Tag: Trump Administration

President Trump just had his very own ‘Is our children learning?’ moment

The following by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website March 3, 2017:

President Trump isn’t a great speller. This is not news. But on Friday, his penchant for typos really couldn’t have been more poorly timed.

Trump tweeted twice about a Politico story that reported on Nancy Pelosi’s misstatement that she had never met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The first time, he misspelled “hereby” as “hear by.”

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Continue reading “President Trump just had his very own ‘Is our children learning?’ moment”

Has Trump become the ‘don’t blame me’ president?

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 one person President Trump never seems to blame is himself. Continue reading “Has Trump become the ‘don’t blame me’ president?”

The Conway picture is only a small error in Trump’s swing-and-a-miss black college event

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”

4 Things You Need to Understand About Trump’s Speech

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.

While Trump was characteristically vague about how he would accomplish these goals, any cuts of this scale would lead to massive hardship for the very working class Americans Trump claims to represent. Continue reading “4 Things You Need to Understand About Trump’s Speech”

Wilbur Ross Comes to D.C. With an Unexamined History of Russian Connections

The following article by James S. Henry was posted on the DC Report website February 28, 2017:

Trump’s Choice for Commerce Secretary Holds a Top Post With a Mysterious, Russian-Controlled Cyprus Bank

INTRODUCTION

In the midst of the Trump Administration’s many other Russian entanglements,[1] it turns out that  Wilbur J. Ross, Jr., the billionaire American investor who is one of Donald Trump’s closest advisors on trade and economics, has direct financial ties to several leading oligarchs from Russia and the Former Soviet Union or FSU.

The U.S. Senate should thoroughly investigate these ties before it votes on Ross’ nomination to be Commerce Secretary when it returns from recess next week.

Central to this inquiry is the question of Ross’s  role as Vice Chair and a leading investor in the Bank of Cyprus, the largest bank in Cyprus, one of the key offshore havens for illicit Russian finance. Ross has been Vice Chairman of this bank and a  major investor in it since 2014. His fellow bank co-chair evidently was appointed by none other than Vladimir Putin.

The Bank of Cyprus is just one of more than 100 direct and indirect investments that Ross listed on his U.S. Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure form last month. [2] He recently promised to resign as Vice Chairman of the Bank and disinvest from it within the next 90 days if his nomination is approved.[3] Continue reading “Wilbur Ross Comes to D.C. With an Unexamined History of Russian Connections”

Betsy DeVos Accused Of ‘Whitewashing’ The History Of Black Colleges

The following article by Rebecca Klein was posted on the Huffington Post website February 28, 2017:

Her statement on the issue is offensive and inaccurate, scholars say.

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD – FEBRUARY 23: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland. Hosted by the American Conservative Union, CPAC is an annual gathering of right wing politicians, commentators and their supporters. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Many historically black colleges and universities were formed in response to systemic discrimination that kept African-American students out of white institutions, but Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos thinks they are a great example of “school choice.”

After meeting with leaders of these institutions at the White House on Monday, DeVos released a statement that some leading academics, politicians and rights groups are calling an inaccurate and offensive retelling of history. In her statement, DeVos praised HBCU’s for providing opportunity to black students during a time when “there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education.”

“They saw that the system wasn’t working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution,” says the statement from DeVos, published Tuesday. “HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality.”

Continue reading “Betsy DeVos Accused Of ‘Whitewashing’ The History Of Black Colleges”

Trump Concedes Health Law Overhaul Is ‘Unbelievably Complex’

The following article by Robert Pear and Kate Kelly was posted on the New York Times website February 27, 2017:

WASHINGTON — President Trump, meeting with the nation’s governors, conceded Monday that he had not been aware of the complexities of health care policy-making: “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”

The president also suggested that the struggle to replace the Affordable Care Act was creating a legislative logjam that could delay other parts of his political agenda. Continue reading “Trump Concedes Health Law Overhaul Is ‘Unbelievably Complex’”

Republican leaders feel pressure over health care reforms

The following article by Robert Pear and Kate Kelly was posted on the New York Times website February 28, 2017:

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Trump met with health insurance company executives Monday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to discuss possible options to the current health plan initiated by Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, meeting with the nation’s governors, conceded Monday that he had not been aware of the complexities of health care policy-making: “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”

The president also suggested that the struggle to replace the Affordable Care Act was creating a legislative logjam that could delay other parts of his political agenda.

Many policy makers had anticipated the intricacies of changing the health care law, and Trump’s demands in the opening days of his administration to simultaneously repeal and replace Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement made the political calculations far more complicated.

Governors of both parties added still more confusion Monday when they called for any replacement to cover all the people already benefiting from the landmark law. Continue reading “Republican leaders feel pressure over health care reforms”