President Trump hosts a press availability prior to a bilateral meeting with President Abdo Benitez of Paraguay.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s great to have the President of Paraguay here. We’re doing a lot of work with Paraguay on terrorism, on drugs, on trade — a lot of different things. And we’ve had a great relationship. So, Mr. President, it’s an honor to have you. Thank you very much.
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Last night President Trump congratulated Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his great win in the U.K. election, noting the possibilities for a big trade boost are “massive”:

Not accidentally, the geopolitical economic and trade planets have aligned splendidly.   The cornerstone USMCA agreement has bipartisan support and will ratify quickly in congress.  A “phase one” trade agreement with China is likely, and prior plans for a strategic trade deal with the U.K. have increased as a result of the U.K. election.
First rule in geopolitics, it’s always about the economics.  Second rule in geopolitics: refer to rule #1.    Understanding this basic truism is the key to understand how President Trump is able to be so effective.  There are trillions at stake, and many interests.

“Economic security is national security.” ~President Trump

All politics circles back to the underlying economics; whether it is an individual financial self-interest for a specific politician, or whether it is a larger financial interest for a group or even a nation.  Everything is always about the money; and that essential truth is why Donald Trump is so uniquely qualified, influential and stunningly effective.
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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 †

The fiasco within the House Judiciary Committee assembling articles for impeachment went from partisan bias to unilaterally ridiculous when Chairman Nadler used banana republic tactics to adjourn the committee and simultaneously schedule a vote on the two articles of impeachment for 10:00am tomorrow.

Obviously the House democrats are beginning to panic as each day American voter support is dropping fast.  Combine that political reality with an international earthquake in the U.K. elections, and the reverberations travel into the impeachment debate.  It is clear from their behavior that Pelosi and Nadler need to finish this mess; and fast.
Nadler surprised the committee when he arbitrarily ended the mark-up session, and out of nowhere adjourned the committee shortly before midnight.  The chairman announced the HJC would reconvene at 10:00am on Friday the 13th (apropos all things considered) to vote the two articles out of committee.  There was no discussion with Ranking member Doug Collins and no communication with the minority at all. A unilateral declaration.
Representative Doug Collins was at first surprised, then furious at the shameful and partisan committee rule-breaking by Chairman Nadler.   House democrats are taking a big gamble by manipulating a process in the extreme and hoping Americans will not punish their blood-lust for impeachment, and political abuse of power.  WATCH:
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears on Fox News to discuss the upcoming impeachment trial and the processes within the Senate that will be followed.
McConnell states he will be working closely with White House counsel and the President’s lawyers.  The Senate Leader said “there’s no chance the President is removed from office”.

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[Sidebar (somewhat): I find it to be interesting timing for this interview… U.S-China trade agreement, phase-one, announced today and Senator McConnell comes out in full-throated defense of presidency. Perhaps just a coincidence.]
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President Trump begins by saying “we’re having a very exciting month in Washington DC”, and later remarks “we’re going to have a fantastic year.”  Doesn’t sound like President Trump is too concerned with the impeachment fiasco. Lead on Mr. President, lead on.

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Earlier today President Trump outlined principles for common sense, innovative child care policy reforms and practices that increase access to quality care, choice, and flexibility for America’s working parents.  [Video and Transcript Below]
The booming economy and strong labor market are allowing Americans of all backgrounds to find work and succeed.  The Child Care and Paid Leave initiatives are designed to support the needs of the U.S. workforce and simultaneously support a strong family life.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) What a nice group. Thank you very much. Hi, everybody. Hi. Well, thank you very much. And I had a very busy time and a very busy day, and my daughter said, “You will be here.” So — (laughter) — that was the end of that busy day, right? When a daughter says, “You have to be here.” But she’s done such an incredible job.
So I want to thank Ivanka. And from the very beginning — (applause) — that’s true. Yeah. From the very beginning, it’s been an extraordinary — she has been so extraordinary, in terms of her advocacy for America’s working families. Fourteen million people she’s gotten jobs for, where she would go into Walmart, she would go into our great companies and say, “They really want help. They really want you to teach them,” because the government can’t teach like the companies can teach. And companies would take a half a million people, a million people.
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A “landslide”, a complete “wipe-out”, a “massive victory” appears looming for Boris Johnson and the conservative party in the U.K. if exit polls are accurate.

These blowout results guarantee a faster Brexit from the European Union and the leftist labor party in the U.K. has been crushed.  Conservatives look to have picked up 50 seats and Labor has lost 71 seats; the Scottish National Party (SNP) has picked up 20.
The “Remainers” in the U.K. have been decimated, and the voters who want to “Leave” the EU have fueled a massive victory for Boris Johnson.  Liberal heads are blown-out, bigly.

(Via Daily Mail) Boris Johnson hailed his new blue-collar Tory army tonight as it emerged he is on track to secure a staggering landslide in the election battle – with Labour’s ‘red wall’ of Brexit-backing strongholds imploding.

A dramatic exit poll shows voters handing the Tories a massive 368 seats, with Labour languishing on 191 – down 71 on 2017 and the worst performance in modern history.

The bombshell numbers would give a huge Commons majority of 86, the biggest since Margaret Thatcher’s triumph in 1987, and are equivalent to a 10-point lead in the popular vote. (more)

This result also has massive ramifications for a U.S-U.K trade deal; and subsequently major leverage for the U.S. (independently) and a U.S. – U.K. alliance in future trade negotiations against the European Union.
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President Trump is meeting with the wolverines to discuss the current status of terms for a “Phase One” U.S-China trade deal.  Additionally POTUS tweeted a deal was close:

As we have noted the general objective from President Trump on a “Phase One” deal is a $50 billion agriculture purchase from China that would allow the U.S. to discontinue the supplemental bridge payments to farmers using tariff income.  Details of this possible deal are unknown, but look for a delay in the next round of the December 15th tariffs to secure the Ag purchase.   President Trump will want a written purchase contract.
The financial pundits, most beholden to the needs of the Wall Street multinationals, are overestimating the scale and scope of issues likely resolved within “phase one”.   There is not likely to be resolution to the bigger issues in the U.S-China trade conflict.

Bloomberg reported: “U.S. negotiators offered to reduce tariffs on about $375 billion in Chinese goods by 50% across the board and suspend tariffs on $160 billion in goods scheduled to go into effect on Sunday.”

I would advise to take the Bloomberg report with a grain of salt; their Wall Street-centric voice generally tries to push narrative negotiations to the benefit of multinationals.
Instead, the Trump big picture common sense business approach is: the value of tariff reduction will be directly related to the value of a WRITTEN CONTRACT China purchase.
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