welcome to trumpland
Lies, Lies, & More Lies from traitor -in-chief, putin's bitch
june 21, 2018
"On some great and glorious day..."
"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
HL Mencken July 1920
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Scholar Henry Giroux: Trump's Attack on Democracy Will Fail
Trump hopes to “dismantle all aspects of American democracy,” says radical thinker. But resistance can defeat him.
By Chauncey DeVega / Salon
Those who dismiss Trump as an aberration are making a terrible mistake. It’s the equivalent of saying that Trump is a clown. Actually, Trump is the unabashed end point, the Frankenstein monster that has been nurtured under the ideology, policies, values and social relations of a savage form of casino capitalism and authoritarianism that has accelerated without much of a challenge since the 1970s. Trump is the endpoint of the triumph of authoritarianism over democracy.
The one thing about Trump that is different and unique is how upfront he is about his beliefs. He’s unapologetic about his white supremacy, hatred of Muslims, and his disregard for the social contract. He’s unapologetic about his authoritarianism. He’s unapologetic about the kinds of cruelty that he endorses. He has no remorse. He takes pride in lying as if it were a script out of a reality TV show. I think that is where Trump is distinctive. Is he an aberration? No. Trump is just more honest about the pathologies that now govern the Republican Party and in many ways the American political system.
lies from "russia's" pr*sident, one of putin's "best people"
6/21/2018
*Trump desperately insists Obama is the real villain in White House tantrum: He was ‘inhumane’ to immigrants
*Trump rages against due process rights for immigrants as thousands remain in baby jails
Pr*sident Donald Trump complained about due process for immigrants accused of breaking U.S. laws in an early morning tweet.
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trump-russia scandal(ARCHIVES)
child molester speaks!!!
Trump: Democrats Have Created A ‘Massive Child Smuggling Industry’
by Rachel Dicker | media ite
2:03 pm, June 21st, 2018
President Donald Trump blamed human trafficking on Democrats’ immigration policies during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
“We have come up with a lot of solutions but we have Democrats that don’t want to approve anything because that’s probably, they think, bad for the election that’s coming up,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people suffering and that’s unfortunate.”
“My administration is also acting swiftly to address the illegal immigration crisis on the southern border,” he continued. “Loopholes and our immigration laws all supported by extremist open border Democrats. That’s what they are, extremist, open border Democrats.”
He then specifically named House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and (of course) Hillary Clinton as leading a “con job” on immigration by saying they wanted closed borders, and then that they wanted open ones.
“We’ve created –– they’ve created and they’ve let it happen, a massive child smuggling industry,” Trump insisted. “That’s exactly what it’s become. Traffickers, you think about this, human traffickers are making a fortune. It’s a disgrace.
“They’re the worst immigration laws in the history of the world,” he later said. “The whole world is laughing at the United States and they have been for years. These alien minors were separated and sent all the way up here alone. But they really came up with coyotes — do you know what a coyote is? Not good. These are not good people.”
“They were set up here with human traffickers because the Democrat-supported policies that have allowed this to happen,” he reiterated.
President Donald Trump blamed human trafficking on Democrats’ immigration policies during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
“We have come up with a lot of solutions but we have Democrats that don’t want to approve anything because that’s probably, they think, bad for the election that’s coming up,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people suffering and that’s unfortunate.”
“My administration is also acting swiftly to address the illegal immigration crisis on the southern border,” he continued. “Loopholes and our immigration laws all supported by extremist open border Democrats. That’s what they are, extremist, open border Democrats.”
He then specifically named House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and (of course) Hillary Clinton as leading a “con job” on immigration by saying they wanted closed borders, and then that they wanted open ones.
“We’ve created –– they’ve created and they’ve let it happen, a massive child smuggling industry,” Trump insisted. “That’s exactly what it’s become. Traffickers, you think about this, human traffickers are making a fortune. It’s a disgrace.
“They’re the worst immigration laws in the history of the world,” he later said. “The whole world is laughing at the United States and they have been for years. These alien minors were separated and sent all the way up here alone. But they really came up with coyotes — do you know what a coyote is? Not good. These are not good people.”
“They were set up here with human traffickers because the Democrat-supported policies that have allowed this to happen,” he reiterated.
So, yeah, just FYI, Trump’s accusation is inaccurate as hell. Immigration policy is not the work of the Democrats. It is the result of failed policies across the aisle and over many years. Everyone agrees the immigration system is broken and no one knows entirely how to fix it. (Except Donald Trump, clearly.) As for the specific people he calls out for flip-flopping, we’ll let you be the judge of what they have or haven’t done.
“We have come up with a lot of solutions but we have Democrats that don’t want to approve anything because that’s probably, they think, bad for the election that’s coming up,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people suffering and that’s unfortunate.”
“My administration is also acting swiftly to address the illegal immigration crisis on the southern border,” he continued. “Loopholes and our immigration laws all supported by extremist open border Democrats. That’s what they are, extremist, open border Democrats.”
He then specifically named House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and (of course) Hillary Clinton as leading a “con job” on immigration by saying they wanted closed borders, and then that they wanted open ones.
“We’ve created –– they’ve created and they’ve let it happen, a massive child smuggling industry,” Trump insisted. “That’s exactly what it’s become. Traffickers, you think about this, human traffickers are making a fortune. It’s a disgrace.
“They’re the worst immigration laws in the history of the world,” he later said. “The whole world is laughing at the United States and they have been for years. These alien minors were separated and sent all the way up here alone. But they really came up with coyotes — do you know what a coyote is? Not good. These are not good people.”
“They were set up here with human traffickers because the Democrat-supported policies that have allowed this to happen,” he reiterated.
President Donald Trump blamed human trafficking on Democrats’ immigration policies during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
“We have come up with a lot of solutions but we have Democrats that don’t want to approve anything because that’s probably, they think, bad for the election that’s coming up,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people suffering and that’s unfortunate.”
“My administration is also acting swiftly to address the illegal immigration crisis on the southern border,” he continued. “Loopholes and our immigration laws all supported by extremist open border Democrats. That’s what they are, extremist, open border Democrats.”
He then specifically named House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and (of course) Hillary Clinton as leading a “con job” on immigration by saying they wanted closed borders, and then that they wanted open ones.
“We’ve created –– they’ve created and they’ve let it happen, a massive child smuggling industry,” Trump insisted. “That’s exactly what it’s become. Traffickers, you think about this, human traffickers are making a fortune. It’s a disgrace.
“They’re the worst immigration laws in the history of the world,” he later said. “The whole world is laughing at the United States and they have been for years. These alien minors were separated and sent all the way up here alone. But they really came up with coyotes — do you know what a coyote is? Not good. These are not good people.”
“They were set up here with human traffickers because the Democrat-supported policies that have allowed this to happen,” he reiterated.
So, yeah, just FYI, Trump’s accusation is inaccurate as hell. Immigration policy is not the work of the Democrats. It is the result of failed policies across the aisle and over many years. Everyone agrees the immigration system is broken and no one knows entirely how to fix it. (Except Donald Trump, clearly.) As for the specific people he calls out for flip-flopping, we’ll let you be the judge of what they have or haven’t done.
more lies from putin's bitch!!!
Trump accuses Canadians of smuggling U.S. goods across the border to get around 'massive' tariffs
Trump said Canada imposes such onerous tariffs on U.S. products -- shoes, for instance -- that people are forced to 'scuff 'em up' in order to 'smuggle' them home
The Canadian Press - financial post
June 19, 2018
OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump is accusing Canadians of buying products south of the border, then sneaking them back home — all because of what he calls “massive” tariffs on American goods.
Trump, speaking to a gathering of small business owners in Washington, is railing again against the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the U.S. can no longer afford to be the “stupid country.”
He says Canada imposes such onerous tariffs on U.S. products — shoes, for instance — that people are forced to “scuff ’em up” in order to “smuggle” them home.
Trump says he’s looking out for American farmers and manufacturers, and again takes issue with Canada’s supply management system for dairy farmers.
His comments as the official Opposition calls for an emergency debate in the House of Commons over the future of the Canada-U.S. trade.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole says Canadians need to see their elected representatives addressing what is the biggest economic crisis in their lifetime — but Commons Speaker Geoff Regan says the issue doesn’t meet the requirements for an emergency debate.
“We can no longer be the stupid country; we want to be the smart country,” Trump said to rousing applause.
On July 1, Canada is set to impose retaliatory tariffs of $16.6 billion on U.S. products after Trump slapped tariffs on aluminum and steel — and he has threatened more to come on automobiles.
“Tariff imposition of this nature would be devastating for the auto industry in Ontario,” O’Toole said. “There has never been such a looming threat to the Canadian economy than the threat we’re looking at now.”
The Trump administration has already imposed punishing tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, using national security as a justification.
The Conservatives say they will have more questions for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland later today when she appears before the Commons international trade committee.
Freeland met last week with Trump’s trade czar Robert Lighthizer, and said Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will continue negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement through the summer.
The bid to save NAFTA comes as the fear of a global trade war continues to grow, fuelled by the Trump’s administration’s plan to impose new tariffs on China that target $200 billion worth of goods.
China said today it would respond with “comprehensive measures” that could target American companies.
Global stocks have since plummeted.
North American stock markets fell in late-morning trading, with the S&P/TSX composite index falling 68.77 points to 16,314.86, after 90 minutes of trading.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 339.61 points to 24,647.86. The S&P 500 index was down 20.53 points to 2,753.22 and the Nasdaq composite index was down 75.35 points to 7,671.68.
Trump, speaking to a gathering of small business owners in Washington, is railing again against the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the U.S. can no longer afford to be the “stupid country.”
He says Canada imposes such onerous tariffs on U.S. products — shoes, for instance — that people are forced to “scuff ’em up” in order to “smuggle” them home.
Trump says he’s looking out for American farmers and manufacturers, and again takes issue with Canada’s supply management system for dairy farmers.
His comments as the official Opposition calls for an emergency debate in the House of Commons over the future of the Canada-U.S. trade.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole says Canadians need to see their elected representatives addressing what is the biggest economic crisis in their lifetime — but Commons Speaker Geoff Regan says the issue doesn’t meet the requirements for an emergency debate.
“We can no longer be the stupid country; we want to be the smart country,” Trump said to rousing applause.
On July 1, Canada is set to impose retaliatory tariffs of $16.6 billion on U.S. products after Trump slapped tariffs on aluminum and steel — and he has threatened more to come on automobiles.
“Tariff imposition of this nature would be devastating for the auto industry in Ontario,” O’Toole said. “There has never been such a looming threat to the Canadian economy than the threat we’re looking at now.”
The Trump administration has already imposed punishing tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, using national security as a justification.
The Conservatives say they will have more questions for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland later today when she appears before the Commons international trade committee.
Freeland met last week with Trump’s trade czar Robert Lighthizer, and said Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will continue negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement through the summer.
The bid to save NAFTA comes as the fear of a global trade war continues to grow, fuelled by the Trump’s administration’s plan to impose new tariffs on China that target $200 billion worth of goods.
China said today it would respond with “comprehensive measures” that could target American companies.
Global stocks have since plummeted.
North American stock markets fell in late-morning trading, with the S&P/TSX composite index falling 68.77 points to 16,314.86, after 90 minutes of trading.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 339.61 points to 24,647.86. The S&P 500 index was down 20.53 points to 2,753.22 and the Nasdaq composite index was down 75.35 points to 7,671.68.
"trump family values"
Trump may try to demonize food stamps even further
Sher Watts Spooner
Community
Sunday June 17, 2018 · 10:00 AM PDT
In an attempt to find new ways to make life worse for people receiving any government benefits, the Trump administration is seeking to lump together all government benefit programs into a renamed and reorganized Department of Health and Human Services. And you can be sure that the word “welfare” will be emphasized in any new organization.
According to a story that ran first in Politico, the White House Office of Management and Budget soon will release a new report outlining a plan to move all safety-net programs into HHS and to give the federal department a new name, emphasizing the “welfare” moniker that used to be part of the department’s name. A big reason for this recommendation is to lump the $70 billion Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, more commonly known as food stamps, in with Medicare and Medicaid. SNAP would move out of the Department of Agriculture, where it is now housed.
The reasoning is likely that once these benefits are combined under one departmental roof, it will be easier to cut them all.
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was created in 1953 and became the Department of Health and Human Services in May 1980, splitting off the “education” part into a new Cabinet-level department. Part of the reason for dropping the “welfare” name in the first place when Congress established HHS and the Department of Education in the late 1970s was to emphasize the health and service part. Even during the Trump administration, the department’s mission statement at HHS.gov reads:
The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.
“Health and well-being”? “Sound, sustained advances in sciences”? No doubt people in Trumpworld overlooked this wording. Otherwise, they would have taken out the humanity and intelligence implicit in the definition. Read More
According to a story that ran first in Politico, the White House Office of Management and Budget soon will release a new report outlining a plan to move all safety-net programs into HHS and to give the federal department a new name, emphasizing the “welfare” moniker that used to be part of the department’s name. A big reason for this recommendation is to lump the $70 billion Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, more commonly known as food stamps, in with Medicare and Medicaid. SNAP would move out of the Department of Agriculture, where it is now housed.
The reasoning is likely that once these benefits are combined under one departmental roof, it will be easier to cut them all.
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was created in 1953 and became the Department of Health and Human Services in May 1980, splitting off the “education” part into a new Cabinet-level department. Part of the reason for dropping the “welfare” name in the first place when Congress established HHS and the Department of Education in the late 1970s was to emphasize the health and service part. Even during the Trump administration, the department’s mission statement at HHS.gov reads:
The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.
“Health and well-being”? “Sound, sustained advances in sciences”? No doubt people in Trumpworld overlooked this wording. Otherwise, they would have taken out the humanity and intelligence implicit in the definition. Read More
Trump illegally diverted $7 from his foundation to pay his son's Boy Scouts registration fee
sunonmars - demo underground
6/16/18
“Take a moment to savor that last detail. A man claiming to be worth billions of dollars -- and who certainly flaunted the lifestyle -- appears to have illegally diverted $7 from a charitable foundation to pay his son’s Boy Scouts registration fee.”
New findings, for instance, show that the Trump Foundation’s largest-ever gift — $264,631 — was used to renovate a fountain outside the windows of Trump’s Plaza Hotel.
Its smallest-ever gift, for $7, was paid to the Boy Scouts in 1989, at a time when it cost $7 to register a new Scout. Trump’s oldest son was 11 at the time. Trump did not respond to a question about whether the money was paid to register him.
Trump’s foundation is organized “exclusively for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes either directly or by contributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code."
Instead, as Underwood’s complaint shows clearly, he used it to pay settlements incurred in business lawsuits and to advance his 2016 political campaign. The foundation took in millions in donations for veterans. His campaign then directed the foundation to issue checks to Iowa veterans groups in advance of the Iowa caucuses as he sought to curry political favor.
How does Underwood know campaign personnel were involved in spending decisions? Because the Trumpsters are so recklessly contemptuous of rules that they left a trail of this blatant violation of campaign-finance law on their emails. At least one email thread included Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski weighing in on where he wanted the foundation’s tax-deductible funds directed.
The foundation also made a $25,000 contribution to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who subsequently determined that fraud charges against Trump’s university were not a proper matter for her office. The foundation listed the contribution as going to a Kansas nonprofit with the same name as Bondi’s political committee.
“The Foundation has no credible explanation for the false reporting of grant recipients to the IRS and the State of New York,” Underwood concluded.
Trump will likely claim he was uninvolved and unaware. But Underwood’s complaint has that covered, too.
Mr. Trump, who was the sole signatory on the Foundation's bank accounts, approved all grants and other disbursements from the Foundation. Accounting staff for the Trump Organization had responsibility for issuing checks from the Foundation, and issued the checks based solely on Mr. Trump's approval before presenting the checks to Mr. Trump for signature.
....................
Its the little things that will nail this fucker to the wall.
Trump is on the hook here because Mr. Trump, who was the sole signatory on the Foundation's bank accounts, approved all grants and other disbursements from the Foundation.
Nailed, fucker.
Trump has no money, everything he has is owed, on credit, a pyramid scheme, he steals grifts and moves the money around, robs Peter to pay Paul. I've seen this a million times. His tax returns will be a magicians trick.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-16/new-york-s-trump-lawsuit-may-be-a-map-for-mueller
New findings, for instance, show that the Trump Foundation’s largest-ever gift — $264,631 — was used to renovate a fountain outside the windows of Trump’s Plaza Hotel.
Its smallest-ever gift, for $7, was paid to the Boy Scouts in 1989, at a time when it cost $7 to register a new Scout. Trump’s oldest son was 11 at the time. Trump did not respond to a question about whether the money was paid to register him.
Trump’s foundation is organized “exclusively for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes either directly or by contributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code."
Instead, as Underwood’s complaint shows clearly, he used it to pay settlements incurred in business lawsuits and to advance his 2016 political campaign. The foundation took in millions in donations for veterans. His campaign then directed the foundation to issue checks to Iowa veterans groups in advance of the Iowa caucuses as he sought to curry political favor.
How does Underwood know campaign personnel were involved in spending decisions? Because the Trumpsters are so recklessly contemptuous of rules that they left a trail of this blatant violation of campaign-finance law on their emails. At least one email thread included Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski weighing in on where he wanted the foundation’s tax-deductible funds directed.
The foundation also made a $25,000 contribution to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who subsequently determined that fraud charges against Trump’s university were not a proper matter for her office. The foundation listed the contribution as going to a Kansas nonprofit with the same name as Bondi’s political committee.
“The Foundation has no credible explanation for the false reporting of grant recipients to the IRS and the State of New York,” Underwood concluded.
Trump will likely claim he was uninvolved and unaware. But Underwood’s complaint has that covered, too.
Mr. Trump, who was the sole signatory on the Foundation's bank accounts, approved all grants and other disbursements from the Foundation. Accounting staff for the Trump Organization had responsibility for issuing checks from the Foundation, and issued the checks based solely on Mr. Trump's approval before presenting the checks to Mr. Trump for signature.
....................
Its the little things that will nail this fucker to the wall.
Trump is on the hook here because Mr. Trump, who was the sole signatory on the Foundation's bank accounts, approved all grants and other disbursements from the Foundation.
Nailed, fucker.
Trump has no money, everything he has is owed, on credit, a pyramid scheme, he steals grifts and moves the money around, robs Peter to pay Paul. I've seen this a million times. His tax returns will be a magicians trick.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-16/new-york-s-trump-lawsuit-may-be-a-map-for-mueller
Trump tells Fox News he wants Americans to obey him like North Koreans obey Kim Jong-un
Brad Reed - raw story
15 JUN 2018 AT 08:54 ET
Pr*sident Donald Trump on Friday told Fox News that he wants American citizens to show him the same reverence that North Koreans show leader Kim Jong-un.
During a surprise interview with “Fox & Friends” on Friday, Trump said he was impressed by the respect that Kim commanded from his people.
“He’s the head of the country — and he’s the strong head, don’t let anyone think anything different,” Trump said during the interview. “He speaks and his people sit up in attention. I want my people to do the same.”
Kim Jong-un runs a totalitarian dictatorship in which people face imprisonment or execution if they criticize him. According to human rights watchdog Amnesty International, North Korea has imprisoned an estimated 120,000 people based on political grounds across four separate camps dedicated to imprisoning political dissidents.
The organization further says that people living in these camps are “subjected to forced labor as well as torture and other ill-treatment.”
Despite this, the president has praised Kim for being a “very tough” leader who “loves” the people of his country.
When asked by Doocy why he was heaping praise upon Kim despite his country’s atrocious human rights record, Trump replied, “I don’t want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family.”
During a surprise interview with “Fox & Friends” on Friday, Trump said he was impressed by the respect that Kim commanded from his people.
“He’s the head of the country — and he’s the strong head, don’t let anyone think anything different,” Trump said during the interview. “He speaks and his people sit up in attention. I want my people to do the same.”
Kim Jong-un runs a totalitarian dictatorship in which people face imprisonment or execution if they criticize him. According to human rights watchdog Amnesty International, North Korea has imprisoned an estimated 120,000 people based on political grounds across four separate camps dedicated to imprisoning political dissidents.
The organization further says that people living in these camps are “subjected to forced labor as well as torture and other ill-treatment.”
Despite this, the president has praised Kim for being a “very tough” leader who “loves” the people of his country.
When asked by Doocy why he was heaping praise upon Kim despite his country’s atrocious human rights record, Trump replied, “I don’t want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family.”
This is the shady Trump fundraiser that unleashed an avalanche of new legal trouble for his family
TRAVIS GETTYS - raw story
14 JUN 2018 AT 11:17 ET
President Donald Trump and his three eldest children broke the law by using their charitable foundation as a slush fund, according to a new lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general.
The investigation appears to have been prompted by reporting by the Washington Post‘s David Fahrenthold, who won a Pulitzer Prize for digging into alleged payouts by the Trump Organization.
Specifically, state attorney general Barbara Underwood identified a Jan. 28, 2016, fundraiser Trump held in Des Moines, Iowa, while skipping a Republican primary debate.
Trump promised to donate $1 million to veterans organizations after the fundraiser, and Fahrenthold began looking into the charity after finding no evidence to show the payment was ever made.
Emails show the Trump campaign dictated donations by the charity despite a ban on political activity by non-profit organizations.
Underwood’s suit also claims the Trump Foundation improperly directed donations to personal and business ventures by the president and his family.
“These include a $100K payment to settle legal claims against Mr. Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort, $158K to settle legal claims against Trump National Golf Club, and $10K to purchase a painting of Mr. Trump displayed at the Trump National Doral,” the suit claims.
The attorney general has asked the IRS an FEC to open investigations into possible violations of federal law by the president and his family.
The investigation appears to have been prompted by reporting by the Washington Post‘s David Fahrenthold, who won a Pulitzer Prize for digging into alleged payouts by the Trump Organization.
Specifically, state attorney general Barbara Underwood identified a Jan. 28, 2016, fundraiser Trump held in Des Moines, Iowa, while skipping a Republican primary debate.
Trump promised to donate $1 million to veterans organizations after the fundraiser, and Fahrenthold began looking into the charity after finding no evidence to show the payment was ever made.
Emails show the Trump campaign dictated donations by the charity despite a ban on political activity by non-profit organizations.
Underwood’s suit also claims the Trump Foundation improperly directed donations to personal and business ventures by the president and his family.
“These include a $100K payment to settle legal claims against Mr. Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort, $158K to settle legal claims against Trump National Golf Club, and $10K to purchase a painting of Mr. Trump displayed at the Trump National Doral,” the suit claims.
The attorney general has asked the IRS an FEC to open investigations into possible violations of federal law by the president and his family.
Trump claims parents of Korean War vets lobbied him during 2016 campaign. There’s just one problem.
"They said, 'when you can, president, we'd love our son to be brought back home' -- you know, the remains."
AARON RUPAR - thinkprogress
JUN 14, 2018, 9:14 AM
During a Fox News interview that ran on Wednesday evening, President Trump touted an aspect of his agreement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that will allow for repatriation of the remains of American soldiers who died during the Korean War.
“One of the things that really I’m happy is that the soldiers that died in Korea, their remains are going to be coming back home,” Trump said. “And we have thousands of people that have asked for that — thousands and thousands of people.”
It’s true that there are families of veterans who fell in Korea who are still trying to recover remains. But Trump then told a story about parents of Korean War veterans who purportedly approached him during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“So many people asked when I was on the campaign,” Trump said. “I’d say, ‘wait a minute, I don’t have any relationship’ — but they said, ‘when you can, president, we’d love our son to be brought back home’ — you know, the remains.”
There’s just one problem — American involvement in the Korean War ended in 1953. If we most generously assume that the parent of a future solider was 18 when their child was born, and that their child was 18 when he was killed on the last day of the war, that means a parent would have been 99 in 2016.
While almost all parents of fallen Korean War veterans would’ve been much older than that in 2016, it’s not inconceivable that a 99-year-old parent of a fallen Korean War veteran might have approached Trump during the campaign. But note that Trump claimed multiple parents approached him to say, “we’d love our son to be brought back home.” That seems exceedingly unlikely, at best.
Not only does Trump’s story reveal how easily he lies, but the lack of follow up by host Bret Baier says something about how Fox News covers the president. Instead of trying to get the president to explain his implausible anecdote, the interview immediately moved on to other topics.
“One of the things that really I’m happy is that the soldiers that died in Korea, their remains are going to be coming back home,” Trump said. “And we have thousands of people that have asked for that — thousands and thousands of people.”
It’s true that there are families of veterans who fell in Korea who are still trying to recover remains. But Trump then told a story about parents of Korean War veterans who purportedly approached him during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“So many people asked when I was on the campaign,” Trump said. “I’d say, ‘wait a minute, I don’t have any relationship’ — but they said, ‘when you can, president, we’d love our son to be brought back home’ — you know, the remains.”
There’s just one problem — American involvement in the Korean War ended in 1953. If we most generously assume that the parent of a future solider was 18 when their child was born, and that their child was 18 when he was killed on the last day of the war, that means a parent would have been 99 in 2016.
While almost all parents of fallen Korean War veterans would’ve been much older than that in 2016, it’s not inconceivable that a 99-year-old parent of a fallen Korean War veteran might have approached Trump during the campaign. But note that Trump claimed multiple parents approached him to say, “we’d love our son to be brought back home.” That seems exceedingly unlikely, at best.
Not only does Trump’s story reveal how easily he lies, but the lack of follow up by host Bret Baier says something about how Fox News covers the president. Instead of trying to get the president to explain his implausible anecdote, the interview immediately moved on to other topics.
Trump: ‘There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea’
BY MAX GREENWOOD - the hill
06/13/18 07:13 AM EDT
Pr*sident Trump declared on Wednesday that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat to the world, offering an optimistic assessment of his summit talks with Kim Jong Un.
Trump made the declaration in a pair of tweets as he arrived back in Washington from Singapore, where he met with Kim for the first-ever talks between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean premier.
"Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," Trump tweeted. "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!"
"Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea," he wrote in a second tweet.
"President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer - sleep well tonight!"
The summit on Tuesday culminated in the signing of a brief document committing the U.S. to unspecified security guarantees for North Korea in exchange for the eventual denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
While the exact terms of that agreement remain murky, Trump announced that the U.S. would suspend joint military exercises with South Korea that Pyongyang has long claimed are essentially rehearsals for an eventual invasion of the North.
But questions have been raised about how comprehensive the agreement is – and how much ground the U.S. may be ceding to the North.
The document signed on Tuesday gives virtually no details beyond a stated commitment to denuclearize. North Korea has made such a promise many times before, but has repeatedly failed to carry out.
RELATED: Trump’s Negotiating Style Is Pure Art of the Moron
Even by this blowhard’s YUGE standards, it’s been an exceptionally bad and destructive week of terrifying our allies and legitimizing our enemies. RICK WILSON
Trump made the declaration in a pair of tweets as he arrived back in Washington from Singapore, where he met with Kim for the first-ever talks between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean premier.
"Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," Trump tweeted. "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!"
"Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea," he wrote in a second tweet.
"President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer - sleep well tonight!"
The summit on Tuesday culminated in the signing of a brief document committing the U.S. to unspecified security guarantees for North Korea in exchange for the eventual denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
While the exact terms of that agreement remain murky, Trump announced that the U.S. would suspend joint military exercises with South Korea that Pyongyang has long claimed are essentially rehearsals for an eventual invasion of the North.
But questions have been raised about how comprehensive the agreement is – and how much ground the U.S. may be ceding to the North.
The document signed on Tuesday gives virtually no details beyond a stated commitment to denuclearize. North Korea has made such a promise many times before, but has repeatedly failed to carry out.
RELATED: Trump’s Negotiating Style Is Pure Art of the Moron
Even by this blowhard’s YUGE standards, it’s been an exceptionally bad and destructive week of terrifying our allies and legitimizing our enemies. RICK WILSON
trump family values
Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich Trump ran a restaurant, bar, and brothel in British Columbia.
IDIOT SPEAK!!!
Trump Defends Kim’s Brutal Regime: ‘He’s Doing What He’s Seen Done’
By Nicole Lafond | tpm
June 12, 2018 9:25 am
After enduring a full 25 hours without sleep, President Donald Trump continued to defend North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and his well-documented history of human rights violations on Tuesday, telling VOA’s Greta Van Susteren that Kim’s just “doing what he’s seen done.”
“He’s a rough guy. He has to be a rough guy or he has been a rough person,” Trump told Van Susteren. “But we got along very well. He’s smart, loves his people, he loves his country.”
“But he’s starved them,” Van Susteren asserted, “He’s been brutal to them. He still loves his people?”
“Look, he’s doing what he’s seen done, if you look at it,” he said. “But, I really have to go by today and by yesterday and by a couple of weeks ago because that’s really when this whole thing started.”
During a press conference with reporters following the White House’s release of a joint-agreement between Kim and Trump committing to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Trump told reporters that he trusted Kim and said he was “talented” for running the country at such a young age.
“Anybody that takes over a situation like he did at 26 years of age and is able to run it and run it tough — I don’t say he was nice, or I don’t say anything about it,” he said.
“He’s a rough guy. He has to be a rough guy or he has been a rough person,” Trump told Van Susteren. “But we got along very well. He’s smart, loves his people, he loves his country.”
“But he’s starved them,” Van Susteren asserted, “He’s been brutal to them. He still loves his people?”
“Look, he’s doing what he’s seen done, if you look at it,” he said. “But, I really have to go by today and by yesterday and by a couple of weeks ago because that’s really when this whole thing started.”
During a press conference with reporters following the White House’s release of a joint-agreement between Kim and Trump committing to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Trump told reporters that he trusted Kim and said he was “talented” for running the country at such a young age.
“Anybody that takes over a situation like he did at 26 years of age and is able to run it and run it tough — I don’t say he was nice, or I don’t say anything about it,” he said.
family of traitors!!!
Ivanka Trump Was In Contact With A Russian Who Offered A Trump-Putin Meeting
Her contact, a Russian Olympic weightlifter, said a meeting between Trump and Putin could expedite a Trump tower in Moscow.
Posted on June 6, 2018, at 9:20 a.m.
By Anthony Cormier (BuzzFeed News Reporter) Jason Leopold (BuzzFeed News Reporter) Emma Loop (BuzzFeed News Reporter)
Amid intense scrutiny of contacts between Donald Trump's inner circle and representatives of Vladimir Putin, Ivanka Trump's name has barely come up. But during the campaign, she connected her father’s personal lawyer with a Russian athlete who offered to introduce Donald Trump to Putin to facilitate a 100-story Trump tower in Moscow, according to emails reviewed by BuzzFeed News and four sources with knowledge of the matter.
There is no evidence that Ivanka Trump’s contact with the athlete — the former Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov — was illegal or that it had anything to do with the election. Nor is it clear that Klokov could even have introduced Trump to the Russian president. But congressional investigators have reviewed emails and questioned witnesses about the interaction, according to two of the sources, and so has special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, according to the other two.
The contacts reveal that even as her father was campaigning to become president of the United States, Ivanka Trump connected Michael Cohen with a Russian who offered to arrange a meeting with one of the US’s adversaries — in order to help close a business deal that could have made the Trump family millions.
These interactions also shed new light on Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer and fixer, who is under criminal investigation and who played a key role in many of Donald Trump’s biggest deals — including the audacious effort to build Europe’s tallest tower in the Russian capital.
In the fall of 2015, that effort was well underway. Cohen negotiated with Felix Sater, one of the president’s longtime business associates, and agreed upon a Russian developer to build the tower. Donald Trump personally signed a nonbinding letter of intent on Oct. 28, 2015, the day of the third Republican debate, to allow a Russian developer to brand the tower with Trump’s name. The agreement stated that the Trump Organization would have the option to brand the hotel’s spa and fitness facilities as “The Spa by Ivanka Trump” and that Ivanka Trump would be granted “sole and absolute discretion” to have the final say on “all interior design elements of the spa or fitness facilities.”
Ivanka Trump was then an executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization. Publicly, she was a sophisticated ambassador for the company, attending ribbon cuttings, posting pictures of deals on her Instagram page, and gracing advertisements for the company’s new properties. But inside the Trump Organization, she had a reputation as a shrewd and tough executive known to get her way.
Ivanka Trump, who now works in her father’s administration, did not respond to questions sent to her personal email, chief of staff, and the White House. A spokesperson for her attorney wrote that Ivanka Trump did not know about the Trump Moscow project “until after a nonbinding letter of intent had been signed, never talked to anyone outside the Organization about the proposal, and, even internally, was only minimally involved. Her only role was limited to reminding Mr. Cohen that, should an actual deal come to fruition (which it did not) the project, like any other with the Trump name, conform with the highest design and architectural standards.”
But emails and interviews suggest that her involvement ran deeper.
In November 2015, Ivanka Trump told Cohen to speak with Klokov, according to the four sources. Cohen had at least one phone conversation with the weightlifter, they said. It is not known what the men discussed over the phone, but they exchanged a string of emails that are now being examined by congressional investigators and federal agents probing Russia’s election meddling.
In one of those emails, Klokov told Cohen that he could arrange a meeting between Donald Trump and Putin to help pave the way for the tower. Later, Cohen sent an email refusing that offer and saying that the Trump Organization already had an agreement in place. He said he was cutting off future communication with Klokov. Copying Ivanka Trump, the Russian responded in a final brusque message, in which he questioned Cohen’s authority to make decisions for the Trump Organization. Frustrated by the exchange, Ivanka Trump questioned Cohen’s refusal to continue communicating with Klokov, according to one of the sources.
BuzzFeed News was shown the emails on the condition we do not quote them.
It’s unclear how Ivanka Trump came into contact with Klokov. The chiseled giant, who is 35 and lives in Moscow, has 340,000 followers on Instagram, where he frequently posts pictures and videos of weightlifting and associated products bearing his name.
He won the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games and took gold at the 2005 World Championships, but he has no apparent background in real estate development. Nor is he known to be a close associate of Putin or anyone in the Russian president’s inner circle, and he does not appear to publicly participate in his country’s politics. It’s not even clear he could have made good on his offer to arrange a meeting between Putin and Donald Trump.
Klokov initially told BuzzFeed News that he did not “send any emails” to Cohen. “I don’t understand why you ask me about this,” Klokov said in text messages. “I’m weightlifter, not a political.” When told that he had sent at least two emails to Cohen and had had a phone conversation with him at Ivanka Trump’s request, Klokov stopped responding.
Cohen referred BuzzFeed News to his attorney, Stephen Ryan, who declined to comment.
FBI and congressional investigators, two of the sources said, are still trying to determine the relationship between Ivanka Trump and the Olympian.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and emails between Cohen and Klokov were among the documents that the Trump Organization turned over to the committee, according to two sources. When he was interviewed by the panel in October, Cohen released a statement disputing allegations of a conspiracy to rig the election in Trump’s favor.
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, declined to comment on Klokov, Ivanka Trump, or any specifics. But he said he could see how Russian athletes, like the country’s oligarchs, might be drawn into Russian politics.
“I can’t speak specifically to athletes, but you see the oligarchs, and there is a model for them, and they do things on behalf of the country and on behalf of Putin at their own expense — they’re not asked, they just assume the responsibility to do it, whether that’s a mercenary army in Syria or it’s screwing with elections; whether it’s the hacking out of the St. Petersburg facility,” Burr told BuzzFeed News. “So it’s not a stretch to say if Putin allows oligarchs to make money as long as they don’t get involved in politics and they do things that are beneficial to Putin — I could see athletes falling into the same category.”
A spokesperson for Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the committee vice chair, declined to comment. The special counsel’s office declined to comment as well.
Ivanka Trump wields unusually strong influence over a president known for his unpredictability and impulsiveness. Though her efforts to moderate her father’s right-wing tendencies have not always succeeded, such as when he withdrew from the Paris climate accord despite her opposition, she remains uniquely close to him. She has been by his side for years in business and was one of his most trusted and popular surrogates during the presidential campaign. She has an office in the West Wing and a small staff of advisers.
She was with her brother Donald Trump Jr. and Sater when they visited Moscow in 2006 to scout locations for a possible tower there, famously sitting in Putin’s office chair during a visit. She was also instrumental in the development of Trump SoHo, a troubled hotel and condominium tower in Manhattan. New York City prosecutors considered criminal fraud charges against Ivanka Trump and her brother Donald Jr. for allegedly misleading prospective buyers at Trump SoHo, ProPublica reported last October.
There is no evidence that Ivanka Trump’s contact with the athlete — the former Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov — was illegal or that it had anything to do with the election. Nor is it clear that Klokov could even have introduced Trump to the Russian president. But congressional investigators have reviewed emails and questioned witnesses about the interaction, according to two of the sources, and so has special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, according to the other two.
The contacts reveal that even as her father was campaigning to become president of the United States, Ivanka Trump connected Michael Cohen with a Russian who offered to arrange a meeting with one of the US’s adversaries — in order to help close a business deal that could have made the Trump family millions.
These interactions also shed new light on Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer and fixer, who is under criminal investigation and who played a key role in many of Donald Trump’s biggest deals — including the audacious effort to build Europe’s tallest tower in the Russian capital.
In the fall of 2015, that effort was well underway. Cohen negotiated with Felix Sater, one of the president’s longtime business associates, and agreed upon a Russian developer to build the tower. Donald Trump personally signed a nonbinding letter of intent on Oct. 28, 2015, the day of the third Republican debate, to allow a Russian developer to brand the tower with Trump’s name. The agreement stated that the Trump Organization would have the option to brand the hotel’s spa and fitness facilities as “The Spa by Ivanka Trump” and that Ivanka Trump would be granted “sole and absolute discretion” to have the final say on “all interior design elements of the spa or fitness facilities.”
Ivanka Trump was then an executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization. Publicly, she was a sophisticated ambassador for the company, attending ribbon cuttings, posting pictures of deals on her Instagram page, and gracing advertisements for the company’s new properties. But inside the Trump Organization, she had a reputation as a shrewd and tough executive known to get her way.
Ivanka Trump, who now works in her father’s administration, did not respond to questions sent to her personal email, chief of staff, and the White House. A spokesperson for her attorney wrote that Ivanka Trump did not know about the Trump Moscow project “until after a nonbinding letter of intent had been signed, never talked to anyone outside the Organization about the proposal, and, even internally, was only minimally involved. Her only role was limited to reminding Mr. Cohen that, should an actual deal come to fruition (which it did not) the project, like any other with the Trump name, conform with the highest design and architectural standards.”
But emails and interviews suggest that her involvement ran deeper.
In November 2015, Ivanka Trump told Cohen to speak with Klokov, according to the four sources. Cohen had at least one phone conversation with the weightlifter, they said. It is not known what the men discussed over the phone, but they exchanged a string of emails that are now being examined by congressional investigators and federal agents probing Russia’s election meddling.
In one of those emails, Klokov told Cohen that he could arrange a meeting between Donald Trump and Putin to help pave the way for the tower. Later, Cohen sent an email refusing that offer and saying that the Trump Organization already had an agreement in place. He said he was cutting off future communication with Klokov. Copying Ivanka Trump, the Russian responded in a final brusque message, in which he questioned Cohen’s authority to make decisions for the Trump Organization. Frustrated by the exchange, Ivanka Trump questioned Cohen’s refusal to continue communicating with Klokov, according to one of the sources.
BuzzFeed News was shown the emails on the condition we do not quote them.
It’s unclear how Ivanka Trump came into contact with Klokov. The chiseled giant, who is 35 and lives in Moscow, has 340,000 followers on Instagram, where he frequently posts pictures and videos of weightlifting and associated products bearing his name.
He won the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games and took gold at the 2005 World Championships, but he has no apparent background in real estate development. Nor is he known to be a close associate of Putin or anyone in the Russian president’s inner circle, and he does not appear to publicly participate in his country’s politics. It’s not even clear he could have made good on his offer to arrange a meeting between Putin and Donald Trump.
Klokov initially told BuzzFeed News that he did not “send any emails” to Cohen. “I don’t understand why you ask me about this,” Klokov said in text messages. “I’m weightlifter, not a political.” When told that he had sent at least two emails to Cohen and had had a phone conversation with him at Ivanka Trump’s request, Klokov stopped responding.
Cohen referred BuzzFeed News to his attorney, Stephen Ryan, who declined to comment.
FBI and congressional investigators, two of the sources said, are still trying to determine the relationship between Ivanka Trump and the Olympian.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and emails between Cohen and Klokov were among the documents that the Trump Organization turned over to the committee, according to two sources. When he was interviewed by the panel in October, Cohen released a statement disputing allegations of a conspiracy to rig the election in Trump’s favor.
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, declined to comment on Klokov, Ivanka Trump, or any specifics. But he said he could see how Russian athletes, like the country’s oligarchs, might be drawn into Russian politics.
“I can’t speak specifically to athletes, but you see the oligarchs, and there is a model for them, and they do things on behalf of the country and on behalf of Putin at their own expense — they’re not asked, they just assume the responsibility to do it, whether that’s a mercenary army in Syria or it’s screwing with elections; whether it’s the hacking out of the St. Petersburg facility,” Burr told BuzzFeed News. “So it’s not a stretch to say if Putin allows oligarchs to make money as long as they don’t get involved in politics and they do things that are beneficial to Putin — I could see athletes falling into the same category.”
A spokesperson for Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the committee vice chair, declined to comment. The special counsel’s office declined to comment as well.
Ivanka Trump wields unusually strong influence over a president known for his unpredictability and impulsiveness. Though her efforts to moderate her father’s right-wing tendencies have not always succeeded, such as when he withdrew from the Paris climate accord despite her opposition, she remains uniquely close to him. She has been by his side for years in business and was one of his most trusted and popular surrogates during the presidential campaign. She has an office in the West Wing and a small staff of advisers.
She was with her brother Donald Trump Jr. and Sater when they visited Moscow in 2006 to scout locations for a possible tower there, famously sitting in Putin’s office chair during a visit. She was also instrumental in the development of Trump SoHo, a troubled hotel and condominium tower in Manhattan. New York City prosecutors considered criminal fraud charges against Ivanka Trump and her brother Donald Jr. for allegedly misleading prospective buyers at Trump SoHo, ProPublica reported last October.
lies, lies, and more lies!!!
Trump claims Texans had to be rescued after going 'out in their boats to watch' Hurricane Harvey
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - the hill
06/06/18 10:46 PM EDT
President Trump claimed Tuesday that people had to be rescued during Hurricane Harvey last year after they “went out in their boats to watch the hurricane.”
Trump made the comments at a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) briefing on the upcoming hurricane season while praising the Coast Guard’s efforts during last year’s storm in Texas.
"They saved 16,000 people, many of them in Texas, for whatever reason that is," Trump said of the Coast Guard. "People went out in their boats to watch the hurricane. That didn't work out too well."
Reporters questioned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) about Trump’s comment, according to the Texas Tribune.
Abbott told the media he had “no information one way or the other about that."
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, whose jurisdiction covers Houston, told the Houston Chronicle that he “didn't see anyone taking the approach that would reflect his comments.”
He instead credited Texans who helped to recuse those who were stranded on boats.
"I'll be sure to invite the president to ride out the next hurricane in a jon boat in Galveston Bay the next time one approaches," Gonzalez added.
The Coast Guard said last year that it had rescued about 11,000 people during Hurricane Harvey.
Trump made the comments at a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) briefing on the upcoming hurricane season while praising the Coast Guard’s efforts during last year’s storm in Texas.
"They saved 16,000 people, many of them in Texas, for whatever reason that is," Trump said of the Coast Guard. "People went out in their boats to watch the hurricane. That didn't work out too well."
Reporters questioned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) about Trump’s comment, according to the Texas Tribune.
Abbott told the media he had “no information one way or the other about that."
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, whose jurisdiction covers Houston, told the Houston Chronicle that he “didn't see anyone taking the approach that would reflect his comments.”
He instead credited Texans who helped to recuse those who were stranded on boats.
"I'll be sure to invite the president to ride out the next hurricane in a jon boat in Galveston Bay the next time one approaches," Gonzalez added.
The Coast Guard said last year that it had rescued about 11,000 people during Hurricane Harvey.
idiot speak!!!
In private FEMA remarks, Trump’s focus strays from hurricanes
By Josh Dawsey - washington post
June 6 at 10:02 PM
The meeting was supposed to be about hurricane preparedness, as disaster officials gathered at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters days after the start of the 2018 season.
But President Trump had a lot else on his mind, turning the closed-door discussion into soliloquies on his prowess in negotiating airplane deals, his popularity, the effectiveness of his political endorsements, the Republican Party’s fortunes, the vagaries of Defense Department purchasing guidelines, his dislike of magnetized launch equipment on aircraft carriers, his unending love of coal and his breezy optimism about his planned Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“It’s an interesting journey. It’s called the land of the unknown — who knows? We’ll maybe make a deal. Maybe not. As I say to everybody, are you going to make a deal?” Trump said, according to audio of the FEMA meeting obtained by The Washington Post. “Maybe and maybe not. Who knows?”
The president’s 40-minute briefing session behind closed-doors came after he spoke to cameras for about 15 minutes. He briefly referred to Puerto Rico — where authorities now say thousands died as a result of last year’s hurricane. The Trump administration was roundly criticized for its performance, and hundreds of thousands in the U.S. territory remain without electricity.
Trump did not mention Puerto Rico’s victims but thanked Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) for helping and noted that the power company was “in bankruptcy prior to the hurricane.” He said the recovery was a “tough job.” He also mentioned Puerto Rico in passing once with the cameras rolling.
“There has never been a season like the last 12 or 13 months,” he said of the hurricane season. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hurricane briefings usually give politicians a chance to look decisive, and Trump bragged to friends last fall that his administration had handled a slew of hurricanes quite well. Many of Trump’s thoughts Thursday, however, did not relate to hurricanes.
When Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan began speaking, Trump within 10 seconds moved the conversation to negotiating airplane prices. He said the government was getting ripped off on ships and planes because the “ordering process for the military is so bad. . . . It’s not a competitive bid.”
“We saved $1.6 billion on Air Force One,” he said. “Can you believe it? I got involved in the negotiations. The press refuses to report that, but that’s okay. . . . People were really surprised.”
Military officials have not been able to explain where Trump got such a figure. A Defense Department official told Bloomberg News this year that the department had no information to back up that claim.
“I got involved with Boeing and was able to cut down the F-18 by millions of dollars,” Trump added.
He then complained that the military was too frequently buying new and in his view, unnecessary, equipment — citing aircraft technology as an example.
“Part of it is, they want to have all new. Instead of having the system that throws the aircraft off the [ship], which was always steam,” he said. “They now have magnets. They’re using magnets instead of steam. . . . They spent hundreds of millions of dollars, I’m hearing not great things about it. It’s frankly ridiculous.”
The room did not respond to his assessment. Shanahan said he would brief Trump and Kelly on changes to the guidelines soon and would begin bringing him receipts. Trump said he appreciated that.
A few minutes later, he analyzed election results in California, noting that he endorsed the Republican gubernatorial candidate, who made it onto the November ballot. Trump is highly unpopular in California, according to public and White House polls, with under a 40 percent approval rating. He attacked Gavin Newsom, the Democrat, saying he had “done nothing.”
“I endorsed him,” he said of Republican John Cox. “He really has been a very good candidate. I watched him last night. . . . We won every seat that I endorsed. The ones we didn’t give, they didn’t do too well, as you probably know.”
Trump touted generic polls that show Republicans closing the gap in the midterm elections before dismissing the idea of generic polls. He said the Republican Party was down 17 points two months ago in one unnamed poll. Now, he said, that was changing.
“I don’t know if that means anything. I’ve never heard of a generic poll. I’m not sure I believe in a generic poll when you have so many races between the Senate and the House,” he said. “We’ve never been up in a generic poll, and now we’re up in two of them. . . . The Republican Party has . . . never been up in generic polls. And now it’s up in two of them.”
For several minutes, Trump told the gathered officials, and others dialed in via a secure line, about the economy, ticking off companies and taking credit for their successes.
Trump lauded the Taiwanese company Foxconn for creating a plant in Wisconsin, where it will make Apple equipment, and said he was pleased with Apple CEO Tim Cook for promising to build a “hell of a nice plant.” He said it would not have happened without him.
The Foxconn deal has drawn questions about the $3 billion incentive package the state approved, The Washington Post has reported.
“In the old days, I would have been the real estate broker in that deal,” Trump said of the Foxconn project.
He lauded Exxon for promising an investment of $60 billion. The company has said it is investing $50 billion. Some of the projects were already planned, but the company said more than $35 billion was for unannounced projects.
“Money they would have never spent without us,” the president said.
“We’re setting records like we’ve never seen before,” Trump said. “Whether it’s the employment records I went over, whether it’s the number of companies pouring into the country. We have tremendous number of companies coming back. Nobody had any idea this was going to happen. I did. . . . Things are happening that they’ve never seen before.”
He encouraged Energy Secretary Rick Perry to make an announcement about helping coal companies. “I’d love to put it out — ‘clean coal, nuclear,’ it’s a very important message,” he said. He said Perry needed to have a news conference. The energy secretary acquiesced.
More than anything, Trump was determined to convince the Cabinet members that he was doing a terrific job – and that they were, too. In private, Trump has derided many of his Cabinet members and has fired several. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump over immigration, thanked him for his “unfailing support of the department.”
“I understand a big story is being done in a major newspaper talking about what a great Cabinet this is,” he said, without specifying the outlet. “What a great Cabinet this has turned out to be.”
“Our level of popularity is great,” he added.
But President Trump had a lot else on his mind, turning the closed-door discussion into soliloquies on his prowess in negotiating airplane deals, his popularity, the effectiveness of his political endorsements, the Republican Party’s fortunes, the vagaries of Defense Department purchasing guidelines, his dislike of magnetized launch equipment on aircraft carriers, his unending love of coal and his breezy optimism about his planned Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“It’s an interesting journey. It’s called the land of the unknown — who knows? We’ll maybe make a deal. Maybe not. As I say to everybody, are you going to make a deal?” Trump said, according to audio of the FEMA meeting obtained by The Washington Post. “Maybe and maybe not. Who knows?”
The president’s 40-minute briefing session behind closed-doors came after he spoke to cameras for about 15 minutes. He briefly referred to Puerto Rico — where authorities now say thousands died as a result of last year’s hurricane. The Trump administration was roundly criticized for its performance, and hundreds of thousands in the U.S. territory remain without electricity.
Trump did not mention Puerto Rico’s victims but thanked Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) for helping and noted that the power company was “in bankruptcy prior to the hurricane.” He said the recovery was a “tough job.” He also mentioned Puerto Rico in passing once with the cameras rolling.
“There has never been a season like the last 12 or 13 months,” he said of the hurricane season. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hurricane briefings usually give politicians a chance to look decisive, and Trump bragged to friends last fall that his administration had handled a slew of hurricanes quite well. Many of Trump’s thoughts Thursday, however, did not relate to hurricanes.
When Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan began speaking, Trump within 10 seconds moved the conversation to negotiating airplane prices. He said the government was getting ripped off on ships and planes because the “ordering process for the military is so bad. . . . It’s not a competitive bid.”
“We saved $1.6 billion on Air Force One,” he said. “Can you believe it? I got involved in the negotiations. The press refuses to report that, but that’s okay. . . . People were really surprised.”
Military officials have not been able to explain where Trump got such a figure. A Defense Department official told Bloomberg News this year that the department had no information to back up that claim.
“I got involved with Boeing and was able to cut down the F-18 by millions of dollars,” Trump added.
He then complained that the military was too frequently buying new and in his view, unnecessary, equipment — citing aircraft technology as an example.
“Part of it is, they want to have all new. Instead of having the system that throws the aircraft off the [ship], which was always steam,” he said. “They now have magnets. They’re using magnets instead of steam. . . . They spent hundreds of millions of dollars, I’m hearing not great things about it. It’s frankly ridiculous.”
The room did not respond to his assessment. Shanahan said he would brief Trump and Kelly on changes to the guidelines soon and would begin bringing him receipts. Trump said he appreciated that.
A few minutes later, he analyzed election results in California, noting that he endorsed the Republican gubernatorial candidate, who made it onto the November ballot. Trump is highly unpopular in California, according to public and White House polls, with under a 40 percent approval rating. He attacked Gavin Newsom, the Democrat, saying he had “done nothing.”
“I endorsed him,” he said of Republican John Cox. “He really has been a very good candidate. I watched him last night. . . . We won every seat that I endorsed. The ones we didn’t give, they didn’t do too well, as you probably know.”
Trump touted generic polls that show Republicans closing the gap in the midterm elections before dismissing the idea of generic polls. He said the Republican Party was down 17 points two months ago in one unnamed poll. Now, he said, that was changing.
“I don’t know if that means anything. I’ve never heard of a generic poll. I’m not sure I believe in a generic poll when you have so many races between the Senate and the House,” he said. “We’ve never been up in a generic poll, and now we’re up in two of them. . . . The Republican Party has . . . never been up in generic polls. And now it’s up in two of them.”
For several minutes, Trump told the gathered officials, and others dialed in via a secure line, about the economy, ticking off companies and taking credit for their successes.
Trump lauded the Taiwanese company Foxconn for creating a plant in Wisconsin, where it will make Apple equipment, and said he was pleased with Apple CEO Tim Cook for promising to build a “hell of a nice plant.” He said it would not have happened without him.
The Foxconn deal has drawn questions about the $3 billion incentive package the state approved, The Washington Post has reported.
“In the old days, I would have been the real estate broker in that deal,” Trump said of the Foxconn project.
He lauded Exxon for promising an investment of $60 billion. The company has said it is investing $50 billion. Some of the projects were already planned, but the company said more than $35 billion was for unannounced projects.
“Money they would have never spent without us,” the president said.
“We’re setting records like we’ve never seen before,” Trump said. “Whether it’s the employment records I went over, whether it’s the number of companies pouring into the country. We have tremendous number of companies coming back. Nobody had any idea this was going to happen. I did. . . . Things are happening that they’ve never seen before.”
He encouraged Energy Secretary Rick Perry to make an announcement about helping coal companies. “I’d love to put it out — ‘clean coal, nuclear,’ it’s a very important message,” he said. He said Perry needed to have a news conference. The energy secretary acquiesced.
More than anything, Trump was determined to convince the Cabinet members that he was doing a terrific job – and that they were, too. In private, Trump has derided many of his Cabinet members and has fired several. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump over immigration, thanked him for his “unfailing support of the department.”
“I understand a big story is being done in a major newspaper talking about what a great Cabinet this is,” he said, without specifying the outlet. “What a great Cabinet this has turned out to be.”
“Our level of popularity is great,” he added.
from the ORANGUTAN-in-chief!!!
Trump says Pelosi is 'MS-13 lover,' Democrats care about 'criminals' over 'you.' Then wants apology?
Ian Reifowitz - daily kos
Community
Sunday June 03, 2018 · 7:45 AM PDT
Fuck him. If I could have added nine more characters to the headline above, that’s what I’d have written next.
This week gave new meaning to the word double standard. Quick review: (Very) early Tuesday morning, Roseanne Barr cost herself (and a lot of other people) a job on a top-rated TV show after tweeting a vile, racist slur about Valerie Jarrett and some hateful, Holocaust-related lies about George Soros—the latter of which Donald Trump Jr. retweeted. Of course he did.
Roseanne has a history of spreading racist bile as well as conspiracy theories, and has been a vocal supporter of Trump—that’s three things she and Mr. 46 percent of the popular vote have in common. Trump even called Roseanne personally to congratulate her on the ratings her show garnered in its triumphant return this spring, and bragged that those ratings were “about us”—i.e., himself and his supporters. It’s not clear whether her recent racist tweets are also “about them.”
The Man Who Lost The Popular Vote has not condemned or even acknowledged Roseanne’s racist remarks. Instead, he reached another breakthrough in his quest to explore the full range of possibilities contained by the concept of narcissism.
You want HORRIBLE? Let’s talk about some horrible statements. In fact, let’s talk about horrible, vile, hateful statements you made the very day before you issued this latest version of “everything’s about me”—statements that actually undermine our democracy by dehumanizing your political opponents, and turning political discourse into blood-curdling rage. Let’s do that for a bit, shall we? Read More
This week gave new meaning to the word double standard. Quick review: (Very) early Tuesday morning, Roseanne Barr cost herself (and a lot of other people) a job on a top-rated TV show after tweeting a vile, racist slur about Valerie Jarrett and some hateful, Holocaust-related lies about George Soros—the latter of which Donald Trump Jr. retweeted. Of course he did.
Roseanne has a history of spreading racist bile as well as conspiracy theories, and has been a vocal supporter of Trump—that’s three things she and Mr. 46 percent of the popular vote have in common. Trump even called Roseanne personally to congratulate her on the ratings her show garnered in its triumphant return this spring, and bragged that those ratings were “about us”—i.e., himself and his supporters. It’s not clear whether her recent racist tweets are also “about them.”
The Man Who Lost The Popular Vote has not condemned or even acknowledged Roseanne’s racist remarks. Instead, he reached another breakthrough in his quest to explore the full range of possibilities contained by the concept of narcissism.
You want HORRIBLE? Let’s talk about some horrible statements. In fact, let’s talk about horrible, vile, hateful statements you made the very day before you issued this latest version of “everything’s about me”—statements that actually undermine our democracy by dehumanizing your political opponents, and turning political discourse into blood-curdling rage. Let’s do that for a bit, shall we? Read More
from the mouth of a national disgrace!!!
Trump says federal Puerto Rico response improved ‘brand,’ ignores 4,600 deaths
A day earlier, the president said he would "have a little fun" on trip to meet Texas mass school shooting victims' families.
JOSH ISRAEL - thinkprogress
JUN 1, 2018, 12:27 PM
The Trump administration and its congressional allies have said little about a Harvard study released this week that estimated more than 4,600 people have perished in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria and its aftermath. While 11,000 Puerto Ricans still lack electrical power eight months after the storm, the president himself actually praised the botched federal response in remarks on Friday to the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Last season, during the Hurricanes, I was in Texas, I was in Florida, I was in Puerto Rico,” he claimed, “I saw the work that you did under the most adverse conditions. And I’ve said this to a lot of people, I don’t think any brand has gained more momentum or gained any more of anything than the brand of the United States Coast Guard.”
Trump has previously blamed the ongoing problems on “poor leadership ability” of local officials and announced just days into the recovery efforts that he would “not keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” In his sole trip to the U.S. territory in October, after the storm’s devastation, he prematurely boasted that only 16 people had been certified as having died, favorably comparing that to the “literally thousands of people” who perished in Hurricane Katrina.
The president’s latest callous comments come a day after his trip to Texas, during which he met with the families of victims of last month’s Santa Fe High School mass shooting. Prior to that trip, he told reporters that he was traveling to Dallas, Houston, and predicted: “We are going to have a little fun today.”
“Last season, during the Hurricanes, I was in Texas, I was in Florida, I was in Puerto Rico,” he claimed, “I saw the work that you did under the most adverse conditions. And I’ve said this to a lot of people, I don’t think any brand has gained more momentum or gained any more of anything than the brand of the United States Coast Guard.”
Trump has previously blamed the ongoing problems on “poor leadership ability” of local officials and announced just days into the recovery efforts that he would “not keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” In his sole trip to the U.S. territory in October, after the storm’s devastation, he prematurely boasted that only 16 people had been certified as having died, favorably comparing that to the “literally thousands of people” who perished in Hurricane Katrina.
The president’s latest callous comments come a day after his trip to Texas, during which he met with the families of victims of last month’s Santa Fe High School mass shooting. Prior to that trip, he told reporters that he was traveling to Dallas, Houston, and predicted: “We are going to have a little fun today.”
a national security threat!!
Trump bragged about classified Syria skirmish at fundraiser
By ELIANA JOHNSON 05/29/2018 11:00 PM EDT
The White House has tried to avoid discussing a February skirmish between U.S. troops and Russian mercenaries in Syria, but that didn’t stop President Donald Trump from bragging about the Pentagon’s performance at a recent closed-door fundraiser.
The details of the battle remain classified, but speaking to donors in midtown Manhattan last Wednesday, Trump said he was amazed by the performance of American F-18 pilots. He suggested that the strikes may have been as brief as “10 minutes” and taken out 100 to 300 Russians, according to a person briefed on the president’s remarks, which have not previously been reported.
Trump often makes unscripted comments at fundraisers, and he revels in the exploits of the U.S. military. At a Republican National Committee fundraiser last fall, he told the crowd that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had “never lost a battle,” and he has bragged about the country’s nuclear superiority in confrontations with North Korea.
American officials have long feared that a clash with Russian forces in Syria would add tension to the already strained relationship between the two countries, and they intentionally avoided Russian targets last month when they bombed the country in response to Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons. According to The New York Times, which last week provided the first detailed description of the battle, the confrontation lasted four hours and left between 200 and 300 pro-Assad forces dead.
White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah declined to comment on Trump’s remarks because information about the Syria strikes remains classified.
The fundraiser at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel was attended by about 100 of Trump’s top-dollar supporters, who paid a minimum of $50,000 a head to attend the dinner. Though protesters lined the streets outside, Trump was greeted warmly by supporters inside, including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Along with the Syria strike, the president talked about his decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, earning a standing ovation from the crowd. He said he sympathizes with past presidents who broke their promises to move the embassy because of the aggressive lobbying he received from “kings and queens” urging him against the move, and that it took a leader of strength and conviction to follow through.
The U.S. marked the official opening of its embassy in Jerusalem earlier this month, an event attended by several top White House officials, including presidential daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and her husband, Trump adviser Jared Kushner. Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, responded to the embassy opening with protests that resulted in dozens of casualties when Israeli troops responded forcefully to their provocations.
Trump returned to the theme at a rally in Nashville on Tuesday evening. "Two weeks out, when people sort of started to think that we were going to open up the embassy, I was called by every leader in the world” telling him, “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it,” the president said.
The Manhattan fundraiser raised about $5 million for the Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee that funnels cash both to the president’s campaign operation and the Republican National Committee.
The details of the battle remain classified, but speaking to donors in midtown Manhattan last Wednesday, Trump said he was amazed by the performance of American F-18 pilots. He suggested that the strikes may have been as brief as “10 minutes” and taken out 100 to 300 Russians, according to a person briefed on the president’s remarks, which have not previously been reported.
Trump often makes unscripted comments at fundraisers, and he revels in the exploits of the U.S. military. At a Republican National Committee fundraiser last fall, he told the crowd that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had “never lost a battle,” and he has bragged about the country’s nuclear superiority in confrontations with North Korea.
American officials have long feared that a clash with Russian forces in Syria would add tension to the already strained relationship between the two countries, and they intentionally avoided Russian targets last month when they bombed the country in response to Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons. According to The New York Times, which last week provided the first detailed description of the battle, the confrontation lasted four hours and left between 200 and 300 pro-Assad forces dead.
White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah declined to comment on Trump’s remarks because information about the Syria strikes remains classified.
The fundraiser at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel was attended by about 100 of Trump’s top-dollar supporters, who paid a minimum of $50,000 a head to attend the dinner. Though protesters lined the streets outside, Trump was greeted warmly by supporters inside, including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Along with the Syria strike, the president talked about his decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, earning a standing ovation from the crowd. He said he sympathizes with past presidents who broke their promises to move the embassy because of the aggressive lobbying he received from “kings and queens” urging him against the move, and that it took a leader of strength and conviction to follow through.
The U.S. marked the official opening of its embassy in Jerusalem earlier this month, an event attended by several top White House officials, including presidential daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and her husband, Trump adviser Jared Kushner. Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, responded to the embassy opening with protests that resulted in dozens of casualties when Israeli troops responded forcefully to their provocations.
Trump returned to the theme at a rally in Nashville on Tuesday evening. "Two weeks out, when people sort of started to think that we were going to open up the embassy, I was called by every leader in the world” telling him, “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it,” the president said.
The Manhattan fundraiser raised about $5 million for the Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee that funnels cash both to the president’s campaign operation and the Republican National Committee.
The Art of Screwing Up the Deal: Trump Is Proving to Be the World's Worst Dealmaker
The president is in way over his head.
By Mark Sumner / Daily Kos - alternet
May 29, 2018, 9:11 AM GMT
A week after declaring the trade war between the US and China “on hold” Trump has reversed himself by breaking that armistice. He has announced a series of actions, including an as-yet-undetermined set of Chinese-made goods that will be subject to a 25 percent tariff along with new restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States. This action seems to take positions back to where they were in April, with Trump threatening one set of tariffs and China preparing their own tariffs in reply.
The most obvious casualty of that earlier round of threats was US farmers, who stood to lose an enormous portion of their export market. Then Trump declared that the problem had been solved, when a week ago China and the US supposedly reached a broad agreement that would see China buy more instead of less. So much more that, according to Trump, China would buy “practically as much as our Farmers can produce.” However, everything from last week now seems to be out the window, and Trump is once again promising a “final list” of items to face tariffs. Farmers are once again the most likely to immediately suffer from any retaliation.
Trump’s handling of the negotiations with China comes on their heels of his canceling the North Korea meeting … then not just un-canceling it just two days later, but calling reports about his initial letter to North Korea “fake news.” These actions are just part of a pattern that, according to the Washington Post, has American allies baffled.
President Trump is merging his national security and trade goals in a blur of tactical improvisation that risks alienating U.S. allies and opening American businesses to costly retaliation, according to several Republican lawmakers, business executives and former U.S. officials.
The Post calls Trump’s stances on economics and diplomacy “fluid.” By which they don’t mean flexible. More like unpredictable, erratic and nonsensical. It’s not just the positions themselves that are harming America’s standing in the world. The way Trump negotiates—by deception, bullying and sudden changes of direction—is leaving the US isolated and with few willing partners.
Last week, Trump launched a war on foreign cars. That’s a blow that will land most heavily on Mexico and Canada, and it’s one that’s again likely to be met with retaliation.
All this also comes while Trump is publicly violating his own sanction agreements—the one that Iran didn’t violate when he broke the nuclear treaty with them—in order to save Chinese phone maker ZTE. Which in turn seemed to be done for the purpose of gaining leverage with China. So China would help with North Korea. And the sanction against selling to North Korea was broken by … ZTE.
Trump may present these moves as actions designed to force manufacturers back into the United States, but what they actually do is show manufacturers that US policy has no long-term plan or direction. It’s a formula that makes manufacturers hold their fire, at best, rather than make major investments in an area where policies literally flip 180 degrees in a matter of days.
At worst, it makes both companies and governments want to wash their hands of their undependable former partner. These companies are settling both their plants and the plans in places where Trump can’t capriciously change the rules.
Trump also seems perfectly willing to mingle diplomatic efforts with economic issues, as in pushing China on trade policy in an effort to gain more support for sanctions against North Korea. Taking these issues out of their neatly defined “lanes” makes it more likely not just that diplomatic incidents can lead to a trade war, but that trade disputes can lead to diplomatic incidents. It makes it much more likely that the word “trade” could be erased from a trade war.
The most obvious casualty of that earlier round of threats was US farmers, who stood to lose an enormous portion of their export market. Then Trump declared that the problem had been solved, when a week ago China and the US supposedly reached a broad agreement that would see China buy more instead of less. So much more that, according to Trump, China would buy “practically as much as our Farmers can produce.” However, everything from last week now seems to be out the window, and Trump is once again promising a “final list” of items to face tariffs. Farmers are once again the most likely to immediately suffer from any retaliation.
Trump’s handling of the negotiations with China comes on their heels of his canceling the North Korea meeting … then not just un-canceling it just two days later, but calling reports about his initial letter to North Korea “fake news.” These actions are just part of a pattern that, according to the Washington Post, has American allies baffled.
President Trump is merging his national security and trade goals in a blur of tactical improvisation that risks alienating U.S. allies and opening American businesses to costly retaliation, according to several Republican lawmakers, business executives and former U.S. officials.
The Post calls Trump’s stances on economics and diplomacy “fluid.” By which they don’t mean flexible. More like unpredictable, erratic and nonsensical. It’s not just the positions themselves that are harming America’s standing in the world. The way Trump negotiates—by deception, bullying and sudden changes of direction—is leaving the US isolated and with few willing partners.
Last week, Trump launched a war on foreign cars. That’s a blow that will land most heavily on Mexico and Canada, and it’s one that’s again likely to be met with retaliation.
All this also comes while Trump is publicly violating his own sanction agreements—the one that Iran didn’t violate when he broke the nuclear treaty with them—in order to save Chinese phone maker ZTE. Which in turn seemed to be done for the purpose of gaining leverage with China. So China would help with North Korea. And the sanction against selling to North Korea was broken by … ZTE.
Trump may present these moves as actions designed to force manufacturers back into the United States, but what they actually do is show manufacturers that US policy has no long-term plan or direction. It’s a formula that makes manufacturers hold their fire, at best, rather than make major investments in an area where policies literally flip 180 degrees in a matter of days.
At worst, it makes both companies and governments want to wash their hands of their undependable former partner. These companies are settling both their plants and the plans in places where Trump can’t capriciously change the rules.
Trump also seems perfectly willing to mingle diplomatic efforts with economic issues, as in pushing China on trade policy in an effort to gain more support for sanctions against North Korea. Taking these issues out of their neatly defined “lanes” makes it more likely not just that diplomatic incidents can lead to a trade war, but that trade disputes can lead to diplomatic incidents. It makes it much more likely that the word “trade” could be erased from a trade war.
Trump Won’t Hesitate to Tear It All Down
The president is sinking in scandal, but has drawn political strength from his willingness to destroy institutions—including his own party.
By Jeet Heer - the new republic
May 28, 2018
...Trump is accusing “the top ranks” of the FBI of corruption, an outburst that would cause controversy for any other president but now barely rates a yawn. But Trump’s rhetoric is an important clue as to how he plans to steer his way through the scandals that plague his administration, particularly the slow-dripping revelations from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry.
“Trump’s language is getting darker and more ominous, suggesting the FBI’s activities during the 2016 elections were ‘bigger than Watergate,’ and yesterday claiming a ‘criminal deep state’ conspiracy to get him,” Mike Allen wrote in Axios. “We might be numb to so many attacks on so many groups so often that it obscures how President Trump has torched virtually every institution that could one day hold him accountable.”
Allen provided a daunting list of targets of Trump’s recent attacks: Mueller, the special counsel’s prosecutors, the media, the Justice Department, the FBI, the intelligence community, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, New York state investigators and prosecutors, Democrats on intelligence committees, and unreliable GOP senators. The commonality of the targets is that they are all people or institutions that could check his power.
Trump’s strategy on tearing down institutions might well work, especially given the support he has among congressional Republicans. As journalist Charles Pierce argues in Esquire, “This president is willing to pull the temple down on his own head, and the Republicans are willing to compliment him on his renovation.”
With his reference to pulling the temple down, Pierce is alluding to the Biblical hero Samson. It’s an apt analogy, as Trump has practiced his own version of the Samson Option, coercing consent by threatening to annihilate everyone around him in addition to himself.
Trump’s “torch-it-all strategy,” as Allen calls it, is a return to form for the man who, as a presidential candidate, defeated his rivals with political nihilism. Unlike career politicians, he wasn’t bound to his political party by a shared ideology or web of social connections. He might have had hidden financial debts, but in political terms he was not beholden to anyone in the GOP and, unlike other politicians, didn’t have to worry the costs of alienating the party.
In short, Trump had nothing to lose, so he was willing to say anything to win, ranging from petty insults (“Little Marco”) to bizarre conspiracy theories (like the claim Ted Cruz’s father was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy) to ideologically heterodox statements (saying George W. Bush lied about the Iraq having weapons of mass destruction).
Trump had the freedom to tell the GOP that they had to give him what he wanted, or he would destroy him. And there was no way he could be disciplined. Whenever the party tried to rein him in, he just threatened to run as a third-party candidate, effectively dooming the GOP. As he reportedly told a friend early in his presidential run, “If I’m going down, then [Jeb] Bush is going down with me. He’s not going to be president of the United States.”
This was a perfect expression of Trump’s Samsonian attitude, which has continued as president. What are his rants about the Deep State and the FBI but an assertion that if he is challenged, he’ll happily tarnish and discredit the institutions of government? As Allen contends, this strategy has had some effect since the reputation of the institutions Trump has attacked has “been diminished, at least among Republicans, by the president’s use of this tactic.”
Trump is unique in American politics in having no real institutional, ideological or partisan loyalty. He’s really out for himself, which makes his threats to bring down American institutions all too plausible. This is one of the key traits that distinguishes him from another scandal-plagued Republican president to whom he’s often compared: Richard Nixon. While Nixon was also willing to attack his enemies’ “witch hunt,” ultimately he was enough of a party man to realize that his fate was tied to the GOP. Once the Republican Congress turned against him in 1974, Nixon resigned.
There is little reason to think Trump would emulate Nixon in making a gracious exit. Quite the reverse.
Nixon was motivated by the fact that he could’ve lost his government pension if he was impeached and removed from office. For Trump, such a pension would be a minor consideration since he can make much more money through his brand, which would be best preserved by fighting as hard as possible so he keeps the loyalty of his most enthusiastic supporters.
Maintaining that loyalty doesn’t require him to respect the Republican Party or the institutions of government. Rather, Trump’s brand will flourish as he further rebels against the establishment.
Because of Trump’s commitment to the Samson Option, the norm-breaking we’ve seen is only the beginning. The deeper he sinks in scandal, the more mud Trump will sling. He may well pull the temple down on himself and those around him, shouting,
“Let me die with the Washingtonians!”
“Trump’s language is getting darker and more ominous, suggesting the FBI’s activities during the 2016 elections were ‘bigger than Watergate,’ and yesterday claiming a ‘criminal deep state’ conspiracy to get him,” Mike Allen wrote in Axios. “We might be numb to so many attacks on so many groups so often that it obscures how President Trump has torched virtually every institution that could one day hold him accountable.”
Allen provided a daunting list of targets of Trump’s recent attacks: Mueller, the special counsel’s prosecutors, the media, the Justice Department, the FBI, the intelligence community, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, New York state investigators and prosecutors, Democrats on intelligence committees, and unreliable GOP senators. The commonality of the targets is that they are all people or institutions that could check his power.
Trump’s strategy on tearing down institutions might well work, especially given the support he has among congressional Republicans. As journalist Charles Pierce argues in Esquire, “This president is willing to pull the temple down on his own head, and the Republicans are willing to compliment him on his renovation.”
With his reference to pulling the temple down, Pierce is alluding to the Biblical hero Samson. It’s an apt analogy, as Trump has practiced his own version of the Samson Option, coercing consent by threatening to annihilate everyone around him in addition to himself.
Trump’s “torch-it-all strategy,” as Allen calls it, is a return to form for the man who, as a presidential candidate, defeated his rivals with political nihilism. Unlike career politicians, he wasn’t bound to his political party by a shared ideology or web of social connections. He might have had hidden financial debts, but in political terms he was not beholden to anyone in the GOP and, unlike other politicians, didn’t have to worry the costs of alienating the party.
In short, Trump had nothing to lose, so he was willing to say anything to win, ranging from petty insults (“Little Marco”) to bizarre conspiracy theories (like the claim Ted Cruz’s father was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy) to ideologically heterodox statements (saying George W. Bush lied about the Iraq having weapons of mass destruction).
Trump had the freedom to tell the GOP that they had to give him what he wanted, or he would destroy him. And there was no way he could be disciplined. Whenever the party tried to rein him in, he just threatened to run as a third-party candidate, effectively dooming the GOP. As he reportedly told a friend early in his presidential run, “If I’m going down, then [Jeb] Bush is going down with me. He’s not going to be president of the United States.”
This was a perfect expression of Trump’s Samsonian attitude, which has continued as president. What are his rants about the Deep State and the FBI but an assertion that if he is challenged, he’ll happily tarnish and discredit the institutions of government? As Allen contends, this strategy has had some effect since the reputation of the institutions Trump has attacked has “been diminished, at least among Republicans, by the president’s use of this tactic.”
Trump is unique in American politics in having no real institutional, ideological or partisan loyalty. He’s really out for himself, which makes his threats to bring down American institutions all too plausible. This is one of the key traits that distinguishes him from another scandal-plagued Republican president to whom he’s often compared: Richard Nixon. While Nixon was also willing to attack his enemies’ “witch hunt,” ultimately he was enough of a party man to realize that his fate was tied to the GOP. Once the Republican Congress turned against him in 1974, Nixon resigned.
There is little reason to think Trump would emulate Nixon in making a gracious exit. Quite the reverse.
Nixon was motivated by the fact that he could’ve lost his government pension if he was impeached and removed from office. For Trump, such a pension would be a minor consideration since he can make much more money through his brand, which would be best preserved by fighting as hard as possible so he keeps the loyalty of his most enthusiastic supporters.
Maintaining that loyalty doesn’t require him to respect the Republican Party or the institutions of government. Rather, Trump’s brand will flourish as he further rebels against the establishment.
Because of Trump’s commitment to the Samson Option, the norm-breaking we’ve seen is only the beginning. The deeper he sinks in scandal, the more mud Trump will sling. He may well pull the temple down on himself and those around him, shouting,
“Let me die with the Washingtonians!”
Trump accuses Mueller of ruining 'young and beautiful' lives of his campaign staffers
Mark Sumner
Daily Kos Staff
Sunday May 27, 2018 · 7:00 AM PDT
A reminder that peak ridiculous is a moving target.
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Who’s going to give back the young and beautiful lives (and others) that have been devastated and destroyed by the phony Russia Collusion Witch Hunt? They journeyed down to Washington, D.C., with stars in their eyes and wanting to help our nation...They went back home in tatters!
5:41 AM - May 27, 2018
Yes, Donald Trump is waxing lyrical over starry-eyed youths like 69-year-old Paul Manafort, 51-year-old waif Michael Cohen, little Michael Flynn, and toddler Rick Gates who have had their poor naive eyes moistened by the realization that not everyone gets to the promised autocracy-land. Or at least, not without a pardon. After all, Manafort only started with the Nixon administration. What kind of cruel person would dampen the enthusiasm of Trump’s own “Scooter?” That’s not to mention the “and others,” like little 65-year-old Roger Stone. After all, it’s not as if Manafort and Stone worked for years to create a business referred to as The Torturer’s Lobby for its habit of working with the world’s worst dictators. Except that they did exactly that.
Donald Trump bemoaning the “young and beautiful lives” of his band of aging, treason-happy thugs, is another reason why English doesn’t have the words to adequately describe the depths of Trump’s loathsomeness. Dear screenwriters: When I warned that overuse of the F-word would deprive the term of sufficient punch when it was needed, this is the kind of situation I was talking about.
Meanwhile, Trump’s team is denying that it has any legal responsibility for 40,000 children it ripped away from parents, sent to concentration camps, or simply lost.
"I understand that it has been HHS's long-standing interpretation of the law that ORR is not legally responsible for children after they are released from ORR care," [Steven Wagner, a top official with the Department of Health and Human Services] said.
By “released” Wagner means “lost.” Even Boko Haram only kidnapped 276 children. Trump has them beat by an order of magnitude.
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Who’s going to give back the young and beautiful lives (and others) that have been devastated and destroyed by the phony Russia Collusion Witch Hunt? They journeyed down to Washington, D.C., with stars in their eyes and wanting to help our nation...They went back home in tatters!
5:41 AM - May 27, 2018
Yes, Donald Trump is waxing lyrical over starry-eyed youths like 69-year-old Paul Manafort, 51-year-old waif Michael Cohen, little Michael Flynn, and toddler Rick Gates who have had their poor naive eyes moistened by the realization that not everyone gets to the promised autocracy-land. Or at least, not without a pardon. After all, Manafort only started with the Nixon administration. What kind of cruel person would dampen the enthusiasm of Trump’s own “Scooter?” That’s not to mention the “and others,” like little 65-year-old Roger Stone. After all, it’s not as if Manafort and Stone worked for years to create a business referred to as The Torturer’s Lobby for its habit of working with the world’s worst dictators. Except that they did exactly that.
Donald Trump bemoaning the “young and beautiful lives” of his band of aging, treason-happy thugs, is another reason why English doesn’t have the words to adequately describe the depths of Trump’s loathsomeness. Dear screenwriters: When I warned that overuse of the F-word would deprive the term of sufficient punch when it was needed, this is the kind of situation I was talking about.
Meanwhile, Trump’s team is denying that it has any legal responsibility for 40,000 children it ripped away from parents, sent to concentration camps, or simply lost.
"I understand that it has been HHS's long-standing interpretation of the law that ORR is not legally responsible for children after they are released from ORR care," [Steven Wagner, a top official with the Department of Health and Human Services] said.
By “released” Wagner means “lost.” Even Boko Haram only kidnapped 276 children. Trump has them beat by an order of magnitude.
USA Today investigation reveals the truth about mysterious LLC that made Trump $107,000
Another case of Trump enriching himself through the presidency.
PATRICK SMITH - thinkprogress
MAY 24, 2018, 7:29 PM
In a recent report for USA Today, investigative reporter Steve Reilly uncovered the purpose of a newly-formed corporation that netted President Donald Trump $107,000 in 2017.
In the report, Reilly reveals that T Retail LLC, formed in 2017, is actually TrumpStore.com. The retail website sells high-price items bearing the president’s name, such as baseball caps (though the famous Make America Great Again cap is not among them) and shirts.
Though the Trump Organization initially dodged Reilly’s questions about the LLC, it eventually confirmed to USA Today that it was indeed behind the online store.
The Trump Store also has a physical location in New York’s Trump Tower, but Reilly stated in a followup tweet that the Trump Organization said its revenue was not included in the $107,000.
As NPR noted in its own reporting about the store’s opening, Trump would not be the first politician with an online store. But where Trump differs from others is that revenues from his store goes into his pocket.
“It fits again into the larger problem of him basically promoting his businesses from the White House,” Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center told NPR in 2017. “We haven’t had another situation where a president has had a website where his business is selling things that are branded with his name.”
Trump’s relatively brief time as a politician has been filled with concerns that he has used his position to enrich himself. An April report by government watchdog Public Citizen found that during the first 15 months of his candidacy and presidency, political groups and federal agencies spent more than $15 million at Trump properties.
Trump has additionally been the target of lawsuits over alleged violations of the Emoluments Clause due to foreign governments making use of his own hotel in Washington, D.C.
Trump has also been no stranger to using situations to sell campaign merchandise, even when it’s inappropriate. Earlier this year, his re-election campaign sold “American Dreamer” caps, a dig on DACA recipients and a phrase adopted by white nationalists. And last year, in the midst of federal response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Trump was spotted wearing another cap sold by his campaign. This instance was met with criticism from ethics watchdogs.
In the report, Reilly reveals that T Retail LLC, formed in 2017, is actually TrumpStore.com. The retail website sells high-price items bearing the president’s name, such as baseball caps (though the famous Make America Great Again cap is not among them) and shirts.
Though the Trump Organization initially dodged Reilly’s questions about the LLC, it eventually confirmed to USA Today that it was indeed behind the online store.
The Trump Store also has a physical location in New York’s Trump Tower, but Reilly stated in a followup tweet that the Trump Organization said its revenue was not included in the $107,000.
As NPR noted in its own reporting about the store’s opening, Trump would not be the first politician with an online store. But where Trump differs from others is that revenues from his store goes into his pocket.
“It fits again into the larger problem of him basically promoting his businesses from the White House,” Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center told NPR in 2017. “We haven’t had another situation where a president has had a website where his business is selling things that are branded with his name.”
Trump’s relatively brief time as a politician has been filled with concerns that he has used his position to enrich himself. An April report by government watchdog Public Citizen found that during the first 15 months of his candidacy and presidency, political groups and federal agencies spent more than $15 million at Trump properties.
Trump has additionally been the target of lawsuits over alleged violations of the Emoluments Clause due to foreign governments making use of his own hotel in Washington, D.C.
Trump has also been no stranger to using situations to sell campaign merchandise, even when it’s inappropriate. Earlier this year, his re-election campaign sold “American Dreamer” caps, a dig on DACA recipients and a phrase adopted by white nationalists. And last year, in the midst of federal response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Trump was spotted wearing another cap sold by his campaign. This instance was met with criticism from ethics watchdogs.
Jeff Flake: "We may have hit bottom"
By ED O'KEEFE CBS NEWS
May 23, 2018, 3:05 PM
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., leveled some of his harshest criticisms of President Trump to date — using a Harvard Law School commencement address Wednesday to say the president is debasing the office and that Congress "is dishonoring itself" by failing to stand up to him.
Flake, the junior senator from Arizona, has spent most of the past two years raising concerns about Trump's policy positions, temperament and fitness for office — drawing the ire of the White House, which used its influence over GOP politics to stoke potential primary opponents and contributed to the senator's decision not to seek re-election this year.
But in his remarks to law school students, Flake also attacks his congressional colleagues in sharper terms. He told students Congress "is failing its constitutional obligations to counteract the power of the president" at a critical moment in the nation's history.
"Our presidency has been debased. By a figure who has a seemingly bottomless appetite for destruction and division. And only a passing familiarity with how the Constitution works," Flake said, according to prepared remarks obtained by CBS News ahead of the speech. "And our Article I branch of government, the Congress (that's me), is utterly supine in the face of the moral vandalism that flows from the White House daily."
Flake added that he didn't think the Marion's Founding Fathers "could have anticipated that the beauty of their invention might someday founder on the rocks of reality television, and that the Congress would be such willing accomplices to this calamity. Our most ardent enemies, doing their worst (and they are doing their worst), couldn't hurt us more than we are hurting ourselves."
But, Flake said, "We may have hit bottom."
He urged the students "to make sure that this degradation of democracy does not continue – to see to it that our current flirtation with lawlessness and authoritarianism does not become a heritable trait to be passed down from this presidency."
Flake is retiring in January after one term in the Senate and six terms in the House. He visited New Hampshire earlier this year to deliver a similar speech at a political breakfast series often headlined by potential presidential candidates. The senator has not ruled out running for president but so far has not taken any steps to formally launch a bid.
Last summer, Flake published a conservative treatise that outlined his specific concerns with Trump's ascension and how he was molding the Republican Party and conservative movement in his own view. The book — a total surprise to close aides and supporters — infuriated Arizona's doggedly conservative GOP activist vase and contributed to Trump's decision to visit Phoenix for a campaign-style rally and openly encourage other candidates to seek Flake's seat.
He surprised colleagues by announcing last fall that he would step down and his seat is now at risk of slipping into Democratic hands. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is poised to face the winner of a three-way GOP primary set for late August. Some private and public polling shows the moderate Democrat from the Phoenix area with a slight edge.
Flake, the junior senator from Arizona, has spent most of the past two years raising concerns about Trump's policy positions, temperament and fitness for office — drawing the ire of the White House, which used its influence over GOP politics to stoke potential primary opponents and contributed to the senator's decision not to seek re-election this year.
But in his remarks to law school students, Flake also attacks his congressional colleagues in sharper terms. He told students Congress "is failing its constitutional obligations to counteract the power of the president" at a critical moment in the nation's history.
"Our presidency has been debased. By a figure who has a seemingly bottomless appetite for destruction and division. And only a passing familiarity with how the Constitution works," Flake said, according to prepared remarks obtained by CBS News ahead of the speech. "And our Article I branch of government, the Congress (that's me), is utterly supine in the face of the moral vandalism that flows from the White House daily."
Flake added that he didn't think the Marion's Founding Fathers "could have anticipated that the beauty of their invention might someday founder on the rocks of reality television, and that the Congress would be such willing accomplices to this calamity. Our most ardent enemies, doing their worst (and they are doing their worst), couldn't hurt us more than we are hurting ourselves."
But, Flake said, "We may have hit bottom."
He urged the students "to make sure that this degradation of democracy does not continue – to see to it that our current flirtation with lawlessness and authoritarianism does not become a heritable trait to be passed down from this presidency."
Flake is retiring in January after one term in the Senate and six terms in the House. He visited New Hampshire earlier this year to deliver a similar speech at a political breakfast series often headlined by potential presidential candidates. The senator has not ruled out running for president but so far has not taken any steps to formally launch a bid.
Last summer, Flake published a conservative treatise that outlined his specific concerns with Trump's ascension and how he was molding the Republican Party and conservative movement in his own view. The book — a total surprise to close aides and supporters — infuriated Arizona's doggedly conservative GOP activist vase and contributed to Trump's decision to visit Phoenix for a campaign-style rally and openly encourage other candidates to seek Flake's seat.
He surprised colleagues by announcing last fall that he would step down and his seat is now at risk of slipping into Democratic hands. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is poised to face the winner of a three-way GOP primary set for late August. Some private and public polling shows the moderate Democrat from the Phoenix area with a slight edge.
Trump Reportedly Rejects Phone Security Measures As ‘Too Inconvenient’
The pr*sident is said to use a cellphone that lacks top security features and ignores advice to regularly swap his Twitter phone.
By Dominique Mosbergen - huff post
05/22/2018 07:34 am ET
President Donald Trump uses a cellphone not equipped with top security features and has rejected repeated attempts by his staff to harden his devices against hackers, Politico reported on Monday.
Trump regularly uses at least two government-issued iPhones — one a “burner” device capable only of making calls, and another that’s loaded with a Twitter app and “a handful of news sites,” according to Politico, which said former government security experts criticized the president’s phone practices.
Trump’s call-only phone has a camera and microphone — features that can be exploited by hackers, Politico reported, citing two senior administration officials as sources. As for the phone Trump uses for Twitter, the president reportedly has rebuffed his staff’s advice to swap the device every month, saying it would be “too inconvenient.”
Trump’s attitude toward his own communications security contrasts with Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state ― something Trump and his allies have assailed for years.
Politico said Trump has gone for as long as five months without getting his Twitter phone checked by security experts. The GPS trackers on both of Trump’s devices have reportedly been deactivated.
The White House declined to comment for the Politico story. A senior West Wing official told the outlet that the call-only phones “are seamlessly swapped out on a regular basis through routine support operations. Because of the security controls of the Twitter phone and the Twitter account, it does not necessitate regular change-out.”
Monday’s report is the second in recent weeks to raise questions about security surrounding Trump’s cellphones.
CNN reported in April that Trump increasingly relied on his personal cellphone to make calls. Security experts expressed concern that the president was exposing himself to security risks, including hacking and eavesdropping by foreign governments.
“Use of personal smartphones, which may not have all of the security features of government-issued smartphones or be regularly updated to address newly discovered vulnerabilities, present an obvious potential security risk,” Mary McCord, a former head of the Justice Department’s national security division, told CNN.
Similar warnings were repeated this week.
“Foreign adversaries seeking intelligence about the U.S. are relentless in their pursuit of vulnerabilities in our government’s communications networks, and there is no more sought-after intelligence target than the president of the United States,” Nate Jones, a former director of counterterrorism on the National Security Council during the Obama era, told Politico.
Ignoring phone security for the sake of convenience, “could pose significant risks to the country,” Jones added.
The White House announced in January that staff and guests would be banned from using personal cellphones in the West Wing for security reasons. Press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to say whether the restriction would apply to Trump’s personal devices, reported NBC News.
People on social media expressed alarm at the reported security shortcomings of the president’s phone use. Some were also quick to point out Trump’s repeated criticism of Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“Will [Trump’s] supporters cheer ‘lock him up’? Or does that only apply to emails?” wrote former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti on Twitter.
“Am I wrong that there’s, like, a 100% chance the phone has been hacked?” asked MSNBC host Chris Hayes.
Trump regularly uses at least two government-issued iPhones — one a “burner” device capable only of making calls, and another that’s loaded with a Twitter app and “a handful of news sites,” according to Politico, which said former government security experts criticized the president’s phone practices.
Trump’s call-only phone has a camera and microphone — features that can be exploited by hackers, Politico reported, citing two senior administration officials as sources. As for the phone Trump uses for Twitter, the president reportedly has rebuffed his staff’s advice to swap the device every month, saying it would be “too inconvenient.”
Trump’s attitude toward his own communications security contrasts with Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state ― something Trump and his allies have assailed for years.
Politico said Trump has gone for as long as five months without getting his Twitter phone checked by security experts. The GPS trackers on both of Trump’s devices have reportedly been deactivated.
The White House declined to comment for the Politico story. A senior West Wing official told the outlet that the call-only phones “are seamlessly swapped out on a regular basis through routine support operations. Because of the security controls of the Twitter phone and the Twitter account, it does not necessitate regular change-out.”
Monday’s report is the second in recent weeks to raise questions about security surrounding Trump’s cellphones.
CNN reported in April that Trump increasingly relied on his personal cellphone to make calls. Security experts expressed concern that the president was exposing himself to security risks, including hacking and eavesdropping by foreign governments.
“Use of personal smartphones, which may not have all of the security features of government-issued smartphones or be regularly updated to address newly discovered vulnerabilities, present an obvious potential security risk,” Mary McCord, a former head of the Justice Department’s national security division, told CNN.
Similar warnings were repeated this week.
“Foreign adversaries seeking intelligence about the U.S. are relentless in their pursuit of vulnerabilities in our government’s communications networks, and there is no more sought-after intelligence target than the president of the United States,” Nate Jones, a former director of counterterrorism on the National Security Council during the Obama era, told Politico.
Ignoring phone security for the sake of convenience, “could pose significant risks to the country,” Jones added.
The White House announced in January that staff and guests would be banned from using personal cellphones in the West Wing for security reasons. Press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to say whether the restriction would apply to Trump’s personal devices, reported NBC News.
People on social media expressed alarm at the reported security shortcomings of the president’s phone use. Some were also quick to point out Trump’s repeated criticism of Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“Will [Trump’s] supporters cheer ‘lock him up’? Or does that only apply to emails?” wrote former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti on Twitter.
“Am I wrong that there’s, like, a 100% chance the phone has been hacked?” asked MSNBC host Chris Hayes.
There Is Only One Trump Scandal
babylonsister - demo underground
5/21/188
The sheer volume of Trump scandals can seem difficult to keep track of.
There’s the ongoing special-counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign aided a Russian campaign to aid Trump’s candidacy and defeat his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton; there’s the associated inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey, whom he had asked not to investigate his former national-security adviser; there are the president’s hush-money payments to women with whom he allegedly had extramarital affairs, made through his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and facilitated by corporate cash paid to influence the White House; there is his ongoing effort to interfere with the Russia inquiry and politicize federal law enforcement; there are the foreign governments that seem to be utilizing the president’s properties as vehicles for influencing administration policy; there’s the emerging evidence that Trump campaign officials sought aid not only from Russia, but from other foreign countries, which may have affected Trump’s foreign policy; there are the ongoing revelations of the president’s Cabinet officials’ misusing taxpayer funds; there is the accumulating evidence that administration decisions are made at the behest of private industry, in particular those in which Republican donors have significant interests.
The preceding wall of text may appear to some as an abridged list of the Trump administration’s scandals, but this is an illusion created by the perception that these are all separate affairs. Viewed as such, the various Trump scandals can seem multifarious and overpowering, and difficult to fathom.
There are not many Trump scandals. There is one Trump scandal. Singular: the corruption of the American government by the president and his associates, who are using their official power for personal and financial gain rather than for the welfare of the American people, and their attempts to shield that corruption from political consequences, public scrutiny, or legal accountability.
Take recent developments: There’s the president’s attempt to aid the Chinese telecom company ZTE, mere hours after the Chinese government approved funding for a project in the vicinity of a Trump property in Indonesia. There’s the millions of dollars corporations paid to Cohen after the election in an attempt to influence administration policy in their favor. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, also the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, urged banks to pay off politicians in an effort to weaken the CFPB’s powers legislatively—since taking the helm of CFPB, Mulvaney has dropped a number of cases against payday lenders who charge exorbitant interest rates, after taking thousands from the industry as a congressman. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s own mini-universe of scandals stems from his improper relationships with industry figures, his misuse of taxpayer funds, and his attempts to obscure the truth about both. Trump attempted to pressure the Postmaster General to increase fees on Amazon in order to punish The Washington Post, which has published many stories detailing wrongdoing and misbehavior on the part of the Trump administration, and the Trump campaign before that. Not long after The New York Times reported that Trump officials may have solicited campaign help not just from Russia, but also from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the president “demanded” that the Justice Department launch an inquiry into whether the FBI improperly investigated a campaign that was eagerly soliciting international aid to swing the election in its favor.
In each of these cases, the president or one of his associates was seeking to profit, personally or financially, from their official duties and powers. When that conduct has potentially run afoul of the law, Trump has sought to bend federal law enforcement to his whim, the better to protect himself and his associates from legal accountability. The president’s ongoing chastising of his own Justice Department, and his war of words with current and former FBI officials, stem less from any coherent ideological principle than from Trump’s desperate need to protect himself. An authoritarian model of law enforcement, where the president personally decides who is prosecuted and who is not based on his own political agenda, is simply the best way for Trump to shield himself and his inner circle from legal consequences.
more...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/05/there-is-only-one-trump-scandal/560825/
There’s the ongoing special-counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign aided a Russian campaign to aid Trump’s candidacy and defeat his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton; there’s the associated inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey, whom he had asked not to investigate his former national-security adviser; there are the president’s hush-money payments to women with whom he allegedly had extramarital affairs, made through his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and facilitated by corporate cash paid to influence the White House; there is his ongoing effort to interfere with the Russia inquiry and politicize federal law enforcement; there are the foreign governments that seem to be utilizing the president’s properties as vehicles for influencing administration policy; there’s the emerging evidence that Trump campaign officials sought aid not only from Russia, but from other foreign countries, which may have affected Trump’s foreign policy; there are the ongoing revelations of the president’s Cabinet officials’ misusing taxpayer funds; there is the accumulating evidence that administration decisions are made at the behest of private industry, in particular those in which Republican donors have significant interests.
The preceding wall of text may appear to some as an abridged list of the Trump administration’s scandals, but this is an illusion created by the perception that these are all separate affairs. Viewed as such, the various Trump scandals can seem multifarious and overpowering, and difficult to fathom.
There are not many Trump scandals. There is one Trump scandal. Singular: the corruption of the American government by the president and his associates, who are using their official power for personal and financial gain rather than for the welfare of the American people, and their attempts to shield that corruption from political consequences, public scrutiny, or legal accountability.
Take recent developments: There’s the president’s attempt to aid the Chinese telecom company ZTE, mere hours after the Chinese government approved funding for a project in the vicinity of a Trump property in Indonesia. There’s the millions of dollars corporations paid to Cohen after the election in an attempt to influence administration policy in their favor. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, also the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, urged banks to pay off politicians in an effort to weaken the CFPB’s powers legislatively—since taking the helm of CFPB, Mulvaney has dropped a number of cases against payday lenders who charge exorbitant interest rates, after taking thousands from the industry as a congressman. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s own mini-universe of scandals stems from his improper relationships with industry figures, his misuse of taxpayer funds, and his attempts to obscure the truth about both. Trump attempted to pressure the Postmaster General to increase fees on Amazon in order to punish The Washington Post, which has published many stories detailing wrongdoing and misbehavior on the part of the Trump administration, and the Trump campaign before that. Not long after The New York Times reported that Trump officials may have solicited campaign help not just from Russia, but also from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the president “demanded” that the Justice Department launch an inquiry into whether the FBI improperly investigated a campaign that was eagerly soliciting international aid to swing the election in its favor.
In each of these cases, the president or one of his associates was seeking to profit, personally or financially, from their official duties and powers. When that conduct has potentially run afoul of the law, Trump has sought to bend federal law enforcement to his whim, the better to protect himself and his associates from legal accountability. The president’s ongoing chastising of his own Justice Department, and his war of words with current and former FBI officials, stem less from any coherent ideological principle than from Trump’s desperate need to protect himself. An authoritarian model of law enforcement, where the president personally decides who is prosecuted and who is not based on his own political agenda, is simply the best way for Trump to shield himself and his inner circle from legal consequences.
more...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/05/there-is-only-one-trump-scandal/560825/
This is how Trump is trying to buy the loyalty of key aides in the Russia investigation
Bills bills bills.
JUDD LEGUM - think progress
MAY 21, 2018, 10:09 AM
Many of President Donald Trump’s top aides have lately found themselves at the center of a wide-ranging criminal investigation run by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Defending yourself in this sort of matter can be extremely expensive. Those in need of a top-flight white collar criminal attorney can expect to be charged upwards of $750 an hour. And this isn’t the type of situation where you want to shop around for a discount.
Trump, however, is offering a select few aides a solution to this problem. The Washington Post reports, citing new Federal Election Commission filings, that the Republican Party is helpfully picking up the legal bills for some of Trump’s top aides, including former Communications Director Hope Hicks.
The Republican National Committee paid nearly half a million dollars to a law firm that represents former White House communications director Hope Hicks and others in the Russia investigations, according to a new federal filing.
The RNC’s $451,780 payment to Trout Cacheris & Janis adds to the mounting legal fees associated with the investigations by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and several congressional committees of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Hicks hired Robert Trout, founder of the law firm, as her personal attorney in September, according to news reports.
There is nothing fundamentally improper about engaging a third-party to cover legal expenses. But the RNC stepping in to foot the legal bills for some of Trump’s top aides creates powerful incentives for their behavior.
Hope Hicks, for example, has emerged as a key figure in a potential obstruction of justice case against Trump. Donald Trump Jr. has said that, when he was crafting a series of misleading public statements about his meetings in Trump Tower, Hope Hicks was potentially passing along input from his father. In all likelihood, Hicks knows exactly what Trump’s role was in this effort, which has reportedly become a focus of the Mueller investigation.
As you might recall, Hicks has previously admitted to telling “white lies” on behalf of Trump.
Like others enmeshed in Mueller’s probe, Hicks faces a series of strategic choices. She can fully cooperate with Mueller in exchange for immunity from any potential criminal charges. Or she can take a harder line, complying with any legal requests but not providing any more information than absolutely necessary.
Thus far, Hicks appears to be taking the latter route. For example, in her Congressional testimony, she “refused to tell House panel whether she had lied for senior Trump officials.”
It’s not hard to imagine that the RNC’s subsidizing of Hicks’ legal bills could influence her decision-making. The Republican Party, now that Trump is president, is effectively an extension of Trump’s political operation. If Trump did not want the RNC to pay Hope Hicks’ legal bills, the party would not do so.
Of course, just because the RNC has paid her legal bills to date, does not mean that they will continue to pick up the tab in perpetuity. If it came out that Hicks’ had “flipped” and was fully cooperating with Mueller, would the RNC continue to pay her bills? It would seem unlikely. In that scenarior, Hicks would be left with potentially crippling legal debt and the possibility that she’d be unable to secure competent counsel.
The RNC, notably, is not paying the legal bills for Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos or others who are cooperating with Mueller.
To be clear, there is no evidence that Hicks has been told that the Republican Party will only pay her legal bills if she protects Trump’s interests. That said, Hicks is likely to get the message without anyone saying anything.
Defending yourself in this sort of matter can be extremely expensive. Those in need of a top-flight white collar criminal attorney can expect to be charged upwards of $750 an hour. And this isn’t the type of situation where you want to shop around for a discount.
Trump, however, is offering a select few aides a solution to this problem. The Washington Post reports, citing new Federal Election Commission filings, that the Republican Party is helpfully picking up the legal bills for some of Trump’s top aides, including former Communications Director Hope Hicks.
The Republican National Committee paid nearly half a million dollars to a law firm that represents former White House communications director Hope Hicks and others in the Russia investigations, according to a new federal filing.
The RNC’s $451,780 payment to Trout Cacheris & Janis adds to the mounting legal fees associated with the investigations by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and several congressional committees of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Hicks hired Robert Trout, founder of the law firm, as her personal attorney in September, according to news reports.
There is nothing fundamentally improper about engaging a third-party to cover legal expenses. But the RNC stepping in to foot the legal bills for some of Trump’s top aides creates powerful incentives for their behavior.
Hope Hicks, for example, has emerged as a key figure in a potential obstruction of justice case against Trump. Donald Trump Jr. has said that, when he was crafting a series of misleading public statements about his meetings in Trump Tower, Hope Hicks was potentially passing along input from his father. In all likelihood, Hicks knows exactly what Trump’s role was in this effort, which has reportedly become a focus of the Mueller investigation.
As you might recall, Hicks has previously admitted to telling “white lies” on behalf of Trump.
Like others enmeshed in Mueller’s probe, Hicks faces a series of strategic choices. She can fully cooperate with Mueller in exchange for immunity from any potential criminal charges. Or she can take a harder line, complying with any legal requests but not providing any more information than absolutely necessary.
Thus far, Hicks appears to be taking the latter route. For example, in her Congressional testimony, she “refused to tell House panel whether she had lied for senior Trump officials.”
It’s not hard to imagine that the RNC’s subsidizing of Hicks’ legal bills could influence her decision-making. The Republican Party, now that Trump is president, is effectively an extension of Trump’s political operation. If Trump did not want the RNC to pay Hope Hicks’ legal bills, the party would not do so.
Of course, just because the RNC has paid her legal bills to date, does not mean that they will continue to pick up the tab in perpetuity. If it came out that Hicks’ had “flipped” and was fully cooperating with Mueller, would the RNC continue to pay her bills? It would seem unlikely. In that scenarior, Hicks would be left with potentially crippling legal debt and the possibility that she’d be unable to secure competent counsel.
The RNC, notably, is not paying the legal bills for Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos or others who are cooperating with Mueller.
To be clear, there is no evidence that Hicks has been told that the Republican Party will only pay her legal bills if she protects Trump’s interests. That said, Hicks is likely to get the message without anyone saying anything.
Don’t claim Trump’s doing nothing: He’s destroying the federal government
Trump is draining the swamp — of anyone remotely competent or qualified. Rebuilding government may be impossible
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON - salon
MAY 15, 2018 12:00PM (UTC)
His "ethics reform" plan was:
First: I am going to re-institute a 5-year ban on all executive branch officials lobbying the government for 5 years after they leave government service. I am going to ask Congress to pass this ban into law so that it cannot be lifted by executive order.
Second: I am going to ask Congress to institute its own 5-year ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and their staffs.
Third: I am going to expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisors when we all know they are lobbyists.
Fourth: I am going to issue a lifetime ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
Fifth: I am going to ask Congress to pass a campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections.
His personal lawyer Michael Cohen obviously didn't read the third item on that memo. And it's interesting that someone in Trump's campaign thought it was important to pretend they cared about foreigners raising money in elections.
That tweet came on the heels of the first time Trump used the phrase "Drain the swamp" in the 2016 campaign -- which was very late in the game, just three weeks from election day. He had said earlier, “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it,” but he didn't really run explicitly as a political reformer.
But as Newsweek reported, in October his message changed:
Trump promised to “drain the swamp” at a rally that day [Oct. 17, 2016] in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the first time he did so during the campaign. He did it the next day, October 18, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In Fletcher, North Carolina, he called Clinton “the most corrupt person ever to seek the office of the Presidency.”
One week later, then-FBI Director James Comey announced that investigators had found emails from Clinton on former congressman Anthony Weiner's laptop. Trump ran with it:
"Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before," he said in New Hampshire. Later, in Maine, he said Clinton’s use of a private email server — which Comey had already decreed did not merit criminal charges — was the “biggest scandal since Watergate.”
The reason to bring this up isn't to point out Trump's hypocrisy, which is shooting fish in a barrel. The fact is, that despite his tiresome repetition of the slogan "Drain the swamp" since the election, it wasn't one of Trump's signature chants, like "Lock her up" or "Build the wall." It was something of an afterthought, a sort of extension of his claims that the system was "rigged" against him to steal the election. As the various investigations into his nefarious doings unfold, it seems obvious that was another projection of his own foibles onto his opponents.
Nonetheless, it is an article of faith among many of the chattering classes that he ran as a reformer who promised to clean up Washington. But the Trump administration's approach to dealing with the institutions of government is much more old-fashioned. It is simply governing by way of personal loyalty and fealty to the president rather than expertise, experience or seniority. It's a spoils system, and not a very efficient one.
This article by Evan Osnos in The New Yorker about the razing of the federal workforce at all levels is an eye opener:
Across the government, more than half of the six hundred and fifty-six most critical positions are still unfilled. “We’ve never seen vacancies at this scale,” Max Stier, the president and C.E.O. of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group that works to make the government more effective, said. “Not anything close.”
Some of the vacancies are deliberate. As a candidate, Trump promised to “cut so much your head will spin.” Amid a strong economy, large numbers of employees are opting to leave the government rather than serve it. In Trump’s first nine months, more than seventy-nine thousand full-time workers quit or retired—a forty-two-per-cent increase over that period in Obama’s Presidency. To Trump and his allies, the departures have been liberating, a purge of obstructionists. “The President now has people around him who aren’t trying to subvert him,” Michael Caputo, a senior campaign adviser, told me. “The more real Trump supporters who pop up in the White House phone book, the better off our nation will be.”
If they cannot find a Trump loyalist to fill a position they simply leave it empty.
Trump's definition of "populism" is unique. Osnos writes:
In the 2013 novel “A Delicate Truth,” John le Carré presents the “deep state” as a moneyed, cultured élite — the “non-governmental insiders from banking, industry, and commerce” whose access to information allows them to rule in secret. Trump’s conception is quite different. A real-estate baron, with the wealthiest Cabinet in U.S. history, Trump is at peace with the plutocracy but at war with the clerks — the apparatchiks who, he claims, are seeking to nullify the election by denying the prerogatives of his Administration.
This attack on "bureaucracy" is really an attack on law enforcement, the State Department, the intelligence community and ordinary bureaucrats who enforce regulations and monitor compliance with the law, along with anyone else Trump and his henchmen see as enemies of the state. Even the usual suspects at the conservative think tanks who usually have the inside track on jobs in a new Republican administration (or, as with Iraq, a new occupied country) have been shut out because so many candidates were on record as being critical of Trump, which meant hiring them was out of the question.
Many people claim that underneath the bluster, Donald Trump is just another Republican who happens to have a big mouth and likes to use Twitter. But while he was made possible by the modern conservative movement and a political system that enabled such a man to become president, he is nonetheless sui generis. This evisceration of federal government institutions is nothing we've ever seen before.
The story Osnos tells about the elimination of experts and the deliberate erasure of institutional memory in department after department is chilling. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace these people even after Trump is gone. His lasting legacy may be the destruction of the federal government as we know it.
First: I am going to re-institute a 5-year ban on all executive branch officials lobbying the government for 5 years after they leave government service. I am going to ask Congress to pass this ban into law so that it cannot be lifted by executive order.
Second: I am going to ask Congress to institute its own 5-year ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and their staffs.
Third: I am going to expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisors when we all know they are lobbyists.
Fourth: I am going to issue a lifetime ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
Fifth: I am going to ask Congress to pass a campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections.
His personal lawyer Michael Cohen obviously didn't read the third item on that memo. And it's interesting that someone in Trump's campaign thought it was important to pretend they cared about foreigners raising money in elections.
That tweet came on the heels of the first time Trump used the phrase "Drain the swamp" in the 2016 campaign -- which was very late in the game, just three weeks from election day. He had said earlier, “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it,” but he didn't really run explicitly as a political reformer.
But as Newsweek reported, in October his message changed:
Trump promised to “drain the swamp” at a rally that day [Oct. 17, 2016] in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the first time he did so during the campaign. He did it the next day, October 18, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In Fletcher, North Carolina, he called Clinton “the most corrupt person ever to seek the office of the Presidency.”
One week later, then-FBI Director James Comey announced that investigators had found emails from Clinton on former congressman Anthony Weiner's laptop. Trump ran with it:
"Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before," he said in New Hampshire. Later, in Maine, he said Clinton’s use of a private email server — which Comey had already decreed did not merit criminal charges — was the “biggest scandal since Watergate.”
The reason to bring this up isn't to point out Trump's hypocrisy, which is shooting fish in a barrel. The fact is, that despite his tiresome repetition of the slogan "Drain the swamp" since the election, it wasn't one of Trump's signature chants, like "Lock her up" or "Build the wall." It was something of an afterthought, a sort of extension of his claims that the system was "rigged" against him to steal the election. As the various investigations into his nefarious doings unfold, it seems obvious that was another projection of his own foibles onto his opponents.
Nonetheless, it is an article of faith among many of the chattering classes that he ran as a reformer who promised to clean up Washington. But the Trump administration's approach to dealing with the institutions of government is much more old-fashioned. It is simply governing by way of personal loyalty and fealty to the president rather than expertise, experience or seniority. It's a spoils system, and not a very efficient one.
This article by Evan Osnos in The New Yorker about the razing of the federal workforce at all levels is an eye opener:
Across the government, more than half of the six hundred and fifty-six most critical positions are still unfilled. “We’ve never seen vacancies at this scale,” Max Stier, the president and C.E.O. of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group that works to make the government more effective, said. “Not anything close.”
Some of the vacancies are deliberate. As a candidate, Trump promised to “cut so much your head will spin.” Amid a strong economy, large numbers of employees are opting to leave the government rather than serve it. In Trump’s first nine months, more than seventy-nine thousand full-time workers quit or retired—a forty-two-per-cent increase over that period in Obama’s Presidency. To Trump and his allies, the departures have been liberating, a purge of obstructionists. “The President now has people around him who aren’t trying to subvert him,” Michael Caputo, a senior campaign adviser, told me. “The more real Trump supporters who pop up in the White House phone book, the better off our nation will be.”
If they cannot find a Trump loyalist to fill a position they simply leave it empty.
Trump's definition of "populism" is unique. Osnos writes:
In the 2013 novel “A Delicate Truth,” John le Carré presents the “deep state” as a moneyed, cultured élite — the “non-governmental insiders from banking, industry, and commerce” whose access to information allows them to rule in secret. Trump’s conception is quite different. A real-estate baron, with the wealthiest Cabinet in U.S. history, Trump is at peace with the plutocracy but at war with the clerks — the apparatchiks who, he claims, are seeking to nullify the election by denying the prerogatives of his Administration.
This attack on "bureaucracy" is really an attack on law enforcement, the State Department, the intelligence community and ordinary bureaucrats who enforce regulations and monitor compliance with the law, along with anyone else Trump and his henchmen see as enemies of the state. Even the usual suspects at the conservative think tanks who usually have the inside track on jobs in a new Republican administration (or, as with Iraq, a new occupied country) have been shut out because so many candidates were on record as being critical of Trump, which meant hiring them was out of the question.
Many people claim that underneath the bluster, Donald Trump is just another Republican who happens to have a big mouth and likes to use Twitter. But while he was made possible by the modern conservative movement and a political system that enabled such a man to become president, he is nonetheless sui generis. This evisceration of federal government institutions is nothing we've ever seen before.
The story Osnos tells about the elimination of experts and the deliberate erasure of institutional memory in department after department is chilling. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace these people even after Trump is gone. His lasting legacy may be the destruction of the federal government as we know it.
trump funnies
But her emails
trade fool!!!
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Trump Confirms His “Shithole” Racism By Saying He Wants Immigrants From Non-White Countries Out
By Jason Easley on Tue, Jan 16th, 2018 at 3:20 pm
politicus usa
Trump responded that he wanted immigrants from other non-white parts of the world out of the United States when he was asked about his immigration views in the White House.
Here is the transcript via the White House as provided to PoliticusUSA:
Q Mr. President, did you say that you want more people to come in from Norway? Did you say that you wanted more people coming in from Norway?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Q Is that true, Mr. President?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want them to come in from everywhere — everywhere. Thank you very much, everybody.
Q Just the Caucasian or white countries, sir? Or do you want people to come in from other parts of the world?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Out.
Why would Trump answer out if that isn’t what he wants to see happen to immigrant who come to the United States from non-white majority countries? Trump’s entire immigration policy has been focused on deporting black and brown skinned people, so his one word answer was not a surprise.
Republicans and the administration have never denied that Trump wants non-white immigrants out of the country. They claim that he didn’t use the word “shithole,” but there has never been a firm denial that Trump holds a racist view of African countries.
Trump’s own answer confirmed that it doesn’t matter what Republicans pretend like they didn’t hear, this president is bigoted and intends to deport non-white immigrants.
Here is the transcript via the White House as provided to PoliticusUSA:
Q Mr. President, did you say that you want more people to come in from Norway? Did you say that you wanted more people coming in from Norway?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Q Is that true, Mr. President?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want them to come in from everywhere — everywhere. Thank you very much, everybody.
Q Just the Caucasian or white countries, sir? Or do you want people to come in from other parts of the world?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Out.
Why would Trump answer out if that isn’t what he wants to see happen to immigrant who come to the United States from non-white majority countries? Trump’s entire immigration policy has been focused on deporting black and brown skinned people, so his one word answer was not a surprise.
Republicans and the administration have never denied that Trump wants non-white immigrants out of the country. They claim that he didn’t use the word “shithole,” but there has never been a firm denial that Trump holds a racist view of African countries.
Trump’s own answer confirmed that it doesn’t matter what Republicans pretend like they didn’t hear, this president is bigoted and intends to deport non-white immigrants.
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Trump getting up at the crack of 11 ... after spending the morning in bed watching TV
By Mark Sumner - daily kos
Monday Jan 08, 2018 · 7:30 AM PST
Over the past week, multiple stories have appeared about Trump’s mental decline. His evaporating vocabulary. His dwindling attention span. His shriveling comprehension.
But while those losses are hard to prove without Trump actually going through with his offer to take an IQ test—which seems extremely unlikely—Axois reports that there’s one other thing that Trump is doing … littlely.
President Trump is starting his official day much later than he did in the early days of his presidency, often around 11am, and holding far fewer meetings, according to copies of his private schedule shown to Axios. This is largely to meet Trump’s demands for more “Executive Time,” which almost always means TV and Twitter time alone in the residence, officials tell us.
This news of Trump’s extremely abbreviated morning session comes a week after we learned about Trump’s senior discount evening plans.
"If (Trump) was not having his 6:30 dinner with Steve Bannon, then, more to his liking, he was in bed by that time with a cheeseburger, watching his three screens and making phone calls -- the phone was his true contact point with the world -- to a small group of friends, who charted his rising and falling levels of agitation through the evening and then compared notes with one another."
So, Donald Trump spends at least 17 hours of each day in his PJs. His presidenting schedule has apparently been reduced to a 11-4 interval between parking himself back in front of the bedroom TV.
The schedule says Trump has "Executive Time" in the Oval Office every day from 8am to 11am, but the reality is he spends that time in his residence, watching TV, making phone calls and tweeting. Trump comes down for his first meeting of the day, which is often an intelligence briefing, at 11am.
Which means Trump has plenty of time for the Gorilla Channel (which is a joke) and Fox & Friends (which is a different kind of joke). Read More
But while those losses are hard to prove without Trump actually going through with his offer to take an IQ test—which seems extremely unlikely—Axois reports that there’s one other thing that Trump is doing … littlely.
President Trump is starting his official day much later than he did in the early days of his presidency, often around 11am, and holding far fewer meetings, according to copies of his private schedule shown to Axios. This is largely to meet Trump’s demands for more “Executive Time,” which almost always means TV and Twitter time alone in the residence, officials tell us.
This news of Trump’s extremely abbreviated morning session comes a week after we learned about Trump’s senior discount evening plans.
"If (Trump) was not having his 6:30 dinner with Steve Bannon, then, more to his liking, he was in bed by that time with a cheeseburger, watching his three screens and making phone calls -- the phone was his true contact point with the world -- to a small group of friends, who charted his rising and falling levels of agitation through the evening and then compared notes with one another."
So, Donald Trump spends at least 17 hours of each day in his PJs. His presidenting schedule has apparently been reduced to a 11-4 interval between parking himself back in front of the bedroom TV.
The schedule says Trump has "Executive Time" in the Oval Office every day from 8am to 11am, but the reality is he spends that time in his residence, watching TV, making phone calls and tweeting. Trump comes down for his first meeting of the day, which is often an intelligence briefing, at 11am.
Which means Trump has plenty of time for the Gorilla Channel (which is a joke) and Fox & Friends (which is a different kind of joke). Read More
NARCO-A-LAGO: MONEY LAUNDERING AT THE TRUMP OCEAN CLUB PANAMA
You can download the PDF version of this report here.
From Global Witness: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
“Every other country goes into these places and they do what they have to do… It’s a horrible law and [the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] should be changed.”
In the early 2000s, a series of bankruptcies meant Donald J. Trump was shunned by most lenders. Struggling for credit, he started selling his name to high-end real estate projects. This report examines in detail the criminal connections that propelled one such project – the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama – and how this case bears some of the same disturbing hallmarks as other Trump developments.
Since he became President of the United States, numerous investigations and articles have probed Trump’s business dealings and his alleged links to criminals and other shadowy characters. It is understood that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation under the Department of Justice will also examine his real estate business. This is important because it seems likely that, following his various bankruptcies, at least a part of Trump’s business empire has been built on untraceable funds, some apparently linked to Russian criminal networks.
Trump may not have deliberately set out to facilitate criminal activity in his business dealings. But, as this Global Witness investigation shows, licensing his brand to the luxurious Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama aligned Trump’s financial interests with those of crooks looking to launder ill-gotten gains. Trump seems to have done little to nothing to prevent this. What is clear is that proceeds from Colombian cartels’ narcotics trafficking were laundered through the Trump Ocean Club and that Donald Trump was one of the beneficiaries.
One key player in the laundering of drug money at the Trump Ocean Club was notorious fraudster David Eduardo Helmut Murcia Guzmán, whom a U.S. court subsequently sentenced to nine years for laundering millions of dollars' worth of illicit funds, including narcotics proceeds, through companies and real estate.
Another was Murcia Guzmán’s business associate, Alexandre Henrique Ventura Nogueira, who brokered nearly a third of the 666 pre-construction unit sales at the Trump Ocean Club and claims to have sold 350-400 units overall. Ventura Nogueira’s sales brokerage was critical to ensuring the project’s lift-off and Trump’s ability to earn tens of millions of dollars.
The warning signs were there from the outset. The Trump Ocean Club, one of Trump’s most lucrative licensing deals to date, was announced in 2006 and launched in 2011, a period when Panama was known as one of the best places in the world to launder money. Whole neighborhoods in Panama City were taken over by organized crime groups, and luxury developments were built with the purpose of serving as money laundering vehicles.
Moreover, investing in luxury properties is a tried and trusted way for criminals to move tainted cash into the legitimate financial system, where they can spend it freely. Once scrubbed clean in this way, vast profits from criminal activities like trafficking people and drugs, organized crime, and terrorism can find their way into the U.S. and elsewhere. In most countries, regulation is notoriously lax in the real estate sector. Cash payments are subject to hardly any scrutiny, giving opportunistic and unprincipled developers free rein to accept dirty money.
In the case of the Trump Ocean Club, accepting easy – and possibly dirty – money early on would have been in Trump’s interest; a certain volume of pre-construction sales was necessary to secure financing for the project, which stood to net him $75.4 million by the end of 2010. Trump received a percentage of the financing he helped secure, and a cut on the sale of every unit at the development.
He and his family have made millions of dollars more from management fees and likely continue to profit from the Trump Ocean Club. Eager for the project’s success, Trump and his children have participated directly in marketing, management, and even project design. According to broker Ventura Nogueira, Trump’s daughter Ivanka attended at least 10 meetings with him and project developer Roger Khafif.
A large number of those involved with the Trump Ocean Club in its early phase were Russian and Eastern European citizens or diaspora members. In an interview with NBC and Reuters, Ventura Nogueira said that 50 percent of his buyers were Russian, and that some had “questionable backgrounds.” He added that he found out later that some were part of the Russian Mafia.
Since the Russian government’s alleged interference in the 2016 election, a lot has been made of Trump’s heavy reliance on funds from Russia for his licensing deals. Trump relying on funds from Russia is not in itself a problem – some of these funds are no doubt from legitimate sources. What is deeply problematic, however, is the fact that some of this money appears to have come from criminal networks.
Donald Trump has incessantly promoted himself as a successful and viable businessman, and this was critical to his success in the 2016 presidential election. But this report presents evidence that this façade was built, at least in part, on ventures used to launder cash generated by criminal activities. Trump’s unscrupulous business dealings and blindness to potential illegality raise serious questions about his suitability to govern the most powerful country in the world.
The dubious dealings of Trump the businessman also raise questions about the commitment of Trump the President to tackling crime and corruption. Trump got elected by repeatedly pledging to “drain the swamp”, but in the nine months since his inauguration he has actually taken steps that could worsen corruption in the U.S. and internationally. Indeed, one of his administration’s few legislative successes to date has been to overturn the implementing regulation of a ground-breaking anti-corruption law.[...]
“Every other country goes into these places and they do what they have to do… It’s a horrible law and [the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] should be changed.”
In the early 2000s, a series of bankruptcies meant Donald J. Trump was shunned by most lenders. Struggling for credit, he started selling his name to high-end real estate projects. This report examines in detail the criminal connections that propelled one such project – the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama – and how this case bears some of the same disturbing hallmarks as other Trump developments.
Since he became President of the United States, numerous investigations and articles have probed Trump’s business dealings and his alleged links to criminals and other shadowy characters. It is understood that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation under the Department of Justice will also examine his real estate business. This is important because it seems likely that, following his various bankruptcies, at least a part of Trump’s business empire has been built on untraceable funds, some apparently linked to Russian criminal networks.
Trump may not have deliberately set out to facilitate criminal activity in his business dealings. But, as this Global Witness investigation shows, licensing his brand to the luxurious Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama aligned Trump’s financial interests with those of crooks looking to launder ill-gotten gains. Trump seems to have done little to nothing to prevent this. What is clear is that proceeds from Colombian cartels’ narcotics trafficking were laundered through the Trump Ocean Club and that Donald Trump was one of the beneficiaries.
One key player in the laundering of drug money at the Trump Ocean Club was notorious fraudster David Eduardo Helmut Murcia Guzmán, whom a U.S. court subsequently sentenced to nine years for laundering millions of dollars' worth of illicit funds, including narcotics proceeds, through companies and real estate.
Another was Murcia Guzmán’s business associate, Alexandre Henrique Ventura Nogueira, who brokered nearly a third of the 666 pre-construction unit sales at the Trump Ocean Club and claims to have sold 350-400 units overall. Ventura Nogueira’s sales brokerage was critical to ensuring the project’s lift-off and Trump’s ability to earn tens of millions of dollars.
The warning signs were there from the outset. The Trump Ocean Club, one of Trump’s most lucrative licensing deals to date, was announced in 2006 and launched in 2011, a period when Panama was known as one of the best places in the world to launder money. Whole neighborhoods in Panama City were taken over by organized crime groups, and luxury developments were built with the purpose of serving as money laundering vehicles.
Moreover, investing in luxury properties is a tried and trusted way for criminals to move tainted cash into the legitimate financial system, where they can spend it freely. Once scrubbed clean in this way, vast profits from criminal activities like trafficking people and drugs, organized crime, and terrorism can find their way into the U.S. and elsewhere. In most countries, regulation is notoriously lax in the real estate sector. Cash payments are subject to hardly any scrutiny, giving opportunistic and unprincipled developers free rein to accept dirty money.
In the case of the Trump Ocean Club, accepting easy – and possibly dirty – money early on would have been in Trump’s interest; a certain volume of pre-construction sales was necessary to secure financing for the project, which stood to net him $75.4 million by the end of 2010. Trump received a percentage of the financing he helped secure, and a cut on the sale of every unit at the development.
He and his family have made millions of dollars more from management fees and likely continue to profit from the Trump Ocean Club. Eager for the project’s success, Trump and his children have participated directly in marketing, management, and even project design. According to broker Ventura Nogueira, Trump’s daughter Ivanka attended at least 10 meetings with him and project developer Roger Khafif.
A large number of those involved with the Trump Ocean Club in its early phase were Russian and Eastern European citizens or diaspora members. In an interview with NBC and Reuters, Ventura Nogueira said that 50 percent of his buyers were Russian, and that some had “questionable backgrounds.” He added that he found out later that some were part of the Russian Mafia.
Since the Russian government’s alleged interference in the 2016 election, a lot has been made of Trump’s heavy reliance on funds from Russia for his licensing deals. Trump relying on funds from Russia is not in itself a problem – some of these funds are no doubt from legitimate sources. What is deeply problematic, however, is the fact that some of this money appears to have come from criminal networks.
Donald Trump has incessantly promoted himself as a successful and viable businessman, and this was critical to his success in the 2016 presidential election. But this report presents evidence that this façade was built, at least in part, on ventures used to launder cash generated by criminal activities. Trump’s unscrupulous business dealings and blindness to potential illegality raise serious questions about his suitability to govern the most powerful country in the world.
The dubious dealings of Trump the businessman also raise questions about the commitment of Trump the President to tackling crime and corruption. Trump got elected by repeatedly pledging to “drain the swamp”, but in the nine months since his inauguration he has actually taken steps that could worsen corruption in the U.S. and internationally. Indeed, one of his administration’s few legislative successes to date has been to overturn the implementing regulation of a ground-breaking anti-corruption law.[...]
Trump’s appearance in Panama Papers revealed
International Business Times
25 NOV 2017 AT 08:12 ET
From Raw Story: The instance of President Donald Trump’s appearance in the Panama Papers – the massive trove of leaked documents, reveals in detail how the world’s richest people hide their business dealings from scrutiny and taxation.
A real estate deal from the early 1990s is the first instance of President Trump’s name being mentioned in the Panama Papers.
An investigative reporter, Jake Bernstein, Friday afternoon flagged the discovery that involves the purchase and subsequent sale of a unit at the newly constructed Trump Palace on the Upper East Side in the 1990s. This deal involved a Panamanian company named Process Consultants, Inc., that purchased a 16th floor condo at the Trump skyscraper in 1991.
Process Consultants was owned through bearer shares. These share certificates indicate that whoever physically possessed the papers owned the company. The bearer shares could be used to transfer assets completely anonymously and were favorite tools among money launderers.
Three year after the purchase in 1994, the Process Consultants decided to sell this condo at the Trump Palace. Trump Corporation was the exclusive broker for this. According to a contract document, which provided the details of an agreement, the apartment was sold for apartment for $395,000. However, later, the price appeared to have been cut down to $355,000. It is believed a woman from Hong Kong, whose name has appeared in other leaked documents had purchased the apartment, reported the New York daily News.
However, the New York City Department of Finance online database Automated City Registered Information System has information on the apartment only after 2005, which pointed out during this time, the condo was owned by a Brazilian from Sao Paolo. He sold the unit for $795,400, that year.
But with most Panama Papers revelations, there has been no indication of who is actually behind Process Consultants or from where that person’s money came. According to the New York Daily News, using bearer shares doesn’t prove that Process Consultants was involved in something dubious, the quick turnover seems to be a characteristic of money laundering.
The publication reported that if Trump’s company knowingly facilitated the condo sale for the purpose of laundering money then the president himself could land in difficulty.
As part of his investigation into Russian election meddling, special prosecutor Robert Mueller had been looking into Trump’s sprawling real estate empire. It's unclear if the Process Consultants deal is of interest in the probe.
The Trump condo contract is one among the thousands of documents that were leaked in 2015 from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sold anonymous shell companies around the globe and had created more than 160,000 offshore entities by the year 2008. Some of the world’s richest people were able to conduct dubious business deals by hiding behind the law firm’s offshore companies.
The founders behind Mossack Fonseca were arrested after the massive leak. The firm is under investigation across the world.
Last month, the Paradise Papers leak revealed Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wibur Ross had been involved in doing million dollar business deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov.
A real estate deal from the early 1990s is the first instance of President Trump’s name being mentioned in the Panama Papers.
An investigative reporter, Jake Bernstein, Friday afternoon flagged the discovery that involves the purchase and subsequent sale of a unit at the newly constructed Trump Palace on the Upper East Side in the 1990s. This deal involved a Panamanian company named Process Consultants, Inc., that purchased a 16th floor condo at the Trump skyscraper in 1991.
Process Consultants was owned through bearer shares. These share certificates indicate that whoever physically possessed the papers owned the company. The bearer shares could be used to transfer assets completely anonymously and were favorite tools among money launderers.
Three year after the purchase in 1994, the Process Consultants decided to sell this condo at the Trump Palace. Trump Corporation was the exclusive broker for this. According to a contract document, which provided the details of an agreement, the apartment was sold for apartment for $395,000. However, later, the price appeared to have been cut down to $355,000. It is believed a woman from Hong Kong, whose name has appeared in other leaked documents had purchased the apartment, reported the New York daily News.
However, the New York City Department of Finance online database Automated City Registered Information System has information on the apartment only after 2005, which pointed out during this time, the condo was owned by a Brazilian from Sao Paolo. He sold the unit for $795,400, that year.
But with most Panama Papers revelations, there has been no indication of who is actually behind Process Consultants or from where that person’s money came. According to the New York Daily News, using bearer shares doesn’t prove that Process Consultants was involved in something dubious, the quick turnover seems to be a characteristic of money laundering.
The publication reported that if Trump’s company knowingly facilitated the condo sale for the purpose of laundering money then the president himself could land in difficulty.
As part of his investigation into Russian election meddling, special prosecutor Robert Mueller had been looking into Trump’s sprawling real estate empire. It's unclear if the Process Consultants deal is of interest in the probe.
The Trump condo contract is one among the thousands of documents that were leaked in 2015 from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sold anonymous shell companies around the globe and had created more than 160,000 offshore entities by the year 2008. Some of the world’s richest people were able to conduct dubious business deals by hiding behind the law firm’s offshore companies.
The founders behind Mossack Fonseca were arrested after the massive leak. The firm is under investigation across the world.
Last month, the Paradise Papers leak revealed Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wibur Ross had been involved in doing million dollar business deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov.
The Trump Family Made Millions from Drug Cartels and the Russian Mafia in Panama City: Report
Maybe we should start calling the president's Florida estate "Mar-a-Narco."
By Liz Posner / AlterNet November 17, 2017, 9:04 AM GMT
Robert Mueller has some new material to work with as he continues his investigation of the Trump administration's ties to Russia. A new report shows that for 10 years, a Trump property in Panama City collected millions of dollars from the Russian mafia and Colombian drug cartels. An investigation from Global Witness, an international NGO that probes corruption and money laundering, reveals how the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower turned a blind eye to crime lords looking for a safe haven to stash their blood money.
The property, which the lead broker Alexandre Ventura Nogueira describes as “Ivanka Trump’s baby,” listed units for three times the going rate in Panama City, thanks to the Trump name. Nogueira worked closely with the Trump family; he claims he attended at least 10 meetings with Ivanka Trump, who challenged him to sell 100 units in the building.
“The agreement was, I had a week to sell 100 units,” Nogueira told Reuters. “I said, ‘I’m going to do better, I’m going to sell without telling (the buyers) the price.'”
Nogueira later fled Panama after he was arrested for unrelated charges of real estate fraud. From his European asylum, he told NBC that at least half of his Trump Ocean Club customers were Russians, including some with “questionable backgrounds." Only later did he learn of their ties to Russian organized crime circles.
NBC reports that Mauricio Ceballos, a former prosecutor in Panama who investigated Trump’s business associates for financial crimes, called the Trump Ocean Club “a vehicle for money laundering.”
Among the shady buyers are:
By 2010, Donald Trump had made approximately $74.2 million through his association with the hotel. From 2014-2017, he was paid as much as $13.9 million.
As Global Witness explains:
“The warning signs were there from the outset. The Trump Ocean Club, one of Trump’s most lucrative licensing deals to date, was announced in 2006 and launched in 2011, a period when Panama was known as one of the best places in the world to launder money. Whole neighborhoods in Panama City were taken over by organized crime groups, and luxury developments were built with the purpose of serving as money laundering vehicles.
“Moreover, investing in luxury properties is a tried and trusted way for criminals to move tainted cash into the legitimate financial system, where they can spend it freely. Once scrubbed clean in this way, vast profits from criminal activities like trafficking people and drugs, organized crime, and terrorism can find their way into the U.S. and elsewhere.”
The Trump Organization has shrugged off responsibility in a statement following the news, but legal experts say it should have done its due diligence into the backgrounds of buyers. Arthur Middlemiss, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and a former head of the global anti-corruption program at JPMorgan, blames the Trumps directly:
“Those who do business there should perform due diligence on others involved in their ventures. If they fail to do so, they risk being liable under U.S. law of turning a blind eye to wrongdoing.”
The property, which the lead broker Alexandre Ventura Nogueira describes as “Ivanka Trump’s baby,” listed units for three times the going rate in Panama City, thanks to the Trump name. Nogueira worked closely with the Trump family; he claims he attended at least 10 meetings with Ivanka Trump, who challenged him to sell 100 units in the building.
“The agreement was, I had a week to sell 100 units,” Nogueira told Reuters. “I said, ‘I’m going to do better, I’m going to sell without telling (the buyers) the price.'”
Nogueira later fled Panama after he was arrested for unrelated charges of real estate fraud. From his European asylum, he told NBC that at least half of his Trump Ocean Club customers were Russians, including some with “questionable backgrounds." Only later did he learn of their ties to Russian organized crime circles.
NBC reports that Mauricio Ceballos, a former prosecutor in Panama who investigated Trump’s business associates for financial crimes, called the Trump Ocean Club “a vehicle for money laundering.”
Among the shady buyers are:
- David Murcia Guzmán, founder of a large Colombian marketing company, who purchased 10 units in the Trump Ocean Club. Guzmán is now in U.S. custody, convicted of laundering money on behalf of drug cartels, and will be extradited to Colombia. Guzmán also has financial ties to the terrorist organization FARC.
- Louis Pargiolas, who pleaded guilty in 2009 in Miami to conspiracy to import cocaine.
- Stanislav Kavalenka, a Russian national charged in Canada for compelling women into prostitution.
- Arkady Vodovozov, convicted in Israel of kidnapping, according to Reuters.
By 2010, Donald Trump had made approximately $74.2 million through his association with the hotel. From 2014-2017, he was paid as much as $13.9 million.
As Global Witness explains:
“The warning signs were there from the outset. The Trump Ocean Club, one of Trump’s most lucrative licensing deals to date, was announced in 2006 and launched in 2011, a period when Panama was known as one of the best places in the world to launder money. Whole neighborhoods in Panama City were taken over by organized crime groups, and luxury developments were built with the purpose of serving as money laundering vehicles.
“Moreover, investing in luxury properties is a tried and trusted way for criminals to move tainted cash into the legitimate financial system, where they can spend it freely. Once scrubbed clean in this way, vast profits from criminal activities like trafficking people and drugs, organized crime, and terrorism can find their way into the U.S. and elsewhere.”
The Trump Organization has shrugged off responsibility in a statement following the news, but legal experts say it should have done its due diligence into the backgrounds of buyers. Arthur Middlemiss, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and a former head of the global anti-corruption program at JPMorgan, blames the Trumps directly:
“Those who do business there should perform due diligence on others involved in their ventures. If they fail to do so, they risk being liable under U.S. law of turning a blind eye to wrongdoing.”
the criminal administration!!!
The wealthy men in Trump's inner circle with links to tax havens
The president promised to bring trillions of dollars back to the US, but many around him are no strangers to the offshore world
Jon Swaine and Ed Pilkington in New York
Sunday 5 November 2017 13.00 EST
From The Guardian: On the election trail in 2016, Donald Trump promised tax reforms to tempt major US companies back onshore and “bring back trillions of dollars from American businesses that is now parked overseas”.
As the first anniversary of his election victory looms this week, Trump and fellow Republicans are trying to drive those tax reforms through Congress.
On 1 November, Trump reiterated his commitment.
“Finally, our plan will bring back trillions of dollars from offshore … that will come pouring back into our country that will be put to work and will be spent by our companies that could never get the money back for many years. Bring the money back. We’re rebuilding America.”
But Trump is surrounded by wealthy individuals who have legally either sheltered their own investments or presided over policies to keep company profits or clients’ funds out of reach in tax havens.
Gary Cohn
Trump’s chief economic adviser, who is the driving force behind the White House tax reform effort, is no stranger to offshore finance. The leaked documents reveal that for various periods between 2002 and 2006, Cohn was president or vice-president of 22 separate entities in Bermuda for Goldman Sachs....
Rex Tillerson
The US secretary of state is named in the leaked files as a director of an offshore firm used in a multibillion-dollar oil and gas venture in the Middle East that became embroiled in controversy.
Tillerson was a director of Marib Upstream Services Company, incorporated in Bermuda in 1997. The company was tied to ExxonMobil, the American oil and gas corporation that Tillerson later led as chief executive. At the time, Tillerson was president of ExxonMobil’s Yemen division....
Steven Mnuchin
The US Treasury secretary’s former bank financed offshore private jets for wealthy clients, including a billionaire Yemeni businessman whose son is wanted for rape and murder in the UK.
CIT Bank, where Mnuchin was deputy chairman, provided customers with financing structures for personal aircraft priced at tens of millions of dollars, which customers used to legally avoid sales taxes and other charges....
Randal Quarles
The Trump administration’s most senior banking watchdog appears in the Paradise Papers in connection with an offshore bank that is under investigation by US authorities for possible tax evasion.
Quarles, Trump’s vice-chairman for supervision at the Federal Reserve, is named in the files as an officer of two firms incorporated in the Cayman Islands by the Carlyle Group, the private equity giant where Quarles was a partner until 2013.
The files detail transactions between one of Quarles’s offshore vehicles and Butterfield, a Bermuda-based bank in which Carlyle had led a $550m investment in 2010. That stake was one of several in distressed banks bought up by a new specialist team at Carlyle, including Quarles, following the 2008 financial crisis...
Jon Huntsman
Trump’s new US ambassador to Russia helped lead a previously undisclosed offshore company, according to the leaked files.
Huntsman, the former Utah governor, was listed as a director of HICI International Sales Corporation in a confidential filing to authorities in Barbados, where the company was formed in 1999. The offshore vehicle was set up to carry out overseas sales for Huntsman ICI, an industrial chemicals branch of Huntsman Corporation.
The filing said HICI was owned by Huntsman ICI Holdings LLC in the US, where Huntsman was vice-chairman and manager. In 2000, Huntsman ICI reported making a $151m profit on revenues of $4.4bn....
Kenneth Juster
Trump’s ambassador to India benefited from the offshore business of his former investment company and its billion-dollar purchase of a shipping corporation.
Juster is named in the Paradise Papers as a beneficial owner of a Bermuda-based branch of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm where he was a partner before joining the Trump administration...
Carl Icahn
Icahn, a friend and former adviser to Trump, owns a $250m mining company spread across three tax havens and structured in a way that limits the information it must disclose to US authorities.
The leaks detail how Icahn holds a controlling stake in Ferrous Resources, a Brazilian mining company officially based on the Isle of Man. It in turn owns a pair of holding companies in Luxembourg and Malta, which operate iron mines in Brazil.
All three jurisdictions offer low- or zero-tax regimes for corporations, making them destinations of choice for foreign businesses seeking to legally lower their tax bills. A report in 2015 by Citizens for Tax Justice said Icahn operated 20 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens....
Tom Barrack
The chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee leads a $58bn real estate investment trust that channels some of its profits to the low- or no-tax jurisdictions of Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands and Lebanon.
Barrack, who has described himself as one of the president’s “closest friends for 40 years”, appears in the Paradise Papers through offshore subsidiaries of Colony NorthStar, of which he is CEO...
Jay Clayton
Trump’s SEC chairman received income from a hedge fund based in the Cayman Islands.
Clayton disclosed to the government ethics office before taking up the SEC job that he received income from Mount Kellett Capital Partners (Cayman) LP, the offshore subsidiary of a US hedge fund. A proposed structure chart in the leaked Appleby files shows a complex web of ties that were created between the Cayman Islands offshoot, its head company, and other offshore subsidiaries....
Ben Carson
A biotechnology company headed by Carson, Trump’s housing and urban development (HUD) secretary, set up offshore firms that could have reduced its tax bill.
The Paradise Papers contain files on two subsidiaries of Vaccinogen in Bermuda that date from Carson’s time as chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company. The offshore vehicles were established as holding companies for “intellectual property related to the treatment of cancer and other diseases”, according to the files...
(complete article)
As the first anniversary of his election victory looms this week, Trump and fellow Republicans are trying to drive those tax reforms through Congress.
On 1 November, Trump reiterated his commitment.
“Finally, our plan will bring back trillions of dollars from offshore … that will come pouring back into our country that will be put to work and will be spent by our companies that could never get the money back for many years. Bring the money back. We’re rebuilding America.”
But Trump is surrounded by wealthy individuals who have legally either sheltered their own investments or presided over policies to keep company profits or clients’ funds out of reach in tax havens.
Gary Cohn
Trump’s chief economic adviser, who is the driving force behind the White House tax reform effort, is no stranger to offshore finance. The leaked documents reveal that for various periods between 2002 and 2006, Cohn was president or vice-president of 22 separate entities in Bermuda for Goldman Sachs....
Rex Tillerson
The US secretary of state is named in the leaked files as a director of an offshore firm used in a multibillion-dollar oil and gas venture in the Middle East that became embroiled in controversy.
Tillerson was a director of Marib Upstream Services Company, incorporated in Bermuda in 1997. The company was tied to ExxonMobil, the American oil and gas corporation that Tillerson later led as chief executive. At the time, Tillerson was president of ExxonMobil’s Yemen division....
Steven Mnuchin
The US Treasury secretary’s former bank financed offshore private jets for wealthy clients, including a billionaire Yemeni businessman whose son is wanted for rape and murder in the UK.
CIT Bank, where Mnuchin was deputy chairman, provided customers with financing structures for personal aircraft priced at tens of millions of dollars, which customers used to legally avoid sales taxes and other charges....
Randal Quarles
The Trump administration’s most senior banking watchdog appears in the Paradise Papers in connection with an offshore bank that is under investigation by US authorities for possible tax evasion.
Quarles, Trump’s vice-chairman for supervision at the Federal Reserve, is named in the files as an officer of two firms incorporated in the Cayman Islands by the Carlyle Group, the private equity giant where Quarles was a partner until 2013.
The files detail transactions between one of Quarles’s offshore vehicles and Butterfield, a Bermuda-based bank in which Carlyle had led a $550m investment in 2010. That stake was one of several in distressed banks bought up by a new specialist team at Carlyle, including Quarles, following the 2008 financial crisis...
Jon Huntsman
Trump’s new US ambassador to Russia helped lead a previously undisclosed offshore company, according to the leaked files.
Huntsman, the former Utah governor, was listed as a director of HICI International Sales Corporation in a confidential filing to authorities in Barbados, where the company was formed in 1999. The offshore vehicle was set up to carry out overseas sales for Huntsman ICI, an industrial chemicals branch of Huntsman Corporation.
The filing said HICI was owned by Huntsman ICI Holdings LLC in the US, where Huntsman was vice-chairman and manager. In 2000, Huntsman ICI reported making a $151m profit on revenues of $4.4bn....
Kenneth Juster
Trump’s ambassador to India benefited from the offshore business of his former investment company and its billion-dollar purchase of a shipping corporation.
Juster is named in the Paradise Papers as a beneficial owner of a Bermuda-based branch of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm where he was a partner before joining the Trump administration...
Carl Icahn
Icahn, a friend and former adviser to Trump, owns a $250m mining company spread across three tax havens and structured in a way that limits the information it must disclose to US authorities.
The leaks detail how Icahn holds a controlling stake in Ferrous Resources, a Brazilian mining company officially based on the Isle of Man. It in turn owns a pair of holding companies in Luxembourg and Malta, which operate iron mines in Brazil.
All three jurisdictions offer low- or zero-tax regimes for corporations, making them destinations of choice for foreign businesses seeking to legally lower their tax bills. A report in 2015 by Citizens for Tax Justice said Icahn operated 20 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens....
Tom Barrack
The chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee leads a $58bn real estate investment trust that channels some of its profits to the low- or no-tax jurisdictions of Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands and Lebanon.
Barrack, who has described himself as one of the president’s “closest friends for 40 years”, appears in the Paradise Papers through offshore subsidiaries of Colony NorthStar, of which he is CEO...
Jay Clayton
Trump’s SEC chairman received income from a hedge fund based in the Cayman Islands.
Clayton disclosed to the government ethics office before taking up the SEC job that he received income from Mount Kellett Capital Partners (Cayman) LP, the offshore subsidiary of a US hedge fund. A proposed structure chart in the leaked Appleby files shows a complex web of ties that were created between the Cayman Islands offshoot, its head company, and other offshore subsidiaries....
Ben Carson
A biotechnology company headed by Carson, Trump’s housing and urban development (HUD) secretary, set up offshore firms that could have reduced its tax bill.
The Paradise Papers contain files on two subsidiaries of Vaccinogen in Bermuda that date from Carson’s time as chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company. The offshore vehicles were established as holding companies for “intellectual property related to the treatment of cancer and other diseases”, according to the files...
(complete article)
Here are the 5 biggest links connecting Trump to Manafort and Russian money laundering
Brad Reed
30 OCT 2017 AT 11:51 ET
From Raw Story: The Trump White House is claiming victory in the wake of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s indictment on money laundering charges on the grounds that the indictment did not specifically mention Manafort’s work in the Trump campaign in 2016.
However, the nature of the charges against Manafort serves as a basis for establishing links between President Donald Trump and the Russian mob.
Here are the five biggest links that connect Trump, Manafort and Russian organized crime operations.
However, the nature of the charges against Manafort serves as a basis for establishing links between President Donald Trump and the Russian mob.
Here are the five biggest links that connect Trump, Manafort and Russian organized crime operations.
- The indictment against Manafort alleges he was laundering money he earned from his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. Specifically, the indictment states that, “in order to hide Ukraine payments from United States authorities, from approximately 2006 through at least 2016, Manafort and Gates laundered money through scores of United States and foreign corporations, partnerships and bank accounts.”
- Long before he ran Trump’s campaign, Manafort lived in an apartment in Trump Tower. Manafort first purchased an apartment in Trump Tower in 2006, which WNYC notes was right around the time that his lobbying firm signed a $10 million contract with a Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch named Oleg Deripaska — the same man whom Manafort agreed to give personal briefings about the state of Trump’s presidential campaign to in 2016.
- In 2013, the FBI obtained a search warrant to eavesdrop on what it believed to be a massive Russian money laundering operation — and which also happened to be running out of Trump Tower. As ABC News reported earlier this year, the investigation into the operation led “to a federal grand jury indictment of more than 30 people, including one of the world’s most notorious Russian mafia bosses, Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov.”
- Another figure allegedly involved in the Russian money laundering business is Felix Sater — a longtime Trump associate. Sater’s financial relationship with Trump dates back to at least 2003, when the Trump Organization rented out office space to Sater’s former company. Even though Trump initially tried to distance himself from Sater after news of his criminal past came to light in 2007, he subsequently tapped Sater in 2010 to scout out real estate. This is notable because Sater is reportedly cooperating with an investigation into money laundering that used American properties to help hide money.
- Sater’s company, Bayrock Capital, also operated out of Trump Tower — and may have used Trump properties to launder Russian money. A Bloomberg report from earlier this year reveals that a former Bayrock insider, Jody Kriss, now claims that Sater’s firm was all an elaborate money laundering operation. In 2007, Trump teamed with Bayrock to secure funding for the Trump Soho hotel via FL Group, an Icelandic bank that was regularly used by Russians to launder money.
*IN 1927, 1,000 WHITE-ROBED KLANSMEN RIOTED IN QUEENS. TRUMP'S FATHER WAS ARRESTED IN THAT INCIDENT.
bigtree
From Demo. Underground: Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 3h3 hours ago
...this story creeps out of the memory hole, and gains new and chilling resonance.
Donald Trump's father was arrested at Ku Klux Klan riot in New York in 1927, records reveal
_____The predication for the Klan to march, according to a flier passed around Jamaica beforehand, was that “Native-born Protestant Americans” were being “assaulted by Roman Catholic police of New York City.” “Liberty and Democracy have been trampled upon,” it continued, “when native-born Protestant Americans dare to organise to protect one flag, the American flag; one school, the public school; and one language, the English language.”
It's not clear from the context what role Fred Trump played in the brawl. The news article simply notes that seven men were arrested in the “near-riot of the parade,” all of whom were represented by the same lawyers. Update: A contemporaneous article from the Daily Star notes that Trump was detained “on a charge of refusing to disperse from a parade when ordered to do so.”
When news of the old report surfaced last year, Donald Trump vehemently denied his father's arrest. “He was never arrested. He has nothing to do with this. This never happened. This is nonsense and it never happened,” he said to the Daily Mail. “This never happened. Never took place. He was never arrested, never convicted, never even charged. It's a completely false, ridiculous story. He was never there! It never happened. Never took place.”
...It's worth noting that Trump's comments came one day after another Klan brawl, this time in Anaheim, Calif. Thirteen people were arrested and three were stabbed after a Klan rally turned violent. And it's worth noting, too, as did Jonathan Chait at New York magazine, that Trump's claim to “know nothing” about white supremacists echoes the language of the 19th-century “Know Nothing” party — a nativist group that supported only Protestants for public office...
read: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charlottesville-latest-donald-trump-father-fred-arrested-ku-klux-klan-kkk-rally-riot-queens-new-york-a7891701.html
...this story creeps out of the memory hole, and gains new and chilling resonance.
Donald Trump's father was arrested at Ku Klux Klan riot in New York in 1927, records reveal
_____The predication for the Klan to march, according to a flier passed around Jamaica beforehand, was that “Native-born Protestant Americans” were being “assaulted by Roman Catholic police of New York City.” “Liberty and Democracy have been trampled upon,” it continued, “when native-born Protestant Americans dare to organise to protect one flag, the American flag; one school, the public school; and one language, the English language.”
It's not clear from the context what role Fred Trump played in the brawl. The news article simply notes that seven men were arrested in the “near-riot of the parade,” all of whom were represented by the same lawyers. Update: A contemporaneous article from the Daily Star notes that Trump was detained “on a charge of refusing to disperse from a parade when ordered to do so.”
When news of the old report surfaced last year, Donald Trump vehemently denied his father's arrest. “He was never arrested. He has nothing to do with this. This never happened. This is nonsense and it never happened,” he said to the Daily Mail. “This never happened. Never took place. He was never arrested, never convicted, never even charged. It's a completely false, ridiculous story. He was never there! It never happened. Never took place.”
...It's worth noting that Trump's comments came one day after another Klan brawl, this time in Anaheim, Calif. Thirteen people were arrested and three were stabbed after a Klan rally turned violent. And it's worth noting, too, as did Jonathan Chait at New York magazine, that Trump's claim to “know nothing” about white supremacists echoes the language of the 19th-century “Know Nothing” party — a nativist group that supported only Protestants for public office...
read: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charlottesville-latest-donald-trump-father-fred-arrested-ku-klux-klan-kkk-rally-riot-queens-new-york-a7891701.html
no shit
pbmus -demo. underground
Donald Trump admitted in 2007 that he had invested in Russia
In a deposition in 2007, Trump said something he and his family would later deny repeatedly
MATTHEW ROZSA
From Salon: Pr*sident Donald Trump may want the headaches associated with the Russia scandal to go away, but a new report has drawn attention to yet another controversial aspect of Trump’s relationship with that country’s financial elite.
Although Trump told NBC in May, “I am not involved in Russia,” he admitted in a 2007 deposition that a real estate development firm known as the Bayrock Group had brought Russian investors to Trump Tower to discuss investing in Moscow, according to a report by Bloomberg.
“It’s ridiculous that I wouldn’t be investing in Russia,” Trump said. “Russia is one of the hottest places in the world for investment.”
Bloomberg also reported that one of the principals at Bayrock is businessman Felix Sater, who reportedly has ties to organized crime in both the United States and Russia. Although Trump has repeatedly insisted that he is only passingly acquainted with Sater, former Bayrock employees insist that Sater often met with Trump at his business empire’s New York City headquarters and guided Trump’s children around Moscow.
They also report that Sater is still in contact with the president and some of his advisers. It is worth noting that the Bayrock Group itself also had an office located in Trump Tower.
While the president likes to downplay his business ties to Russia, his son Donald Trump Jr. once admitted to a real estate conference in 2008 that Trump built a tower in Panama for wealthy Russian clients, according to a report by Time.
“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,” Trump told the crowd.
Although Trump told NBC in May, “I am not involved in Russia,” he admitted in a 2007 deposition that a real estate development firm known as the Bayrock Group had brought Russian investors to Trump Tower to discuss investing in Moscow, according to a report by Bloomberg.
“It’s ridiculous that I wouldn’t be investing in Russia,” Trump said. “Russia is one of the hottest places in the world for investment.”
Bloomberg also reported that one of the principals at Bayrock is businessman Felix Sater, who reportedly has ties to organized crime in both the United States and Russia. Although Trump has repeatedly insisted that he is only passingly acquainted with Sater, former Bayrock employees insist that Sater often met with Trump at his business empire’s New York City headquarters and guided Trump’s children around Moscow.
They also report that Sater is still in contact with the president and some of his advisers. It is worth noting that the Bayrock Group itself also had an office located in Trump Tower.
While the president likes to downplay his business ties to Russia, his son Donald Trump Jr. once admitted to a real estate conference in 2008 that Trump built a tower in Panama for wealthy Russian clients, according to a report by Time.
“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,” Trump told the crowd.
taking the former leader of the free world for a stroll!!
charlyvi - from Demo Underground
On this President's Day, congratulations to James Buchanan on finally moving out of the bottom spot in the presidential rankings.
Thanks to Ignorant Americans, this Loser is now "President"
America's Next GOP Presidential Traitor joining Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1 & 2
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Trump's Cabinet, etc
the trailer trash adminstration
(archives - for description & news of swamp members)
Puerto Rico salutes Trump...
DonViejo
From Demo Underground: Pendejo =
adjective
stupid
estúpido, pendejo, bruto, atontado, estulto, bozal
noun
motherfucker
hijo de puta, pendejo, coño
coward
cobarde, gallina, temeroso, pendejo, asqueroso, rajado
berk
imbécil, idiota, pendejo
Word Origin and History for berk. n. "fool," 1936, abbreviation of Berkshire Hunt (or Berkeley Hunt), rhyming slang for cunt but typically applied only to contemptible persons, not to the body part. This is not an objective, anatomical term, neither does it imply coitus.
adjective
stupid
estúpido, pendejo, bruto, atontado, estulto, bozal
noun
motherfucker
hijo de puta, pendejo, coño
coward
cobarde, gallina, temeroso, pendejo, asqueroso, rajado
berk
imbécil, idiota, pendejo
Word Origin and History for berk. n. "fool," 1936, abbreviation of Berkshire Hunt (or Berkeley Hunt), rhyming slang for cunt but typically applied only to contemptible persons, not to the body part. This is not an objective, anatomical term, neither does it imply coitus.
white house concerns
trump: the "escape from la" pr*sident
PRESIDENT TRUMP:
CHILD MOLESTER, RACIST, SEXIST, CRIMINAL, KLAN SYMPATHIZER, MAFIA ASSOCIATE, TAX FRAUD, FASCIST, RUSSIAN MOLE
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Trump exhibits the same level of gravitas as, say, a spoiled child wearing a cardboard crown from Burger King. His tacky, garish displays of wealth, his clownish stab at a normal head of hair, and his ridiculously ill-fitting suits utterly fail to convey a basic sense of taste, much less gravitas. The other day, for example, Trump referred to third-party candidate Evan McMullin as “Evan McMuffin.” Petty insults like this one (along with “Crooked Hillary,” “Crazy Bernie,” “Lyin’ Ted,” etc.) convey a level of gravitas equal to purple-nurples during recess. And while Trump insists that he’ll be a very, very terrific president and, literally, the greatest jobs president God ever created, no one with a sense of history who believes he’s going to be any of those things.
tough guy!!!
Hillary Weighs In
Demo Underground
John Adams: “Obsta principiis, nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people. When the people give way, their deceivers, betrayers, and destroyers press upon them so fast, that there is no resisting afterwards. The nature of the encroachment upon the American constitution is such, as to grow every day more and more encroaching. Like a cancer, it eats faster and faster every hour. The revenue creates pensioners, and the pensioners urge for more revenue. The people grow less steady, spirited, and virtuous, the seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and expectants, until virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity, and frugality, become the objects of ridicule and scorn, and vanity, luxury, foppery, selfishness, meanness, and downright venality swallow up the whole society.”
trump - i never did it
