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Former president Barack Obama spoke in Berlin on May 25 at a discussion on democracy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Reuters)

Thanks to an awkward coincidence, President Trump is in Brussels at the same time as predecessor Barack Obama is in Berlin. These two trips are certainly offering contrasting views of the United States's relationship with Europe.

Obama was in the German capital Thursday morning to appear alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a biennual festival organized by the German protestant church. The two spoke in front of a large crowd at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, with Obamagoing out of his way to praise Merkel.

Not only do I love this city, but one of my favorite partners throughout my presidency is sitting next to me, Obamasaidwith a smile.

Speaking at the democracy-themed event, he also appeared to offer thinly veiled criticism of Trump, then only a few hundred miles away in Belgium. We cant isolate ourselves. We cant hide behind a wall, he said, prompting cheers from the audience.

Even before he became president, Obama had endeared himself to Germans. In 2008, while campaigning for the Democratic nomination, he gavea speech to an estimated 200,000 Berliners inTiergarten park. Five years later, he returned to the city to give a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the iconic location from whereRonald Reagan called onSoviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall.

Merkel became a key Obama ally on the world stage, despite strains over ascandal involving alleged U.S. monitoring of her phone. During Obama's last official trip to Germany, in November, theaffection between the two was apparent,and theyissueda joint warningagainst taking democracy for granted.

Obama's high standing in Germany is largely shared across the continent. A poll conducted by thePew Research Center last summer found that 77 percent of Europeans hadconfidence in him, including 86 percent of Germans. The poll asked Europeans what they thought about Trump, who at that point was a presidential candidate. Just 9 percent of Europeans said they had confidence inhim.

Trump's remarks about Europe on the campaign trail may not have helped his cause. He labeled himself Mr. Brexit and questioned the logic of the European Union, while warning that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization amilitary alliance that binds Europe and North America may be obsolete. He even singled out Merkel, sayingshe was ruining Germany with her immigration policies.

President Trump criticized leaders at a dedication ceremony at the new NATO headquarters in Brussels, May 25, saying they need to increase financial contributions to combat "the threat of terrorism." (The Washington Post)

As Obama and Merkel spoke in Berlin, Trump was in Brussels the center of European political power and a city he once calleda hellhole as part of his first foreign trip as U.S. president. The trip has included stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.

In the Belgian capital, Trump met with E.U. officials Thursday morning and later in the day will attend a working dinnerwith world leaders including Merkel representing NATO members. In April, Trump toned down his criticism of the organization, even saying that the alliance was no longer obsolete. Such comments mark a broader trend for Trump, who has walked back some of his harshest criticisms of Europe since becoming president.

So far his bark has been worse than his bite when it comes to the core issues Europeans care about, said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations andprofessor of international affairs at Georgetown University.

However, Trump's time in Europe may also have its share of tricky moments.He will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May later Thursday. She is expected to raise the issue ofapparent leaks of shared intelligenceabout Mondays Manchester bombing. Trump has ordered the Justice Department to launch a full investigation into the leaks, adding in a statement Thursday that there is no relationship we cherish more than the Special Relationship withBritain.

Trump also had a private lunch with new French President Emmanuel Macronat the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Thursday a meeting that prompted a widely mocked video of the pair shaking hands, if nothing else.

President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shared an intense handshake at their first meeting on May 25. (The Washington Post)

After the NATO meeting, Trump will head to Sicily fora Group of Sevenmeeting of the world'stop industrialized nations. His time in Europe isimportant.European leaders and publics are still sizing him up, Kupchan said. Opinions will firm up over the course of the next 48 hours.

That Obama received such a rapturous reception in Berlin probably won't help. Several aspectsof Trump's first foreign trip have been compared unfavorably with his predecessor's:After Trump signed a short, curiously upbeat message at Israel's Holocaust memorial Tuesday, social media users begansharing the lengthy and solemn note Obama wrotewhen he visited Yad Vashem in 2008.

By all accounts, Obama's trip to Berlin was long planned and not designed to clash with Trump's Europe sojourn. However, the awkward timing may benefit at least Merkel, who isfacing reelectionin September.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told world leaders at NATO headquarters, May 25, that preserving "open societies" leads to success, not "the building of walls." (The Washington Post)

If you look at public opinion surveys, Barack Obama has retained a popularity in Germany that Donald Trump has not achieved, said Karen Donfried, president of the German Marshall Fund and a member of the National Security Council during the Obama administration. Given the political year that we have in Germany, with a national election in September, the chancellor could be well served by showing her relations with both the past U.S. president and the current U.S. president.

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Trump and Obama are having very different trips to Europe - Washington Post

Former Presidents Bush and Obama owe a personal apology to the family of a California boy gravely injured by an illegal alien. They should also pay for the childs medical bills.

Ill explain why in just a few minutes. But first, heres the back story:

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On May 6,the Lake family was returning to their home in San Ysidro after a day trip to Disneyland.

They were just about a block from home when a truck driven by an illegal alien broadsided their car. Benjamin Lake and his wife suffered minor injuries. Their six-year-old son was severely injured.

Lennox spent 18 days in the hospital recovering from deep skull fractures, a broken nose and other injuries. The little boy faces a long and arduous recovery.

Constantino Banda-Acosta, the driver of the truck, has been charged with violating federal immigration laws. Hes also facing a number of charges in connection with the crash.

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But heres the kick the pants: The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Banda-Acosta had either been deported or allowed to voluntarily return to Mexico 17 times over the past 14 years.

And not once was he charged with violating federal immigration law.

So lets get right to the point:

An American child was nearly killed on American soil by an illegal alien and I blame the Bush and the Obama administrations.

Banda-Acosta was able to come and go as he pleased because Republicans and Democrats turned a blind eye to our immigration laws. They refused to secure the border and that decision nearly cost Lennox his life.

How many more Americans have to suffer at the hands of the foreign invaders?

Immigration attorney Andrew Nietor told the newspaper it was unfair to politicize the Lake familys accident.

I think this is the sort of case the Trump administration tries to politicize and tries to portray as typical, but its not typical, Nietor said. One of the reasons this case is noteworthy is because of the extreme circumstances.

Unfortunately, its become quite typical for American blood to be shed on American soil at the hands of illegals. Remember Kate Steinle? What about Joshua Wilkerson, Jamiel Shaw Jr. and David Kriehn?

Every study shows that the non-citizen population, including the undocumented, is more law-abiding than the U.S. citizen population, Nietor said.

First of all, there is no such thing as a non-citizen population. They are called illegal immigrants. Second of all, that argument is a load of bull.

Every single person living in our nation illegally is a criminal. Theyre called illegal immigrants because they are breaking the law.

And that brings me back to Presidents Bush and Obama.

Had they only done their job and secured the border, Lennox would not have spent 18 days in the hospital.

But their administrations failed the Lake family of San Ysidro, California. They failed to defend American sovereignty. They failed to secure the border. And as a result foreign enemies were allowed to set foot on American soil.

Fortunately, President Trump is in the process of making sure that never happens again.

As for Bush and Obama they need to make things right with the Lake family. I suspect they are facing a mountain of medical bills not to mention a long road to recovery.

So I am calling on both former presidents to pay for Lennox Lakes medical bills. Its the only good and honorable thing to do.

After all, their political expedience and capitulation nearly got an American boy killed.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary. His latest book is The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again. Follow him on Twitter @ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

Originally posted here:
Presidents Bush and Obama to blame for harm caused by illegal immigrant deported 17 times - Fox News

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former President of the United States Barack Obama arrive for a discussion on democracy in Berlin Thursday. Steffi Loos/Getty Images hide caption

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former President of the United States Barack Obama arrive for a discussion on democracy in Berlin Thursday.

In one of his most high-profile appearances since leaving the White House, former President Obama warned tens of thousands of young people in Berlin that "the international order is at a crossroads."

President Trump was also in Europe, chiding NATO members while in Belgium for not living up to agreed-upon defense-spending levels.

Obama delivered an implicit rebuke to Trump's "America First" policy, saying in the modern, interconnected world, "we can't isolate ourselves. We can't hide behind a wall."

Despite being largely out of sight since leaving office (aside from appearing in occasional paparazzi photos on billionaires' yachts), Obama seemed eager to rejoin the debate over globalism that's been shaping elections in the U.S. and Europe.

He stressed that an increasingly integrated economic order had delivered unparalleled peace and prosperity to the continent. But he cautioned that success could not be taken for granted.

"It has to be continually renewed, because there is a competing narrative of fear and xenophobia and nationalism and intolerance," Obama told the large crowd near Brandenburg Gate. "We have to push back against those trends."

That tension, between globalism and nationalism, has flared in recent elections in the West, be it Brexit (Great Britain's choice to leave the European Union), France, Germany and, of course, Trump versus Hillary Clinton.

Obama, who offered an upbeat assessment of European progress, was joined on stage by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at an event marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Later, Merkel would join Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels.

In his speech, Trump goaded NATO allies to increase their defense spending. While Obama often made the same point, quietly, when he was president, he cautioned his audience in Berlin that military might should not be viewed in isolation.

"The national-security budget shouldn't just be seen as military hardware," Obama said, stressing the importance of diplomacy and development to national security, as well.

Trump's budget proposal would move the U.S. in the opposite direction. It calls for deep cuts to the State Department and foreign aid budgets, while boosting spending on military troops.

Obama did not back away from military power entirely, telling a young questioner, "We do live in a dangerous world."

As if to underscore that point, he and Merkel offered condolences to the victims of Monday's terrorist bombing in Manchester, England.

"It's a reminder that there is great danger and terrorism," Obama said, "and people who would do great harm to others just because they're different."

The former president also defended his signature domestic policy, the Affordable Care Act, which the Republican Congress is working to repeal.

"Obviously, some of the progress that we made is imperiled, because there is still a significant debate taking place in the United States," Obama said. He conceded the law, commonly known as Obamacare, had not extended health insurance to all Americans. But it did boost coverage to some 20 million people.

"For those 20 million people, their lives have been better," Obama said. "And we've set a standard for what's possible that people can build on."

This week, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that a GOP replacement bill passed by the House would leave 23 million fewer people with health insurance by 2026.

"If we're going to solve the problems that we've discussed here," Obama told his audience, "people have to be involved. They have to get engaged."

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As Trump Slams NATO Allies, Obama Defends 'International Order' - NPR

A federal judge who donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to President Obamas campaign has threatened to hold undercover reporter and pro-life activist David Daleiden in contempt of court after his organization released video footage of Planned Parenthood employees admitting that abortion involves killing a baby.

In the video released Thursday, Planned Parenthood Michigan Medical Director Dr. Lisa Harris says that pro-abortion activists know abortion is violent and kills babies, but that shouldnt stop them.

Given that we might actually both agree that theres violence in here, ask me why I come to work everyday, she said in the footage from the National Abortion Federations 2014 and 2015 conventions. Lets just give them all the violence, its a person, its killing lets just give them all that.

YouTube yanked the video from its site hours after it was posted, citing a violation of the sites terms of service.

News later broke that in response U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered Daleiden to appear in court June 14, where the judge will consider levying contempt of court charges against him. Orrick is the same judge who granted the abortion groups a preliminary injunction against CMP, prohibiting them from releasing undercover footage in February 2016. In July 2015, just hours after NAF filed the request, Orrick also granted a temporary restraining order against CMP releasing any more footage.

Orrick, whom Obama nominated to his position, also donated at least $200,000 to the 44th presidents campaign and more than $30,000 to committees that supported him, Mollie Hemingway has reported.

Because Daleiden and hiscolleague Sandra Merritt are facing 14 felony charges in California for recording confidential communications, in a statement provided toNational Reviewtheir attorneys said the footage has been entered into public legal records due to the court proceedings and is therefore public information.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra has entered this footage into the public record by filing a public criminal proceeding based on it. The preliminary injunction obtained by NAF in a federal civil suit cannot bind this State criminal proceeding. (In fact, the SF Superior Court is now releasing certified copies of the court filings to the public with the links to the videos.)

You can see the full video here.

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Obama Donor Judge Threatens Pro-Life Journalists With Contempt - The Federalist

Obama, Merkel To Discuss Civic Engagement At Brandenburg Gate NPR The bishop who will moderate a chat between former President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discusses its theme:"Being Involved in Democracy: Taking on Responsibility Locally and Globally." Facebook; Twitter. Google+. Email ...

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Obama, Merkel To Discuss Civic Engagement At Brandenburg Gate - NPR