In advance of the Senate beginning the impeachment trial of President Trump, the upper chamber ratified the USMCA trade agreement with an 89-10 vote.  The agreement now moves to the White House where President Trump will sign it.

The final ratification is the result of two-years worth of renegotiated trade reform, and the outcome gained bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.  The only republican senator who voted against the deal was Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania who is concerned the USMCA will weaken the position of Wall Street multinationals.
Nine democrat senators did not support the agreement because there wasn’t enough verbiage to support their climate change priorities, and the USMCA does not align with the Paris Climate Accord.  [Vote Tally Here]

USMCA gives American producers better access to Canadian dairy markets, and creates a cornerstone for a revitalized U.S. manufacturing base.  The deal has much more strict rules of origination for the auto-sector with 75% of parts and materials must be made in north America.  Combined with the requirement that 40% of those industrial parts must come from plants where workers make a minimum of $16/hr, the U.S. auto-industry will gain significant benefits.
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Today begins the official Senate trial of President Donald John Trump. Chief Justice John Roberts will be swearing-in all senators to begin the impeachment trial at 2:00pm ET.
First there will be a call of the roll to ensure all senators present; then the arrival of Chief Justice Roberts; then the oath of duty administered by Senator Grassley to the ¹Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts; then Justice Roberts will swear-in all standing Senators to their oath of duty for trial.
Following the affirmation of oath, all senators will affix their signature or mark to the Senate “oath book” documenting their declaration and affirmation.    Video Added:

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¹NOTE: Chief Justice John Roberts is not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; in his official duties he is the Chief Justice of the United States of America.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Stephanie Grisham Twitter @StephGrisham45

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 †

Sickening.  Earlier today Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a media event signing ceremony complete with commemorative pens for dozens of her Democrat colleagues, and initiated the parade ceremony for the march across the Capitol with the articles.  Upon arrival at the upper chamber of congress, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell accepted delivery and began the process of organizing the procedure through a series of rules by unanimous consent.

[McConnell] “A few minutes ago, the Senate was notified the House of Representatives is finally ready to proceed with their articles of impeachment. So, by unanimous consent, we’ve just laid some of the groundwork that will structure the next several days.”

• We have officially invited the House managers to come to the Senate tomorrow at noon to exhibit their articles of impeachment.
• Then, later tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm, the Chief Justice of the United States will arrive here in the Senate. He will be sworn in by the President Pro Tem, Senator Grassley.
• Then the Chief Justice will swear in all of us senators. We will pledge to rise above petty factionalism and do justice for our institutions, for our states, and for the nation.
• And then we will formally notify the White House of our pending trial and summon the President to answer the articles and send his counsel.

‘So the trial will commence in earnest on Tuesday.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared on Fox News with Brett Baier for a more detailed discussion of the U.S-China ‘phase-one’ trade agreement.  Additionally, Secretary Mnuchin discussed the status of sanctions with Iran and his view on impeachment.

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…and Brett Baier is a human cabbage patch doll.
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After the signing ceremony to celebrate a historic U.S-China ‘phase-one’ trade agreement, President Trump and the U.S. trade delegation hosted Vice-Premier Liu He and the Chinese delegation for a luncheon. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: I thought that we would do it the way other; that the more I thought about this, the better it is. It’s — you can get your arms around it better the way we’ve got it. I like it better the way we’ve done it.

I just want to say this is a great day for both China and the United States. This is an agreement that people have been talking about for 40 years and never were able to get even a piece of paper signed. And we never had an agreement. And this is going to be a great agreement for both countries. It’s far greater than $200 billion, and it’ll grow every year. It also unifies the countries.

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White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears on FOX Business for his first interview since the signing of the U.S.-China trade deal.  Mr. Kudlow is optimistic but also shares notes of caution for the compliance and enforcement aspects.

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In the background of the delegation it should be noted Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping sent a hard-line handler, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, to accompany the more moderate Vice-Premier Liu He.  Zhong Shan was noted at the center of the signing ceremony and directly opposite Robert Lighthizer at the luncheon.
The two Beijing representatives highlight the ongoing Dragon -vs- Panda dynamic within China.
Internal to Chinese politics…. If the reformers are successful (Liu He) the compliance and enforcement mechanisms will succeed and ‘phase-one’ will lead to future negotiations.  However, if the hardliners block reform (Zhong Shan), then the compliance and enforcement mechanisms will fail and ‘phase-one’ becomes a dead end.
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Earlier today President Trump, together with his trade delegation and the delegation from China represented by Vice-Premier Liu He, signed a new, fully-enforceable Phase One Trade Agreement. This is the first ever trade agreement any nation has attempted to change the dynamic of how a free-market system (USA) can engage with the Communist system within China. [Video Below – Transcript ADDED]
While ‘phase-one‘ was structurally created to set the foundation, and test the principles of enforcement, this historic trade agreement will frame the text that all other free-market nations will follow in their own efforts to come to a substantive agreement with Beijing.
This is a really big deal on a worldwide scale of international commerce.  Structurally the biggest changes inside China relate to Intellectual Property protections, U.S. ownership of assets, and changes within the Chinese legal system to stop Forced Technology Transfer.
During the ceremonial remarks Vice-Premier Liu read a statement from Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping to commemorate this historic trade agreement.

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[Transcript]  PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Please. We greatly appreciate your joining us at this White House event. This is a very important and remarkable occasion.

Today, we take a momentous step — one that has never been taken before with China — toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade, as we sign phase one of the historic trade deal between the United States and China. Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers, and families.

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As the House debated the fiasco of their vote to submit two articles of impeachment to the Senate chamber, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy rises in opposition:

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