Trump arrives in Japan, kicking off 4-day state visit with trade talks at its center

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump landed in Japan on Saturday, kicking off a highly anticipated state visit -- with the president to become the first foreign leader to meet Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito.
The trip, which will last through Tuesday, comes amid fears among Japanese political and business leaders that U.S. tariffs on the auto industry will have a crippling effect on the Asian nation's economy.
The president’s first stop was a dinner with business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Tokyo after a brief airport welcome.
Trump told reporters that he’s working to introduce “fairness and reciprocity” in the new American-Japanese trade agreement.
“Japan has had a substantial edge for many, many years but that’s OK," Trump said during remarks with the business leaders in Tokyo, noting that negotiators were “hard at work” on the trade talks. “We’ll get it a little bit more fair.”

“Japan has had a substantial edge for many, many years but that’s ok. We’ll get it a little bit more fair.”
— President Trump

He added that the new trade deal will “address the trade imbalance” and eliminate the existing “barriers to U.S. exports.”
Japan enjoys a $70 billion trade surplus with the U.S, while it imports just a fraction of U.S. goods and imposes protective measures against competition from other countries, a source of frustration for Trump, who sees tariffs as a corrective measure.

President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Japanese business leaders, Saturday, in Tokyo. (Associated Press)

Japan is expected to use the state visit as a charm offensive to convince Trump to spare the country of the punitive tariffs.
To fulfill this task, Trump is officially the first foreign leader invited to meet with the country’s new Emperor Naruhito, who inherited the throne earlier this month, a fact Trump gleefully acknowledged earlier this week. The emperor will treat Trump to a meeting and host an imperial banquet in Trump's honor.
“Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe said to me, very specifically, 'You are the guest of honor.' There's only one guest of honor ... I'm the guest of honor at the biggest event that they've had in over 200 years,” Trump said this week.
“So it's a great thing. And we get along very well with Japan. I get along very well with the prime minister.”

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and first lady Melania Trump arrive at the Haneda International Airport Saturday, May 25, 2019, in Tokyo. (Associated Press)

During the first remarks in Japan, Trump also stressed that Japan is buying military equipment from the U.S., which he says was a sign of threats in the world.
“We make the best equipment in the world -- the best jets, missiles, the best rockets, the best everything,” he said. “So Japan is doing very large orders and we appreciate that.”
“It's probably appropriate for everything going on,” he added. “The world is changing.”

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, is greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, left, on Trump's arrival at the Haneda International Airport Saturday, May 25, 2019, in Tokyo. (Associated Press)

On Sunday, Trump and Abe are expected to play golf and then watch a sumo wrestling tournament in front-row seats. Trump previously called the sport “fascinating.”
Only on Monday will the two leaders sit down to talk about trade. A possibility of a trade deal is reportedly on the table, but officials on neither side committed to such goal. (Because of the Japan trip, Trump paid a pre-Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, to honor America's war dead.)
The U.S. and Japanese leaders will also discuss the threat from North Korea, an issue that comes in the wake of U.S. national security adviser John Bolton’s comments on Friday that a series of short-range missile tests by North Korea last month was a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

U.S. President Donald Trump, second from left, reviews an honor guard during a welcome ceremony, escorted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Nov. 6, 2017. (Associated Press)

But it remains to be seen whether the celebrations and close relationship between Trump and Abe will be enough to force Washington to reconsider imposing tariffs on Japanese auto exports.
The Trump administration is currently embroiled in a trade war against China over the country’s treatment of American companies.
Yet the administration has been tough and criticized both Japan and the European Union for, in its view, unfair trade practices that exploit the U.S. economy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CNN now the 'hate Trump' network, ex-contributors say: Network 'openly despises conservatives'

Several conservative commentators who were previously employed by CNN are now speaking out against the network, claiming its current identity is "anti-Trump" instead of neutral, as it claims to be. One claims the network "openly despises conservatives."
"Most of us got squeezed out involuntarily,” Jack Kingston, a former Georgia congressman who appeared on the network, told Mediaite. “I was there for two years and was certainly willing to continue. It was clear to me in the end that the Republicans they prefer are anti-Trump Republicans.”

"Most of us got squeezed out involuntarily. I was there for two years and was certainly willing to continue. It was clear to me in the end that the Republicans they prefer are anti-Trump Republicans.”
— Jack Kingston, former Georgia congressman

Former U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston and his wife Libby are seen in Atlanta, May 20, 2014. (Associated Press)

Conservatives come and go

Pro-Trump contributors at CNN seem to have come and gone in recent months. Last week, the network fired former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as reports indicated he was being considered for a high-ranking immigration post in the Department of Homeland Security.
Earlier this year, CNN fired economic analyst Stephen Moore after President Trump nominated him to serve on the Federal Reserve Board. But Moore withdrew from consideration after CNN and other outlets reported old derogatory remarks he made about women and the Obamas.
Previously, CNN let go other commentators who supported President Trump. Contributors Jeffrey Lord and Ed Martin were fired for remarks they made outside the network. Paris Denard was let go after he was accused of sexual misconduct from a previous job. The contracts of Kingston and former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer were not renewed. And former Trump campaign and administration officials Corey Lewandowski, Marc Short and Jason Miller all had short-lived paid contributorships.

Perceived animus

In addition to Kingston, other ex-CNN contributors weighed in on the perceived animus toward them at the so-called "neutral" cable news network in a report by Mediaite.
Moore has particularly been outspoken about his frustration with CNN.
“Who are the Republicans, John Kasich? He hates Trump!” Moore said, referring to the former Republican governor of Ohio, whom CNN recently hired. "CNN is the 'hate Trump' network. They just trash Trump every single hour of every single day. All they’ve talked about for two years is the Mueller report and how bad does it make them look now that it proved nothing."

"Who are the Republicans, John Kasich? He hates Trump! CNN is the 'hate Trump' network. They just trash Trump every single hour of every single day."
— Stephen Moore, writer and commentator

Stephen Moore left CNN after President Trump nominated him to serve on the Federal Reserve Board.

Former Trump campaign deputy communications director Bryan Lanza left the network, claiming CNN's only identity is "anti-Trump," not "conservative versus liberal.”

'Last-place performance'

“If you hate Trump, you tune to CNN to validate your hatred,” Lanza told Mediaite. “Not sure it’s a winning formula -- and I’m validated by their last-place performance against other outlets.”

“If you hate Trump, you tune to CNN to validate your hatred.”
— Bryan Lanza, former Trump campaign deputy communications director

“CNN used to pretend it accepted right-wing voices for balance, but now it openly despises conservatives who are pro-Trump,” former CNN contributor Buck Sexton, a former CIA intelligence officer, said. “Today the entire enterprise clings to a fundamental dishonesty: that it has no political agenda. Taking down Trump is obviously the agenda. And in this regard, some of CNN’s ‘hard news’ anchors are the biggest journalistic frauds of all.”

“CNN used to pretend it accepted right-wing voices for balance, but now it openly despises conservatives who are pro-Trump. ... Taking down Trump is obviously the agenda.”
— Buck Sexton, former CIA intelligence officer

Former CIA intelligence officer Buck Sexton says, "CNN’s ‘hard news’ anchors are the biggest journalistic frauds of all."

Sexton, however, did leave the door open to return to the network "if CNN stopped being crazy.”
A spokesperson for CNN told Mediaite that the network is "always looking to add new perspectives from across the political spectrum" and highlighted conservatives commentators Scott Jennings, David Urban, and Steve Cortes, as well as former Republican officeholders such as Kasich, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former U.S. Rep. Mia Love of Utah.
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

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Judge who upheld Trump subpoena donated to Dems on committee seeking the records

The New York federal judge who ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration must comply with two subpoenas from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees has donated in the past to a slew of big-name Democrats -- including two who currently sit on those committees, according to federal election filings.
After an hour of oral arguments, Barack Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled the subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One have "a legitimate legislative purpose," and that Trump was unlikely to prevail in a lawsuit to quash the requests. Judges have the option to recuse themselves if there is an appearance of bias.
Federal election records show that, when he was a partner at the law firm Day Pitney LLP and before he was appointed to the bench in 2011, Ramos sent $350 to Connecticut Democrat Rep. Jim Himes from 2007 to 2008, as well as $500 to elect New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez in 2010.
Himes sits on both the Intelligence and Financial Services Committees, while Velazquez sits on Financial Services.

(U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos (Federal Bar Council))

Ramos also contributed $1,000 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate campaign in 2009, another $1,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and several thousand dollars over several years to Obama for America. His political donations apparently stopped after his elevation to the judgeship, in line with ethical standards.
Trump’s lawyers had asked Ramos to temporarily block Congress from gaining access to the records. They said it was a "safe bet" they would appeal his decision.
Ramos' ruling came two days after another federal judge in Washington upheld a separate congressional subpoena seeking financial documents dating back to 2011 from Trump accounting firm Mazars USA.
That judge, Obama appointee Amit Mehta, donated to the Obama-Biden campaign in 2012.
The White House has aggressively pushed back against Democrat-led investigations in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, saying Democrats simply want a "do-over" of Mueller's lengthy investigation that ultimately found no evidence of any Trump-Russia collusion.
Trump this week blocked former White House lawyer Don McGhan, a central figure in Mueller's report, from appearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
Some congressional Republicans have also characterized the subpoenas as an abuse of authority and blasted the Trump-focused investigations.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called the inquiry into Mazars USA "an unprecedented abuse of the Committee’s subpoena authority to target and expose the private financial information of the President of the United States.”
Fox News' Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Laura Ingraham blasts Pelosi as 'obsessed' with Trump, 'muttering and sputtering'

In a biting monologue Thursday night, Fox News' Laura Ingraham went after Nancy Pelosi, saying the House speaker has an "obsession" with President Trump, calling her "the leader of the do-nothing party" and questioning her mental fitness.
"Nancy Pelosi doesn't seem well," Ingraham said on "The Ingraham Angle. "The Pelosi I remember was a hard-charging California congresswoman with big, bold legislative ideas. Although Republicans opposed her Obama-era tax-and-spend, the stimulus or her ObamaCare cramdown, at least she was doing something. But now she spends her days obsessed with President Trump, muttering and sputtering,"
Ingraham mocked Pelosi, playing clips of the lawmaker from San Francisco struggling to find her thoughts at news conferences.
The back-and-forth between Trump and Pelosi continued Thursday with the speaker asking the president's family to hold an intervention with the president due to his meeting walkout Wednesday. Trump responded by saying Pelosi was "not the same person, she's lost it."
Ingraham agreed with Trump.
"Number one, when you cannot produce a coherent thought, maybe it's time to hang it up. Number two, you've had the gavel for four months and you have nothing to show for it but resistance. And number three, you as leader of the Democrats are doing a grave disservice and real damage to America by repeatedly refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the duly elected president of United States and his appointed Cabinet," Ingraham said.
Ingraham also played clips of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden struggling with his speech and implied that both Biden, 76, and Pelosi, 79, were too old to hold positions of power in the Democratic Party.
"Both Joe Biden, the 2020 front-runner, and Speaker Pelosi are not just out of step for the American people on key issues, to watch and to observe them, we see that they have lost a step or two or three. Period," Ingraham said.
"They look like they belong in commercials for Visiting Angels. They shouldn't have their hands on any levers of power. Stay away. Yesterday she seemed to struggle with the whole subject-verb-direct-object thing."
Visiting Angels is a senior home care provider.

Henry Kissinger assesses Trump's 'Deal of the Century' for Mideast, praises Israeli PM

Remember Him?

Famed former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will mark his 96th birthday Monday, but he hasn't retired from sharing his insights on global affairs.
At a gathering in Washington last week, Kissinger spoke about the Trump administration’s upcoming Middle East peace plan, dubbed the “Deal of the Century.”
Other veteran diplomats in attendance included national security adviser John Bolton and former Israeli ambassador Zalman Shoval.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger addresses the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jan. 25, 2018, with former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz in the background. (Associated Press)

Both Kissinger and Shoval reportedly spoke about the Middle East peace plan, set to be unveiled in Bahrain in June.
Kissinger -- who served as secretary of state and national security adviser under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford -- went on to praise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he “correctly analyzes the situation."

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu correctly analyzes the situation."
— Henry Kissinger

The first part of the Trump plan, which has been two years in the making, will be revealed June 25-26 during a conference that will bring together government and business leaders from around the world in a bid to increase investment in the Palestinian economy.
The conference won’t be addressing the most contentious parts of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians -- such as borders, the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and Israel’s security.

In a statement with Bahrain, the White House said the June workshop will give government, civil and business leaders a chance to gather support for economic initiatives that could be possible with a peace agreement.
The U.S. hopes Arab countries will invest in Palestinian territories, fix crumbling infrastructure and support other industrial projects in an effort to convince the leadership to accept the peace plan.
“The Palestinian people, along with all people in the Middle East, deserve a future with dignity and the opportunity to better their lives,” Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said in a statement Sunday.
“Economic progress can only be achieved with a solid economic vision and if the core political issues are resolved.”

Trump gives AG Barr authority to declassify documents related to 2016 campaign surveillance

President Trump on Thursday night issued a memo giving Attorney General William Barr the authority to declassify any documents related to surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016.
Trump also ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Barr. The memo read: "The heads of elements of the intelligence community... and the heads of each department or agency that includes an element of the intelligence community shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review."
"Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
"The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions."
In a Twitter message late Thursday, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani defended the president's action.
"The President @realDonaldTrump made a wise decision to let AG Barr on the documents," Giuliani wrote. "I don’t know for sure but I seriously doubt there’s any national security concern but some of it could affect pending investigations. I’m sure AG and DOJ will make a very appropriate decision."
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, blasted the move as an attempt to "weaponize law enforcement and classified information."
Trump claims his campaign was the victim of "spying," though the intelligence community has insisted it acted lawfully in following leads in the Russia investigation.
The president had told Fox News earlier in May that he would allow declassification "soon." He elaborated, "I didn’t want to do it originally because I wanted to wait, because I know what they -- you know I’ve seen the way they play.  They play very dirty."
Last month, Barr ran into a buzz saw of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and media figures for testifying that “spying did occur” against the Trump campaign in 2016. But despite the backlash, Barr appeared to be referring to intelligence collection that already has been widely reported and confirmed.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page are currently the subject of a Justice Department inspector general investigation looking at potential misconduct in the issuance of those warrants. That review also reportedly is scrutinizing the role of an FBI informant who had contacts with Trump advisers in the early stages of the Russia investigation.
The use of the term "spying" as it applies to the FBI's surveillance in 2016 has been fiercely disputed. The New York Times, even as it reported last year on how the FBI sent an informant to speak to campaign advisers amid concerns about suspicious Russia contacts, stated that this was to "investigate" Russia ties and "not to spy."
“I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated,” Barr testified last month, adding that he believed it is his “obligation” to review whether there was misconduct in the original investigation. “Congress is usually very concerned with intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane.”
He added that “spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”
President Trump backed the attorney general's testimony, saying the same day Barr testified last month that he thinks what Barr said "was absolutely true," adding, "There was absolutely spying into my campaign.”
Democrats, though, charged that the testimony indicated Barr was a compromised witness.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told the Associated Press last month that she doesn’t “trust Barr,” but she trusts Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Barr of “peddling conspiracy theories.”
Fox News' Catherine Herridge, John Roberts, Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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