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Bannon Fired: the most notable change in White House personnel was the departure of Steve Bannon, senior strategist. This removes the main nationalist voice in favour of charting an ‘America First’ path, reducing the probability of a trade war and increasing the potential for a pivot towards the Republican party centre – Chief of Staff Kelly wants to use tax reform as a unifying agenda item.
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China, Xi and Trade: reports suggest that president Xi demonstrated his unusual level of power by not explicitly courting retired leaders before the major Beidaihe meeting. Xi will have been boosted by the exit of Bannon from the Trump team, even after a formal process was started to review US-China trade relations. A tough line was taken with Hong Kong activists who were jailed for protesting.
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Venezuela: situation worse, with the new constituent assembly seeking to undermine all opposition to the president while the existing legislature promised to resist. Regional pressure on Maduro remained focused on economic and social areas. Threats from Trump concerning the potential for military intervention were widely seen as counter-productive as they supported Maduro’s narrative.
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