Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the ongoing tax reform initiative.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears with Mari Bartiromo to discuss the Iranian nuclear agreement and specifically President Trump’s call for revised security terms.
For those who travel through the deep geopolitical grass, this interview is particularly important as Netanyahu outlines the ‘why now’ aspect. Note specifically how the Prime Minister frames the economic leverage strategy we have discussed –Backstory Here– and how the regional allies President Trump has assembled are all in concert with the larger objectives. It’s actually a little surprising to see Netanyahu ‘out’ the Big picture.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appears on CBS Face The Nation with John Dickerson to discuss the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA). The ideology of Dickerson puts him in a defensive posture on behalf of Iran. Meanwhile T-Rex talks common sense.
The interview also encompasses the strategy to denuclearize North Korea and China’s role therein. The value in this interview comes toward the latter half where the relationship of Secretary Tillerson and President Trump is discussed and how the interplay is part of the larger strategic objectives. “It’s a strategy we’re not going to share with anyone, as the president has said”… etc.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears with Face the Nation host John Dickerson to discuss the Iran nuclear deal.
Dickerson lives a life amid a professional and social network of ideological allies who are opposed to both Israel and President Trump. Dickerson has to retain his bona fides with his community of fellow travelers. Meanwhile Netanyahu outlines the economic leverage held by President Trump and the regional allies. [Pay attention to the last minute]
One of the more anticipated interviews this weekend is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussing the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA) with the insufferable Jake Tapper.
One of the things noted from both Trump’s national speech on Iran, and Tillerson’s statements this morning, is open and unusually visible public support for the “Green Movement” (political opposition) in Iran.
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President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP
Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †
Well this is interesting. The Mandalay Bay hotel security guard Jesus, “Jose'” Campos, who was hailed a hero in the first week post-massacre, was supposed to appear for media interviews…. he disappeared.
Now it is reported Mr. Campos walked out of the interview venue and checked into a clinic right before the interviews were scheduled to begin:
(Via Daily Mail) Jesus Campos, the hero security guard who was shot in the Las Vegas hotel massacre, checked into a ‘quick clinic’ after vanishing moments before he was due to speak to the media for the first time since the attack.
The security guard is yet to be interviewed since he was shot by Stephen Paddock on October 1 on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
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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Nearly a week after the California wildfires began, the zone containing scattered fires has swollen to an area as wide as 100 miles. The flames have left at least 38 people dead and destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, making them the deadliest and most destructive group of wildfires California has ever seen.
(Via ABC) Rising winds fanned the California wildfires again Saturday, forcing hundreds more people to flee from their homes in the state’s fabled wine country and threatening to undo the efforts of crews who have spent days trying to corral the flames behind firebreaks.
Just a day after firefighters reported making significant progress, the winds kicked up and pushed flames into the hills at the edge of Sonoma, a town of 11,000. About 400 homes were evacuated in Sonoma and a portion of Santa Rosa that included a retirement community that evacuated earlier this week, authorities said.
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