President Trump announces a rally in Harrisburg Pennsylvania for Saturday April 29th at 7:30pm. In addition to being the 100th day of the Trump administration, it is also the same night as the self-congratulating White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington DC.
Too funny. Subtle, like a brick through a window.
President Trump delivers the weekly address from the White House for April 21st 2017:
[Transcript] My Fellow Americans,
A new optimism is sweeping our country as we return power from Washington and give it back to the American People, where it belongs.
For too long, American workers were forgotten by their government – and I mean totally forgotten. Their interests were pushed aside for global projects, and their wealth was taken from their communities and shipped across the world, all across the seas.
Vice President Mike Pence is in Australia today and will be attending a joint press conference with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at 9:30pm tonight (U.S Eastern).
PM Turnbull previously began the relationship with the Trump administration poorly by attempting to paint President Trump into a corner on accepting illegal immigrants. The relationship did not get off to a good start. This presser might be interesting.
UPDATE: Video Added. Yes, it was interesting. Toward the end of the presser Pence was asked about the controversial illegal immigrant deal. Pence said POTUS Trump “out of respect, would live up to the deal“, but also added “that doesn’t mean he admires the deal”.
Prime Minister Turnbull sure is a weasely fella. Put Barack Obama and Ted Cruz into a blender, mix them up, reconstitute, and you just about get a Malcolm Turnbull. A Sketchy talker with a creepy deceitful, stab-you-in-the-back kinda vibe…
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis was in Israel earlier today where he participated in a joint press conference with Israeli Defense Minister Liberman.
President Trump visited the Treasury Department today so sign one executive order and two presidential memorandums.
The executive order requires Treasury to identify and lessen burdens from tax regulations issued in 2016. The two memorandum focus on examining and possibly revisiting two areas of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law in an effort to remove the regulatory and compliance burdens on smaller banks.
When Dodd-Frank was instituted it was sold to the electorate as a bill to stop banks from becoming too big to fail, there were 12 massive banks under that definition. The goal was to create more national banks. Since passage those ‘too big to fail banks‘ have become even bigger. Twelve banks, are now five even bigger banks. Go figure.
[Transcript] 2:55 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Steve. Great honor, I must say. It’s a great pleasure to be at the United States Treasury Department and to meet so many dedicated public servants.
I went through that beautiful hallway where those incredible paintings of past secretaries, and it was really very interesting. I want to read every one, I want to learn about every one of them, but we have one that I hope will go down as one of the greats. I think Hamilton is tough to beat, but maybe you can do that too. We’ll take it, right? But thank you very much.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney appears on Bloomberg News to discuss the seismic, epic, thundershock confrontational clash that is about to take place between the Trump administration and the DC UniParty.
There are no adjectives capable of describing the scope and immeasurable scale of the battle that is about to transpire between the White House and the Democrat/Republican UniParty.
MONEY is where every entity within the full-swamp goes nuclear against President Trump and the administration. Despite all prior discussions toward this end, it is doubtful that more than one-in-a-million people can fully grasp the dynamic at play.
Because the procedural wonk is so inherently riddled with ten thousand tentacles of political schematics, I will defray the wonk-speak until after the video.
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If you are interested in deep political weeds, keep reading. However, if you have blood pressure issues or are concerned about your physical or mental health, STOP HERE and go enjoy life. Believe me.
Prior to departing Indonesia (Day #5/#6) to begin a visit in Australia (Day #6/#7), Vice-President Pence delivered remarks at ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Indonesia.
Vice-President Pence fostered a spirit of goodwill, cooperation and endeared the administration by mentioning “Kartini Day“. Kartini Day is an Indonesian holiday commemorating the birth in 1879 of Raden Ajeng Kartini, one of the country’s national heroes and a pioneer in the emancipation of Indonesian women. Throughout Indonesia women wear their national dress to symbolize their unity, and the nation enjoys parades, lectures, and various school activities.
Further acknowledging the presence of female minister of foreign affairs Retno Marsudi, ex trade minister Mari Pangeatu, and businesswoman Shinta Kamdani. Warm, diplomatic subtleties not missed by the Indonesian people and President Joko Widodo.
During a press conference yesterday with Italian President Gentiloni, President Trump was asked about the future U.S. role Libya.
QUESTION: President Trump, do you see a role for your administration in helping stabilizing Libya? And do you agree that stabilizing Libya means combating terrorism and ISIS?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I do not see a role in Libya. I think the United States has right now enough roles. We’re in a role everywhere. So I do not see that. I do see a role in getting rid of ISIS. We’re being very effective in that regard. We are doing a job, with respect to ISIS, that has not been done anywhere near the numbers that we’re producing right now. It’s a very effective force we have. We have no choice. It’s a horrible thing to say, but we have no choice. And we are effectively ridding the world of ISIS. I see that as a primary role, and that’s what we’re going to do, whether it’s in Iraq or in Libya or anywhere else. And that role will come to an end at a certain point, and we’ll be able to go back home and rebuild our country, which is what I want to do.”
President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi began a diplomatic friendship in September ’16 before the U.S. election. Two weeks ago President al-Sisi visited the White House and both leaders warmly praised the relationship established.
[…] “I fully trust the capabilities of President Trump … he can succeed in so many fields that others cannot. I trust him wholeheartedly.”…
As a gesture of the shift in relationship between the U.S. and Egypt, and at the request of President Trump, President al-Sisi’s administration released two imprisoned aide workers. They arrived back in the U.S. late last night.
Maintaining a diplomatic approach, President Trump speaks little about the event except to express appreciation for the release.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and DHS Secretary John Kelly visited the Southern border today and paused for an interview with Martha MacCallum:
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Almost simultaneously, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney gave an interview to the Associated Press where he outlines the White House priorities for the upcoming ‘bridge budget’ bill. The short-term budget (May through Sept 30th) is needed because congress never passed a budget from 2008 through 2017, and a continuing resolution spending bill expires on April 30th.
