Category: Unpresidential

Trump plays down North Korea’s missile test, putting him at odds with Abe

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President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday he doesn’t view North Korea’s short range missile tests as disturbing, a view deeply at odds with his Japanese hosts and in conflict with statements made a day earlier by his national security adviser.

“North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

This is a major blow ahead of his meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which are set to begin in a few hours.

The Japanese government has said North Korea’s recent test of short range missiles violated UN resolutions — a determination that national security adviser John Bolton agreed with in Tokyo on Saturday during a briefing with reporters before Trump arrived in Japan.

In his tweet, Trump went on to say he smiled when North Korea called former Vice President Joe Biden a low IQ individual.

“I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Bidan (sic) a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?”

[CNN]

Trump breaks with Bolton and Abe on North Korea’s missile tests

Earlier this month, North Korea conducted two tests of short-range ballistic missiles, ending an 18-month break in provocations. Many analysts viewed the tests as (literal) warning shots to Trump that Pyongyang is very, very unhappy that months of nuclear talks have produced few tangible results.

The two tests prompted Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton to tell reporters in Tokyo on Saturday that there was “no doubt” North Korea violated United Nations resolutions barring such launches, effectively making the case that they were a severe provocation.

But Trump, who has spent months trying to strike a nuclear deal with Kim, brushed those concerns aside.

“My people think it could have been a violation, as you know. I view it differently,” Trump said, with Bolton sitting only a few feet away during the joint press conference with Abe. “There have been no ballistic missiles going out,” he continued, going against even the Pentagon’s assessment. “There have been no long-range missiles going out. And I think that someday we’ll have a deal. I’m not in a rush.”

The Japanese prime minister had a different take, though. “North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile. This is violating the Security Council resolution,” Abe said. “So my reaction is, as I said earlier on, it is of great regret,” he continued, making sure still to give credit to Trump for engaging diplomatically with Kim.

That moment was, to put it mildly, troubling.

Japan, a staunch US ally, is the country that is among the most directly threatened by North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile programs. North Korea views Japan, its former colonizer, as a mortal enemy, and many of the missiles the country tests land near — or even fly directly over — Japan (although the last two tests didn’t threaten Japan at all).

At a time like this, the US president would normally stand firmly alongside the Japanese prime minister and state unequivocally that North Korea should stop conducting tests of weapons that could kill thousands of Japanese people. Instead, Trump’s avid desire for a deal with Kim led to a massive break in Washington and Tokyo’s position on a top national security issue for both capitals.

Put together, Monday’s press conference was an unmitigated disaster for Trump. It would be an extraordinary event if it weren’t already so ordinary.

[Vox]

Reality

Remember Trump said North Korea promised him no more missile launches, after their 2018 summit.


Trump sides with Kim Jong Un over Joe Biden in Japan

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President Donald Trump seems to have a new ally in his 2020 reelection fight: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. More shocking, though, is that Trump appears fine with it — and is siding with the brutal dictator over a fellow American.

Last week, the state-run Korean Central News Agency published a scathing article targeting top Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. Among other insults, the commentary called the former vice president “a fool of low IQ” and listed off a series of embarrassing moments in his life — like the time Biden fell asleep during a 2011 speech by then-President Barack Obama, or how in 1987 he admitted to plagiarizing in school.

Trump seemed delighted by the KCNA hit piece, tweeting Sunday that he had “confidence” Kim had “smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse.”

And asked about his tweet during a press conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo* the next day, Trump reiterated his stance. “Kim Jong Un made a statement that Joe Biden is a low-IQ individual. He probably is, based on his record. I think I agree with him on that,” the president told reporters.

Just stop for a second and think about that: The president of the United States endorsed a foreign government’s nasty insults of America’s former vice president — and did so while standing next to the leader of a top American ally.

That’s appalling behavior from the president. There’s an unwritten rule that Americans — and especially high-level American politicians — are supposed to leave domestic politics at the water’s edge when they travel abroad. That means you don’t talk badly about your political opponents overseas, but instead show a united front as a representative of the United States.

Not only did Trump violate that very basic principle, he did so gleefully — and sided with a murderous, repressive dictator while he was at it.

Even some of Trump’s allies in Congress, like Rep. Pete King (R-NY), were appalled by Trump’s behavior.

Some experts, however, aren’t too shocked by Trump’s remarks. “This is Trump being Trump, using anything he can to strike his political enemies,” Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest in Washington, told me.

Still, it shows that Trump has a penchant for siding with dictators when it most suits him — even at the expense of Americans and US allies.

[Vox]

Trump: Dems are getting nothing done in Congress

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President Trump in a tweet on Monday repeated his criticism of Democrats, saying they are “getting NOTHING done in Congress.”

“The Dems are getting NOTHING done in Congress! They only want a Do-Over on Mueller!” Trump wrote in a post during his four-day state visit to Japan. 

He also went after renewed calls for his impeachment, calling Democrats “Obstructionists.”

“Impeach for what, having created perhaps the greatest Economy in our Country’s history, rebuilding our Military, taking care of our Vets (Choice), Judges, Best Jobs Numbers Ever, and much more?” Trump wrote. “Dems are Obstructionists!”

Democrats have increasingly called for an impeachment inquiry into the president after his administration defied several congressional subpoenas.

On Sunday, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) publicly called upon Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to bring impeachment proceedings the president.

Last week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) suggested that impeachment proceedings could be a “tool” to get more information from the White House. 

Trump last week walked out of a White House meeting with Democrats on infrastructure, saying he would not work with them until they stopped investigating him.

[The Hill]

Reality

In addition to their investigations, they’ve been passing legislation at a rapid clip. In all, the House has taken up 51 bills, resolutions, and suspensions since January — 49 of which they’ve passed. This includes a slate of bills to attempt to end the longest government shutdown in history, the result of a protracted fight between Trump and Congress over border wall funding.

Meanwhile the Senate has only passed two bills in two months.

Trump Cites Made Up Ian Bremmer Tweet as Example of Why Libel Laws Need to Change

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President Donald Trump on Monday slammed pundit, journalist, and New York University professor Ian Bremmer for publishing a “completely ludicrous quote” that he attributed to him. In the early morning tweet while he was still in Japan, the president said the fake quote that Bremmer published and then deleted shows “what’s going on in the age of Fake News” and how something must be done to prevent similar instances in the future. “@ianbremmer now admits that he MADE UP ‘a completely ludicrous quote’, attributing it to me. This is what’s going on in the age of Fake News,” Trump wrote. “People think they can say anything and get away with it. Really, the libel laws should be changed to hold Fake News Media accountable!”

Bremmer, the founder and president of Eurasia Group who is also a columnist and editor-at-large for Time, published a tweet over the weekend that contained a false quote from Trump about North Korea. In the since-deleted post, Bremmer quoted Trump as saying “Kim Jong Un is smarter and would make a better President than Sleepy Joe Biden.” The quote was shared by Rep. Ted Lieu of California and several popular pundits, including Ana Navarro-Cardenas.
When Bremmer was confronted on the fake quote, he defended it by saying it was “plausible” and somehow made a point about the larger state of news media. “This is objectively a completely ludicrous quote. And yet kinda plausible. Especially on twitter, where people automatically support whatever political position they have. That’s the point.” Bremmer wrote in a tweet that he has also since deleted.

Bremmer addressed his tweet again Monday morning after Trump’s criticism, claiming that the quote was “meant in jest.” Bremmer apologized and said that he “should have been clearer.”

This is not the first time Trump has called for a change in libel laws. In fact, he has been pushing the message since he was a candidate. “One of the things I’m going to do if I win … I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” Trump said in February 2016. He has repeated that threat several times since he moved into the White House.

[Slate]

Trump administration bans CDC from saying ‘diversity,’ transgender,’ ‘fetus,’ and more

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The Trump administration has banned seven words from the Centers for Disease Control’s upcoming budget documents, the Washington Post reports. The words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

CDC analysts were not given a reason for the banned words, they were simply informed of the new policy. Some phrases can be replaced or retooled, like by saying “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes” – an actual alternate phrase offered to CDC analysts in the first briefing about these words.

But not all the words are as easy to work around. It’s no secret that the current administration is anti-abortion and pushing back significantly in the fight for trans rights. Banning these words from CDC documentation directly affects communication around HIV/AIDS and the Zika virus, among others. 

This isn’t the first attempt to curb the use of language that threatens the Trump administration’s regressive policies. In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) removed questions about sexual orientation and gender identity from two surveys of elderly people. The department also archived a webpage containing resources for LGBTQ+ people and their families.

On a more fundamental level, this aligns directly with the Trump administration’s mistrust of words and facts, and its tendency to dismiss whichever words and facts conflict with the administration’s views and messaging. The inclusion of “diversity,” “entitlement,” and “vulnerable” in the new list reflects this directly; it erases the words from relevant discourse and by extension threatens to sweep larger problems under the rug. 

Matt Lloyd, an HHS spokesperson, said that the department “will continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans. HHS also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions.”

[Mashable]

White House claims without proof that FBI has ‘outrageous’ corruption Barr will uncover

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The White House on Sunday brushed aside congressional Democrats’ concerns about Atty. Gen. William Barr being handed extraordinary powers to declassify sensitive intelligence as part of a probe into the origins of the investigation into Russian efforts to sway the 2016 election.

Reflecting his anger over unflattering depictions of his actions in the report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, including several episodes that might have constituted obstruction of justice, President Trump has authorized the attorney general to investigate the investigation. Trump and his allies have long insisted that the FBI improperly “spied” on his campaign.

Democrats already have accused Barr of trying to put the best possible face on Mueller’s findings and say they fear he will selectively release documents in an effort to undermine public confidence in the nation’s intelligence agencies and Mueller’s investigators.

Mueller’s report itself documents activities during the 2016 presidential campaign that caught the attention of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including information passed along by Australian officials concerning a Trump campaign advisor, George Papadopoulos, who told an Australian diplomat that Democratic emails had been stolen by the Russians before the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer system became public knowledge.

Democrats already have accused Barr of trying to put the best possible face on Mueller’s findings and say they fear he will selectively release documents in an effort to undermine public confidence in the nation’s intelligence agencies and Mueller’s investigators.

Mueller’s report itself documents activities during the 2016 presidential campaign that caught the attention of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including information passed along by Australian officials concerning a Trump campaign advisor, George Papadopoulos, who told an Australian diplomat that Democratic emails had been stolen by the Russians before the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer system became public knowledge.

When Republicans had the majority in the House, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) spent nearly two years investigating the same issues without producing evidence to back up Trump’s claims.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted Sunday that the administration is not prejudging Barr’s findings, but expressed confidence, without offering proof, that he would be able to document “outrageous” corruption at the FBI.

“I’m not going to get ahead of what the final conclusion is, but we already know that there was a high level of corruption that was taking place,” Sanders, in Tokyo with the president on a state visit to Japan, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Questioned by host Chuck Todd about whether Barr could be trusted not to cherry-pick information, Sanders defended the decision to give Barr declassification powers that have traditionally been jealously guarded by intelligence agencies.

“That’s the reason that he’s granted the attorney general the authority to declassify that information – to look at all the documents necessary…so that we can get to the very bottom of what happened,” she said. “Once again, we already know about some wrongdoing.”

Congressional Democrats have sharply questioned whether the administration is acting in good faith. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who presently chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said the president’s decision, announced on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend, allowed Trump and Barr to “weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies.”

Trump allies denied that the president’s actions in any way undermined the core missions of the intelligence community.

“We’re not compromising national security here,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has emerged as one of Trump’s staunchest congressional defenders. Graham, interviewed on “Fox News Sunday,” said that he believed Barr “can be trusted” not to manipulate information in the president’s favor.

“The people who are worried about this are worried about being exposed for taking the law into their own hands,” said Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump himself defended Barr’s review, saying before he left for Japan that it was not meant to avenge himself on political opponents.

“It’s not payback – I don’t care about payback,” he told reporters. “I think it’s very important for our country to find out what happened.”

The push by the White House to investigate those who investigated the president comes against the backdrop of across-the-board resistance by Trump to congressional oversight. At least a dozen separate battles are playing out over congressional subpoenas of documents and individuals on matters including the Mueller report and Trump’s tax returns.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco so far has resisted calls by some Democratic lawmakers to open impeachment proceedings against the president, especially if he continues to reject Congress’ authority to carry out investigations of the president’s conduct and finances. She argues that impeachment remains premature, although she has accused Trump of a “cover-up.”

An early backer of impeachment, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said Sunday she believed that Pelosi eventually would relent.

“I think it’s moving toward that,” she said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” adding that “the traditional congressional oversight process isn’t working.”

The chairman of the Democratic caucus, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, defended Pelosi’s go-slow approach, saying that for now, investigating Trump “methodically yet aggressively” was the best approach, while simultaneously working to advance the Democrats’ legislative agenda.

“Democrats can sing and dance at the same time, just like Beyonce,” he said on NBC. “We will not overreach. We will not over-investigate,” he added.

On the Republican side, however, there was increasing willingness to echo Trump’s call for drastic punishment of law enforcement figures who helped move the investigation forward.

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, interviewed on ABC’s “This Week,” said the origins of Mueller’s investigation were suspect because statements by FBI agents during the 2016 campaign sounded “a whole lot like a coup.”

She was referring in part to texts critical of Trump that were exchanged by two bureau officials, including former agent Peter Strzok, who was removed from the Mueller probe when the messages came to light and subsequently forced out, and lawyer Lisa Page, who has also left the FBI.

“It could well be treason,” Cheney said.

Cheney’s comments drew an irate riposte on Sunday from Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Legal experts have pointed out that the Constitution says treason consists of “levying war against” the United States or giving “aid and comfort” to its enemies.

“Elected officials keep making casual, ignorant, idiotic accusations of ‘treason.’ … Just saw Liz Cheney do it,” Bharara wrote on Twitter. “Read the Constitution.”

[Los Angeles Times]

White House: Would Be Nice If Trump Had ‘Complicit, Compliant Media’ As Democrats Do

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White House principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley claimed Democrats receive “complicit” and “compliant” media treatment, as he discussed President Donald Trump’s decision to walk out of a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“It’s amazing how the media cover what he does and what he says in a slant that makes everything negative no matter how positive the subject matter may be,” Gidley told Fox News’ Howie Kurtz in an interview that aired Sunday. 

The spokesman went on to accuse the press of mischaracterizing Trump’s behavior after he abruptly ended his Wednesday meeting with Democrats during which they were supposed to negotiate a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Rather than talking about the topic at hand, Trump reportedly entered the room and spoke for just three minutes before taking off, declaring that he wouldn’t work with Democrats on infrastructure unless they stopped investigating his administration now that special counsel Robert Mueller’s report has been completed. He then held a news conference in the Rose Garden to criticize his opponents.

In a letter to her congressional colleagues that evening, Pelosi called the president’s behavior “a temper tantrum.”

“Democrats are here for the country,” she said. “Sadly, the only job the President seems to be concerned with is his own.” 

Frustrated by reports on the matter, Gidley claimed that journalists “take whatever [Pelosi] says lock, stock and barrel.”

“I mean, it would be so nice if we had a complicit, compliant media the way the Democrats do but we don’t and that’s the game and we understand that,” he added. 

Shortly before the meeting, Pelosi told reporters that she believed Trump “is engaged in a cover-up,” a remark that reportedly infuriated the president, according to The Washington Post.

“I don’t do cover-ups,” Trump said during the Rose Garden news conference. “Get these phony investigations over with.”

[Huffington Post]

Media

Trump Implies He Trusts North Korea’s Kim More Than His Own People

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President Donald Trump seemed to contradict his national security adviser Saturday, claiming he was unbothered by North Korea’s recent missile tests essentially because he trusts dictator Kim Jong Un. In a tweet while he was in Japan, Trump also espoused a view that is at odds with his host country. “North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me.”

Japan had said that North Korea’s recent test of short range missiles amounted to a violation of United Nations resolutions. And Trump’s own national security adviser John Bolton agreed with that assessment, telling reporters on Saturday there was “no doubt” that the missile test violated Security Council resolutions.

Vipin Narang, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is an expert on nuclear proliferation and North Korea, said that Trump’s message was “disturbing” for one key reason. “There is a lot that is really disturbing here, but the most important bit is ‘Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me’,” Narang wrote. “Kim never promised to unilaterally disarm, and the problem is Trump continues to believe he did. THAT is why this is so dangerous.”

[Slate]

Trump denies North Korea has set off any rockets — 24 hours after admitting they shot off ‘some small weapons’

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President Donald Trump denied his own intelligence information about North Korea during a press conference in Japan Monday. Oddly, however, the comment came just 24 hours after he called the rockets “some small weapons.”

According to White House correspondent from CBS News, Mark Knoller, Trump told the press he feels “a lot of good things will come from North Korea.”

He went on to claim that the country hasn’t had any rocket testing or nuclear testing since he began negotiating with them.

It’s unclear if Trump is neglecting his national security briefings, ignoring them or forgot about the two times North Korea fired rockets in the wake of his last meeting with the dictator. The moment came just 24 hours after Trump claimed that North Korea shot off “some small weapons.”

The last missile test was May 9, 2019, when the country launched two short-range ballistic missiles. May 4, 2019, North Korea launched several short-range projectiles from the east coast of the country. The New York Times also noted that it’s possible one of the missiles was a Russian Iskander missile, which can make corrections in flight to its target.

But just 24 hours ago, Trump said something entirely different.

“North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me,” Trump said. According to theAssociated Press, the message contradicts Trump’s own national security advisor, John Bolton, who called the short-range missiles a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

[Raw Story]

Trump: Japanese officials told me Democrats have a ‘death wish’

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President Trump took a moment during his visit to Japan to slam Democrats and pass along remarks from Japanese officials.

 “Great fun and meeting with Prime Minister @AbeShinzo,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “Numerous Japanese officials told me that the Democrats would rather see the United States fail than see me or the Republican Party succeed – Death Wish!”

The remark follows increasing tensions between the president and Democrats over the investigations launched against him.

“I think the Democrats are obstructionists,” Trump said in his remarks to reporters on Friday. “They’re hurting our country very, very badly.”

“They’re very unhappy with the Mueller report,” Trump continued. “No collusion, no obstruction. No nothing. They’re very unhappy. They’re angry about it. They have to get over their anger.”

“They want to do a redo,” Trump added. “Like even the fact that they’re asking Bob Mueller to come and testify. He just gave them a 434-page report, which says no collusion, which leads to absolutely no obstruction. He just gave that report. Why does he have to testify? It’s ridiculous.”

[AOL]

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