majority runs through. >> we'll leave it there. thank you. always good to have you. thank you, as well. and thank you for joining us for this hour. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." right now, my colleague andrea mitchell picking things up from washington. >> happy holiday to you and yours. right now, stand by your man. president trump backing kim jong-un over his own advisers and allies saying north korea's short range missiles do not violate u.n. resolutions even though they do. >> my people think it could have been a violation, as you know. i view it differently. >> out of bounds. donald trump attacking joe biden while on foreign soil, challenging the former vice president's iq while misspelling biden's name. and again siding with a north korean dictator. >> kim jong-un made a statement that joe biden is a low iq

individual. he probably is, based on his records. i think i agree with him on that. >> and stars and stripes forever as the nation remembers those who have served. a 96-year-old world war ii veteran stuns the crowd with his performance of the national anthem. ♪ and good memorial day to all of you. president trump challenging international norms during his state visit to japan saying he is willing to give north korean

dictator kim jong-un a long leash including a pass on short range missile tests that do violate a categorical u.n. ban. >> perhaps he wants to get attention and perhaps not, who knows? it doesn't matter. all i know is that there have been no nuclear tests. there have been no ballistic missiles going out. there have been no long range missiles going out. and i think that someday we'll have a deal. i'm not in a rush. >> the president also siding with kim jong-un by attacking joe biden on foreign soil. joining me now nbc white house correspondent kristin welker traveling with the president. chief white house correspondent with the "new york times," deputy editorial page editor at the "washington post" and margaret carlson. welcome all. kristin welker, first to you in

japan where it is late at night, as well. thanks for staying up for us. this has been, you know, a ceremonial high point that the president speaks about glowingly, but some real business getting done and undone as he is contradicting the facts of the case on the ballistic missile tests and siding with kim over his host, shinzo abe. >> reporter: it has been remarkable, andrea. and it has been a trip of contradictions. on the one hand, you have this charm offensive by the two leaders who have engaged in personal diplomacy from playing golf to attending a sumo wrestling match together. and then you had the press conference overnight in which president trump sided with kim jong-un, breaking with japan's prime minister, breaking with his own national security adviser and effectively saying he doesn't think that north

korea violated u.n. security resolutions even though the fact check is they did by firing the ballistic missile tests. what are the implications of that? japan is, of course, in range of north korea. there is no issue that concerns the japanese prime minister more. he came out and started the press conference by saying we are both on the same page as it relates to north korea. and then you saw that very sharp distinction with president trump essentially saying those missile tests don't bother him. prime minister abe was quick to point out he does see it as a violation of the u.n. security council resolutions and it is regrettable he said so clearly not on the same page when it comes to their messaging. how do they move forward and work together to pressure kim jong-un? that becomes the question. and then the fact that you have them taking aim at president joe biden calling him a low iq individual and siding with kim

jong-un. that is going to create waves back at home. it has gotten criticism on the sunday shows. you can anticipate a whole lot more of that. this is not the first time that we have seen this president on the world stage siding with a strong man over his own u.s. officials. we saw that, for example, in helsinki with russian president vladimir putin. this is a president who has embraced strong men in the past. how will that impact his diplomacy and diplomatic efforts here in japan and trying to get a trade deal that will not happen on this trip. president trump wants to get one ultimately. and then what is the message that he is sending to other countries? he says he is open to talks with iran. what message does it send to iran if he is essentially saying that the missile tests from north korea don't bother him? so this could make any efforts at his diplomacy a whole lot more complicated.

>> peter baker, as kristin is pointing out on one point after another, the president has actually muddied the waters and made the diplomacy a lot more complex and under cut his national security adviser. >> it's interesting. he is not bothered by the missile tests because they don't reach the united states. they reach japan as kristin points out. they reach south korea who is going to host him next month when he returns to the region. they would reach american troops in south korea. there is a reason why these shorter range missiles have been traditionally a concern of the united states even in addition to the long range ones that might reach the coast of california. i think that it's amazing that shinzo abe stands there and basically doesn't say anything about this. his strategy is flattery. it's basically making the president feel at home and telling him he is so great that he will have the president's cup

at the sumo wrestling match and papering over the very real differences that are there. >> what the president is telegraphing is how easily flattered he is, how vulnerable he is to flattery. it's not the first time we have seen it. shinzo abe was the first leader to meet with him during the transition at trump tower. i happen to know something about it. it went around the national security team and was arranged by the then ambassador here from japan calling jared kushner. that's how he got the meeting with president trump for his prime minister and then the golf game, of course, down at mar-a-lago. >> we know two things about how to deal with president trump whether you are a foreign leader or one of the people in his cabinet or one of his advisers or a senator which is first of all, you just lay on the flattery as thick as possible. and he responds well to that. and the flip side of that is you

don't challenge him. you certainly don't challenge him in public if you don't have to. eeng that explains shinzo abe's response that peter was raising because as the president has told us repeatedly and demonstrated it repeatedly and we see this with his attack on vice president biden, he is a counter puncher or also a puncher. and so these are just the rules of the road for dealing with donald trump. and if you are a foreign leader you stand there even if he is saying something that is really problematic for you and then you just do the work around because this is the president you have inherited from the american people and you will have to deal with the one you have. >> no question that he is very popular with the japanese people. that relationship is terribly important from a business perspective, as well. so he is being welcomed. there is no question about that. the ceremonial aspects of this, some criticism for wearing slippers instead of being

barefoot but that is a cultural issue that is important to the japanese. that doesn't seem to matter on the world stage. the joe biden tweet and then his comments. let me play a little bit more about what he said today at that news conference. >> i can tell you that joe biden was a disaster. his administration with president obama, they were basically a disaster when it came to so many things whether it was economy, whether it was military, defense, no matter what it was, they had a lot of problems so i'm not a fan. >> he could have said let's discuss 2020 when i get home, we are on a state visit. so many ways he could have deflected the question. >> he is not just saying things he is not supposed to say beyond the water's edge. he is campaigning on a ceremonial visit. he couldn't manage a ceremonial visit. he was like a toddler at a garden party, insisting on a

chair, the slippers on the feet. and he insulted everyone that he could. it was very efficient because he did it twice. he insulted abe. there was a wonderful little detail in the "new york times" piece which said abe was trying to be so polite and pretend like he is not behaving badly, reached over to pull up his socks. i thought that is a metaphor for we need to pull up our socks and defend ourselves against this. >> you have covered foreign policy for so many years in so many capitols, you have seen it from that perspective. how does the rest of the world view this? >> it's interesting shinzo abe's festival of flattery he increasingly not the strategy that many people have taken. they had early on. there had been -- exactly.

justin trudeau in canada had given up on that. emmanuel macron had given up on that. a lot of allies discovered that it only papers over things to get you through a visit, then he will slap tariffs on you or whatever and have a fight about n.a.t.o. funding. the flattery only goes so far. we will see whether shinzo abe gets more out of it. in terms of a lot of our allies they are thinking we might as well stand up for our interests. >> they haven't really figured out the alternative way to deal with him. >> confrontation doesn't work either. >> exactly. >> i think he is going to a state visit next week in the u.k. what we have seen already on these visits, his last big visit in the u.k., he goes to checkers, insults teresa may, praises boris and setting the stage for what we are about to

witness in the u.k. here it will be next week as the outgoing, the next day leaving after the d-day ceremonies. he is a little bit of a bull in a china shop. there are real impacts domestically on these leaders. >> reporter: there are real impacts. it will be very notable to hear what he has to say about the various people who are now fighting to replace teresa may. he praised boris johnson the last time we were there. the tensions at the back drop between him and teresa may who was very critical of how she had handled the brexit situation. and so do we expect him to be any different this time around? not necessarily. he is walking into a far more complex situation because of course it is now a government that is going to be in transition. he is coming back here to japan in just a few months for the g-20 summit.

that's going to be another chance for him not only to meet with prime minister abe, but, of course, the president of china, as well. what will that look like? will he make any inroads when it comes to trade? i think it's an important point because that was the one substantive issue where there was potentially a little hope for some progress. i don't think there was a lot of expectation that you would see a broad bilateral deal come out of this visit. you did think that perhaps there could be some progress. president trump and prime minister abe make tg very clear during that joint press conference that basically they've agreed to keep talking. not a whole lot of deliverables even on that point. >> just have a few seblgd seco. one final treat from the president was weighing in on benjamin netanyahu's efforts to build a coalition. he not only intervened in the election of netanyahu but now in the efforts to decide which

sides to create his coalition government. >> reporter: that's right. and no surprise that president trump is essentially cheer leading for the prime minister of israel from the sidelines as the prime minister struggles to create and to form that coalition government. but this is a part of a pattern. he did weigh in just days before the election and then when was pressed about whether that was an appropriate course to take said i don't know anything about the election. this is something we have seen from president trump in the past and it fits into this broader pattern of how he handles foreign policy unlike what we have seen frankly from any leader in modern history. >> thanks so much for being on duty over there in tokyo. safe travels to you, as well. we'll see you all later in the show. coming up, pardon power. will president trump follow through on his suggestion to pardon service members accused of war crimes on this memorial day? stay with us.

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president trump recently expressed interest in pardoning military members accused of and convicted of war crimes as soon as today leading to criticism from current and retired military brass.

acknowledging that the critics the president appeared to hit the pause button on friday. >> some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long. you know, we teach them how to be great fighters. and then when they fight sometimes they get treated very unfairly. so we are going to take a look at it. i haven't done anything yet. i haven't made any decisions. there are two or three of them right now. it's a little bit controversial. it's very possible that i'll let the trials go on and make my decision after the trial. >> joining me now is retired four star army general and marine corps veteran lindsay rodman, director of communications and legal strategy for the iraq and afghanistan veterans of american. general mccaffery, the president is signaling that he may not preemptively pardon them before

conviction. you wrote an op-ed saying that a trump political pardon of those convicted of murder by a jury of their combat peers would signal to the world that we are no longer a disciplined military force. it would invalidate the pi principles of the code of military justice. tell me why you wrote that. >> in the back of my mind i always think that the white house ought to always have an army sergeant major on speed dial when they make decisions like this. it was preposterous. combat veterans understand in our military we're ferocious in combat, but when we get detainees under our control or when there are civilians in the vicinity of combat that we protect them. so it was a direct renunciation potentially of the american military values. and the uniform code of military

justice is a federal law passed by congress. so the president intervening as commander in chief would be walking away from a system of justice that actually does protect the rights of the accused. these people go to jury trials of their combat peers. it was a potential disaster and i'm glad he is backing away from it. >> he is backing away from a preemptive pardon while awaiting trial. a flash poll was conducted of more than 16,000 members for pardons on whether people agree on pardons for service member whose have been convicted. 23% strongly agree. you can see 17% somewhat agree. but basically 13% somewhat disagree and 39% strongly disagree with that. let's talk about that and the way your members would react to a preemptive pardon. >> we polled our members to find

out how they felt about preemptive pardons. a majority of our members, 52% do not agree with the president pardoning people at that point. but a substantial portion, 40%, actually would support the president pardoning them. it's important that people understand that veterans are not a monolithic group. they have a diversity of opinions. we see a majority would oppose the president's pardons, we also see a significant portion who unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you view this issue, feel that it would be okay to pardon even before the trial is conducted. >> we actually talked to one of the people, one of the two members that president tweeted about personally who was eddie gallagher, a navy s.e.a.l. awaiting court-martial on war

crimes charges. we talked to his brother on friday. >> we haven't been able to show evidence that exonerates eddie from all charges because there has been a protective order on our lawyers and team forbidding us from punching back. the thing frustrating about this is that eddie, someone who served 20 years to this country and gone to war for us eight times, fought taliban, al qaeda and was successful in defeating isis is being used as a political punching bag. >> so his argument, general mccaffery, is that these trials, these court marshals are not necessarily fair. you can understand the defense making that argument. you still believe in the process. >> there is no question the navy chief gallagher, has a distinguished record in combat. he is presumed innocent until convicted. as we know, if he accepted a

pardon he essentially would be acknowledging the truths of these charges which had been investigated and convince the prosecution to send the court-martial. did he or did he not shoot a girl dead in the stomach? did he or did not knife dead a teenage combattant under his control? one would think he would want to be clear to these charges if he is innocent. i think we do have to recognize that there is an anxiety in the part of all of these combat troops who are in these counter insurgency battles. sometimes civilians are complisant in i.e.d.s or mining or sniping. there is an anxiety. they want to know that the chain of command will back them up. i'm sympathetic to that. we simply cannot tolerate the murder of detainees under our control. that's the bottom line. >> i'm going to have to leave it

there. thank you both so much on this special day once a year to remind everyone that we should be every day honoring our service members. coming up, digging in. president trump unloads on democrats during a state visit saying he will not work with them while they investigate him. you are watching andrea mitchell reports on msnbc. andrea mitchl reportons msnbc. ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira

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why did the president ask the attorney general to do an investigation if he has already come to a conclusion and decided what the penalty should be and decided what the jail sentences should be? isn't this the president playing judge and jury and putting his thumb on the scale here for whatever investigation he claims he wants mr. barr to do? >> that's pretty rich coming from the media who covered and accused the president for over two years of being part of this mass chb election interference, something that never took place. the idea that anybody now says that the president doesn't have the right and not only that americans deserve the truth to push back and find out where whether of this started is

absurd. >> i didn't ask whether he should ask the questions. he is not asking questions anymore. he has already made a judgment. that is much different. will he accept a result of the attorney general saying everything was done legally and on the up and up, mr. president? will he accept that result from bill barr. >> we already there was an outrageous amount of corruption that took place at the fbi. they leaked information. they lied. >> so i guess he won't accept any other conclusion than that they did wrong. nbc's chuck todd trying to get an answer challenging sarah sanders on attorney general bill barr's investigations into the origins of the mueller probe after the president gave his attorney general unprecedented authority to declassify secret sources of the russia probe, something they have never given any other attorney general. joining me now is former

assistant water gate special prosecutor. jill, correct me if i'm wrong, has any other attorney general in modern history ever had unilateral right to declassify secrets over the dni, cia, over the agencies? >> i don't think there has ever been anything comparable to this. that's because almost nothing is comparable to any actions that donald trump takes. and it's dangerous to allow the president to have the unilateral authority to declassify things. he has used it improperly in my view when he gave israeli intelligence to the russians. and he could use this again especially to an attorney general who is showing his political bias and who will misrepresent and pick and choose what he is doing without regard to national security. so it's a bad idea to have

politicians declassifying documents for political reasons. it's very dangerous and we shouldn't allow it to happen. >> and even if you could acknowledge that perhaps stumbling with the israeli intelligence given was a rookie error about such things perhaps, here you have, elliot, the president basically concluding that there was treason. i mean -- a capital offense which that isn't the definition of treason. i'm not a lawyer. i don't play one on television. he has made a conclusion. the white house press secretary doesn't walk away from that by saying this will be a fair investigation. >> i can't remember if it was the president or the white house press secretary saying we want to let him do his job. they don't because they decided what the outcome ought to be. we are going to let congress, a

co-equal branch of government do its job. the authority that he has been given is pretty remarkable. he should consult the heads of the other intelligence agencies. that's a massive amount of discretion given to the attorney general. high could have said shall. >> he will. >> should this basically means that the attorney general can just decide on his own to weaponize intelligence matters, make it available to the public in a way that serves the president. >> my colleague at the "new york times" was writing this weekend that one of the most closely guarded secrets since the beginning of this investigation has been the regional russian source. this is not my information, very close to vladimir putin.

the intelligence assessment saying that the decision to attack the u.s. election was made at the highest levels by vladimir putin himself. that came from an intelligence source. and the concern now is that that will be declassified by the attorney general and that the president will share that with vladimir putin. what about sources and methods and whether sources in any of the five countries whether they will be willing to share information with us going forward? >> it will definitely hurt that. when i served as general counsel to the army, i did supervise military intelligence actions. i can tell you how important it is to secure that information and to not let it be declassified for political reasons and particularly where we already know that the attorney general could pick and choose a sentence hearing, a sentence there and how easy it is to misrepresent what the results are.

we actually know a lot about what started the investigation, the counter intelligence investigation. and it was perfectly legitimate. had the fbi not taken action they would have been criticized for not doing it because there was a risk so they had to do it. >> sorry for jumping in. even if one has a problem with the origins of the investigation, there is an independent inspector general investigation happening of the origins of the matter. so why, then, create this political stunt with the attorney general? i don't get it. >> at least we know that this attorney general has been notably independent and has not alterred or shaped the evidence on anything to show favor or to curry favor with the president. i guess we're okay on that. thank you. and coming up, let's make a

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with a soil improver! seed! and fertilizer to feed! now yard time is our time. this is a scotts yard. i'm not looking to hurt iran at all. i'm looking to have iran say no nuclear weapons. we have enough problems in this world right now with nuclear weapons. no nuclear weapons for iran. i think we'll make a deal.

>> making a deal. president trump's comments on iran during that joint press conference earlier today with prime minister abe including a message that might frustrates the hawks within his own administration. >> i know so many people from iran. these are great people, has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership. we are not looking for regime change. i just want to make that clear. >> peter baker with us. peter, japan has a way to talk. they are a huge consumer of iranian oil. they don't want to obey that unilateral american arms embargo. they have a way of possibly being a go between. >> and trump has spent the couple of years ratcheting up the pressure. you can look at it as negotiating. he talked about nuclear weapons.

that's a tough enough nut. what the other criticism has been is not just nuclear weapons but regional instability. it's the ballistic missiles. it's so many other issues that were supposed to be on the table that they complained that obama didn't put on the table. that makes it harder. if we think the unkim jong-un dl has been -- >> john kerry very specifically made the decision with president obama to limit it to nuclear weapons thinking that was the threat and they would have to deal with the other stuff outside of it. >> the fundamental question is what is the foreign policy of this administration? what is the foreign policy of it with respect to north korea and what is its view about whether

north korea has violated the u.n. sanctions? what is its view about regime change in iran? because it seems like the president's national security adviser has one view and the president has another view and perhaps the president is kind of milking that difference strategically in order to get himself closer to a deal, but perhaps it's just that they don't agree and don't know where they are heading. >> now, one of the reasons why the troop deployment is so small relatively considering what they were first talking about is the president's aversion to middle east wars. this is what democrats on the campaign trail is saying about sending 1,500 more troops to the middle east. >> i am doing everything that i can, working by the way, with some honest conservatives in the senate to prevent donald trump and john bolten from taking us into a war in iran.

>> i'm afraid this could actually get away from the president. it wouldn't be the first time he has lost control of an international dynamic. he could be starting a chain reaction that even the white house can't stop. >> the region is so tense there could be an accidental engagement that leads to war. >> i want to find out from senator sanders who are those honest conservatives in the senate that he is working with on this. is trump trying to tillerson john bolten. >> i never knew that was a verb. >> the idea that he is announcing in japan that he doesn't agree with his advisers and that he is not in favor of regime change is a different policy than we thought he was pursuing two weeks ago. of course, in the interim, he did say he didn't want a war because by the way as if we didn't know it kills people. he said most importantly war

kills people so he is not in favor of that. but he was moving along in that direction. and the nuclear deal with iran didn't solve everything. it helped solve something. he ripped it up and now there is nothing. >> and even some former israeli intelligence officials are very concerned that we are now at a much more dangerous point. >> israel is on the front line. they are the ones that will suffer the most if there becomes a region wide war arewith iran have been cheered by president trump's ripping up of the nuclear deal. benjamin netanyahu is not a fan of that. he is very much in favor of ratcheting up of sanctions. he might be in favor of regime change. >> notably concerned about military action. >> absolutely. their concern with iran has always been beyond the nuclear thing. it actually has particularly

been activities in the region. >> we will have to leave it there for this holiday day. thank you all for coming in. and coming up, there is a plan for that. elizabeth warren leading the 2020 pack when it comes to policy proposals. we are with her in iowa. a live report next from iowa. a live report next from iowa. your daily dashboard from fidelity. a visual snapshot of your investments. key portfolio events. all in one place. because when it's decision time... you need decision tech. only from fidelity. you need decision tech. at a comfort inn with a glow taround them, so people watching will be like, "wow, maybe i'll glow too if i book direct at choicehotels.com." who glows? just say, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com.

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from breaking up tech giants to canceling student loan debt, elizabeth warren is trying to break out of a pack with specific policies in a lot of areas. could her abundance of ideas be one reason she is moving up in recent polls? we find nbc news political reporter who is on the trail with warren today. here with me in washington, founder sdp ceo of college reaction, a digital platform for college students to share their political opinions. bring us up to date on what people are telling you in iowa. >> there is a reason i wanted to dig into this issue of whether

elizabeth warren's policy focus is manifesting. it's a state where she is heavily invested in terms of staff numbers. she has over 50 people here on the ground, more than most of her competitors. so it is competitors. it's important to see the way she's spending her time on the campaign trail to see if that's percolating in the minds of the voters. as far as i can tell here, voters are picking up the policies and the plans that elizabeth warn seems to be putting down. listen to what they told me. >> i guess some people who don't want to be overwhelmed may not like a candidate who's more focused on policy, but i think we need to have a candidate who is focused on solutions and has a plan. there are some candidates that shied away from because they don't have any policies out there and when people ask them questions, they don't have much of an answer. >> it's very typically iowa, the event is starting to kick off. it's very typically iowa for

these voters not just to see these candidates once and make a decision, they're going to see them early and often and be able to ask them questions. it's important for them that they start seeing an evolution not just in terms of who this person is how they're presenting themselves, but how they're answering policy-specific questions. >> and it's great to see you in the midst of that. that's a classic iowa event. the enthusiasm there on this holiday day. you've been talking to young voters in particular and with some surprising results about which candidates they like because your data is different than some of the conventional wisdom. >> so far joe biden is leading the pack among young people. the president about 15%. >> there seems to be a marginal of error. >> our polls suggested that young people are most

enthusiastic about a female candidate or a candidate of color. and joe biden is neither of those things. >> how do you figure out what's behind the data. >> there might be a few factors. one, people know him. name recognition has an early hold on this polling, but we have seen candidates like pete buttigieg and elizabeth warren who have helped with the bumps and through more town halls. and likability. most democratic voters have to be concerned with a candidate that can beat trump in 2020. and recent polling suggested that most think that biden has the best chance to do that. college students seem to be valuing safety, but there's that disconnect between a female candidate or a candidate of color and the fact that they back biden. we think that the belief he's able to beat trump might be what's squaring that circle. >> when you talk to elizabeth

warren voters, young people like that debt -- college debt cancellation plan from her. >> reporter: yeah, and there are certain policies that they're latching onto. i hear a fair amount about what she wants to do on health care, on student loan debt forgiveness and those are hallmarks of her campaign trail speech. but the thing i've been struck by over the course of the last few days here is the fact that they're happy with the fact that elizabeth warren seems to have thought this whole thing through and that she has a plan for not just one thing, but a wide array of things. and i think that as they start parsing through this field of candidates, that's going to be coming up again. democratic voters want to hear substance. >> a few seconds left. the big issues for young people so far? >> so far, it's the economy, it's health care, followed by

student debt and some candidates tend to twist their message and pander to young voters, elizabeth warren does not. >> congratulations. you've got a big college graduation next week. thanks for being with us out there as elizabeth warren is preparing to speak. coming up, day of remember i can't answer. you're watching andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. with va video connect, powered by t-mobile, vets can speak to their doctors from virtually anywhere, and get the care they deserve, without it counting against their data, so they can return to their most important post. soulmate, best friend, or just dad. the va provides the care, t-mobile provides the coverage.

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and finally on this memorial day, our country is honoring those who have lost their lives in service to the nation. this morning fallen heroes were honored with a wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown. vice president pence delivering remarks. and fans heard a moving rendition of the national anthem performed by a 96-year-old veteran of world war ii. ♪ [ harmonica playing ]

[ cheers and applause ] >> and then last night at the annual national memorial day concert here in washington, retired general and vietnam veteran colin powell paid tribute to his fellow soldiers. >> this is part of the healing process for all of us. for those veterans who are still hurting, they need to know that it is okay to reach out and get help, that things can get better and it is also time to say with heartfelt emotion, the words that were not heard all those years ago, we thank you, and we are here for you. you served us with honor. now it's our turn to honor you. >> and we honor general powell and all of those who serve and there could be nothing more

moving than going to the vietnam memorial wall here in washington. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports" follow us at mitchell reports. >> you have a great rest of your memorial day. thank you. it's not fair or sustainable, that's how president trump described our trade relationship with japan last year. but the president was singing a different tune touting a yet to be seen trade agreement that according to the president will usher in to use his word a more reciprocal era. the elephant in the room was the president's other yet to be seen trade deal with china. president trump told reporters he was not ready to strike a deal with china. the president went so far as to threaten additional tariffs on impo