Eighteen years ago, in the wake of the terrorist assaults on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, I wrote about the tidal wave of patriotism that swept across America.
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For the past two years, President Donald Trump has argued that China was paying the cost of the trade war. Following a delay in some of the tariffs from the latest round in the dispute with China, however, the president has acknowledged for the first time that tariffs have an impact on American families.
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U.S. and Chinese envoys are to resume high-level trade talks next month, China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday, days after the two sides announced another round of tariffs targeting each other’s exports.
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U.S. President Donald Trump warned China on Tuesday against delays in reaching a new trade agreement in hopes he is defeated for re-election in 2020, saying that if he wins he will be “MUCH TOUGHER” in setting the terms of a deal.
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Thousands of African migrants held up in a southern Mexican city reportedly formed an official organization, criticizing their treatment by immigration authorities and demanding passage into the United States.
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China is alleged to harvest the organs of thousands of political dissidents it keeps in concentration camps, it threatens Hong Kong and Taiwan daily, it appears to be funding and assisting the North Korean nuclear missile program and is using the hundreds of billions of dollars of trade deficits to build a first-rate navy to defeat the U.S. as every year’s trade deficit pays for more than two years of China’s military spending.
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White House enthusiasm for a trade deal with the United Kingdom is palpable.
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North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday that the country’s ballistic missile test Tuesday was a “warning” to both South Korea and the United States.
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President Donald Trump put more sanctions on Russia via executive order Thursday as required by law in response to Russia’s use of chemical weapons in a 2018 attack on an ex-spy in the U.S., two U.S. officials said.
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The United States is withdrawing this week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a 31-year-old agreement with Russia. The decision to withdraw is the right move.
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As U.S.-China trade talks are set to begin, U.S. President Donald Trump is warning China against negotiating a deal after the 2020 U.S. presidential election — declaring a delayed agreement would be less attractive than a deal reached in the near term.
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Radical Somali-American and left-wing Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) argues that U.S. foreign policy is the cause of the global refugee crisis. Without question, excessive aggression from the United States in Latin America and the Middle East has exacerbated the pre-existing pathologies that pervade their political, social, and economic systems.
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President Donald Trump said a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian drone Thursday that was threatening the ship and its crew in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump told reporters at a White House event that the drone came within 900 meters of the USS Boxer and ignored “multiple calls to stand down.” “The drone was immediately destroyed,” he said. “This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities and interests.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in New York that he had “no information on losing a drone today.” All of the country’s drones returned to base, Iran’s top military spokesman said, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. “All drones belonging to Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz … returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control, and there is no report of any operational response by USS Boxer,” Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior armed forces spokesman, was quoted as saying by Tasnim. “We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” tweeted Deputy Foreign…
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by Reuters WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales at the White House on Monday for talks on immigration and security, the White House said on Friday. Government sources from both countries have said Morales may sign an agreement with Trump on Monday declaring the Central American country a safe destination for asylum seekers, while five former Guatemalan officials have gone to court to block such a deal. Trump said last month the United States and Guatemala were close to reaching a “safe third country agreement” as part of his efforts to curb U.S.-bound migration from Central America. Under such an agreement, Guatemala would be obliged to process asylum claims from migrants who entered its territory en route to the United States. Migrants from Honduras and El Salvador heading to the U.S.-Mexican border overland usually cross into Mexico via Guatemala. The White House said in a statement Trump and Morales “will discuss ways to create a more robust relationship focused on addressing migration and security priorities.” “The two leaders will also discuss how Guatemala can build a stronger relationship with its Central American partners to expand economic growth, create jobs, and promote opportunities…
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by Janet Beihoffer Our nation’s birthday is approaching once again, along with the celebrations which have accompanied the holiday for so many years. In recent years, however, Independence Day celebrations are often overshadowed by bickering over race or class. With this in mind, I’d like to share a story from my classroom years ago. As a former teacher of upper elementary grades, I spent nine weeks on human anatomy. The biological systems covered depended on the age of the students, which spanned nine to 12. All students were taught the circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems. They were also taught about the five senses. At the end of this unit, students were required to make a model of an organ, write a report on its functions and diseases, and then give a presentation to the class on how important that organ or sense was to the human body. While these models were on display, my principal – a tall black man with a “John Bunyanesque beard and stance – came to our classroom. Spotting the science projects on the windowsill he asked, “What are those?” “These are our science projects at the end of our human anatomy unit,” I replied.…
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by Paul E. Smith In the earliest days of the United States, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail about the celebration of independence, “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” “Bonfires and illuminations” refer directly to what we know as pyrotechnics and firework displays. I’m a chemist and also president of Pyrotechnics Guild International, an organization that promotes the safe use of fireworks and using them here in the U.S. to celebrate Independence Day and other festivals throughout the year. As a chemist, and someone who leads demonstrations for chemistry students, I consider fireworks a great example of combustion reactions that produce colored fire. But the invention of colored fireworks is relatively recent and not all colors are easy to produce. Early history of fireworks It was John Adams who suggested using fireworks on the fourth of July. Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) Firecrackers were first invented serendipitously by the Chinese in 200 B.C. But it wasn’t until one thousand years later that Chinese alchemists developed fireworks in 800 A.D. These early fireworks were…
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by Patrick Garry The words are engrained in our national consciousness: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These inspirational and linguistically beautiful words of the Declaration of Independence justified the American colonies’ break from England. But they did more than that. They explained to the world and to history that natural rights formed the basis of civil law and government. This was the truly revolutionary aspect of that document signed on July 4, 1776. After the Declaration, the world was never the same. The legacy of natural rights meant that law and government would no longer legitimately flow from the whims of a monarch. Tyrants would no longer carry any moral authority. Human dignity would transcend the interests of the empire. The Declaration and its natural law foundations vaulted the human world into a new orbit of political philosophy, where deprivations of individual dignity could not be convincingly justified by the self-interests of a ruling elite. The Declaration led to a political and legal system that in turn gave birth to a flourishing of…
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by Rick Manning July 1, 2, 3 and 4 are perhaps the four most consequential dates in American history. The second President of the United States and one of the authors and signers of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams believed that July 2 would be known as our nation’s birthdate, as it is when the Continental Congress actually voted for independence. It was that courageous vote which was the act of rebellion setting the Revolutionary War and indeed the events of the past 243 years careening forward. However, the actual document that is known as the Declaration of Independence was not finalized and signed until July 4, and the heading of it, In Congress, July 4, 1776, is what became the official demarcation of the formation of our new nation. Primary author Thomas Jefferson’s masterpiece is an incredible statement of individual rights, and it forms the very DNA of America. It is not only a statement of separation but a founding principle of individual liberty written to provide the true beacon of hope for the people of a new nation. The Declaration begins by explaining its purpose: “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for…
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by Steve Rogers It’s funny how the same people who are furious with President Trump for inviting our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines to be honored on the National Mall this Independence Day seem to be just as upset that he didn’t send our troops into harm’s way in some far-flung corner of the world. There’s nothing remotely “un-American” about a military parade like the one our Commander-in-Chief is planning as part of a July 4th “Salute to America,” along with a host of other tributes to our military. We’ve had them for centuries, especially around the Independence Day holiday. Remember, there never could have been a Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, if there hadn’t been a Continental Army, founded almost exactly a year earlier. In fact, that army’s commander-in-chief, George Washington, would lead about 500 of the same men who fought with him during the Revolution in a parade through New York City as he occupied the same public office that Donald Trump now occupies. If there were liberals and detractors condemning that parade as “un-American,” that fact went unrecorded by history. The best part about military parades — even more uplifting than the triumphal pageantry,…
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by Steve Herman OSAKA, JAPAN – U.S. President Donald Trump says he will hold off on imposing additional tariffs on China after a meeting with President Xi Jinping that resulted in the stalled trade negotiations getting “right back on track.” Speaking Saturday at a wide-ranging news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Trump said he will also allow American companies to sell to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant whose software U.S. intelligence has warned could threaten U.S. national security. As far as resolving the overall issue of Huawei, which the U.S. government wants to ban the country’s planned 5G cellular telephone networks, “we agreed to leave that to the end” of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. No sanctions relief The Chinese, however, are not getting relief from sanctions already imposed by the Trump administration. “At least, for the time being, we won’t be lifting tariffs on China,” the U.S. president told the news conference. “They would like to make a deal,” Trump said in assessing the Chinese following what he described as “a great meeting” with Xi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit. In remarks at the start of…
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by Matt M. Miller Mexico has deployed 15,000 soldiers and National Guardsmen at the U.S.-Mexico border and is detaining migrants who attempt to illegally cross. The Mexican government’s actions aim to meet President Donald Trump’s demands that the country help slow the influx of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico, AFP reports. “We have a total deployment, between the National Guard and army units, of 14,000, almost 15,000 men in the north of the country,” Mexican Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said at a press conference. Sandoval confirmed the governing is now detaining migrants at the border, AFP reports. “Given that (undocumented) migration is not a crime but rather an administrative violation, we simply detain them and turn them over to the authorities” at the National Migration Institute, he continued. Earlier this month, Mexico committed to deploying 6,000 National Guardsmen to its southern border to control immigration, but only a fraction have actually been deployed, according to the New York Times. Trump gave Mexico an ultimatum last month, threatening to place a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports starting on June 10 unless illegal immigration from Mexico into the U.S. was stopped. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed…
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by Shelby Talcott President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said that the White House is “mentally retarded” Tuesday after new sanctions were imposed on the country. “Hard-hitting sanctions” were placed on Iran by President Donald Trump Monday as tensions between the two countries increased. The sanctions were specifically placed on the Supreme Leader of Iran and the Office of the Supreme Leader, among others. They are intended to deny government officials “key” financial assets that are under U.S. jurisdiction. ….a dangerous journey. We don’t even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple – No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2019 “The White House is afflicted by mental retardation and does not know what to do,” Rouhani said on television Tuesday, according to The Hill. Rouhani also said that the sanctions were “outrageous and idiotic,” and that the decision by the Trump administration showed Trump was not looking to talk to Iran. “You [Trump] immediately proved you were lying,” Rouhani said Tuesday, according to BBC. “You are not…
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by Joyce Huang U.S. tech giant Apple has reportedly asked its major suppliers, mainly China-based manufacturers from Taiwan, to consider moving 15 to 30% of their production outside of China to avoid higher tariffs imposed on U.S.-bound exports. The production migration, which analysts say is already ongoing,will hurt the tech giant’s profit margin, but also lead to massive job losses in China. They add that such shifts have also occurred over the past year among other China-based tech suppliers and the trend will continue if the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies keeps escalating. “Over the past year, to my understanding, manufacturers in the information [technology] sector, for example, [China-based Taiwanese] suppliers of personal computers or consumer electronics have moved faster than handset makers and relocated [part of] their assembly lines outside China,” says Sean Kao, senior research manager at IDC Taiwan on worldwide hardware assembly research. Caught in the Crossfire Tech companies such as Apple are caught in the crossfire of U.S.-China trade frictions and face the threat of heavy punitive taxes on their China-made, U.S.-bound products. Earlier this month, U.S. President Trump said he would decide whether to slap Beijing with further tariffs on another…
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The United States was “cocked & loaded,” ready to strike three sites in Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. drone over the Strait of Hormuz but called off the attacks at the last possible moment to spare Iranian lives. The revelation by U.S. President Donald Trump on social media Friday followed news reports that the president initially authorized strikes on a handful of Iranian targets, such as radar installations and missile batteries, before pulling back. “We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it,” Trump tweeted, saying the action would have been disproportionate. “I am in no hurry,” Trump added. The president also said that he authorized additional “biting” sanctions against Iran late Thursday night as part of his administration’s maximum pressure campaign to force Iran to restart negotiations over its nuclear program. “Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!” Trump tweeted. The move appears to pull Washington and Tehran back from the brink of armed conflict that could engulf…
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by Christopher Roach Americans are weary of Middle Eastern wars and skeptical of claims from our intelligence agencies supporting such conflict. While the attack on Iraq in 2003 depended on intelligence suggesting an ongoing nuclear weapons program and attacks on Syria occurred after Bashar al-Assad’s supposed use of illegal chemical weapons against civilians, both of these assumptions either were refuted or at least face serious, evidence-based criticism. In comparison, the most recent charge against Iran—a mine attack on a Japanese cargo vessel that caused no casualties—is pretty weak sauce. As far as its magnitude, this is hardly Pearl Harbor. At the same time, the grainy video of an Iranian patrol boat parked alongside the vessel does not prove to the satisfaction of reasonable American skeptics that Iran was responsible for the explosion. War Drums In the Distance The recent incident occurred in a climate of sharpening anti-Iranian rhetoric from the United States, in particular, National Security Advisor John Bolton, as well as our country’s regional allies Saudi Arabia and Israel. The three nations have aligned against Iran in recent years. This focus on Shiite Iran has occurred, even as the most dramatic and deadly terror attacks in Europe, the…
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Iran shot down a U.S. drone in an incident Iranian officials said happened over the country’s territory but U.S. officials say took place in international airspace. U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said Thursday an Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down a U.S. Navy maritime surveillance aircraft in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. He called it an “unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset,” and said the unmanned aircraft is used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over the ocean and coastal regions. In the Iranian account, the drone was shot down by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the airspace of the country’s southern Hormozgan province, near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said Iran tried to shoot down a U.S. drone last week, and tensions between the two countries have increased with attacks against oil tankers in the region that the U.S. blames on Iran, but which Iran says it did not carry out. Relations have deteriorated since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew last year from the international agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. New U.S. sanctions have hurt Iran’s economy, and Iran has announced increased production of low-enriched uranium…
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by Jason Hopkins The United States is no longer the top destination for the world’s refugees, falling from its number one position for the first time in nearly 40 years. In what appears to be a historical turnaround, Canada surpassed the U.S. in the number of refugees it accepted into its country in 2018, according to a newly released study from the Pew Research Center. Canada resettled a total of 28,000 refugees in 2018. In comparison, the U.S. resettled only 23,000 — a substantial decrease from the 33,000 that were accepted in 2017. “Until 2017, the U.S. resettled more refugees each year than the rest of the world’s countries combined,” the study noted, using data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The once-unwavering trend began when the U.S. first established the Refugee Act of 1980. However, this trend was broken when President Donald Trump chose to drastically lower the amount of refugees allowed into the U.S. The Trump administration set the 2018 refugee cap at 45,000 — nearly half of the 85,000 cap former President Barack Obama set for the 2016 fiscal year. The new threshold, according to the Pew Study, was not even close to being…
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by Shelby Talcott The Mexican Senate overwhelmingly voted to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Wednesday, making it the first country to do so. U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed the deal Nov. 30, 2018, but it was not ratified by any country until Wednesday. Trump helped make and sign the agreement in 2018. USMCA includes rules that call for about 40% of automobile parts be produced by workers who earn a minimum of $16 an hour and more requirements that the parts be made in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, The Washington Post reported. Trump replaced NAFTA with USMCA in an effort to get better deals for U.S. workers. Mexican senators voted 114-4 to ratify USMCA. The treaty only needed a simple majority to pass, according to WaPo. Trudeau also wants to move forward with decisions on the trade deal, but will probably wait until the Trump administration agrees on a deal with Democrats, WaPo reported. The United States is having the most difficult time out of the three countries, as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn’t given a date for the vote. House Democrats are also pushing…
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by Stephen B. Presser One of the great characteristics of Americans is their candor. Among the reasons we declared independence from what we believed to be the excesses of a corrupt British monarchy and aristocracy was our contempt for pretense, deference, and pomposity. We believed, instead, in simple virtue and simple values such as truth, decency, honesty, temperance, and humility. Democrats and their increasingly dominant progressive wing fail to understand that Donald Trump has been an extraordinary champion of these traditional virtues, and he proved it again with his warm embrace of the Flag Protection Amendment, which has recently been reintroduced into Congress by Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). The text of the amendment is simple and succinct: “Congress shall have the power to prevent the physical desecration of the flag of the United States,” but it strikes at the heart of contemporary progressivism, with its belief in what psychologists are wont to call “self-actualization,” but more astute observers have always known to be “unbridled license.” Somehow our culture became so twisted that by 1989, a majority of the Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson declared that burning the flag (or shredding it, or defecating or…
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Major differences have surfaced between the United States and Guatemala over a proposed agreement to block Central Americans from seeking asylum in the U.S., dashing the Trump administration’s hopes for a quick resolution of talks, according to an internal U.S. State Department report on the first full day of talks Thursday in Guatemala. A three-member State Department delegation traveled to Guatemala in search of approval of a seven-page draft White House agreement that would establish a “safe third country” protocol between the U.S. and Guatemala, as VOA first reported Thursday. Under the terms of the proposed deal, migrants fleeing persecution in El Salvador and Honduras would be forced to request asylum in Guatemala, a gateway to Mexico and the United States. In all but rare exceptions, those migrants who chose to continue north to the United States without first exploring their chances in Guatemala would be returned to their home country by U.S. immigration forces. The pending agreement with Guatemala, if signed, would be the first such agreement between the U.S. and a Latin American country in U.S. history. But the State Department readout on the first day of talks suggested that there had been a “complete misinterpretation” by…
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by Robert Romano President Donald Trump and the State Department hammered out a deal with Mexico on June 7 that Mexico would do much more to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the country into the U.S. on the southern border. The last-minute agreement avoided a 5 percent tariff by Trump on goods from Mexico that was set to go into effect on June 10 — and proves that the credible threat of tariffs worked in spite of naysayers who predicted there could be no resolution. The Wall Street Journal editorial board on May 31 confidently predicted, “The first problem here is that Mr. Trump is blaming Mexico for a mess it can’t solve… Perhaps it could better control its border with Guatemala, but the caravans north are often led by gangs that know how to bribe or avoid police.” The Council on Foreign Relations on June 5 complained, “President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico can’t staunch the flow of people from his neighbors to the south.” This is merely a lack of vision. Automatically, Trump’s critics assumed that nothing could be accomplished and therefore nothing should be tried. Also, note all the groveling. They do not put America…
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One down, still others to go. President Donald Trump claimed a victory after Washington and Mexico agreed on measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States. Trump called off plans to impose a 5% tax on Mexican exports, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking to reporters Saturday in Fukuoka on the sidelines of a meeting of financial leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, urged China to follow suit and return to stalled negotiations. Mnuchin said he planned to have a private conversation with the head of China’s central bank, Yi Gang. In a G-20 group meeting later in the day, the two were seen exchanging friendly remarks, but there were no fresh signs Beijing is ready to compromise in the dispute over trade and technology. “From our perspective of where we are now, it is a result of them backtracking on significant commitments,” Mnuchin said. “I don’t think it’s a breakdown in trust or good or bad faith. … If they want to come back and complete the deal on the terms we were negotiating, that would be great.” Mnuchin said he had no direct message to give to Yi, who has…
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by John M. Howting The summer of 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of man walking on the moon. Before Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” however, another significant event occurred: Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s protest outside of the Saturn V rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida. On the afternoon of July 15, 1969, the day prior to the Apollo 11 launch, Abernathy rode up to the launch site in a mule-drawn carriage (to symbolize rural poverty) with 500 activists to protest. Abernathy delivered a speech. According to NASA’s archives: He deplored the condition of the nation’s poor, declaring that one-fifth of the nation lacked adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. In the face of such suffering, he asserted that space flight represented an inhuman priority. During this stunt, Abernathy never once mentioned race. His message concerned misplaced priorities: putting space exploration ahead of domestic problems. Ralph Abernathy is an understated figure in the civil rights movement. A longtime friend and confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he succeeded King as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But Abernathy was nothing like the radicals we see today who fashion themselves as “civil rights leaders.” Jesse Jackson…
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Top U.S. and Mexican officials are meeting Wednesday in Washington about President Donald Trump’s threatened 5% tariff on imported products from Mexico if it does not curb the surge of Central American migrants heading north toward the United States. With Trump in Europe for 75th-anniversary commemorations of D-Day, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are meeting at the White House with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and other officials. In Ireland, Trump said, “I think Mexico has to step up and if they don’t, tariffs will go on and if they go high, companies are going to move back into the United States.” Trump said Mexico “wants to make a deal,” but that if it cannot stop the migration, “we just won’t be able to do business. It’s a very simple thing. And I think they will stop it… They’ve sent their top people to try and do it. We’ll see what happens today. We should know something.” National security concerns In advance of the talks, a White House official said on condition of anonymity, “Trade and all other aspects of our relationship are critically important, but national security comes first and the White House…
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President Donald Trump deployed a mix of diplomacy and barbs in his joint news conference with British Prime Minister Teresa May in London Tuesday. Trump said the U.S. is committed to a “phenomenal trade deal” with Britain as the country prepares to leave the European Union, he saw “no limitations” on future intelligence sharing despite disagreements over the threat posed by China tech giant Huawei, and he praised outgoing British leader May saying she has “done a very good job.” Thousands of demonstrators have thronged central London to protest the American leaders’ visit. But when asked Tuesday about his reaction to the demonstrations, the U.S. president said he saw only a single small protest and media reports of much larger crowds are “fake news.” Prime Minister May praised the relationship between the two countries but acknowledged some differences over climate change and Iran. Britain still supports the Paris Climate accord, which Trump has rejected, and supports the Iran nuclear agreement that the U.S. has withdrawn from. May spoke days before she is scheduled to resign after failing to secure a deal to complete Britain’s exit from the EU. That process will be inherited by her successor, with no clear…
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WASHINGTON — Mexico’s foreign minister says he has started negotiating with U.S. officials after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican products related to the migrant surge at the border. Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter Friday that he had spoken to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone and said face-to-face talks between the two would take place Wednesday in Washington. “The summit to resolve the U.S. dispute with our country will be on Wednesday in Washington,” Ebrard said. “We will be firm and defend the dignity of Mexico.” Earlier Friday, Mexico’s president responded to the U.S. tariff threats with caution urging “dialogue” over “coercive measures.” “I want to reiterate that we are not going to fall into any provocation, but we are going to be prudent, and we are going to respect the authorities of the United States and President Donald Trump,” said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. His statement Friday morning followed a two-page letter to Trump made public late Thursday, similar in tone, responding to Trump’s announcement on Twitter earlier in the day that the United States would begin imposing an escalating tax on imports from Mexico. “On June 10th, the…
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by Shelby Talcott North Korea said on Friday that they will never resume nuclear talks with the United States unless President Donald Trump’s administration modifies what they consider to be unilateral demands for disarmament. An unknown North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson reportedly blamed the U.S. for February’s nuclear summit failure in Hanoi on the Korean Central News Agency. He said that the collapse of the summit was intentional because of the “arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States.” U.S. officials have stated that February’s meeting failed because North Korea had too many demands about sanctions relief and offered only partial disarmament steps. “We hereby make it clear once again that the United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be,” the spokesperson said according to KCNA. This latest statement follows a press conference on Tuesday held by North Korea’s ambassador Kim Song at the United Nations in New York. Song warned the U.S. of repercussions due to its seizure of a North Korean cargo ship and…
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused the head of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies of lying about his company’s relationship with the government in Beijing. Pompeo said in a CNBC interview Thursday that Huawei “is tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party.” He added, “The existence of those connections puts American information that crosses those networks at risk.” Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecommunications network equipment, is a leader in 5G technology. It has been trying to win contracts to build a global network that would make the internet much faster. Last week, the U.S. government banned American companies from doing business with Huawei, escalating a heated trade war between the world’s two largest economies. CEO Ren Zhengfei has maintained his company would not share secret user information. Huawei denies it is controlled by Beijing. The company also says it does not work with the Chinese government, an assertion Pompeo dismisses. “To say that they don’t work with the Chinese government is a false statement,” Pompeo said of Huawei. “He is required by Chinese law to do that,” Pompeo added. “The Huawei CEO on that at least isn’t telling the American people…
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by Edward Ring About a year ago, Vice published an article by Kesiena Boom called “100 Ways White People Can Make Life Less Frustrating For People of Color.” Offered as a way for the “anxious [White] allies of the world” to “be the change,” the article serves as a pretty good example of leftist attitudes on race. But what if these leftist, liberal attitudes are themselves racist? By now we’re all familiar with the broad outlines of this narrative. Racism is real whether you can see it or not (No. 1). Don’t engage in “cultural appropriation” (No. 11). Don’t claim to know what is or isn’t racist (No. 17). Realize that “some days are mentally exhausting for people of color” (No. 20). Make a fuss if a collection of art, music, literature, or whatever, doesn’t include proportional representation by people of color (No. 27). Understand the “intersections of race and gender” (No. 43). Shut up and “just listen” (No. 68). Perhaps the biggest common thread in Boom’s article is its air of moral superiority. People of color will dictate the terms of any discussion on race, and white people will keep quiet and listen. The problem with accepting this…
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The United States has increased tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. China on Friday said it “deeply regrets” the increased tariffs and will take the “necessary countermeasures” without giving any details. The increases are going into effect amid talks between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. On Thursday the U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators ended the first of two days of talks aimed at saving a trade deal even as President Donald Trump said the new “very heavy tariffs” on Chinese products would go ahead. The White House said Thursday evening that “Ambassador Lightizer and Secretary Mnuchin met with President Trump to discuss the ongoing trade negotiations with China. The ambassador and secretary then had a working dinner with Vice Premier Liu He and agreed to continue discussions tomorrow morning at USTR.” Talks on Friday Liu He is leading the Chinese negotiating team for the talks, which threatened to collapse after the Trump administration accused Beijing of backtracking. “We were getting very close to a deal, then they started to renegotiate the deal,” said Trump Thursday in the Roosevelt Room of…
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North Korea has fired what appears to be two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said Thursday. It was the second time Pyongyang fired missiles in less than a week. One of the projectiles traveled 420 kilometers and the other traveled 270 kilometers, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The missiles were launched from North Pyongan province in the country’s northwest and flew eastward, the statement added. The province is home to a missile base at Sino-ri that houses the Nodong medium-range ballistic missile, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Beyond Parallel program. At the White House Thursday, President Donald Trump said “nobody’s happy” about the development, adding that he doesn’t believe North Korea is ready to negotiate. The province is home to a missile base at Sino-ri that houses the Nodong medium-range ballistic missile, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Beyond Parallel program. South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it is very worried about the apparent short-range missile launch, adding it does not hlep inter-Korean military tensions. South Korean officials say Seoul has increased security preparations in case of additional launches. Recent tests North Korea on Saturday tested…
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by Tim Pearce North Korea fired several unidentified short-range weapons off the country’s east coast into the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry. South Korea said the projectiles were launched shortly after 9 a.m. local time and flew 70 to 200 kilometers before crashing into the sea, The Associated Press reported. U.S. and South Korean defense officials are investigating the launch of the “projectiles,” the latest weapons test by North Korea as negotiations with the U.S. to denuclearize the East Asian country stall. National security adviser John Bolton briefed President Donald Trump Friday night, a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal. “Anything in this very interesting world is possible, but I believe that Kim Jong Un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea, & will do nothing to interfere or end it. He also knows that I am with him & does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!” Trump tweeted Saturday. Anything in this very interesting world is possible, but I believe that Kim Jong Un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea, & will do nothing to interfere or end it.…
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China’s two decades of military modernization has paid off begin missile development and domains like cyber and space, but the Pentagon says China is still relying on spying on others to steal the latest military technology. “China uses a variety of methods to acquire foreign military and dual-use technologies, including targeted foreign direct investment, cyber theft, and exploitation of private Chinese nationals’ access to these technologies, as well as … computer intrusions and other illicit approaches,” according to a congressionally mandated Pentagon report released Thursday. Randall Schriver, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told reporters Friday at the Pentagon that China frequently uses tactics that fall just short of armed conflict to reach its goal of becoming a “world-class military by 2049,” from threats and coercion against media and academia to jamming systems against ships in international waters in the South China Sea. The report said China has used these illicit approaches to acquire military-grade technologies from the United States that ranged from antisubmarine to aviation equipment. He said the Chinese were “very aggressive” with modernization and had made “significant progress” in their ballistic and cruise missile development, but he stopped short of calling Beijing an…
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U.S. employers added a robust 263,000 jobs in April, suggesting that businesses have shrugged off earlier concerns that the economy might slow this year and anticipate strong customer demand. The unemployment rate fell to a five-decade low of 3.6% from 3.8%, though that drop partly reflected an increase in the number of Americans who stopped looking for work. Average hourly pay rose 3.2% from 12 months earlier, a healthy increase though unchanged from the previous month. Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department showed that solid economic growth is still encouraging strong hiring nearly a decade into the economy’s recovery from the Great Recession. The economic expansion is set to become the longest in history in July. Many businesses say they are struggling to find workers. Some have taken a range of steps to fill jobs, including training more entry-level workers, loosening educational requirements and raising pay. The brightening picture represents a sharp improvement from the start of the year. At the time, the government was enduring a partial shutdown, the stock market had plunged, trade tensions between the United States and China were flaring and the Federal Reserve had just raised short-term interest rates in December for a…
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by Molly Prince Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar stated Wednesday American policies were the catalyst for the armed conflict that tore through the Venezuelan capital of Caracas a day earlier, rather than blaming socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro. “You know, I mean, a lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela,” Omar said while on the progressive show “Democracy Now!” “We’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today.” Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaidó, who is fighting to gain control of the country, called for a military uprising against Maduro in an operation titled Operacion Libertad. Venezuelans have been protesting against Maduro for months, and the U.S. has declared support for what Omar referred to as a “regime change.” Most other Western nations also declared Guaidó to be the legitimate leader of Venezuela after red flags arose during the 2018 election. “This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela,” she continued. “It certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States.” Interestingly, despite condemning America’s…
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by Edward Ring In response to the latest hysteria from the Left—the suppression of anything that in their blinkered judgment even remotely smacks of “white nationalism”—it is appropriate to again define and defend the benign, colorblind, patriotic, inspiring, and inclusive nationalism that is the foundation of American greatness. While the phrase “inclusive nationalism” might be criticized as an oxymoron, that is an overstatement of the tension between the two terms. Nationalism by definition is exclusive, insofar as you are either a citizen of a nation, or you are not. But by qualifying American nationalism as inclusive, and carefully explaining what “inclusive” means, you can rule out the malign forms of nationalism that emphasize race and ethnicity over more transcendent sources of unity. It would be inaccurate to consider inclusive nationalism as just another code word for globalism. If by “inclusive” one means that a person can become an American regardless of their ancestry, this doesn’t mean other criteria can’t be applied. Leftists, and globalists (often one and the same) use discussions of race and accusations of racism to shut down the long overdue conversation over what it means to be an American. Prefacing “nationalism” with the word “inclusive” reopens…
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The United States has confirmed 695 measles cases so far this year, the highest level since the country declared it had eliminated the virus in 2000, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The resurgence, which public health officials blamed in part on the spread of misinformation about the safety of vaccines, has been concentrated mainly in Washington state and New York with outbreaks that began late last year. “The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States,” the CDC warned in a statement. It said outbreaks can spread out of control in communities with lower-than-normal vaccination rates. Although the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000, meaning the virus was no longer continually present year round, outbreaks still happen via travelers coming from countries where measles is still common, the CDC says. As of Wednesday, the number of measles cases so far this year exceeds the 667 cases reported in all of 2014, which had been the highest annual number recorded since the elimination in 2000. The virus has been recorded in 22 states so far in 2019, the CDC said. The…
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The U.S. trade deficit fell to an eight-month low in February as imports from China plunged, providing a boost to President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda and economic growth in the first quarter. The surprise second straight monthly narrowing in the trade gap reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday was also driven by soaring aircraft exports, which are likely to reverse after Boeing halted deliveries of its troubled 737 MAX aircraft. MAX planes have been grounded indefinitely following two deadly crashes. Economists warned the trade deficit would remain elevated regardless of whether the United States and China struck a trade deal that was to the White House’s liking because of Americans’ insatiable appetite for cheaper imports. Talks between Washington and China to resolve the bitter trade war have been dragging. The United States is also embroiled in conflicts with other trading partners, including the European Union, contributing to big swings in exports and imports data in recent months. “Even if trade negotiations are resolved in such a way as to reduce the bilateral trade deficit with China, one of the Trump administration’s stated goals, this would likely divert trade flows to other countries and have little impact on the…
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he will give the U.S. until the end of the year to make a “courageous decision” on stalled nuclear talks, warning of “very bleak and very dangerous” consequences if Washington does not change its approach. Speaking to a session of North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, Kim also said he is open to meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump “one more time,” but only if the U.S. changes its attitude, according to North Korean state media. President Trump responded Saturday morning via Twitter. “I agree with Kim Jong Un of North Korea that our personal relationship remains very good, perhaps the term excellent would be even more accurate, and that a third Summit would be good in that we fully understand where we each stand. North Korea has tremendous potential for extraordinary growth, economic success and riches under the leadership of Chairman Kim. I look forward to the day, which could be soon, when Nuclear Weapons and Sanctions can be removed, and then watching North Korea become one of the most successful nations of the World!” Trump this week said he is considering another meeting with Kim, but insisted the U.S. will not relax sanctions…
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Reuters President Donald Trump on Monday injected himself into one of the most consequential cases of the current Supreme Court term, saying the nation’s 2020 census would be “meaningless” without adding a citizenship question to the questionnaire. The comment on Twitter came ahead of an expected ruling from the Supreme Court on whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ decision to add the citizenship question violated federal law. “Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question,” Trump tweeted. “Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions [ridiculous] that it costs to put together!” Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question. Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2019 The citizenship question is among a series of White House policies signaling tighter control over immigration. These include Trump’s declaration in February of a national emergency to obtain funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and his threat to close…
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