President outdoes himself in new press conference as he attacks the Danish prime minister, Jewish Democrats and the press
Donald Trump started off precisely on-message.
Strolling to the end of a White House driveway on Wednesday ahead of his departure for a veterans event in Kentucky, the president began speaking while still walking toward a crowd of waiting reporters. “So the economy is doing very, very well,” he said.
Continue reading...The US president has renewed his attack on four Democratic congresswomen who have been critical of Israel, and reiterated a longstanding antisemitic trope implying that American Jews had divided loyalty to America and to Israel. Over almost 24 hours he has repeatedly described Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats as showing ‘either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty’
The US president has said his administration is looking at ending the right of citizenship for US-born children of non-citizens and people who entered the country illegally. ‘We’re looking at that very seriously, birthright citizenship, where you have a baby on our land, you walk over the border, have a baby – congratulations, the baby is now a US citizen ... It’s frankly ridiculous,’ Donald Trump told reporters
Continue reading...The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, says she is 'disappointed and surprised' by the US president's decision to cancel his state visit after she dismissed suggestions of selling Greenland as 'absurd'. Here's a look back at what drew the US president to want to make the ‘large real estate deal’ and the strong reaction to his suggestion
Continue reading...New rule would effectively replace the Flores agreement, which sets 20-day limit for families held in custody
Eighteen (!) of the 23 (!!) prominent Democratic candidates for president are speaking at the Iowa Federation Labor Convention today.
The presidential hopefuls will address union members in Altoona, beginning at 10am ET and running, presumably, for a long time.
Some reaction to the Trump administration rule on indefinitely detaining immigrant families:
The government should NOT be jailing kids, and certainly shouldn’t be seeking to put more kids in jail for longer.
This is yet another cruel attack on children, who this administration has targeted again and again with its anti-immigrant policies.
Congress must not fund this. https://t.co/bp3uDIJder
Even a short period of detention— let alone prolonged detention—has devastating, often lifelong effects on children. https://t.co/3823D0XnhO
It's also incredibly costly. DHS declined to run the numbers in the proposed rule, so we did so for them. Each year this will cost at least $200 MILLION, and as much as over $1 BILLION.
All to hurt kids and families.https://t.co/MjsidJxQx0
The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told journalists she was surprised and disappointed to learn that Donald Trump had cancelled his visit to Denmark after she rejected suggestions of selling Greenland to the US. The US president tweeted his decision after Frederiksen dismissed the notion as absurd
Continue reading...Jonathan Greenblatt said Trump’s charges of ‘disloyalty’ have ‘long been used to attack Jews’ while J Street called remarks ‘dangerous’
Prominent American Jews have reacted with dismay and disdain to Donald Trump’s renewed adoption of a longstanding antisemitic trope after he described Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats as showing “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”.
Accusing Jewish Americans of having dual loyalties to the US and Israel, as the president referred to in remarks from the Oval Office on Tuesday, prompted charges that he had embraced a slur long used against Jews. Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, pointed out on Twitter that charges of disloyalty “have long been used to attack Jews … It’s long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football”.
Continue reading...US president attacks comments as ‘nasty’ after calling off trip because Greenland not for sale
The Danish prime minister has said she is surprised and disappointed that Donald Trump has called off his planned visit to the country over Copenhagen’s refusal to sell Greenland to the US.
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Mette Frederiksen reaffirmed that Greenland was not for sale. “A discussion about a potential sale of Greenland has been put forward. It has been rejected by Greenland premier Kim Kielsen, and I fully stand behind that rejection,” she said.
Continue reading...By cancelling his state visit to Denmark, the US president has again showed his thin skin
Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to cancel his state visit to Denmark after it rejected his unsolicited offer to buy Greenland at a knockdown price took most people by surprise, not least his own ambassador.
“Denmark is ready … Partner, ally, friend”, tweeted Carla Sands, the neophyte US envoy to Copenhagen who was previously an actor and chiropractor. Hours later, it was off.
Continue reading...Incident is believed to be first clash with insurgents since revocation of special status
A suspected militant and a police officer have been killed in a gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir in what is believed to be the first clash with insurgents since the revocation of the territory’s special status.
Tensions remain high in the region, where there is a heavy security presence on the streets and a continued block on mobile and internet services. In Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar, posters appeared overnight urging people to defy a ban on public gatherings and join a mass march after Friday prayers this week to protest against Delhi’s decision to strip the region of its autonomy.
Continue reading...President blames rescheduling on Mette Frederiksen’s comments ‘that she would have no interest in discussing purchase’
National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre confirmed, via a tweet, that he spoke with President Trump today about gun laws, and called him a “strong” president.
The Atlantic reported earlier this afternoon that Trump had called LaPierre to reassure him that any background check legislation was now off the table.
I spoke to the president today. We discussed the best ways to prevent these types of tragedies. @realDonaldTrump is a strong #2A President and supports our Right to Keep and Bear Arms! – Wayne LaPierre
Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening that he is postponing a scheduled meeting with the Danish prime minister over her comments on his proposal for the US to buy the island.
Denmark owns Greenland, and the country has said the island is not for sale. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said on Sunday: “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously.”
....The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!
Continue reading...US president criticizes Jewish Americans who support the Democratic party and also defended Israel’s decision to bar representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country
Continue reading...The president’s daughter shared photos of a vacation in Wyoming, causing blowback over her father’s poor environmental record
Ivanka Trump shared a series of pictures on social media over the weekend of herself, husband Jared Kushner and their children availing themselves of the natural wonders of Wyoming.
“Love. Wonder. Wander. Repeat,” the president’s daughter and adviser captioned in one photo, in front of a painterly backdrop.
Continue reading...US president pledges ‘not to do this’ but residents of the icy island have hardly warmed to his interest
Donald Trump may still want to purchase Greenland – but the US president has no plans to embellish the island’s coast with a Trump Tower.
On Monday night, Trump tweeted an edited photo of a coastal town dotted with colorful homes – all dwarfed by a golden skyscraper bearing the US president’s name.
Continue reading...Representative Ben Ray Luján, the assistant House speaker, endorses opening an impeachment inquiry, Politico reports
Representative Ilhan Omar has promised to post a live stream of her imminent press conference with Representative Rashida Tlaib on the topic of their being banned from travel to Israel and Palestine in her Twitter feed here.
snap
The debunked study you’re referring to was based on 21 undecided voters. For context that’s about half the number of people associated with your campaign who have been indicted. https://t.co/0zHnWvGjSv
Continue reading...Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he was considering an attempt to buy Greenland. His interest in the largely autonomous Danish territory was met with indignation in both Greenland and Denmark, with the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, echoing the words of her Greenlandic counterpart, Kim Kielsen: ‘Greenland will not be sold.’
As the US and Taliban negotiate peace, Isis sees a chance to sow fresh chaos in Afghanistan
Even by the bloody standards of Afghanistan, it was a brutal attack: a suicide bomber at a wedding celebration, detonating his device as children danced and the happy couple completed their marriage rituals. In an instant more than 60 of the 1,000 guests were dead, hundreds injured.
Few events are so joyous and optimistic as a wedding. So why would a terrorist group – even one as brutal as Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility – want to attack one?
Continue reading...The US president’s talk of a ‘large real estate deal’ says a lot about his view of the world
Greenland, and more specifically its purchase by the US, is being actively discussed in Donald Trump’s Oval Office. But what exactly is it that makes one of the world’s most desolate places such an attractive proposition?
For the president, it is the real estate deal of a lifetime, one that would secure a land mass a quarter the size of the US and cement his place in US history alongside President Andrew Johnson, who bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, and Thomas Jefferson, who secured Louisiana from the French in 1803.
Continue reading...US president Trump speaks to the media in New Jersey about the US buying Greenland from Denmark for strategic reasons. 'It's just something we talked about..so the concept came up... but it's not number one on the burner,' Mr Trump says. 'They're losing $700 million a year carrying it.'
Continue reading...Supporters say his tendency to speak freely is sincere – but detractors call it a PR disaster
He parleyed his way to Brazil’s presidency with a vote-winning barrage of scaremongering and bombast.
But eight months into Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right tenure, there is growing discomfort over the president’s inability – or refusal – to mind his mouth, and the impact this is having on Brazil’s place in the world.
Continue reading...