Wag the Dog: The Syrian Airstrike Charade

The news is rife with the Syrian airstrikes and the theatrical narrative: the united coalition of brave allies against the despotic Assad to secure the blessings of liberty, etc., etc. The reality: The U.S. threw more than 100 missiles against soft Syrian targets with Britain firing rockets from four aircraft as France flew planes around and cruised the waters with a few ships. The target (a suspected but not verified chemical weapons facility) was destroyed…before chemical weapons use, or manufacture could be verified. Once again, the Western Hegemony “showed” that bad ‘ol puddy-tat, that anti-Saudi Arabian, anti-Petrodollar Assad…showed him that his “Clorox Bleach” assault on mannequins as verified by white hat “Light-Brite” technicians would not be tolerated! “Mission accomplished!” in the words of US President Donald Trump.

Yet the brave allies didn’t screw with the Russians directly, now, did they? 

If each of those Tomahawks cost an even $1 million, the US spent over $100 million plus the cost of the operation…five times that? More than half a billion dollars, right? To accomplish what?

To accomplish much, in this order more or less:

1. To wipe out any and all traces of an alleged chemical weapons facility to cover up the fact that there was never anything manufactured there and used against any civilians. The excellent tactical logic: “We’ll use the guise that it poses a threat, blow it up, and we’ll use intelligence reports and a puppet (such as Dunsford) to say the threat was real…target destroyed, and nobody can prove otherwise.”


2. Saudi Arabian Interests: Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge published an article on 4/15/18 “Overthrow the Syrian Regime, but Play Nice with Russia.” That article provides a copy of a Wikileaks cable released in 2015 by the Saudis specifically directing the US to carry out a regime change in Syria, without involving or instigating the Russians. Saudi Arabia has wanted this for years.


3. “Justification” to do it again, but this time for an invasion…as Iran (the main target) cannot be taken without first taking or negating Syria.


4. UK’s Theresa May is facing opposition for her Brexit position. Much in the manner that Thatcher’s sagging popularity in the early 1980’s was bolstered by the Falklands War; May’s hawkish stance helps her ratings.


5. President Trump’s approval ratings are up.


6. Deflects attention from the “Stormy” Daniels fiasco and the other woman involved with one of the President’s associates.


7. Deflects attention from Mueller’s actions and the ongoing battle with the White House.


8. Deflects attention from the fact that National Guard troops were deployed to the US border in keeping with the “in the interests of national security” mantra, but in direct violation of Posse Comitatus…for the real reason of conditioning and accustoming the American people to a “regular” sight of a military presence patrolling the streets of “Fisher Price Land.”


9. Justification of continued troop presence, with naval and air assets remaining in the theatre until regime change in Syria is obtained.


10. Justification of defense expenditures.

There are plenty of sources that clearly point to all of this scripted orchestration by the coalition of allies. Hal Turner published a slew of photos showing canisters of chlorine gas found at the alleged Douma atrocity site…but the canisters were manufactured in Germany, not Syria. Durden’s previously-cited article has a collage of photos showing children laying on the ground for photos as “casualties” and then posing smiling with fake blood and makeup-created wounds. The photo shows casting photographers with film “takes” and a studio with costumes and makeup supplies.

Something seriously “wrong” happened this past weekend. Quietly, almost unnoticed and certainly underreported, on Thursday, 4/12/18 an article surfaced entitled Lawmakers say Trump exploring rejoining Pacific trade talks, by Ken Thomas and Kevin Freking of the Associated Press.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership surfacing again, eh?

Here’s an excerpt from that piece:

“I’m sure there are lots of particulars that they’d want to negotiate, but the president multiple times reaffirmed in general to all of us and looked right at Larry Kudlow and said, ‘Larry, go get it done,"” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.

Eleven countries signed the agreement last month. Trump’s rejection of the deal has rattled allies and raised questions at home about whether protectionism will impede U.S. economic growth.

Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said he was “very impressed” that Trump had assigned Kudlow and Lighthizer “the task to see if we couldn’t take another look at TPP. And that certainly would be good news all throughout farm country.”

That last sentence was great, wasn’t it?

“Good news all throughout farm country.”

Have you ever heard a line so freaking ridiculous in all your life? What farm country? Is this “Senator” Roberts looking at one of those “Fisher Price” farms on his desk? The one with the barn that “moos” when you pull the barn door open? The one with all the happy, clean, interchangeable-body figures with hats, hair, and faces to differentiate them by their roles…farmer-father-figure, plastic-braided-hair farmgirl figure, etc.  A plastic cow with a tail that swivels, minus the dung. Plastic fences that bound the farm. And all the figurines fit neatly inside that cardboard silo with the metal bottom and the plastic cap.

That “farm country” has been engulfed by Agribusinesses such as Cargill and Monsanto. Farms feeding the millions with produce harvested by illegal aliens and robots. These crooked, thieving politicians lie to our faces and paint a Potemkin picture for the camera and stage, while they roam the countryside in the night, pillaging and enslaving the country with rapacity and protected by immunity they conferred upon themselves. Last bill passed into law? People: They, the Congress, voted themselves pay raises, and bonuses!

Obama’s TPP died by the President’s hand: now he’s pulling the stake out of its heart.

So, as you may deduce, there is plenty to be seen behind the scenes while “Operation Clorox” was conducted in Syria. Examine the information before you take a drink of that Grape Kool-Aid and blindly fall for the rhetoric. The Deep State is fully in control and moving ahead with their own agenda. They just “wagged the dog” this past weekend, and not only did most Americans fall for it…all Americans paid for it as well. Eventually when the Globalists’ plans escalate further into war, payment will be rendered in lives.

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Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne).  Mr. Johnson is also a Gunsmith, a Certified Master Herbalist, a Montana Master Food Preserver, and a graduate of the U.S. Army’s SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape).  He lives in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with his wife and three cats. You can follow Jeremiah’s regular writings at SHTFplan.com or contact him here.

This article may be republished or excerpted with proper attribution to the author and a link to www.SHTFplan.com.

5 Hard-Hitting Facts Proving Donald Trump Has Become Just Like Hillary Clinton

Not only did Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, he is now using her ideas and taking credit for them.

The post 5 Hard-Hitting Facts Proving Donald Trump Has Become Just Like Hillary Clinton appeared first on The Free Thought Project.

TPP is Dead, But It’s About to Be Replaced by Something Much Worse — TISA

The president has a huge PR problem on his hands. How Donald Trump keeps his campaign promise to kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and remains on good terms with our Asian allies and trading partners may be as simple as a change in semantics. In other words, he’s simply going to call it another name; The Trade-in-Services Agreement (TISA). And some are saying the deal is much worse than the TPP ever was.

According to the source who has inside documentation, the TISA, “if passed would prohibit regulations on the financial industry, eliminate laws to safeguard online or digital privacy, render illegal any ‘buy local’ rules at any level of government, effectively dismantle any public advantages to be derived from state-owned enterprises and eliminate net neutrality.” Some have said that keeping financial institutions in check has been the only thing preventing another global financial crisis. And while the citizens’ right to privacy is currently somewhat tenuously protected by privacy laws, hardly anyone can imagine the impact losing those privacies would entail.

TISA’s specifics are shrouded in secrecy, with Wikileaks and Bilaterls being the only ones to have published any information related to its details.

According to Counter Punch, “Earlier draft versions of TISA’s language would prohibit any restrictions on the size, expansion or entry of financial companies and a ban on new regulations, including a specific ban on any law that separates commercial and investment banking, such as the equivalent of the U.S. Glass-Steagall Act. It would also ban any restrictions on the transfer of any data collected, including across borders; place social security systems at risk of privatization or elimination; and put an end to Internet privacy and net neutrality.”

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Just in case one might be tempted to think the TISA is just hearsay, rumor, or the fodder of conspiracy theorists, the facts are that over 50 countries are actively engaged in negotiations to enact TISA. “The European Union is negotiating TISA on behalf of its 28 member countries, along with, among others, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Norway, Switzerland, Pakistan and Turkey,” according to the documents.

It’s possible some countries are already making moves to allow for the financial takeover. Over the last few months, India has reclaimed most of its currency in circulation by forcing its holders to surrender their currency to the banks or lose their wealth forever. The new currency will replace the old but in order to make the exchange, all cash holding citizens must surrender their bills to the banks to have its value sustained.

According to the Government of Sweden’s fact sheet on TISA, the goal of the agreement is pretty straightforward, largely resembling (for lack of a better analogy) a global NAFTA. They write:

The basic premise is to further develop the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and create a better and more predictable agreement. The aim is for the agreement to eventually be integrated into the WTO. New countries are officially welcome and a number of countries have joined in since the start. If more countries joined, the benefits of TiSA would increase. This would also be a step towards integrating TiSA into the WTO. One key issue is the participation of China, which requested in 2013 to be allowed to take part in the negotiations. China’s entry to TiSA has clear political support from the EU.

TISA’s internet regulations, which have been dubbed “a virtual copy-and-paste out of the TPP’s Electronic Commerce chapter,” will most likely be rammed through by those who stand to gain from it — mega corporations and government who want to control the flow of digital information.

READ MORE:  Despite Relentless Attacks from Frightened U.S. Tyrants, Wikileaks is Back and Bigger than Ever

As the European Digital Rights (EDRi) stated in a letter opposing the Orwellian data measures in TISA:

Fundamental rights must be respected and not negotiated upon. Therefore, data flows–which refer to transfers of individuals’ personal data–must not be part of trade agreements. Trade negotiations are not suitable for shaping rules affecting fundamental rights and the rule of law in a democratic society.

The TPP is Not Dead

(ANTIMEDIA) While many are still breathing a sigh of relief that President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, some are noting that the world is nowhere near out of the woods yet. There’s another deal being negotiated right now, and this one may be even scarier than TPP. And like the TPP, it’s been quietly cobbled together behind closed doors for years.

The Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), which governments began crafting in 2012, represents 50 participating countries around the world. Before examining the text of agreement, however, it should be noted that TISA is largely a U.S.-E.U. deal and excludes some notable global players, as Glyn Moody highlighted for Ars Technica in 2015:

“Significantly, all the BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — are absent, and are therefore unable to provide their perspective and input for what is essentially a deal designed by Western nations, for the benefit of Western corporations.”

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As TISA is described on its page at the European Commission’s website:

“TiSA aims at opening up markets and improving rules such as licensing, financial services, telecoms, e-commerce, maritime transport, and professionals moving abroad temporarily to provide services.”

But many analysts are concerned that TISA’s aim of “improving rules” is really only about corporations tightening their grip on their respective industries. Deborah James, writing for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, concluded in November of last year:

“The TISA is intended to lock in a system of rules to allow multinational companies to operate in a borderless digitized environment with minimal regulation and maximum rights regarding the treatment of labor, capital, inputs, and the new key element of data.”

Continuing, she states:

“As promoted by the multinational financial, logistics, and big data corporations through Team TISA, the agreement would set severe limits on the ways that governments can regulate domestic economies, removing key tools of economic management and the ability to shape the service economy while providing an extensive corporate bill of rights for multinational companies’ operations across the globe.”

A corporate bill of rights.

The fact that we know anything at all about TISA is due largely to a series of data dumps from WikiLeaks beginning in 2014, then another later publication from Bilaterals.org, an organization dedicated to shedding light on trade negotiations taking place outside the scope of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

For their part, governments participating in TISA have been reluctant to post updates on the status of negotiations — if they decide to inform their citizens about the deal at all.

Canada’s last update, for instance, is from June, and it says vaguely that “Parties conducted a stocktaking session to assess the level of progress on all issues.” On the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative site, TISA is still described as being “part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing effort to create economic opportunity for U.S. workers and businesses by expanding trade opportunities.”

Given that TISA would do things such as prohibit regulation of the financial industry, including proven-harmful instruments like derivatives — and even, shockingly, instruments and products that have yet to be invented — curtail efforts to safeguard online and digital privacy, and effectively eliminate net neutrality, it’s not surprising that governments haven’t been advertising the deal.

In fact, many are noting that TISA is nothing more than an updated — and reinforced — version of the TPP. Bilaterals.org, noting that despite its unpopularity, the TPP is still being used as the model for TISA, explains:

“Several proposed texts from the failed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement have been transferred to TISA — including state-owned enterprises; rights to hold data offshore (including financial data); e-commerce; and prohibitions on performance requirements for foreign investors.”

While these proposals originated in the U.S., which has since pulled out of the deal, Bilaterals.org points out that “they appear to be supported by other members of the TPP” and, as such, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, through the Trade in Services Agreement, still has the potential to become the “new norm.”

And to that idea, the organization concluded quite succinctly:

“TPP cannot be allowed to become the new ‘default’ position for these flawed agreements.”

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Here’s How Trump Killing The TPP Benefits China

January 24, 2017   |   Darius Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA) — Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump has done plenty to provoke all manner of conflict with China. He has made it clear that he will not be pressured into accepting their One-China policy, nor will he accept their territorial claims in the South China Sea. For some commentators, his position is incredibly confusing given his support and admiration for Vladimir Putin, a staunch ally of China.

More confusing is Trump’s decision to dismantle the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), as this is seen to be a huge victory for China. China was notably left out of discussions and negotiations of the TPP even though China is the world’s second-biggest economy, making up 30 percent of the world’s GDP.

The TPP was, therefore, an integral part of Obama’s China containment strategy (known as the “pivot to Asia”). When the TPP was finalized in 2015, Obama stated: “TPP allows America – and not countries like China – to write the rules of the road in the 21st Century.”

Given his strongman approach to China, why would Trump not support such an initiative?

The TPP was negotiated in secret, behind closed doors with some 600 corporate representatives involved. The deal was seen as largely benefiting the corporate elite, particularly because of its investor-state dispute clause, which allows corporations to sue governments for loss of profits they haven’t even acquired yet — something that has already been attempted in a number of countries. Supposedly, the Trump administration does care about the impact of such an agreement on the American working class, as there was no guarantee that corporations would spend their increased profits on hiring or wages.

However, now that Trump has effectively killed the agreement, according to CNN, Chinese leaders are already angling to take the United States’ place in the agreement and expand their influence in the region notes:

“Obama had pitched the TPP as a way to counter China’s growing influence by imposing US-backed labor, environmental and patent protections. China is unlikely to seek or support such protections in its own trade negotiations — allowing those countries to produce cheaper goods, but with fewer worker protections.”

But how well will the other individual parties welcome China’s emerging role in their agreement? Apparently, quite well. Forbes stated that countries like Australia are already signaling they would support a China-led regional trade deal.

The Washington Post commented:

“Economists have warned that many of Trump’s proposals — including suggestions that he would impose blanket double-digit tariffs on goods from Mexico and China — could backfire on the American economy by causing prices to rise or igniting a trade war. And business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had lobbied extensively for passage of TPP, touting the deal as an engine of job growth and an important check on China’s growing ambitions.” [emphasis added]

However, President Trump has made it clear that the TPP is only dead in its current form, and he will negotiate free trade agreements with the individual parties to the TPP, instead. What those agreements will entail remains to be seen; perhaps each agreement will pose an even more direct attack on China’s position in the global economy and force the individual countries to rely more on the United States than the Asian market. If that is the case, China’s ability to capitalize on Trump’s withdrawal from the TPP may prove harder than anticipated.

As such, amid concerns of what’s to come, China has cautioned itself not to gloat following Trump’s withdrawal from the TPP. That being said, New Zealand has said it is not going to “sit around and wait” for a free trade agreement with the Trump administration and is looking to keep the TPP alive with the original members. Neighboring Australia has stated that Indonesia, South Korea, and China are still capable of joining.

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This article (Here’s How Trump Killing The TPP Benefits China) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Darius Shahtahmasebi and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

Trump Signs 3 Major Executive Orders, Doing Exactly What He Said He Would

WASHINGTON – President Trump signed three executive orders Monday to begin his first full week in the White House, fulling campaign promises and sending signals to his base that he isn’t backing down on major pledges.

The Creators Of Adventures In Odyssey Have A Brand New Project!

The executive orders:

• Freeze most hiring within the federal government. Exceptions will be made for the military.


• Defund organizations like International Planned Parenthood that promote or perform abortion in other countries. By restoring the so-called Mexico City Policy, Trump is following in the footsteps of Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Presidents Clinton and Obama rescinded the policy.


• Withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the free-trade deal that had drawn the ire of both liberals and conservatives. (Listen to Off The Grid Radio’s in-depth show about TPP here.)

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” he said of the TPP order. “[It’s a] great thing for the American worker.”

Conservatives applauded his signing of the Mexico City Policy order.

“American taxpayer dollars have many good uses, but paying for elective abortions overseas is not and never has been one of them,” said Steven H. Aden, senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom. “The president has done the right and logical thing in reinstating a policy that never should have been rescinded.”

Do you agree with Trump’s signing of the orders? Share your thoughts in the section below:

Trump Abandons, Dismantles The TPP!

By Brandon Turbeville

On January 23, 2017 President Donald Trump made clear that the United States is no longer pursuing the horrific trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In an Executive Order, Trump officially abandoned and disbanded the TPP which the Obama administration, Congressional hacks, Wall Street, and major corporations had worked for eight years to solidify.

Much of the text of the TPP was unknown to American citizens since it was lobbied and created in secret. However, leaked sections of the document revealed a plan to not only “remove barriers on trade” which, in reality, is political speak for NAFTA on steroids and a massive sucking sound of American jobs fleeing across the Pacific, but also that the TPP contained a number of frightening points that would have allowed for the corporate domination of the American regulatory system, copyright law, and the Internet as well as the American food supply.

As Brett Redmayne-Titley wrote for Activist Post in April, 2016,

If Americans don’t stop TPP corporations will literally be able to circumvent the existing laws of the EPA, FDA, trade unions, collective bargaining agreements, patent protections, banking regulations and many other American regulations and rights. All will be negated solely by the arbitrary diktats of corporations. This treason is being currently and secretly included in the language of the TPP treaty here in San Diego. Should state, local, or federal governmental agencies attempt to enforce American laws in favor of their citizens that conflict with the wishes of the multi-nationals, a separate corporate court will have supreme jurisdiction – and the last say – over any American governmental agency. Ominously called, “The Tribunal,” it has the power to override any existing American regulation. Absurdly, Federal agencies, State Gov’ts, City authorities, citizen’s property rights, and competing American corporate interests will be considered as the Defendant before this tribunal. When brought to the dock, these defendants – these nations – will be charged, by the plaintiff corporation, with a new crime: “Technical Barrier to Trade.” Really.

The TPP was estimated to cost at least 448,000 jobs by researchers. For more reading on this disastrous trade deal, I would recommend reading Derrick Broze’s article “TPP Trade Deal Will Cost US 448,000 Jobs, Say Researchers,” Jon Rappoport’s “The TPP, Monsanto, Rockefeller, Trilateral Commission, Brzezinski,” and “What’s The Deal With The TPP?” by Jeb Kicker. Please see also Dr. Chandra Muzaffar’s “Trans-Pacific Partnership – Threat To National Sovereignty,” Joseph Thomas’ “Saving Face: America’s TPP Disaster,” and “The TPP and GMOs: What’s So Bad About Death?” by Jon Rappoport,

Many analysts are suggesting that Trump’s Executive Order is a signal that the Trump administration truly plans a more protectionist trade policy. We certainly hope so.

We congratulate President Trump for ending the push for the disastrous TPP and we hope that NAFTA and the various other “free trade agreements” such as CAFTA, GATT, and the various bilateral agreements made between the U.S. and China are next on the chopping block. Indeed, this writer has long advocated for an end to the TPP, even including it in my list of demands for a political revolution.

We strongly encourage President Trump to continue his assault on the disastrous Free Trade policy that has so utterly devastated the American economy.

Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 850 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

This article may be freely shared in part or in full with author attribution and source link.

TPP is Officially Dead — Trump Signs Executive Order Withrawing US from Trade Deal

Washington, D.C. – The much maligned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a darling of the neoliberal establishment on both the left and the right, is dead in the water after President Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the controversial free-trade pact.

The TPP was the largest global trade agreement since NAFTA, and would have included the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Essentially the TPP was a policy move by the U.S. meant to create a trade bloc as a means of countering rising Chinese economic might — under the guise of an “Asian pivot” – but that was seen by many Americans as a give away to large multinational corporations.

Here is a short primer on the TPP and its partner legislation the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which reveal exactly how these deals were meant to operate:

Much of what the public knows about this secretive trade pact comes from leaks provided by the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks. If not for the information Wikileaks has provided, the public would be even more in the dark than they currently are, as to the details included within these trade deals.

Hillary Clinton was a supporter of the TPP, before later claiming to be against it, while her rival in the for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, railed against the trade pact on a regular basis as something that would hurt American workers.

Opposing the TPP was one of the central tenets of the Trump presidential campaign, as Trump attempted to tap into the angst of the blue collar working class that Senator Sanders had so effectively coalesced in his failed primary run. The new administration called the trade pact a “potential disaster” for the United States, and said they would instead prefer to engage in bilateral deals with the individual states involved in the trade deal.

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Critics of the TPP argue that it gives unfair competitive advantages to large multinational corporations. They also say that it takes away sovereignty from countries and gives it to small decision-making bodies that are not beholden to the public – thus further helping the rich get richer on the backs of the poor.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation laid out a succinct case against the TPP that revealed the far-reaching scope and dangers inherent to the trade deal:

In a joint letter to Congress released today, more than 250 technology companies and user rights organizations say that the extreme level of secrecy surrounding trade negotiations have led to provisions in agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that threaten digital innovation, free speech, and access to knowledge online, and the letter calls on Congress to come out against the Fast Track, also known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), bill for legitimizing this secretive process…

The letter specifically identifies the TPP’s threats based on leaked texts of the agreement—how it threatens fair use, could lead to more costly forms of online copyright enforcement, criminalize whistleblowing and investigative journalism, and create investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) courts that would further jeopardize user protections in domestic laws.

Negotiations for the European-focused parallel trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), also have come to a sudden end.

Additionally, it appears the Trump administration has it sights set on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated commercial barriers between the US, Canada and Mexico during the Clinton administration.

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“We are going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border,” Trump said on Sunday, after the swearing-in ceremony for senior White House staff.

It appears that this decision is one that many Americans, who aren’t part of the establishment-elite, were rooting for since long before Trump came onto the scene. Activists across the world have fought tirelessly to expose and defeat what they see as a give-away to industry and business at the expense of the average person.

Sources: Trump to sign executive orders Monday morning, pulling out of TPP, renegotiating NAFTA

(INTELLIHUB) — President Trump is scheduled to sign more executive orders around 10:30 a.m. Monday which will serve as a starting point for renegotiations regarding the botched North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and possibly a withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) altogether.

The NAFTA deal which began in 1994 was poorly negotiated according to Trump’s standards, who plans to make America great again by opening up better options.

The TPP was signed in early 2016 and includes a dozen countries throughout the Pacific Rim, including China and the U.S., but fell short of its goal and is purely overrated.

The above chart comes via Wikipedia, and lists all twelve countries involved.

Source: Trump to sign orders to renegotiate NAFTA, pull out of TPP: NBC — Reuters

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Trump Just Signed 3 Executive Orders, Withdraws US From TPP

January 23, 2017   |   admintam

(ZHE) As Zero Hedge previewed and was widely expected, President Trump has just signed 3 executive orders:

• *TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ACTION TO WITHDRAW FROM TPP


• *TRUMP SIGNS ORDER FOR FEDERAL HIRING FREEZE EXCEPT MILITARY


• *TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ACTION TO LIMIT ABORTION FUNDING OVERSEAS

Trump just signed executive orders to withdraw from TPP, limit abortion funding overseas, and limit federal hiring https://t.co/EYmHTvbi73 pic.twitter.com/uJ1crpIEyd

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) January 23, 2017

As AP reports, President Donald Trump is signing a memorandum to leave the proposed Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The move is basically a formality, since the agreement had yet to receive required Senate ratification. Trade experts say that approval was unlikely to happen given voters’ anxiety about trade deals and the potential for job losses.

It remains unclear if Trump would seek individual deals with the 11 other nations in TPP— a group that represents roughly 13.5 percent of the global economy, according to World Bank figures.

Trump has blamed past trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization for a decline in U.S. factory jobs.

Trump was forceful in his comments after the signing, noting that exiting TPP “is a great thing for the American worker.”

A second Executive order confirms a federal hiring freeze, “except for military,” President Trump tells reporters while signing order.

President Donald Trump is signing a memorandum that freezes hiring for some federal government workers as a way to reduce payrolls and rein in the size of the federal workforce.

Trump’s directive is fulfilling one of his campaign promises. He tells reporters that members of the military will be exempted from the hiring freeze.

The new president has vowed to take on the federal bureaucracy and the action could be the first step in an attempt to curtail government employment.

The memorandum signed by Trump’s is similar to one that President George W. Bush signed at the start of his administration in 2001.

And a third executive order saw President Donald Trump is reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option.

The regulation has been something of a political football, instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984.

Most recently, President Barack Obama ended the ban in 2009.

Trump signed it one day after the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States, the date which is traditionally when presidents take action on the policy.

The policy also prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that lobby to legalize abortion or promote it as a family planning method.

Here is a brief summary of what Trump can (and can not do) on day one. Exhibit 3 lists the President’s “Contract with Voters”, which includes several items that can be accomplished through executive action but involves significant legislative activity as well.

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This article (Trump Just Signed 3 Executive Orders, Withdraws US From TPP) by Tyler Durden originally appeared on ZeroHedge.com and was used with permission. Tune in! Anti-Media Radio airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: edits@theantimedia.org.

Secret Corporate Government Merger — Known as the TPP — is Finally Dead

By Claire Bernish

In perhaps the least ceremonious victory for U.S. and international activists, the decidedly abhorrent Trans-Pacific Partnership — a corporate giveaway of phenomenal proportions — effectively died yesterday.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle announced the much-maligned, so-called ‘free trade’ deal — which would have inextricably tied the U.S. to Asia and given corporations unprecedented powers over governments — would not be pursued in the lame duck session before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

President Obama had hoped the massive, 12-nation agreement would come to fruition under a Hillary Clinton presidency, but with her defeat and Trump’s promise to roll back the previous, similarly-modeled North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), all prospects of passage melted away.

Further, the deal’s secreted negotiations and WikiLeaks’ publishing of enormously controversial sections — such as the Intellectual Property chapter — left the American public leery and increasingly contemptuous of what, in essence, constituted a gigantic corporate power-grab. Aware of growing skepticism among voters, Republicans previously supporting the TPP dialed back their enthusiasm in recent months.

As the Wall Street Journal reports,

Winning a majority of votes for the TPP in the House and Senate would have required both a last-minute deal to address Republican priorities and an election result that didn’t show such broad discontent.

Neither occurred. Since the election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) have said no to bringing the TPP to a vote in the lame duck session, despite the strong support of many senators in both parties for freer trade.

Despite going out with just a fizzle, the death of the TPP is no less a victory for the people. Although it will await Trump once he takes the White House in January, it’s doubtful the new president — who may, indeed, tone down previous radical ideas to better attune to the establishment — would revive the abominated deal.

In a statement cited by the WSJ, Rep. Kevin Brady said Wednesday “this important agreement is not ready to be considered during the lame duck and will remain on hold until President Trump decides the path forward.”

Clamoring but failing to be included in the deal in the months leading up to the U.S. election, China could now continue its current path spurning American involvement in its trade and economy. In fact, as nations in the Asia-Pacific region continue to foment an alliance both amongst themselves and with Russia, further tariff-eliminating trade deals aren’t likely to include the U.S. at all.

In the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will reportedly seek trade arrangements with less strictures than had been included in the TPP, such as environmental restrictions, labor protections, and tightly-constrained rules about intellectual property.

Additionally, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — which includes ten “members of the Association of South East Asian Nations plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand” — also presents direct competition for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Business Insider reports.

“China is always positively advancing work on its own regional free-trade strategy,” said deputy international trade representative, Zhang Xiangchen, quoted by Business Insider. “We, indeed, are continuously and positively advancing RCEP negotiations.”

Beijing feared U.S. protectionism under the TPP would cause economic isolation in the region, but the death of the agreement — and warming alliances with its neighbors — offers a chance for China to fully assert dominance it has been building financially and militarily.

Repercussions from the presidential election echo on the opposite side of the globe as well, as negotiations for the European-focused parallel trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), also came to a screeching halt.

Whether or not U.S. officials will begin to switch focus from the international to the domestic in the coming administration has yet to be seen, but the predicted death of the TPP certainly portends that possibility. Trump’s sometimes vitriolic rhetoric apparently did not spark sufficient malaise for voters soured on the TPP and other proposed trade deals once he denounced the plans as special interests attempting to “rape” the country, as the WSJ noted.

As with quickly heightening tensions and utter unpredictability trailing the election of a non-politician to arguably the seat of highest power on the planet, the killing of the TPP only occurred for the odd turn of events. Its abrupt and inelegant demise — however it came about — will undoubtedly be welcome news for many.

Claire Bernish writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared.