Even though the U.S. President called it "an incredible offer"
Tag: Donald J. Trump
👓 Trump Putin summit: John McCain and Republicans attack Donald Trump for trusting Putin, ignoring FBI | Quartz
"Our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad."
👓 The Mueller Indictments | National Review
When twelve Russian intelligence operatives are indicted, the only response from the White House is to gloat that none of this proves collusion.
👓 On July 4th Eve, Jeff Sessions Quietly Rescinds a Bunch of Protections for Minorities | Law and Crime
On July 3, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DOJ was “rescinding 24 guidance documents that were unnecessary, outdated, inconsistent with existing law, or otherwise improper.” Curiously enough, each point of guidance, document or tool rescinded by Sessions — in line with recommendations from Regulatory Reform Task Forces established by President Donald Trump — was initially drafted to offer basic legal and political understanding to various and distinct minority groups, broadly defined, throughout the United States.
👓 White House scrambles to figure out how prankster got on the phone with Trump | Politico
The person inside the White House said the call was routed to the president by the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.
👓 Court rules children facing deportation have no right to court-appointed lawyer | The Hill
Immigrant children who enter the country illegally with their parents have no right to a government-appointed lawyer in court, an appeals court ruled Monday
🎧 ‘The Daily’: What Trump Gave Kim | New York Times
In a joint statement, President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, committed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Why is a seemingly significant promise being dismissed by critics as meaningless?
On today’s episode:
• Nicholas Kristof, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times who writes about human rights and global affairs, and who has repeatedly traveled to North Korea.
Background reading:
• The summit meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim yielded a vaguely worded joint statement in which both parties agreed to work toward peace, but offered few details on how they planned to move forward.
• In a news conference after the meeting, Mr. Trump announced that the United States would halt joint military exercises with South Korea, a decision that appeared to catch both the Pentagon and South Korean officials off-guard.
• The president’s concessions to North Korea may vastly outweigh their returns, Mr. Kristof writes in an Op-Ed. Lawmakers in both parties have noted that it remains unclear what, if anything, has been gained by the U.S.
• The encounter between the two leaders was rich in spectacle — and in ambiguity. Here are 10 takeaways from the event.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: A Historic Handshake | New York Times
For the first time ever, a sitting president of the United States has met with a North Korean leader. Was the handshake between President Trump and Kim Jong-un a beginning or an end?
On today’s episode:
• Mark Landler, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, who is reporting on the summit meeting from Singapore.
Background reading:
• In an encounter that seemed unthinkable just months ago, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met face-to-face for the first time in Singapore on Tuesday morning. Here are live updates and photographs from the meeting.
• Among the issues on the table were the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War and economic relief for North Korea.
👓 Trump Leaves His Mark on a Presidential Keepsake | New York Times
Under President Trump, once stately medallions have gotten glitzier, and at least one featured a Trump property. Ethics watchdogs are worried.
👓 I’ve Been Reporting on MS-13 for a Year. Here Are the 5 Things Trump Gets Most Wrong. | ProPublica
The gang is not invading the country. They’re not posing as fake families. They’re not growing. To stop them, the government needs to understand them.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Truth Behind #WhereAreTheChildren | New York Times
The United States government lost track of nearly 1,500 undocumented children in the last three months of 2017, giving rise to claims that they had been separated from their families at the border. What does the confusion reveal about President Trump’s approach to immigration?
On today’s episode:
• Caitlin Dickerson, a national immigration reporter for The New York Times.
Background reading:
• An official with the Department of Health and Human Services said that the agency had not been able to contact 1,475 migrant children it had placed with sponsors in the United States. The children had entered the country as unaccompanied minors; many were fleeing violence in Central America.
• The Trump administration says it separates immigrant families only when necessary to protect the child. But the government’s own figures show this has happened in more than 700 cases.
• The number of children who were unaccounted for was conflated with the number of children who been separated from their guardians in a public outcry that gave rise to hashtags like #WhereAreTheChildren.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: What Trump Learned From Clinton’s Impeachment | New York Times
Twenty years ago, President Bill Clinton survived impeachment after casting himself as the target of partisan motives. What lessons has President Trump gleaned from that strategy?
On today’s episode:
• Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, who covered the investigation and impeachment of Mr. Clinton.
[READ: When the President Testified: People in the Room Recall Clinton’s 1998 Interrogation]
Background reading:
• Mr. Trump has assailed the Russia investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt” brought about by Democrats who oppose his presidency. The partisan narrative bears similarities to the one promulgated by Mr. Clinton and his supporters during the inquiry into whether he had lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky; Hillary Clinton characterized the matter as a “vast, right-wing conspiracy” against her husband.
• How will the president fare in the Russia investigation? Here’s a look at several possible outcomes, including a finding of no wrongdoing, impeachment and indictment.
• Some Republicans are seizing on the specter of impeachment to energize voters ahead of midterm elections, and Democrats are divided on how to respond.
• Several people who were in the room with Mr. Clinton during his grand jury testimony on Aug. 17, 1998 recall their experience of his interrogation.
👓 The Terrible Arguments Against the Constitutionality of the Mueller Investigation | LawFare Blog
There is no serious argument that Robert Mueller’s appointment violates the Constitution.
👓 Trump has spent more visiting Mar-a-Lago than Mueller has on Russia probe | The Hill
President Trump has spent more in taxpayer dollars on frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida than special counsel Robert Mueller's office has spent on the Russia investigation so far.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: When Democratic Newcomers Challenge the Party Line | New York Times
Alarm over the election of Donald Trump spurred dozens of first-time candidates to run for Congress. Some of those candidates now present a problem for the Democratic Party.
On today’s episode:
• Mai Khanh Tran, a Democratic candidate for a United States House seat in California.
• Alexander Burns, who covers national politics for The New York Times.
Background reading:
• National Democrats, fearing that crowded rosters of primary candidates could fracture the party, have begun to intervene by urging some to bow out of the election.
• The party views the California midterms as a particular risk. The state’s nonpartisan primary system — in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation — could propel two Republican candidates to the November race.
• Here’s what to watch for in the California primaries, which take place on Tuesday.