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UPDATE with video: Last week in Donald Trump was so nuts that John Oliver was forced to devote virtually all of Last Week Tonight to talking about it.

The last seven days have been absolutely insane so much so that, by Friday night, it may have broken Anderson Cooper, Oliver acknowledged.

Hes of course referring to Coopers Friday show, during which Cooper interrupted Trump surrogate Jeffrey Lord as he defended yet another indefensible Trump statement, saying, If [Trump] took a dump on his desk you would defend him.

And, more importantly, Jeffrey Lord did not immediately answer, No, Oliver laughed.

Walking through the week, Oliver reminded viewers that:

On Monday it was reported Trump revealed highly classified intelligence to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, when they visited the White House the day after Trump sacked FBI Director James Comey. Trump may have revealed to them code-word information, a designation for intel even more secret than Top Secret. This is information you should not even share with your closest friends which, of course, in Trumps case is the caddie he calls Stave even though his name is Doug, a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the ghost of Roger Ailes,Oliver explained.

That Russian news got buried the very next day with the revelation that, after an Oval Office meeting in February, Comey wrote a memo saying Trump had just asked him to shut down his investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump had been warned about Flynns Russia rannygazoo by former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, President Obama, and even Flynn himself, who told Trump he was under investigation before being named NSA.

Then, on Wednesday just four days ago, which is the equivalent of 150 years in 2017 time, Oliver said Donald Trump gave the commencement address at Coast Guard Academy, at which he whined about how mean people were being to him. The speechs best gag: No politician in history has been treated worse, or more unfairly.

As had the Twitter-verse immediately after the speech, Oliver on Sunday night noted President Abraham Lincoln had been murdered by an actor, President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist, and JFK was, of course, murdered by Ted Cruzs father.

Meanwhile, President James Garfield, Oliver informed his viewers, was shot. Then, to find the bullet, Alexander Graham Bell devised a kind of metal detector, which did not work, so doctors tried to fish around in his gut for the bullet with unwashed fingers, which made his infection worse, so he died in horrible pain.

But yeah, Alec Baldwin sometimes does a mean impression of you on TV. So yeah, its basically the same, Oliver snickered at Trump.

Same day Trump delivered that speech, the DOJ appointed a special counsel, former FBI head Robert Mueller, to conduct an independent investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia. That massive development was closely followed by Thursdays news about Comeys mortification at having been singled out by Trump at that televised post-inauguration meeting in the White House and trying to hide in the drapes.

On Friday, as Trump left the country for a nine-day trip, the NYT revealed a White House document said Trump had told the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, during that Oval Office visit, that Comey was a nut job. He also told them, the report said I just fired the head of the FBII faced great pressure because of Russia. Thats taken off.

Its almost difficult to believe your ears when you hear something that sounds so audaciously corrupt, Oliver marveled. But that was not the last of the weeks startling revelations. Turns out, according to press reports, the investigation has identified some current White House official as a significant person of interest.

While some have suggested that could be Jared Kushner, Oliver insisted otherwise, because, while hes technically significant, and legally a person, he in no way qualifies as of interest. He called Kushner the least interesting human on earthHe is the person equivalent of an empty room painted eggshell. Hes like a white bread sandwich where the middle is just a third slice of white bread.

All of these developments are a really big deal, Oliver said, despite the best efforts of Fox News Channel to convince us otherwise, using words like unhinged, insane, lunacy, hysteria, and madness. Jesse Watters even called it a boring scandal though, two days later, even he admitted he was starting to get a little concerned.

Meanwhile, in Washington, some Republican politicians are starting to use the word impeachment in sentences, including two who argued as to which of them should get credit for doing so first. And, White House lawyers are researching what a possible Trump impeachment might look like, Oliver said, adding, I imagine at least part of it would involve thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey.

But, the late-night host warned, removing Trump from office would give us President Mike Pence, who is a hard-line conservative. If Trumps scandals somehow took down Pence as well, we would have President Paul Ryan: Three words I always knew I would have to say, Oliver admitted, but did not expect to have to say so soon, like Remember polar bears and Female Entourage reboot.

More realistically, because Republicans control both houses, Trump probably will continue to be president, which should not surprise anyone, Oliver insisted, Trump having survived declining to disavow David Duke, bullying a Gold Star family, and the Access Hollywood tape. The end of the line, for Trump, seems to have been drawn by M.C. Escher, Oliver acknowledged.

Even Trump seems unhappy hes in office, Oliver observed, recalling that 100-day interview in which POTUS said he loved and missed, his previous life, and how surprised he was that being POTUS is so much harder than developing real estate and hosting Celebrity Apprentice.

Say what you will about Nixon, he at least wanted to be there, Oliver said.

Read more from the original source:
John Oliver: Donald Trump's Last Seven Days Absolutely Insane - Deadline

Here's a new U.S. export: President Donald Trump's exaggerations about his record.

In his speech in Saudi Arabia on Sunday during his first foreign trip as president, Trump claimed to have accomplished record spending on the armed forces, even though Congress has yet to pass a budget that reflects his plans and promises. Trump releases a detailed budget proposal Tuesday after having come up only with an outline before, and nothing is achieved until and unless Congress passes something.

Trump often takes credit for accomplishments that have yet to be realized or that were the work of his predecessor, as he did last week when boasting about a Coast Guard icebreaker that the Obama administration started. But it was his first opportunity to do so abroad.

Trump's foreign trip came as something of a break from the storm over the investigation into his 2016 campaign's relationship with Russia. That episode prompted a number of questionable statements by the president and his aides. Here's a review of claims on various matters over the past week:

Trump : "In just a few months, we have created almost a million new jobs ... and made record investments in our military." speech in Riyadh on Sunday

The Facts : He's getting ahead of developments on military spending, with no budget passed. He also not proposing a record increase in military spending as his remarks might imply.

The 10% increase he called for in his March budget outline has been exceeded three times in recent historythe base military budget went up by 14.3%, in 2002, 11.3% in 2003 and 10.9% in 2008, according to the Pentagon. Looked at another way and deeper into history, military spending consumed 43% of the economy in 1944, during World War II, and 15% in 1952, during the Korean War. It was 3.3% in 2015, says the World Bank.

Trump's claim that almost 1 million jobs have been added is in the ballpark, though it's taken more than a "few months" and Barack Obama was president for most of one of them, January.

Job creation has averaged 185,000 a month from January through April. But that is the same pace of hiring as occurred in 2016, when Obama was president, and slower than in 2014 and 2015, when more than 225,000 jobs a month were added, on average.

Trump : "I'm proud to say that under my administration, as you just heard, we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years." Coast Guard Academy speech Wednesday

The Facts : Trump is claiming credit for something that started under his predecessor. Obama's homeland security secretary, Jeh Johnson, spoke about modernization of the Coast Guard fleet and design work on a new heavy polar icebreaker a year ago in a speech to graduating Coast Guard cadets.

Trump , on his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey: "I actually thought when I made that decisionand I also got a very, very strong recommendation, as you know, from the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein." news conference Thursday with his Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos.

The Facts : The recommendation he cites came after Trump decided to fire Comey, according to Rosenstein and to Trump's own previous statement taking sole ownership of the decision.

In an interview with NBC two days after the May 9 Comey dismissal, Trump said he had been planning to fire Comey for months, and linked it with the FBI's Russia investigation. "In fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.'"

On Thursday, Rosenstein told senators in a closed-door briefing that he had been informed of Trump's decision to fire Comey before he wrote his memo providing a rationale for that act, said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Trump : "Even my enemies have said there is no collusion." Thursday news conference

The Facts : Democrats have not absolved Trump on whether his campaign and Russian officials coordinated efforts last year to disadvantage his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Several have said they have not seen evidence of collusion, but that's not to say they are satisfied it did not happen.

Trump has cited James Clapper, the director of national intelligence until Trump took office Jan. 20, among others, as being "convinced" there was no collusion.

Clapper said this past week that while a report he issued in January did not uncover collusion, he did not know at the time that the FBI was digging deeply into "potential political collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians" and he was unaware of what the bureau might have found. The FBI inquiry continues, as do congressional investigations and, now, one by the special counsel.

Trump : "Obamacare is collapsing. It's dead. It's gone. There's nothing to compare anything to because we don't have health care in this country. You just look at what's happening. Aetna just pulled out. Other insurance companies are pulling out. We don't have health care. Obamacare is a fallacy. It's gone." Thursday news conference

The Facts : He's venting and not to be taken literally. Obama's health care law remains in effect and people are using it. As of last count 12.2 million signed up for private health plans through HealthCare.gov and state markets that offer federally subsidized coverage. Separately another estimated 12 million were made eligible for Medicaid through the law's expansion of that program. It's true that many people who buy their own health insurance are facing another year of big premium increases and shrinking choices.

Trump worked with House Republicans to pass a bill that would roll back much of the health law and the Senate is considering the legislation.

Trump , speaking of the MS-13 gang presence in the U.S.: "A horrible, horrible large group of gangs that have been let into our country over a fairly short period of time. ... They've literally taken over towns and cities of the United States." Thursday news conference.

The Facts : His depiction of the gang as a foreign one "let into" the U.S. is not accurate.

The gang actually began in Los Angeles, according to a fact sheet from Trump's own Justice Department, and "spread quickly across the country." And it started not recently, but in the 1980s, according to that same fact sheet.

The department indirectly credits the Obama administration, in its early years, with helping to rein in the group, largely made up of first-generation Salvadoran-Americans and Salvadoran nationals. It said: "Through the combined efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, great progress was made diminishing or severely (disrupting) the gang within certain targeted areas of the U.S. by 2009 and 2010."

The U.S. carried out record deportations during the Obama administration and, on MS-13 specifically, took the unprecedented action of labeling the street gang a transnational criminal organization and announcing a freeze on its U.S. assets. Such actions were not enough to bring down the group and the Trump administration says it will do more.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: "I believe that a goal of 3% GDP or higher economic growth is achievable if we make historic reforms to both taxes and regulation." Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing Thursday

The Facts : Several quarters or a year of 3% growth may be possible, but few economists expect the changes Mnuchin has proposed would result in sustained growth at that pace. That's because the U.S. economy is facing long-term constraints. As baby boomers retire, fewer people are working. As well, workers' productivity is growing at historically weak levels. An economy can only grow as fast as the size and productivity of its workforce. If Trump's policies reduce immigration, the U.S. workforce would grow even more slowly.

Trump's goal of cutting corporate taxes could encourage companies to spend more on computers and machinery, making employees more productive, accelerating growth and lifting wages. Liberal economists argue that corporate profits are already high and any tax cut probably would go to shareholders instead of equipment.

Trump : "I won't talk about how much I saved you on the F-35 fighter jet. I won't even talk about it." Coast Guard Academy speech

The Facts : He shouldn't. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for cost savings that began before his presidency on this jet. Pentagon officials took steps before the election to reduce costs on the Lockheed ( lmt ) contract and announced savings Dec. 19, a month before Trump was sworn in.

Nikki Haley , ambassador to the U.N.: "I believe the Western Wall is part of Israel and I think that that is how, you know, we've always seen it and that's how we should pursue it ... we've always thought the Western Wall was part of Israel." interview on Christian Broadcasting Network on Wednesday

The Facts : That's a misstatement of U.S. policy and diplomatic history. The wall is in the Old City, a part of east Jerusalem, which the U.S. and most of the world consider to be occupied territory. So the U.S. position is that the wall is part of Jerusalem, not specifically Israel. Since Israel's founding, the U.S. has maintained that no state has sovereignty over Jerusalem and its ultimate status must be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. That stance has not changed.

In addition to misstating U.S. policy, Haley stepped outside diplomatic norms in asserting a personal view at variance with that policythat the Western Wall is or should be considered part of Israel.

Read more:
Fact Checking President Trump's Statements on His First Foreign Trip - Fortune

Learn the laws, steps and votes needed in the Presidential impeachment process. An earlier version of this video incorrectly identified one of the presidents who was impeached. USA TODAY

President Trump shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the White House, May 10, 2017.(Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry Photo via AP)

Donald Trump is doing an excellent impression of a president who desperately wishes to be impeached. Congress should grant that wish, or figure out an evenquicker way to bring this tragicomedyto its inevitable end. If there arent enough smoking guns quite yet, just wait a day or two. They're coming at usfaster thanrounds from a Kalashnikov on full auto.

Could Trump'ssignals be any more clear?He's not even having fun. "No politician in history,and I say this with great surety,has been treated worse or more unfairly," Trump said at the Coast Guard Academy commencement. That was just a few hoursbefore Deputy Attorney General RodRosenstein named former FBI directorRobert Mueller as a special counselto oversee the FBI's Russia investigation, and a day before Trump tweeted that"this is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"

Suffice it to say the job is only going to get less fun.

Given all we know about Trump himself the disturbingreal time glimpses into his mind viaTwitter;his Tourette-like tendency to blurt out exactly what most presidents would know they shouldnt;his relentless ignorance of policy, government and our nation's founding principles we shouldnt be shocked by recent developments.

No one but a person hunting for an escape hatchwould admitin a national TVinterview that he was thinking about the made-up Russia storywhen he fired FBI Director James Comey; would ask Comey tostop investigatingformer national security adviser Mike Flynn's contacts withRussia, possibly violating his oath of office; andwould askComey to pledge loyalty to him, even thoughFBI directors have 10-year terms precisely so they canoperate independently of presidents.

Only a president eyeing the door would summon the ghost ofRichard Nixonbyfiring Comey and then tweeting: James Comey better hope that there areno tapes of our conversationsbefore he starts leaking to the press! Only someone intent on getting ousted would fireComey over Russia and thenthe very next daymeet withtop Russian officialsinthe Oval Office under a painting of George Washington, let theirphotographer in while barring the U.S. press, share with them highlyclassified information about ISIS, describeComey to them as a "nut job," and confide that firing him took the pressure off.(Each part of thatsentence begs belief.)

Special counsel Robert Mueller is bad news for Donald Trump and Russia

Roger Ailes is dead but the conservative bubble lives on

The latest tough stuff, from Trump's perspective, is the foreign tourhe's on."Mr. Trump, a confirmed homebody, has expressed dread about the trip," The New York Times reported before he left Friday.

And who can blame him?The itinerary started with SaudiArabia, a hotbed of, you know, the kind of people he's trying to keep out of the USA, followed by Israel,reportedly the source of the top-secret Islamic State of Iraq and Syrianintelligence that Trump spilled to the Russians. Trump will be in Rome to see Pope Francis, who has indicatedthat Trump is not one of his favorites. The president hasnever had much nice to say about NATO, its member nations or their leaders, but he'll be in Brussels to meet with them,too.

Not fun! No wonder Trump decamps nearly every weekend to his own golf clubs and resorts and luxury digs. Why does he hate Washington? Has he ever even laid eyes onCamp David?

The presidentneeds an exit strategythat makes him look like a winner. He doesnt deserve one;in fact, he may well turn out to deserve impeachment. But that would make him a loser and he'dfight it to the end, and the end would be a long time coming.

What would entice him to leave soon? Trump is not going to turn into a world-classphilanthropist(a course I once envisioned for Mitt Romney). And Trumpwon't become head of a university (been there, done that, and it wasnt pretty).Nor can I see him growing a beard (Al Gore), promoting Viagra (Bob Dole) or taking up painting (George W. Bush). And Id be shocked if Trumpdecided to devote his post-presidency to, say, fighting gerrymandering or poverty (Barack Obama).

POLICING THE USA:Alook atrace, justice, media

Trump is a Republican wrecking ball

Only one suitable option comes to mind: Somebody sellthis man a TV network. He seemed to be musing aboutTrump TVbefore a comet struck Earth and he won the presidency. Its been done think Gore and Current TV. Trump TV would, of course, be much more yuge and would never, not ever, dare to morph into Al-Jazeera America or anything with a name like that.

Trump could brag about its large size and amazingly great American greatness. He could hire as many beautiful women as he wanted,present whatever content he wanted, star inas many shows as he wanted,and do it all right from Mar-a-Lago or Trump Tower. Hed never have to leave home.

Tom Nichols, a Russian expert and professor at theNaval War College, says it's dangerousthat a raw feed of Trumps thoughts, emotions and reactions to stress is available to foreign intelligence analysts worldwide on Twitter. For better or worse, all of that isalso available to we, the people. And to me themessage, amplified by countless interviews, newsconferences and leaks from panicked associates, is clear: "Get me out of here."

Jill Lawrence is the commentary editor of USA TODAY and author ofThe Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock. Follow her on Twitter:@JillDLawrence

You can read diverse opinions from ourBoard of Contributorsand other writers on theOpinion front page, on Twitter@USATOpinionand in our dailyOpinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check oursubmission guidelines.

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Read more from the original source:
Donald Trump to America: Please impeach me - USA TODAY

And it had nothing to do with the Russia investigation.

Donald Trump at a joint news conference with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos at the White House, May 18, 2017. (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)

President Donald Trump committed an impeachable offense this week, but you likely havent heard about it on cable news.

It didnt involve firing the director of the FBI, or conspiring with the attorney general to facilitate the firing that even some Republicans saw as a potential obstruction of justice, or bragging to the Russians about how pressure was taken off by that firing, or any of the other evidences of presidential maladministration that scream out for an accountability moment.

Those developments may have gotten the impeachment clock ticking, but there was anothereventnothing to do with Russiathat should have set off the alarm: Donald Trumps refusal to respect the requirements that the U.S. Constitution places on presidents when it comes to matters of war and peace.

Trump is disregarding the Constitution's most serious requirements regarding war and peace.

On Wednesday, US forces carried out more unauthorizedairstrikes on pro-government forces in Syria. Though the Constitution explicitlystates that the legislative branch, not the executive, has the power to initiate new military actions, Trump has steered the United States deeper into the Syrian conflict.

After initial reports that US official had confirmed that the US-led Coalition hit Assad regime forces with air strikes in southern Syria today,Congressman Ted Lieu, a former active duty officer in the US Air Force who currently serves as a Colonel in the Reserves, an expert in military law had the perfect responseon twitter:

The congressman later issued astatement:

For the second time in as many months, the US military has conducted airstrikes against pro-Assad forces in Syria. The Trump Administration does not have congressional authorization to carry out military strikes against the Assad regime. Furthermore, the situation that led to todays strike is precisely why I warned against getting further entangled in the Syrian civil war without a clear strategy. President Trump needs to explain his plan for Syria to Congress and the American people.

Lieu isntalone. After Trump ordered military strikes on Syria in April, Congressional Progressive Caucusmember Ral Grijalva, Keith Ellison,and Mark Pocan released this statement:

In the absence of an imminent threat to the United States, the president must seek Congressional authorization prior to any act of war. Trump failed to seek, much less gain, Congressional authorization. If President Trump believes that US military actions should be utilized against the Assad regime, he should immediately call the House and Senate back into session to debate and vote on the use of military force.These unauthorized attacks could pull the United States into a regional war and escalate this unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Even Republican Congressman Justin Amashsaid in April that: Airstrikes are an act of war. Atrocities in Syria cannot justify departure from Constitution, which vests in Congress power to commence war. Republican Senator Rand Paul called on Trump tocome to Congress for a proper debate.

THE STAKES ARE HIGHER NOW THAN EVER. GET THE NATION IN YOUR INBOX.

Trump did not answer the call.

Rather, the commander-in-chief is presiding over the unauthorized expansion of U.S. military involvement in Syriaanddisregarding the Constitutions most serious dictates regarding war and peace.

The commentariat can and will debate when a presidents refusal to seek congressional authorization for military action becomes impeachable. (There will even be attempts by the apologists for presidential overreach to make convoluted claims about how past authorizations of the use of military force somehow apply to every new conflict.) But, in Trumps case, there is no evidence to suggest that he will respect the requirements of the Constitution. As such, an article of impeachment is justified.

Of course, impeachment is a political process rather than a legal one. It requires a level of respect for the Constitution that is rarely displayed by leaders of the House or the Senateespecially ones likePaul Ryanand Mitch McConnell. But political processes evolve when popular pressure risesand it is worth noting that public support for impeachment is higher among voters than on Capitol Hill. Indeed, the new Public Policy Polling survey finds 48 percent of Americans want Trump impeached while just 41 percent oppose impeachment. Theres no reason to think he wont keep providing justifications.

Read more:
Donald Trump Committed Another Impeachable Offense This Week - The Nation.

Melania Trumps spent her first few months as first lady in New York, only rarely appearing in Washington or speaking at events. Yet friends and aides say shes keeping a close watch from her gilded apartment in Trump Tower on how her husband is portrayed in the pressand that shes growing increasingly worried about the anonymous sniping from West Wing staff.

Like President Donald Trump, these people said, Melania Trump is an avid consumer of cable news, and often tracks the news of the day and will alert her husband to stories she thinks make him look bad.

Story Continued Below

She has raised concerns that some on his communications and press team arent doing enough to defend him, according aides and sources close to the president. Shes been especially troubled by background quotes in which West Wing aides criticize the president, and shes called the president to discuss it.

Her quiet role as private watchdog is at odds with her public persona. Melania Trump has been seen as generally aloof and removed from her husband's political operation since he announced his campaign in 2015, but as his administration has been consumed by infighting and outside investigations, she's grown increasingly vocal about the perceived shortcomings of staff surrounding the president.

Melania loves the president unconditionally, definitely, she really cares about the president, she feels a kind of protection, said her long-time friend and former modeling agent Paolo Zampolli, who introduced the couple in 1998. The main concern to the president and the first lady is that these leaks are unacceptable.

Aides and friends of the president describe Melania Trump as one of the several people he calls at night to hear how the dysfunction in his White House is playing out beyond the Beltway, including billionaire businessmen Carl Icahn, Rupert Murdoch and Chris Ruddy.

For the next week, shell travel with her husband, accompanying him on his first trip overseas, putting her in a position to exert even greater influence over his thinking day to day.

Shes very private and shes very smart. Anyone who thinks shes a mannequin doesnt get it, said longtime Trump associate Roger Stone. She has excellent instincts into who is trying to exploit their influence with him.

In recent weeks, her concerns have centered on White House press secretary Sean Spicer, whose role as an on-camera briefer is expected to change after Trump returns from his overseas trip.

She was really concerned that Spicer was not doing a good job, that they were not proactive in defending the president, said one outside adviser who speaks to the president regularly. The leaks bother her. She believes a lot of people are more interested in serving themselves than him.

Like Donald Trump, perception is key to Melania Trump. She visibly nudged the president to put his hand on his heart during the national anthem at the White House Easter Egg roll in April.

Behind the scenes, she personally reviewed small details at the event, including the Easter bunny costumes worn by staff. One bunny was forced to shed the outfit attached to the costume after Melania Trump said she didnt like it, one aide recalled.

Mrs. Trump is being diligent and thoughtful with a focus on quality and tradition when it comes to her important role of first lady both behind the scenes and in public, said Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trumps communications director. She is staying true to herself and she believes the American people deserve nothing less.

On the campaign trail, Melania Trump made her preferences known and would tell aides when she thought stories or issues could be handled better. She weighed in on controversy when former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was accused of roughly handling a reporter. Former campaign aides say Trump took her opinion into account.

She would consult with us, she would send me things. She was concerned when there was this ridiculous reaction to some of Trumps statements, said former campaign adviser Sam Nunberg. [Trump] would say to us Melania said this, well Melania told me that.

Her decision to stay in New York, where 11-year-old Barron Trump is finishing the school year, has prompted widespread intriguebut her allies are quick to point out that even Michelle Obama briefly considered delaying her move to Washington while their daughters finished school in Chicago after President Barack Obama was elected.

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Melania Trump is expected to move to Washington over the summer with Barron, who will enroll at St. Andrews Episcopal School in suburban Potomac, Maryland.

Shell travel with the president throughout his tour through Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy, and Belgium, hosting events on her own during the first few stops and attending programs for spouses while hes at the NATO and G7 summits at the end of the trip.

Ahead of the foreign trip, the first lady put out a statement: This will not just be an opportunity to support my husband as he works on important matters of national security and foreign relations, it will also be my honor to visit and speak with women and children from different countries, with different perspectives.

Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to Laura Bush and has been consulting for Melania Trump, pointed to her decision to visit hospitals and schools, following traditional advocacy for first ladies. She wants to be taken seriously, and I think she wants to study this role, said McBride. Its an enormous privilege to her as a new American citizen.

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Melania scours media to protect Trump - Politico