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The White House • August 26, 2019 5 big takeaways from President Trump at the G-7 Summit Today, President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump return home after attending this year’s G-7 Summit in Biarritz, France. President Trump met with world leaders to strengthen our alliances, secure better trade deals, and—as always—keep the interests of the American people front and center on the global stage.  The summit began in 1975 as an opportunity for world leaders to meet face-to-face and find solutions to the most pressing modern-day global challenges. This year was no exception, as President Trump worked with our allies to chart a course toward even more prosperity both here at home and around the world. Here are a few of the biggest takeaways from the trip:   A message of unity. President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of host nation France held a joint press conference earlier today. Over the weekend, they worked together to achieve progress on a number of fronts, including global security, fair trade practices, and better economic opportunity for all. “I want to thank you very much, Mr. President, for the incredible job you did. This is a truly successful G-7,” President Trump said.   Securing a billion-dollar trade deal. One of the biggest wins from the summit was President Trump’s announcement of locking in a trade agreement with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. The deal secures market access for a number of American agricultural goods, and Japan has agreed to purchase large sums of our farmers’ corn.   Promoting USMCA. With Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by his side, President Trump talked about the importance of expanding America’s trading partnership with our neighbors by passing the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement. With both Canada and Mexico having essentially finalized it, President Trump noted that it’s time for American lawmakers to do the same. “Our farmers love it, the unions love it, the workers love it, manufacturers love it . . . hopefully that’ll be put to a vote very soon.”   Developing stronger trade with Europe. While meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Trump discussed how best to meet global and regional security challenges and previewed even better trade relations to come with Germany and the European Union. Germany is “a great trading partner,” he said. “And we probably think we’re going to be upping the trade over a very short period of time.”   Helping to reduce India-Pakistan tensions. In his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump reaffirmed the need for dialogue between India and Pakistan and also worked to build on the great economic relations between our nations. In photos: President Trump attends the G-7 Summit in Biarritz, France. At the G-7: President Trump is working with our allies to build a better future Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead President Trump joins G-7 Leaders and Extended G-7 members as they pose for the “family photo” at the G-7 Extended Partners Program Sunday evening at the Hotel du Palais Biarritz | August 25, 2019 President Trump and the G-7 – These are the Three Big Scores from Biarritz “This is the third G-7 meeting for President Trump, and by far, the best,” Rebecca Grant writes in Fox News. “Before Trump became president, few noticed these meetings of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States, which have been taking place since 1975.” Topping the list of issues at the summit was Iran, where President Trump made his conditions clear: “No nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles, and a longer timeline for a new Iran deal.” Thanks to cooperation at the G-7, the groundwork for progress toward Iran meeting those goals may be closer than ever. Click here to read more. “The Trump administration announced last week it will terminate the Flores settlement agreement, a 1997 court decree that has prevented U.S. officials from detaining migrant families and unaccompanied minors for more than 20 days. Media coverage predictably—and inaccurately—warned of ‘indefinite detention’ for families and children caught crossing the southwest border,” John Daniel Davidson writes in The Wall Street Journal. “But ending the settlement was the right call. More than any other single policy, it has created a magnet for illegal immigration, essentially guaranteeing entry to unaccompanied minors and any adult who crosses the Rio Grande with a child.” “President Trump got slammed by all sides for suddenly escalating his economic war with China on Friday. But for Americans who have lost a family member or friend to the Chinese-made street drug fentanyl, Trump’s harsh pivot is the right move,” Betsy McCaughey writes in the New York Post. “In the last three years alone, fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids manufactured in Chinese labs have killed some 79,000 Americans. That’s more than the American combatants killed in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined.” “We live in the age of narratives, where propagandized storylines, not facts, matter. Leaked remarks from a recent town hall meeting that The New York Times hosted for its employees show how a mainstream newsroom today transitions from one anti-Trump smear to the next. When will the fake news end?” Jason Meister asks in Fox News. Executive Editor Dean Baquet’s remarks make one thing clear: The Times is deliberately trying out a new narrative in response to the discredited Russia collusion storyline. Irresponsible Dem Attacks on ICE Inspire Violence by Domestic Terrorists “Some prominent Democrats have declared war on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), threatening the lives of federal officials in order to advance a radical political agenda and a policy of open borders,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd writes for Fox News. In the past month alone, there have been four attacks on ICE employees and facilities. “Unfortunately, Democrats and their media enablers routinely downplay left-wing violence – and in some cases actively encourage it. Instead of condemning the attacks, leading Democrats and much of the mainstream media have acted as though they never happened. This is an intolerable dereliction of duty, especially on the part of the supposed ‘guardians of democracy’ in the press.” Click here to read more. “White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told Breitbart News she is ‘disgusted’ by the racism and antisemitism displayed by New York Times politics editor Tom Wright-Piersanti,” Matthew Boyle reports. Wright-Piersanti, an editor on the Times’ politics desk, has made a number of comments he himself called “offensive” on Twitter. “When Vice President Mike Pence stepped off Air Force Two on Wednesday, 10-year-old Alex Taylor was waiting on the tarmac — alongside his mother, Jennie, and Gov. Gary Herbert,” Lisa Riley Roche reports for Deseret News. “Alex, the son of the late Utah National Guard Maj. Brent Taylor, who was killed in an insider attack on a Kabul, Afghanistan, training center in November 2018, described being part of the welcoming party and meeting the vice president as ‘really cool’ as he clutched a commemorative Air Force Two coin he’d received as a gift.” “On an airboat tour Tuesday, accompanied by Fox News, Border Patrol members carved through the Rio Grande looking for trouble, slowing down occasionally to peer into the trees. This time, they didn’t find it,” Adam Shaw writes. Migrant crossings are down significantly and Sector Chief Patrol Agent Felix Chavez credits President Trump’s push to get Mexico to cooperate with immigration efforts. “What we’ve seen here in Laredo Sector is a reduction in 30 percent in our apprehension numbers, southwest border-wide numbers are down 38 percent,” Chavez said. “The USMCA is vital for farmers and businesses of all sizes across Michigan, and we need our Representatives in D.C. to urge Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring this to a vote this summer so that we can begin to experience the benefits of this modernized trade deal,” former Speaker of the Michigan House Lew Dodak writes in The Detroit News. USMCA is 21st-Century Enhancement America Needs “Just like the unseen parts used to make automobiles and airplanes work, the contributions of the Keystone State are often experienced — even if not always seen — every day around the world. The products manufactured in Pennsylvania help make the world function, but all of that could slow down if a critical trade agreement with our North American neighbors is not approved by Congress,” writes Jason Wilburn, president of Foerster Instruments, in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “NAFTA is now more than 25 years old and in need of an update . . . We need to cut the red tape and the arduous regulations that make it harder to do business. The USMCA does this for small manufacturers. If the USMCA is ratified, businesses like mine will be able to continue doing what we do best.” Click here to read more. “Amid last week’s debate over whether Israel should have issued waivers to Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, and allowed them to promote the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement from within Israel, two scandals went largely unreported. The first scandal is that Tlaib and Omar’s trip was planned by the antisemitic, pro-terror Miftah organization. The second scandal was the establishment media’s whitewashing of the first scandal,” Warren Henry writes for The Federalist. In The Wall Street Journal, Heather Mac Donald explains who is really dividing Americans by race. “Mr. Trump rarely uses racial categories in his speech or his tweets. It is the media and Democratic leaders who routinely characterize individuals and groups by race and issue race-based denunciations of large parts of the American polity,” she writes. “Foreign individuals should not be allowed to come to America in order to take advantage of its welfare programs. This shouldn't be a controversial statement. Federal law currently reflects this position. The Trump administration has finalized a regulation aimed at better implementing this law,” the Washington Examiner editorial board writes. “In today’s debates over immigration, we find it necessary to state what should be self-evident: All American laws ought to serve the American people." “President Donald Trump wrote a check to donate his second quarter 2019 salary to the office of the Surgeon General to fund an upcoming public health advisory . . . It’s his third salary donation to the Department of Health and Human Services,” Jayne O'Donnell reports for USA Today. “Trump pledged that he wouldn't accept his $400,000 annual presidential salary if elected. But because he has to be paid under law, he has been donating the payment to different [areas] of the federal government.” REAL NEWS PRESIDENT TRUMP DOESN'T WANT YOU TO MISS NBA Star Bob Cousy Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, Nation's Highest Civilian Honor -Fox News “Basketball legend Bob Cousy received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in an Oval Office ceremony on Thursday,” Frank Miles reports. Cousy played for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, winning six NBA championships and earning league MVP in 1957. “He is a great champion,” President Trump said.   Watch: President Trump presents the Medal of Freedom Trump Signs Order to Expedite Forgiving Student Loan Debt for Disabled Veterans -Courier-Journal “President Donald Trump signed a memo to automatically discharge federal student loan debt for permanently and totally disabled veterans during his visit to Louisville Wednesday, where he addressed more than 1,000 veterans,” Chris Kenning reports. The President vowed to eliminate “every penny” of the average $30,000 in student loan debt facing roughly 25,000 disabled veterans.   Watch: President Trump’s unwavering support for our wounded warriors Team Trump’s Humane Fix for Migrant Families Crossing the Border -New York Post “How do you stop the torrent of kids risking their lives and coming to America illegally? One key way: by finally fixing the Flores agreement, as President Trump hopes to do,” the New York Post editorial board writes. The cap “set up a Catch-22: If kids can’t be held more than 20 days, and no one wants to separate them from their parents (or other adults they come with), then the only option is to release the whole family. That creates an enormous incentive for adult migrants to bring kids along, even if the journey puts them in danger.” Tlaib, Omar All About Weakening Israel, They Stay Silent on Hamas, Palestinian Authority -Fox News “It should come as no shock that Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are unwelcome in Israel,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) writes. “The two congresswomen attack Israel while remaining silent on Hamas using women and children as human shields, denying humanitarian aid to its own people, calling jihad an obligation, and launching rockets into Israel that kill innocent civilians.” American Workers Are Winning -Fox Business “The U.S. economy has added millions of jobs, and even long-neglected sectors like manufacturing are having a resurgence,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross writes. Economic health has rebounded from the lows of the Obama Administration: “For the first time since 2009, year over year nominal hourly wage growth met or surpassed 3 percent under the Trump Administration.” Irresponsible Dem Attacks on ICE Inspire Violence by Domestic Terrorists -Fox News “Some prominent Democrats have declared war on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), threatening the lives of federal officials in order to advance a radical political agenda and a policy of open borders,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd writes. “Unfortunately, Democrats and their media enablers routinely downplay left-wing violence – and in some cases actively encourage it.” Justice: 64% of Federal Arrests are Noncitizens, With a 200% Increase -Washington Examiner “Federal arrests of noncitizens have jumped over 200% in the last 20 years and now account for 64% of those arrested,” Paul Bedard reports. “Over that 20-year period, groups such as MS-13 have surged, first in urban areas and recently into rural communities, and drug and human trafficking have also increased over the U.S.-Mexico border.”   Watch: Wall construction is underway near Otay Mesa, California!