Mediaboss Marketing

(NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Sicily) President Donald Trump on Saturday said his maiden first trip abroad was a "home run" and he vowed to overcome the threat of terrorism, concluding a grueling five-stop sprint that ended with the promise of an imminent decision on the much-discussed Paris climate accord.

Trump ended his nine-day trip with a speech to U.S. troops in Sicily, where he recounted his visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium and Italy and his work to counter terrorism. The president said recent terrorist attacks in Manchester, England and Egypt underscored the need for the U.S. to "defeat terrorism and protect civilization."

"Terrorism is a threat, bad threat to all of humanity," Trump said, standing in front of a massive American flag at Naval Air Station Sigonella. "And together we will overcome this threat. We will win."

Trump tweeted earlier in the day that he would make a final decision next week on whether to withdraw from the climate pact. European leaders he met with at the Group of 7 summit in Sicily have been pressuring Trump to stay in the accord, arguing that America's leadership on climate is crucial.

Besides reaching a decision on the climate agreement once back in Washington, Trump will also face a new crush of Russia-related controversies. On Friday, the Washington Post reported that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner spoke with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. about setting up secret communications with Moscow.

Trump held no news conferences during the nine-day trip, which allowed him to avoid questions about the Russia investigations. His top economic and national security advisers refused to answer questions about Kushner during a press briefing Saturday.

The White House had hoped to use Trump's five-stop trip as a moment to reset. The president was warmly received on his opening stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, though he has come under more pressure in Europe, particularly over the Paris accord.

Trump was cajoled for three days first in Brussels at meetings of NATO and the European Union, then in Sicily for G-7 but will leave Italy without making clear where he stands.

As the G-7 summit came to a close Saturday, the six other members Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan renewed their commitment to the accord. The summit's communique noted that the Trump administration would take more time to consider whether it will remain committed to the 2015 Paris deal to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

Backing out of the climate accord had been a central plank of Trump's campaign and aides have been exploring whether they can adjust the framework of the deal even if they don't opt out entirely. Other G-7 nations leaned heavily on Trump to stay in the climate deal, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying "we put forward very many arguments."

The president's trip has largely gone off without a major misstep, with the administration touting the president's efforts to birth a new coalition to fight terrorism, while admonishing partners in an old alliance to pay their fair share.

"I think we hit a home run no matter where we are," Trump told the soldiers. He also touted his meetings with NATO members, adding, "We're behind NATO all the way." He reiterated a renewed commitment by NATO members to spend more on defense.

Trump was referring to a vow by NATO countries to move toward spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. Only five of NATO's 28 members meet the target: Britain, Estonia, debt-laden Greece, Poland and the United States, which spends more on defense than all the other allies combined.

"The U.S. is currently paying much more than any other nation and that is not fair to the United States or the United States taxpayer. So we're working on it and I will tell you, a big difference over the last year, money is actually starting to pour into NATO from countries that would not have been doing what they're doing now had I not been elected, I can tell you that. Money is starting to pour in," Trump said, echoing a tweet earlier Saturday on the subject.

There is no evidence that money has begun to "pour in" and countries do not pay the U.S. or NATO directly. But Germany, for instance, has been increasing its defense spending with the goal of reaching the 2 percent target by 2024.

After the pomp of presidential travel overseas, Trump will return to Washington and many of the problems he left behind.

As a newly appointed special counsel is beginning to investigate links between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, Kushner has become a focus of the probe. Kushner's lawyer said he will cooperate with investigators.

James Comey, the former FBI director who led the Russian probe until Trump abruptly fired him, is still expected to testify before Congress about memos he kept on conversations with the president that involved the investigation. Meanwhile, the search for a new FBI director continues.

And Trump's policy agenda has run into problems. The GOP health care bill that passed the House faces uncertain prospects in the Senate after a Congressional Budget Office analysis that it would leave 23 million more Americans uninsured by 2026. The president's budget was widely criticized for deep cuts to safety net programs. And some are starting to question the chances for Trump's pledge to overhaul the U.S. tax code.

See the original post here:
President Trump Calls His First Trip Abroad a 'Home Run' - TIME

Donald Trump attempts to make a deal with former FBI director James Comey and is visited by Richard Nixon's ghost in The Simpsons' latest biting look into the Trump White House.

The "125 Days" short opens with scandal surrounding the administration, as Trump's closest advisors Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner and Kellyanne Conway all hang from the White House ceiling as Vice President Mike Pence erases the "Vice" from his desk's name plate.

Inside the presidential bedroom, Trump asks the ousted Comey to turn over all evidence that the FBI has against him, and in return Trump promises to erase all of his non-existent tapes. As the walls begin to close in on Trump, Nixon's ghost arrives to offer some advice, from one beleaguered president to another.

"I came to thank you, Donald. I'm moving up. Thanks to you, I'm now the 44th best president," Nixon's ghost said. "I just have one piece of advice: If you have tapes, burn them!"

As always with The Simpsons' Trump-trashing shorts, the best jokes are in the details: The president's nighttime reading includes I'm Still Fired by Bill O'Reilly, How to Lose Friends and Piss Off Israel and Two Scoops for Me. Framed on Trump's wall is a personalized "Get Out of Jail Free" card from Monopoly and, behind Nixon's ghost, the photograph of Trump's secret Oval Office meeting with Sergei Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Sign up for our newsletter to receive breaking news directly in your inbox.

See the original post:
Watch Richard Nixon's Ghost Visit Donald Trump in 'Simpsons' Short - RollingStone.com

President Donald Trump walks past French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Ahead of Thursday's speech, The New York Times

But his speech stopped short of doing so.

Trump thanked other members for their support following 9/11 "our NATO allies responded swiftly and decisively" but was far from explicit on Article 5.

The president's spokesman, Sean Spicer, told reporters afterward that Trump's mere attendance was a tacit acknowledgement of his commitment to the mutual-defense clause.

"We all understand that by being part of NATO we have treaty obligations and commitments that we made as being part of NATO," Spicer said. "So to have to reaffirm something by the very nature of being here and speaking at a ceremony about it is almost laughable."

Many experts

Any sign that the U.S. might blink first could be taken as a signal by Russian President Vladimir Putin that cracks are appearing in NATO, according to many Western analysts.

"Article 5 is the whole point of NATO," said James Nixey, head of the Russia and Eurasia program at London's

Although talk of all-out-war between America and Russia may seem remote, the possibility that Moscow may try to extend its influence in Eastern Europe had increased in recent years, according to many Kremlin-watchers.

Some of the countries that are now in NATO were formerly part of the Soviet Union, a communist bloc controlled by Moscow whose disintegration Putin has called "a major geopolitical disaster of the century."

The Russian president enjoys sky-high domestic popularity all built on his self-styled image as a man who can restore Russia to its former glory. He sees NATO as a Western encroachment on Russia's borders.

In March, NBC News

Some people living there, around 20 miles from the Russian border, said they felt Trump's ambivalence toward NATO put them in danger of increased Russian influence. They feared a similar fate as Ukraine, which has been fighting rebels

Trump is hardly the first president to press NATO allies to spend more.

NATO recommends that each nation spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense. Only five of the 28 members currently do so the U.S., Greece, Estonia, the U.K. and Poland.

Trump railed against this shortfall Thursday, telling the audience in Brussels that it was "not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States."

His words echoed those of President Barack Obama, who just last year accused NATO members of being "complacent" and told them to dig deeper into their wallets.

What's different with Trump is that no other president has accompanied this plea with an ultimatum: Pay up or we won't protect you.

Nixey, at Chatham House, agreed that "European states have to pay up more."

But whatever the cost, NATO has always been a trade-off between the U.S. and its smaller allies. Washington protects them and in return gets stability and security along its allied border with Russia and beyond.

"It depends whether you believe that America has a role to play in global security," Nixey said. "If you do, then NATO is critical."

At its heart, the alliance is "all about values," he added. "Most NATO states are committed to democracy. Once you start to undermine the alliance then the whole post-Cold War order breaks down."

Read the rest here:
Donald Trump and NATO: Why His Silence on Article 5 Is a Big Deal - NBCNews.com

Donald Trumps presidency has been clouded in controversy from its very inception, with multiple federal investigations into his campaigns ties to Russia looming over the White House before he even assumed the Oval Office. Now, it appears his odds of impeachment are growing not even six months into his tenure as commander-in-chief.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, a nonpartisan organization comprising over 100 country experts and economists across the globe, upgraded Trump's likelihood of impeachment from low to moderate Friday, following calls for the presidents removal officially reaching the floor of Congress.

Related: Are White House lawyers preparing for the worst as they research impeachment proceedings against Trump?

Subscribe to Newsweek from $1 per week

Meanwhile, Texas Representative Al Green announced he's already gotten a head start on the exhaustive political process, drafting articles of impeachment as his Democratic colleaguesmost notably California Representative Maxine Waterstake to the airwaves to demand Trumps firing.

"We note that the president's impulsive character and disregard for protocol means that even the unlikely is possible,"the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a statement provided to Newsweek. "But it would take a significant shift in mood, even allowing for his existing transgressions, to shift Republican loyalty away from Trump."

Impeachment is a long, often drawn-out procedure requiring multiple steps and a House vote before a removal process could even begin in the Senate. Experts foreshadow Trump being able to survive another three and a half years in the White House for a few key reasons.

"Trump will continue to be useful to the Republican Partyespecially on tax reform and health care,"the organization writes."Congress is highly polarizedDemocrats and Republicans are unlikely to cooperate for impeachment."The unit also believes Republicans will continue to enjoy a majority in the House of Representatives following the November 2018 midterm elections.

President Donald Trump walking during the G7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, Italy, May 26, 2017. Reuters

The organization goes on to list multiple reasons for its upgrading of Trumps impeachment odds, starting with the new special counsel appointed to investigate the administration's possible links to Russian officials throughout the 2016 campaign.

"Other building-blocks towards a case of high crimes and misdemeanors might include Mr. Comey's account of being put under pressure by Mr. Trump to drop his investigation into Michael Flynn; Mr. Trump's failure to separate himself from his business empire; and his careless handling of classified information,"the organization continues.

So far, as the Economist Intelligence Unit writes, nothing Trump has done in office may rise to the level of an offense worthy of impeachment. But with the constant drip of his campaign's alleged collusion with Russian President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, plunging approval ratings and self-confessed dismay with the job of the presidency, could Trump be on his way to leaving the White House regardless?Whether it be through impeachment, the end of his term or on his own departure, only time will tell.

View post:
Experts Upgrade Donald Trump's Impeachment Odds as Russian Investigation Looms - Newsweek

Hillary Clinton returned to her alma mater, Wellesley College, Friday to deliver a fiery commencement address that attacked President Donald Trump and his policies but it was her implicit comparisons between Nixon's resignation and the current administration that drew the loudest cheers.

Clinton lashed out at what she described as the "unimaginable cruelty" of Trump's budget proposal and the pervasiveness of conspiracy theories and internet trolls. But when she talked about the mood on campus in 1969, the year she graduated, she got her biggest reception.

"We were furious about the past presidential election, of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with impeachment for obstruction of justice after firing the person running the investigation into him at the Department of Justice!" she said.

"But here's what I want you to know: We got through that tumultuous time."

Clinton was referring to President Richard Nixon, who left office after resigning while facing the threat of impeachment in August 1974. The FBI is currently probing whether Trump associates coordinated with the Russian campaign to interfere with the 2016 presidential contest. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was heading up the investigation, earlier this month.

The steady rain and overcast skies didn't dampen the spirits of the graduating class of 2017, who greeted the former secretary of state and graduate with a long, loud ovation. And while her speech frequently needled her former rival and criticized the divisive political climate, Clinton also urged students to stand up for their values, and above all the truth.

Related: Ex-Clinton Aide Blasts Russia Over Reports It Falsely Used Her Name

"You are graduating at a time when there is a full-fledged assault on truth and reason," she said. "The future of America depends on brave, thoughtful people insisting on truth and integrity right now, every day."

"You didn't create these circumstances, but you have the power to change them."

She had words of encouragement for the women about to enter the next phase of their lives, telling them, "Don't let anyone tell you your voice doesn't matter."

"In the years to come, there will be trolls galore online and in person, eager to tell you that you don't have anything worthwhile to say or anything meaningful to contribute. They may even call you a nasty woman," she said, referring to an insult Trump hurled at her during one of the presidential debates.

"Some may take a slightly more sophisticated approach and say your elite education means you are out of teach with real people. In other words, sit down and shut up. Now, in my experience, that's the last thing you should ever tell a Wellesley graduate," she said.

In many ways, Friday's speech was reminiscent of Clinton's graduation speech Wellesley's first-ever student address which historians say helped brand 22-year-old Hillary Rodham as a political force.

Before delivering her prepared speech at that ceremony, Clinton paused to criticize remarks made by Edward Brooke, a Republican senator from Massachusetts, who discouraged students from getting involved in the anti-Vietnam protests.

Related: Hillary Clinton: Trump Budget Shows 'Unimaginable' Cruelty

"We feel that for too long our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible," she said. "And the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible."

Clinton told this year's graduates that she's launching the grassroots organization "Onward, Together," to create a new generation of political activists. And despite her loss last year to Trump, Clinton still wholeheartedly believes in graduates' ability to make change.

"You may have heard that things didn't exactly go the way I planned. But you know what? I'm doing OK. I've gotten to spend time with my family, especially my amazing grandchildren. I was going to give the entire commencement speech about them but was talked out of it. Long walks in the woods. Organizing my closets, right? I won't lie: Chardonnay helped a little too," she said.

She went on to add: "It's often during the darkest times when you can do the most good," she said. "I'm very optimistic about the future because I think after we've tried a lot of other things we get back to the business of America."

Wellesley College is a private all-female liberal arts college located outside of Boston.

See the original post here:
Hillary Clinton Attacks Donald Trump at Wellesley College Graduation - NBCNews.com