President Trump’s tweets exemplify a fairly basic but often highly effective rhetorical maneuver—the diversionary reverse accusation. PHOTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS
The following article by David Remnick and Evan Osnos was psoted on thewebsite March 4, 2017:
Between six and six-thirty this morning, the President of the United States, who had returned to his Mar-a-Lago estate, in Florida, unleashed a series of tweets accusing his predecessor of tapping his phones just before Election Day: “a new low!” “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” Two hours later, he tweeted again, this time about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to leave “The New Celebrity Apprentice”: “Sad end to great show.” Continue reading “What to Make of Donald Trump’s Early-Morning WIretap Tweets”
The following article by Abby Phillips and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website March 1, 2017:
He blamed “the generals” for a raid that led to the death of a Navy SEAL in Yemen. He accused former president Barack Obama of fomenting protests against him and leaks within his administration. He blamed the judiciary for future terrorist attacks against the United States, and the media for the firing of his first national security adviser. He even blamed the weather for his smaller-than-desired inauguration crowd.
The New York Times is keeping a running tally of the people, places and things our current president has insulted on Twitter since declaring his candidacy. We usually try to include all or most of the article we link to to make it easier for you to read. Unfortunately, this list is too long (and will continue to be updated). So, we’re just giving you a link (although you will notice when scanning the list that our president appears to have a limited vocabulary).
The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website March 1, 2017:
On Tuesday evening President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and promised. It’s notoriously difficult to hold elected officials to promises made on the campaign trail: rhetoric is heated, they fight for news coverage, and traditionally candidates over-promise to get elected. But these are promises from a sitting president who now is beginning to understand the complexities of the issues facing the country. Among his most aggressive promises were:
a “big, big, [tax] cut” for business along with “massive tax relief for the middle class”
a “better healthcare system” that will include coverage for pre-existing conditions and reduced costs for prescription drugs
a one trillion dollar investment in infrastructure financed through public and private sources
a budget that includes “one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history”
The following article by Louis Jacobson and Amy Sherman was posted on the Politifact website February 28, 2017 and updated March 2, 2017:
President Donald Trump promised to revive the economy and strengthen the military in his first address to a joint session of Congress.
Beyond his soaring rhetoric were some exaggerations and misleading statements about the health of the Affordable Care Act, the cost of illegal immigration and the state of the economy.
Here’s our rundown of the president’s remarks, along with notes on their overall accuracy and additional points of context.
The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website February 28, 2017:
Kellyanne Conway checks her phone after taking a photo as President Trump and leaders of historically black universities and colleges pose in the Oval Office on Monday. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
It’s the photo that’s getting all the attention: Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to President Trump, sitting with her feet up on a couch in the Oval Office on Monday, reviewing photos on her phone in comfort as a crowd of people join the president for a photo behind his desk.
Most people who see that won’t know who those people are or what they’re doing there. The story of the meeting for many will be that Conway is inappropriately at ease in the most important room in the country — a critique that was levied at President Barack Obama shortly after he took office in 2009 and held meetings without wearing a jacket.
But the administration’s flub on that meeting runs much deeper.
The people gathered around Trump’s desk are all representatives of historically black colleges and universities, HBCUs. They were at the White House for a “listening session,” in the formulation of the White House press office, there to share “expert insights on policy issues impacting their individual campuses.” A readout from the event suggests that they discussed “how to create a better partnership between the Trump Administration and HBCUs.” Continue reading “The Conway picture is only a small error in Trump’s swing-and-a-miss black college event”
The following article by Jeremy Slevin, Harry Stein and Rebecca Vallas was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 1, 2017:
While he campaigned on a promise to help working families, President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are now plotting to destroy many of the programs that enable families to maintain basic living standards and get ahead. Last night, President Trump proposed what he called “one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.” What he failed to mention is that he would also enact one of the largest cuts to domestic and international affairs programs in history. In fact, Trump would slash $54 billion in investments that help low-income and middle-class families—all while massively increasing the Pentagon budget and pursuing huge tax cuts for millionaires and big corporations.
The following article by Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website February 28, 2017:
Reuters / BI
The former British spy who authored a controversial dossier on behalf of Donald Trump’s political opponents alleging ties between Trump and Russia reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to several people familiar with the arrangement.
