Tag: Trump White House

‘My Dad’s Not a Racist’: Book Describes Ivanka Trump’s Defense After Charlottesville

WASHINGTON — When Gary D. Cohn was considering resigning as the top White House economic adviser after President Trump blamed “both sides” in a deadly white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Va., his first stop was a meeting with Mr. Trump’s children.

In a conversation in August 2017 with Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter and senior adviser, Mr. Cohn was shocked by her reaction to his concerns, according to a new book about Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.

“My dad’s not a racist; he didn’t mean any of it,” Ms. Trump said of the president’s refusal to condemn white nationalists outright. Appearing to channel her father, she added, “That’s not what he said.”

View the complete March 11 article by Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman on The New York Times website here.

Is a War With Iran on the Horizon?

The Trump Administration Is Reckless Enough to Turn the Cold War With Iran Into a Hot One

Here’s the foreign policy question of questions in 2019: Are President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, all severely weakened at home and with few allies abroad, reckless enough to set off a war with Iran? Could military actions designed to be limited — say, a heightening of the Israeli bombing of Iranian forces inside Syria, or possible U.S. cross-border attacks from Iraq, or a clash between American and Iranian naval ships in the Persian Gulf — trigger a wider war?

Worryingly, the answers are: yes and yes. Even though Western Europe has lined up in opposition to any future conflict with Iran, even though Russia and China would rail against it, even though most Washington foreign policy experts would be horrified by the outbreak of such a war, it could happen. Continue reading “Is a War With Iran on the Horizon?”

Bill Shine Departing White House Under Ethical Cloud

Bill Shine, the former president of Fox News, resigned from his position as White House communications director on Friday, the fifth person to leave that role under President Donald Trump. He will be joining the president’s re-election campaign, which is not an uncommon transition for a White House official to make mid-term.

But Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, pointed out that there’s an ominous cloud hanging over Shine’s White House tenure:

Walter Shaub

✔@waltshaub

While in government—

Shine receives $$ from Fox

Gives Hannity a high 5 at Trump event

Strips Fox competitor of WH credential

Ends regular press conferences, thereby giving Fox an advantage as to its access to POTUS + WH

Can’t get financial disclosure approved

Quits abruptly

Citizens for Ethics

✔@CREWcrew

Why did the government never certify Bill Shine’s financial disclosure?

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Indeed, New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer found in a bombshell article this week that Shine has been receiving a $7 million payout from Fox News while he’s been working at the White House. Some speculated it may even have been Mayer’s revelations that triggered Shine’s departure.

View the complete March 9 article by Cody Fenwick on the National Memo website here.

White House rejects Dem request to interview ex-Trump aide

The White House on Friday rejected a Democratic congressional request to interview a former White House lawyer about hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money payments made by President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone told House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in a letter obtained by The Hill that the White House has been “cooperative and responsive” to the panel’s requests for documents.

But Cipollone said that because the Oversight panel wants to interview Trump’s former deputy assistant and deputy counsel Stefan Passantino about things he discussed or advised during his White House tenure, the request needs to be sent to Cipollone’s office — not directly to Passantino.

View the complete March 8 article by Scott Wong and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Bill Shine resigns from White House to advise Trump campaign

White House communications director Bill Shine has resigned and will serve as a senior adviser to President Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Friday.

Details: The announcement didn’t give a reason for Shine’s departure. The bulk of Shine’s career was spent as a producer and executive at Fox News, most recently serving as the network’s co-president.

“Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life. To be a small part of all this President has done for the American people has truly been an honor. I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s reelection campaign and spending more time with my family.”

View the complete March 8 post by Gigi Sukin on the Axios website here.

Report: Trump Intervened To Fix Top Secret Clearance For Ivanka

Credit: Susan Walsh, AP Photo

President Donald Trump pressured both ex-Chief of Staff John Kelly and ex-White House Counsel Don McGahn to give his daughter and top adviser Ivanka Trump a security clearance, according to a new report from CNN. When neither of them succumbed to his demands, however, he ended up granting the clearance himself, the report found.

The revelation that the president had to intervene on his daughter’s behalf comes as the White House faces increasing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

The New York Times recently reported that Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband, also needed the president to intervene on his behalf to get a security clearance. CNN found that although concerns about either spouse could have endangered the others’ chances to get a clearance, the officials who typically approve security clearances had concerns about both of them individually.

View the complete March 5 article by Cody Fenwick on the National Memo website here.

N.Y. regulators subpoena Trump’s insurance broker as probes of his campaign, White House and businesses multiply

Donald Trump Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images

New York state regulators have subpoenaed President Trump’s insurance broker, following testimony from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen that Trump exaggerated his wealth to insurance companies.

That subpoena — acknowledged Tuesday by broker Aon PLC — signaled another line of inquiry into Trump’s private business, this time by New York’s Department of Financial Services.

“As is our policy, we intend to cooperate with all regulatory bodies,” Aon spokeswoman Donna Mirandola wrote in an email. She declined to answer further questions, saying, “We do not comment on specific client matters.”

View the complete March 5 article by David A. Fahrenthold, Rachael Bade and John Wagner on The Washington Post website here.

Dems unleash sprawling probe of Trump family, administration

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee unleashed a sprawling probe of President Trump‘s family, campaign, business and administration on Monday that includes more than 80 requests for documents.

The investigation under Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will focus on three key areas: obstruction of justice, public corruption and abuses of power. Nadler rolled out the expansive investigation less than a week after the president’s former attorney Michael Cohen delivered explosive public testimony against him on Capitol Hill.

Democrats will be looking at those involved in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer linked to the Kremlin, the Trump Organization’s plans to build a Trump property in Moscow and a scheme to pay off two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump before the 2016 election.<

Trump on brink of GOP rebellion over emergency declaration

President Trump is facing a potential revolt among Senate Republicans over his decision to declare a national emergency to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) public announcement over the weekend that he will oppose Trump’s declaration ensures a resolution blocking it will be approved by the Senate after already passing the House — unless Senate Republicans can find some kind of last-minute way out of the showdown.

Republicans have been hunting for a way out of a fight over the declaration that has badly fractured the caucus, but Paul’s decision underscores the difficulty leadership faces in finding a successful exit strategy.

View the complete March 4 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

To Woo a Skeptical Trump, Intelligence Chiefs Talk Economics Instead of Spies

WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials who brief the president have warned him about Chinese espionage in bottom-line business terms. They have used Black Sea shipping figures to demonstrate the effect of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. And they have filled the daily threat briefing with charts and graphs of economic data.

In an effort to accommodate President Trump, who has attacked them publicly as “naïve” and in need of going “back to school,” the nation’s intelligence agencies have revamped their presentations to focus on subjects their No. 1 customer wants to hear about — economics and trade.

Intelligence officers, steeped in how Mr. Trump views the world, now work to answer his repeated question: Who is winning? What the president wants to know, according to former officials, is what country is making more money or gaining a financial advantage.

View the complete March 3 article by Julian E. barnes and Michael S. Schmidt on The New York Times website here.