Trump Ignored Merkel, Hesitating ‘Like Schoolgirl’ at UK Meeting – German Media

Relations between the two countries, who used to be close allies, have been marred by a number of issues since Donald Trump took office. The US president and German chancellor have exchanged critical remarks but have not met each other in person for months. They finally talked during the D-Day celebrations in the UK.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump met for the first time in 6 months on the sidelines of the D-Day celebrations in Portsmouth, attended by over a dozen world leaders. According to the German government, the heads of state discussed a number of issues, namely the situation in Europe after the European elections in May and counter-terrorism efforts in North Africa and Sudan.

White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, said that Trump, accompanied by his security adviser John Bolton and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Merkel had discussed the current situation in Libya and the worsening situation in West Africa, agreeing to continue their talks at the G20 Summit later this month in Osaka, Japan.

The German outlet Die Welt pointed out that it was unclear until the very last moment if Merkel and Trump would meet in Portsmouth, pointing out that the relationship between the two leaders have been sour for a long time. Merkel has repeatedly criticised isolationism and protectionism, which has been interpreted as a criticism of Trump, while the US president has slammed the German auto industry and the country’s NATO spending. The respected outlet as well as other German media platforms, for instance, Focus, noted that the photos from the Portsmouth meeting suggested a frosty start as the two leaders did not even share a traditional handshake before the meeting.

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201906061075693401-trump-ignored-merkel-meeting/

German Hitlary is sad!

Illegal Immigrants Sentenced for Fraudulently Receiving Thousands in Benefits

A Guatemalan woman, who was living illegally in the United States, has been sentenced for benefit fraud—specifically for receiving more than $19,900 in overpayment of food stamps and other U.S. welfare benefits, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Cleotilde Puac-Gomez, 46, was sentenced to two months in federal prison for failing to report her husband’s income when she applied for, and received, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid benefits between June 2012 and November 2017.

Puac-Gomez was living in Clarion, Iowa, with her husband, Melvin Rodriguez-Barrios, who is also an illegal alien. Rodriguez-Barrios was working under an alias and used someone else’s Social Security number to obtain work. He was sentenced on March 27 to six months in prison.

ICE said Puac-Gomez was ordered to pay back $19,908.30 to the state of Iowa and will serve a three-year supervised release after her prison term.

The couple may be deported after their prison terms, according to ICE public affairs officer Shawn Neudauer.

“This release is only noting the criminal conviction and sentence. Immigration proceedings are separate from, and take place in a different venue than U.S. District Court,” Neudauer said via email.

39 Million Mismatches

Data obtained from the Social Security Administration revealed 39 million instances in which names and Social Security numbers on W-2 forms didn’t match corresponding Social Security records, according to a report by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) published on Sept. 11, 2018.

The IRLI said the cases occurred between 2012 and 2016, after former President Barack Obama stopped the practice of sending “no match” letters to employers, in cases where the name and Social Security number don’t match up on W-2 forms.

The IRLI points to illegal immigrants as the main culprits.

“Importantly, the Obama administration decided to discontinue the decades-old practice of ‘no-match’ letters within eight days after it implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty for illegal aliens,” the IRLI said. “Some have said that Obama did this because he didn’t want DACA applicants scared off from the program, for fear of identity-theft prosecution.”

The Trump administration announced that it would resume sending notifications to employers if a mismatch on a W-2 form is discovered.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/illegal-immigrants-sentenced-for-fraudulently-receiving-thousands-in-benefits_2953787.html

"I'm Willing To Go To Jail Over It": Camping World CEO Defies City Lawsuit Over Flying Oversized US Flag

Today in bureaucratic overreach…

There has been an ongoing controversy in Statesville, North Carolina regarding the size of an American flag flying over Gander RV, a business owned by Camping World. The CEO of Camping World is Marcus Lemonis, made famous by his TV show The Profit, and Lemonis recently traveled to Statesville in order to address the ongoing controversy.

The company has a 40‘ x 80‘ flag flying over its facilities on Interstate 77, which violates the city's ordinance that limits flags to 25‘ x 40‘. But CEO Lemonis has made it clear that he is not backing down on the issue and is hell-bent on keeping the flag up regardless of the city's request that he take it down. In exchange, Statesville has filed a lawsuit to have it removed.

Lemonis told Fox 46 news: "Bottom line is the flag’s not coming down. Give me a reason why this compromises the health, wellness or safety."

The city says they’ve tried to contact Lemonis to work towards a solution but they’ve never heard back. The city's mayor, Costi Kutteh, said: “He put a lot of pressure on us but our uniform development ordinance allows for text amendments at any time.”

Since October, the company has been fined $50 a day for flying the flag, costing an aggregate of more than $11,000 so far. But that hasn’t phased Lemonis. “It really just comes down to, in my opinion, bureaucrats trying to control the size of something,” Lemonis said.

Despite filing the lawsuit, the city now appears to be backing off. The mayor has asked the city planning board to draft a text amendment to the ordinance calling it a good compromise.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-06/im-willing-go-jail-over-it-camping-world-ceo-defies-city-lawsuit-over-flying

Mexico Freezes Human Traffickers' Bank Accounts, Sends National Guard To Border Amid 'Very Good Discussion'

Update: After both the United States and Mexico claimed to have had a 'very good discussion' to avert President Trump's tariff threat - and the US weighing a delay over concerns that both sides wouldn't be able to reach an agreement on all the measures Mexico would need to take to avert them, Mexico showed yet another act of good faith on Thursday - freezing the bank accounts of 26 alleged human traffickers.

The ministry's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) said in a statement it froze the accounts due to "probable links with human trafficking and illegal aid to migrant caravans."

The FIU added that it would present the cases to the Attorney General's office. -Reuters

Negotiators from both countries are discussing a new framework that would "dramatically increase Mexico's immigration enforcement efforts" according to the Washington Post.

Mexican officials have pledged to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops to the country's southern border with Guatemala. We wonder - will Congressional Democrats pounce on Mexico for this decision like they did when President Trump did it?

The Mexican official and the U.S. official said the countries are negotiating a sweeping plan to overhaul asylum rules across the region, a move that would require Central Americans to seek refuge in the first foreign country they set foot upon after fleeing their homeland.

Under such a plan, the United States would swiftly deport Guatemalan asylum seekers who set foot on U.S. soil to Mexico. And the United States would send Honduran and Salvadoran asylum applicants to Guatemala, whose government held talks with acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan last week. -Washington Post

In addition to the deployment of the National Guard, Mexico has promised to build more migrant detention centers and checkpoints to catch and deter northbound Central Americans.

One day after US and Mexican negotiators failed to reach a deal to prevent punitive US tariffs from going into effect over border security, Mexican soldiers, armed police and migration officials blocked hundreds of migrants after they crossed into Mexico from Guatemala in a caravan on Wednesday.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-06/armed-mexican-troops-block-migrants-southern-border-after-tariff-talks-tank

>>6688248

Kerry Meeting With Iran to Salvage Nuke Deal With Rogue Diplomacy

Shadow diplomacy aids Iran's regional pursuits

September 12, 2018

Former Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed that he has been conducting rogue diplomacy with top Iranian officials to salvage the landmark nuclear deal and push the Islamic Republic to negotiate its contested missile program, according to recent remarks.

Kerry, in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt to promote his new book, said that he has met with Iranian Former Minister Javad Zarif—the former secretary's onetime negotiating partner—three or four times in recent months behind the Trump administration's back.

"I think I've seen him three or four times," Kerry said, adding that he has been conducting sensitive diplomacy without the current administration's authorization. Kerry said he has criticized the current administration in these discussions, chiding it for not pursuing negotiations from Iran, despite the country's fevered rhetoric about the U.S. president.

Kerry's comments are in line with previous reporting on his behind-the-scenes attempts to save the nuclear deal and ensure that Iran continues receiving billions in cash windfalls. These payments were brought to a halt by the Trump administration when it abandoned the nuclear agreement and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran that have nearly toppled its economy and sparked a popular revolution.

Kerry said he met Zarif in Norway, Munich, and other international forums.

As Iran continues to plot terror attacks across the globe and transport weapons to regional hotspots in Syria and Yemen, Kerry has tried to help Zarif preserve the nuclear agreement with European nations.

"What I have done is try to elicit from him [Zarif] what Iran might be willing to do to change the dynamic of the Middle East for the better," Kerry said. "How does one resolve Yemen, what do you do to try and get peace in Syria? Those are the things that really are preoccupying him because those are the impediments to Iran's ability to convince people its ready to embrace something different."

Kerry said he has offered blunt talk to Zarif in order to push the regime to accept restrictions on its foreign interventionism.

"I've been very blunt to Foreign Minister Zarif. I told him, ‘Look, you guys need to recognize the world does not appreciate what's happening with missiles, what's happening with Hezbollah, what's happening with Yemen,'" Kerry recounted. "You're supporting an ongoing struggle there."

Iran has said "they're prepared to negotiate and resolve these issues, but the [Trump] administration's taken a very different tact."

Criticizing the current White House, Kerry lamented that "it appears right now, as if the administration is hell-bent … to pursue a regime change strategy" in Iran that would "bring the economy down and try to isolate further."

The former secretary of state cautioned the current administration, saying "the United States historically has not had a great record in regime change strategies, number one, and number two that makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for any Iranian leader to sit down and negotiate anything because they're not going to do it in a capitulatory situation."

Iranian leaders have said multiple times in recent months that they will not take any meetings with Trump or his administration.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/kerry-meeting-iran-salvage-nuke-deal-rogue-diplomacy/

Just cause you say it doesn't make it so!