>>5367542 (lb)
the color kinda reminds me of the JackieO/Melania dresses (but minus the snake bullshit)
I have always been up in the air about her.
Is she good or bad?
I always was a fan back in the day.
Bannon predicts Trump victory in 2020, intensified political vitriol
Former White House Chief strategist Steve Bannon said in an interview aired Sunday that President Donald Trump will win the 2020 election "bigger than he won in 2016," but will face challenges following investigative reports.
Democrats could weaponize the Mueller report on possible Russian interference and potential collusion by Trump's 2016 election campaign, Bannon said on CBS's "Face the Nation," leading to a contentious climate for the country.
"I think that 2019 is going to be the most vitriolic year in American politics since before the Civil War," Bannon said. "And I include Vietnam in that, I think we're in, I think we're in for a very nasty 2019."
Bannon cited a strong economy among the reasons why Trump will win in 2020, despite the Mueller probe and the Southern District of New York investigation into Trump's inaugural committee. The next few months will be tough for Trump, Bannon said, but will "get him very focused" instead of putting him in a weaker position for the election.
In the Republican primary, Bannon said he thinks Trump will face an opponent from the party's center or left.
"I think it will be symbolic," Bannon said. "I don't think it will be serious."
So far, 10 Democrats are running for president in 2020 — including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker.
In defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016, Trump won 30 states and 304 electoral votes to win the White House. He became the fifth president elected while losing the popular vote.
Trump held his first political rally of the year in El Paso two weeks ago and has regularly tweeted about Democratic contenders.
The Mueller report is not expected to be released this week, the Justice Department said Friday, but Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen is scheduled for a public hearing Wednesday before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/24/bannon-predicts-trump-victory-2020-intensified-political-vitriol/2974569002/
Trump-Kim: Don't stop believin' in a successful summit
South Korea has lived with "hope" for nearly seven decades.
Hope that war would not once again break out with its neighbour. Hope that perhaps the latest round of negotiations will yield results. Hope that this time will be different.
The hope for a new relationship with North Korea waxes and wanes alongside the level of threat, but here in Seoul many people feel this latest round of diplomacy is the best chance they've had in a generation.
Expectations of a clear outcome from this second summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump are not high, however. Even Mr Trump has lowered the bar by saying he's in no rush to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
So with that in mind, just what would success in Hanoi look - or sound - like?
Let's take a look through the medium of song. Here's a list of appropriate titles which both sides could add to their playlists if they want to sing all the way back to Washington and Pyongyang.
Let's start with the basics. What exactly does "complete denuclearisation" mean to both sides, and what does it look like?
Yes, both Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have signed an agreement pledging to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, but there's been a seven-month stalemate in talks because neither side can agree on who will give up what, and when.
If both sides want to convince each other they're "in love" (as Trump has said) and it's not just Fake Love, then getting some kind of clear understanding of where these talks are eventually heading is a must.
Senior US officials have said they want to move things forward with "very big bites". That, for example, could be Donald Trump persuading Kim Jong-un to stop making nuclear weapons or even put a cap on the number they could make.
But that doesn't seem to be on the table yet. What is under negotiation is one of North Korea's main nuclear processing plants.
South Korea says Kim would be willing to permanently dismantle the plant at Yongbyon if the US took "corresponding measures".
It is likely that the North Koreans will want significant sanctions relief in return. So "step by step" is the kind of deal they have in mind.
It is my understanding that the US wants independent inspectors to verify that the plant is no longer viable before there's any sanctions relief. That could take at least a year.
But the plant is also not as critical to the nuclear programme as it once was, so getting rid of it will not end the nuclear programme.
Both sides are likely to drive a very hard bargain for such a prize, and the US will not want to give away its main diplomatic tool - sanctions - too soon.
Perhaps a realistic step, though also a high bar, would be some kind of timeline for the destruction of Yongbyon and even for North Korea to declare its other nuclear sites. This would lay out a path beyond this second summit, which is something the meeting in Singapore did not do.
Of course this title had to be in here, as there is increased speculation about a possible declaration to end the Korean War. The fighting ended in 1953 and an armistice was signed, but not a peace treaty.
Mr Trump has described his talks with Kim Jong-un as a "historic push for peace". He has also talked a lot about whether or not he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.
It may be easier for both sides to discuss peace rather than denuclearisation. A peace treaty is something North Korea has always longed for, and some kind of declaration could help build confidence between the two sides. It could be one of many actions which bring trust and help forge a new relationship - if both are indeed serious about doing so.
Can second Trump-Kim summit succeed?
To do this, Trump and Kim could simply declare an end to the war while in Hanoi. But here comes one of the many notes of caution: In real terms, it might not mean much.
This would not be a peace treaty. That would need a signature from China and someone from United Nations Command. The US senate would have to discuss and approve a draft, and South Korea would also want to be involved.
There has been a reluctance in Washington to offer any kind of declaration as there are fears it would give both China and North Korea grounds to complain about the 28,000 American troops in South Korea.
The US envoy to North Korea Stephen Biegun stressed in his recent speech that the Trump administration would want a "complete understanding" of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and also the "removal and destruction of fissile material, weapons, missiles launchers and other weapons of mass destruction" before it would consider peace.
more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47327473
Trump puts off new China tariffs again, cites progress in talks with Xi
HONG KONG — President Donald Trump is again postponing a planned escalation of tariffs on China, a move sure to please American farmers and businesses that have been hurt by a long-running trade war with Beijing.
Tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese good were due to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent in March, but Trump said Sunday that progress in a set of negotiations launched from his meeting with President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires in December led him to forestall the heavier duties.
"As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs," he wrote in a tweet. "Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement."
Trump pointed to advancements in bilateral talks on a wide range of issues, including trade in agricultural goods, intellectual property protection and technology transfer issues, and the treatment of currency, but he did not announce any concrete concessions on the part of Beijing.
Trump already had delayed the new round of tariffs once, putting off a Jan. 1 start date after he and Xi agreed to negotiate over a variety of issues during a meeting on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Buenos Aires in December. At that time, Trump said China had promised to buy certain U.S. agricultural products and to list fentanyl as a controlled substance.
But beyond the policy implications of the trade war, there's a political angle for Trump as he heads into his re-election campaign. China's retaliation against American tariffs has hit parts of the country that supported him particularly hard.
Last year — in a move at odds with conservative economic orthodoxy — Trump initiated a subsidy program to aid U.S. farmers trapped in the trade crossfire. Already, that program has pumped out nearly $8 billion in subsidies to farmers to offset their losses. And a group called "Tariffs Hurt the Heartland" estimated that retaliatory Chinese duties cost American businesses $2.7 billion in November 2018 alone.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-puts-new-china-tariffs-again-cites-progress-talks-xi-n975211