Tag: Trump flip-flop

Trump White House Changes Its Story on Michael Flynn

New York Times logoThree years ago, President Trump swiftly fired his first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, for lying to the F.B.I. Ahead of the November election, Mr. Trump and his allies are now telling a very different tale

WASHINGTON — After announcing that the Justice Department was dropping the criminal case against Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, Attorney General William P. Barr was presented with a crucial question: Was Mr. Flynn guilty of lying to the F.B.I. about the nature of phone calls he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States?

After all, Mr. Flynn had twice pleaded guilty to lying about them.

“Well, you know, people sometimes plead to things that turn out not to be crimes,” Mr. Barr said last week in an interview with CBS News. Then he went even further and described the infamous calls during the Trump presidential transition as “laudable.” Continue reading.

Trump backs off plans to wind down task force after backlash

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday said he backed off plans to dissolve the White House coronavirus task force after public outcry, saying he didn’t realize how “popular” the group of medical experts and government leaders was.

“I thought we could wind it down sooner,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office event recognizing National Nurses Day. “But I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday when I started talking about winding down. … It is appreciated by the public.”

Trump said he received calls from “very respected people” who urged him to keep the task force intact. Continue reading.

Trump again appears to back away from gun background checks

Washington Post logoPresident Trump appears to be backing away from potential support for gun background check legislation, according to White House aides, congressional leaders and gun advocates, dimming prospects that Washington will approve significant new gun measures in the wake of mass shootings that left 31 dead.

Immediately after the carnage in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, Trump said “there is a great appetite” for tightening background checks on people who buy firearms. But in recent days, Trump has focused in public remarks on the need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill while emphasizing that the nation already has “very strong background checks right now” — positions that hew more closely to the views of the National Rifle Association.

Behind the scenes, Trump’s communication with key lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Manchin III, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has sought to develop bipartisan gun-control measures, has gone mostly cold, according to Capitol Hill aides, in part because Congress has left town for its summer recess.

View the complete August 20 article by Josh Dawsey and David Nakamura on The Washington Post website here.

Trump drops support for enhanced background checks two weeks after mass shootings

That didn’t take long.

It has only been two weeks since President Donald Trump formally addressed the nation in the wake of deadly shootings in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Gilroy, California. But on Sunday, not long after he initially showed support for enhanced background checks, the president suddenly reversed course, suggesting any momentum for passing any meaningful legislation to curb gun violence may have already dissipated.

Speaking to the press before returning to Washington from vacation at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump suggested Congress had been considering various proposals in the aftermath of those shootings, but said he is primarily concerned about “mental health” issues, and insisted that the country needs to bring back “mental institutions.”

“I’m not talking about as a form of prison,” he said, “I’m saying for help.”

View the complete August 19 article by Zack Ford on the ThinkProgress website here.

Trump kills key drug price proposal he once embraced

Washington Post logoThe Trump administration has withdrawn a key proposal to lower drug prices, which its top health official had touted seven months ago as the most effective way to curb medicine costs for consumers.

The drug rebate rule would have ended a widespread practice in which drugmakers give rebates to insurance middlemen in government programs such as Medicare. The idea was to channel that money to consumers instead.

The proposed rule was the second major Trump drug pricing effort to collapse this week after a federal judge blocked an administration rule that would have required drugmakers to disclose the list prices of their medicines in television ads. Together, they complicate the administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs, potentially undermining one of President Trump’s main campaign promises as he seeks a second term.

View the complete July 11 article by Yasmeen Abutaleb, Amy Goldstein and Ashley Parker on The Washington Post website here.

White House attempts to clarify Trump’s response to whether Russia is still targeting U.S. elections

The following article by John Wagner and Felicia Sonmez was posted on the Washington Post website July 18, 2018:

President Trump said ”no” when asked if he thought Russia was still targeting the U.S. The White House says Trump was rejecting the question not answering it. (Reuters)

For the third straight day, President Trump cast doubt on whether he views Russia as a threat, despite warnings from his own government that Moscow continues to target the United States with hostile actions.

Trump triggered a new uproar Wednesday morning when he appeared to suggest that Russia is no longer seeking to interfere in U.S. elections — prompting the White House to assert hours later that his words had been misconstrued.

At the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House, a reporter asked Trump, “Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr. President?”

View the complete post here.

President Trump’s flip-flop on coverage for preexisting health conditions

The following article by Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly was posted on the Washington Post website June 14, 2018:

The president regularly said he would keep the protections for people with pre-existing conditions. A recent decision does the opposite. (Meg Kelly /The Washington Post)

“After careful consideration, and with the approval of the President of the United States, I have determined that, in Texas v. United States, No. 4: l 8-cv-00167-O (N.D. Tex.), the Department will not defend the constitutionality of 26 U.S.C. 5000A(a), and will argue that certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are inseverable from that provision.”
— Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a letter, June 7, 2018

In plain English, the attorney general’s letter means that the Trump administration no longer supports a provision of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, that makes it possible for people to buy insurance if they have preexisting health conditions. Continue reading “President Trump’s flip-flop on coverage for preexisting health conditions”

GOP Stands in Their Own Way on Health Care

While President Trump continues to display remarkable volte-face on health reform, 18 million American’s are at risk of experiencing another increase in their premiums.

The fate of the bipartisan health bill that sought to fund necessary cost-sharing payments for the individual market has likely been sealed, at least in the short-term. It would be all but impossible for Republican lawmakers to support the deal – let alone bring it up for a vote – without the president’s or Speaker Ryan’s endorsement. After flip-flopping his stance on the bill, President Trump won’t commit to anything but full repeal out of spite for President Obama.

While the GOP remains steadfast on playing party politics, Democrats remain willing and cooperative to work on necessary reforms. Republican’s are tasked with supporting Trump’s agenda or caring for American’s that need their help. All the while Minnesota and the rest of the nation face ramifications of three weeks without reconciliation on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). 

The economy President Trump loves looks a lot like the one candidate Trump hated

The following article by Damian Paletta and Ana Swanson was posted on the Washington Post website July 3, 2017:

President-elect Donald Trump and President Obama arrive for Trump’s inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Despite bravado and big promises, the economy that President Trump is touting this week looks a lot like the one he lambasted as a candidate: a slow, largely steady grind that has chipped away at the damage done by the 2008-2009 recession but failed to produce the prosperity of decades past.

Now, as he approaches the six-month marker of his presidency, Trump faces several new warning signs that key areas of the economy could be losing steam, including in industries he specifically promised to revitalize. Continue reading “The economy President Trump loves looks a lot like the one candidate Trump hated”