Biarritz is a pretty place, but nothing compared to our FLOTUS.

 
Here’s the photo we’ve been waiting for.

Personal note: I’m incredibly bummed. Italian Conte is present at the G7 and it messes up the vote. He resigned. Thought for sure Salvini would be there instead. Big Bummer.
Nonetheless, Merkel and Conte are on the way out. Macron keeps trying to play host, and assuming he is the one who runs the world. He looks like the 110lb geek who invites the Crips and Bloods over to his house to check out mom and dad’s new pool. He’s fixin’ to get rolled….. he just doesn’t know it yet. Tusk is barely hanging on and keeps shaking his finger, and Merkel……… well…..
Here is the Schedule for today.
♦ 2:15am EST / 8:15am CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in a working breakfast with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Biarritz, France
♦ 3:20am EST / 9:20am CEST – THE PRESIDENT departs Hotel du Palais en route to Centre de Congrès Bellevue, Biarritz, France
♦ 3:25am EST / 9:25am CEST – THE PRESIDENT arrives at Centre de Congrès Bellevue, Biarritz, France, the primary venue for the G7 Summit.
♦ 3:30am EST / 9:30am CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in the G7 Working Session on the Global Economy, Foreign Policy, and Security Affairs, Biarritz, France. [NOTE: This is the economic segment of the summit requested by the U.S. delegation – keep an eye open for very specific remarks to the audience by President Trump.]
♦ 5:15am EST / 11:15am CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, Biarritz, France
♦ 6:20am EST / 12:20pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in a bilateral meeting with Justin from Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada, Biarritz, France
♦ 7:00am EST / 1:00pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in a G7 working lunch on inequality, Biarritz, France. [To reflect their global magnanimity Emmanuel Macron has selected sustainable algae cakes as the menu. /kidding]
♦ 9:00am EST / 3:00pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in a G7 working session on the G7 partnership with Africa, Biarritz, France
♦ 10:35am EST / 4:35pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT participates in an unusual pull-aside with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia [Not a G7 Participant?] Biarritz, France
♦ 10:55am EST / 4:55pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT departs the Centre de Congrès Bellevue en route to the Hotel du Palais, Biarritz, France
♦ 11:00am EST / 5:00pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT arrives at the Hotel du Palais, Biarritz, France
♦ 2:00pm EST / 8:00pm CEST – THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY participate in the G7 extended partners program, Biarritz, France, [This is usually a cultural program for summit guests]
~ Day Two Schedule Concludes
You know what? Let’s forget the econ, Iran, China trade/hacking, Putin, DPRK, and climate change/gender pronoun/uber feminism…….. and let’s call the G7 what it is.
It’s a RETIREMENT PARTY. Time to show the globalists to the door.

We could decorate a little. 

And we’re going to need a cake. 

And party favors for the guests.

 

Let’s have a send off for the old guard and wave goodbye to their ideas rejected by the people. Please make sure to use your whole hand and not just your middle finger.

 
We should wait on the new guys! Truth is, anything these 7 “leaders” agree to, won’t hold water in 6 months. Why waste time?
It would be a perfect troll for President Trump, but it’s true. The war has changed.
Gear up the jukebox while we’re all in the south of France, and let’s dance a little.

End
 
 
 
 

Ladies, polish your nails. Gents, shine your shoes. Gas up the jet, we’re off to the G7.
What is the G7?
Group of Seven (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries, with the seven largest IMF-described advanced economies in the world,^[1] represent 58% of the global net wealth ($317 trillion).^[2]The G7 countries also represent more than 46% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) based on nominal values, and more than 32% of the global GDP based on purchasing power parity.^[3] The European Union is also represented at the G7 summit.
The MEMES will be WILD this weekend, so prepare yourself. We should definitely join in the fun. Remember our fun in Canada? And the difference between the two photos?

Of course, the MSM is already trying to tell us what to think, CNN has an article out about how much all the other leaders are “tense” and can sense the “impending drama” of a Trump visit.

 
Yet hey, Merkel is old news,

Macron has dandruff. Justin Trudeau is ethically challenged, admitted it, but won’t resign. Justin from Canada is irrelevant.

 
 
Salvini and Abe are our buddies, and you know what…….. so is Boris Johnson.

Wait, wait, wait, ……… wut? Whoopsie Daisy, the Old Power Club has FLIPPED. The cabal is no longer in charge.

Full stop. What has happened in the last 3yrs? Oh my!!!!!!! Think about it. Three years ago, back in 2016, when Obama went, Merkel was practically leader of the world…… and now, look at her. It’s a Juncker-Merkel.

Look at Trudeau. What a goofball. Can you imagine President Trump dancing around like this? Macron is no better, though. What a bunch of lightweights.

 

But this time, it’s four against three. 

Which means, President Trump has far more leverage. This time, it’s OUR turn. 

President Trump doesn’t like these guys at all. They don’t pay their NATO bills. They leave migrant messes for the USA to clean up, and now that we’ve smashed ISIS in the Middle East, they won’t take their terrorists back. We are holding them as prisoners. We’re tired of paying for them. And France? Trying to put a tax on our tech companies as a money grab????  These are the thing which make our POTUS angry.

 
So hop aboard Air Force One, stow your gear, and buckle your seatbelt. It’s going to be a wild few days, especially since the “majority” has flipped.

We sure hope Melania is going, we need a fashion break, and she is a perfect “Muse” for President Trump. She sees things no one else sees. Don’t ever underestimate Melania.

So, please say a little prayer for our President and team for a safe and productive trip.

 
And …… Don’t forget your shades, Biarritz, France is gorgeous, in the South of France, but on the Atlantic side. Sure hope Merkel forgets her bathing suit……. on the other hand…. Melania could OWN a bathing suit in Biarritz.

Here’s a few travel tips for Biarritz, France. I’m sure Churchmouse can chime in and help us with lodging and restaurant choices. In fact, we should all leave now, and we could meet Churchmouse there!

 

Just thinkin’, you know, Mar-A-Lago would be a prefect place for a G7 meeting. 

End.

Patrick Byrne was the CEO of Overstock until today. We’re bookmarking these interviews.
An interview with Sara Carter started the buzz. Here is Sara’s article about Patrick Byrne: Link
Here is the first interview with Patrick Byrne from a few weeks ago:

Patrick Byrne with Martha McCallum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=403&v=7gozpKKy_QM
 
Patrick Byrne on CNN with Andrew Cuomo:
https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1164716230277599232
https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1164727100919570432
Patrick Byrne on Fox Business:

 
Event covered by CNBC:

 
And finally, you need to see this. I’ve known two people like this in my life. One of them was Gunner’s first girlfriend. These people are very special and need to be protected, bubble-wrapped, because they see the world differently than we do.
Patrick Byrne has crazy good autistic skills. He can look at a deck of cards for a few minutes and repeat the cards back, in order……. He’s one of THOSE guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S9cjzlQLq8
 
There is much to digest here.
End.

President Trump’s driveway pressers have become legendary. This one was nuclear.

 
Here is the link to the transcript: https://publicpool.kinja.com/subject-remarks-by-president-trump-before-marine-one-d-1837455484
Here is the transcript: Belly up to the bar, it’s really good.
** 11:41 A.M. EDT
Q Should the Fed lower interest rates? Are you fed up with Powell?
THE PRESIDENT: So, the economy is doing very, very well. We’ll see what happens with the Federal Reserve, whether or not they finally get smart and reduce interest rates, like many other places around the world that we have to compete with.

But our economy is the strongest in the world, by far. Nothing even close. And a lot of good things are happening. We had some very good retail numbers this morning, as you saw. And I guess the stock market is quite a bit up.
Q Are you demanding that Jay Powell lower interest rates?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t demand it. But if he used his head, he would lower them. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And we do compete. We’re much stronger than Germany, but we do compete with Germany. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And when they borrow money — I mean, when you look at what happened, look at what’s going on over there. They borrow money, and they actually get paid to borrow money. And we have to compete with that.
So, if you look at what’s happening around the world, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have totally missed the call. I was right, and just about everybody admits that. I was right. He did quantitative tightening. He shouldn’t have done that. He raised interest rates too fast, too furious. And we have a normalized rate. I — you call it that. And now we have to go the other direction. We’ll see if he does it. If he does it, you’ll see a rocket ship; you’ll see a boom. If he does it, we have a very strong economy.
But we could have — we could be — we could be in a place that this nation was seldom at, if we had interest rates cut by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has let us down. They missed the call. They raised them too fast. They raised it too high. And they did quantitative tightening. They shouldn’t have done the tightening and they shouldn’t have raised them to the extent. We could have had some raises but nothing like they did.
Q What happened to the strong appetite for background checks?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I have an appetite for background checks. We’re going to be doing background checks. We’re working with Democrats. We’re working with Republicans. We already have very strong background checks, but we’re going to be filling in some of the loopholes, as we call them, at the border. And speaking about at the border, it would be really nice if the Democrats would indeed fix the loopholes, because it would be really nice.
But despite that, I want to thank Mexico. They have 26,000 soldiers at our border, and they’re really stopping people from coming in.
Q But what does that have to do with background checks for guns?
THE PRESIDENT: So what happens is — with background checks, we’re dealing with Democrats, we’re dealing with Republicans, we’re dealing with the NRA, we’re dealing with gun owners. We’re dealing with everybody. And I think we’re going to have something, hopefully, that’s meaningful.
Q Did you tell Wayne LaPierre that you would not pursue background checks, yesterday, in your call with him?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t say anything about that. We had a great talk with Wayne yesterday. Didn’t say anything about that. We just talked about concepts. Wayne agrees things have to be done also. And we have areas where we can close and — for instance, we did Fix NICS last time. We have a lot of — we have a lot of background checks right now. Gun owners can tell you that; others can tell you that.
But there are certain weaknesses, and we want to fix the weaknesses. And I think that’ll happen. Let’s see what happens. I’m concerned that no matter what we agree to, when we get there, I’m concerned the Democrats will say, “Oh, well, we now want this and we want…” And, you know, it’s a slippery slope, and that’s what, actually, your gun owners and a lot of other people are concerned with.
But assuming that that’s not going to take place by the Democrats, assuming they really want to get this done, we can get it done.
Q Mr. President, you’re speaking with AMVETS today. Organizers are saying they remain concerned about veteran suicide.
THE PRESIDENT: You got to speak up.
Q Veteran suicides. AMVETS says it’s their top priority. Talk with me about what the administration’s task force has done since its creation.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re doing a lot having to do with veteran suicide. We have a task force that’s set up. There’s a product that’s made right now, that just came out by Johnson & Johnson, which has a tremendously positive — pretty short term, but nevertheless positive — effect.
I’ve instructed the head of the VA to go out and buy a lot of it. And we are buying a lot of it. Hopefully, we’re getting it at a very good cost. And this is a — I guess it’s a form of a stimulant where, if somebody is really in trouble from the standpoint of suicide, it can do something. It’s pretty well known. Just came out. It’s made, I believe, by Johnson & Johnson. And we have calls in now to Johnson & Johnson. Those calls — we’ve been dealing with them for two months, on buying a lot.
Q Mr. President, can you explain your decision not to go to Denmark? Is it really because they wouldn’t talk about selling Greenland?
THE PRESIDENT: No — Denmark, I looked forward to going, but I thought that the Prime Minister’s statement — that it was absurd; that it was an absurd idea — it was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to do is say, “No, we wouldn’t be interested.”
But we can’t treat the United States of America the way they treated us under President Obama. I thought it was a very not nice way of saying something. They could’ve told me “no.” This is something that’s been discussed for many years. Harry Truman had the idea of Greenland. I had the idea. Other people have had the idea. It goes back into the early 1900s. But Harry Truman, very strongly, thought it was a good idea.
I think it’s a good idea because Denmark is losing $700 million a year with it. It doesn’t do them any good. But all they had to do is say, “No, we’d rather not do that,” or “We’d rather not talk about it.” Don’t say, “What an absurd idea that is.”
Q Sir —
THE PRESIDENT: Because she’s not talking to me —
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. She’s not talking to me. She’s talking to the United States of America. You don’t talk to the United States that way, at least under me.
Now, President Obama, when they wouldn’t land — let him land in the Philippines, when they treated him so badly in so many places — the Philippines is one that comes to mind — that’s different. That’s different. They can treat him any way they want to; that’s up to him. But they can’t treat the United States with a statement, “How absurd.”
Q Mr. President, a question —
Q Excuse me. Excuse me.
THE PRESIDENT: Let your wife do it.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Who’s the boss? Who’s the boss?
Q I am the boss. Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I agree. She’s the boss. I agree. Go ahead.
Q Is Melania the boss?
THE PRESIDENT: You got a lot of people. Yes. She’s got a lot of people watching.
Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, with regard to background checks, why shouldn’t anyone who wants to buy a gun go through a background check? What’s wrong with that?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, what we’re doing is I want guns to be in the hands of people that are mentally stable. And those people, I want them to easily be able to get a gun. But people that are insane, people that are sick up here, I don’t want them to be able to get a gun.
Q So wouldn’t a background check be a good idea for anybody who wants to buy a gun? Wouldn’t a background check be a good idea for anyone?
THE PRESIDENT: If a person is sick, if a person is mentally ill, if a person has done things in their past that are a horror — like, in the case of Dayton, except it got expunged because, I guess, he was 17 years old. When he wrote a list out, and the list said it was a death — not about guns. He had a kill list and he had a rape list. But it was 17.
And one of the things we’re talking about is getting rid of the age limit. He was 17, so when he turned 18, it was expunged. So we didn’t find out about that. And a big percentage of the school, the parents wouldn’t let their kids go to that school because they heard about it. Okay? It was a very big thing. When he was 18, it all went away. We can’t let that happen.
Q Mr. President, a hundred people a day die from guns. Do you see that as a public health emergency?
THE PRESIDENT: I do. I do. Yeah. I do. And they die for a lot of other reasons, too. But they do. And as I’ve said — and I think I’ve said it very loudly and plainly, and I don’t think I’ve changed positions at all: We’re working on background checks. There are things we can do. But we already have very serious background checks. We have strong background checks. We can close up the gaps. We can do things that are very good and things that, frankly, gun owners want to have done. But we also have to remember the gun doesn’t pull the trigger, a person does. And we have great mental illness.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Does your Justice Department plan to dust off the H. Rap Brown law and prosecute the Antifa demonstrators under the law that makes it a federal crime to cross state lines?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re looking at — right. We’re looking at a lot of different things relative to Antifa. Antifa, in my opinion, is a terrorist organization. You see what they’ve been doing. We’ve had great support on that. We’re looking at various different things.
Q Sir, why did you come up with ways to hold migrant families longer? To hold migrant families?
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Behind you. Behind you.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate it. So, with Greenland, it seems to be entirely off the table. Are you looking at any additional lands for potential expansion?
THE PRESIDENT: No. We’re just looking. Greenland was just an idea, just a thought. But I think when they say it was “absurd” and it was said in a very nasty, very sarcastic way, I said, “We’ll make it some other time.” We’ll go to Denmark — I love Denmark. I’ve been to Denmark. And, frankly, we’ll do it another time. Respect has to be shown to the United States.
Go ahead.
Q Yesterday you said that Jews — American Jews who vote for Democrats are disloyal. To whom are they being disloyal, sir? And that’s a well-known anti-Semitic trope.
THE PRESIDENT: So, I have been responsible for a lot of great things for Israel. One of them was moving the embassy to Jerusalem, making Jerusalem the capital of Israel. One of them was the Golan Heights. One of them, frankly, is Iran. Iran is a very far weakened nation right now — much different. Hopefully, if something works out. We’ll see. If it happens, it happens.
Q But sir —
THE PRESIDENT: Wait a minute. Wait. Wait. No President has ever done anywhere close to what I’ve done between Golan Heights, Jerusalem, Iran — and other things.
Q But American Jews are Americans, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
No President has done what I’ve done. We have a group — I call it “AOC plus 3” — you can call the person Representative Tlaib, you could say Representative Omar, you could go anywhere you want to do — go. They are anti-Semites. They are against Israel. She had a plan to greatly embarrass Israel by going there with the fact that she wanted to see her grandmother. I assume that’s true. I hope that’s true. But it was very bad. Very bad –the things that she, and others of that group, and other Democrats have said. And they have become the face of the Democratic Party.
And I will tell you this: In my opinion, the Democrats have gone very far away from Israel. I cannot understand how they can do that. They don’t want to fund Israel. They want to take away foreign aid to Israel. They want to do a lot of bad things to Israel.
In my opinion, you vote for a Democrat, you’re being very disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel. And only weak people would say anything other than that.
Q Mr. President, your critics have said that is an anti-Semitic remark. What — how do you respond to that?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven’t heard anybody say that; it’s just the opposite.
Q People have said that over the last 24 hours.
THE PRESIDENT: I think that if you vote for a Democrat, you’re very, very disloyal to Israel and to the Jewish people.
Q What do you say to the Republicans who want to primary you?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m at 94 percent now in the Republican Party — the highest in history, the highest of any Republican. So, I think they’d have a hard time.
Q Sir, you said Russia was kicked out of the G8, because they outsmarted — you said Russia was kicked out of the G8 —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — because they outsmarted Obama. In fact, it was because they annexed Crimea. You know that. They’re still there. Why would you let them back in?
THE PRESIDENT: That was outsmarting Obama. So, Russia outsmarted President Obama. They took over during his term, not during mine — Crimea.
Q They’re still there. Why let them in now?
THE PRESIDENT: They took over Crimea. If you’d stop being an organ of the Democrats — I mean, you know, if you’d let me answer the question —
Q Listening. Please, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: — I’ll answer it very easily. It’s a very simple question.
The fact is, President Putin totally outsmarted President Obama on Crimea and other things, including the red line in the sand, all right? He outsmarted — he made a living on outsmarting President Obama. And frankly, because of it, Obama was upset and he got Obama out of what was the G8 into the G7.
It’s come up: Should we put Russia back in? We spend a lot of time talking about Russia at those meetings. And they’re not there. I think it would be a good thing if Russia were there so we can speak directly, not have to speak all the — you know, by telephone and other things.
So, here’s the thing: It’s a vote of what’s now the G7. They were taken out because Putin outsmarted — on Crimea, on the red line, on other things — totally outsmarted Obama. Obama was upset; they took them out. I think Russia should be a part of it because we’re looking for world peace, and it’s — and other things — trade and other things. And it would be a lot easier to have Russia in, where they had always been.
Q But they’re still there, sir. But sir, they’re still there. So why let them in if they’re still there?
Q Yesterday, in the — yesterday, when you were talking to us in the Oval Office, you said you had the executive authority to index capital gains funds, but — capital gains taxes. But a 1992 Office of Legal Counsel opinion from the Treasury Department says the administration can’t —
THE PRESIDENT: I read the same report as you. I’m not looking to do indexing. I’ve studied indexing for a long time. I think it will be perceived, if I do it, as somewhat elitist. I don’t want to do that. I want taxes for the — the middle class, the workers, the people that work so hard. That’s what I’m looking — I think indexing is really, probably better for the upper-income groups. I’m not looking to do that. But if I wanted to do it, I believe I could. But I’d need a letter from the Attorney General.
Q Mr. President, so taking America into a recession: Is it worth it? And do Americans need to back that up?
THE PRESIDENT: So, the fake news, of which many of you are members, is trying to convince the public to have a recession. “Let’s have a recession.” The United States is doing phenomenally well.
But one thing I have to do is economically take on China because China has been ripping us off for many years. President Clinton, President Bush, and President Obama, and others should have done this long before me. My life would be much easier — although I enjoy doing it — but my life would be much easier if I just said, “Let China continue to rip off the United States.” All right? It would be much easier, but I can’t do that.
We are winning against China. They’ve lost two and a half million jobs in a very short period of time. They want to make a deal. It’s got to be a deal that’s good for the United States, where they want to make a deal — probably, we will make a deal.
But if I didn’t do that — and I’m not doing this — somebody said it’s Trump’s trade war. This isn’t my trade war. This is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago by a lot of other Presidents.
Over the last five or six years, China has made $500 billion. $500 billion. Ripped it out of the United States. And not only that — if you take a look, intellectual property theft. Add that to it. And add a lot of other things to it. So somebody —
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one. Somebody had to do it. So I’m taking on China. I’m taking on China on trade. And you know what? We’re winning. Because we’re the piggybank. We’re the one that all these countries — including the European Union — wants to rob and takes advantage of. European Union — $200 billion. China — more than $500 billion. Sorry.
Q So it sounds like a recession is worth it —
THE PRESIDENT: I was put here —
Q — is that what you’re saying?
THE PRESIDENT: I was put here by people — I was put here by people to do a great job. And that’s what I’m doing. And nobody has done a job like I’ve done.
Now, would China rather wait for a little more than a year and try and get Sleepy Joe Biden to negotiate with, instead of President Trump? Maybe. But I don’t think so. You know why? They’re losing too many jobs too fast. They had the worst year in 27 years, but I think it was actually 52 or 54 years. It’s the worst year they’ve had in a half a century. And that’s because of me. And I’m not proud of that. But you know what? They want to negotiate.
And Sleepy Joe doesn’t have a clue. Sleepy Joe said, “Oh, China is wonderful.” Well, China is wonderful for China. But I’m wonderful for the U.S.A.
Q I’m from Danish TV. A lot of Danes are disappointed today. You — the Prime Minister said the invitation is still open. What will it take for you accept it?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’ll meet at some time. But the Prime Minister used a terrible word when describing something that we’ve been talking about for years with our country. President Truman said, “What about Greenland?” And he talked about it very openly and it was a big deal at the time. And I brought it up again and it was discussed many other times.
And I thought it was not a nice statement — the way she blew me off — because she is blowing off the United States. And we’ve done a lot for Denmark. We’ve done a lot. I know Denmark well. I have many friends from Denmark. I have many people from Denmark that live in the United States. And we treat countries with respect.
She shouldn’t treat the United States that way by saying, “What an abs-…” She said “absurd.” That’s not the right word to use: “absurd.”
Q Mr. President, why is it acceptable — why is it acceptable to lock up children indefinitely?
THE PRESIDENT: Louder.
Q Why is it acceptable to lock up children indefinitely, which is what the result would be of rolling back the Flores Agreement?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, if you remember, President Bam- — Obama had separation. President Obama built the cells. He built the cages that you people always talk about and attribute them to me. President Obama, in 2014, built those cages and you were very embarrassed when the New York Times, as usual, and others, put a picture of a cage and they said how bad Trump was, only to find out that it was President Obama that built those cages.
So President Obama had separation. I’m the one that brought them together. This new rule will do even more to bring them together. But it was President Obama that had the separation.
Q How worried are you about the long-term traumatic effect that children might face if they’re — if they are detained indefinitely because Flores is ending?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re being very strong on the border. You see the numbers are way, way down.
Q Are you worried about children, though?
THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank — I want to thank Mexico for that. The United States could make your question — could make that problem go away very easily if the Democrats would meet and we could fix the loopholes and asylum, which is what you’re talking about it, to an extent.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: But let me just tell you: Very much, I have the children on my mind. It bothers me very greatly. People make this horrible, 2,000-mile journey — one of the things that will happen, when they realize the borders are closing, the wall is being built. We’re building tremendous numbers of miles of wall right now in different locations. It all comes together likes a beautiful puzzle.
But one of the things that’s happening — when they see you can’t get into the United States, or when they see if they do get in the United States, they will be brought back to their country; it won’t matter if they get in or not because we’re doing that — they won’t come and many people will be saved. And many, many women’s lives will not be destroyed and ruined.
Q Will we see a payroll tax cut, which is aimed at the middle class?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m not looking at a tax cut now; we don’t need it. We have a strong economy. Certainly, a payroll tax cut — President Obama did that, in order to artificially jack up the economy. President Obama had zero interest rates. I don’t have zero interest. I have real interest rates. And despite that, I have a strong economy.
President Obama did two payroll tax cuts and, despite that, I have a much stronger economy.
And if you look at my numbers from November 9th — you look at them, November 9th to present — the stock market is up over 50 percent.
Q Sir, Joe Biden’s gaffes. You like to attack — you like to attack Joe Biden for his gaffes, but —
THE PRESIDENT: This guy is the most biased reporter. NBC. You know, I made a lot of money for NBC with “The Apprentice” and I used to like them, but they are the most biased. Peter is such a bias —
You should — you should be able —
Q Let me ask you about Joe Biden’s gaffes.
THE PRESIDENT: You should be able to ask a question — same question — in a better way.
Q I’ll ask a question.
THE PRESIDENT: You are so obviously biased and that’s why the public has no confidence in the media. Go ahead, come here. Go ahead.
Q Sir, I just said — Sir, I just said “Joe Biden’s gaffes.” I’ll ask my question.
THE PRESIDENT: Joe Biden doesn’t have it.
Q Let me just say —
THE PRESIDENT: Let me just tell you about Joe Biden.
Q You said that the mass shooting happened in Dayton —
THE PRESIDENT: Joe Biden doesn’t have it.
Q You said that the mass shooting happened in Toledo, when it happened in Dayton. So is that fair game?
THE PRESIDENT: Joe Biden doesn’t have it.
Go ahead.
Q Is that fair game, sir, for you?
Q So, speaking of that, what do you think about the leaked tape of the New York Times planning for a racist narrative ahead?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the New York Times now has totally lost credibility. They’ve given up on the Russian collusion delusion, and now what they’re doing is they’re trying the racist deal. And that’s not going to work because I am the least racist person ever to serve in office, okay? I am the least racist person.
But the New York Times, they’re trying everything they can. It is a totally dishonest newspaper. It’s a paper that really has lost tremendous credibility.
And let me tell you, in six years — or maybe ten or maybe fourteen, right? In six years, when I’m not here, the New York Times goes out of business very quickly. And you know who else goes out? Like NBC News — NBC News has less credibility, in my opinion, with guys like you, than CNN. I think CNN has more credibility than NBC News.
Q Mr. President, what’s your response to a U.S. drone —
THE PRESIDENT: Did you hear what I said? I said you have more credibility than this guy.
Go ahead.
Q I think Peter has credibility.
THE PRESIDENT: And that’s not saying much —
Q I have credibility and Peter has credibility.
THE PRESIDENT: — because I don’t think you have — I don’t — you know what? You know why?
Q What’s your response to a U.S. drone —
THE PRESIDENT: Because I don’t think you have very much credibility. But I — I will tell you this: NBC, I think, has less credibility than CNN. That’s not saying much, but that’s the way I feel.
Q You’re focused on mental health issues —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — with gun control, but —
THE PRESIDENT: Mental health — very important.
Q But other countries have similar levels of mental illness and not the same gun violence problems. Can you really deny that the incredible access to guns in the United States isn’t part of the problem?
THE PRESIDENT: There are many, many things in play. People are talking about videos. People are talking about lots of different things. But we do have a way of bringing what we already have, because we have many, many — as you know, we have many, many people that are unable to buy guns right now. Many people are unable to buy guns.
We have background checks, but there are loopholes in the background checks. That’s what I spoke to the NRA about yesterday. They want to get rid of the loopholes as well as I do.
At the same time, I don’t want to take away people’s Second Amendment rights. I don’t want to take away the Constitution — having to do with gun ownership. And you know, we can’t let that slope go so easy that we’re talking about background checks, then all of a sudden we’re talking about, “Let’s take everybody’s gun away.” People need weapons, unfortunately, for the protection.
Q But, sir, that word — “slope.” That is an NRA talking point: the slippery slope.
THE PRESIDENT: No, that’s a Trump talking point. You approve one thing, then another thing, then another thing, then all of a sudden you’re on that slope, and all of a sudden nobody has any legal protection. We have a Second Amendment —
Q (Inaudible) that term. People are concerned that the NRA is pressuring you.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me just tell you this. We have a Second Amendment, and our Second Amendment will remain strong.
Q Mr. President, you put —
Q Are you concerned — are you concerned —
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Jeff, go ahead.
Q Are you concerned about the potential reemergence of ISIS in Afghanistan? And is that affecting your decision-making at all?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, at a certain point, Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, they’re going to have to fight their battles too, okay? We wiped out the caliphate, 100 percent. I did in record time. But at a certain point, all of these other countries where ISIS is around — they’ve been decimated, by the way — badly decimated. But all of these countries are going to have to fight them. Because do we want to stay there for another 19 years? I don’t think so.
So at a certain point, other countries — and that includes Russia and it includes Iran and Turkey and Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and India. Look, India is right there. They’re not fighting it; we’re fighting it. Pakistan is right next door. They’re fighting it very little — very, very little. It’s not fair.
The United States — we’re 7,000 miles away. We have decimated ISIS. You haven’t been hearing much about ISIS. And we took the caliphate, 100 percent. When I took it at 98 [percent], I said, “All right, maybe we go home now. Let these other countries handle it.” Everyone went crazy. They said, “Do 100 percent.” They said it was going to take a year. It took me a month and they’re gone. The caliphate is gone.
And, by the way, we’re holding thousands of ISIS fighters right now, and Europe has to take them. And if Europe doesn’t take them, I’ll have no choice but to release them into the countries from which they came, which is Germany, and France, and other places.
Because we beat them. We captured them. We’ve got thousands of them. And now, as usual, our allies say, “Oh no. We don’t want them.” Even though they came from France and Germany and other places. So we’re going to tell them and we’ve already told them, “Take these prisoners that we’ve captured because the United States is not going to put them in Guantanamo for the next 50 years and pay for it.”
Q What’s your deadline for that?
THE PRESIDENT: It’s moving along, my deadline. They know.
Q By how long — one week, two weeks?
Q Are you talking to the victims of mass shootings to ask them what they want?
THE PRESIDENT: I did. I went to the hospitals —
Q What are you hearing from them about what they want from guns laws?
THE PRESIDENT: I will tell you this: I went to the hospitals. It was totally falsely reported. There were beautiful, beautiful, very sad, you know, horrible moments. But there were beautiful moments, in the sense that these people — the families and also the people that were so badly injured that I was with — they love our country.
Q But what to do they want in terms of gun laws?
THE PRESIDENT: And, frankly, do you want to know the truth? They love their President.
Q What do they want in gun laws?
THE PRESIDENT: And nobody wrote that. Nobody wrote that because you didn’t write the truth. The New York Times doesn’t like to write the truth. But — but they love — they totally love our country and they do love our President.
So when I went to Dayton, and when I went to El Paso, and I went into those hospitals, the love for me — and me, maybe, as a representative of the country — but for me — and my love for them was unparalleled. These are incredible people. But if you read the papers, it was like nobody would meet with me.
Q What did they tell you that they want in terms of gun laws?
THE PRESIDENT: Not only did they meet with me, they were pouring out of the room. The doctors were coming out of the operating rooms. There were hundreds and hundreds of people all over the floor. You couldn’t even walk on it. So, you know, there’s a lot to happen.
Q You’re talking to the NRA, I’m wondering what —
THE PRESIDENT: The people in Dayton — let me just explain. The people in Dayton, people of El Paso — these are incredible people. And those victims and the survivors and the families — I love those people.
Q Mr. President, you just said — you just told us that you aren’t looking at doing —
THE PRESIDENT: Louder. Louder.
Q You just said you aren’t looking at doing indexing. Yesterday, you suggested you were. Which is it?
THE PRESIDENT: I’ve looked at indexing for a long time. It’s not something I love. I think it’s probably better for the high-income people and I’m not looking to do that. I want to do — I want to do for the workers. I’m looking to do for middle-income people.
I think indexing — now, I’d have to get a letter from the Attorney General or from the Justice Department, which I think I might be able to get, otherwise they’d have to go through Congress. But I’m not looking at doing indexing. And I haven’t been seriously looking at it. But certainly, it is an option if I wanted to.
We have such a strong economy. If the Fed did what they were supposed to do, they’d drop interest rates by 100 basis points. They maybe would do not only not tightening, but they’d do some loosening or leave it alone. Do nothing. But they dropped interest rates by 100 basis points or more, nobody — nobody would be able to compete with the United States.
Right now the Fed is tying our hands because we’re paying interest rates, and Germany and other countries that aren’t like us are not. It should be the other way around, in a sense.
But why should they be paying no interest rates and even have an incentive beyond that, and we’re paying interest rates? The Fed has missed the call for a long time.
Q Mr. President, are you saying that you’re not pursuing any tax cuts at all at this time?
THE PRESIDENT: I think we have a very strong economy. I don’t — I just don’t see any reason to. I think the Fed has been very late and very early. They were very early to raise and they’re very, very late to cut. But the Fed can do the whole thing.
Yesterday, we had the strongest dollar in the history of our country. Yester- — wait. Yesterday, we had the strongest dollar in the history of our country. Now, in one way, I’m honored by that. But in another way, it makes it much harder to export goods. You understand.
So in two ways — one, I love it. But in another way, I don’t like it because it’s much harder to compete.
But we had literally the strongest dollar in the history of our country.
Q Mr. President, are you going to do an executive order on birthright citizenship to follow up these rule changes over the last couple weeks?
THE PRESIDENT: Say it.
Q Are you going to do an executive order on birthright citizenship still to follow up on these rule changes?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re looking at that very seriously — birthright citizenship. Where you have a baby on our land — you walk over the border, have a baby. Congratulations, the baby is now a U.S. citizen. We’re looking at it very, very seriously.
I don’t know how you found that out, but that’s very good. We are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously. It’s — it’s, frankly, ridiculous.
Q Mr. President, do you favor unlimited detention of migrant minors in the Flores changes?
THE PRESIDENT: Do I what?
Q Unlimited detention of migrant minors in U.S. custody.
THE PRESIDENT: I am the one that kept the families together. Okay? You remember that, right? Just remember I said it. And now it gets even better: President Obama and others brought the families apart, but I’m the one that kept the families together.
With what we’re doing now, we’ll do even more of that but it’ll make it almost impossible for people to come into our country illegally.
Plus, we’re building large sections of the wall. I won the lawsuit two weeks ago in the Supreme Court. We’re building large sections of wall and lots of other things are happening.
Q What about your relationship with Apple, sir? You seem to have a good relationship with Tim Cook. You seem to have a good relationship with Tim Cook of Apple.
THE PRESIDENT: I do.
Q But why more so with him than with other (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I have it with everybody, but he’s the one that calls me. You know why? That’s why he’s a great executive because he calls me, and others don’t. Others go out and hire very expensive consultants, and Tim Cook calls Donald Trump directly. Pretty good. And I would take their call, too, but the only one that calls me is Tim Cook.
He calls me — whenever there’s a problem, he’ll call. Now, the problem was that Samsung, a competitor — a good competitor — wouldn’t be paying tariffs and Tim Cook would. I’ve got to help him out, short term, with that problem because it’s a great American company. Samsung is in South Korea. Not fair that Samsung isn’t hit, while he’s hit. Right?
But the reason I speak to Tim Cook: He’s the one that calls me. The other ones don’t call. They go out and hire — for millions of dollars — consultants that have less power than you do.
Q If Jews — if Jews vote for Democrats, would they be disloyal to Israel? Is that what you’re saying?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I’d say so. Yeah. Yeah.
Q Isn’t that anti-Semitic to say?
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no. It’s only in your head. It’s only anti-Semitic in your head.
If you look at what Tlaib, Omar, Cortez — if you look at what these people I say — if you just — AOC plus four or plus three. If you look at what they say, what they are — they are so bad for Israel. They are so bad for Jewish people.
You take a look at the horrible, anti-Semitic statements that they’ve made. You take a look at what they want to do to Israel. Take a look at the fact that they want aid — all of the aid — almost $4 billion — all of the aid cut from Israel. You take a look.
You know what? The Democrats have to own it. And I say this: Anybody that votes for Democrat, they’re voting for that. That’s the face of your party. And that’s very bad for Israel.
Q A U.S. drone was shot down over Yemen. What is your response?
THE PRESIDENT: You’ll find out.
Q When?
THE PRESIDENT: You’re going to find out.
Q Did Hong Kong give you leverage in the China talks? Does Hong Kong give you leverage in the China talks — in the negotiation?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t view it as leverage, no. I hope Hong Kong works out in a very humane way. I don’t view it as leverage or non-leverage. I hope it works out in a humane way. And I think that President Xi has the ability to make sure that happens.
————————————————————
** END 12:16 P.M. EDT
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Public Pool is an automated feed of White House press pool reports. For live updates, follow @WHPublicPool on Twitter.

Golden State Times Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jkr1AgHdeA
The President is headed to Louisville, KY, today, where he will address the 75th Convention of American Veterans.
Don’t forget, this week is the Kentucky State Fair. Governor Matt Bevin (staunch Republican) showed up at the Dem booth, wearing a Trump fabric sports jacket. We loved it, Dems whined…… Dems always whine.
https://twitter.com/HannahDrake628/status/1162905145790861312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1162905145790861312&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fkentucky-governor-matt-bevin-trump-jacket-1454966
Gotta admit, it was pretty funny.
We do love our friends in Kentucky!
Local television stations are covering the speech and President’s visit: Link
From the article:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The president is coming to Louisville to address veterans at the 75th AMVETS National Convention at the Galt House.
AMVETS serves more than 20-million veterans and advocates nationwide. Their goal is to improve quality of life for veterans, their families and the communities where they live.
The week-long annual convention is an opportunity for veterans to talk about the issues that directly affect them and help make national change.
WHAS11 spoke to veterans at the convention who are excited about the president’s visit and hope they’re concerns will be heard. The last president they remember speaking at one of the conventions was President Ronald Reagan.
“We go ahead and, shall we say, champion for veterans’ rights, health care, things like that where sometimes veterans are, shall we say, getting the short end of the stick,” Steven Holt, an attendee, said.
President Trump’s visit is restricted to American Veterans members only.
The president will head to a private fundraiser for Governor Matt Bevin’s reelection campaign after speaking to AMVETS members.

Hmmm, raising money for Matt Bevin. Interesting.
 
 

Picking up on Wolfie’s theme, we’re ready for the “Rally of Midway”! We’re midway through the month and August has been HOT!!!!!!!!!!!! I did note, at 3:00am central time, when I began to put together the rally thread, it was a pleasant 58 degrees in Manchester. Hopefully our group won’t get too hot today!

RSBN Link, they are already broadcasting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO4DUg0Fe_M&feature=youtu.be

And we have this link from RSBN for the rally itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuj9baeOmxg&feature=youtu.be

Golden State Times Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA5GHbL5gCo

Today, President Trump travels to Manchester, NH, SNHU university. Arena holds 11K people and even the media expects a “sellout”. Of course, tickets are free.

Local CBS affiliate out of Boston, WBZ, is reporting Trump Supporters in line 36hrs prior to the speech. Link

The article (from CBS Boston, WBZ) has a typical biased tilt, giving equal space to Trump Supporters and “protesters”, exaggerating the image of protesters and intentionally misleading the public. And naturally, there are baseless “racist ” digs against the President and his supporters.

WBZ Political Analyst Jon Keller says New Hampshire is an important State for Trump. “It’s a state that in theory should be tailor-made for the Trump reelection campaign,” Keller said. “The economy is strong, it’s an overwhelmingly white state, but the numbers lately out of New Hampshire have not been good for Donald Trump.”

Newsflash – According to US census data, all states are “overwhelmingly white”. NH is 1.7% black/93.2% white. My state, for instance, is 37.8% black/59.1 % white, and has the largest “black population” by demo. Link

The unmistakable inference from MSM/Dems = Skin color is supposed to determine how we vote.

Yet, skin color didn’t determine how we voted in 2008 nor 2012. Did it? Gee whiz, are the Dems worried about losing portions of their base? Today, the threats, fear, and sharp rhetoric across media are more disturbing than ever before. Must be incredibly confusing for black citizens – to be falsely portrayed as disloyal to heritage for disagreeing on policies. I wonder if conservatives in Hollywood, or those working in big tech, feel the same way? We know the answer.

Nonetheless, Trump supporters are excited about tonight. Meet Karen, she is the first in line for the Trump Rally this evening.

https://twitter.com/DrNealHouston/status/1161832194484199424

Crowd was growing by 7:00am this morning in Manchester, NH.

A Trump fan sent me these pics from Manchester, NH, where supporters started lining up at 7am this morning … for his rally at 7pm tomorrow pic.twitter.com/6d6A3ty3v2

— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) August 14, 2019

From WMUR, local in NH, an interview with Trump Supporters and an update from local police. Streets will begin being blocked at 2:00pm and doors open at 4:00pm.

blob:https://www.wmur.com/f21671c5-533d-49a2-bedf-1a2d59a8b1ae

From WBZ, many people there already:

President Trump will hold a rally in Manchester, NH at 7 pm. Supporters are camping out to make sure they get a seat inside. @wbz pic.twitter.com/s5Pv1WaKdC

— Anna Meiler (@AnnaMeiler) August 15, 2019

Blanche is there and she is ready to go!

Trump Rally! Manchester,NH pic.twitter.com/yQishcOAVz

— blanchebaublebaum (@blanchebauble) August 15, 2019

Is EVERYONE a racist?

"The only people spewing hatred and intolerance in #NH are Democrats. Some things never change." #NHPolitics #Trump2020 #FITN https://t.co/NAI50UmSzb

— Kimberly Morin (@Conservativeind) August 14, 2019

Grab a cup of covfefe and ge on the road!!!!!!! It’s Rally DAY!

I was almost 25yrs old, when my boss, Tim, founding partner in a little brokerage firm, asked me to be his partner, October 20th 1987. Wow, partner by age 25. Not bad. Sure, it was a small firm, seat on the Philly exchange, which his ex-wife paid for and he kept in the divorce. At the time, the Philadelphia Exchange had an OTC market (Over The Counter) which later became the ultra-powerful NASDAQ.
October was busy that year. The first weekend in October, we took the sailboat out of Key Largo for the weekend. Two weeks prior, he married my office mate and best friend, Julia. I was Maid of Honor in the wedding. She “retired” after the wedding (bad shoulder from a car accident and began to drink too much) but was adept and understood when we talked business. It was just the three of us for the weekend on the boat.
The wedding was an enormous affair as Tim had a big Sicilian family from Boston (same exact town where Big T was from – in fact Tim graduated from same high school where Big T’s daughters graduated), and Julia’s family was centered in Sands Point, on Long Island. Wedding and reception were in Key West, but relatives lingered for weeks. With all the family gone, this was the weekend we could recoup and get back to business. I was between boyfriends and my boss and best girlfriend took pity on me. Nothing cures the soul like the sea.
As a broker, I was doing well but had a hard time. I was young and a female. Think about it. How many 55yr old guys, Presidents of their own companies, would trust me with their fortune, let alone their company pension accounts? So, I became an IRS code, WHORE. I read everything I could. I kept manuals in my bathroom and bedside tables. I became a technical freak. I knew IRS code better than people who worked for the IRS. And pension law…., oh, I knew it backwards and forwards. I got to a point where other brokers/local lawyers called on me for help when they needed it. My boss noticed…..
Our little firm was doing well, couple hundred million under management and we had returned 28% that year, thus far. Excellent performance for the mid/late 80’s. Tim was nervous and did not want to be greedy. I had never seen him that way before. He was pushing a conversion into all cash. We were down a few points in September and he didn’t want to lose the gains for year end. “Let’s hold and see what happens.”, he said. By the time we brought the boat in and had dinner on the dock, Sunday night, he had me convinced. I helped him sell the idea to the rest of the brokers. We were all moving to cash. That was October 4th, 1987, and I remember driving home that night like it was yesterday. I was disappointed. “Cash” felt like we were giving up.
By Wednesday-Thursday, which would have been October 7th-8th, we had almost everything converted to cash. We sat, farted around, and I started working on year end reports for my handful of clients. Might as well get ahead, right? The following weekend (10th and 11th) was the Columbus Day Regatta. We participated and had a great time. Didn’t know sailing could be so much work…. or that Tim could yell so much. We were competitive, sure, but there was never any chance in us winning. We did make a respectable showing, however. Dinner Sunday night on the dock was for a tired but happy crew.
By mid-October, Tim looked like a genius. The Market was nervous. We went out sailing the next weekend, which would have been 16th-18th, skipped lunch on Friday and bugged out to Key Largo. Jessica McClure (the Texas kid in the well) had been rescued. I recall, we heard the news by radio and everyone was happy. Business-wise, I was bored, sitting and watching a very skittish market, with a couple of deep dives. I had a few funds/companies, significantly down, which I wanted to “poke at”. Tim resisted, “Don’t be greedy, be patient. There’s a lot going on…..”, he kept saying. I didn’t have his geopolitical perspective at the time (The Storm in London or the Iranian Silkworm Missile, which would later be blamed) because I was young and stupid. Yet, by Sunday night dinner, we agreed to buy a few things on Monday. I had a Conch Chowder that night, with the best biscuits I’ve ever put in my mouth. Frozen in my memory. It was October 18, 1987.
Sometimes, when I could not sleep, I used to watch the markets open around the world on PBS, Sunday night, trying to get a jump on Monday. Yet, Sunday night, I slept straight through and had an early breakfast with a diamond dealer. By the time I got to the office, word was out.
October 19, 1987, the market crashed.
The Dow was down about 25% over 600 points. What a day it was……. We were fine, but everyone else was scared as heck. It was a moment in history, and it hung in our throats. No one knew what would happen next. We fielded phone calls in the morning from clients, who were all safe…. the same clients who previously complained about a $25 transfer fee to move them to cash. I left the office at 3:30pm. I’ll admit, as I drove down Brickell, I stopped at a light, and checked the high rises to see if anyone was jumping. I almost never drink alone, but I poured myself a double bourbon and decided to swim off the tension. Dad called and we watched Tom Brokaw together. The evening news was incredible. Blood on the floor.
What would tomorrow bring? We were all scared.
The next morning, Tim asked me to be his partner, October 20th, and we started buying by 10:00am. He needed a right hand and I was it. He was 20yrs my senior, and taught me everything I know about money. He was my second dad, gave me miles of rope to run, and yanked me back, HARD, on occasion. He let me fail spectacularly, and was merciless with his “I told you so.” Many valuable lessons learned. We were a perfect mix of young, highly technical, zeal………. and street smart, fabulous ability to read people, crusty Sicilian wisdom. Our relationship would never be allowed in the era of MeToo, and for that, young women in business are at a sincere disadvantage.
While we were drawing up papers of partnership, we had to assign tasks to each other. I didn’t have a whole lot of gravitas, so, I got the duties which Tim hated. First among my duties was recruiting brokers. It was closely followed by taking tests and updating more licensing in various states so we could grow. Tim insisted I attend any kind of a “mandatory” convention… which he absolutely hated. And he said I had to accumulate  more credentials as a partner, so I became the designated test taker. Accounting and reporting, IRS fights, and any fight with a lawyer (a place where I excelled), was given to me, first. Paperwork, the IRS, and fighting with lawyers was easy for me. Okay, fine. But where was I going to recruit new brokers?????
I was a young gun. I wasn’t part of the Palm Beach crowd. My daddy didn’t own a sugar plantation in the Dominican. I wasn’t “old Miami”. What was I going to do? I had no street cred, no trust fund. I called my dad for advice. Dad played well in wealthy circles. He told me to find someone who could “get me in the room” and hire those people. “Figure it out”, he said. Dad grew frustrated with me as I hedged from my own lack of self-confidence, “Get over it”, he said, “You want to hunt lions, you better go to the jungle.”
Well, the jungle was closer than I thought.
The next weekend was the weekend before Halloween. I met a bunch of Bond Daddies for drinks after work in Ft Laud, at the same bar where the “Monkey Business” was docked (Gary Hart/Donna Rice and the election of 1988). The “boys” often took cigarette boats from that dock, and we would head to Bimini for lunch. I swear I still own part of a hotel there….. somewhere.
That night, I spotted a particularly attractive guy and we struck up a conversation, lawyer with a British accent, and I liked him. His friend, however, swooped in and thought I was the cutest thing he’d seen in a while. The friend was pushy and loud. The friend was a tall/big man, looked like a Scotsman, head of a clan. Eventually, the three of us retired to my penthouse terrace, and drank pots of coffee and Bailey’s. By 2:00am, I hired the friend, the Scotsman, kissed them both on the cheek, and bid them goodnight. He was the former Treasury Secretary of Bermuda. My first hire. The lawyer became my new boyfriend. I returned to work on Monday, mission accomplished. Tim was impressed when he actually showed up for interviews, etc. A profitable alliance.
Tim was a favorite invite for local Miami Embassy parties. With his new wife, my girlfriend, down for a few months, I swiped the invitation for the firm, through Christmas holidays, and upped my wardrobe a few notches. I went on to hire Chile’s Finance Minister, a US Trade Rep for Jamaica, did biz directly with the PM Pindling of Bahamas (until I was warned off), several Ambassadors, officials from Bolivia, Panama, Paraguay, and at least a dozen other countries. We doubled the firm, and the firm became a powerhouse. Within our ranks, someone always…… “knew a guy”. The network was amazing.
Bottom line, I figured out third world countries are usually run by 10-20 families. All I/we had to do was gain entry. The families all wanted their money in USD for stability of their family fortune, in case governments were to change….. which happened often. The safety and security of the USA was a natural choice.
Yet, imagine a wealthy family from Paraguay entering a local Merrill Lynch office, for example. I saw it happen all the time, the guys in Miami would make fun of them. The Merrill broker didn’t have time for them, dismissed them, didn’t LISTEN/ask questions about how to save/transfer the money to the next generation. No, 20 million dollars from Paraguay would never taken seriously by a newbie broker from Merrill. The Merrill guy would have signed them up and never called them again. Who wants to be treated in such a rude way? Answer = no one. A little bit of humility and common decency goes a long way.
Friends do business with friends, especially in South America/Latin America/Caribbean. We had the “friend”, and I had the expertise. I was young and an obsessive nut about doing everything correctly. In retrospect, I spent TOO MUCH time with husbands and wives, and their many businesses. It was easy and comfortable, and we dug deeply. Forensic accounting filled my days. We solved problems of patterns in spending. It was a natural process for me, like breathing.
Our new “brokers” were powerful men, but Tim was their equal, and Tim was comfortable in his own skin. In effect, I was the boss as well and thrilled with my new power, little bit of the big head, ………..but that was a disaster, a spectacular fail…… In one meeting, a finance minister introduced me as his new boss. The family was embarrassed for him, and he was shamed as well. The guy drove us both back to the office and was ready to quit, but he knew I obviously meant him no harm. We were at a delicate crossroad. He was humiliated.
I had an idea, “What if I pretended to be your secretary?” The thought wormed through his head for a long few seconds. We got to a stoplight and he looked at me, confused. “Why would you do that?, he asked. The answer was easy for me, “You’re an honored man in your country, storied career, why would I ever want to dishonor you, here?” and “It makes no sense for me to do so.” and finally, paraphrasing, “The only reason I am with you now is because you are new to this ‘factory’ and don’t know the details. I’ve been in the factory for 3yrs, and in 3yrs you won’t need me at all. Yet, from now until then, it can be our secret, and we can work as a team. Whaddaya say?”
OMG, his eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. Strangely, those men became unbelievably loyal to me. No one touched me, not a hair on my head nor a snide comment anywhere. Wow, that was easy.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, fighting stereotypes, and “gender” preconceived notions, I decided to make the wheel work for me….. I had to put my ego in my pocket, to make a boatload of money, travel the world, and help people, …….. Oh, gee whiz, I can do that…… if you insist.
Therefore, I played the role of mom/secretary and “trainer on details” to my new hires. I hired other gorgeous and talented women to follow them around and pick up their paperwork…. to make them look good. It worked.
Quickly, the day came when I had to board a small plane to a foreign country to meet powerful people on their own turf. I was a little nervous and asked boss/partner Tim about it. “What if something happens to me and I disappear?”, I said……… hands on hips. Tim stopped, peered over his papers, wrinkled an eyebrow for a second, threw his head back and laughed loudly, “No one in their right mind would ever kidnap you!” It was a perfect answer. I was insulted but no longer fearful……. at all.
And off I went to the real jungle, hunting BIG lions.
We had no cell phones back then. Often, I would return and listen to a message on my answering machine from Grandma Della. She would be angry I had not immediately returned her days old call. “Sorry Grandma, I was in Bolivia for a few days…”, did not make her happy. She would call my dad, who would call me, and ask me if everything was okay, if I was doing anything illegal, if I was taking drugs, if I was working for the government…… Dad understood, but to Grandma, I should have been home, making lemon squares and waiting for the kids to come home from school. Only later in life did I learn being a mom was my best job.
Nonetheless, it became commonplace for me to travel to various countries to meet with the “founding families”. It was a whirlwind of grand haciendas, private air strips, small obscure corners of the world, as we dragged hundreds of millions of dollars back to the USA. I always played the role of super-whiz assistant to the big powerful man whom the family already knew. Having me as an American “assistant”, elevated the guy, made him more important (with a wink and nod between us). Of course, all final biz was conducted in the USA, with USA banks, usually in a 5 star hotel or a on a runway tarmac. It was fun, glamorous, and the food/drink/dance were incredible.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined where my job would lead. I never knew I could do the things I did ………. I got lucky…… I picked a good boss, a Vietnam Vet, a noble man who pushed me, laughed at me, insulted me, STILL loves me like a daughter, trusted me, and let me run, all at the same time. I soaked it up like a sponge. I grew. Eventually, we did business with a few dictators, and I had the temerity to tell them, “No, I’m sorry, you can’t do that….” I grabbed street sense in rapid fire, and became gracious but cynical, ….. and I never lost my sense of right and wrong. No, the voice of Daddy sat on my shoulder the whole way.
I learned about places only studied in 7th grade geography class, places I never thought I would go. Most importantly, I learned….. first hand…..  how lucky I was to be an American. It makes me tearful to think about how fortunate we are, and how grateful I became for those who fought for what we know as the USA. We take America for granted, for others it is a dream.
What an education it was …. hunting lions. Turned out my lions were Kings of their own jungles, but they were really pussycats when they talked about their love for their wife/children, when I removed the thorn from their paw. People are people, same all over the world.
It was simple but highly technical, tough, and complex at the same time.
I loved it.
Please, don’t ever think there is a job you cannot do. “Figure it out”, as Dad would say. Have no fear, step off and try. Amazing things happen when you try. You will fail, spectacularly, it is a guarantee, but the successes……. The successes are worth the ride.
Be kind, please, but never a pushover. Know when to be humble. Decide early on, where lies your dividing line on ethics, because once crossed, there is no coming back…..
Live your life, drink it in, explore, and try it all.
No regrets!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit highlighted this clip of Hannity interviewing Giuliani after the release of Bruce Ohr 302s. We’ve known these things for over a year and now we have confirmation. Notable Quotes: 

1. “You can’t believe what’s going to come out.”
2. “Bruce Ohr and his wife, Nellie, should have been prosecuted for conflict of interest 10 months ago”
3. “These are crimes that are shocking. These are crimes that go to the very heart of our republic.
4. “These people had a plan to stop the Republican candidate from getting elected, and then they executed a plan to remove him from office on false evidence, false testimony. The whole thing was made up from the very beginning, and they sold it to 90% of our media.”
5. Andrew Weisman knew from the beginning it was a bogus document and still used it.
6. “You still don’t know the dimension of it. We have plenty of evidence from the Ukraine” 
7. ” ……. Evidence from the UK, Italy, ….. massive conspiracy to deprive the American people of the person they elected President. “
8. Durham is spending a lot of time in Europe investigating Ukraine, UK, Italy, and Australia…. and yes, there is “plenty of evidence” our government outsourced spying on the Trump campaign to other countries.
9. “For a year, people in Europe have been trying to get this to our FBI and they have been thwarted, ignored, and pushed aside. There was a deliberate effort to cover this up.” “…… even during the Trump administration… really sick… effort to cover up the prior wrong-doing.” 
10. “….couple of people at the top who have completely corrupted themselves.”

 

End

You can only push Americans so far before they narrow their eyes, set their jaw, start to bristle, and fight back. Farmers are among the most stout and determined of all Americans. China picked the wrong fight, attacking American farmers to purposefully diminish Trump’s support…. hoping for a weaker and more accomodating President in the USA….. like our past Presidents. China made a grave miscalculation. The farmers are not moving. In fact, they’ve stiffened their resolve.
See this guy below, that’s my Daddy’s Daddy’s Daddy, Great Grandpa D. In his hands is IOWA Corn. He came from Belgium at age 3, and worked for John Deere for 54yrs. I have his 35yr pin and his 50yr pin on my charm bracelet. China wouldn’t have stood a chance with men like Grandpa D.

Apparently, the farmers of today feel the same way. The Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture has finished their latest survey of Farmer Sentiment. ( Link )
Keep in mind, this is a PURDUE survey, not some survey from an ivory tower think tank with a predetermined outcome. Purdue is the “Harvard” for pragmatic Mid-Westerners. Daddy went to Purdue (so it must be true….).
Farmer confidence in the AG economy is SOARING. You wouldn’t know it if you watched the MSM, but the numbers don’t lie. Overwhelmingly, farmers believe the trade skirmish with China will be worked out in a way which benefits the USA. In fact, in the month of July, even after devastating spring floods, the farmer expectations index went to a measure of 159, a two year high Link , which is 18 points HIGHER than the month of June Link
Why are they so positive? It’s President Donald Trump. They turned the vote in Iowa for him. They know he’s not backing down when it comes to China. Trump’s popularity is actually INCREASING with farmers.

A Farm Journal Pulse survey conducted last month showed that 79 percent of farmers now approve of the job the president is doing, up from 74 percent in the June survey. Fifty-three percent said they “strongly approve” of President Trump, up from 50 percent in June.

Yes it’s true, President Trump is using some of the tariff money to help out our farmers while China tries to toy with our economy. Yet, President Trump is not having it. He stands with the farmers 100%

Breitbart’s article ( Link ) takes us to the USDA Farm Income Report (  Link )   Once we parse through the bureaucratic “inflation adjusted” legalese, we learn cash “farm” income is up between 5% – 9.7% for this year, across all regions, and profits from farm activities are up about 10% (6.3 billion).

Farmer are starting to get ahead again, finally. Again, from the USDA report linked above, ” Median farm household income is forecast to reach $78,987 in 2019. In nominal terms, that income level represents an increase of 3.6 percent from its 2018 level; in inflation-adjusted terms, it is a 1.9-percent increase. ” Also, equipment assets rose by about 30 billion, and total farm assets are up 44.6 billion to a grand total of 3.1 TRILLION dollars (which also includes about a 2% rise in the value of real estate = land value).

Spring was tough this year in the heartland. We have a few problems with debt taken on by our farmers and cash available for working capital, but with the foul spring weather and China trade issues providing headwinds, it SHOULD be far worse. But it’s not.
President Trump allotted 12 Billion dollars to farmers last year to ease the tension and 16 billion this year. Everyone knows farmers would rather work than take a subsidy, but the situation is extraordinary – we’re fighting a 40yr old problem which was ignored by our past leaders.

 
In preparing this post, I looked through dozens and dozens of videos about President Trump/Farmers/China. I found a massive effort by CNBC, Bloomberg, CBS Today Show, and other MSMs to get a single farmer on camera to say they were abandoning President Trump and felt betrayed. If the MSM found one such farmer, the video was pushed.
And then I found this little nugget, which told me everything we need to know.
Here is an amazing video from Missouri, with only 1600 views. Title of the video is “Missouri farmers support Trump, despite tariffs”. You won’t believe it….. The video was made by an outfit called CGTN (China Global Television Network). Take a look, at the lower chyron, which says, “CGTN is funded in whole or in part by the Chinese government”.

 
It must really stink for China, to pay for propaganda, and still have the farmers supporting President Trump. Maybe China should have invested in MSNBC or CNN? They do a much better job disparaging President Trump, but I can’t imagine Grandpa D would have ever watched CNN. Nah…..
Yes, the Chinese have misjudged President Trump and his resolve. Former Presidents would have caved to China’s demands at the first sign of Tom Donahue in the WH driveway, or at the first 500 point drop on the DOW. Yet, our President is serious about straightening out the imbalance of trade with China, and just as the farmer’s believe, it WILL work out to benefit the USA.
The Chinese have also misjudged Trump Supporters as well. Take a look at this exchange below, where two men are arguing the merits of the 2nd Amendment. It speaks volumes.
https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1159520326390173696
Nah, the Chinese don’t stand a chance against men like Grandpa D, nor Trump Supporters who are like-minded Americans, and they sure as hell should have NEVER picked a fight with America’s farmers….. or their great-granddaughters.
Here is MY FIGHT against Chinese products. 

We have to support OUR farmers!!!! 

 
End