The level of media opposition and snark against President Trump is simply so ridiculous at this point there’s a desperation to it.  So let us consider…
From the outset of Donald Trump’s entry into the world of politics he espoused a series of key tenets around what he called his “America-First” objectives:

1. The U.S. needed to have control over our borders, and a greater ability to control who was migrating to the United States.  A shift toward stopping ‘illegal’ migration.
2. The U.S. needed to stop the manufacture of goods overseas and return critical manufacturing back to the United States.  A return to economic independence.
3. The U.S. needed to decouple from an over-reliance on Chinese industrial and consumer products.  China viewed as a geopolitical and economic risk.

Donald Trump was alone on these issues.  No-one else was raising them; no-one else was so urgently pushing that discussion. In 2015, 2016 and even 2017, no-one other than Trump was talking about how close we were to the dependence point of no return.
Given the status of very consequential issues stemming from the Chinese Coronavirus threat; and the myriad of serious issues with critical supply chain dependencies; wasn’t President Trump correct in his warnings and proposals?
In early 2017 President Trump and his administration coined the phrase: “economic security is national security”, and the economic team set about starting a very complex process to ensure the past three decades of trade policy was reversed.
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President Trump previously took executive action under sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, to restrict entry from China, Hong Kong, Iran and South Korea.  Today President Trump is extending entry restrictions to the EU “Schengen Area”.
The EU nations impacted include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
This is a prudent step because these are EU nations, under their collective assembly, who permit unrestricted travel without border enforcement or containment measures.

[The Proclamation ] – On January 31, 2020, I issued Proclamation 9984 (Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus and Other Appropriate Measures To Address This Risk). I found that the potential for widespread transmission of a novel (new) coronavirus (which has since been renamed “SARS-CoV-2” and causes the disease COVID-19) (“SARS-CoV-2” or “the virus”) by infected individuals seeking to enter the United States threatens the security of our transportation system and infrastructure and the national security.
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Tonight at 9:00pm ET, President Donald Trump will address the nation on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Oval Office.  The address will be carried live on most major news broadcasts with additional livestream links below.

RSBN Livestream Link – Fox Business Livestream – Alternate Livestream

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Earlier today President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin held a meeting of key banking executives to discuss the economic impacts of COVID-19, banking stability and financial mitigation.   [Video and Transcript Below]
Attendees include: Rob Nichols, President and CEO, America Bankers Association; Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Bank of America; Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO, Blackstone; Ken Griffin, CEO, Citadel; Michael Corbat, CEO, Citigroup; Richard Hunt, President and CEO, Consumer Bankers Association; David Solomon, Chairman and CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.;Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and Chief Executive Officer, Independent Community Bankers of America; Gordon Smith, Co-President and COO, JPMorgan Chase; Kelly King, Chairman and CEO, Truist Financial Corporation; Andrew Cecere, Chairman, President and CEO, U.S. Bank and Charlie Scharf, CEO and President, Wells Fargo & Company.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. And we are having a meeting — a very important meeting — with the, I would say, the greatest bankers in the world, the most important banks in the world, financial centers, and having a good discussion. We’re discussing the economy. We’re discussing how it relates to jobs and all of the things that are happening right now with the virus that we’ve become so familiar with.
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Earlier today President Trump and VP Mike Pence traveled to Capitol Hill to brief congress on the efforts of the Coronavirus task force and hold discussions on what legislative measures might be needed.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: So we just had a great meeting. Tremendous unity in the Republican Party. And we’re working on a lot of different things. We’ve also had some very good updates on the virus. That’s working out very smoothly. Tremendous people. It’s a tremendous task force. They have done a great job — not a good job, a great job.
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Never let a crisis go to waste… And right on cue the Democrats in Washington DC see an opportunity to use the Coronavirus as a tool to spend and expand dependency initiatives.
One of President Trump’s biggest and non-discussed success stories has been his economic policy initiatives allowing people to be financially secure, independent and non-reliant on government hand-outs.  However, the financial health and success of Americans is adverse to the political interests of Democrats who structure all of their policy objectives upon creating a dependent citizenry.
Weaponizing Coronavirus now becomes a tool for House Democrats to push-back against economic freedom; diminish the last several years of independence; and return to the era where more people become dependent on government.

It is not a question of “if legislation will happen”, it is simply a matter of “what” legislation will look like.  What elements will the Democrats attempt to exploit most?  The answer is very predictable when looking at their preferred approach.
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Most people are aware the Wuhan coronavirus has become an economic contagion within China. However, the scale of the contraction is only now being quantified and the data doesn’t match the visible reality.
When evaluating the data showing drops in exports from China is worthwhile to consider the lack of visible supply-chain disruption formerly predicted by global economic “analysts”.  According to Reuters; to the extent data can be gathered from within a closed communist system; total exports from China dropped 17.2% in January and February.

The lack of factory production has cut the estimated growth rate within China by half.  However, is that a cause?  – or – Is that a cover?  For decades corporations have moved to a supply chain process known as Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory.
If Chinese component manufactured goods were part of a critical corporate supply chain, and with more than 30-days of source disruption quantified, there would be impacts by now. Where are the crippled customers?  There are no measurable, demonstrable, citations for missing component parts making downstream finished goods impossible.  There are lots of anticipatory declarations, but no shortage has materialized.
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7:30pm – THE PRESIDENT participates in a working dinner with the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

White House – President Donald J. Trump will meet President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, March 7, 2020. President Trump and President Bolsonaro will discuss opportunities to build a more prosperous, secure, and democratic world.

As leaders of the Hemisphere’s two largest economies, they will also discuss opportunities for restoring democracy in Venezuela, bringing peace to the Middle East, implementing pro-growth trade policies, and investing in infrastructure. The President will use this meeting as an opportunity to thank Brazil for its strong alliance with the United States. (link)

This afternoon National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow discusses the jobs report, coronavirus fears, the Federal Reserve, and the steps the Trump administration is taking to address the illness.  Two background issues should be noted:
First, the Wall Street multinationals are starting to propose that the federal government should be considering ‘bailing them out’. The Coronavirus is hurting business operations overseas, and the corporations who left the U.S. to exploit overseas profits are now asking for a “bailout”. No way, no how, it should never be considered.
Secondly, there are politically manipulative localized regions, under the control of Democrats, that are cancelling public events under the auspices of Coronavirus containment. In many cases these control agents appear to be making efforts to disrupt localized economies; and create a wider, weaponized, economic impact. Watch which areas cancel which events and you will see a pattern of left-wing control of the area (ex. Miami-Dade FL, Austin TX, Chicago IL, Seattle WA, etc.)
The administration needs to be smart and wise to the underlying efforts. Shut up and listen to Trump; he’s got this. Here’s Kudlow:

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Jumpin’ ju-ju bones.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights an excellent jobs report for February with 273,000 new jobs added; and an upward revision of 85,000 job gains in December and January.  Total new jobs with revisions 358,000; that’s exceptional.
Main Street USA is very strong, exceptionally strong; and the fundamentals of the U.S. economy show balance and overall strength.  Keep in mind, while all of this growth is happening the full impacts of the renegotiated trade deals have yet to kick in.

Highlighting the strength in the overall economy the construction sector added 42,000 jobs in February, following a similar gain in January (+49,000). In 2019, construction job gains averaged 13,000 per month. In February, employment gains occurred in specialty trade contractors (+26,000) and residential building (+10,000). This specific metric is important because it highlights economic expansion from U.S. workers and households having financial strength for home purchasing.

(BLS DATA) Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 273,000 in February, and the unemployment rate remains at 3.5 percent. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.0 percent.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for December was revised up by 37,000 from +147,000 to +184,000, and the change for January was revised up by 48,000 from +225,000 to +273,000. With these revisions, employment gains in December and January combined were 85,000 higher than previously reported. (link)

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