Well, it looks like the gang has a plan… the details are sketchy, but the picture of the construction is visible.  According to Adam Schiff, Robert Mueller has agreed to deliver congressional testimony to a “joint panel” of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, on July 17th.

♦ First, to frame the narrative for the appearance, HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff releases a letter signed by *only* Nadler and Schiff, that “threatened” a subpoena.  This subpoena letter is a prop for a pre-planned theatrical event.  How do we know? Because only Schiff and Nadler signed it (no coordination with ranking members).  It’s an optic to set the cornerstone for a narrative that Schiff and Nadler want Mueller’s appearance.
♦ Second, the joint committee approach is also part of the strategy.  With 40 members from both committees there will intentionally only be ONE ROUND of questions.  The size of the committee is part of the design to protect Robert Mueller.  Those who follow politics closely will immediately note this motive.
Knowing Mueller was in deep discussions with Schiff and Nadler to coordinate the appearance, the optic of the letter and the size of the committee are the first two immediate flares that indicate a staged performance is being set-up.
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Earlier today President Trump signed an Executive order establishing a White House council on eliminating regulatory barriers to affordable housing [Details Here]. After explaining the XO President Trump answered questions from the pool:
[Video and Transcript]

[Details on the Executive Order Here] – [Background Call Here]

[Transcript] – 2:07 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Appreciate you being here. I’d like to take a few moments to describe what we’re doing on numerous fronts, but we’re going to take a major step in our historic regulatory reduction campaign.
Today, we begin a bold new initiative to bring down the cost of housing for American families. So important.
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Sometimes we just read and think; sometimes we just read and laugh. This is the latter.
China continually looks at President Trump and the U.S. trade position through the wrong prism. Those around Chairman Xi genuinely seem to be incapable of understanding a U.S. President who independently represents long-term U.S. larger interests, and simultaneously leverages the U.S. market as a customer in a one-sided transaction.
The disconnect in Beijing analysis of the dynamic is really quite something.

After last weeks strategic magnanimous panda maneuver, Beijing was shocked, shocked, that President Trump continued to maintain “wrong thinking” toward the upcoming discussion with Chairman Xi.
It appears China fully expected some reciprocal trade bargaining based on their implied promise to release North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un from manipulation; but Trump didn’t flinch.  Instead, of acquiescence to magnanimous panda, President Trump sends Chairman Kim a letter filled with “excellent content“. Beijing was snubbed.
So yesterday as a follow-up Beijing indicates a willingness to revisit the prior agreement by putting the face of Vice-Premier Liu He back into their negotiation position:
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Following an executive order signed by President Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin holds a press conference to deliver the details [Video and Transcript]:

More details on Treasury Website Here.
[Transcript] SECRETARY MNUCHIN: So I think, as you know, I just left the Oval Office, where President Trump signed a new executive order authorizing even more expanded sanctions against Iran. So now — along with our existing sanctions authority, we have additional sanctions to go after the Supreme Leader’s Office and lock up literally billions of dollars more of assets. Along with that action today, we are also announcing specific actions targeting those responsible for recent activities.
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Oh dear, China is unhappy.  According to the Global Times President Trump is not “showing enough good faith” to demonstrate he “wishes to ease the trade tensions” with magnanimous panda. Sincerity is not being observed.
The G20 is coming up next week.  Magnanimous panda has exhibited great gesture with North Korea.  Expectations of reciprocal acquiescence abound, and yet President Trump is maintaining wrong thinking toward trade conflicts with China.
Beijing is not pleased; not pleased at all:

Global Times – Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s trip to attend the G20 summit, which takes place from Thursday to Saturday, the US is not showing enough good faith to demonstrate that it wishes to ease the trade tensions, Chinese observers said.
G20 members should unite to oppose protectionism and unilateralism at the summit, and be realistic about the prospects that the two largest global economies will reach a deal in the near future, they said.

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According to a Wall Street Journal report, President Donald Trump is considering a requirement that all next-generation 5G cellular equipment used in the United States will have to be designed and manufactured outside China.
As part of the 150-day executive order review, initiated after cybersecurity concerns in the United States, administration officials are asking tech companies and telecom equipment makers if they can develop U.S. hardware including cellular-tower electronics as well as routers and switches, and software from sourcing completely outside China.

(WSJ) […] The conversations are in early and informal stages, they said. The executive order calls for a list of proposed rules and regulations by the 150-day deadline, in October; so, any proposals may take months or years to adopt.

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North Korea state-run news agency is reporting on a letter from U.S. President Trump to North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un.    In an interesting aspect to the media report, KCNA releases a picture of Chairman Kim reading the letter.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reads a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, in Pyongyang, North Korea in this picture released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 22, 2019.

On the hostage dynamic…. last week the hostage taker (Chairman Xi), finally positioned the public optics of Chairman Kim as the hostage; and indicated a likelihood Beijing would negotiate terms for release (better trade deal) with President Trump.  Therefore the rescuer (Trump) now communicates with the hostage (Kim) against an entirely different geopolitical background.
Additionally, both President Trump and Chairman Kim know the picture will be analyzed by high-tech software (Beijing, China and Russia) and the content is easily discoverable.   The message itself, as well as the answer to the message (from Kim), is likely in the picture.  [Note: the White Shirt, business office, is part of the reply].
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The money quote from Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping in the role of magnanimous panda as he departs Chairman Kim:

“This visit has achieved complete success in reinforcing the traditional friendship between China and North Korea”..

Kim remains hostage, and Xi highlights his captive capabilities in advance of the G20 ‘expanded’ meeting with President Trump in Osaka, Japan.  Magnanimous panda thinks he’s created leverage for hostage release negotiations with Trump in exchange for economic and trade concessions… except he hasn’t.
Beijing has fallen into a trap created by a combination of their cultural approach toward geopolitical confrontation and an echo-chamber that does not allow -or consider- warnings from dissenting voices.  In essence, it might sound goofy considering the magnitude of the issues at hand, but Beijing doesn’t know President Trump.
One of the reasons for the miscalculation is likely due to Beijing weighing their analysis and strategy based on typical Western reporting similar to THIS ARTICLE in the New York Times.
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Lots of differing opinion on the decision by POTUS to cancel a retaliatory strike against Iran.  Some praise and some criticize.   Here’s President Trump’s reason for cancelling the strike against Iran:

As it relates to the Trump doctrine, CTH would note any current ally of the U.S; and/or any entity engaged with significant economic interests attached to the U.S; including any EU entity who might have previously been skirting the sanctions against Iran (think Turkey); would now be very cautious about appearing on President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin’s proverbial radar.

Chairman Xi Jinping arrives in North Korea to support the “correct thinking” within his proxy province and hostage Kim Jong-Un.   Magnanimous Panda, and defender of all enlightened Asian progress, exhibited great smiles as nervous Kim worries over the dust on the military shoestrings.  WATCH:

(Reuters) BEIJING (Reuters) – The world hopes North Korea and the United States can talk to each other and for those talks to be successful, Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday, praising Pyongyang’s efforts toward denuclearization.

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