Archive for the ‘Donald Trump’ Category

Donald Trump is having dinner with Ted and Heidi Cruz. Here are nine things that might make it awkward. – Washington Post

President Trump will dine with Heidi and Ted Cruz on Wednesday night at the White House. There's, how to say this, a lot of history between that trio.

My guess is that none of this water under the bridge will be a topic of conversation. They're looking forward to a great dinner, was all White House press secretary Sean Spicer would say when asked whether Trump might apologize to the Cruzesduring the meal.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about President Trump's upcoming dinner with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and his wife Heidi, during his daily briefing on March 8 at the White House. (The Washington Post)

Apologize for what, you ask? How quickly we forget! Here's a quick review with the worst first! of the long history of awkwardness between Trump and the Texas two.

The implication, of course, was that Trump's wife, Melania Trump, was more attractive than Heidi Cruz. The spill the beans reference was about a previous Trump tweet in which the billionaire businessman threatened to do just that on Heidi Cruz. (He never specified what the beans were.) Trump insisted that the whole thing started with Cruz, who used a nude picture of Melania in an ad. (He didn't. It was an anti-Trump super PAC not affiliated with Cruz.)

Cruz, as you might expect, went bananas. He tweeted this to Trump amid the Melania-Heidi picture kerfuffle.

Cruz was really, really angry. Interviewed the day after the Trump tweet, he absolutely unloaded. He called Trump a sniveling coward and a big New York bully.

Cruz was expected to, finally, endorse Trump in a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. And his whole speech seemed pointed to that moment right until he didn't do it.

Ted Cruz was being loudly cheered by many of the delegates at the Republican National Convention on July 20 until he urged voters to "vote their conscience." Photo by Michael Robinson-Chavez/The Washington Post (Peter Stevenson,Sarah Parnass,Jorge Ribas,Alice Li,Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)

I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father, Cruz told the Texas delegation the following day.

His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, Trump in an early May interview with Fox News Channel. What is this, right prior to his being shot, and nobody even brings it up. They don't even talk about that. That was reported, and nobody talks about it.

Cruz defended his father, noting that Trump was amoral, a pathological liar and a narcissist of the sort we'd not seen in the country before.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz attacked rival Donald Trump in Indiana, calling him a "bully," "pathological liar" and a "serial philanderer" after Trump made comments associating Cruz's father with JFK's assassin. (The Washington Post)

The Bible held high he puts it down and then he lies.

8. Lyin' Ted

He'sa liar. I never met a liar like him.

9. Lyin' Ted

He's 'Lyin Ted', that's his name.

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Donald Trump is having dinner with Ted and Heidi Cruz. Here are nine things that might make it awkward. - Washington Post

Donald Trump travel ban: Hawaii becomes first US state to take President’s new executive order to court – The Independent

Hawaii has become the first state to sue to stop President Donald Trump's revised travel ban.

State attorneys asked the federal court in Honolulu to issue an emergency order halting Mr Trump's new executive order restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries.

The order also temporarily shuts down the US refugee program. It does not apply to travellers who already have visas.

The state had previously sued over Mr Trump's initial travel ban, but the lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.

Donald Trump signs revised travel ban

Hawaii's lawsuit says the order will harm the state's Muslim population, tourism and foreign students.

"Hawaii is special in that it has always been non-discriminatory in both its history and constitution," Attorney General Doug Chin said.

"Twenty percent of the people are foreign-born, 100,000 are non-citizens and 20 per cent of the labour force is foreign-born."

US District Judge Derrick Watson granted the state's request to continue with the case and set a hearing for 15 March the day before Mr Trump's order is due to come into effect.

The state will argue at the hearing that the judge should impose a temporary restraining order preventing the ban from taking effect until the lawsuit has been resolved.

Hawaii's complaint says it is suing to protect its residents, businesses and schools, as well as its "sovereignty against illegal actions of President Donald J Trump and the federal government".

The order affects people from Syria, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya.

Imam Ismail Elshikh of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, a plaintiff in the state's challenge, says the ban will keep his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting.

Trump's "executive order inflicts a grave injury on Muslims in Hawaii, including Dr. Elshikh, his family, and members of his mosque," Hawaii's complaint says.

A federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order halting the initial ban after Washington state and Minnesota sued. The 9th USCircuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the order.

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Donald Trump travel ban: Hawaii becomes first US state to take President's new executive order to court - The Independent

How Trump feels about WikiLeaks: A timeline – USA TODAY

The website claims they have several hundred million lines of code from the CIA's hacking arsenal that includes damaging information. USA TODAY NETWORK

President Trump has remained mum about the release of CIA documents by WikiLeaks on Tuesday.

While Trump praised the organization during the 2016 presidential campaign, he has been at odds with them in recent months, including over Trump's attack on Wikileaks source Chelsea Manning and the president's ongoing refusal to release his tax returns. Trump lastmentioned WikiLeaks on Twitter onNov. 5, 2016, three days prior to Election Day, when he posted a story about a WikiLeaks release and Clinton campaign aides.

Here are some of the notable times Trump has talked about WikiLeaks in the past:

Trump: "I think it's disgraceful."

Where: In a preview for a December 2010 interview withKilmeade & Friends, as reported by CNN

Context: Trump, years prior to announcing his presidential campaign, appeared on the Kilmeade & Friends, a radio show on Fox News. In a clip posted on YouTube to preview the interview, host Brian Kilmeade mentioned WikiLeaks, saying, "You didn't have anything to do with it, did you?" Trump replied, "Nope, but I think it's disgraceful. I think there should be a death penalty or something." Earlier that week in a move that helped bring WikiLeaks into international view, the nonprofit organization began releasing leaked U.S. embassy cables.

Trump: Went on a tweetstorm to talk about the WikiLeaks release of emails from the Democratic National Committee. One tweet: "Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from Wikileakes, really vicious. RIGGED"

Where: Twitter

Context: On July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks dumped thousands of emails and attachments from top aides at the DNC. The emails raised questions about whether Democrats tried to undercut Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in order to favor Hillary Clinton.

Trump: "I love WikiLeaks!"

Where: A campaign rally in Pennsylvania

Context: A few days before then-candidate Donald Trump spoke to supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., WikiLeaks began releasing the emails of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.The emails were dropped within an hour of the release of the now infamous Access Hollywoodvideo of Trump bragging of kissing and groping women (and using some choice language to do so). At his campaign rally, Trump read the excerpts of Clinton's past closed-door speeches, which were contained within the emails released by WikiLeaks (and he twisted some of those excerpts while doing so).

Trump: "So in one case youre talking about highly classified information. In the other case youre talking about John Podesta saying bad things about the boss."

Where:Press conference at the White House

Context: During the press conference, Trump addressed leaks that resulted in the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn earlier that week, saying they werea "real problem." When a reporter noted that the president had encouraged leaks during the campaign, specifically from WikiLeaks, Trump replied that those releasesdid not compare because it was not classified: Podesta "said terrible things about her. But it wasn't classified information."

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How Trump feels about WikiLeaks: A timeline - USA TODAY

Donald Trump sends B-52 NUCLEAR BOMBERS to South Korea after North fires missiles at Japan and US warns of … – The Sun

Secretary of Defence James Mattissaid the US "remains steadfast in its commitment" to the defence of its allies

DONALD Trump is sending nuclear bombers to the Korean peninsula as tensions in the region reach breaking point.

North Koreaand the US have beenteetering on the brink of war for months after Kim Jong-un carried out a series of controversial missile launches.

Reuters

Earlier this week, trigger-happy Kim pushed his luck once more when he fired off four ballistic missiles into the seas near Japan.

Now US military chiefs arereportedly planning to fly in B-1 and B-52 bombers built to carry nuclear bombs to show America has had enough.

Getty Images

South Korea and the US have also started their annual Foal Eagle military exercise sending a strong warning to North Korea over its actions.

A military official said 300,000 South Korean troops and 15,000 US personnel are takingpart in the operation.

Secretary of Defence James Mattissaid the US remains steadfast in its commitment to the defence of the South, according to Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt Jeff Davis.

He further emphasised that any attack on the United States or its allies will be defeated and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a response that is effective and overwhelming, said Capt David.

Washington is also expected to deploy a series of strategic assets from the US as well as from military bases in Guam and Japan, reports the Korea Times.

The USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class supercarrier, will join the Foal Eagle exercise after departing from San Diego.

The nuke-powered aircraft carrier will carry 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter, ten air tankers, ten S-3 Viking anti-sub aircraft, six SH-3H Sea King helicopters, four EA-6B Prowler jamming aircraft and four E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft.

It will be accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.

AP:Associated Press

Reuters

From the US Marine Corps in Japan, F-35B stealth fighters will be deployed to the peninsula for the first time.

"An F-35B is capable of evading anti-aircraft radar and making preemptive strikes," a military official said.

North Korea repeatedly protests that both Foal Eagle and Key Resolve are rehearsals for invasion.

Pyongyang's Korea Central News Agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stressed "a need for preparation for a fight".

He listed guidelines to strike South Korea and the US "mercilessly".

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Donald Trump sends B-52 NUCLEAR BOMBERS to South Korea after North fires missiles at Japan and US warns of ... - The Sun

Donald Trump could be impeached on four grounds, former Labor secretary says – The Independent

There are now four grounds to impeachDonald Trumpand a fifth is "on its way", according to former Labour Secretary Robert Reich.

Posting on Twitter, Mr Reich outlined the four reasons he thinks Mr Trump could be impeached.

He said Mr Trump is "'unfaithfully' executing his duties" by accusing former President Barack Obama of "undertaking an illegal (and impeachable) act."

Donald Trump signs revised travel ban

Last weekend, Mr Trump accused Mr Obama of wiretapping his phones in Trump Tower, though he provided no evidence for his claim.

A spokesman for Mr Obama denied he ever ordered the wiretapping of any US citizen.

Mr Reich also said although part of the constitution forbids government officials from taking things of value from foreign governments, "Trump is making big money off his Trump International Hotel by steering foreign diplomatic delegations to it, and will make a bundle off China's recent decision to grant his trademark applications for the Trump brand decisions Chinese authorities arrived at directly because of decisions Trump has made as president."

China recently granted preliminary approval for dozens of Trump-branded businesses, including new hotels, spas, massage parlours and personal security services.

The former Labor Secretary also said Mr Trump's ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries violates the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, which bans any law "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

He also said Mr Trump "labelling the press the 'enemy of the people' and choosing whom he invites to news conferences based on whether they've given him favourable coverage" could be another reason for impeachment, as he said it violates the 1st Amendment on the freedom of the press.

Finally, he wrote:"Article III Section 3 of the Constitution defines 'treason against the United States' as 'adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.' Evidence is mounting that Trump colluded with Russian operatives to win the 2016 presidential election."

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied his team had contact with Russian officials during the 2016 election, but was revealed to have met with Russia's US ambassador at the height of his campaign.

"The question is no longer whether there are grounds to impeach Trump. The practical question is whether there is the political will," Mr Reich concluded.

"As long as Republicans remain in the majority in the House (where a bill of Impeachment originates), it's unlikely.

"Another reason why it's critically important to flip the House in 2018."

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Donald Trump could be impeached on four grounds, former Labor secretary says - The Independent