Trump enters the stage

Developing now, Tuesday, March 5, 2019

DEMOCRATS LAUNCH NEW, WIDE-REACHING PROBE INTO TRUMP: House Democrats on Monday opened a huge new avenue in their investigations into President Trump, with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee firing off document requests to dozens of figures from the president’s administration, family and business … Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Monday the committee served document requests to 81 agencies, entities and individuals, as part of a new probe into “alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power by President Trump.” Nadler said the investigations were necessary to make sure the Trump presidency isn’t a dictatorship. In addition to the White House, Nadler is also seeking information from Trump family members, like Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Jared Kushner; from former administration figures like former chief of staff Reince Priebus, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former spokeswoman Hope Hicks; and from Trump campaign figures like Brad Parscale and Corey Lewandowski.

In addition, Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel, and Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings on Monday formally demanded interviews with any translators who witnessed Trump’s communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Inauguration Day – a request that comes as part of a sweeping series of inquiries virtually certain to be met with legal pushback by the White House. The only good news Trump received on the investigation front was that Attorney General William Barr will not recuse himself from Russia probe.

Political backlash to declaring emergency and the wall?

POLITICO

Graham: Trump says GOP senators opposing him are ‘playing with fire’
By BURGESS EVERETT

03/05/2019 03:38 PM EST

Lindsey Graham
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said his meeting with the president focused mostly on the border and the number of illegal crossings as Trump faces certain bipartisan defeat on his emergency declaration in the Senate. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

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President Donald Trump said Senate Republicans considering opposition to his emergency declaration on the border are “playing with fire,” according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, who met with the president on Tuesday morning.

The South Carolina Republican said his meeting with the president focused mostly on the border and the number of illegal crossings as Trump faces certain bipartisan defeat on his emergency declaration in the Senate later this month.

Story Continued Below

Four Republican senators have said they will join 47 Senate Democrats in voting to block the national emergency declaration, though Trump will veto it and Congress likely won’t be able to muster the votes to override it. And though Trump is not waging a massive campaign to convert Republicans to his side, he’s acutely aware of the politics of the issue.

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“He says he thinks Republicans are playing with fire here because most Republicans, anyway, most people I hope, will see that the border is in a state of crisis,” Graham said, adding that Trump believes GOP senators that defy him are likely to face a political backlash. “That’s his observation, but he’s not out there calling people out or anything.”

Graham said Trump also groused about the wide-ranging investigations launched by the Democratic House, and questioned why Democrats are eager to probe his administration and 2016 campaign but not cooperate on legislation.

“He believes they are taking a wrecking ball to his life. Clinton said that about us. They’re going nuts,” Graham said. “‘It seems like nobody wants to solve any problems.’ He said that a couple times. He said he’s surprised. He thought it would be in everybody’s interest [to do] infrastructure and stuff like that.”

This story tagged under:
Senate Lindsey Graham Donald Trump Donald Trump 2020 Border Wall National Emergency Declaration National Emergency
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POLITICO

Graham: Trump says GOP senators opposing him are ‘playing with fire’
By BURGESS EVERETT

03/05/2019 03:38 PM EST

Lindsey Graham
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said his meeting with the president focused mostly on the border and the number of illegal crossings as Trump faces certain bipartisan defeat on his emergency declaration in the Senate. |

President Donald Trump said Senate Republicans considering opposition to his emergency declaration on the border are “playing with fire,” according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, who met with the president on Tuesday morning.

The South Carolina Republican said his meeting with the president focused mostly on the border and the number of illegal crossings as Trump faces certain bipartisan defeat on his emergency declaration in the Senate later this month.

Four Republican senators have said they will join 47 Senate Democrats in voting to block the national emergency declaration, though Trump will veto it and Congress likely won’t be able to muster the votes to override it. And though Trump is not waging a massive campaign to convert Republicans to his side, he’s acutely aware of the politics of the issue.

“He says he thinks Republicans are playing with fire here because most Republicans, anyway, most people I hope, will see that the border is in a state of crisis,” Graham said, adding that Trump believes GOP senators that defy him are likely to face a political backlash. “That’s his observation, but he’s not out there calling people out or anything.”

Graham said Trump also groused about the wide-ranging investigations launched by the Democratic House, and questioned why Democrats are eager to probe his administration and 2016 campaign but not cooperate on legislation.

“He believes they are taking a wrecking ball to his life. Clinton said that about us. They’re going nuts,” Graham said. “‘It seems like nobody wants to solve any problems.’ He said that a couple times. He said he’s surprised. He thought it would be in everybody’s interest [to do] infrastructure and stuff like that.”

Bits by Joe Sumerlad
Updated
1 minute ago.
President launches late-night Twitter storm as poll shows most Americans think he is a criminal
Follow latest updates from Washington

Joe Sommerlad,
Samuel Osborne @SamuelOsborne93o
1 minute ago

Click to follow
The Independent US

Donald Trump has lashed out at a number of old enemies on Twitter overnight, including Hillary Clinton, as his frustration with House Democrats and the investigations surrounding him threatens to boil over.

The president accused the Democrats of “playing games” by instigating “McCarthyite” congressional investigations against him rather than getting on with the business of government, refusing to hand over files related to his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s security clearance to the House Oversight Committee and indicating he might not co-operate with the House Judiciary Committee’s abuse of power investigation into his inner circle.

Meanwhile, a damning new poll has emerged suggesting two-thirds of American voters believe he committed a crime before his election.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
From $0.18 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.Subscribe now
On Tuesday, Mr Trump also walked back his decision to pull all US troops out of Syria, saying he now agreed “100 per cent” with keeping a military presence there.

Meanwhile, the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will return to Capitol Hill for a fourth day of testimony.

KEY POINTS
Trump lashes out at Democratic enemies on Twitter
Refuses to hand over files on Jared Kushner’s security clearance
Two-thirds believe president a criminal, poll finds
15 minutes ago
Donald Trump and his son Eric made a surprise phone call to a man dying of cystic fibrosis.

The president told 44-year-old Jay Barrett of West Haven, Connecticut: “I wish you could come to a rally. I wish you could come … You keep that fight going. We both fight.”

The call was made possible by Mr Barrett’s sister, West Haven City councilwoman Bridgette Hoskie, who describes herself as “100 per cent Democrat”.
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 14:08
33 minutes ago
The US trade deficit has jumped nearly 19 per cent, undermining a key commitment by President Trump.

The US trade imbalance for 2018 widened to a decade-long high of $261bn (£199bn). The gap with China on goods widened to an all-time record of $419.2bn (£319bn).

Mr Trump promised to cut the trade imbalance on the belief it would bring back overseas factory jobs and bolster the broader US economy.

But America’s dependence on imports appears to have increased after the tariffs Mr Trump imposed last year on foreign steel, aluminium and Chinese products.

An acceleration in economic growth last year from President Trump’s debt-funded tax cuts helped to boost the appetite for foreign goods.
Samuel Osborne
6 March 2019 13:50
43 minutes ago
Melania Trump joined in with her husband’s attack on the media on Tuesday.

On tour in Las Vegas to promote her “Be Best” anti-bullying initiative and discuss the impact of the opioid crisis on children, the first lady said: “I challenge the press to devote as much time to the lives lost and the potential lives that could be saved by dedicating the same amount of coverage that you do to idle gossip or trivial stories.”

“When we see breaking news on TV or the front pages of newspapers, it is my hope that it can be about how many lives we were able to save through education and honest dialogue.”
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 14:18
58 minutes ago
Here’s an unusual aside from Trumpland: Aberdeen and Scotland footballer Scott McKenna has come under fire for accepting a post as ambassador of Donald Trump’s nearby golf course.

International footballer criticised after becoming ambassador for Trump’s golf course
McKenna is an avid golfer and claims it is a privilege to represent the Aberdeenshire club
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 12:05
1 hour ago
A spike in arrests on the US border with Mexico has prompted critics of President Trump to warn his approach to tackling illegal immigration is not only not working but having an encouraging effect.

Around 76,000 people were picked up by border agents in February, a 50 percent increase year-on-year and a 12-year high.

Here’s Clark Mindock with more.

Trump administration’s ‘chaotic approach’ to border security is 'encouraging illegal migration’
Chaotic approach to southern border security is encouraging illegal migration, says critic
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 14:17
1 hour ago
This should not be overlooked.

Just two months after President Trump announced all American troops would be leaving Syria, the commander-in-chief has backpedalled on his decision in a letter to Congress, stating he now agrees “100 per cent” with keeping a military presence in the conflict-struck country.

Here’s Sarah Harvard.

Trump flip-flops on Syria, now agrees ‘100%’ with keeping troops
In December the president announced withdrawing all troops from country
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:49
1 hour ago
In his dramatic appearance before the House Oversight Committee last week, one of Cohen’s revelations was that the president asked him to threaten his old schools in order to ensure they would not release his exam grades to the media.

Here’s more on how Mr Trump sought to bury the past.

How Trump managed to bury his high school records
Revelations add fresh details to allegations made by president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen last week
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 12:00
1 hour ago
Michael Cohen is due back before the House Intelligence Committee today for another private hearing after three days of headline-grabbing testimony on Capitol Hill last week.

The question of whether he discussed presidential pardons with White House attorneys after the FBI raided his home and business premises last April is thought to be on the bill for the latest behind-closed-doors session.

No pardon was ever given and Cohen ultimately wound up pleading guilty and cooperating against the president in separate investigations by the special counsel and by federal prosecutors in New York. He begins a three-year jail sentence in May.

While there is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the president’s wide latitude in granting them, representatives have requested information about talks on possible pardons for Cohen and other defendants close to the president who have become entangled in Mueller’s investigation.

The House Intelligence Committee’s chairman Adam Schiff said after last week’s private meeting with Cohen that the committee had “additional document requests” that they were discussing with him. Mr Schiff would not comment on the substance of the interview, but said it helped “to shed light on a lot of issues that are very core to our investigation”.

The intelligence panel is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Mr Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Russians in any way. They are also looking into Trump’s foreign financial dealings and whether there was obstruction of justice.
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:29
2 hours ago
This was the response from “Crooked Hillary” to the president’s taunting tweet by the way.

Absolutely textbook use of a Mean Girls GIF.
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:21
2 hours ago
Meanwhile, a damaging poll from Quinnipac University has found that a staggering 45 percent of American voters surveyed believe President Trump committed a crime before he was elected.

Here’s Chris Baynes.

Two-thirds of Americans think Trump is a criminal, poll finds
‘Michael Cohen, a known liar headed to the big house, has more credibility than the leader of the free world’, says pollster
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:51
2 hours ago
The president’s new line of attack is to accuse House Democrats of wasting the government’s time with “hoax” investigations.

“Essentially what they are saying is the campaign begins,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “Instead of doing infrastructure, instead of doing healthcare, instead of doing so many things they should be doing, they want to play games.”

He also hinted he might not necessarily co-operate with Jerrold Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee.

Trump suggests he will not cooperate with investigation into abuse of power
President described investigation as ‘disgrace to our country’
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:18
3 hours ago
Here’s a little more on that, with CNN reporting the president also pressured former chief-of-staff John Kelly and ex-White House counsel to grant the same access to his daughter Ivanka.

Trump ‘pressured White House officials’ to get security clearance for Ivanka
It follows reports president made similar demands on behalf of Jared Kushner
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:39
3 hours ago
The president appears to be digging in his heels on the investigations, the White House refusing to turn over information on his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s security clearance, granted in spite of concerns raised by intelligence officials.

Mr Trump branded the decision “a disgrace” before addressing a gathering of military veterans on suicide among former members of the armed forces from the Roosevelt Room.

House Oversight Committee chair Elijah Cummings said he is considering his “next steps”.

Here’s Clark Mindock.

Trump refuses to hand over ‘Kushner clearance’ documents to Congress: ‘It’s a disgrace’
House Democrats are considering ‘next steps’ as the White House refused to supply clearance documents
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:08
3 hours ago
President Trump laid into his Democratic rivals on Twitter last night, mocking both 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and billionaire party donor Tom Steyer for their decisions not to run against him in 2020.

“Aw-shucks, does that mean I won’t get to run against her again? She will be sorely missed!” he sneered at Ms Clinton before applying one of his signature nicknames to the hedge fund philanthropist, branding him “Weirdo Tom Steyer” and saying he lacked the “guts” to run.

He also retweeted attacks on the House Democrats’ “fishing expeditions” into his affairs from his press secretary Sarah Sanders and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, as well as another plug for Fox News, broadcasting an interview with Republican congressman Jim Jordan on the opposition’s “colossally stupid decision to overreach with overbroad subpoenas”.

In another tweet, he quoted Hans von Spakovsky, a lawyer who was appointed to the president’s ill-fated commission on election integrity, to support his contention Democrats are “copying Joseph McCarthy” and “don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing.”

Here’s Tom Embury-Dennis on the president’s latest fever dream.

Trump launches overnight tirade after refusing to hand documents requested by Congress
Billionaire reacts angrily to widening congressional probes into his conduct in office
Joe Sommerlad
6 March 2019 11:55
3 hours ago

Even as the 2020 race begins in earnest, President Donald Trump is already suggesting that Democrats cannot beat him fairly – raising the specter that if he loses next November, he will suggest that the election was not legitimate.

“The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally showed their cards for everyone to see,” Trump tweeted Tuesday, referring to House Democrats’ launching of a broad-scale investigation into him. “When the Republicans had the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn! The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win!”

Donald Trump’s mental health:

youtu.be/U6f4OLgzTVE

Between the politocal absolute and the nearing of the psychologocally relative is where Trump finds himself.

The absolute is approaching, the singularity, which is upon which the stable genius can identify with, and become a bridge upon, as he has been subscribed by those to whom he may have been forced into an alliance.

The mirror through which he may recapture that which with his unfamiliarity serves a political and social service.

Sure, society is not acquainted well enough to deal with, but the channels under ground do serve a purpose , that is, presenting a stage, through which. the mirror reflects that , which has been originally presented.

He takes this chance of redemption from the general border, through which all has to pass, a border line from which no exit cam be individually be attempted. He does have backup who will follow him religiously, through the manager irrationality, which sans direction, may mean the onset of a terrible fate.

This glimmer of hope, comes at a price of going through the very narrow grey area , in between, that, which is neither here nor there, reversible at a whim, and befuddling all but those, who manage controversy, based on a near perfect assimilation between the absolute and the relative, the certain and the uncertain, the contradictory and the accommodating, : for this, no amount of politocal venom may unseat him in disgrace.

The freedom to change is position will be nullified by the reason of presumptive necessity. He is the broad stroke of.a.crayon which needs to cover the fine lines, which no one bothers to read, nor is actually capable of.

Note: this is one generic possibility among others, and is only possible in a world where every thing is allowed, and reflected.and again also all that is deflects.

As a matter of fact, one can’t help to to feel for the guy. But that’s only one feeling coming through.

From the publication : Independent

Mueller report to be ‘instantly’ printed as a book, if made public.

Trump news live - President attacks Democrats over antisemitism and threatens to block ‘Fake News Networks’ from 2020 debates

Another nerve exposed, the mud slinging(the swamp being cleaned by throwing projectiles) grows by leaps and bounds, with no holds barred.

What can be on the back of the mind of such affront to human intelligence?
Maybe either that it is on the way out unless falsity is accepted as some form of truth, or that the mind as an instrument of measuring reality is on the verge of getting lost.
Either choice suffices , but a left wing Democratic rejection may give the impression of throwing the baby away with the bathwater. It’s a catch 22.

On the economic front of trade and the ID:

It’s a neat microcosm of President Trump’s economic policy: He picks a yardstick to measure the American economy — the trade deficit — that’s mostly meaningless. He spends years criticizing it as too high and promising to reduce it. And under his administration, it surges.
“By just about any measure you pick,” Slate’s Jordan Weissman writes, “his effort appears to have been an absolute flop.”
“He set out to fix a non-problem (a trade deficit) and created real ones including international conflict, higher consumer prices and gross inefficiency in our economy,” The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin writes, of the New York Times in today’s opinion section.

President Trump says hush money does not amount to campaign finance violation
DAVID JACKSON | USA TODAY | 2 hours ago

President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid money to women to be quiet about alleged affairs with Trump during his 2016 campaign.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump, under federal investigation over hush money to an alleged ex-mistress, said Thursday it has nothing to do with campaign finance laws – and appeared to acknowledge payments he previously said he knew nothing about.

“It was not a campaign contribution, and there were no violations of the campaign finance laws by me. Fake News!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has denied having an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, and previously denied knowing about payments to her, referring questions about the matter to Michael Cohen – the ex-personal attorney who now says Trump authorized the payoffs.

Federal prosecutors apparently disagree. They have said in court filings that the payment to Daniels and another to former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal violated laws that limit contributions to candidates. They alleged that Cohen, who pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws, orchestrated the payments at Trump direction.

In congressional testimony last week, Cohen said Trump and his company reimbursed him for $130,000 paid to Daniels in order to keep her quiet right before the 2016 presidential election.

It was not a campaign contribution, and there were no violations of the campaign finance laws by me. Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2019
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether the hush money amounted to an unreported and illegal campaign contribution, in that it was designed to influence the outcome of the election.

Cohen faces a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress, including allegations stemming from his involvement in the Daniels matter.

Trump did not address Cohen in his brief tweet, but has accused his former lawyer of lying in an effort to somehow reduce his prison sentence.

His current lawyers, such as Rudy Giuliani, have said the payments to Daniels amounted to a personal expense, not a campaign contribution.

More: Cohen only flipped because he got caught. That’s all we can expect in the Trump era.

More: Michael Cohen’s testimony prompts a new question: In web of Trump investigations, is anyone safe?

Updated 2 hours ago

© Copyright Gannett 2019

The strength exhibited by Trump, in spite of a state of affairs which presents a scenario putting the Nixon debacle into a far less troublesome light compared to the present one, only one conclusion can be drawn:

Identity politics plays a central role in the resiliency by which the present constitutional issues align the general framework by whose measure the factual evidence withstands its feedback into its own credibility issue.

The fracturing of this delicate balance between the held contradictory use of languages, demands both parties ’ constitutional need to sustain the very meaning of their differing platforms to
Insist on qualify their differing political viewpoints to reflect their basic constitutional need to formally guarantee their very political right to exist as a defined political force.

The very being of the political social contract as a representitive national unity is under siege, with both parties reducing the particular elemental personal and induvidualmy reflected within the more generally vested dynamics of the processes of representative government.
The basis of representation are under assault, not from external identifiable causes, but from the internally and generally misunderstood state of being, which has lost the very ground in its own dynamic.

The state is in trouble primarily as resulting from primary effects from obvious signs of decay, such as inner city turmoil, visible on the faces of discontent, or the reminders of diminishing capacity to enjoy the fruits of labor so visible on the echoes of the GreY and the recent depression: , literally reminded for those still remembering it, by the present of the ranks of homeless abounding everywhere.

It is not a matter of reflection which carries the whole general debt of political diversity forward by such reflection, but by immigrating the socially vast underprivileged, who seem to revel and function far better, in an overwhelmingly more challenging new environment .

It is not the international trepidation, sm as described in the trade imbalance or taxation who h are the patent casual agents responsible for diminishing senses of political equilibrium, but the grass root misunderstanding of where and how the US empire’s dysfunction becoming a vacuous question, which no amount of machinations can rearrange in an understood national policy.

The crisis stems from an internal division, aptly vested with a dynamic hope that still is reigned in by reference to the state inscribed and vested in immortal words by the founding fathers, abiding in the paternalistic and thetic framework of fate in liberty.

This constitutional crisis can not be understood in a unified understanding
ant longer, and the forces of power take advantage to this constitutional vulnerability, hence no salvation can be abstracted , other then from an e executive, a funny gut, who can still in spite hope, because he is representative of the contradiction , and using the language appropriate to it.

The identity and the economy of the soul of the United States is best described at this moment in time, when the model of our way of existence is represented by a newly firmed chief executive molded out of a failing and divisive Congress, and an equally ineffective Judiciary.

The failing hope of Capitalistic Democracy, is beginning to transform into a meaningless visual anachr anachronism , rising Phoenix like, from a time before society could be reflected in it’s apparent self reflection…

(Unedited )

The essential dynamic lies not in the rhetoric, promoting an elusive nationalism, but in the hidden contradictory process by which internationalism and the New World order can save Capitalism as a socially viable guarantor of peace in a fractured world, there being no other viable alternative. The contradiction is out there in a rhetoric dressed in the anesthetic of an imagenitive reactivism, lulling the senses with the visions of the good old times. Anyone capable to understand the meaning of the eternal return should know, that such symbolism merely functions as a self serving wish fulfilling device, a metaphor to cover basic fears of nihilistic abandonment. The cover to Trumpism serves to immunize the danger of exposure to a possible authorial harm, for nihilism did not start with Nietzsche, but Dostoevsky, and the resulting trouble can be sources to the boyars, sho so terribly dealt with the serfs, and likewise most generally how the West was won through subjugation and at times total nihilization through colonial suppression.

(Unedited)

Popularity graphs of Trump and other en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_ … val_rating U.S. presidents .

It appears that Truman, Nixon and Trump share that honor!

WHITE HOUSE
Manafort sentencing prompts Trump to claim vindication. But president misstated judge’s declaration.
The president again slammed the special counsel’s Russia investigation as a “Witch Hunt Hoax.”

President Donald Trump speaks during the first meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on March 6, 2019.Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

March 8, 2019, 9:16 AM ET / Updated March 8, 2019, 10:52 AM ET
By Dartunorro Clark
President Donald Trump, after his former campaign chairman was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for tax and bank fraud, said Friday that those involved in Paul Manafort’s case affirmed there was “no collusion” with Russia.

“Both the Judge and the lawyer in the Paul Manafort case stated loudly and for the world to hear that there was NO COLLUSION with Russia. But the Witch Hunt Hoax continues as you now add these statements to House & Senate Intelligence & Senator Burr. So bad for our Country!” Trump tweeted.

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before his trip to Alabama to tour storm-damaged areas, Trump repeated that the “judge said there was no collusion with Russia,” adding that he feels “very badly” for Manafort.

But that’s not what the judge overseeing the case said.

Before announcing Manafort’s sentence Thursday, Judge T.S. Ellis reminded the court that the longtime political operative’s crimes were not related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s chief mandate — Russian election interference and whether Trump campaign officials colluded with the Kremlin.

Manafort, a longtime Republican political operative, received 47 months behind bars, far less than the sentence called for under federal sentencing guidelines.

Manafort was convicted last August in Virginia federal court on eight felony counts — five counts of tax fraud, one count of failure to file a report of foreign bank and financial accounts and two counts of bank fraud. The judge declared a mistrial on the 10 other charges he faced. Manafort faces a second sentencing hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., on March 13 on two conspiracy counts.

Kevin Downing, Manafort’s defense attorney, made a brief statement after the hearing ended on Thursday.

“There is absolutely no evidence that Paul Manafort was involved with any collusion with any government official from Russia,” he told reporters.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, wrapped up its Russia investigation in February and said it uncovered no direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia after two years and 200 interviews.

House Republicans announced last year they had found no evidence of collusion, but their report came under swift criticism as a partisan result that excluded Democrats.

However, since regaining control of the House, Democrats have launched several probes that include examining any links between Russia and the Trump campaign as well as if Trump broke the law while in office.

Dartunorro Clark is a political reporter for NBC News
© 2019 NBC UNIVERSAL

News > World > Americas

Erik Prince: Blackwater founder admits Trump Tower meeting with Donald Jr in disastrous interview
‘Sure looks like Erik Prince committed perjury,’ congressman says

Tom Embury-Dennis @tomemburyd
4 hours ago

Click to follow
The Independent US
Donald Trump ally Erik Prince may have committed perjury, a congressman has said, after the former Navy Seal said for the first time he held a meeting with one of the US president’s sons to discuss “Iran policy”.

Mr Prince, founder of controversial military contractor Blackwater USA, admitted he met Donald Trump Jr and an emissary for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Trump Tower ahead of the presidential election.

The admission comes more than a year after the 49-year-old, brother of US education secretary Betsy DeVos, failed to disclose the meeting under oath to the House intelligence committee, according to a public transcript.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
From $0.18 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.Subscribe now
According to The New York Times, Mr Prince organised the August 2016 meeting with Mr Trump’s eldest son and Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, who reportedly revealed Saudi Arabia and the UAE wanted to help Mr Trump in his bid for the presidency.

The meeting also reportedly included Stephen Miller, now Mr Trump’s senior policy adviser, and an Israeli social media expert called Joel Zamel.

Convicted criminals among Trump’s former staff
Show all 5
Michael Cohen
Paul Manafort
George Papadopoulos
Michael Flynn
During the devastating televised interview with Al Jazeeera’ Mehdi Hasan, which was aired on Friday, Mr Prince acknowledged the meeting happened, but said he was not asked about contacts with the Trump campaign by the House committee.

Facing intense and meticulous interrogation from Hasan, he later changed tack, suggesting he did reveal the meeting during the testimony to lawmakers.

Read more
Trump autographs bibles while meeting disaster victims
Trump or Cohen: Who can you trust in the ongoing blame game?
How to make sense of the Trump presidency in an era of political chaos
According to the transcript, Republican congressman Tom Rooney asked Mr Prince, “So there was no other formal communications or contact with the campaign?” in reference to the Trump campaign.

Mr Prince replied: “Correct.”

Pressed by Mr Hasan, Mr Prince suggested they “may have got the transcript wrong”, to audible laughs from the studio audience.

“I don’t know, I certainly remember discussing it with the investigators,” Mr Prince added.

Ted Lieu, a congressman for California and a frequent Trump critic, shared footage of the interview on Twitter, and wrote: “Sure looks like Erik Prince committed perjury.”

A former special counsel at the Department of Defense, Ryan Goodman, tweeted: “Now seems obvious that Erik Prince lied to Congress about Aug 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Don Jr.”

Mr Prince’s comments are the first time anyone reportedly involved in the meeting has publicly spoken out about it, and the first suggestion it could have been about Iran.

The New York Times reported Mr Nader was offering “help” on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Mr Trump’s candidacy, while Mr Zemel touted a proposal by his company to assist the campaign using social media manipulation.

Trump calls Russia investigation a ‘collusion witch hoax’ outside White House
A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr told the newspaper last year his client “recalls” a meeting involving Mr Prince and Mr Nader about a “social media platform or marketing strategy”.

“He was not interested and that was the end of it,” he added.

Blackwater, which Mr Prince sold in 2010, made headlines three years earlier when its mercenaries killed 17 unarmed civilians in Iraq when they opened fire in a crowded square in Baghdad.

Since Blackwater’s creation, the company has been awarded billions of dollars in US government security contracts, as well as hundreds of millions in classified contracts from the CIA.

Mr Prince has been contacted for comment.

SUBSCRIBE
Trump Is Autographing Bibles Now So That’s a Wrap on Humanity, Right?
BY R. ERIC THOMAS MAR 8, 2019
image
CAROLYN KASTER/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
Donald Trump, President of the United States and Professional Twitter Bully, spent some time in Alabama today greeting people and autographing items, among them hats, $100 bills, and Bibles. As in The Bible.

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

To quote Judas in the song “Heaven on Their Minds,” “Listen. Jesus. I don’t like what I see.”

The first family was in Opelika, Alabama, today visiting tornado-ravaged areas and meeting with residents. At one point, they stopped into a Baptist church and things, well, went completely off the rails. Someone actually handed a Bible to Donald Trump and asked him to put his scribble on it. Donald Trump, the man who opted out of saying the Apostle’s Creed at President Bush’s funeral. That Donald Trump.

I’m not saying that anyone has to say The Apostle’s Creed, but it’s sort of part of the whole religious deal. Just surprising that Donald Trump, basically a missionary, took a pass on it.

Also surprising: Donald Trump, who is a pointed example in many a Sunday morning sermon, agreed to sign a Bible. I feel like it’s common knowledge that the only people writing on Bibles are grandmothers writing down important dates on the inside cover. Autographs are definitely a new area. Does he think he wrote it, like he also thinks he wrote The Art of the Deal? Very possible.

US-POLITICS-WEATHER-TRUMP
Donald Trump signs a hat and a $100 bill.
NICHOLAS KAMMGETTY IMAGES
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Or is he signing it because of his pivotal guest appearance in the Book of Revelation? He’s like, “Don’t spoil the end for yourself; I got big plans.”

I know given Trump’s history, his behavior, his policies, and all of the words he says, it’s hard to think of a more pious person, but for argument’s sake, why would you want Trump to sign your religious text? It’s like someone asking him to rub some of his bronzer on the Shroud of Turin. Peculiar! What is a person going to do with a Trump Bible? Is this a summoning ritual? A horcrux? Make it make sense!

Does Donald Trump’s signature make it more Bible-y? Like all other Bibles are just kidding but this one is kicking it into overdrive. Make the Bible Great Again???

Did he sign a golden calf after this, to really seal the deal?

President Trump Signs Proclamation Declaring Sunday Day Of Prayer For Victims Of Hurricane Harvery
ALEX WONGGETTY IMAGES
It’s worth noting that Donald Trump: Superstar appears to have signed the cover of The Bible in question, continuing what is a probably a lifelong streak of literally never opening it. Good Lord!

R. ERIC THOMAS
R Eric Thomas is a Senior Staff Writer at ELLE.com, home of his daily humor column “Eric Reads the News,” which skewers politics, pop culture, celebrity shade, and schaedenfreude.
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POLITICAL NEWS 2019 CULTURE DONALD TRUMP WON. READ THOSE 3 WORDS AGAIN. A MAJORITY OF WOMEN WANT TO SEE TRUMP IMPEACHED DOES TRUMP ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT A HANDSHAKE IS? DONALD TRUMP RECRUITS “WOMEN FOR TRUMP” COALITION SOMEONE MADE A DONALD TRUMP BURN BOOK PAGE “ME PARDON SELF,” PRESIDENT MUMBLES TO NO ONE DONALD TRUMP AUTOGRAPH DONALD TRUMP AUTOGRAPHS BIBLE DONALD TRUMP SIGNS BIBLE DONALD TRUMP BIBLE DONALD TRUMP
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CAROLYN KASTER/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
Donald Trump, President of the United States and Professional Twitter Bully, spent some time in Alabama today greeting people and autographing items, among them hats, $100 bills, and Bibles. As in The Bible.

To quote Judas in the song “Heaven on Their Minds,” “Listen. Jesus. I don’t like what I see.”

The first family was in Opelika, Alabama, today visiting tornado-ravaged areas and meeting with residents. At one point, they stopped into a Baptist church and things, well, went completely off the rails. Someone actually handed a Bible to Donald Trump and asked him to put his scribble on it. Donald Trump, the man who opted out of saying the Apostle’s Creed at President Bush’s funeral. That Donald Trump.

I’m not saying that anyone has to say The Apostle’s Creed, but it’s sort of part of the whole religious deal. Just surprising that Donald Trump, basically a missionary, took a pass on it.

Also surprising: Donald Trump, who is a pointed example in many a Sunday morning sermon, agreed to sign a Bible. I feel like it’s common knowledge that the only people writing on Bibles are grandmothers writing down important dates on the inside cover. Autographs are definitely a new area. Does he think he wrote it, like he also thinks he wrote The Art of the Deal? Very possible.

US-POLITICS-WEATHER-TRUMP
Donald Trump signs a hat and a $100 bill.

Or is he signing it because of his pivotal guest appearance in the Book of Revelation? He’s like, “Don’t spoil the end for yourself; I got big plans.”

I know given Trump’s history, his behavior, his policies, and all of the words he says, it’s hard to think of a more pious person, but for argument’s sake, why would you want Trump to sign your religious text? It’s like someone asking him to rub some of his bronzer on the Shroud of Turin. Peculiar! What is a person going to do with a Trump Bible? Is this a summoning ritual? A horcrux? Make it make sense!

Does Donald Trump’s signature make it more Bible-y? Like all other Bibles are just kidding but this one is kicking it into overdrive. Make the Bible Great Again???

Did he sign a golden calf after this, to really seal the deal?

President Trump Signs Proclamation Declaring Sunday Day Of Prayer For Victims Of Hurricane Harvery

It’s worth noting that Donald Trump: Superstar appears to have signed the cover of The Bible in question, continuing what is a probably a lifelong streak of literally never opening it. Good Lord!

©2019 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
[/quote]

various on Trump

OPINION
Republicans are willfully blind to the truths about Donald Trump: Readers sound off
From Michael Cohen’s testimony to Ilhan Omar’s comments to women dressing modestly, our readers share their thoughts on recent headlines.
USA TODAY | 9 hours ago

Conservative pundits are arguing that Michael Cohen’s testimony demolishes the Russian collusion narrative. No, it does not. Cohen said he had no evidence of collusion and said he was not part of the campaign. If anything, it adds to Cohen’s credibility. If he were lying about Trump to get even, he would add collusion to his list. He did not.

What defies reason is for these conservatives and President Donald Trump to claim that Cohen is a liar but is only telling the truth about no collusion.

Another foray into the twilight zone occurred when Republicans argued that if former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was worried about possible collusion with Russia, he should’ve just told Congress and not CBS News.

Mob rules
DAVID FITZSIMMONS/THE ARIZONA STAR/POLITICALCARTOONS.COM
Talker: Michael Cohen’s testimony, if true, confirms Trump’s crimes

But remember when in the fall of 2016, the Obama administration approached leaders in Congress to warn about Russian interference in the election and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dismissed this as a Democratic ploy?

George Magakis Jr.; Norristown, Pa.

Trump fixers

Blind support of Trump is a disgrace
Letter to the editor:

Having watched the Michael Cohen hearing, it has become clear to me that President Donald Trump is — and has been — an unscrupulous businessman, fabricator of false and misleading statements, and a danger to our country.

Trump’s disdain for our Constitution, legislative and judicial branches, intelligence community and attacks on the press is in direct opposition to our Founding Father’s expectations.

Related: Michael Cohen only flipped because he got caught

The blind support of Trump from the Republican Party would be laughable if it wasn’t such a disgrace. The fact that they believe all the others are lying and the president is the only one telling the truth is such a stretch. To quote from the president’s Twitter: Sad.

Joe Brennan; Davenport, Fla.

AIPCC reprimand for Rep. Omar
R.J. MATSON/POLITICALCARTOONS.COM
Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic
Letter to the editor:

I’m fuming over the Democrats’ willingness to drag Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., through the mud again. As a proud Jewish person completely opposed to Israel’s settler state in Palestine, the false charges of anti-Semitism leveled at Omar render me — and thousands of other Jews who criticize Israel — invisible.

As if to prove her point, the backlash against Omar’s latest (accurate) tweet, has Democrats and Republicans, Jewish and non-Jewish, falling all over each other to defend Israel against criticism the same week the United Nations has said it may have committed war crimes in Gaza.

Talker: Ilhan Omar’s comments were anti-Semitic rhetoric, let’s not beat around the bush

I’m outraged at the continuing Islamophobic and racist attacks on Omar that come at the expense of addressing both the real growing anti-Semitic threat of rising white nationalism and fascism, and the continued oppression of Palestinians with the help of our tax dollars.

Lee Goodman-Gargagliano; Oakland, Calif.

President Donald Trump is far worse as a president than Richard Nixon ever was. Trump not only allegedly conspired with a hostile foreign power (Russia) to sway the 2016 presidential election, but he has also been accused of being involved in countless unethical and illegal business dealings.

Like a broken record, Trump keeps claiming he did not collude with Russia. But who cares about Russian collusion with all the other alleged crimes? Trump may have committed many other serious crimes that could result him being impeached or indicted. These include bank, tax and insurance fraud, witness tampering, making false statements, perjury, campaign finance violations, corruption, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, judicial interference and misuse of inauguration and Trump charitable foundation funds.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman; Huntington Beach, Calif.

Every now and again we hear a cry regarding Muslim women wearing hijabs (head covering). As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it would be an opportune time for me to present the essence of Islamic teaching behind modest clothing and dispel a common misconception that this injunction takes away the freedom of Muslim women.

The real purpose of covering the head and body with modest clothes is to prevent a woman from being sexually objectified and grants her protection against unwanted harassment. Furthermore, nature has created men and women in different ways. It’s not about discrimination but having different capacities and faculties. For example, women can bear children but men cannot, and men are physically stronger than women. The #MeToo campaign is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to highlighting the vulnerability of women in society at large.

Talker: McSally shared her sexual assault story, will Trump finally believe accusers?

This injunction is not specific to Islam; it’s in other religions too. For example, in Christianity we see Mother Mary covering her head in most works of art. Nowadays, questions arise regarding the type of hijabs Muslim women wear. The answer is simple. At its core, Islam is a religion that teaches modesty and requires both men and women to safeguard their dignity.

Today, our society is experiencing the evils of provocative dressing, which have destroyed our peace in the form of extramarital affairs and broken relationships, for example. In such a situation, Islamic and Christian philosophy of “modest dressing” seems to guide us in the right direction.

Rafia Mansoor Waraich; Altoona, Wis.

The Art of the No Deal
JEFF KOTERBA/OMAHA WORLD HERALD/POLITICALCARTOONS.COM
US should denuclearize, not just North Korea
Letter to the editor:

Even though the summit in Hanoi between President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un ended early and there was no signed agreement, the summit was still both welcome and historic.

This summit provided further opportunities for diplomatic negotiations.

However, it seems that demands that North Korea agree to immediate and absolute denuclearization may not work nor be realistic.

Related: After summit diplomacy collapse, what’s Donald Trump’s North Korea Plan B?

The naked truth is that the U.S., Russia and China all possess arsenals of massive destruction.

Shall we demand the same complete “denuclearization” of ourselves first?

Diplomatic negotiations to achieve nuclear disarmament must be an ongoing effort, not only on the Korean front, but also between all nations.

Anh Lê; San Francisco

© Copyright Gannett 2019

RUSSIA INVESTIGATION
Schiff: ‘Mistake’ for Mueller not to get Trump to testify under oath
“I also think that the special counsel feels some time pressure to conclude his work,” Schiff told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., expected to become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, speaks with reporters as he arrives for Democratic leadership elections on Capitol Hill on Nov. 28.J. Scott Applewhite / AP
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March 10, 2019, 4:30 PM ET
By Allan Smith
It would be “a mistake” for special counsel Robert Mueller not to get in-person testimony from President Donald Trump, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I think it is a mistake,” Schiff said when asked by anchor Chuck Todd whether Mueller would err by deciding not to interview the president before a grand jury given the public testimony of others, such as Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen. “And I’ve said all along that I don’t think Bob Mueller should rely on written answers. When you get written answers from a witness, it’s really the lawyers’ answers as much as the client’s answer. And here you need to be able to ask follow-up questions in real time.”

In November, Trump’s legal team submitted written answers to Mueller’s questions about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump’s campaign colluded in that effort. They did not answer questions regarding possible obstruction of justice related to the Russia probe.

Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said in December that the president and his legal team would not provide Mueller with additional answers.

The submission of written answers followed months of back-and-forth between Trump’s attorneys and Mueller’s team about just what exactly the president would respond to and how he would provide those responses. In August, Trump’s lawyers were already preparing a memo opposing a potential subpoena from Mueller to provide an in-person interview.

Responding to Schiff’s remarks, Giuliani accused Schiff in a text message to NBC News of coaching Cohen through his congressional testimony and questioned why Schiff would question the special counsel’s decision making.

“Since when did Schiff become the Special Counsel?” Giuliani said. “I thought he trusted Mueller. It only tells you Schiff wants to hurt the President no matter what. Also ask him how his staff spent 12 hours with Cohen to prepare his testimony and Cohen committed 4 to 6 demonstrable lies (perjury) during his testimony.”

If Mueller were to file that subpoena only to be met with resistance from Trump’s side, it could set off a monumental legal fight in federal court, possibly going all the way to the Supreme Court.

Schiff said he believes Mueller was constrained by then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who Schiff said “was appointed because he would be hostile to a subpoena on the president.”

Whitaker, who is no longer at the Department of Justice, has since been replaced by Attorney General William Barr, who Schiff said “was chosen for the same hostility to his investigation, who would likely oppose that step.”

“I also think that the special counsel feels some time pressure to conclude his work,” Schiff said. “And knowing that the White House would drag out a fight over the subpoena, that may be an issue as well.”

“But I do think ultimately it’s a mistake because probably the best way to get the truth would be to put the president under oath,” Schiff continued. “Because as he’s made plain in the past, he feels it’s perfectly fine to lie to the public. After all, he has said, ‘It’s not like I’m talking before a magistrate.’ Well, maybe he should talk before a magistrate.”

Allan Smith

© 2019 NBC UNIVERSAL

Fox News
☰
FOREIGN POLICYPublished March 10, 2019 Last Update 11 hrs ago
Bolton says Trump ‘pretty disappointed’ by reports North Korea is planning new missile test
Andrew O’Reilly By Andrew O’Reilly | Fox News

President Trump’s top national security adviser John Bolton reiterated on Sunday that the White House would be “pretty disappointed” if North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un decided to carry out a new missile test despite the progress made by Washington’s overtures to Pyongyang.

Calling the absence in recent of any missile tests from the so-called hermit kingdom a “positive sign,” Bolton pointed to the high-level talks that took place recently in Vietnam between Trump and Kim as a sign of progress in easing tensions and restoring stability to that part of Asia – despite the talks breaking down.

“As the president said he’d be pretty disappointed if Kim Jong Un went ahead and did something like that,” Bolton said to ABC News’ “This Week.” “The president said repeatedly he feels the absence of nuclear test the absence of ballistic missile launches is a positive sign and he’s used that really as part of his effort to persuade Kim Jong Un that he has to go for what the president called the big deal - complete denuclearization.”

NORTH KOREA REBUILDING ROCKET LAUNCH SITE AFTER FAILED SUMMIT, REPORTS SAY

Bolton would not confirm reports based on commercial satellite imagery that North Korea is making moves, saying he’d rather not go into specifics.

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But he says the U.S. government is watching North Korea “constantly,” and that, “Nothing in the proliferation game surprises me anymore.”

Bolton’s comments come only days after Trump himself said that he’s a “little disappointed” by reports of new activity at a North Korean missile research center and long-range rocket site and that time will tell if U.S. diplomacy with the reclusive country will be successful.

NORTH KOREA AIRS DOCUMENTARY GLORIFYING KIM-TRUMP SUMMIT – BUT FAILS TO MENTION TALKS COLLAPSED

South Korea’s military said it is carefully monitoring North Korean nuclear and missile facilities after the country’s spy agency told lawmakers that new activity was detected at a research center where the North is believed to build long-range missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said the U.S. and South Korean militaries are sharing intelligence over the developments at the North’s missile research center in Sanumdong on the outskirts of the capital, Pyongyang, and at a separate long-range rocket site. She did not elaborate on what the developments were.

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Asked if he was disappointed in the new activity, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “a little disappointed.” Then he said time will determine the future of U.S. efforts to get North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from sanctions stalling economic growth.

“We’ll let you know in about a year,” Trump told the reporters.

Trump has favored direct talks with Kim, but the next stage of negotiations is likely to be conducted at lower levels. Trump’s envoy to North Korea, Steve Biegun, had lunch Wednesday at the State Department with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea. The South Koreans have proposed semiofficial three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it works to put nuclear diplomacy back on track.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Warning signs for Trump loom as he unveils budget
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated 4:34 AM EDT, Mon March 11, 2019

(CNN) Early warning signs are flashing for President Donald Trump on some of his core arguments on immigration, the economy and North Korea that are central to his 2020 re-election message.

Complications on each of those policy areas threaten to undermine the narrative of unprecedented success that the President has weaved around his first two years in office and are driving political debate as the administration unveils its budget on Monday.

A poorer than expected monthly jobs report Friday fed concern that strong economic growth that anchors Trump’s best argument for a second term is ebbing – something that should worry the President since it’s a critical reelection metric.

Trump has often claimed that he is presiding over the “greatest economy in the history of our country.” But his foundational political promise to eliminate the US trade deficit suffered a blow with new figures showing that the gap between imports and the amount of goods and services that the US sells abroad has grown $100 billion since Trump took office, despite two years of his “America First” tariff policies intended to reinvigorate American manufacturing.

Signs that North Korea could be preparing a missile or satellite launch and its continued expansion of an atomic arsenal undercut the President’s claims that his daring outreach to the isolated state has ended its nuclear threat.

And a rise in crossings across the southern border — while playing into Trump’s claims of a crisis in the short term, contradict his wider argument that hardline enforcement policies are the best way to manage immigration and suggest his totemic political plan for a border wall may be ignoring the real problem.

Trump appears sensitive to the weak points of his political pitch, and spent the weekend tweeting out glowing testimonials about the economy from allies and accusing journalists of distorting the successes of his presidency.

“Despite the most hostile and corrupt media in the history of American politics, the Trump Administration has accomplished more in its first two years than any other Administration. Judges, biggest Tax & Regulation Cuts, V.A. Choice, Best Economy, Lowest Unemployment & much more!” Trump wrote.

“More people are working today in the United States, 158,000,000, than at any time in our Country’s history. That is a Big Deal!”

The good news for Trump is that the election — though it seems increasingly to be on his mind — is 20 months away, and none of the emerging complications are certain to cement themselves in the unpredictable political period ahead. And at their root, presidential elections unfold as a clash between two competing political visions and personalities as much as a contest between rival policy platforms. One of the big questions of the Democratic presidential race is how the eventual nominee will handle the President’s willingness to embrace scorched earth campaigning.

Yet the challenges to Trump’s re-election message are not happening in a vacuum. He has plenty of other looming political problems as well as he faces an unprecedented multi-front battle with House Democrats who have launched investigations into almost every aspect of Trump’s life, political career and business.

The pros and cons of solidifying the base
The way Trump has positioned his presidency — premising his political viability on the fervent support of his base – means he is insulated to some extent from reversals of fortune. But an eroding re-election argument could also threaten his efforts to win back more moderate voters in swing districts who helped Democrats win the midterm elections last year.

Potential road bumps for Trump’s re-election message also help to explain the relish with which Republicans have seized on the growing pains of the new House Democratic majority — giving a glimpse of the searing attacks that will complement the 2020 narrative of Trump success. Many Republican strategists believe that a perceived race to the left by Democrats could give the GOP the best chance of keeping the White House in 2020.

That argument was exemplified by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the chair of the House Republican conference, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“They’ve become the party of anti-Semitism, the party of infanticide, the party of socialism. They’ve passed legislation that’s violated the First Amendment, the Second Amendment,” Cheney said.

“It’s really time for the Democrats – the leadership in that party to stop it, to stand up and to act worthy, frankly, of the trust the American people have placed in them.”

All first term presidents face the conundrum of how to reconcile the expansive promises they made to win office with an accounting of their wins and losses that comes with the quest to keep their jobs.

More Presidents than not have made that leap in the modern era and won the historical validation of a second term. But few candidates made such extravagant claims to win the Oval Office in the first place as Trump did in 2016.

If today’s warning signs turn into significant reversals for the President, Republican plans to run in 2020 on a “Peace and Prosperity” message will be compromised. That could lead the President to put the inflammatory rhetoric that he used in the 2018 midterms at the center of his reelection bid.

Economic numbers cause concern
A long run of staggering jobs data that helped take the unemployment rate to the lowest level in half a century got a jolt on Friday with the release of latest monthly jobs figures showing only 20,000 positions were created in February, far below expectations.

Any one bad jobs report could be an anomaly. And the economy is largely healthy following a strong run since the Great Recession more than a decade or so across the Obama and Trump presidencies and wages have recently been rising at last.

But any sign that the economic engine has peaked could be spell bad news for a President running for reelection, even if any slowing of the pace is relative.

There have been other recent warning signs for the economy. The Atlanta Federal Reserve Board estimate for first quarter growth is just 0.5%. The Conference Board is estimating growth of 2.2% for the second half of 2019. Annual growth for 2018 fell just short of Trump’s 3% target and according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis quarterly growth figures have been on the decline for the last three quarters, possibly reflecting the fading stimulatory influence of the GOP tax cuts.

Figures released by the Census Bureau last week showed the trade deficit at a 10-year high in 2018, up $69 billion.

The jump came despite Trump’s crusade to revive American manufacturing and reduce dependence on imports which formed a crucial part of his winning 2016 election message. The data put even more pressure on the President to extract a victory from trade talks with China that are currently believed to be in the final stages - though Beijing has in recent days signaled that there’s no rush to hold a signing summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida by the end of this month, as the President himself suggested.

The White House’s own budget estimates are far more rosy than those of independent forecasters. In Trump’s new budget to be unveiled on Monday, the administration predicts 3.2% annual growth his year, 3.1% growth in 2020, and 3% GDP expansion the following year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump’s failure to reach a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their second summit in Vietnam last month dealt a blow to the President’s most important foreign policy venture. The White House has rejected criticism of the lack of progress at the two meetings by arguing that the halt to North Korean nuclear and missile tests has been an important victory in itself.

But warnings by analysts based on satellite images that Pyongyang could be preparing to launch a missile or space rocket soon, threatened to undermine even that narrative of limited success.

Trump said last week that he would be “very disappointed if that were happening,” while stressing the report was very early assessment.

The restoration work at the launch site could be just a negotiating ploy by Kim after the failure of the summit and just the latest round of decades-long brinkmanship by the North Koreans. But it does show the perils in investing so much political and electoral capital in a diplomatic initiative with the unpredictable North Koreans.

There are also challenges looming for Trump on another signature issue – immigration.

Customs and Border Protection warned last week that more than 76,000 people were caught crossing the southern border illegally or without proper papers in February – the highest such number for any February in the last 12 years.

The administration used the figures to argue that the immigration crisis that Trump has proclaimed in an effort to win support for his border wall is getting worse. But critics argue that his fixation on a wall misses the point that the real problem is in a system overwhelmed by asylum claims made at ports of entry.

Trump, however, signaled that his border wall will be a pillar of his political strategy going forward, despite his failure to wring funding for the barrier out of Congress – an impasse that prompted him to declare a national emergency on immigration.

The White House will ask Congress for $8.6 billion for the wall in the new budget, sources told CNN, prompting a quick response from Democrats at the start of a new showdown over immigration, following last year’s government shutdown drama.

“Congress refused to fund his wall and he was forced to admit defeat and reopen the government. The same thing will repeat itself if he tries this again. We hope he learned his lesson,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement Sunday.

View on CNN
© 2019 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copies of Trump’s fiscal year 2020 Budget on Capitol Hill in Washington Monday.

‘Dead on arrival’: Democrats dismiss Trump budget plan with $8.6bn for wall
President’s 2020 plan signals intent to reignite a political fight that has already led to a record 35-day partial government shutdown

David Smith in Washington

Donald Trump’s latest budget request, which demands billions of dollars for a border wall at the expense of social safety nets and environmental protections, was dismissed on Monday as “dead on arrival” and “breathtaking in its degree of cruelty”.

Fox News condemns host Jeanine Pirro’s attack on Ilhan Omar – live

The president unveiled a 2020 plan that includes $8.6bn for a wall on the border with Mexico, signalling his intent to reignite a political fight that has already led to a record 35-day partial government shutdown.

Trump’s budget would also increase defence spending while cutting domestic programmes by 5%, or $2.7tn over 10 years: higher than any administration in history. This is intended to curb the national debt, currently more than $22tn, a record level.

Budgets released by the White House have little chance of passing intact and tend to be statements of intent, starting points for negotiations with Congress.

Democrats gave Trump’s plan short shrift. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said: “The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal is a gut-punch to the American middle class and a handout to the wealthiest few and powerful special interests that would worsen income inequality. Its proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, as well as numerous other middle-class programs, are devastating, but not surprising.”

Bernie Sanders, a member on the Senate budget committee and a Democratic candidate for president, said: “The Trump budget is breathtaking in its degree of cruelty and filled with broken promises.

“This is a budget for the military industrial complex, for corporate CEOs, for Wall Street and for the billionaire class. It is dead on arrival. We don’t need billions of dollars for a wall that no one wants. We need a budget that works for all Americans, not just Donald Trump and his billionaire friends at Mar-a-Lago.”

Titled A Budget for a Better America: Promises Kept, Taxpayers First, the plan contains $32.5bn for border security and immigration enforcement activities including $8.6bn for a border wall, a signature campaign promise by Trump – although he initially insisted Mexico would pay for it. There is also $478m to hire 1,750 Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Repeating administration talking points which experts have questioned, Russ Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, told CNBC the “the border situation is deteriorating by the day” with “record numbers of apprehensions”.

Last month, Trump invoked an emergency declaration after Congress approved nearly $1.4bn for border barriers, far less than the $5.7bn he wanted. The emergency means he can potentially tap an additional $3.6bn from military accounts and shift it to building the wall.

But the Senate is poised this week to vote to terminate Trump’s declaration. The Democratic-led House already did so and a handful of Republican senators, uneasy over what they see as an overreach of executive power, are expected to help Democrats follow suit. Congress appears to have enough votes to reject Trump’s declaration but not enough to overturn a veto.

The budget also dedicates $750bn for defence, with priorities listed as strategic competition with Russia and China, countering regimes such as North Korea and Iran, defeating terrorist threats and consolidating gains in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some $330m is allocated to fight the opioid crisis and the proposal includes $1bn for a childcare fund that would seek to improve access to care for underserved populations, a one-time allocation championed by the president’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump.

Trump promised during his election campaign not to cut the healthcare programmes Medicare or Medicaid. But his budget would would wipe billions off both, along with social security and other programmes on which many Americans depend, over the next decade. It would cut environmental protection by an estimated 31% next year and weaken the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ariel Moger, a spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, said: “Trump’s budget slashes programs that protect our environment, feed families and provide healthcare. The American people should not have to pay the price for Trump’s 2017 giant tax giveaway to billionaires and big oil.”

Trump border wall request will set up new budget fight, adviser says

The proposal “embodies fiscal responsibility”, Vought insisted, adding that the administration has “prioritized reining in reckless Washington spending” and shown “we can return to fiscal sanity”.

The White House claims the national debt is a threat to long-term prosperity and the plan puts the federal budget on a path to balance within 15 years, relying in part on an optimistic projection of 3.1% economic growth. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects growth to slow to 1.7% in coming years.

At the first White House press briefing for six weeks, on Monday, Vought pushed back at criticism of Trump.

“He’s not cutting Medicare in this budget,” he told reporters. “What we are doing is putting forward reforms that will lower drug prices and that, because Medicare pays a very large share of drug prices in this country, has the impact of finding savings. We’re also finding waste, fraud and abuse, but Medicare spending will go up every single year by healthy margins and there are no structural changes for Medicare beneficiaries.”

Vought claimed Trump’s past budgets would have reduced the deficit and blamed Congress for spurning them, warning that its refusal to make trade offs is unsustainable.

Congress will need to find agreement on spending levels to avoid another shutdown by 1 October.

Topics
Donald Trump

US politics

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