Category Archives: Donald Trump

It's been another doozy of a week in Washington, D.C. Sometimes, its almost impossible to keep up with it all, from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearingon Russian interference in the 2016 election, to a slew of executive orders being delivered from the new White House administration, to the new health care bill. Even reporters covering the ongoings of the capital are finding it difficult to follow all of the developments.

And yet, President Donald Trump, the man who has managed to turn the "politics as usual"sentiment upside-down, continues to find time to write his supporters, critics and 28 million Twitter followers a quick guide to his days in the Oval Office and beyondwhether theyre asking for it or not.

Related: New site lets you donate to causes Trump hates every time he tweets

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Trump's tweets provide more than just a SparkNotes-stylebreakdown of the week, however: Theyre the best glimpse the American public has inside the presidents headspace, as he maintains his tendency to shoot from the hip after 100 days in office. His Twitter account also serves as a catalogof what the leader of the free world was focused on during global crisesand crucial moments in his own presidency.

An anti-Trump demonstrator interacts with Trump supporters in New York City on May 4. Reuters

Lets walk through the presidents thoughts and activities this week via his personal Twitter account:

The president spoke of North Korea only once this week on hisTwitter account, when he blasted the oppressive regime for its failed weekend missile test launch. Trump also managed to praise Chinese President Xi Jinping within the same 140 characters, saying the nation "disrespected the wishes of China [and]its highly respected president."

Trump (once again) targeted the "mainstream (FAKE) media"for its coverage of his first 100 days in office, claiming most news networks were refusing to acknowledge the bevy of executive orders he had signed in histenure as president. The president retweeted a hot take from Foxs Tucker Carlson, posted to the Fox Nation Twitter account, claiming the Democrats are using the Russian cyberattacks on the election as a political tool to make the president less popular.

The president wants you to know he beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. He won. Bigly. Got it?

Trump celebrated a "big win"for the Republican Party after a repeal-and-replacebill to begin the process of overturning former President Barack Obamas landmark legislation, the Affordable Care Act, barely scraped through the House.

The Senate won't vote on the congressional billsenators plan on making their own version instead. But Trumps Twitter was still ablaze with victory tweets. (Oh yeah, and Obamacare still sucks, according to Trump.)

Trump signed acontroversial religious liberty orderthis week with little support from either party, but a whole lot of love from his baseand the man who hasbeen by his side through it all: Vice President Mike Pence. The VP has reportedly been pushing for this order to be signed into law ever since the pair took office. It aims to provide legal protectionfor religious groups claiming exceptions to Obamacare mandatesand undermines enforcement of legislation that prevents nonprofits from explicitpolitical activity.

Notice the #ICYMI hashtag Trump expertly used to remind his followers he's workingor at least signing off on ordersthroughout the weekend.

You'd think a president wouldn't have enough time to compose snarky, shady tweets toward his critics in a day filled with controversy, big meetings, executive order signings, photo opportunities and negotiations on crucial legislation. You'd be wrong.

Trump managed to shade the Democrats nearly every single day of the week in some fashion. Trump seems to have no plans to tone down his public persona, for better or worse, with his lowapproval ratings largely unchanged after his busy week.

(Oh yeah, and Andrew Jackson is his new favorite president, since Trump says Jackson could have stopped the American civil war. See you next week.)

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Donald Trump's Tweets of the Week: Blasting North Korea, Shading the Democrats, Winning Bigly - Newsweek

Variety

FCC to Investigate Stephen Colbert Over Controversial Donald Trump Joke Variety Colbert faced backlash following the Monday night airing of The Late Show, during which he made numerous jokes about Trump during his opening monologue. Among them, he said, The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's ck ... Ajit Pai: FCC looking into Colbert's Trump jokeUSA TODAY FCC to investigate Stephen Colbert over Donald Trump jokeNew York Daily News Stephen Colbert's crude joke about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to be investigated by FCCTelegraph.co.uk all 128 news articles »

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FCC to Investigate Stephen Colbert Over Controversial Donald Trump Joke - Variety

"Let's get this f***ing thing done!" former combat fighter pilot, Air Force Colonel and Arizona Rep. Martha McSally exhorted her colleagues in a private pre-vote pep rally on Capitol Hill, as House Republicans entrusted their futures to fate and agreed to vote to repeal Obamacare.

Nearby, House Speaker Paul Ryan was "giddy," said one colleague, sensing the narrowest of reputation-saving wins after a trial by political fire. Down Pennsylvania Avenue, as Thursday's vote neared, President Donald Trump settled in front of a TV, his Twitter account poised, but slipping into the unusual state of calm that aides say envelops the hyperactive commander-in-chief when moments of history beckon.

Despite the Trump and GOP victory rally at the White House, the past few months are just an appetizer as the bill goes to the Senate and members head home to their constituents. There will be more rounds of Republican strife and debates over arcane parliamentary procedure with a new cast of lawmakers. Vice President Mike Pence -- who keeps Capitol Police officers busy with his frequent visits -- will spend more time in his Hill office. We'll see a new report of how the bill will impact Americans. The tweets will undoubtedly continue.

This article relates behind-the-scenes negotiations and the emotional and political storm that raged on Capitol Hill as the House GOP belatedly, but triumphantly, honored a promise to its voters that it first made seven years ago and has renewed many times since.

Based on dozens of conversations with Republican and Democratic leaders, lawmakers and political aides by CNN's teams on Capitol Hill and in the White House, it reveals how House GOP members finally steeled themselves to overcome the infighting and inaction that tarnished Trump's First 100 Days.

It is also the story of how the GOP decided that the price of inaction now was greater than the risk of passing a bill that even many Senate Republicans believe is deeply flawed.

"I think people in the House just simply wanted to get a bill out of the House and hoped that the Senate did something with it," said Rep. Charlie Dent, one of 20 Republicans who voted no.

But for those on the other side, victory tastes sweet.

"This is a great plan," Trump said at the White House, seemingly looking forward to the next round. "I actually think it will get even better. This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare. Make no mistake about it."

Flash back six weeks and it was all so different. After pulling an earlier version of the bill, a defeated Ryan admitted that Obamacare was "the law of the land," and that the GOP, for now, had missed its moment.

But health care reform still had a faint pulse.

A former opponent of the House bill, Sen. Rand Paul, wearing a Duke baseball cap from his alma mater, surprised the White House press pool after returning from golf with Trump on April 2, saying a deal was getting closer.

The President tweeted that "talks on Repealing and Replacing ObamaCare are, and have been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck."

It seemed like Trumpian bluster.

Ryan was also quietly regrouping. He let the dust settle amid humiliating questions about his leadership. Critics highlighted his apparently misfiring relationship with Trump.

In reality, that impression was premature. The two men -- opposites in temperament and style -- grew increasingly close in the foxhole in the weeks to come.

Even so, there was no immediate sense among GOP leaders that health care's time had come again. Committee chairs were gung ho to take on tax reform.

But Ryan did encourage members to keep talking about health care. Though optimism had been shattered, a more bottom-up approach was worth a shot. The Wisconsin Republican reasoned that time and rising political pressure on his members were needed to knit party splits before he could try again.

Throughout April they swapped legislative language, finally agreeing on a deal to allow states to seek waivers to weaken several key Obamacare reforms that protect those with pre-existing conditions. But in a concession to moderates, the provision would not apply to those who maintained continuous coverage.

Once what became known as the MacArthur amendment was codified, whip teams set about testing its support in the Republican conference and solidifying the votes of Freedom Caucus members, the senior GOP source said.

The White House was agitating for a vote as a capstone to a barren First 100 Days. A week ago, House leaders decided not to try to ram the bill through just to meet the arbitrary deadline. But despite another perceived failure, the process was "100 percent still alive," one senior GOP aide said.

Questions still lingered about pre-existing conditions -- resulting in Rep. Fred Upton's bombshell announcement that he would vote no, a brick wall that could have again blocked the GOP's efforts.

But after a meeting with the President alongside his colleague Billy Long of Missouri and a guarantee that funding for high risk pools would rise from $5 billion to $8 billion, Upton came on board. Though Democrats and many policy experts say $8 billion is a drop in the bucket of the cash needed to fund high risk pools, Upton's decision was crucial.

"It gave our guys a clear-cut reason to get to yes," one senior GOP aide said.

By Wednesday night, less than 12 hours after the full details emerged of the latest change to a seemingly ever evolving, always-rejected piece of legislation, Republican leaders met in Ryan's office. They didn't have a solid 216 yes votes, aides say. But they were close. Close enough to force the issue.

"It was time -- we felt it was moving in the right direction, but we also knew we'd hit a point of no return," one person directly involved in the process said.

Thursday, it was clear the play had paid off. They were locking in votes. Pledges from the Department of Health and Human Services helped flip two members. Leadership guarantees of future legislation brought along another. Ryan, who generally eschews the hard, one-on-one sell with wavering members, did just that, several times, one source said.

Implicit in all of it was protection --- in the form of supportive GOP groups come campaign time --- that would be there in spades for endangered members who went along, several sources said.

One member in the conference meeting, where colleagues were greeted by the theme tune from "Rocky" and snapshots of General George S. Patton, as well as McSally's rallying call, said the tone of Ryan's message to his troops was simple: "It's time to roll."

Trump waited for the vote in typical style: by tweeting.

"If victorious, Republicans will be having a big press conference at the beautiful Rose Garden of the White House immediately after vote!" he wrote Thursday afternoon.

And after weeks of misfires that exposed his inexperience in wooing Congress, he got his win.

"Coming from a different world, and only being a politician for a short period of time, how am I doing? Am I doing OK? I'm President. Hey, I'm President, do you believe it, right?" he crowed in the Rose Garden.

Months ago many of those beaming Republican leaders behind Trump had not believed it or in him. There had been whispers that Trump's loose tongue revealed his ignorance about what was in the bill and made compromise harder.

But by Thursday afternoon, Trump was pouring praise on Ryan and his crew, and it did seem that, in the President's words, the party had "developed a bond."

A White House official told CNN that Trump had kept up an intense push behind the scenes, ensuring that aides supported MacArthur and Meadows as they sought common ground and tasking HHS Secretary Tom Price with briefing wavering members on Medicaid funding.

He and Ryan swapped notes in multiple late night phone calls.

"The President's been incredibly engaged in this process, particularly over the last several days," deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

For all his ham-fisted interventions, Trump has evolved through the health care process, aides believe. He now knows artificial deadlines cut no ice in Congress.

He's also learned the legislative process is more complex than the business world after running for office proclaiming his deal-making skills would take Washington by storm.

"It's not so cut and dry here," one aide said, explaining Trump's thinking. "There's so many more players involved and everybody has something that they want."

Still, you can't take the businessman out of the President -- he still prizes the personal touch, the person said.

Trump's flexibility likely helped too.

"This president probably has more philosophic dexterity than most of the presidents I've dealt with in the past," said South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford, who voted for the bill. "That makes it a little bit different because typically there is sort of a fixed starting point or a fixed ending point on where an administration might be."

As the votes rolled in, Trump's coterie gathered in the dining room off the Oval Office, among them, Pence, Price, Trump's daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner, top Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, adviser Steve Bannon, counselor Kellyanne Conway, press aide Hope Hicks, political aide Dan Scavino and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma.

It felt like election night all over again. "We were all overjoyed and he was very docile, frankly. Very hopeful but not prematurely celebrating. We saw the same thing today," one official said.

While Trump took the plaudits, many players in the drama spoke approvingly of Pence.

Even Dent, who voted against the bill, praised the Vice President's soft sell technique.

"He wanted to work with me. Very civil, very constructive meeting as you would expect from Mike Pence," Dent recalled. "I always get the sense that Mike Pence is the velvet glove, the soft touch. The good cop."

"He knows how to talk to people," he added.

Pence threw himself into the renewed push to pass health care soon after returning from a marathon trip to Asia. He was all over Capitol Hill over the last few days, forming a partnership with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who roamed the House floor as the vote went ahead.

Pence's ubiquity did not go unnoticed.

A Capitol Police officer was overheard telling a colleague how he doesn't like the days when Pence is on the Hill because he likes to mingle so many members, the responsibility of protecting him becomes even more intense.

In 2010, then-Vice President Joe Biden called Obamacare a "big f***ing deal. His sentiments were similar, for other reasons, on Thursday.

"Day of shame in Congress. Protections for pre-existing conditions, mental health, maternity care, addiction services -- all gone," Biden tweeted.

Cries of "shame, shame, shame," greeted GOP lawmakers as they walked down the ornate steps on the East Front of the Capitol.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned the GOP: "You have every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. You will glow in the dark on this one."

But all may not be lost yet for the Democrats. The bill must go now to the Senate, and it emerged Thursday that the chamber will only use the House bill as a skeleton before writing its own legislation.

Now, House members are going home, where protesters and raucous town halls certainly await.

There is a feeling of accomplishment, several members acknowledged, that so far is a novelty in the new Republican era. They know what is ahead, and are ready.

"We know the fight that's coming," one senior GOP aide said. "We want that fight."

CNN's Dana Bash, Jeff Zeleny, Jim Acosta, MJ Lee and Athena Jones contributed to this report.

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How Trump won another unlikely victory - CNN

Donald Trump removed a tweet from his personal Twitter account on Thursday in which he said it was an honor to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.

The pair held a joint press conference on Wednesday, trading pleasantries and expressing their shared desire to strike a deal that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

An honor to host President Mahmoud Abbas at the WH today. Hopefully something terrific could come out [of] it between the Palestinians and Israel, Trump wrote.

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Alongside the tweet was a two-minute video that showed Trump meeting Abbas, the president speaking alongside Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about the peace process and shaking hands with the Palestinian leader.

But just 13 hours after being posted, the tweet was removed.

It is not clear whether Trump deleted the tweet because it was too positive a comment about his Palestinian counterpart and therefore risked provoking the ire of the Israelis or because it was missing a word. A similar post on Trumps Facebook page remains in place.

But whether the deletion was a slight against Abbas or an attempt to hide an error, Palestinian officials say the removal is not a good sign.

An official from the Palestine Liberation Organization, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the issue, tells Newsweek it could be an indication of whats coming.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, after his arrival for a meeting at the White House. Trump deleted a tweet that said it was an "honor" to meet the Palestinian leader. Mark Wilson/Getty

He was referring to the likelihood that Trump would make good on his threat to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelsona key donor to Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuis reportedly increasingly angry about Trumps slow progress on the campaign pledge.

After appearing to put the proposal on the backburner following his January 20 inauguration, Trumps Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that the president was still giving serious consideration to the controversial move.

The tweet about Mahmoud Abbas that Donald Trump deleted after his meeting with the Palestinian leader at the White House. Screengrab / Twitter

The president of the United States, as we speak, is giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he said, speaking at an event to celebrate Israels Independence Day.

Read more: Trump says peace in the Middle East is not as difficult as people have thought

It is a move that Arab leaders and members of the U.S. security establishment are concerned will inflame tensions on the Arab street. Muslims view the contested holy site in Jerusalem, which they refer to as the Noble Sanctuary and that Jews call the Temple Mount, as the third most important in Islam. Jews view Jerusalem as its eternal capital and the holy site as the center of their faith.

Moving the embassy would see the U.S. essentially recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, upturning decades of policy that dictated the status of the city only be decided through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

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Donald Trump Deletes Tweet Calling Mahmoud Abbas Meeting 'an Honor' - Newsweek

President Trump has made several history-related gaffes since taking office. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

PresidentTrump loves history.

He loves mentioning it, imagining his place in it, declaring someone (or something) to be the best or the worst init.

It's important, Trump has said, to learn from the past.

And why not? After all, as the Spanish philosopher George Santayana wrote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

But Trump's first few months as president have been peppered with signs that he and his inner circle may not have an in-depth understanding of historical events.

Trump, as our first president with no prior political or military experience, had more to learn than anyone before him, The Washington Post's James Hohmannwrote last month. Not only does he lack a lot of historical knowledge, he is also missing institutional memory.

In his Daily 202 newsletter, Hohmann offereda robust roundup of examples of Trump's history-related gaffes since taking office.

He mentioned Abraham Lincoln during a fundraising dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee last month. Most people don't even know he was a Republican, Trump said. Does anyone know? Lot of people don't know that! (Most likely, every person in the ballroom knew and has attended at least one Lincoln Day dinner.)

On Lincolns birthday in February, Trump tweeted out an obviously fake quote from the 16th president: In the end, its not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years. He later deleted it.

Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody whos done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice, he said at a Black History Month event. (Douglass died in 1895.)

Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony? he asked at a Womens History Month reception in March.

In January, Trump said Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) who is best known for almost getting beaten to death as he marched on Bloody Sunday in Selma is all talk, talk, talk no action or results. There are things Lewis could be fairly criticized for, but no one who knows anything about the civil rights movement would agree that being all talk is one of them.

And so on.

[Trump is learning and sometimes mislearning the lessons of the presidency]

On Monday, questions about Trump's grasp of history resurfaced when he made head-scratching (and historically inaccurate) claims about Andrew Jackson's feelings toward the Civil War in an interview with the Washington Examiner's Salena Zito.

In that exchange, Trump seemed to suggest that the Civil War might have been prevented if Jackson had been involved.

I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War, Trump told Zito. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There's no reason for this.' People don't realize, you know, the Civil War if you think about it, why? People don't ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

As many pointed out,Jackson couldn't have prevented the Civil War or been angry about it because he wasn't alive then. Jackson diedin 1845, more than a decade before the Civil War began in 1861.

That didn't stop Trump from taking to Twitter to double down on his statement.

And Jackson biographerJon Meacham said on Morning Joe that Trump had once bragged to him that he could have done a deal to avoid the Civil War.

It wasn't the first time Trump has pushed back on historical record.

[Memo to Donald Trump: Thomas Jefferson invented hating the media]

In 2015, the New York Times reported on a curious plaque that had been erected between the 14th and 15th holes of Trump's newly renovated golf course in Virginia, with the following message inscribed:

Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot. The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as The River of Blood. It is my great honor to have preserved this important section of the Potomac River! -Donald John Trump

After historians pointed out that there had been no such Civil War battles at that location, Trump pushed back.

How would they know that? Trump asked a Times reporter then. Were they there?

He finally told the same reporter: Write your story the way you want to write it. ... You dont have to talk to anybody. It doesnt make any difference. But many people were shot. It makes sense.

The Times noted: In a phone interview, Mr. Trump called himself a 'a big history fan' but deflected, played down and then simply disputed the local historians assertions of historical fact.

There have been all sorts of famous gaffes by presidents,said James Grossman, the executive director of the American Historical Association. In most cases, if the mistake was brought to their attention, there was some kind of an official statement saying yeah, this was wrong or whatever.

Trump has proved unique in that his almost dismissive attitude toward historical data and evidence goes against most people who have reached the high ranks of decision-makers, he said. Those in the military rely heavily on history, as do economists. Lawyers gather evidence and scientists conduct experiments to collect data.

Historians are no different, Grossman said, analyzing physical evidence, records, archives, memoirs, archaeological objects and letters.

We check things; that's what we do, Grossman said. Any time you see any kind of evidence, one of the things that you're doing is you're evaluating the quality of the evidence.

[Thomas Jefferson and the fascinating history of Founding Fathers defending Muslim rights]

Even an undergrad history student would have questioned the plaque at Trump's golf course, he added but at least that didn't have public policy implications.

The Jackson stuff on Monday is different, Grossman said. In that case, where he was wrong deeply, deeply matters for public policy and public culture. It's important that we know that the Civil War was fought over slavery. It's important to know that it wouldn't have been good to make a dealunless that deal had freed the slaves, which obviously wasn't going to happen.

For Trump, when his views don't align with historians' conclusions, it sometimes makes sense to side with his personal gut, even if that means going against the record.

And he has certainly expressed skepticism when it comes to experts before.

Experts can't see the forest for the trees, Trump told The Post's Marc Fisherlast summer, in a conversation that mostly focused on his reading habits, or lack thereof. Trump, on the other hand, said he relied on instinct. A lot of people said, Man, he was more accurate than guys who have studied it all the time, he told Fisher.

The then-presidential candidate also statedthat he doesn't read much nor does he feel the need to, because he makes decisions with very little knowledge other than the knowledge I had, plus the words common sense, because I have a lot of common sense and I have a lot of business ability.

(Fisher noted that as Trump was preparing to be named the Republican nominee for president, he had not read any biographies of presidents. But, Fisher wrote:He said he would like to someday.)

One telling example of Trump's cavalier botching of history came when the History Channel invited him to appear as an expert in a 2012 episode of The Men Who Built America, a series on the Industrial Revolution.

Though he was on the screen only briefly, Trump delivered his contribution to the segment with confidence.

Andrew Carnegie was somebody that I think in terms of because I do buildings, Trump said on the show. And he really came up with the mass production of steel. He was the first and the biggest by far, by a factor of 30 times. And what he built was unbelievable and just got bigger and bigger and bigger.

[Hunting down runaway slaves: The cruel ads of Andrew Jackson and the master class]

Even in those few lines, there were factual issues. It was Sir Henry Bessemer who invented the first process to mass-produced steel known as the Bessemer process in England in the 1800s. Carnegie adapted the process for his business needs and, in the process, became the richest man in America.

He did not invent a steelmaking process,the American Historical Association's Grossman said of Carnegie. Often, invents something, but the first person who actually figures out how to use it in business is actually the one who makes tons of money.

It's unclear whether Trump ever corrected or clarified his input on the History Channel show, or whether he would ever have any incentive to do such a thing.

If those who ignore the past are indeed doomed to repeat it, Trump only has to study his own personal history to realize where his murky handling of historical facts has gotten him so far: to the White House.

Read more:

Is President Obamas glass houses scripture reference in the Bible? Not exactly.

Struggling to attract visitors, Virginia's historic houses may face day of reckoning

The fake news that haunted George Washington

A ship full of refugees fleeing the Nazis once begged the U.S. for entry. They were turned back.

Trump just reached his 100th day in office. Heres why the 'ridiculous standard' doesnt matter.

See more here:

Donald Trump says he's a big fan of history. But he doesn't seem to trust historians. - Washington Post

Donald Trump supported me during the worst crisis and most vulnerable moment in my life, defending my innocence when I was on trial in Italy for murder. He is now the president of the United States and reportedly very upset with me because I didnt vote for him.

Do I owe him my loyalty?

Trumps remarks were reported by the New York Times in a profile of his neighbor George Guido Lombardi. Yet I received negative backlash from his supporters even before Lombardis comments were published. They felt that I owed Trump my allegiance and were outraged at columns I wrote in which I criticized his policies and explained my reasons for endorsing Hillary Clinton. One person commented:

Im sorry I ever supported you. You have turned into a left wing lunatic. I see your experience in Italy has left you completely ungrateful to be an American. Donald Trump stood by you, but now you turn around and indirectly attack him? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Another wrote that, while I neednt endorse Trump, my criticism of him wasnt nice.

The message was clear: Trump defended me in the past; how dare I not defend him now? Never mind that Trump doesnt share my values. If I wont endorse him, at the very least I should keep my left-wing lunacies to myself.

This conviction is both undemocratic and dangerous. Just as a persons support of me should not be based upon my politics or identity, hinging instead on the fact of my innocence, so should my politics hinge on the merits of policy, not personal loyalty.

In The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt describes loyalty as one of the moral foundations that conservatives feel more strongly than liberals. Its part of what makes morality a force that binds and blinds. Loyalty can bind people together under a common cause, but it can also blind people as to whether or not their cause is just.

I discovered just how blinding loyalty could be when, in December 2009, an Italian court convicted me of a murder I didnt commit. That judgment rested heavily on the courts bias in favor of the prosecution, which represented the Italian people and the Italian state, over the defense, which represented a foreigner.

This is loyalty taken too far. And it calls to mind the party-over-policy approach that currently plagues our own politics.

Yes, Trump donated to my defense. And yes, Trump defended my innocence, recognizing that coercive interrogations produce false testimony authored by the interrogators themselves, a well-studied and documented fact.

But Trump claimed the exact opposite in the Central Park Five case, calling for the death penalty even though the accused teens rape convictions rested solely on coerced false confessions. Even now he views them as guilty, years after they were exonerated based on DNA evidence.

Trump recognized me as a fellow American who deserved to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, but he condemned the Central Park Five as other guilty until proven innocent. Loyalty motivated Trump to call for all Americans to boycott Italy, even though, ironically, it only served to amplify anti-American sentiment in the courtroom, stacking the deck against me.

There is a kind of loyalty I wholeheartedly support: loyalty to our ideals of due process, equal protection under the law, the freedom to speak ones mind and to vote according to ones principles. Only in banana republics do political leaders dole out favors to citizens in exchange for their silence and their vote. By holding personal loyalty above all else, Trump and some of his supporters create a political environment where reason and justice hold little sway. He was probably right when he said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose voters thats what happens when personal loyalty is paramount.

I know many Republicans who recognized the danger of Trumps worldview, and broke party loyalty this past election. My dad was one of them. Its to their credit that they could be critical of their own party for the sake of the country.

And its to Italys credit that the Italian Supreme Court ruled against the popular opinion of the Italian people when they acquitted me. I owe my freedom to those people who saw reason beyond loyalty.

What do I owe Trump? A thank you for his well-intentioned, if undiplomatic, support. So for the record: Thank you, Mr. President.

But the more important question is, what do I owe my country? Civic engagement, careful consideration of issues that affect my fellow citizens, and support for policies that deserve support, even if it makes the president very upset.

Amanda Knox is the author of Waiting to be Heard: A Memoir.

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Amanda Knox: Donald Trump supported me when I was wrongly accused of murder. What do I owe him? - Los Angeles Times

Updated| U.S. President Donald Trump told Palestinian leaders visiting the White House Wednesday that he does not think achieving peace in the Middle East will be as difficult as previously thought.

Sitting down to lunch with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior U.S. and Palestinian officials, Trump said securing a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians after more than six decades of conflict was "frankly maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years."

He added that he believed both parties were willing to negotiate. We need two willing parties. We believe Israel is willing, we believe you're willing, and if you both are willing, we're going to make a deal," he said, according to Reuters.

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Immediately after his meeting in the Oval Office with Abbasthe first time the two men have metTrump said he would "to do whatever is necessary" to broker a peace deal. He said he would act as mediator between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Read More: Trump seriously considering moving U.S. Embassy To Jerusalem: Pence

"I'm committed to working with Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement," Trump said, in comments released by the White House. But any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or by any other nation. The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace."

In his first reaction to the White House meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday thatPalestinians name their schools after mass murderers of Israelis and they pay terrorists.

Netanyahu criticized Abbas for telling Trump that Palestinians sought to impart a culture of peace to their children, the Times of Israel reported. The Israeli prime minister remarked the statement was unfortunately not true.

Netanyahu, who met Trump in Washington in February, said Thursday he fervently shares the U.S. presidents commitment to advancing peace.

I hope that its possible to achieve a change and to pursue a genuine peace. This is something Israel is always ready for. Im always ready for genuine peace, Netanyahu said,before a sit-down with Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu.

Of all the U.S. presidents that have tried and failed to solve the Middle Easts most intractable conflict, Bill Clinton was perhaps the most successful; he brought together Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1993 to sign the Oslo Accords.

In 1995, Rabin was assassinated by a radical right-wing Israeli for his role in the deal and by 2000 the Second Intifada'uprising in Englishled to open warfare between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza. In November 2004, Yasser Arafat died in a Paris hospital after falling ill during a protracted siege of his compound in Ramallah by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

U.S. President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrive to deliver a statement at the White House in Washington D.C., U.S., May 3, 2017. Carlos Barria/REUTERS

In January 2008, George W. Bush called on Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and predicted that a peace deal would be signed before he left office. But by the time Barack Obama took over the following year, talks had reached another stalemate.

As Secretary of State from 2013, John Kerry was optimistic about securing a deal until talks broke down in April 2014. The war in Gaza broke out just months later.

Trumps attitude to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been inconsistent since he took office in January.

In a February meeting with Netanyahu he appeared to drop Washingtons longstanding commitment to eventually reaching a two-state solutionunder which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel and angered Palestinians by threatening to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

But he also invited Abbas and his cabinet to Washington and has been outspoken in his criticism of Israel over its settlement building in the West Bank.

Following his meeting with Trump, Abbas reiterated his demands for a Palestinian state based on borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War, with its capital in East Jerusalem.

This article has been updated to include comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

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Donald Trump Says Peace in the Middle East Is 'Not as Difficult as People Have Thought' - Newsweek

Donald Trump in his 5th Avenue living room in New York City, 2005.

By Alex Webb/Magnum Photos.

What subject was Donald Trump good at in elementary school, do we think? Hes proved weak on history and has betrayed an unconventional sense of syntax. He is very good at writing his name. Nowor once again, ratherits clear math is more of a creative activity than a precise one. Forbes took a moment to fact-check a claim that Trump made while he was still on the campaign trail in 2015 regarding his Trump Tower residence.

At the time, Trump claimed the apartment was 33,000 square feet total and was worth at least $200 million. He told Forbes, I own the top three floorsthe whole floor, times three! The publication found that following some expansion in the 90s, Trumps residence has maintained an underwhelming size of 10,996 square feet, which, much like his hands, is about a third of what he says it is.

The tower itself is 10 floors shorter than it actually is, due to some height fudging on Trumps part in the early 80s, according to a recent New York Times piece. The presidents proprietary take on math is here:

Though the tower was built with 58 floors, Mr. Trump later explained to The New York Times that because there was a soaring pink marble atrium and 19 commercial floors at the bottom, he could see no good reason not to list the first residential floor as the 30th floor. The pinnacle became the 68ththe height that appears in marketing materials, online search results and news articles to this day.

So the exact height of the presidents tall tales is 10 stories. This has become a sort of real-estate practice that the city, developers, and residence all buy into from then on, according to the Times. Yes, Trump once pioneered a mutually agreed upon delusion that is all smoke and no substance for an entire industry.

Vanity Fair has reached out to the presidents team for confirmation.

See the article here:

Donald Trump May Have Exaggerated the Size of Something Else - Vanity Fair

"The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert stood steadfast Wednesday during his opening monologue while addressing the controversy surrounding a joke he made about President Donald Trump.

Colbert had joked about Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump engaging in oral sex, setting off a firestorm on Twitter.

The comments, which some interpreted as homophobic, birthed #FireColbert as a Twitter trend and a call from conservative viewers and Trump supporters to boycott Colbert's advertisers. The hashtag has been tweeted approximately 350,000 times since Tuesday.

As Wednesday night's show began, Colbert first had to double check that he was still, in fact, host of the comedy program.

"Welcome to The Late Show. I'm your host Stephen Colbert. Still? Am I still the host?" Colbert asked at the beginning of the monologue.

He then triumphantly announced, "I'm still the host!"

Colbert, tackled the accusations of homophobia, saying anyone who expresses authentic displays of love is an "American hero."

"Life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person in their own way is, to me, an American hero," Colbert said, adding he hoped that was the one thing he and the president could agree on.

Colbert made the controversial joke on Monday, saying that Trump had insulted a friend of his. Colbert was referring to CBS News' chief Washington correspondent John Dickerson. Trump had seemingly cut short an interview with Dickerson, which aired on Monday prior to the Late Show's taping.

Colbert frequently talks about and derides Trump in his opening monologues, criticizing the president's policies and statements, but for many, Colbert's remarks on Monday night were a step too far.

On Tuesday, Colbert, his Twitter account and representatives for the show made no remarks about the joke, according to the Washington Post, staying quiet as the backlash seeped through social media.

"This would be a fireable offense in better times. Worst thing about many Trump critics is they use him as an excuse to act as awful or worse," T. Becket Adams, a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner, tweeted.

Glenn Greenwald, of The Intercept, called Colbert's remarks "homophobic."

"Homophobia for the right cause, with the right targets, is good homophobia, apparently," Greenwald wrote.

As the #FireColbert hashtag spread, the website firecolbert.com and the Twitter account @FireColbert sprung up.

Although admitting he would have used a few different words, Colbert stood behind his Monday night remarks.

"I believe he can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it's a fair fight," Colbert said.

CBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment and it is unclear if any of the Late Show's advertisers have been affected by the backlash.

Continued here:

Stephen Colbert Defends Donald Trump Jokes After Controversy Erupted - NBCNews.com

Donald J. Trump For President, Inc. Why Now?

On November 8, 2016, the American People delivered a historic victory and took our country back. This victory was the result of a Movement to put America first, to save the American economy, and to make America once again a shining city on the hill. But our Movement cannot stop now - we still have much work to do.

This is why our Campaign Committee, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., is still here.

We will provide a beacon for this historic Movement as our lights continue to shine brightly for you - the hardworking patriots who have paid the price for our freedom. While Washington flourished, our American jobs were shipped overseas, our families struggled, and our factories closed - that all ended on January 20, 2017.

This Campaign will be a voice for all Americans, in every city near and far, who support a more prosperous, safe and strong America. Thats why our Campaign cannot stop now - our Movement is just getting started.

Together, we will Make America Great Again!

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Make America Great Again! | Donald J Trump for President