The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the National Memo website February 5, 2017:
President Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, at the Homeland Security headquarters. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Two weeks into Donald Trump’s belligerent presidency, one must ask: Where will this administration’s launch its first serious international conflict?
The White House’s announcement Friday of narrow economic sanctions against Iran, in response to its dumb test firing of a missile, came after Trump made it sound like Iran had done something outsized and horrific. It hadn’t. Still, the president tweeted hours before announcing the sanctions, “Iran is playing with fire” and, “They don’t appreciate how ‘kind’ President Obama was to them. Not me!” Continue reading “6 Countries Trump Has Already Insulted And Provoked”
The following email from Angie Holan, the PolitiFact Editor:
We were watching President Donald Trump address the military in Tampa when we heard him make this claim about the media:
“Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando, to San Bernardino and all across Europe,” Trump said. “You’ve seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe, it’s happening. It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported, and in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that.”Continue reading “Politifact: Fact-checked: Trump’s claim that media doesn’t report terrorist attacks”
The following article by Lawrence Hurley with Reuters was posted on the National Memo website February 7, 2017:
Democratic U.S. senators on Monday sharpened a potential line of attack against Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court by questioning whether he would be sufficiently independent as a justice in light of President Donald Trump’s vigorous use of unilateral presidential power including his travel ban.
Their comments came after Trump criticized James Robart, the U.S. district court judge who put on hold the Republican president’s Jan. 27 order temporarily barring entry into the United States of people from seven Muslim-majority nations and halting the U.S. refugee program. Trump called Robart a “so-called judge” who made a “ridiculous” decision. Continue reading “Democrats Question Independence Of Trump Supreme Court Nominee”
The following article by John Sides was posted on the Washington Post website February 7, 2017:
President Trump speaks on Monday before signing an executive order while surrounded by small business leaders in the White House. (Andrew Harrer / Sipa USA)
Since his inauguration, Donald Trump’s net approval rating — already at a historic low for an incoming president — has taken a further hit. According to the Pollster average, about 50 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president while 43 percent approve, for a net approval rating of -7. In Gallup’s polling, Trump’s net approval is -10.
The following article by Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman was posted on the New York Times website February 5, 2017:
Kellyanne Conway, left, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner, Stephen K. Bannon, Reince Priebus and Stephen Miller, all members of President Trump’s senior staff, last month at the White House. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
President Trump loves to set the day’s narrative at dawn, but the deeper story of his White House is best told at night.
Aides confer in the dark because they cannot figure out how to operate the light switches in the cabinet room. Visitors conclude their meetings and then wander around, testing doorknobs until finding one that leads to an exit. In a darkened, mostly empty West Wing, Mr. Trump’s provocative chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, finishes another 16-hour day planning new lines of attack.
Usually around 6:30 p.m., or sometimes later, Mr. Trump retires upstairs to the residence to recharge, vent and intermittently use Twitter. With his wife, Melania, and young son, Barron, staying in New York, he is almost always by himself, sometimes in the protective presence of his imposing longtime aide and former security chief, Keith Schiller. When Mr. Trump is not watching television in his bathrobe or on his phone reaching out to old campaign hands and advisers, he will sometimes set off to explore the unfamiliar surroundings of his new home. Continue reading “Trump and Staff Rethink Tactics After Stumbles”
The following article by Claire Markham was posted on the Center for American Progress website February 7, 2017:
AP/Craig Ruttle) Family members who have just arrived from Syria embrace and are greeted by family who live in the United States upon their arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, February 6, 2017.
Religious liberty is a fundamental American value. Protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, free exercise of religion and freedom from government-endorsed religion are cherished rights that belong to all people. The importance of religious liberty in American history and as a core tenant of American democracy is precisely why it must be safeguarded from those who seek to manipulate it for their own political ends.
Although the Trump administration has only been in power for a few weeks, its message on religious freedom is clear: It wants to redefine religious liberty to only protect people who share its vision of faith. This comes at a steep cost to the fundamental American value of religious freedom for all. It also dangerously marginalizes people of faith who do not share the Trump administration’s views, many of whom are already vulnerable to rising incidents of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bigotry. In recent days, the administration has taken a number of actions that threaten to undermine true religious freedom. Continue reading “The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Attempt to Redefine Religious Liberty”
The following article by Tom Hamberger was posted on the Washington Post website February 7, 2017:
An attorney for first lady Melania Trump argued in a lawsuit filed Monday that an article falsely alleging that she once worked for an escort service hurt her chance to establish “multimillion dollar business relationships” during the years in which she would be “one of the most photographed women in the world.”
The suit — filed Monday in New York Supreme Court, a state trial court, in Manhattan — against Mail Media, the owner of the Daily Mail, said the article published by the Daily Mail and its online division last August caused Trump’s brand, Melania, to lose “significant value” as well as “major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her.” The suit said the article had damaged her “unique, once in a lifetime opportunity” to “launch a broad-based commercial brand.” Continue reading “Melania Trump missed out on ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to make millions, lawsuit says”
Rep. Duffy characterized a shooting at a mosque in Canada as “a one off.”
The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website February 7, 2017:
During a CNN appearance on Tuesday, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) asserted that “there’s a difference” between attacks carried out by Muslim extremists and attacks carried out by white supremacists or other attackers who aren’t Muslim.
The following article by Tom Jackman was posted on the Washington Post website February 7, 2017:
President Trump falsely claimed that “the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years,” during a meeting with county sheriffs on Feb. 7 at the White House. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
President Trump met Tuesday morning with a group of sheriffs from the National Sheriffs Association, a group that consists of more than 3,000 sheriffs from around the country. And to this sworn group of law enforcement veterans, with reporters taking notes, he again repeated a falsehood about the murder rate in America.
