Susan Rice Calls Donald Trump’s Black Caucus Remarks ‘Offensive’

The following article by Alexander Smith was posted on the NBC News website February 17, 2017:

President Donald Trump’s exchange with a black journalist during Thursday’s whirlwind press conference has been branded “notably offensive” by former National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

Continue reading “Susan Rice Calls Donald Trump’s Black Caucus Remarks ‘Offensive’”

Trump’s pick to replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser turns down offer, people familiar with decision say

The following article by Jenna Johnson and Adam Entous was posted on the Washington Post website February 16, 2017:

Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward has declined to serve as President Trump’s national security adviser. (Sgt. Shawn Coolman/U.S. Marines via Reuters)

Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward has turned down President Trump’s offer to become his new national security adviser, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

Harward would have replaced Michael Flynn, who announced his resignation late Monday amid allegations that he discussed U.S. sanctions with a Russian official before Trump took office and then misrepresented the content of that conversation to Vice President Pence and other administration officials. Continue reading “Trump’s pick to replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser turns down offer, people familiar with decision say”

Donald Trump delivers a series of raw and personal attacks on the media in a news conference for the ages

The following article by Chris Cillizza was posted on the Washington Post website February 16, 2017:

Donald Trump entered the East Room on Thursday reeling from a week filled with resignations, withdrawals and continued questions surrounding his campaign’s contacts with Russia.

What followed was an hour-long, full-throated attack on Trump’s favorite foil: the media. Continue reading “Donald Trump delivers a series of raw and personal attacks on the media in a news conference for the ages”

When governing beckons, Trump keeps campaigning

The following article by Karen Tumulty was posted on the Washington Post website February 16, 2017:

President Trump is stuck in a time warp.

As he seeks to steer his young administration through what is shaping up to be a test of his capacity to govern, he seems unable to put 2016 behind him. Continue reading “When governing beckons, Trump keeps campaigning”

Fact-checking President Trump’s February 16, 2017 Press Conference

Fact-checking President Trump’s press conference

Earlier this afternoon, President Trump held a free-wheeling press conference to defend his fledgling administration as competent and disciplined. 

“I turn on the T.V., open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos. Chaos,” Trump said from the East Room of the White House. “Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can’t get my Cabinet approved.” Continue reading “Fact-checking President Trump’s February 16, 2017 Press Conference”

NBC’s Peter Alexander’s Superior Fact Check

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website February 16, 2017:

NBC’s Peter Alexander bluntly asked Donald Trump why Americans should trust their president if he routinely makes assertions that do not match the historical or factual record. “Why should Americans trust you when …you provide information that’s not accurate?” Alexander asked during a press opportunity this afternoon. Specifically, he asked the question in response to Trump’s assertion that his electoral college win was the largest since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide. In fact Trump’s Electoral College win ranks 46th out of 56 recorded wins and both Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush had larger Electoral College margins than Trump.

@PeterAlexander fact checks Donald Trump on Electoral College results from previous elections. pic.twitter.com/LrlfCoocYU

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 16, 2017 Continue reading “NBC’s Peter Alexander’s Superior Fact Check”

Trump is showing a reluctance to take responsibility for White House chaos

The following article by Michael A. Memoli was posted on the L.A. Times website February 15, 2017:

President Trump at a White House news conference Wednesday. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

Asked for the first time publicly to address the dismissal of Michael Flynn, his national security advisor, President Trump was clear Wednesday in his frustration.

But the president’s target was not Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, nor his conduct.

“Gen. Flynn is a wonderful man,” Trump said. “I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media — as I call it, the fake media — in many cases.” Continue reading “Trump is showing a reluctance to take responsibility for White House chaos”

Pence remains above the fray, but is he outside the inner circle?

The following article by Robert Costa and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website February 14, 2017:

For nearly two full weeks, nobody told Vice President Pence that he had been misled by national security adviser Michael Flynn. Continue reading “Pence remains above the fray, but is he outside the inner circle?”

You could call US tourism a victim of Trump’s travel ban

The following article by Christopher Muther was posted on the Boston Globe website February 14, 2017:

Photo: Mark Lennihan, Associated Press, file

President Trump’s travel ban targeting nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries may not have held up in court, but it appears quite successful at keeping plenty of other people out of the United States.

Trump’s order brought with it a swift decline in the number of worldwide tourists and travelers looking to visit the United States, say people in the tourism industry. Some say it could be as damaging to the US tourism sector as the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Continue reading “You could call US tourism a victim of Trump’s travel ban”

Upheaval is now standard operating procedure inside the White House

The following article by Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website February 13, 2017:

President Trump often stokes the nation’s anxieties in arguing for his agenda. (Washington Post Staff Illustration/The Washington Post)

With President Trump in his fourth full week in office, the upheaval inside the administration that West Wing officials had optimistically dismissed as growing pains is now embedding itself as standard operating procedure. Continue reading “Upheaval is now standard operating procedure inside the White House”