of the ‘America-First’ global trade reset.
There will likely be a great deal of attention upon the opening remarks by President Trump scheduled to be delivered at 5:30am ET / 11:30am Switzerland.
UPDATE: Video Added

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Earlier today President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call about the pending French digital services tax on U.S. companies, and USTR Lighthizer’s pending $2.4 billion 100% countervailing duty against high-end French products:

WHITE HOUSE – Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France. The two leaders agreed it is important to complete successful negotiations on the digital services tax, and they also discussed other bilateral issues. (link)

Where “avoid tariff escalation” means Macron just took a knee.  He really has no choice.
United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer calculated a $2.4 billion pending tariff, at a rate of 100%, against select high-end French products as a result of France’s desperation for tax revenue and deciding to tax U.S. digital services.
The WTO already handed the U.S. legal authority against the EU for $2.5 billion in annual tariffs as a result of the Boeing case. Legally the EU cannot retaliate.
With Britain leaving the EU; and with Germany, France and Italy already suffering from a lack of investment and shrinking sales of industrial products – the EU economy is a sitting duck for President Trump to target.  There is no-way France can lead the charge in a tariff battle against the United States….  The conversation goes something like this:
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White House manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro has an interview today to discuss the enforcement mechanisms behind the U.S-China trade agreement.
One of the interesting points Navarro raises is how the intellectual property provisions align with the newly initiated Customs and Border Protection “operation megaflex” where thousands of packages from China are opened looking for counterfeit goods.
According to Navarro the operation has identified a counterfeit rate of ten percent; fake goods and contraband narcotics.  China prosecuting these identified companies becomes part of the compliance system to see if China is adhering to the agreement.

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MAGAnomics – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons describes how President Donald Trump has “delivered” for manufacturers, noting that “promises are being kept” on tax reform, regulation, and trade.

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The passage of USMCA in combination with incentives for domestic manufacturing investment in the U.S.; and overlayed with the framework of the China ‘phase-one’ agreement, has set the foundation for a competitive North American manufacturing alternative to southeast Asia.  The capital investment will follow.  America First!
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Jumpin’ ju-ju bones this is the best recession ever!  The Commerce Department announces U.S. housing starts in December jumped a whopping 16.9 percent in December with 1.608 million units.  Blowing away forecast expectation of 1.375 million units; with the largest gain since 2006.
Cross referencing the latest median wage report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics [Table 4] shows that average wages in the construction sector in the fourth quarter increased 9.3%.  There’s obviously a lot of demand for workers in the construction industry.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. homebuilding surged to a 13-year high in December as activity increased across the board, suggesting the housing market recovery was back on track amid low mortgage rates, and could help support the longest economic expansion on record.
There was also some encouraging news on manufacturing, with other data on Friday showing production at factories increasing for a second straight month in December.

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