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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.

Continued here:
Donald Trump is losing control of his presidency - Salon

In 2016, Salma Hayek revealed that, many years ago, PresidentDonald Trumpasked her out.

According to Hayek, she rejected Trumps advances and, as a result, he told the National Enquirer that he had rejected herbecause she was too short.

After this story broke in October, many wondered how Trump got his tiny little hands on Hayeks number in the first place. Well, now, shes telling the awkward tale behind their initial meetup.

During a recent appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Noah asked Hayek about this particular incident and the 50-year-old actress spilled so much tea.

It all started when Hayek was cold at an event and Trump, who just happened to be sitting behind her and her then boyfriend, immediately put his coat around her shoulders.

I turn around and my boyfriend so charming, so nice he said hello [to Trump], she recalled. [Trump] said, Im sorry, your girlfriend, I saw she was cold. And then he kept talking to my boyfriend.

Trump sparked up a little friendship with Hayeks boyfriend that night and eventually told the couple they should stay in his hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, if they were ever in town. He asked for their phone numbers and, according to Hayek, Trump never spoke to her boyfriend again.

But he did give her a ring.

Hes inviting me out, and Im like, What about my boyfriend? Am I crazy? Are you asking me out? You know I have a boyfriend, she explained, adding that Trump responded with, Hes not good enough for you. Hes not important, hes not big enough for you. You have to go out with me.

Noah then joked that Trump was right. Hayek did not end up with that boyfriend and instead married French billionaire Franois-Henri Pinault in 2009.

Read the rest here:
How Donald Trump Weaseled His Way Into Getting Salma Hayek's Number - HuffPost

Soon after former FBI director James B. Comey testified that President Trump told him that he hoped the FBI would drop its investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the president's personal lawyer flatly denied that accusation and said Trump never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone.

President Trump denied asking former FBI director James B. Comey for a loyalty pledge, or to end the FBI's investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, at a news conference on June 9 at the White House. (Reuters)

But Donald Trump Jr. the president's eldest son seemed to confirmComey's version of events in a Saturday interview on Fox News as he tried to emphasizethefact that his father did not directly order Comey to stop investigating Flynn.

When hetells you to do something, guess what? There's no ambiguity in it, there's no, 'Hey, I'm hoping,'" Trump Jr. said. You and I are friends: 'Hey, I hope this happens, but you've got to do your job.' That's what he told Comey. And for this guy, asa politician, to then go back and write a memo: 'Oh, I felt threatened.' He felt so threatened but he didn't do anything.

Trump Jr. also saidthat Comey's testimony vindicated the president and that everything in it was basically ridiculous.

I think he's proven himself to be a liar in all of this. I think he's proven himself to be a dishonest man of bad character, Trump Jr. said.

His comment came during an interview with Jeanine Pirro, a former New York district attorney and judge who isa longtime friend of the Trump family. Pirro has longbeena go-to interviewer for the president and his allies when they need a sympathetic cable news hostwho will enthusiastically agree with themandnot askany difficult questions. (That same day, Pirro attended a baby showerin New York for Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump.) After the interview aired late Saturday night, Pirro tweeted: Such a great interview! Trump Jr. agreed and tweeted:Good times. Thanks Judge.

See more here:
Trump's son seems to confirm Comey's account of the president's comments on the Flynn investigation - Washington Post