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The White House • February 26, 2019

President Trump lands in Vietnam for second historic summit with North Korea Air Force One touched down in Hanoi, Vietnam, at 8:54 a.m. ET this morning as President Donald J. Trump prepares for his second summit with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea this week. “As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” President Trump said in this month’s State of the Union address. Last June’s meeting in Singapore marked the first time in history that an American president has met with the leader of North Korea. This week’s summit looks to build on the progress made that day, including transformed relations between the two countries and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula—a goal that seemed virtually unachievable for decades. America’s negotiations with Chairman Kim are already producing results, both for our citizens and for our allies: North Korea has not conducted a nuclear weapons or missile test in more than 400 days. The regime has committed to dismantling its plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities. American citizens are no longer detained in North Korea. North Korea has returned remains of Americans who died during the Korean War—and President Trump is working to return more. President Trump’s strategy is working where past administrations have failed for one reason above all else: America wins when it negotiates from a position of strength. Upon taking office, President Trump mobilized a global coalition to enforce a maximum pressure campaign on the regime in Pyongyang. He made clear that the world would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea—and that provocations would come with a cost. Now, instead of hopelessness, there is opportunity. The President has made clear that should Chairman Kim follow through on his promise to denuclearize, the Trump Administration will work to ensure there are economic development options for North Korea. The United States and its partners are prepared to explore how to mobilize investment, improve infrastructure, enhance food security, and more. “Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months,” President Trump told Congress three weeks ago. There is still work to be done, but the early returns are clear: A strong United States of America makes for a stronger, safer world. Tod Lindberg: Why the Trump approach beats the Obama one The facts: President Trump’s historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead President Donald J. Trump arrives at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam. | February 26, 2019 An inside look at President Trump’s Hanoi summit Twelve hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time in Hanoi, Vietnam, President Donald J. Trump is preparing now for his second day of talks with Chairman Kim Jong Un. The President’s first full day in Hanoi included both a one-on-one conversation and dinner with the North Korean leader. “I think that your country has tremendous economic potential,” President Trump told Chairman Kim. If North Korea continues to choose engagement with the United States and honors its commitments to denuclearize, the future for its people can be bright. “I look forward to watching it happen,” President Trump said. “And we will help it to happen.” Watch President Trump greet Chairman Kim in Hanoi   President Trump: “I think the biggest progress was our relationship”   Photos from the President’s dinner with Chairman Kim   Earlier in the day, President Trump met with President Nguyen Phu Trong of Vietnam—and delivered on another crucial promise to American voters. More than 83,000 American jobs will be supported by new commercial trade deals between Vietnamese airlines and American companies. President Trump, alongside President Trong, participated in the signing of a plan this morning that agrees to the purchase of new planes, engines, and services from U.S. manufacturers. The agreements are worth more than $21 billion in sum. “We appreciate very much that you’re reducing the trade deficit with the United States, which was very substantial before I got here,” President Trump told Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. “And now we’re bringing it down with great orders like the orders that you made today.” By the numbers: America’s new commercial trade deal with Vietnam   Watch highlights of the President meeting with Vietnam’s leaders   Follow President Trump’s trip to Vietnam in photos What Nicolas Maduro doesn’t want you to see Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, an American citizen, and five members of his team were detained and later released in Venezuela on Monday by Nicolas Maduro. The reason? Maduro “didn’t like the questions” he was being asked, Univision reports. What didn't Maduro want the world to see when he detained these journalists and seized Ramos’ equipment? The answer is that while Venezuelans starve and are forced to scavenge in garbage trucks for food, Maduro's thugs are setting fire to aid supplies. The walls are closing in on the dictatorship in Caracas. Read the full story. In photos: Vice President Mike Pence meets Venezuelans in Colombia on Monday. Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead President Donald J. Trump is greeted by Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, for their second summit meeting | February 27, 2019 The White House • February 25, 2019 A new day is coming for Venezuela Today, Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Bogota, Colombia, reaffirming President Donald J. Trump’s support for the people of Venezuela in their struggle for freedom against the socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. Joined by interim President Juan Guaido, whom President Trump officially recognized as Venezuela’s head of state last month, the Vice President stood near other leaders from the region “at a momentous hour for the people of Venezuela and for the progress of freedom in this hemisphere.” “Just days ago, as the world watched, the tyrant in Caracas danced as his henchmen burned truckloads of food and medicine, and murdered civilians,” Vice President Pence said. “Saturday was a tragic day for the families of those who lost their lives . . . It was also a tragic day for the suffering people of Venezuela.” Quoting President Trump, he looked to the future: “A new day is coming in Latin America.” The United States has imposed tough sanctions on Maduro and members of his previous regime, blocking assets in the U.S. owned or controlled by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. These actions build on international efforts to disconnect Maduro and his cronies from revenue sources, while preserving critical assets for the future of Venezuela. At the same time, America continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people. Food and medicine remain exempt from our sanctions. More than 3 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015—and that number may swell to more than 5 million by the end of 2019, according to the United Nations. The past few days of suffering has only steeled America’s resolve to support the people of Venezuela, Vice President Pence said. He called the struggle at hand one between dictatorship and democracy, oppression and freedom, and pain versus prosperity. “To the good people of Venezuela: Seek your freedom,” the Vice President said. “We will go with you. You go with God. Vayan con Dios.” Worth your time: Read Vice President Pence’s words to the people of Venezuela. A powerful photo: Vice President Pence to Juan Guaido: “We are with you 100%.” Our border crisis is real Over the weekend, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Marine Gen. Joe Dunford—chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—visited Texas to get a firsthand look at the crisis on America’s southern border. Unlike many in Washington, these two leaders wanted to join President Trump in hearing directly from the people most affected, including law enforcement officers who deal with the consequences each and every day. President Trump met with Border Patrol officials in McAllen, Texas, during a trip there last month. “We have amazing people down there doing a very, very difficult job,” Acting Secretary Shanahan explained. U.S. officials on the border told him that barriers work and should be part of any real solution. “Any place where someone can cross the border and disappear within seconds or minutes, that's where you need barriers,” he said. On February 15, President Trump declared a national emergency to address the security and humanitarian crisis at our border. Past presidents have regularly used these executive actions to confront ongoing problems: 10 such national emergencies were declared by President Obama, one of which dealt with the threat of criminal cartels—including cartels operating on our southern border. States have used emergency declarations responding to crises at the border in the past, as well. In 2005, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) declared a state of emergency along the border, claiming the area had “been devastated by the ravages and terror” of human trafficking, drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder, and other crimes. Now it is time for the Federal Government to step up and do its part. There’s a crisis at our border—and President Trump is ensuring we end it.  Watch: Texas sheriff explains how illegal immigration hurts his community. Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen Vice President Mike Pence, President Juan Guaido of Venezuela, and President Iván Duque Márquez of Colombia | February 25, 2019 President Trump Has Made Unthinkable Progress on North Korea “Since 1949, the United States and our allies have been engaged in a complicated, high-stakes efforts to reduce the global threat posed by North Korea. The result? An isolated authoritarian regime with a sophisticated nuclear arsenal many thought unachievable,” Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) writes in USA Today. “Enter President Donald Trump, who was elected to shake up the status quo. With his bold new tack in dealing with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, we are closer to discovering a path to peace than we’ve been in decades. That progress was unthinkable little more than two years ago.” Click here to read more. Yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Bogota, Colombia to meet with Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido and announce new sanctions against the Maduro regime, Emily Ward reports for the Washington Examiner. “To the people of Venezuela, including members of the Armed Forces: The United States of America stands with you if you will stand for freedom,” the Vice President said. “President Donald Trump reacted on Twitter Monday evening after the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, which would have ensured that babies who survive abortions are given medical attention, failed to pass the Senate,” Evie Fordham reports in The Daily Caller. “Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children . . . this will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress,” the President tweeted.   “An alleged member of the MS-13 gang wanted in connection with murder, attempted murder and extortion was arrested in Pensacola last week,” Kevin Robinson writes in the Pensacola News Journal. The charges are “tied to a 2018 indictment charging more than two dozen alleged MS-13 members of racketeering activity that included murders, attempted murders, conspiracies to commit murder, extortion, robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking and money laundering.” “Proponents of the ‘Green New Deal’ have called it ambitious and visionary, comparing it to putting a man on the moon,” Daniel Turner writes in RealClearEnergy. “The opposite is true. From its rosy portrayal of socialist policies like a government takeover of healthcare to its calls to bring back mid-20th century labor policies, the ‘Green New Deal’ is the most backwards-looking plan the left has put forward in decades.” Rep. Adam Kinzinger's Report from the Border: More Drugs, More Human Trafficking “Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., has been deployed to the southern border as a member of the Air National Guard four times now, and says he's never seen more drug smuggling and human trafficking than he did on his most recent deployment this month,” Anna Giaritelli writes. “Before going on my recent border mission with the Air National Guard, I was neutral on the need for a declaration of national emergency,” Rep. Kinzinger wrote on Facebook yesterday. “After witnessing the dangerous drug cartels and heinous human trafficking cases, I am more convinced than ever that this is the right thing to do for the safety and security of our country.” Click here to read more. In Bloomberg, Katia Dmitrieva reports that U.S. economic growth beat expectations as business investment picked up and GDP rose to 2.6 percent last quarter. “The report shows how Republican-backed tax cuts may have continued to aid growth and help bring the full-year figure to 3.1 percent, just above President Donald Trump’s 3 percent goal.” In Fox News, James Jay Carafano writes that President Trump sent a message that matters by ending the North Korea summit. “The ongoing pressure campaign is what actually protects us and our allies from the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. To relax the pressure before Kim gives up his nukes would put Americans at risk. Thankfully, the president stuck to his negotiating objectives . . . Trump is not Obama. He won’t cut a deal just so he can say he cut a deal.” “The White House on Wednesday praised airlines in Vietnam for signing agreements to purchase more than $20 billion in U.S.-built planes and technology. President Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong attended a signing ceremony that involved trade deals between a number of airline companies based in the two countries,” Zachary Halaschak reports in the Washington Examiner. These agreements reflect the deep economic partnership between the United States and Vietnam today.