President Donald Trump addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York presenting a vision of why all nations must represent their national interests first, with patriotism and also with peace. Brilliant speech:

…”I honor the right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs, and traditions. The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship.  We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”…

[Transcript] United Nations – New York, New York – 10:38 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Madam President, Mr. Secretary-General, world leaders, ambassadors, and distinguished delegates:
One year ago, I stood before you for the first time in this grand hall. I addressed the threats facing our world, and I presented a vision to achieve a brighter future for all of humanity.
Today, I stand before the United Nations General Assembly to share the extraordinary progress we’ve made.
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Sad Panda increasingly frustrated as disruptor Trump heaps vociferous praise on Chairman Xi, while simultaneously out maneuvering Beijing’s geopolitical economic strategy.
China expert Michael Pillsbury discusses the current environment around the Beijing leadership with Fox host Tucker Carlson.  This is really important. WATCH:

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What Pillsbury outlines is exactly what CTH predicted last year when we shared how the Red Dragon would be caught entirely off-guard.  They’ve never seen this approach before.
NOTE: The upcoming Chinese trade delegation is not showing up at the end of this month as a matter of scheduling happenstance.  What no-one in the financial/trade/economic media is connecting is the timing of their visit with USTR Lighthizers’ Section 301 Tariff hearings –SEE HERE.  August 20th through August 27th, you can guarantee the Chinese delegations will be all over those hearings; including dispatching their paid lobbyists to provide input on their behalf.
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Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro was delivering a speech today with a national military parade and all the structured festivities.  During the remarks, an explosion was heard, and several seconds later the crowd responded to state police rushing toward them. The broadcast on state television quickly cuts to a commercial. WATCH:

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According to initial reporting there was a possible drone attack against the Maduro regime.  However, given the nature of the Maduro government, there is also strong opinion the attack was staged by the government to elicit sympathy.
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Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador “AMLO” easily won yesterday’s election with 54% of the vote; the highest vote total in three decades.  In addition his MORENA party won an absolute majority in both the Mexican Senate (38% +/-) and the Chamber of Deputies (38% +/-).

The multinational financial community is in the process of evaluating how the nationalist win will impact all prior investing.  One of the key issues is NAFTA.  Multinational corporations have poured billions into Mexico as a structural method to utilize the trade deal to gain access to the U.S. market.
Despite his campaign position, AMLO is now affirming a positive intention to renegotiate NAFTA; however, he is speaking from both sides of the current issue.  Example:

[Today] Lopez Obrador said he supports reaching a deal on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada.
[…]  Lopez Obrador said he will propose that his own team of experts be included in the talks. The winning candidate said he will make that proposal in a meeting Tuesday with current President Enrique Pena Nieto.

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The official announcement is coming momentarily.  All other candidates have conceded.  Looks like Andrés Manuel López Obrador, an avowed soft-Marxist, will EASILY end up with 53 to 59% of the vote and is the next President of Mexico:
Primary platform points:  ♦Amnesty to all drug cartels.  ♦No longer will work with U.S. immigration enforcement.  ♦Nationalize oil industry.  ♦Farm subsidies. ♦Elimination of multinational corporate influence on farming.  ♦Support and assistance for economic growth plan: using •mass migration of Mexican nationals into Southern U.S., •create AmeriMex border region, and •remittance of earnings back to Mexico as initiative for rapid domestic economic growth.
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Immediately before lunch with members from congress, President Trump delivers remarks in response to the Supreme Court removing a challenge to the administration travel restrictions and vetting process. In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court upheld the president’s authority to restrict travel from countries who are not compliant with U.S. vetting requirements.
UPDATED Video ADDED

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We’ve been sharing this intensely predictable issue since late 2017. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or “AMLO”, is going to be the next President of Mexico.  The self-described “soft Marxist”, a Mexican Hugo Chavez, has been so far ahead of all other candidates – the outcome of the July 1st Mexican election is a foregone conclusion.
Interestingly, people are only now starting to take notice because AMLO is openly telling his fellow countrymen they must flood the U.S. border.

(From the Daily Caller) […] “And soon, very soon — after the victory of our movement — we will defend all the migrants in the American continent and all the migrants in the world,” Obrador said, adding that immigrants “must leave their towns and find a life in the United States.”  He then declared it as “a human right we will defend.”

Most political observers read this and think it sounds crazy. They make comparisons to a U.S. presidential candidate telling Americans to flee to Canada (Daily Wire example). That type of perspective shows a disconnect.  The paradigm, and frame of reference, is entirely wrong.
What AMLO is saying is not a surprise, nor is it an ideological proclamation; there is an actual strategic policy behind these statements.  This has been AMLO’s strategy for years, and no-one was paying attention.   Andrés Manuel López Obrador has long proposed a key economic plan for Mexico to become wealthy. However, his idea has only recently gained broad mainstream Mexican understanding.
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This evening President Trump welcomed home Joshua Holt, a young man who had been imprisoned in Venezuela for nearly two years.  Mr. Holt and his family are from Utah.  The family, the State Department team and a group of U.S. politicians who participated in the negotiations for his release, held a short Oval Office press availability.

Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah), Senator Bob Corker (Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee), Senator Mike Lee (Utah), Representative Mia Love (Utah) and a number of key State Department officials were present. Toward the end of the remarks President Trump spoke briefly about the latest discussions surrounding a possible summit with North Korea.

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I don’t know how many people are connecting the dots of President Trump’s border security proposals, and the increased urgency therein, to the upcoming -almost guaranteed- outcome of the Mexican election… but the connection is too brutally obvious to be ignored by the intellectually honest.

With a commanding -and growing- 18 point lead, it is almost a certainty our closest Southern neighbor is going to be run by a far-left Marxist ideologue, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.  It is against this backdrop, and the certain conflict with the U.S. economy, where we see a renewed sense of urgency from President Trump today:

WASHINGTON DC – President Trump on Tuesday said that the U.S. will secure the southern border with the military until a wall can be built, calling the move a “big step.”

Trump made the remarks during a meeting with Baltic leaders, where he said he had discussed the matter with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

“Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” he said. “That’s a big step, we really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before.”

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If the news from the first round of Mexican election polling was any better we’d have to be twins to enjoy it.   Andres Obrado, a well-known Marxist who intends a government take-over of the Mexican energy sector, is holding a commanding 18-point lead.

This is excellent news for border wall enthusiasts and those who want the Trump administration to pull out of NAFTA.

Mr Obrador is the modern Mexican version of Hugo Chávez (or Nicolàs Maduro/Bernie Sanders) with a similar ideological outlook.  His resulting territorial economic policies are certain to deliver the Venezuela outcome to the Mexican people.

For American companies doing business in Mexico, an Obrador win would be the worst possible outcome.  They will lose hundreds of billions from their current Mexican investments, as President Obrador swoops in to skim (tax) corporate profits for his state-run enterprises and care for ‘his people’. However, the good news is – those U.S. multinationals will likely all return to the U.S. asap.  Lucky day, lucky day.

Funnily enough, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross must have held some insider information about this likelihood when he sheepishly hinted toward this possibility a few weeks ago.  Oh, the poor multinational critters in Wall Street are gonna have a heart attack when they see this.  Wait, wha… they did already?

MONTERREY (Reuters) – Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 18-point lead ahead of the July 1 election, according to a poll published on Monday that showed him with a growing advantage at the start of formal campaigning.

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