A win for the Trump administration in the ongoing effort to stem the influx of migrants crossing the U.S-Mexico border seeking asylum.  The ninth circuit federal appeals court ruled (full pdf below) that the Trump administration can continue returning Central American migrants to Mexico while their requests for asylum in the U.S. are adjudicated.

The Ninth Circuit decision is a victory for the administration.  The ruling stays the effect of a decision last month by a judge who blocked the policy while it was being challenged.

(WSJ) […] The policy, officially named the Migrant Protection Protocols, is more commonly known as “Back to Mexico” or “Remain in Mexico.”
While Tuesday’s court action isn’t a final decision on the merits of the case, the appeals court held that several legal factors favored allowing the Trump administration to administer the policy while the litigation continues.

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We have discussed the Chinese outlook toward trade and negotiations at great length.  One of the overriding issues has always been the zero-sum disposition of China as it relates to any engagement. To wit: if it does not benefit China, it simply is not done.

Peace or war. Win or lose. Yin and Yang. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with China; they are not constitutionally capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome.  If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war.  In politics or economics the same perspective is true.  It is a zero-sum outlook. (link)

Against the collapse of trade negotiations, the ideology of Chairman Xi Jinping is showcased today in the first official responses from the Chinese government toward the U.S. initiating tariffs due to Beijing’s duplicitous reversal on prior commitments.

(SCMP) Beijing will not make concessions in trade talks in response to Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats, Chinese state media said in a commentary published a day after the US president announced increases in duties on Chinese goods.
“Things we think are advantageous for us, we will do it even without anyone asking,” People’s Daily reported on its WeChat account on Tuesday.
“Things that are unfavourable to us, no matter how you ask, we will not take any step back. Do not even think about it.”

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To say there are conflicting reports of the U.S-China trade discussion, and possible breakdown therein, would be an understatement.  However, mining through the various U.S. and China news agencies, a more clear picture emerges.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighizer is quoted today: “We felt we were on track to get somewhere. Over the course of last week we have seen an erosion of commitments by China. That in our view is unacceptable.”  This statement appears to be in line with reports from Beijing about Chinese negotiators: “with sources suggesting that President Xi Jinping vetoed additional concessions proposed by his negotiators.”

(Bloomberg) […] Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Monday that the Chinese backsliding became apparent during their visit to Beijing last week, but that they had been reassured by their Chinese interlocutors that everything would turn out.

That changed over the weekend when China sent through a new draft of an agreement that included them pulling back on language in the text on a number of issues, which had the “potential to change the deal very dramatically,” Mnuchin said.

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The Treasury Department informed congress Monday it will not release President Trump’s tax returns.  This follows a politically motivated request from House Democrats, and potentially sets-up a legal battle to be resolved by the Supreme Court.
Letter from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin:

(Link to Letter)

CTH shared last week the visibility of a cross-party political and economic horse-trade {Go Deep}.  It would appear some evidence toward that likelihood is gathering:

(Schumer link)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer want their infrastructure proposal.  President Trump wants a fundamentally realigned geopolitical trade reset.  No doubt Pelosi/Schumer will attempt to get their political win and simultaneously eliminate any Trump win.  However, until the weeds are reached they are each playing their role.
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Well, it looks like all suspicions are now confirmed. The dragon dance of 2017 and 2018 has extended into 2019. DPRK Chairman Kim fires rockets, Trump smacks Chinese Chairman Xi. Yes, we can officially put the remaining bits of skepticism to rest…
The meeting last week between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and their Chinese counterparts including Vice-Chairman Liu, was especially important.  Mnuchin and Lighthizer said they would debrief President Trump on the likelihood of whether a successful trade deal with a communist regime was structurally possible; or whether Beijing was playing a game of delay.
The ongoing dance with the dragon has been a series of cunning manuevers between the Panda mask and the Dragon face. At the conclusion of the Beijing visit by Mnuchin and Lighthizer, Chinese Chairman Xi sent a proactive response using his familiar proxy North Korean Chairman Kim. The DPRK test-fired three missiles.
Today President Trump responds:

The increase of the Round-1 tariffs from 10% to 25%, previously delayed after discussions between Xi and Trump in Argentina, will now be triggered. Additionally, the Round-2 tariffs (25% on $325 billion of different goods), originally scheduled for March 1, also postponed after the Argentina dinner, will now be implemented.
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Following the arc of the 2016 election surveillance story, Representative Jim Jordan and Maria Bartiromo discuss the reasons why the administrative state now needs to remove AG Bill Barr with a sense of increased urgency.
Attorney General Bill Barr has vowed to get to the bottom of the surveillance and spy operations conducted against the Trump campaign -and Trump administration- in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Barr is now a threat to the system.

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears on Fox News Sunday to debate Swamp antagonist Chris ‘But’ Wallace on issues related to Venezuela, Russia, China and North Korea.
Despite the Weissmann/Mueller report, Chris “But” Wallace continues advancing the Russia collusion-conspiracy… until moving forward and cheerleading for North Korea, Hamas and China.

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There’s something really odd about the latest reports from South Korea about a test of three missiles the South has corrected to describe as “projectiles”.  The odd part is there’s zero mention in North Korea state media about it.  Fox News picked up on that aspect in a brief sentence inside their report:

[…]  South Korean officials were monitoring the situation and were sharing information with their American counterparts. North Korea did not report on Saturday’s firings. Seoul’s intelligence agency said it thinks the projectiles were not missiles given their short travel distances and low altitude.

Amid a tremendous amount of recent geopolitical background moves; and given the history of China using the DPRK as a geopolitical proxy province; there’s a possibility Beijing ordered the action.
Out of caution, please note our CTH perspective is entirely outside the mainstream view on the dynamic within the DPRK and the network around Kim Jong-un.  Quite simply all of the moves, counter-moves, and specifically the timing of them, align with the U.S. and China confrontation far more than most mainstream observers seem to notice.
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This is a discussion point CTH has outlined for quite a while; the new aspect is the scale and scope of Big Tech’s latest effort to silence voices they define as against their interests.
President Trump has taken notice of the issue and over the past 48 hours he has been drawing additional attention to the problem.  Things are going to get a lot worse, a lot worse, in the days and months ahead.

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In the final analysis, the big picture is about authoritarian control. Currently the largest tech companies are leveraging their power and influence to remove dissenting voices from commonly used social media platforms. Back in 2015 there was a prescient discussion between Matt Drudge and Alex Jones where this exact scenario was outlined.
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