Media in the United States, China, and Asia continue to report that Presidents Trump and Xi will meet in the United States April 6-7. But there is still no confirmation of this from either government, under concerted attacks by the British and their allies who fear “major power agreements” among America, China, and Russia.

The closest thing to substantiation from China came from the Foreign Ministry March 19: “On this visit to China by Secretary of State Tillerson, both sides had a deep discussion on arranging a meeting soon between the two heads of state and began relevant preparatory work,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. “Both sides agreed to remain in close touch about this, to ensure the smooth success and fruitfulness of exchanges between the heads of state.”

In the United States only Secretary of State Tillerson’s decision not to attend the April 6 NATO foreign ministers meeting has led to reports that Tillerson will be taking part in Xi-Trump meetings. After angry British reactions, the State Department said March 21 that Tillerson was open to the NATO meeting date being changed so that he would attend.

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed President Trump will go to the NATO heads-of-state meeting May 25. China has invited him to the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing May 14-15.

Reports that Tillerson would go to Moscow April 12 also remain unconfirmed by either the United States or Russian officials as of March 22.

Media in the United States, China, and Asia continue to report that Presidents Trump and Xi will meet in the United States April 6-7. But there is still no confirmation of this from either government, under concerted attacks by the British and their allies who fear “major power agreements” among America, China, and Russia.

The closest thing to substantiation from China came from the Foreign Ministry March 19: “On this visit to China by Secretary of State Tillerson, both sides had a deep discussion on arranging a meeting soon between the two heads of state and began relevant preparatory work,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. “Both sides agreed to remain in close touch about this, to ensure the smooth success and fruitfulness of exchanges between the heads of state.”

In the United States only Secretary of State Tillerson’s decision not to attend the April 6 NATO foreign ministers meeting has led to reports that Tillerson will be taking part in Xi-Trump meetings. After angry British reactions, the State Department said March 21 that Tillerson was open to the NATO meeting date being changed so that he would attend.

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed President Trump will go to the NATO heads-of-state meeting May 25. China has invited him to the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing May 14-15.

Reports that Tillerson would go to Moscow April 12 also remain unconfirmed by either the United States or Russian officials as of March 22.

Speaking to a dinner of the Republican National Congressional Committee March 21, President Donald Trump fervently spoke of the “American System of economy” for a second day, following his evocation of Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, and the American System at a Kentucky mass rally March 20. The last president to preach the American System may have been William McKinley; Trump’s “whig” speeches have generated a freaked-out response from the Von Mises Society and similar British and “Austrian school” free traders and “libertarians.”

Know your history: The American System

“I called it the American model,” said Trump, in a speech that had at first trod familiar ground of congratulations to fundraisers and Republicans present including himself. “And this is the system our Founders wanted. Our greatest American leaders — including George Washington, Hamilton, Jackson, Lincoln — they all agreed that for America to be a strong nation it must also be a great manufacturing nation.”

The President invoked McKinley: “The Republican platform of 1896 — more than a century ago — stated that `Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of American policy and go hand in hand…. We renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of protection, as the bulwark of American industrial independence and the foundation of American development and prosperity.”

Then Trump progressed to the American System’s “internal improvements,” or infrastructure projects in today’s terms. “Our first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, ran his first campaign for public office in 1832 — when he was only 23 years old.  He began by imagining the benefits a railroad could bring to his port [part] of Illinois — without ever having seen a steam-powered train.  He had no idea, and yet he knew what it could be. Thirty years later, as President, Lincoln signed the law that built the first Transcontinental Railroad, uniting our country from ocean to ocean….

“Another great Republican President, Dwight Eisenhower, had a vision of a national infrastructure plan. As an officer in the Army after World War I, he joined a military convoy that trekked across the nation to the Pacific Coast. It traveled along the Lincoln Highway — called then the Lincoln Highway. Its journey began by the South Lawn of the White House, at a monument known today as Zero Milestone.  Anybody know where that is? The journey made a great impression on then young Eisenhower.  More than three decades later, as President, he signed the bill that created our great Interstate Highway System — once again uniting us as a nation.

“Now is time for a new Republican administration, working with our Republican Congress, to pass the next great infrastructure bill. Our party must dream as big and as bold as Lincoln and Eisenhower.”

Trump continued to the American System subjects of invention, and foreign policy. “Imagine the breakthroughs that will breathe fresh life into forgotten places. Picture the new roads that will carve pathways all across our land — and we need them. And think of the new inventions that will lift up the sights of our nation.

“Finally, as we imagine this new prosperity at home, let us also work to achieve real and enduring peace abroad…. The best Republican Presidents have not only been warfighters, but also peacemakers.  We will never hesitate to do what we must to keep us safe today, but we will always seek a more peaceful tomorrow. We will, and we will succeed…. If we stand for these things — safety, prosperity and peace — then there is no limit to what we can achieve.”     

Quoth the very bothered Von Mises Society, “The economic policies of Whigs endure. Unfortunately, the dangers of Whig economic folly and fallacy do not diminish with time.”

What “endure,” are great nations built on the American System.

Speaking to a dinner of the Republican National Congressional Committee March 21, President Donald Trump fervently spoke of the “American System of economy” for a second day, following his evocation of Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, and the American System at a Kentucky mass rally March 20. The last president to preach the American System may have been William McKinley; Trump’s “whig” speeches have generated a freaked-out response from the Von Mises Society and similar British and “Austrian school” free traders and “libertarians.”

Know your history: The American System

“I called it the American model,” said Trump, in a speech that had at first trod familiar ground of congratulations to fundraisers and Republicans present including himself. “And this is the system our Founders wanted. Our greatest American leaders — including George Washington, Hamilton, Jackson, Lincoln — they all agreed that for America to be a strong nation it must also be a great manufacturing nation.”

The President invoked McKinley: “The Republican platform of 1896 — more than a century ago — stated that `Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of American policy and go hand in hand…. We renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of protection, as the bulwark of American industrial independence and the foundation of American development and prosperity.”

Then Trump progressed to the American System’s “internal improvements,” or infrastructure projects in today’s terms. “Our first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, ran his first campaign for public office in 1832 — when he was only 23 years old.  He began by imagining the benefits a railroad could bring to his port [part] of Illinois — without ever having seen a steam-powered train.  He had no idea, and yet he knew what it could be. Thirty years later, as President, Lincoln signed the law that built the first Transcontinental Railroad, uniting our country from ocean to ocean….

“Another great Republican President, Dwight Eisenhower, had a vision of a national infrastructure plan. As an officer in the Army after World War I, he joined a military convoy that trekked across the nation to the Pacific Coast. It traveled along the Lincoln Highway — called then the Lincoln Highway. Its journey began by the South Lawn of the White House, at a monument known today as Zero Milestone.  Anybody know where that is? The journey made a great impression on then young Eisenhower.  More than three decades later, as President, he signed the bill that created our great Interstate Highway System — once again uniting us as a nation.

“Now is time for a new Republican administration, working with our Republican Congress, to pass the next great infrastructure bill. Our party must dream as big and as bold as Lincoln and Eisenhower.”

Trump continued to the American System subjects of invention, and foreign policy. “Imagine the breakthroughs that will breathe fresh life into forgotten places. Picture the new roads that will carve pathways all across our land — and we need them. And think of the new inventions that will lift up the sights of our nation.

“Finally, as we imagine this new prosperity at home, let us also work to achieve real and enduring peace abroad…. The best Republican Presidents have not only been warfighters, but also peacemakers.  We will never hesitate to do what we must to keep us safe today, but we will always seek a more peaceful tomorrow. We will, and we will succeed…. If we stand for these things — safety, prosperity and peace — then there is no limit to what we can achieve.”     

Quoth the very bothered Von Mises Society, “The economic policies of Whigs endure. Unfortunately, the dangers of Whig economic folly and fallacy do not diminish with time.”

What “endure,” are great nations built on the American System.