66 Story #5: The Trump Shock “He [President Trump] criticizes the Russians all the time. He knows the Russians are not good guys. We should be focused on how we bring the Cold War to an end, so we don’t have to – and I think it was President Obama’s program, $1 trillion to up- grade the nuclear arsenal. Is that what you wan- na do? Is that where you wanna spend your money? Would you rather spend $1 trillion in Cleveland, in Baltimore, in the inner cities of this country where we need to spend it, in the heartland of this nation? And I think what he’s trying to say, in a world of anarchy, do you need another enemy?” – STEVE BANNON on 60 Minutes, after resigning from the White House staff It was a raucous, attention-grabbing year in American politics. The Bush-Clinton faction that had so successfully engineered the financial coup lost control of the Executive branch to a faction that wanted to insource the defense industrial establishment back to North Amer- ica and reduce global military risk. This was described in Catherine’s article The Productivity Backlash after the election. • The US Presidential Election – The Produc- tivity Backlash The year began with the Trump transition team getting over their surprise at winning and en- gaged in trench warfare, trying to get candidates vetted by the FBI and approved by Congress. The Trump administration has had a challeng- ing time getting their team in place. The Solari Report covered the transition and the first few months of the administration in our 1st Quarter 2017 Wrap Up. • 1st Quarter 2017 Wrap Up – The Clash of Civilizations – can a new administration pre- serve a prosperous economy without more debt, crime and war? There were plenty of turnovers, as the White House staff experienced infighting or were replaced by people with more experience at gov- ernance and managing complex bureaucracies. • The Political Assassination of Michael Flynn • Steve Bannon’s Apocalyptic ‘Unravelling’ • Trump Replaces Chief of Staff Priebus with Retired General Kelly Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Judge Scalia’s death. It was the first step in an unprecedented opportunity to appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges. • Trump May Get Most Federal Judicial Ap- pointments since 1950s The 1st Quarter Wrap Up started our practice of preparing a report card for the Trump adminis- tration with Dr. Joseph Farrell. To see our up- dated grades, check out the Trump Report Card. • Trump Report Card The election came as a surprise to a corporate media that had assumed a Clinton victory. It was also a surprise to the Clinton faction as well as members of the Congress and Washington establishment who enjoyed the rich fruits of the Clinton pay-to-play network and the financial coup d’état. The establishment could not under- stand and adjust to a post-financial coup world. The result was a war of words between the cor- porate media and President Trump and an effort by disappointed Democrats to both reverse the IV. NEWS TRENDS & STORIES