each other and talked of mutual cooperation. joining me now msnbc chief diplomatic analyst and dean of the fletcher school at tuft's university. admiral, it's great to speak to you again. i want to get your take on the president's asia visit, rather, it is his touting of the u.s. economy. what do you think the president is trying to do? >> he's really playing to a domestic audience with that frankly, people in asia are much more interested in the securities side of the equation. but when president trump takes every opportunity to talk about the height of the stockmarket, and so forth, he is playing back to his domestic audience. he wants to appear large and in charge, kind of presidential, in the united states, and he feels that gives him leverage overseas, but, frankly, in asia, they're concerned about the security situation, not the heights of the u.s. economy. >> i want to ask you in a moment