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Donald Trump, would-be peace-broker, fundamentally misunderstands the history of Islam Quartz This weekend, US president Donald Trump is traveling to the Middle East to deliver a speech about Islam. My bet is that within the first half of that speechwritten by the Muslim-baiting Stephen Millerhe'll brag about his yuge election victory ... and more »

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Donald Trump, would-be peace-broker, fundamentally misunderstands the history of Islam - Quartz

New York Times

Opening First Foreign Trip, Donald Trump Tries to Leave Crisis Behind New York Times President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews en route to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. Credit Stephen ... and more »

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Opening First Foreign Trip, Donald Trump Tries to Leave Crisis Behind - New York Times

President Donald Trump pressured a reluctant Michael Flynn into accepting a job as the White Houses top national security official even after Flynn warned the president that he was under investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, The Daily Beast has learned.

The president's continued loyalty to his ousted former aide is so strong, in fact, that the two have remained in touch despite the potential that their communication could be portrayed as White House interference in a federal investigation.

Now, both men could pay a huge price for it.

He did not want to be National Security Adviser, Michael Ledeen, a friend of the retired Army general, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. He didnt want to be in the government. He wanted to go back to private life.

But Trump insisted on it, said historian Ledeen, co-author of Flynns 2016 book The Field of Fight, their manifesto for defeating Islamic militancy. He likes him, he trusted him, he was comfortable with him, he said.

Flynn was reluctant but honored when offered the post, according to a senior Trump administration official, and only accepted it at the presidents urging.

A third source with direct knowledge of Trump transition team discussions confirmed that Flynn did not want the National Security Adviser post, though he claimed Flynn was instead hoping for a position in the intelligence community, preferably Director of National Intelligence or the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Trumps pressuring of Flynn to take the job came even though Flynn had informed the Trump transition team that he was under active FBI investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a Dutch companylobbying that, Flynn now admits, may have advanced the interests of the Turkish government.

The president's continued loyalty to his ousted former aide is so strong, in fact, that the two have remained in touch despite the potential that their communication could be portrayed as White House interference in a federal investigation.

Trumps affinity for Flynn apparently led the president to urge former FBI director James Comey, before his firing last week, to drop or ease a federal investigation of Flynn, according to Comeys written account of a meeting with the president.

Trump Wants Flynn Back

But Trump doesnt just hope that Flynn will beat the rap. Several sources close to Flynn and to the administration tell The Daily Beast that Trump has expressed his hopes that a resolution of the FBIs investigation in Flynns favor might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacitya scenario some of Trumps closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen.

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Those sources said Trump didnt believe Flynn should be under investigation in the first place.

Trump feels really, really, really, bad about firing him, and he genuinely thinks if the investigation is over Flynn can come back, said one White House official.

One former FBI official and a second government official said Trump thought he owed Flynn for how things ended up and was determined to clear Flynns name and bring him back to the White House.

All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity so as to speak freely on sensitive matters.

After less than a month on the job, Flynn resigned when it was revealed that he had failed to disclose conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington regarding U.S. sanctions against the country. Those conversations could feature prominently in ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Those investigations were why Trumps White House attorneys warned him repeatedly against communicating with Flynn after his firing, as The Daily Beast reported last week.

Apparently, the president didnt listen to his own lawyers.

The two have stayed in touch, according to a Yahoo News report Thursday, confirmed by multiple White House and administration sources.

One person close to Flynn say he has kept up lines of communication since offering his resignation to protect the president from the growing controversy involving the Trump campaigns ties to Russian government interests.

A longtime Trump confidant also confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump had mentioned to him that he had communicated with Lt. Gen. Flynn in the past few weekslong after Flynn had been given the boot from the Trump administration.

A White House staffer recalled hearing of Trumps conversations with Flynn since his firing in February, though it was not clear what they discussed. Supposedly theyve spoken since Flynn was fired, the staffer said. The president clearly feels bad about how things went down.

News that they remained in touch flatly contradicts repeated and adamant White House denials last week that Trump and his former National Security Adviser had been communicating since Flynns ouster. Multiple White House officials claimed to The Daily Beast that no such communication had occurred due to the intervention of White House attorneys.

The White House did not respond to questions on Thursday attempting to square that discrepancy. Flynns lawyer Robert Kelner also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Trumps plea for the FBI to step back from its probe of Flynn set off allegations by congressional Democrats of potential obstruction of justice. Revelations that Trump has been in contact with Flynnand openly mused about a new job for himcould add more heft to those allegations.

The last thing [the White House] would want is an allegation of conspiracy, witness tampering or coordination, national security attorney Mark Zaid told The Daily Beast last week. If Flynn is going to be indicted, or certainly under investigation, then I would want the president to be as far away from him as possible.

Such conversations would create huge issues, according to Zaids law partner, Brad Moss. Talking with witnesses got Nixon in trouble.

Excerpt from:
Donald Trump Talked Michael Flynn Into White House Job - Daily Beast

At first glance, it looks like a standard cartoon for kids. Claymation figures ofdifferent ethnicities dance, clap, rap and play little clay instruments, frolicking in front of neon backdrops andsingingout peppy lyrics.

Ive got your back, and youve got mine. Everybody, lets make friends! they sing.

But it's not a simple kids' cartoon. It's a propaganda film fromthe Chinese state-run media outlet Peoples Daily aimed at promoting the Silk Road Economic Belt, a massive investment infrastructure project to link Asia and Europe.

The video is just one piece in a series of articles, speeches and videos from within China that have recently portrayed the country as a defender of globalization and free trade.

In another from the state media organization China Daily, cute kids of various ethnicities peak out from behind giant animated camels and jump around in front of animated factory settings.

When trade routes open up, thats when the sharing starts. Resources changing hands and shipping auto parts! they sing.

As China paints itself as a pro-free-trade agent of global harmony, it also notes that the United States passed on opportunities to join the Asian infrastructure project. And while Trump is not named,the videos draw a clear rhetorical contrast with the newpresident, whofrequentlyderides globalism andwon the election running on an anti-free-trade platform.

But that self-characterization is a bit rich, experts on the country say.

Having China be the worlds leading advocate for globalization is like having Al Capone be put in charge of tax reform, said Scott Kennedy, deputy director of the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

It is beyond ironic, he added.

The problem with this characterization is that Chinas economy is still far more closed than the United States' when it comes to trade and especially investment and China has shown less, not more, willingness to open its economy to foreign investment in recent years.

Chinas economy was completely shut off to foreign investment for decades under Mao Zedong, and since the 1980s, it has done a lot to open to foreign business, becoming an integrated part of the global supply chain.

Yet much of that business is still done on Chinas terms. In many industries, state-owned companies still dominate, and foreign businesses face high barriers to entry. In some industries, such as automotive manufacturing, foreign companies can operate only by forming joint ventures with Chinese partners. In other sectors, such as media, energy and banking, foreign companies are entirely excluded often in contravention of World Trade Organization rules.

Under President Xi Jinpings leadership over the past four years, China has tended to show more-intensive government intervention in the economy, not less, Kennedy says.

It is true that China is becoming a de facto leader in foreign trade. But the sole reason that China can make this claim is that the United States is receding from that role, Kennedy says.

Trump signed a presidential memorandum to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact, on one of his earliest days in office, and he has repeatedly questioned the importance of multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization and NATO.

The only reason China has a leg to stand on in this argument is the campaign rhetoric and ongoing statements of President Trump and his advisers, Kennedy says. Were Alice in Wonderland and we have gone down the rabbit hole.

As the United States has withdrawn, China has very transparently tried to fill that vacuum. But without significant liberalization to further open its economy, the countrys professed dedication to free trade and globalization rings hollow.

In January, Xi, the leader of the Communist Party of China, gave a speech at Davos to an audience of the most powerful capitalists on the planet, expounding on a doctrine of inclusive globalization.

China is pushing its own international trade deal that excludes the United States, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. And it has launched the Silk Road Economic Belt (also called One Belt, One Road), in which an institution it created, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, is leading investment in roads, railways and ports across the Asian continent.

In a speech at a forum for the project on Sunday, Xi called the plan theproject of the century" and emphasized its open and inclusive nature.

The United States declined to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, viewing it as a potential challenge to the U.S.-dominated multilateral institutions such as the World Bank. The United States' absence is noted in Chinas propaganda videos.

Some countries are moving away from globalization. So the Belt and Road is an opportunity to move globalization forward, a bespectacled man tells his daughter in a video made by the state media organization China Daily. But the United States hasnt joined the initiative.

Is that because its too far away? the little blonde girl asks.

Actually any country can join anywhere, the man responds.

Continued here:
Chinese propagandists are using adorable kids to take on Donald Trump - Washington Post

President Donald Trump said Thursday he thinks the appointment of special counsel for the Russia investigation is bad for the United States.

"I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country," Trump said. "And we have very important things to be doing right now, whether it's trade deals, whether it's military, whether it's stopping nuclear all of the things that we discussed today. And I think this shows a very divided country."

Trump made his comments during a lunch with reporters and TV anchors.

"It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way. That's all this is. I think it shows division, and it shows that we're not together as a country. And I think it's a very, very negative thing. And hopefully, this can go quickly, because we have to show unity if we're going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world."

On Wednesday, Justice Department officials announced that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had tapped former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel, taking over the investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election.

After the announcement, the White House issued a measured statement on the president's behalf:

"As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country."

But Thursday morning, Trump tweeted a more aggressive tone, calling the investigation into potential ties between Russia and his presidential campaign a "witch hunt," a sentiment he reiterated later Thursday during a joint press conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

Trump also asked why no special counsel was appointed for what he called "all of the illegal acts" of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Obama administration.

In a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 78 percent of respondents said they would rather see the investigation led by an independent commission or special prosecutor, versus one led by Congress.

NBC News and CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.

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Trump says appointment of special counsel 'hurts our country terribly' - CNBC