The Morning Briefing: Election Results, ZTE, NorK Summit and Much, Much More

Good Monday morning.

Here’s what is on the president’s agenda today:

The president arrives at Morrelly Homeland Security Center
President Trump participates in a roundtable on immigration
The president arrives at Lotte New York Palace Hotel
President Trump participates in a roundtable with supporters
The president attends dinner with supporters

No Democrats at WH meeting between DOJ/FBI and Congressional leaders

There will be a meeting at the White House on Thursday between FBI Director Wray, Attorney General Rosenstein, House Oversight Committee’s Gowdy and House Intelligence Committee’s Nunes. No one from the White House will be at the meeting and no Democrats will be there either.

“To my knowledge the Democrats have not requested that information so I would refer you back to them as to why they would consider themselves randomly invited to see something they’ve never asked to,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.

What will happen at this meeting? Will the meeting be yet another discussion about the documents that Congress has legally demanded and the DOJ has ignored? Or will the requested documents be produced as required by law?

Let me tell you right now that I doubt they will be turning over those documents.

The documents in question have to do with the origination of the investigation into Trump. When did it start? The story keeps changing. Early spring? July? What evidence was presented to the FISA court FOUR TIMES to continue surveillance on the campaign, even after Trump was elected and serving as president? It’s obvious the DOJ and the FBI don’t want you or me to know. Why?

‘If they had spies in my campaign, that would be a disgrace to this country’: Trump

INSUFFERABLE: Tapper presses lawmaker: Who is the deep state?

Rep. Gaetz Fact Checks CNN’s Tapper On FISA Abuse

Yet another Trump campaign member approached by a spy: Tucker Interviews Trump Campaign Co-Chair Who Met With FBI Informant During 2016 Campaign

Mnuchin says Treasury investigating leak of Cohen records

Andrew McCabe knew CNN was ready to publish dossier story two days after Trump was briefed

Sources: FBI Agents Want Congress To Issue Them Subpoenas So They Can Reveal The Bureau’s Dirt

Oh look, Democrats have lost their edge in the congressional ballot and the GOP is now leading

Can’t.stop.laughing.

If your party platform is centered around maniacal hatred of President Trump, defending hyper-violent MS-13 gang members, advocating the release of violent illegal immigrants into communities and your media cheerleaders/spokesmen are using the “news” to gossip about some porn star and to share political fantasies about RUSSIA collusion, you are going to lose the voters. Full stop.

Only a tiny minority care about the porn star and only a tiny minority can even follow the media’s repeated narrative shifting on the RUSSIA-collusion mythology served up on nightly news shows. Overall voters like stability in their government, no matter who is in charge and this constant desperate attempt to undo the 2016 presidential election by any means necessary and shrieking about CONSTITUTIONAL CRISES and IMPEACHMENT does not play well. It makes voters nervous.

Voters care about things that affect them. They care about things close to them, like national and local security and jobs, especially coming off of the dismal Obama economy. But the media doesn’t want to talk about the economy because the economy is doing fabulous and showcasing that would help Trump. The media doesn’t want to talk about the Trump administration’s regulatory reform which helps companies grow and invest in their communities because that helps Trump. The Democrats have hitched their horse to the progressive cart so they ramble about resisting and impeaching. This is why the left lost the presidential election and this is why their blue wave is going to be a blue puddle in November if they don’t change their tune.

Keep it up, fools. And I’m talking to the establishment GOP too. There’s a reason Trump hysterics like Flake and Corker aren’t running for re-election.

What’s going on with North Korea?

So is there going to be a summit or what? President Trump and South Korea’s s Moon Jae-in are working on moving the summit forward.

President Donald Trump labored with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in Tuesday to keep the highly anticipated U.S. summit with North Korea on track after Trump abruptly cast doubt that the June 12 meeting would come off. Setting the stakes sky high, Moon said, “The fate and the future of the Korean Peninsula hinge” on the meeting.

The summit, planned for Singapore, offers a historic chance for peace on the peninsula — but also the risk of an epic diplomatic failure that would allow the North to revive and advance its nuclear weapons program.

Trump’s newfound hesitation appeared to reflect recent setbacks in efforts to bring about reconciliation between the two Koreas, as well as concern whether the self-proclaimed dealmaker can deliver a nuclear accord with the North’s Kim Jong Un.

In an extraordinary public airing of growing uncertainty, Trump said “there’s a very substantial chance” the meeting won’t happen as scheduled.

Preparations for the summit are still underway. Trump hinted that the meeting might be postponed, rather than cancelled. “It may not work out for June 12, but there is a good chance that we’ll have the meeting.”

We’ll see.

Congress worried about trade deals with China suddenly

Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin appeared before the Senate subcommittee on Financial Services yesterday and assured Senators on the issue of ZTE that “whatever the Commerce Department decides, the intel community has been part of the briefings and we will ensure that we enforce national security issues.”

Last month the United States slapped steep penalties on ZTE for violating U.S. sanctions and doing business with Iran and North Korea. Those infractions, along with concerns that ZTE could use its devices to spy on Americans, led to a seven-year ban on ZTE being allowed to purchase U.S. parts in production, crippling its business. ZTE also agreed to pay a $1.2 billion fine.

Now, however, members of the administration have signaled that the terms of ZTE’s punishment are up for negotiation. President Donald Trump tweeted Monday that China had agreed to buy an unspecified amount of American agricultural exports in exchange for the United States easing its sanctions.

But senators like Ben Sasse are not happy with Trump’s proposals.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., told reporters he had met with farmers and ranchers in his office all morning and that none of them believed this latest development would help them.

“They’re scared to death,” Sasse said, adding that he would “love to see the particulars” of the China proposal that Trump mentioned in his tweet.

Legislators are already working to punish ZTE and prevent Trump from using the company as a bargaining chip with China.

The House of Representatives is voting this week on its annual defense authorization bill which contains a provision which would prevent the military from working with contractors that use ZTE devices and networks. The Pentagon has already banned ZTE products from being sold on American military bases.

House and Senate committees are also working on bills to prohibit the Trump administration from unilaterally lifting the seven-year ban on ZTE’s ability to purchase U.S. supplies. The Senate measure, introduced by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., passed the Banking Committee Tuesday by an overwhelming margin.

Developing…

Election results round-up:

Black candidate makes history as women advance in U.S. midterms

Dem becomes first Latina, openly gay candidate to win major-party nomination for Texas gov

Gay man loses bid to challenge Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who denied same-sex marriages

Georgia, Texas Democrats Nominate Women For Gov.

Teacher upsets Kentucky House GOP leader in primary after protests

Texas liberal candidate bashed by national Democrats loses

Stacey Abrams wins Democratic primary in Georgia. She could become the nation’s first black woman governor

Your daily WTF:

Man in cat onesie caught breaking into cars and garages arrested: police

Historical picture of the day:

President Reagan faces reporters during a nationally-broadcast news conference from the White House East Room on Thursday, May 23, 1984, in Washington. The President said Western nations would not stand by and see the Persian Gulf closed to oil shipments but added that ?we have not volunteered to intervene and we have not been asked.? (AP Photo/Lana Harris)

Other morsels:

LOL CNN Loses To Nickelodeon In Cable Ratings

‘Right-to-try’ bill passes Congress

Philip Roth, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and literary icon, dies at 85

Trump calls out Nancy Pelosi during pro-life speech over what she said about MS-13 gang

The Emerging China-Iran-Pakistan Alliance Is Directed DECIDEDLY Against The United States

About time. Trump demands housecleaning on White House communications team

Principal whose daughter was killed in Parkland shooting lashes out at school district

Rights group: Rohingya insurgents massacred Myanmar Hindus

Oh. Pakistani military allegedly hacked phones belonging to US, UK, and Australian officials and diplomats

U.S. court backs transgender student at center of bathroom dispute

Family that took in Parkland shooter being sued