Daily Archives: August 15, 2020

President Donald Trump has offered conflicting statements about supplementary funding for the U.S. Postal Service. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON As he unleashesa barrage of attacks on voting by mail, President Donald Trump hasincreasinglywarned that"universal" mail-voting poses the biggest dangerfor voter fraud and threatto democracy.

But only nine states and the District of Columbia so far plan to hold universalmail-in elections in which ballots areautomaticallymailed to all registered voters without needing to first request one.And with early mail-voting set to begin as early as September in some states, election experts say it's unlikely many more states would have time to make that switch.

A coronavirus pandemic relief package passed by House Democrats would require states to mail absentee ballots to registered voters butit has gained no traction in the Senate and talks on the aid bill are stalled.

Instead, most states are preparing to make mail ballotsan option available by request. That includes several states encouraging the method during the pandemic by mailingvoters applications for absentee ballots.

Five of the universal mail-votingstates already planned to conduct mostly all-mail elections before the coronavirus pandemic, and only one of the ninestates, Nevada, is considered a battleground in the race for president between Trump and presumptive Democratic nomineeJoe Biden.

'He's scaring our own voters': Republicans run into a Donald Trump problem as they push mail voting

In-person polling places, although reduced in many states,remain available even in states that vote fully by mail.New Jersey on Friday became the latest state to decide to send ballots out to allvoters.

"It's a tiny number of states that do this," saidLawrence Norden, director of theElection Reform Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at theNew York School of Law. "Andthey're not the states that are probably going to determine the outcome of the presidential election.

"In the vast majority of states, voters are given the optionto vote by mail, and we should expect that if the primaries were any indication, that many, many people are going to choose that option."

FILE - President Donald Trump points to a question as he speaks during a briefing with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. TikTok and its U.S. employees are planning to take the Trump administration to court over a sweeping order that could ban the popular video app, according to a lawyer preparing one of the lawsuits.(Photo: Alex Brandon, AP)

Trump and Republicans have drawn a distinction between absentee votingoffered to seniors, the military,people with disabilities and others who are unable to vote in person on Election Day. The president says he is OK with this in fact, Trump and First Lady MelaniaTrump requested absentee ballotsin Florida on Wednesday.But he opposes ballotsautomatically sent to registered voters.

Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, Washington were the only universal vote-by-mail states before the pandemic. California, Nevada,Vermontand New Jersey have since signed on for the November election. In addition, Montana, North Dakota and Nebraska allowindividual counties to decide whether to mail ballots to all registered voters.

A New York Times analysis found that 76% of voters will have the choice to vote-by-mail this November, but only 18% are set to automatically receive a ballot in the mail.

Trump routinely slamstheseveral weeks it took New York to count mail ballots following its June 23 state primary, as well as voter fraud allegations out of Paterson, New Jersey, to push his argument that the country is not ready for widespread mail-voting and that it's ripe for fraud.

More: President Trump requests mail-in ballot for upcoming Florida primary, despite rhetoric

(Photo: Getty Images)

New York mailed ballot applicationsnot ballotsto all its registered voters, but John Conklin, spokesman for the New York Board of Election said it's unlikely the state will send applications to all voters in the November election, citing cost considerations. All New York voters will still be able to cite the fear of contracting the coronavirus to request a mail ballot.

No winner on election night?Mail-in ballots could put presidential outcome in doubt for weeks

New Jersey mailed ballots to all voters for its primaryand will do so again in November. The state already allowed any voter to request absentee ballots without an excuse.

"His attacks, by and large, have been on elections that have been conducted as no-excuse absentee (elections), and he seems to say absentee voting is OK," Norden said. "Certainly his remarks on the subject are not logistically consistent and they're confusing if you're taking him by his word."

More: In dramatic shift, half of Americans fear difficulties voting in November election, poll says

President Donald Trump says his administration plans to sue Nevada after the state's lawmakers passed a bill to mail active voters ballots ahead of the November election amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Aug. 3) AP Domestic

The pandemic, combined with state efforts' to promote mail-voting,produced record-setting absentee voting totalsduring recent primariesand isexpected to do so in November. Some states absorbed the deluge of ballots with few hiccups. Others saw long lines in the limited number of polling sites that remained opened, while states like Pennsylvania and New York took weeks to count all absentee ballots.

Most did not send ballots to all voters.

More: 'A substantial challenge': What Kentucky, New York tell us about voting in a pandemic come November

Nevertheless,Trump, in a tweet this month floating the idea of delaying the election, said "universal mail-in voting" will make the 2020 election the most "INACCURATE AND FRAUDULENT Election in history."

"Absentee ballots, by the way, are fine," Trump said Thursday."But the universal mail-ins that are just sent all over the place, where people can grab them and grab stacks of them, and sign them and do whatever you want, thats the thing were against."

These statements arefalse, according to election experts.No states send ballots to people who are not registered voters, and states use signature verification tools to ensure the authenticity of ballots.

"The president, I think, doesn't understand the process," said Amber McReynolds,CEO of the National Vote At Home Institute.

In 34 states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, voterseven before the pandemic, could vote absenteewithout needing an excuse. Several states sentmail-ballot applications to all voters in their primaries and are doing the same in November.

In most of the 16states, including New York,where voters must provide an excuse to receive an absenteeballot being over 65 years old, out of town during Election Dayor in the military, for example they can now cite coronavirus as a reason to receive a mail mail ballots. Some states like Kentucky, which opened absentee voting to all voters for its primary election, have said they aren't in November. In Tennessee, the state Supreme Court ruled that concernsabout COVID-19 could not be used as a reason for residents to vote by mail.

More: Fear of COVID-19 will not be reason to vote absentee in November, Tennessee Supreme Court rules

Despite Trump's warnings,thenonpartisan Brennan Centerfor Justiceat theNew York School of Law said it's more likely for an American to "get struck by lightning than to commit mail voting fraud." Outof billions of votes cast across all U.S. elections from 2000 to 2012,one analysis foundonly 491 cases of absentee voter fraud.

Many states are planning on drastically different elections this year and mail-in ballots could be a big game changer. USA TODAY

Trump continued his attacks on"universal" mail votinglast week during a press briefing at Bedminster Golf Club when he announced plans to sign fourexecutive orders to help families struggling during the pandemic.

In opposing the coronavirus relief bill that passed the House, dubbed the HEROES Act, Trump accused Democrats of wanting to force states to have universal mail-in balloting regardless of whether they have the infrastructure

"They want to steal an election," Trump said. "Thats all this is all about: They want to steal the election."

More: What you need to know about the Nevada mail-in voting bill Trump wants to block

Democrats reject that assertion. They alsoargue"universal" mail-voting means something else voting conductedentirelyby mail.

Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the election measures in the bill wouldn't result in "universal" mail voting because in-person voting sites would remain open. The bill would give states $3.6 billion for election preparedness, which could be used for making safety accommodations for in-person votingin addition to mail-voting equipment. It would also requireaccessible polling places and at least 15 days of early voting, among other provisions.

Some mail-voting advocates share that view.

"I don't really use the term 'universal vote-by-mail' or 'all vote-by-mail," said McReynolds, who previously oversaw predominantly mail elections inDenver. "You're not confined or constrained to only vote by mail. To me, if you say 'universal vote-by-mail', that's it."

McReynolds said ballots sent to voters automatically or after a requestare "fundamentally the same thing" subject to the same verification processes from one state to another.

"He's kind of using a false term as a premise. He's (warning) against something that doesn't exist in a lot of ways."

Voters in five US states go to the polls Tuesday as election security experts say there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting. (August 4) AP Domestic

Appearing on the Fox Business Network this week, Trump linked his opposition to $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service, also proposed in theHEROES Act, to the expected surge in mailballots expected in November.

"(Democrats) need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,"Trump said. "If they dont get those two items, that means you cant have universal mail-in voting because theyre not equipped to have it."

More: Experts held 'war games' on the Trump vs. Biden election. Their finding? Brace for a mess

Trump has taken particular aim at Nevada, this month tweeting that the Nevada legislature's decision to send mail ballots to all voters "latenight coup" orchestrated by the state's Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolok. The Trump campaign sued Nevada seeking to stop its plan.

"Their infrastructure is a total disaster," Trump said."They dont want to have signature verification, they dont want to have any of the safeguards that you need.

But Nevada's' plan does have signature verification. And althoughNevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, did not support the plan, her office said the state has many voting protections includingsafeguards that ensure no voter is allowed to cast more than one ballot in any given election.

Cegavskesaid she was not aware of any fraudin the state's June primary, when the state also sent ballots to all Nevada registered voters.

More: Trump campaign sues Nevada over mail-in ballot law before November election

The president'smessaging took another turn last week when Trump singled out the battleground state of Florida. In a tweet, he said hisFlorida supporters should request an absentee ballot and vote by mail because the election system in the Republican-run battleground state is "Safe and Secure, Tried and True." One week later, Trump made his personal request for a Florida absentee ballot.

Florida is among the 34states that offer absentee ballots toall eligiblevoters without needing an excuse.

Some Republicans worry that Trump's harsh rhetoric about mail-voting could hurt his own chances in swing states and give an edge to Democrats, who have embraced vote-by-mail expansion during the pandemic. Florida Democrats haverequested nearly 600,000 more absentee ballots thanRepublicans, 1.9 million vs. 1.3 million.

"It is evolving,"University of Florida Political ScientistMichael McDonald, an expert on mail voting, said of Trump's message on mail-voting. "Republicans are listening to Trump and it's causing these huge disparities in ballot requests where Democrats are well outpacing Republicans in mail-ballot requests."

He speculated the Trump campaign, concerned by these numbers, probably asked Trump to change his tone. "Maybe that's how they've eased Trump into changing his stance on his rhetoric on thisfocusing it on these all mail-ballot states."

Contributing: Associated Press.Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

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Donald Trump keeps blasting 'universal' mail voting. But few states are planning that in November - USA TODAY

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)Donald Trump stirred controversy on Saturday by questioning whether the city of Oakland was located in the United States of America.

Some very smart people are wondering about that, Trump told reporters at the White House. Its something that needs to be looked into.

Trump explained that Oakland was probably a completely different country, because a lot of countries end in the word land.

Youve got countries like Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland, he said. So you probably would have to add a country like Oakland to that list.

Trumps suffix-based theory of countries drew a question from one of the reporters present, CNNs Jim Acosta.

Portland also ends in land, Acosta said. Does that mean that, when you sent federal troops to Portland, you were invading a foreign country?

No, that means youre a terrible person, Trump replied.

Read more here:

Trump Questions Whether Oakland Is Located in United States - The New Yorker

Trailing badly in the polls, overtaken by the worst health crisis in 100 years and deprived of the cruising economy he had hoped to ride to a second term, President Donald Trump is actively trying to discredit an election that could see him turned out of office -- or is at least preparing the groundwork for a bitter legal battle that could drag on for weeks in the event of a close result.

"If it's not going to be an honest and fair election, people really need to think long and hard about it," Trump said Thursday in some of the most foreboding and loaded comments ever uttered by a leader of the world's most powerful democracy.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden summed up all of these Trump attacks when he said, reacting to earlier comments in which the President had trashed postal balloting: "Pure Trump. He doesn't want an election."

It makes discomforting, but perfect, sense that a President who was impeached for abusing his power by trying to coerce a foreign nation, Ukraine, into interfering in the election to damage his opponent would do anything within -- and beyond -- his legitimate powers to save his skin in an election. Confident of impunity, Trump is now behaving in exactly the power-grabbing manner that was predicted when he was acquitted in his Senate trial.

Even before he was President, Trump and his campaign expected to benefit in 2016 from a Russian election interference scheme -- which he publicly encouraged by asking Moscow's hackers to find Hillary Clinton's missing emails, according to former special counsel Robert Mueller.

American democracy at stake

Trump's full-bore effort to convince Americans that an election he may lose is corrupt is far more sinister than simply preparing a potentially face-saving exit from the White House.

The President's voters and his conservative media enablers have shown that when it is coming from him, they are not too concerned about assaults on America's constitutional norms and the institutions that hold presidents to account. That means Trump's anti-democratic tendencies will not necessarily rebound against him with constituencies that voted for a strongman four years ago.

But Trump's wild lies about election fraud are another example of how he prioritizes his personal advantage ahead of national interests and the health of the political system. Guaranteeing elections -- the bedrock of a free society -- and the institutions that support them is a fundamental duty of any president, bound up in the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. The same goes for ensuring a peaceful transition of power -- even if he loses, however personally sickening to Trump that may be.

Freedom erodes quickly when leaders with unaccountable power begin to discredit the mechanics of free and fair elections. While his US political rivals are far from having to worry about knocks on the door in the middle of the night, Trump is adopting the rhetoric of the autocrats he idolizes. Already, the period before and after the November 3 election is looking like one of the most perilous in recent US history.

If he loses the election but claims it was rigged, Trump will delegitimize the result among millions of voters who backed him but might accept a loss if he graciously conceded, as is expected of every beaten presidential candidate who puts nation above self.

The appearance of a tainted election would certainly shatter hopes that a Biden administration might harbor of uniting a deeply divided nation and of summoning national resolve to finally prevail over a pandemic that Trump mismanaged and ignored.

It would also sow distrust of elections on the right, potentially for decades, further fueling conspiratorial fringe groups like QAnon. A sense that Trump was trying to destroy a legitimate Democratic presidency would also exacerbate liberal fury, pouring gasoline on the current national political inferno.

A disputed election in 2020 would be far more corrosive to democracy even than the bitterly fought aftermath of the George W. Bush vs. Al Gore duel that was eventually decided by the Supreme Court in 2000. On that occasion, despite the resentment and huge stakes, it could be fairly argued that both candidates were democrats committed to the preservation of the US political system. That is a hard case to make 20 years later.

The President's constant trashing of the US electoral system also has another menacing side effect: It throws open the door to the Russian election interference that Trump has refused to admit happened on his behalf in 2016 and that US intelligence agencies assess is happening again, with other US foes like China and Iran also mulling their own preferences for the next president. The influence and disinformation aspects of Moscow's meddling operation in 2016 aimed to exploit and widen angry divides that already existed in American politics. The more the President creates discord and distrust in the electoral system, the easier that job becomes.

Senior intelligence and law enforcement officials are not worried that the President's incessant warnings that foreign powers could flood the country with fake ballots are realistic. But they do fear that his rhetoric could provide fertile ground for their propagandists and misinformation farms, CNN reported last month.

"They can't physically do anything about (mail-in ballots) but (they can) create social media narratives to create levels of doubt and play into the debate," a law enforcement official said. "We are alert for the fact they may take doubts about mail-in ballots and exploit that online," the official said.

Trump is frustrated conspiracies about 2016 are not prompting action

Trump's aides and defenders have often suggested that critics who worry whether he will peacefully leave power or who fear he is trying to interfere in the election are paranoid and have a political agenda.

But the President -- in one of the periodic lightning bolts of damning truth (like when he told NBC he had fired former FBI Director James Comey because of the Russia investigation) -- exposed the extent of his own malfeasance in an interview with Fox Business News on Thursday.

"They want $25 billion, billion, for the post office. Now they need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots," Trump said on Fox Business, repeating his false claims that mail-in voting would be "fraudulent."

"But if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because you -- they're not equipped to have it," Trump added.

There was another sign on Thursday that the President was getting antsy about the failure so far of the Justice Department to move against former Obama administration officials linked to the Russia investigation.

Prodded by friendly questions from Fox's Maria Bartiromo, Trump lashed out at Wray -- whom he appointed -- and even seemed to cast doubt on the ultimate loyalty of Barr, who has repeatedly intervened in cases and controversies to Trump's political benefit. The President appeared to be agitating for both men to effectively intervene in the election by producing evidence hurtful to his opponent.

"So Christopher Wray was put there. We have an election coming up. I wish he was more forthcoming. He certainly hasn't been," the President said.

"There are documents that they want to get, and we have said we want to get. We're going to find out if he's going to give those documents. But certainly he's been very, very protective."

Trump said Wray should provide more documents to prosecutor John Durham, who was tapped by Barr to lead the review into the origins of the Russia investigation in yet another exercise apparently designed to gut highly critical findings by Mueller about the President's conduct.

More suspicion of the White House's behind-the-scenes activity surfaced last week, when it emerged that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with rapper Kanye West, who has announced a run for president that has no chance of winning electoral votes but that some critics have surmised could attract sufficient votes among young Black voters in states decided by razor-thin margins to drive down Biden's share of the vote.

That's an answer that is unlikely to put concerns about the White House's pre-election activity to rest.

Adam Levine, Manu Raju and Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

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Trump's election meddling is threatening US democracy - CNN

by: Talia Naquin, Natasha Anderson

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WJW) President Donald Trump held a press conference at the White House Friday afternoon to provide an update on the nations response to the coronavirus pandemic.

He said that new factories and laboratories are being built all across the country to help America fight the coronavirus. This new infrastructure was made reportedly possible under the Defense Production Act.

The president quoted newmanufacturing production numbers and said the US was producing so many ventilators that they are able to send them to countries all over the world.

He also said American companies are producing 400 more masks than last year.

Trump also shared that there are currently three COVID-19 vaccine candidates that are in Phase 3 of trials. He said he believed that the elderly and those who are considered at high-risk should be the first to receive the vaccine.

He added that officials are working on a plan for how the vaccine will be distributed once it is created.

Additionally, Trump addressed concerns about his brother Robert, who is hospitalized in New York. There is no word on his condition.

I have a wonderful brother. We have a great relationship for a long time, from day one, so long time ago. And hes in the hospital right now, Trump said when asked what ailed his brother.

Hopefully hell be alright, but hes hes pretty hes having a hard time, he added.

The president is expected to head to New York later Friday.

In a series of tweets Friday before his press conference, Trump said he is ready to send another round of stimulus checks and additional PPP payments.

I am ready to have @USTreasury and @SBA send additional PPP payments to small businesses that have been hurt by the ChinaVirus. DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING THIS UP!

I have directed @stevenmnuchin1 to get ready to send direct payments ($3,400 for family of four) to all Americans. DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING THIS UP!

I am ready to send more money to States and Local governments to save jobs for Police, Fire Fighters, First Responders, and Teachers. DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING THIS UP!

When asked during the press conference if he would approve funding for the Post Office if the Democrats agreed to what GOP leaders requested, Trump said, Sure, If they give us what we want.

The president spoke Thursday about the United States Postal Service and coronavirus.

The president said Thursday he is not approving more funding for USPS because he doesnt want a mail-in vote.

If we dont make a deal, that means they dont get the money, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. That means they cant have universal mail-in voting; they just cant have it.

The U.S. has passed 167-thousand coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 5.2 million people have been sickened with coronavirus in America.

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Trump says manufacturing has increased in US as nation works to fight coronavirus - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland

Yes, it is historic, but it is only an illusion of the peace President Trump vowed he'd deliver.

Back in January this year Trump announced the contours of what he called his Vision for Peace -- officially known as Peace for Prosperity. Palestinians boycotted it denouncing it as money for land, in their view giving up territory in return for promises of improved business prospects, while Israel threatened to take the land regardless.

In recent years, Trump had raised expectations of a breakthrough Palestinian-Israeli deal, and with it, the prospect of an even more precipitous fall if it failed.

The new agreement is implicit recognition that Trump's original peace plan is dead, yet it revives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political fortunes.

Netanyahu gets what he wants, decades of Arab intransigence to a deal on Israel's terms is crumbling, at little or no cost.

The Israeli PM's impulse to annex swaths of Israeli occupied West Bank land could have been the match to ignite tinder dry tensions, torching Palestinian aspirations for their own viable state. For now, the UAE appears to have dampened that prospect.

Anwar Gargash, the UAE's erudite Minister of State for Foreign Affairs defines the agreement's success, in part, as "Israel's commitment to stop the annexation of Palestinian lands, which will preserve the two-state solution."

At first read, the agreement sounds rock-solid, but kick the tires and the threat of escalation has only been moved down the road a little. The clue is in the word "suspend."

The architect of the agreement, Kushner, described it thus, "I believe they [Israel] will not take action to move forward unless we have an understanding between America and Israel that it's the right action at the right time."

When asked when that might be his reply could as well have been, how long is a piece of string? Saying, "Somewhere between a long time and a short time, that's what temporary means."

Netanyahu has no doubts, temporary means temporary.

"We received a request to wait temporarily from President Trump. It is a temporary postponement. It is not removed from the table, I am telling you that," he said. He is also a skilled political operator playing to a domestic audience, annexation is less an immediate goal, more a manipulation to turn negotiations in his favor.

Gargash appears to hint that the UAE is playing for time, possibly calculating if temporary runs to the November US elections, "we think there is a never a right time, never a right moment, but at the same time if we really get this commitment it will be like diffusing a time bomb on the two state solution."

So the timing works for the UAE -- kind of -- but why now for the others?

Both Trump and maybe Netanyahu face elections and need votes. And both are running out of time to cement a legacy, to shore up their otherwise relatively controversial records in office. Netanyahu has a corruption trial hanging over his head, Trump's legal troubles are likely coming too.

In the deal Trump, and the UAE, have handed Netanyahu the means to bury his misdemeanors under a veneer of success opening the lucrative Arab market to Israel's high tech and security.

Look no further than the second paragraph of the joint statement for the mutual back slapping and clues to the hyping of the event, "This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region."

It was only yesterday one of Trump's National Security advisors, Robert O'Brien, opined Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize.

Well why not, his predecessor Barack Obama got one and this is one piece of Obama's legacy that Trump hasn't been able to deconstruct -- the next best thing is to get one himself.

And what about the OTHER party whom if they were at the table could make this a truly historic moment of profound regional significance, the Palestinians.

In short, they feel sold out, again. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas labeling the deal "an aggression on the Palestinian people" and "a betrayal of Jerusalem."

His hard-line Palestinian rivals Hamas are equally dismissive, saying: "We strongly condemn, in all possible ways, normalization with Israel, which is considered a stab in the back to the Palestinian cause".

The reality though, even while Gargash says they've kept alive the possibility of a Palestinian state that would have been extinguished had Netanyahu followed through on his threat to annex chunks of the West Bank, the Emirates has re-bolded the writing on the Arab wall. Palestinians don't conjure the regional support they once did and that means the Gulf states -- who help bank roll the Palestinians -- are running out of patience.

This deal reaffirms a Gulf view that Palestinian leaders are perceived as the problem, or rather their failure to clean corruption, and negotiate is the problem, albeit their counterpart for talks for the past decade, Netanyahu is not a palatable negotiating partner. Even when they play by the rules, the perception in Palestinian homes is that the deck is always stacked against them, precisely what this agreement amply reinforces.

Progressively weakened by division and radicalism, the Palestinians' standing is shakier than it used to be. So when they cry foul they may be right, the UAE has kicked them in the shins.

What remains to be seen, is whether it's a "pay attention" kick, as in wake up and smell the coffee, or if it is designed to fell this generation of Palestinian leaders.

Gargash isn't talking about turning off the money tap, but he is hinting at it.

"We are committed to seeing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital of that, that is our political commitment. But on the other hand, I think we as part of our world we have been a big supporter historically of the Palestinians politically financially and otherwise," he said.

So is it a good deal?

Gargash's "time bomb" was ticking on them too. Witness the near calamitous backlash to Trump's killing of Iran's top general Qasem Soleimani in January this year.

The stakes in the region are high, Iraq is less than stable, there is a war in Syria, Lebanon is in political freefall, Yemen's war grinds on and infused in all of it an Iranian foreign policy that seeks to scuttle stability and push already sky-high tensions with the US further towards crisis.

If all that weren't enough to encourage the UAE towards compromise on what is a monumental step for them, then the threat of economic carnage in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic ratcheting regional fragility to even greater heights certainly is.

For Trump, who lives by short-term political sells, the agreement is still only intent, nothing but hot political air until the signing in three weeks.

The test will be traction on the promise of bilateral deals to be signed on "investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment" turning in to tangible results.

Netanyahu has fewer worries now, the hitherto immovable object of Arab opposition to Israel's terms has shifted, and Trump says more Arab states will come on board.

Even if you are Palestinian, the agreement is better than drowning, but only marginally.

And how long can all sides keep treading water? That could depend on the American electorate and a president with the acumen, energy and passion to make a real difference, and if that's lacking, then treading water will work out just fine for Netanyahu.

Does anyone come out ahead?

The UAE has certainly diplomatically upstaged its bigger regional partner Saudi Arabia. And has gained some, albeit temporary, leverage over regional security, while maintaining some independence of Trump's hawkish policies on Iran.

And whatever opprobrium the UAE gets from Palestinians the Arab street isn't in firmament so costs on that are low.

Ultimately the deal is only as strong as the benefits all parties get, and yet again with Trump in office, Netanyahu appears to have bagged the lion's share of those.

Read more from the original source:

Israel-UAE agreement a meek version of the historic Mideast deal Trump pledged - CNN

President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Aug. 3.

Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump is "ready to send" more coronavirus stimulus money.

But it remains unclear if that is enough to move stalled Congressional negotiations forward so that Americans can see more money in their pockets.

On Friday, Trump posted several tweets with one key message: "Democrats are holding this up!"

In the tweets, he addressed direct payments to families, which would amount to $3,400 for a family of four; additional Paycheck Protection Program funds to small businesses affected by the shutdown; money for state and local governments, so that they can save jobs of firefighters, police officers, first responders and teachers; funding for states to open schools safely; and payments for rental assistance.

It is not clear if the president's tweets will be enough to dislodge the political stalemate, which could last until September now that Congress is not in session and both parties are set to hold their national conventions in the coming weeks.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to be in agreement on the additional stimulus checks and small business funding. Money for state and local governments has been a sticking point in negotiations between the parties. Democrats want to fund state and local governments, while some Republican lawmakers have dug in their heels on providing the money.

Democrats are willing to spend more than $3 trillion on a new bill, while Republicans have said they want to keep the total cost down to about $1 trillion.

"On the back of the envelope, that's at least $1 trillion right there," Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said of the priorities Trump mentioned in his tweets.

Trump needs Congress to authorize the aid spending, Hoagland said. The executive orders he signed last weekend including extended unemployment insurance was possible because they were categorized as disaster rather than regular payments.

Key details, including who will get those unemployment benefits and when, are still unknown.

Millions of Americans will also have to wait for second stimulus checks, which both sides of the aisle have indicated they want, but would need to pass legislation in order to put in motion.

The second round of payments would likely be similar to the first checks, which were $1,200 per individual or $2,400 per married couple, plus $500 for eligible dependents. Some changes have been proposed, including raising the dependent pay to $1,000 or $1,200 per person, raising the cap on the dependent eligibility age, and making it so that Americans who filed jointly with non-citizen spouses (those without Social Security numbers) would still get the money.

But action on that may not happen until September, when Congress also has to address appropriations for fiscal year 2021, which begins in October. A delay on that would prompt a partial government shutdown.

"I cannot imagine any way in which Republicans or Democrats want to have a government shutdown a month out from the election," Hoagland said.

The stimulus aid could get taken up in a continuing resolution, he said.

Meanwhile, Americans who are counting on more financial help will have to wait, Hoagland said. That's as Trump's executive order did little to prevent evictions and details of how the new extended unemployment benefits will be paid on a federal and state level is still getting sorted out.

"I think there's going to be some people that are going to be hurting between now and September," Hoagland said. "Come Labor Day, there's going to be a lot of angry people."

If Congress signs off on the stimulus checks in September, Americans may have to wait until October or later to receive the money.

More from Personal Finance:Trump wants stimulus checks to be more than $1,200How HEALS Act stimulus checks would be differentHow soon you can expect another stimulus check in the mail

"Politically, some of the people in the White House might think it's a good thing to get a check signed by Donald Trump right before the election," Hoagland said.

This time around, deploying millions of $1,200 payments will likely be easier for the IRS, which means people could receive the funds more quickly, said Kris Cox, senior tax policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"Despite decades of funding cuts, the IRS impressively got stimulus payments out the door within weeks of the CARES legislation passing," Cox said. "We expect the IRS is anticipating a second round and they're ready and equipped to get money out the door quickly."

But that depends on lawmakers coming back to the negotiating table and agreeing, she said.

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'There's going to be a lot of angry people.' Despite Trump tweets, Americans still face weeks before more stimulus money arrives - CNBC

The Editorial Board, USA TODAY Published 6:59 p.m. ET Aug. 13, 2020 | Updated 7:36 p.m. ET Aug. 13, 2020

Our View: Fatal response to coronavirus, unkept campaign promises, and mountain of lies and falsehoods show what a small man he really is.

Youre readingOur View,one of two perspectives in Todays Debate.

For the Opposing View, read President Trump is helping middle-class Americans.

It seem eons ago now though only a few years that Donald Trump capitalized on the soaring stature of the Oval Office to shatterequilibriums with his brand of edicts and outrage.He would roil public discourse for weeks with his claimsthat he wonthe popular vote in 2016 because millions voted illegally, enjoyed the largest inaugural crowd in history, waswiretapped by President Barack Obama, saw moral equivalency between white supremacists and those who oppose them, and threatened"fire and fury" against North Korea.

It was all false, phony or came to nothing.But the point was his towering ability back then to shockpeople.

And today? Not so much.

When a massive explosionvaporized the center of Beirut last week, Trump thatsame day declared it an "attack ... a bomb of some kind" with a level of certainty that should have sent ripples of concern through foreign governments.As it was, fewpaid any attention. His comment barely registered as news, and evidence quickly surfaced that the blast was almost certainly a terrible accident.

And there have been other pronouncements recently that, all things being equal, should have generated quite a stir. Except they didn't.

President Donald Trump at a news conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 7, 2020.(Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The president promisedJuly19 that within two weeks, he'd produce a long-awaited plan for overhauling the nation's health care system. Days later, he committed to unveiling a strategy for defeating coronavirus "that'sgoing to be very, very powerful."And recently, Trump said that if reelected,he'dstrike a deal with Iran in four weeks.

All have been met with a collective shrug, probably because Americans sensed they would come to nothing. There hasbeen nohealth care plan and no grand COVID-19 strategy, even asU.S. deaths due to the coronavirus surpass165,000. And does anyone really believe Trump will reach an agreement with an Iranian regimethat refuseseven to speak with him?

So what hashappened? Trump's ability to shock and awehas gotten smaller.He's the incredibly shrinking president.

Even his dramatic declaration last weekend that he would "save American jobs and provide relief to the American workers" with a series of executive actionshasn't movedthe dial on his low approval ratings.

And that's because it's allsmoke and mirrors.

The promise toprovide enhancedunemployment benefits with money pulled out of anemergency relief fund (during a major hurricane season) may not be legal. Sen.Ben Sasse, R-Neb.,called it "unconstitutional slop."

The $400 in additional weekly payments would work only ifcash-strapped states kick in 25% and would only last about six weeks. In addition, apayroll tax holiday Trump is promising is really a deferral of taxes that will have to be paid back. And his commitment to blockevictionsamounts to little more than a recommendation to landlords.

The reality is that the public has grownweary of a president whose words mean very little. It probably began with all of the unkept campaign promises 4% annual economic growth, repeal and replaceObamacare, investin infrastructure and builda wall paid for by Mexico.

Certainly a growing mountain of lies and falsehoods haven't helped.The Washington Post estimates now more than 20,000.

But what mighthave finally tipped Trump toward triviality is the grotesque way he dismissed (and continues to dismiss)a deadly pandemic as something that will simply disappear, even as it ravages America.

Our View was written by editorial writer Gregg Zoroyaon behalf of the USA TODAY Editorial Board.

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Meet Donald Trump, the incredibly shrinking president - USA TODAY

There are a surprising number of Texas references in Youre Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump, veteran political strategist Paul Begalas book focused on what itll take for Joe Biden to win in November. For starters, 33 pages in, by way of explaining the concept of negative partisanship, Begalas example hinges on what matters most in life: Texas Longhorn football. Its not enough, he says, that his sons love the Longhorns. They must also despise the University of Oklahoma. And indeed, Begala definitely bleeds orange; he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Texas, named his dog after former quarterback Major Applewhite, and earlier this week, bought two Longhorn steers to raise on his ranch in Virginia. Theyre named after Earl Campbell and Vince Young.

Theyre actually orange-and-white, says Begala, a chief strategist for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign who served as counselor to the president in the Clinton White House, where he coordinated policy, politics, and communications. Theyre the most beautiful animals Ive seen. And they dont know how lucky they got. They were headed to Wendys and now theyre at my place being hand-fed. Theyre so gentle and docile.

Later in the book, Begalaa Missouri City, Texas nativedusts off a less gentle, but classic, Texanism to describe Texas Republican leaders: half a bubble off plumb. He believes Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton are out of step with a state he says might very well turn blue in November.

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Theyre driving with their eyes on the rearview mirror, he told me on this weeks National Podcast of Texas. They think its still the tea party era. Theyre stuck in 2010, in a Texas where the Republicans dominate the state and the tea partiers dominated the Republicans. And therefore they think theyll just cater to 25 percent of Texans. And its a losing strategy over time. I think theyre going to wake up and be astonished that the state they thought they were governing disappeared right out from under them.

Youre Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump is built around the central theme that the way to beat Trump is to focus less on him and more on the people who are hurt by his policies. But in a coronavirus-focused chapter that includes a section on H-E-Bs early COVID-19 preparation efforts, Begala suggests the virus has wound up testing his central theme; he advises Democrats to highlight at every turn how the administration mishandled the crisis.

Trumps superpower is diversion, and he uses division for diversion, Begala says. COVID ended that superpower. With 168,000 dead Americans, COVID became the kryptonite. We cant turn the cameras away. And I think thats part of what he is trying to do. And the reason hes saying these quiet parts out loud, is hell do anything, even declare war on democracy, to get the cameras, to turn away from the things he has done and failed to do on COVID. So I think Democrats need to keep their eyes on the prize. I think its important for Democrats to pull the lens back and say, We had 5 million people infected. We have 168,000 dead, and youre doing nothing except declaring war on the postal service, which will make more people sick because they wont be able to vote by mail. Always return the focus to peoples lives, not just Trumps outrage.

On the National Podcast of Texas, recorded Thursday morning by phone, Begala details the Joe Biden hes gotten to know over 34 years of friendship and lays out what we can expect across the next 80 days or soand how to tell whos really winning.

Three takeaways from our conversation:

Begala believes Texas will turn blue in November. Full stop.

Most Texans celebrate diversity. I grew up in Fort Bend County. Today, its thriving because of immigrants. Less than 50 percent of that county is white now and Its become the most diverse county in America and the wealthiest county in Texas. Immigrants are a source of wealth, of strength, and of brains. And Texans get that now. Its changing because of patterns of increasing diversity and the Republicans alienating those diverse Texans. Trump has pushed diverse Texans from all overSouth Asia, Africa, Latin Americainto the arms of Democrats. And Democrats have welcomed them. But also, the attitude, particularly of college-educated white people, has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. So if Beto ORourke can get within two and a half points in a non-presidential year, I think MJ Hegar can win. I think Joe Biden can make up that last two and a half points with the surge of turnout in a presidential year.

Begala says that, instead of polls, the best predictors of whos ahead will come from monitoring the economy and interest in early voting.

Id look at jobs, income, and now, God help us, this terrible disease. Presidents who had a strong economy have done well. Weve only fired four presidents in the last hundred years, and they were Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush. Every one of them had a bad economy. Trump has the worst economy. The virus is not his fault, but the response has been, and he is now holding up life-saving funds just so that he can cripple the postal service so that people cant vote. Im also looking at voter registration and early voting. Voter registration has been surging. And in those states where you register by party, which we dont in Texas, its been much more Democratic in the requests for absentee ballots, which has always been a Republican strength. Republicans have always done best in voting by mail, so Trump has hurt his own cause because hes telling his voters dont vote by mail, but when the Democrats hear that they dont obey him. They think, Oh, this guy doesnt want me to vote by mail. Im going to make sure I do. Soon well have people sending those ballots in. Well have early voting in places like Texas. So those will be good predictors. But also you can watch Trump. The more panicked he gets, the more he realizes that hes losing. Hes a very good politician and he gets it. I think he knows hes losing. And its like these glaciers, they melt slowly. And then huge ice sheet falls off. And Trump is dropping huge sheets of ice because he knows his presidency is melting away.

In the book, Begala says he believes too often Democrats appeal to the head, not to the heart. He says the Joe Biden hes known for 34 years represents a chance for Democrats to appeal to both.

If Trump werent president, I believe that [Biden] would let someone else step up. But I believe that hes called to this moment because of his empathy. And when he announced, he talked about Charlottesville and he said, This is a battle for the soul of America. I certainly responded to that. And most Democrats did. Joe won 45 states. Thats a lot better than Barack Obama did in the primaries. And I think Democrats responded to that because they saw his empathy. I think he needs to talk about those things. No good person wants to see children in cages, and very, very, very few Republicans do. Im telling you, I have a lot of Republican friends and family and none of them like seeing children ripped away from their mamas and locked in a cage. None think those were very fine people screaming anti-Semitic and racist stuff in Charlottesville. So Joe can reach out to folks. He is simultaneously exciting his base and reassuring Trump voters that they can come over. And its a hard thing to do in politics, but he has been masterful at it. And I think the key to it is his empathy.

(Excerpts have been condensed and edited for clarity.)

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Paul Begala Wrote the Book on Defeating Donald Trump - Texas Monthly

Rapper Kanye West ranted against historical figure Harriet Tubman and became emotional when speaking about abortion. AP Domestic

WASHINGTON White House adviser Jared Kushner said Thursday he spoke recently with rapper Kanye West but not about any plan to have West run for president in order to help father-in-law Donald Trump win re-election.

"We had a general discussion, more about policy," Kushner told reporters.

Kushner said he and West "both happened to be in Colorado" at the same time last weekend, and got together because "he has some great ideas for what he'd like to see happen in the country. And that's why he has the candidacy that he's been doing."

Democrats described the Kushner-West meeting as the latest piece of evidence that Trump's re-election team is helping the famed producer and recording artist get on as many state ballots as possible.

The idea,they said, is that West would drawAfrican-American voters away from Democratic candidateJoe Biden, helping Trump prevail in closely contested states.

"This is a desperation ploy because they know they can't win in a head-to-head contest," said Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson.

Democrats have also cited local news reports that Republican operatives have helped West's aides put together ballot petitions in Wisconsin, Colorado and other states.

Senior Advisor Jared Kushner listens to President Donald Trump on Thursday.(Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AFP via Getty Images)

More: Kanye West announces he's running for president in 2020; Mark Cuban, Elon Musk tweet support

More: Kanye West calls out President Trump in new rap; Trump brushes off rapper's run in interview

Trump and members of his re-election team have denied collusion with West and his makeshift presidential campaign.

Kushner and West have described each other as friends for years, and worked together on criminal justice issues.

West, who announced his candidacy by tweet on July 4, has said both supportive and not-so-supportive things about Trump over the years. He has also sent conflicting signals about the seriousness of his third-party presidential bid.

After a media report on his latest meeting with Kushner, West tweeted that "Im willing to do a live interview with the New York Time about my meeting with Jared where we discussed Dr Claude Andersons book Powernomics."

At the White House, Kushner said of West: "There's a lot of issues that the president's championed that he admires, and it was just great to have a friendly discussion."

So far, West has qualified for the ballot in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Vermont.

The deadlines for other states have already passed, including battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania,Florida, and North Carolina.

West's attempts to get on the ballot in Wisconsin, a key battleground,are being challenged because of questions about the identities of some of the petition signers.

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Jared Kushner: I spoke with Kanye West, but not about the Donald Trump campaign - USA TODAY

He said it in an interview with Jonathan Swan, of Axios, who asked how Trump could argue that the Covid-19 pandemic was "under control" since "1,000 Americans are dying a day." Trump responded, "They are dying, that's true. And you have it is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague that beset us."

But not Trump. In a long career -- in real estate, reality TV and the White House -- Trump has reached often for exaggeration and falsehoods to convince people it is what it isn't.

At another point in the Axios interview, more in character, he praised his administration for doing a "great job" on Covid.

The mystery of Dr. Birx

At key moments, Dr. Deborah Birx has been the face of the White House's effort to fight the coronavirus. Widely respected for her years of work on HIV/AIDS, Birx has lately been the target of criticism from some medical experts and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She even drew fire from President Trump, after she acknowledged the "extraordinarily widespread" nature of the pandemic in the US. A fellow expert on infectious disease, Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, wrote, "All of her work shows Birx to be a sophisticated physician-scientist with genuine interest in the health of vulnerable and underserved populations."

But he argued that as response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Birx has made "a real hash out of the entire effort, with a series of poor decisions -- changing hospital data reporting protocols for coronavirus patients to cut out the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and report directly to Health and Human Services, painting a rosy picture of the problem and of the President's engagement and still developing no national plan for testing, tracking, opening schools and businesses."

What's killing us

One of the biggest Covid-related questions facing Americans right now is whether to send children back to school. Biologist Erin Bromage said his are going back but acknowledged that the decision is made easier by the fact they attend private school in an area where community transmission of the disease is low.

Veep search

There's one thing Joe Biden doesn't lack in his search for a running mate: advice.

For more on the 2020 campaign:

Devastation in Beirut

As white smoke billowed out of a warehouse Tuesday at the port of Beirut, an enormous explosion, captured on video as a gigantic red flash, decimated the area, killing at least 158 people, wounding more than 5,000 and forcing half of the city's population out of their homes. The blast was attributed to a huge cache of ammonium nitrate stored at the port.

"Perhaps the shared anger over this event can bring the Lebanese together to push back against the incompetent and the greedy, the functionaries, politicians, and outside players, who have hijacked their country and created conditions for the Lebanese people's never-ending tragedy; admittedly a monumental task."

Where is Congress?

Democrats and Republicans remained far apart last week on the outline of a new pandemic relief bill. The jobless rate in July, although modestly lower than in June, was 10.2% -- a number slightly higher than the peak of the Great Recession. But there was no agreement in Congress on extending any portion of the $600 a week in extra aid for the unemployed. On Saturday, Trump signed executive actions that could provide additional aid and defer payroll taxes for some workers, but they face serious hurdles.

Among the hardest hit industries is restaurants, John Avlon noted: "Independent restaurant owners face an economic apocalypse." The industry employs "11 million Americans, with an economic impact that is felt up and down the supply chain, from farmers to fishermen," he wrote. Often barely eking out a profit pre-pandemic, restaurants faced closure at the beginning of the crisis, and now, in many cases, are trying to survive on takeout or outdoor dining. Restaurants are backing legislation to create a $120 billion federal grant program.

100 years later ...

August marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the vote and will be celebrated on Women's Equality Day, August 26.

Today it's viewed widely as the long-delayed but almost inevitable political empowerment of more than half the population. So, it's surprising to read, as Nicole Hemmer recounted, that more than a few of the activists opposing suffrage were women.

"The women who opposed women's right to vote have often been left out of the story of suffrage," Hemmer wrote. "Talk of women's interests, like the interest of other marginalized groups, often trades in flat stereotypes, treating all members of the group as though they think, and vote, the same. But as the anti-suffragist women show, women have been shrewd political actors, understanding -- and protecting -- their sources of power in unexpected ways."

Hemmer sees echoes of the anti-suffrage women in the activists, led by Phyllis Schlafly, who fought off the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, a story told in the recent FX series, "Mrs. America."

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Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates

In a piece for CNN Opinion, Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates expressed concern about students like Fortunate Ayomirwoth, who lives in a suburb of Kampala, Uganda. Her school has been closed since the pandemic erupted, they wrote. While Fortunate does chores and cares for four younger siblings, she hopes "there will be enough food to eat. Since her mother lost her job, money has been tight -- and for Fortunate, her window of opportunity feels like it, too, is getting tighter."

"We know from past crises, like the 2014 Ebola outbreak, that adolescent girls in low and middle-income countries are particularly at risk of being overlooked and left behind," noted Obama and Gates. "During a crisis like this one, adolescent girls face a heightened threat of physical and sexual violence, early and forced marriage, and unintended pregnancy on top of sustained economic hardship."

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Donald Trump's five revealing words - CNN