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Considering former FBI Director James Comey testified lastThursdaythat the president was a liar, last weekwasn't particularly great for Donald Trump. And this week isn't off to a great start for the president, either.

Trump's approval rating sunk to just 36 percent in the latest Gallup daily tracking pollreleased Monday. That's nearly the lowest point for Trump in the Gallup survey. Trump previously hit 35 percent approval on March 28shortly after the Republican Obamacare replacement, the American Health Care Act,failed before the House of Representatives could even take a vote.

Trump's disapproval rating, meanwhile, has ticked upward to tie the president'srecord-high of 59 percent, according to Monday's Gallup survey. He previously hit 59 percent disapproval in the Gallup tracking pollon March 28.

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Gallup tracks Americans feelings on the president daily, measuring approval and disapproval through telephone interviews of 1,500 national adults. The survey hada margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Trump's approval rating has steadily trended downward since he took office and most recently took a dipafterthe president's decision to fire Comey and anud continued revelations related to the investigation into his administration's potential connections with Russia. FiveThirtyEight's weighted average of Trump's approval had him at just 38 percent Monday, the lowest mark of his presidency. His disapproval average in the FiveThirtyEight tracker hit56 percent, thehighest mark yet.

The beginning of Trump's tenure in the White House has proven historically unpopular. Typically speaking, presidents are given a grace period of sorts during which Americans typically gift them a good approval rating. At this point in his first term, for instance, Obama's approval rating stoop at about 61 percent, according to Gallup. While Trump did briefly rise above former President Bill Clinton'sapproval rating at the same point in his first term, thatvictory proved to be short-lived. According to FiveThirtyEight's tracker, Clinton's approval rating in 1993 on day 144where Trump is nowwas2.1 percentage points better than theformer reality star's approval.

Trump also hit a new lowlast week inQuinnipiac University's survey, his approval rating coming in at just34 percent. The poll was full of bad resultsfor Trump, including the fact that 40 percent of voters thought his advisers had done something illegal in their interactions with Russia.

"There is zero good news for President Donald Trump in this survey, just a continual slide into a chasm of doubt about his policies and his very fitness to serve,"Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement at the time. "If this were a prizefight, some in his corner might be thinking about throwing in the towel. This is counterpuncher Donald Trump's pivotal moment to get up off the mat."

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Donald Trump's Approval Rating Sinks Further As Disapproval Hits Record High - Newsweek

Caitlyn Jenner (front) arrives for the Candlelight Dinner at Union Station in honor of President-elect Donald J. Trump, one day before Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.(Photo: ERIK S. LESSER, EPA)

Caitlyn Jenner has a growing voice in the transgender community, but it also is one that is misconstrued at times.

Part of the reason for that, Jenner concedes, could be based on her choice for president in November. Jenner, a Republican her entire life, spoke to President Trump on the campaign trail and says she felt assured he would protect the LGBT community as he promised at the Republican National Convention.

Listen, I understand the Democratic party is better on all LGBT issues, Im not an idiot, Jenner says.

For me, philosophically, Im on the Republican side. I have conservative views. But Im also trans. I would much rather convince Republicans to do better with (LGBT) issues than to try to convince Democrats to lower taxes and have less regulations and less government. I work hard, mostly behind the scenes, to change (Republicans) views. When I sit down with Republican senators, theyll tell me theyve never met a trans person before and theyll mention their faith. I explain how faith has played a big part in what I have done and am doing right now. Just sitting at the table with someone, that can change peoples minds.

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Caitlyn Jenner's growth into transgender advocate role

Jenner, who attended the Presidential Inauguration in January, says she expected Trump to reinforce the federal protection guidelines for transgender youth set in place by the Obama administration. Before Trump took office, a U.S. District Court judge blocked the Obama-scripted rules allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity. The Trump administration removed the guidelines, preferring to allow individual states to create the policy a decision Jenner describes as a crushing blow for the community shes fighting for.

When (Trump) pulled back on the Title IX (guidelines), it kind of killed It destroyed me, Jenner says. This of all cases is when we need (the government) to step in. The bottom line is bullying in schools is going to be worse, and then theres already bullying online where theres no protection, no escape. When you take away protection in schools, to be honest with you, it is devastating to these kids. These politicians say it is to protect their children in bathrooms. But young peoplewilldie. And they are transgender. Suicide rates will go up. What if thats your kid? The federal government is basically saying, you dont really exist.

I was outspoken when Trump did that. And I should be.

Jenner, right, speaks at an American Unity Fund brunch at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on July 20, 2016, on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.(Photo: Josh Lederman, AP)

Jenner, who has been fighting for transgender rights for the past two years since her own coming out, lived her life for 65 years as Bruce Jenner once the epitome of masculinity after winning the 1976 Olympic decathlongold medal. Now as a woman and member of an often-stigmatized minority group,Jenner says she wants to meet with Trump as soon as possible to help lift the curtain she believes is over his eyes.

I would try to enlighten President Trump or anyone about transgender rights that these are real issues because these are real people suffering, Jenner says. The President and so many people out there havent taken the time to meet or get to know a transgender person. They dont know the community. Its affecting so many people beneath everything.

I didnt know any transgender people before I came out, because I was afraid. I want to tell people, dont be afraid of trans people, show a little love, hear our stories. You hear people say, but its biology. Thats right. I didnt ask to be this way. Its just the way I am.

Jenners memoiropens with a quote from Milton Diamond that reads, Biology loves variation. Biology loves differences. Society hates it.

This is not an issue where you take two aspirin and wake up the next morning and itll go away, she says. No, this feeling lasts your ENTIRE LIFE. The question isnt whether itll go away, but how you choose to deal with it.

Jenner says she plans to speak this month about LGBT issues at the College Republican National Committee Convention in Washington D.C., noting that its up to the next generation to change the agenda of the Trump administration and fellow elder Republicans.

I think the best thing the Republican party can do is embrace peoples differences, Jenner says. I think it could do wonders. Itll take a couple generations to change peoples thinking, but the perception that Republicans are rich, white, evangelical Christians who are anti-LGBT could be changed. If they do it over 10-20 years, you can turn that around. You can do that with legislation, on the books, you can turn around the next generation so people dont look at the party that way that it doesnt promote (diversity).

Original post:
Caitlyn Jenner and Donald Trump's on again, off again relationship - USA TODAY

In the midst of the social media-firestorm surrounding the Public Theaters staging of Julius Caesar featuring the brutal stabbing of an orange-haired dictator, Donald Trump Jr. asked two questions Sunday on Twitter.

The same day, the National Endowment for the Arts had its answer.

A statement posted on the embattled agencys website read: The National Endowment for the Arts makes grants to nonprofit organizations for specific projects. In the past, the New York Shakespeare Festival has received project-based NEA grants to support performances of Shakespeare in the Park by the Public Theater. However, no NEA funds have been awarded to support this summers Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar and there are no NEA funds supporting the New York State Council on the Arts grant to Public Theater or its performances.

The NEA distanced itself from the controversy in a year when the endowments very existence was threatened by the budget blueprint from President Donald Trumps administration for 2018. Although funding for the agency was extended through the end of September, its future is still uncertain.

The clamor over Julius Caesar is affecting Delta Air Lines and Bank of America. Amid threats of a boycott, the businesses withdrew their sponsorship of the Public, a move that resulted in calls for a boycott from those on the other side of the debate. In the current, political environment, it seems, there is no winning.

The Public answered the second question in the younger Trumps tweet with a statement that read:

We stand completely behind our production of Julius Caesar. We recognize that our interpretation of the play has provoked heated discussion; audiences, sponsors and supporters have expressed varying viewpoints and opinions. Such discussion is exactly the goal of our civically-engaged theater; this discourse is the basis of a healthy democracy. Our production of Julius Caesar in no way advocates violence towards anyone. Shakespeare's play, and our production, make the opposite point: those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save. For over 400 years, Shakespeares play has told this story and we are proud to be telling it again in Central Park.

jessica.gelt@latimes.com

Twitter: @jessicagelt

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Originally posted here:
Donald Trump Jr. asked, the NEA answered: No funds went to Public Theater's 'Julius Caesar' - Los Angeles Times

BBC News

Ivanka condemns Donald Trump's 'vicious critics' BBC News President Trump's daughter Ivanka has criticised "the level of viciousness" her father has been subjected to. She said that it went far beyond what she was expecting. In the interview with the Fox and Friends morning TV show, she said that she had been ... Ivanka Trump: 'There is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting'CNN all 178 news articles »

Continued here:
Ivanka condemns Donald Trump's 'vicious critics' - BBC News

New reports indicate that President Donald Trump is aware of the extent to which he has lost control of his own presidency and is determined to fix the situation.

Another week, and no progress on the GOP agenda, one high-ranking Republican told Axios.Infrastructure Week turned into Comey Week. No one really knows Trump and came to D.C. with him. He is a president on an island, all alone [T]he ability to get anything done is in double jeopardy.

Trump seems to be placing at least some of the blame on his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, according to a report by Politico. As he contemplates bringing former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former deputy campaign manager David Bossie into his administration, he invited the two to the Oval Office and berated Priebus in their presence, letting all three of them know that they would be brought on board once Priebus had undertaken a major staff shakeup.

Im giving you until July 4. I dont want them to come into this mess. If Im going to clean house, they will come in as fresh blood, Priebus is reported to have said.

Despite this reported humiliation, Priebus recently thanked Trump for the blessing of being able to serve as his chief of staff, according to a report by Glenn Thrust of The New York Times. It is unclear whether even Priebus himself will remain on board after the shakeup occurs.

Meanwhile, as Politico reports, at least a dozen prominent Republicans are concerned that Trumps ongoing scandals and inability to push through major legislative accomplishments will result in major losses during the 2018 midterm elections. Even Secretary of Defense James Mad Dog Mattis has kept a low profile since Trump took office, a decision that individuals close to him believe is motivated by his belief that the military can unite the country by maintaining its perceived political neutrality.

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Donald Trump is losing control of his presidency - Salon