The Serious Side - part 6

Donnamaarie - I like your idea. I was trying to think of a way to save the White House and all the monuments while getting rid of "the swamp". The weather's so hot and humid maybe they'll just melt like the wicked witch. I honestly don't care how, I just want them all gone.

Seriously, from what I've been seeing, there are a lot of new faces on both sides. My fear is that these young "progressives" will pull too far left and split the Democratic party, giving the election to the Republicans.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5910837/Families-migrant-children-forced-pay-2-500-airfare-costs-reunited.html

[size=34]Now families of migrant children, separated from their parents at the border, are forced to pay up to $2,500 to be reunited with their loved ones[/size]

• Relatives have paid up to $2,500 in airfare costs to reunite with their loved ones  
  
  
• Costs include travel for kids & escort who would bring them to their destinations
  
  
• All family members who will live in the home of a migrant child are also being forced to provide fingerprints to ICE 
  
  

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 15:34 EDT, 2 July 2018 | UPDATED: 17:11 EDT, 2 July 2018

    


Families of migrant children, who were separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border, are being forced to pay up to $2,500 in airfare costs to be reunited with their loved one.
More than 2,300 migrant children were separated from their families over the past few weeks. 
The separation of families was a result of the Trump administration's 'zero tolerance policy' that led officials to take the children from their parents as they tried to enter the US illegally. 
On June 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending family separation at the border. 


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Families of immigrant children, who were separated from their parents at the border, are being forced to pay up to $2,500 in airfare costs to bring their relatives home safely. Buena Martin-Godinez (left) is reunited with her daughter at the Miami International Airport on Sunday


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Parents and other relatives are paying between $550 to $2,500 for one-way plane tickets. The estimated costs also cover airfare for adult escorts, who would accompany the children to their destinations. A mother and son are reunited at Baltimore's BWI airport 
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The president, in an abrupt U-turn on the divisive policy put into place by his own administration, directed the Department of Homeland Security to detain families together so long as children are not put into danger.
'I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,' the president stated at the time. 
But now, the families of those children are picking up the tab for expensive airfare costs in order to reunite the kids with their relatives. 
According to The New York Times, parents and other relatives are paying between $550 to $2,500 for one-way plane tickets. 


The estimated costs also cover airfare for adult escorts, who would accompany the children to their destinations. 
Authorities told Marlon Parada, a construction worker in California, that he would have to pay $1,800 just to fly his cousin's 14-year-old daughter from Houston to Los Angeles.  
'They notified me a day before her release,' Parada told the Times. 'I had no choice.'
Brenda Garcia, who was separated from her seven-year-old son, told the newspaper that she had to pay $576.20 for him to fly from Miami to Virginia. 











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Most families had to dip into their savings or ask for donations in order to pay the high costs of the airfares, a payment requirement that was waived under the Obama administration in 2016. A mother and son have lunch after being reunited in Chicago 
She said she had to pay the escort in cash when they arrived at the airport. 
The Times report also claims that a Guatemalan immigrant paid $2,500 to fly two teen relatives from Texas to New York.
A California man also paying $1,400 to get his 11-year-old nephew from Texas to Los Angeles.
According to the Times, a Salvadoran woman was initially asked to pay $4,000 to fly her 12-year-old nice, 10-year-old nephew and an escort from Texas to California before she convinced the shelter she couldn't afford it. 
Most of the aforementioned families had to dip into their savings or ask for donations in order to pay the high costs of the airfares, a payment requirement that was waived under the Obama administration in 2016.
According to the Times, all family members who will live in the home of a migrant child are also being forced to provide fingerprints to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Sponsors of some migrant children have also been rejected. 
One potential sponsor was not allowed to take a child into her custody because she couldn't afford the child’s medication, according to the Times. 
A mother-of-two was told that her house was not large enough to accommodate a third child. 
And a third was told that she had to move to a better neighborhood if she wanted to be approved.
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These stories just break my heart.   So few moms, dads and children have been reunited since this callous policy was enacted.  I  cannot believe that this is happening in America. This is a ruthless, conniving and hateful administration.  I hope that the good people in our country will eventually have their say and vote this monster out of office.  

I was able to go to the ‘Keeping Families Together’ rally in DC on Saturday.  A really good turnout and a number of great speeches by clergy, immigrants who live in this country and a few celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alicia Keys and America Ferrera. We were in front of the White House but of course no one was home to hear us.  We marched from the White House to the Justice Department where we left our signs taped to the door.  We all felt good when we walked past the Trump Hotel and gave it the finger.  Small sense of satisfaction ....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5911855/Scott-Pruitt-latest-Trump-official-harassed-restaurant.html

[size=34]A speechless Scott Pruitt is accosted in a DC restaurant by a mom holding her young son who accuses the EPA chief of ruining the environment - just weeks after Sarah Sanders was booted out of an eatery for working for Trump[/size]

• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was confronted while eating at the Teaism restaurant Monday
  
  
• Teacher Kristin Mink, who was with her son, 2, said: 'I urge you to resign, because of what you're doing to the environment in our country'
  
  
• Pruitt said nothing during the showdown and left shortly after
  
  
• He is the latest member of the Trump administration to be confronted by angry members of the public
  
  
• Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family were asked to leave Virginia restaurant Red Hen last month shortly after Trump's much-criticized immigration policy
  
  
• Protesters forced Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to leave a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., over the same issue 
  
  
• Last week 20 demonstrators marched around the CityCenterDC apartment building of White House adviser Stephen Miller, handing out 'Wanted' fliers
  
  

By HANNAH PARRY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 22:58 EDT, 2 July 2018 | UPDATED: 05:17 EDT, 3 July 2018

    



Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt became the latest member of the Trump administration to face an angry showdown with a member of the public over the president's divisive policies.
Pruitt was dining with a friend at Teaism restaurant in Washington DC on Monday, when he was confronted by local teacher who urged him to resign over the reported irreparable damage he is causing to the environment.
Walking over with her two-year-old son in her arms, Kristin Mink told Pruitt: 'This is my son, he loves animals, he loves clean air, he loves clean water.'
She mentioned the politician's $50 a night apartment deal with an energy lobbying firm and his plan to roll back vehicle emissions standards.





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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt (left) became the latest member of the Trump administration to face an angry showdown with a member of the public (right is Kristin Mink)


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Pruitt was dining with a friend at Teaism restaurant in Washington DC on Monday, when he was confronted by Kristin Mink (right, with her son)
'We deserve to have some in the EPA who actually does protect our environment. Who believes in climate change and takes it seriously for the benefit of all of us, including our children.
'I just wanted to urge you to resign, because of what you're doing to the environment in our country... before your scandals push you out,' added Mink, who teaches sixth grade at Sidwell Friends – where both Sasha and Malia Obama attended.


Pruitt, who remained mute during the entire confrontation, and his associate reportedly got up and left the restaurant immediately after.
His spokesman insists that Pruitt didn't leave because of Mink, but that he simply had to go back to the EPA for a briefing. 
'Administrator Pruitt always welcomes input from Americans, whether they agree or disagree with the decisions being made at EPA,' EPA spokesman Lincoln Ferguson told The New York Post.



The White House press secretary posted this tweet Saturday morning, sharing details about the incident 


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Pruitt is the latest in a line of Trump officials who have been confronted or allegedly even harassed by the public over the president's unpopular policies, in recent weeks. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen restaurant


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Trump said that the Red Hen restaurant 'should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders


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The small Virginia restaurant whose owner asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave has now become the site of heated political demonstrations
'This is evident by him listening to her comments and going on to thank her, which is not shown in the video.
'His leaving had nothing to do with the confrontation, he had simply finished his meal and needed to get back to the EPA for a briefing.'
Pruitt is the latest in a line of Trump officials who have been confronted or allegedly even harassed by the public over the president's unpopular policies, in recent weeks.
Last month, the owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va., asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave because of her job, which Sanders tweeted about from her official White House account. 
The owner said that she had multiple immigrant employees who were unhappy with Trump's zero tolerance migration policy which saw all immigrants, even those seeking asylum, arrested and prosecuted. The policy saw more than 2,000 children torn from their parents until a recent revision by the president allowed kids to stay in jail with their parents.
Employees voted to ask Sanders to leave the restaurant. The Red Hen has since received a torrent of abuse from Trump supporters, who also wrote fake reviews, and even hurled chicken feces toward the restaurant. 








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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was forced to leave a Mexican restaurant


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Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen was run out of a Mexican restaurant (left) in Washington DC. She was then captured on video leaving the restaurant (right)
Two weeks ago, protesters from Democratic Socialists of America forced Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to leave a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., complaining loudly about the White House's immigration policies.   
A crowd descended on MXDC Cocina Mexicana, where Nielsen was dining with a male colleague just hours afterDonald Trump praised her for doing a 'fabulous job'.
'Secretary Nielsen how dare you spend your evening here eating dinner,' one protester was heard to yell in video of the confrontation. 'You're complicit in the separation and deportation of over 10,000 children separated from their parents.' 
'If kids don't eat in peace, you don't eat in peace! Not in DC, not in the US!' they chant at one point.  
Another video that was captured showed Nielsen and her dining associate leaving the restaurant and entering a big black van. The Secret Service and police arrived on the scene following the protest.
Protesters also accosted Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a prominent Trump supporter, outside a film screening last month. The movie was 'Won't You Be My Neighbor,' a documentary about the mild-mannered children's TV pioneer Fred Rogers.


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Protesters handed out 'Wanted' fliers around White House adviser Stephen Miller's condo


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Protesters handed out wanted fliers of Miller which branded him a 'white nationalist' 
And just last week 20 demonstrators marched around the CityCenterDC apartment building of White House adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy, handing out 'Wanted' fliers.
The fliers featured Miller's photo and described him as a 'white nationalist, Trump lackey, and architect of both the Muslim ban and Family Separation.'
It also listed him as 'guilty' of 'kidnapping 2,500 children, crimes against humanity, Banning Muslims,' and 'Promoting Nazi, White Supremacist and Islamophobic ideologies.' 
Miller, who was traveling with Trump to a campaign rally in Columbia, South Carolina, was not home when the protesters arrived, USA Today reported. 
The president has since issued a chilling warning to his opponents, saying they 'better take it easy' as there had 'never been a base in the history of politics in this country like my base.'
The threatening words came as he was asked about people in his administration who have been publicly harassed.
Trump dismissed some of the incidents as done for 'publicity.'
'I hate to say it. Some of them do it for publicity,' he said on 'Sunday Morning Futures' on Fox News.
But then he added: 'You know, there's probably never been a base in the history of politics in this country like my base. I hope the other side realizes that they better just take it easy.' 


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Pruitt, who remained mute during the entire confrontation, and his associate reportedly immediately then got up and left the restaurant


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Mink (pictured with her husband and son)  teaches sixth grade at Sidwell Friends – where both Sasha and Malia Obama attended


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Mink, who has been protesting against the Trump administration, said that her confrontation hadn't been planned - but when she saw Pruitt she knew she had to say something
Meanwhile Mink, a 33-year-old mom from Silver Spring, Maryland, seemed unfazed by the threat, saying that her confrontation hadn't been planned - but when she saw Pruitt she knew she had to say something.
'This wasn't planned or organized, I literally just saw him and said you are the man who is ruining the future, for the children, for the next generation,' said Mink, who has been protesting against the Trump administration.
Mink said she had been nervous about addressing Pruitt and was surprised by his lack of reaction.
'He literally said nothing,' she told The Post. 'He had no response, he had no defense, he had no apology, he did no explaining, he did no denying
Pruitt faces 13 federal investigations into his spending and management practices regarding his tenure at the EPA. At least two of those are aimed at the circumstances surrounding his $50-a-night lease at a Capitol Hill condo owned by a person with ties to the energy industry.


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Mink added in text on her video that she's confronted the EPA administrator but he 'fled the restaurant before I got back to my seat'
The agency chief is also under fire for directing an EPA aide to contact a senior Chick-fil-A executive as part of an effort to land his family a franchise, and a $2,000 payment to his wife from organizers of a conference the administrator then attended at taxpayer expense.
He's also been criticized for using a staff for his personal activities and asking his security detail to pick up his dry cleaning and help find his favorite moisturizing lotion at Washington-area hotels.
Pruitt has established up a legal defense fund.
But he reportedly hasn't offered to use the fund to assist current and former aides with their own large legal bills. Nor, the Daily Beast reports, has he offered apologies or expressed remorse to those aides for their ongoing legal and personal troubles.
Cleta Mitchell, the attorney overseeing the Pruitt legal defense fund, did not respond to the Daily Beast's requests for comment.
And an EPA spokesperson referred The Daily Beast to Pruitt's comments before a House committee in May.


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Much of the anger at the administration began after Trump's zero tolerance migration policy which saw more than 2,000 children torn from their parents (immigrant children at detention center last month)


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Thousands of Americans took to the streets in protest on June 19, furious at the separation of migrant families arriving at the Us border




'I am not afraid to admit that there has been a learning process and when Congress or independent bodies of oversight find fault in our decision-making I want to correct that and ensure that it does not happen again,' Pruitt said at the time. 'Ultimately, as the administrator of the EPA, the responsibility for identifying and making changes necessary rests with me and no one else.'
President Donald Trump has steadfastly defended Pruitt's job performance, but has recently become critical of the baggage his behavior has heaped onto the administration.
'Scott has done a fantastic job at EPA,' Trump told reporters last Friday, 'but, you know ... I'm not happy about certain things, I'll be honest.'
'He's done a fantastic job running the EPA,' the president reiterated, 'which is very overriding.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5911549/Federal-court-blocks-ICE-treatment-asylum-seekers.html

[size=34]Federal court orders ICE to STOP the 'indefinite detention' of immigrants - and tells government to immediately release or grant hearings to more than 1,000 long-term asylum seekers[/size]

• Comes after almost no major ICE offices granted parole to asylum immigrants 
  
  
• Those denied parole are detained, including one Haiti teacher for last 18 months
  
  
• Judge has ordered a case-by-case review of all asylum seekers awaiting parole  
  
  

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 19:23 EDT, 2 July 2018 | UPDATED: 02:02 EDT, 3 July 2018

    



A federal judge on Monday determined that the US government is violating its own rules regarding the treatment of people seeking asylum.
Judge James Boasberg issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to stop what opponents called the arbitrary detention of legitimate asylum seekers. 
Boasberg has also ordered the US government to immediately release or grant hearings to more than 1,000 asylum seekers. 
Many of these immigrants have been jailed for months or years without their cases being reviewed.  


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A federal judge on Monday determined that the US government is violating its own rules regarding the treatment of people seeking asylum 


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The decision comes after the ACLU discovered that almost all asylum seekers have been detained since Trump has come into office, flipped from 10 per cent to 96 per cent 
'As the events of recent months make clear, the question of how this nation will treat those who come to our shores seeking refuge generates enormous debate,' Boasberg wrote in his 38-page opinion, obtained by The Washington Post. 

'This Opinion does no more than hold the Government accountable to its own policy, which recently has been honored more in the breach than the observance.' 
'Having extended the safeguards of the Parole Directive to asylum seekers, ICE must now ensure that such protections are realized.'  
The court decision is yet another blow to the Trump administration's immigration policies, which just weeks ago ended its own policy to separate children from parents at the US-Mexico border.     
'This ruling means the Trump administration cannot use indefinite detention as a weapon to punish and deter asylum seekers,' said Michael Tan, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project. 


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Judge James Boasberg issued a preliminary injunction ordering ICE to stop what opponents called the arbitrary detention of legitimate asylum seekers


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The court decision is yet another blow to the Trump administration's immigration policies, which ended its own policy to separate children from parents at the US-Mexico border. Pictured is an Hondura family seeking asylum after being detained in Texas 
All immigrants seeking asylum must initially pass a 'credible fear' screening to determine if they face a threat of persecution in their home countries. Those who fail that standard are deported immediately.  
Previously, those who passed were usually given humanitarian parole while awaiting an immigration hearing, provided they were not considered flight risks or dangers to the public.
Under former President Barack Obama's administration, ICE granted humanitarian parole to more than 90 per cent of asylum seekers.
But the ACLU sued when it discovered that the rates have almost completely flipped since Trump took office, with 96 per cent being detained in the first eight months of 2017 compared to 10 per cent in 2013. 
Lawyers for the ACLU and other groups argued in May that since the start of Trump's administration, the number of people granted such parole has dropped to almost zero in five key ICE field offices. 
Those denied parole have instead been detained. In one case, a former ethics teacher from Haiti has spent more than 18 months in prison. 


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Many of these immigrants have been jailed for months or years without their cases being reviewed. Pictured is a mother who was separated from her daughter for two months after arriving in the US to flee violence in Guatemala 
Boasberg, in a 38-page memorandum opinion, concluded that 'the numbers here are irrefutable,' and ordered a case-by-case review of all asylum seekers awaiting parole. 
He is also preventing the government from carrying out blanket detentions of asylum seekers in Detroit, El Paso, Texas, Los Angeles, Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. 
Boasberg has granted provisional class status to asylum seekers and ordered that ICE cannot detain any applicant for more than seven days without reviewing their case.  






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Boasberg ordered a case-by-case review of all asylum seekers awaiting parole. Pictured is a protester in front of an ICE transport bus 

https://people.com/pets/kentucky-woman-under-fire-killing-black-giraffe/






 
July 03, 2018 11:30 AM
Photos of a Kentucky woman posing with a black giraffe that she killed on a hunt last year have sparked outrage after an African news outlet shared the story.
South Africa-based AfricLand Post shared photos of a woman they identified as Tess Thompson Talley kneeling beside the slain animal with her gun in hand. In a second picture, she smiles and points towards the sky.
“White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share,” the media outlet captioned the June 16 post on Twitter.
In a follow-up tweet, they added, “If our so called governments can’t care for our wildlife then its time we stand up and responsibility of our continent, lands, resources and wildlife….share share share! and lets have a united voice against pillage of Africa, it’s the only home we have.”



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AfricaDigest@africlandpost





[ltr]White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share[/ltr]




12:09 PM - Jun 16, 2018

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AfricaDigest@africlandpost

 · 16 Jun







[ltr]White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share pic.twitter.com/hSK93DOOaz[/ltr]

AfricaDigest@africlandpost


[ltr]If our so called governments can't care for our wildlife then its time we stand up and responsibility of our continent, lands, resources and wildlife....share share share! and lets have a united voice against pillage of Africa, it's the only home we have[/ltr]




4:40 AM - Jun 17, 2018

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According to USA Today, Talley shared the pictures from the June 2017 hunting trip on her Facebook page.
“Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today!” she wrote in the since-deleted post. “Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile. I knew it was the one. He was over 18 years old, 4,000 lbs and was blessed to be able to get 2,000 lbs of meat from him.”
Talley defended the kill in a statement to Today.
“This is called conservation through game management,” she said.
The hunter also claimed that being a woman put her at the receiving end of the backlash.
“For all the people wishing death or even threatening death to me, this does nothing positive for your ‘movement,’ it only shows the world how lopsided your priorities are,” Talley said. “The very same picture could have been posted, and are posted daily, of men with their trophies and not a word is said.”
She continued, “It is by far women that hunt who catch more grief from the ‘tolerant’ and ‘all loving’ animal rights activists. It’s sickening to the majority of people how women are treated all over the world, except in the case of women hunters. You people call yourselves compassionate and caring, yet some of the most vile things have been directed at me and many other women hunters.”

Deedee@1958deedee





[ltr]Tess Thompson Talley “Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today,”Ms Talley,“Spotted rare black giraffe bull,stalked him for quite awhile. I knew it was the one. Yes, doesn't everyone dream of murdering a rare animal I hope you will be the stalked animal soon[/ltr]




8:59 AM - Jul 3, 2018

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Count Istvan@CountItsvan





[ltr]When Tess Thompson Talley is to old to breed...is it time to shoot her?[/ltr]




5:08 PM - Jul 2, 2018

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SUZANNE STRATFORD@SuzStratford





[ltr]Sick!!!!!! Is Tess Thompson Talley seriously thanking God here after killing a rare, magnificent black giraffe? Does she really think God approves? I must’ve missed the chapter on “trophy killing” for sport in the Bible #SICK #Disgusting[/ltr]




8:14 AM - Jul 3, 2018

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Malerie@MalerieStanley





[ltr]Tessa Thompson Talley you are the reason our wildlife keeps taking steps towards extinction. Congratulations on your sick idea of a victory! #savewildlife[/ltr]




5:41 PM - Jun 27, 2018 · Los Angeles, CA

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Debra Messing and Ricky Gervais were among the critics to slam Talley on social media, with the actress calling the hunter a “disgusting, vile, amoral, heartless, selfish murderer.”
“I am disgusted by people like you Tess,” Messing said on Instagram. “You reek of privilege and ignorance. Shame on you. And your husband Andrew Claude. Unconscionable. Irreparable damage. Irreplaceable beauty.”
Gervais tweeted, “Giraffes are now on the ‘red list’ of endangerment due to a 40% decline over the last 25 years. They could become extinct. Gone forever. And still, we allow spoilt c— to pay money to shoot them with a bow and arrow for fun.”
However, Julian Fennessy, Ph.D., co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation told Yahoo Lifestyle that the animal is not “rare” or endangered.
“The giraffe in the photo is of the South African species Giraffa giraffe, which are not rare – they are increasing in the wild,” he said. “Legal hunting of giraffe is not a reason for their decline, despite the moral and ethical side of it, which is a different story.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5915133/Panel-calls-intel-assessment-Russia-meddling-sound.html

[size=34]White House says the president 'feels Russia interfered in our election' after Senate Intel panel report on Putin's election meddling affirms the Kremlin had a 'clear preference for Trump'[/size]

• A Senate committee said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment of Russian activities during the 2016 presidential election was correct
  
  
• The bipartisan panel said the Kremlin demonstrated a 'clear preference' for Donald Trump and the activities were directed by Vladimir Putin
  
  
• President Trump seemed to claim last week that Russia may not have been involved in a conspiracy to disrupt the election
  
  
• But the White House on Tuesday after the publication of the report that he 'feels' that Putin's government did it and 'didn't question that'
  
  
• The two presidents will meet in two weeks in Finland, where its uncertain whether the topic of election interference will come up 
  
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:27 EDT, 3 July 2018 | UPDATED: 20:53 EDT, 3 July 2018

    



A Senate committee said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment of Russian activities during the 2016 presidential election was based on 'sound' analysis and not swayed by politics although the Kremlin demonstrated a 'clear preference' for Donald Trump.
The January 2017 intelligence assessment said Russian activities in the run-up to the presidential election represented a 'significant escalation' in a long history of Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. domestic politics, the committee said.
It also determined that election meddling effort were directed by none other than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Trump seemed to claim last week that Russia may not have been involved in a conspiracy to disrupt the election, but the White House on Tuesday said that he 'feels' that Putin's government did it and 'didn't question that.'


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A Senate committee said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment of Russian activities during the 2016 presidential election was based on 'sound' analysis and not swayed by politics although the Kremlin demonstrated a 'clear preference' for Donald Trump
The assertion followed the White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's reassurance on Sunday that Trump would address election meddling during his summit in two weeks with Putin.

President Trump told journalists on Friday that he'd bring the topic up, saying, 'We're going to be talking to Russia about a lot of things.'
Just yesterday the president's chief spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, refused to reinforce the statement, though, saying she did not want to get ahead of the president's agenda.
She further declined to say whether the president would entertain a request by Russia to lift election-related economic sanctions. 
Intelligence agencies found that the Russians in 2016 engaged in cyber-espionage and distributed messages through Russian-controlled propaganda outlets to undermine public faith in the democratic process, 'denigrate' Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and develop a 'clear preference' for Donald Trump.
The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday concurred after perusing thousands of pages of documents and conducing interviews with relevant parties that helped the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency compile its review about Russian meddling.
Committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, said the panel spent 16 months reviewing the sources, tradecraft and analytic work underpinning the intelligence community assessment and sees 'no reason to dispute the conclusions.'
'In all the interviews of those who drafted and prepared the ICA (intelligence community assessment), the committee heard consistently that analysts were under no politically motivated pressure to reach any conclusions,' the committee said.


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Last week, Trump tweeted: 'Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!' The tweet suggested Russia may not have been involved in a conspiracy to disrupt the election, but the White House says Trump (seen Tuesday in West Virginia) 'didn't question that'
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the panel thoroughly reviewed all aspects of the intelligence agencies' work leading up to its assessment.
'The Russian effort was extensive and sophisticated, and its goals were to undermine public faith in the democratic process, to hurt Secretary Clinton and to help Donald Trump,' Warner stated.
Earlier this year, Republicans on the House intelligence committee concluded that it had found no evidence of collusion or coordination between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia in the course of the interference.
Democrats on the House panel sharply disagreed, saying the Republican-controlled panel had not interviewed enough witnesses or gathered enough evidence to make a definitive assessment.
The Senate intelligence committee's report comes as Trump continues to cast doubt on whether Russians ever interfered in the presidential election. 
Late last month, Trump tweeted: 'Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!'


White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told journalists riding Air Force One that Trump was merely pointing out what Putin told him.
'He didn’t question that. What he said was that Vladimir Putin maintains his position,' Gidley said. 'The president has been clear and he’s said it many times that he feels Russia interfered in our election.'
In two weeks Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Helsinki, Finland. There, the president says they will discuss the civil war in Syria and Russia incursion into the Ukraine.
'We don’t want anyone tampering with elections,' Trump told reporters riding Air Force One with him on Friday.
Bolton said in a follow-on statement Sunday after his own trip to Moscow: 'What president Putin said to me, through the translator of course, that he said there was no meddling in the 2016 election by the Russian state.
'So I think it still raises the question, I think the president will want to have a conversation about this and say we don’t want to see meddling in the 2018 election.' 
Sanders on Monday wouldn't commit to a discussion on the topic, though.  
'I'm not going to get ahead of the President's conversations,' she said. 'But we'll keep you guys posted and updated as things develop.'

Of course Trump believes Russia interfered, on Putin's orders, to throw the election to him. Of course he'll bring it up when they meet in Finland. It's an opportunity for him to thank Putin in person.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5916303/US-official-Trump-pressed-aides-Venezuela-invasion.html

[size=34]REVEALED: Trump stunned top aides by asking why the U.S. didn't just invade Venezuela and oust the nation's president-turned-dictator Maduro[/size]

• At a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela, President Trump asked about military intervention
  
  
• The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster
  
  
• Both have since left the administration after disagreements with the president
  
  
• Trump gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, yet publicly talked about a 'military option' to remove Maduro from power
  
  
• He also raised the issue with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
  
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 00:43 EDT, 4 July 2018 | UPDATED: 11:36 EDT, 4 July 2018

    


As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can't the U.S. just simply invade the troubled country?
The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, both of whom have since left the administration.  
The next day, Aug. 11, Trump alarmed friends and foes alike with talk of a 'military option' to remove Maduro from power. 
The public remarks were initially dismissed in U.S. policy circles as the sort of martial bluster people have come to expect from the reality TV star turned commander in chief. 


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Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro holds up the National Electoral Council certificate declaring him the winner of the presidential election, during a ceremony at CNE headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela in May
In the exchange that lasted around five minutes in the Oval Office, McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship, according to an official. 

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. 
But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.
The idea, despite his aides' best attempts to shoot it down, would nonetheless persist in the president's head.
Shortly afterward, he raised the issue with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, according to the U.S. official.  

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Two high-ranking Colombian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing Trump confirmed the report.
Then in September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump discussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner with leaders from four Latin American allies that included Santos, the same three people said and Politico reported in February.
The U.S. official said Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issue and told it wouldn't play well, but the first thing the president said at the dinner was, 'My staff told me not to say this.' Trump then went around asking each leader if they were sure they didn't want a military solution, according to the official, who added that each leader told Trump in clear terms they were sure.
Eventually, McMaster would pull aside the president and walk him through the dangers of an invasion, the official said.
Taken together, the behind-the-scenes talks, the extent and details of which have not been previously reported, highlight how Venezuela's political and economic crisis has received top attention under Trump in a way that was unimaginable in the Obama administration. 
Critics say it also underscores how his 'America First' foreign policy at times can seem outright reckless, providing ammunition to America's adversaries.


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Within days of the president's talk of a military option, Maduro filled the streets of Caracas with loyalists to condemn 'Emperor' Trump's belligerence
The White House declined to comment on the private conversations. But a National Security Council spokesman reiterated that the U.S. will consider all options at its disposal to help restore Venezuela's democracy and bring stability. 
Under Trump's leadership, the U.S., Canada and European Union have levied sanctions on dozens of top Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself, over allegations of corruption, drug trafficking and human rights abuses. The U.S. has also distributed more than $30 million to help Venezuela's neighbors absorb an influx of more than 1 million migrants who have fled the country.
For Maduro, who has long claimed that the U.S. has military designs on Venezuela and its vast oil reserves, Trump's bellicose talk provided the unpopular leader with an immediate if short-lived boost as he was trying to escape blame for widespread food shortages and hyperinflation. 


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Trump also raised the issue with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, according to a U.S. official
Within days of the president's talk of a military option, Maduro filled the streets of Caracas with loyalists to condemn 'Emperor' Trump's belligerence, ordered up nationwide military exercises and threatened with arrest opponents he said were plotting his overthrow with the U.S.
'Mind your own business and solve your own problems, Mr. Trump!' thundered Nicolas Maduro, the president's son, at the government-stacked constituent assembly. 'If Venezuela were attacked, the rifles will arrive in New York, Mr. Trump,' the younger Maduro said. 'We will take the White House.'
Even some of the staunchest U.S. allies were begrudgingly forced to side with Maduro in condemning Trump's saber rattling. 
Santos, a big backer of U.S. attempts to isolate Maduro, said an invasion would have zero support in the region. The Mercosur trade bloc, which includes Brazil and Argentina, issued a statement saying 'the only acceptable means of promoting democracy are dialogue and diplomacy' and repudiating 'any option that implies the use of force.'
But among Venezuela's beleaguered opposition movement, hostility to the idea of a military intervention has slowly eased.
A few weeks after Trump's public comments, Harvard economics professor Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan planning minister, wrote a syndicated column titled 'D Day Venezuela,' in which he called for a 'coalition of the willing' made up of regional powers and the U.S. to step in and support militarily a government appointed by the opposition-led national assembly.
Mark Feierstein, who oversaw Latin America on the National Security Council during the Obama administration, said that strident U.S. action on Venezuela, however commendable, won't loosen Maduro's grip on power if it's not accompanied by pressure from the streets. 
However, he thinks Venezuelans have largely been demoralized after a crackdown on protests last year triggered dozens of deaths, and the threat of more repression has forced dozens of opposition leaders into exile.
'People inside and outside the administration know they can ignore plenty of what Trump says,' Feierstein, who is now a senior adviser at the Albright Stonebridge Group, said of Trump's talk of military invasion of Venezuela. 'The concern is that it raised expectations among Venezuelans, many of whom are waiting for an external actor to save them.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5918345/Parents-two-young-girls-protesting-f-Trump-shirts-slammed-online.html

[size=34]'This is a form of child abuse': Parents of two young girls protesting in 'f*** Trump' shirts are slammed online for giving their children the clothing[/size]

• The parents of two girls in f*** Trump shirts have been slammed online 
  
  
• A picture showed the youngsters in the controversial shirts at a rally in Denver
  
  
• Both were grinning broadly, but a Texas politician slammed the parents online
  
  
• Many agreed with him, saying they should be separated from their children 
  
  
• The girls and their parents were protesting separating families at the border
  
  

By HANNAH MOORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:49 EDT, 4 July 2018 | UPDATED: 13:01 EDT, 4 July 2018

    





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The parents of two girls seen wearing 'f*** Trump' t-shirts at a protest against US immigration policy have been slammed
The parents of two young girls have been slammed online for wearing 'f*** Trump' shirts at a 'families belong together' rally in Denver.
A picture of the girls was shared to a Facebook page for the event with the caption: 'Denver's youth with ALL the style and major cuteness to boot'.
The rally was for those protesting against US' immigration laws that saw families separated at the border.

In the picture, two of the young girls were seen wearing t-shirts that said 'f*** Trump'.
Other images show piles of the shirts on a table, suggesting they were being sold or handed out at the rally. 
Texas' Commissioner for Agriculture Sid Miller was one of the first to slam the parents of the children publicly, sharing the image to his own page. 
'I don't care what your political affiliation is nor what your personal feelings about our President may be. No parent should do this to their children,' he wrote. 
He was backed up by a chorus of commenters who began to attack the original poster of the picture - a woman Yahoo reports is not their mother.


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Many said their parents were 'exploiting' the kids and one woman said 'maybe they should be separated from their parents' - the group were protesting the separation of families at the border





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'This is what we are up against. They think this is cute,' wrote one man.
'I say this is a form of child abuse.'
A woman called the parents of the children 'trash' and said it was a form of exploitation akin to prostitution. 
Another wrote: 'Hmm, maybe they should be separated from their parents'. 
The Denver rally was organized in response to the Trump administration policy of separating children from their parents when caught crossing the border - regardless of if they were seeking asylum or crossing illegally. 
Many of the children were sent to facilities where they were kept with others in 'cages', outraging the nation.  


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Protests against the policy took place across the nation this week, with many taking specific issue to images of children being housed in cages


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On June 20, Trump signed an executive order halting the separations, but it is not known if they will be able to rejoin the families already living apart
On June 20, President Trump signed an executive order halting further family separation, but not all families have been reunited and the administration has not shared a clear plan on how this will happen - or if they have the information to do it.
Thousands gathered at protests across the nation to decry the policy and actions of the administration - but Trump appeared unphased by the outrage. 
On Independence Day, he appeared to ignore all upset and dissatisfaction, telling followers: 'Happy Fourth of July....Our Country is doing GREAT!'
His tweet was followed up by a video, where he wished his followers a happy Independence Day before proudly explaining the war history of how the revolution came about. 
He told followers independence followed a 'long, tough war with the British to win America's freedom... and win they did'.




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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5893713/ExFox-News-exec-booted-dropping-ball-sexual-harassment-expected-WH-comms-dir.html

[size=34]Ex-Fox News boss Bill Shine joins the White House as Trump's deputy chief of staff for communications - after mishandling sex harassment scandals cost him job at news channel[/size]

• Bill Shine, former co-president of Fox News, is officially announced as Trump's deputy chief of staff for communication
  
  
• White House communications director job has been vacant since Hope Hicks resigned in March and move effectively fills it
  
  
• Kellyanne Conway and Sean Hannity were said to have pushed for Shine who was executive at Trump's favorite, Fox News
  
  
• Shine was forced out as co-president at Fox News last May for his handling of sexual harassment scandals
  
  

By EMILY GOODIN, U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:53 EDT, 27 June 2018 | UPDATED: 14:07 EDT, 5 July 2018

    



Former Fox News executive Bill Shine officially joined the White House Thursday.
Donald Trump announced Shine, the former co-president of the president's preferred television channel, as his deputy chief of staff for communications, more than a week after his appointment was revealed.
The White House says Shine 'brings over two decades of television programming, communications, and management experience to the role.'
His hiring comes as Trump is increasingly putting his stamp on the West Wing, as aides with more traditional experience leave the administration. Friday marks the last day for Joe Hagin, the veteran deputy chief of staff for operations.

Shine's arrival comes amid Trump's frustration with his news coverage heading into a contentious midterm election and the 2020 campaign.
The White House communications director job has been vacant since Hope Hicks resigned in March and Shine's appointment effectively fills it.


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Former Fox News chief Bill Shine, who Trump has formally appointed as deputy chief of staff for communications. 


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Endorsement: Trump move on Shine after the ex-Fox News executive turned him down once 


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Shine was forced out as co-president at Fox News last May for his handling of sexual harassment scandals at the network in the wake of Roger Ailes (pictured)
Shine was forced out as co-president at the cable news network last May for his handling of sexual harassment scandals there.
Shine also knows Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor, who is said to have advocated for him inside the White House.  
Conway, who is focused on the opioids crisis and who frequently travels, declined the job, sources told The New York Times.
Shine also is good friends with Sean Hannity, the Fox News prime-time host who is close with Trump.  Hannity had been pushing Shine for the communications role, CNN reported. 
Shine has been at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in recent months spending time with Trump and Hannity, Politico reported.
Shine joined Fox News at the network's inception in 1996 as producer of 'Hannity & Colmes.' 
He worked his way up to becoming Ailes' right-hand man. After Ailes left the network due to a sexual harassment scandal, Shine was named co-president.



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Shine is close with Sean Hannity, who has advocated for him to get the job


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Bill Shine at The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Most Powerful People In Media 2017 party

But he was forced out in 2017 after questions about how much he knew about the sexual harassment allegations against Ailes. He has never been accused of harassment himself and has denied all wrong doing.  
In the Trump White House, the job of communications director has had a series of people in it unsuccessfully.
Jason Miller was supposed to fill it but stepped down even before Trump was inaugurated over a love child scandal; Mike Dubke left after three months; Sean Spicer held the title along with that of press secretary before his departure; Anthony Scaramucci infamously came and went in 10 days; and Hope Hicks quit after DailyMail.com revealed that her then boyfriend Rob Porter was accused of beating both his ex-wives.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5921569/Anti-Trump-protestors-fly-baby-balloon-London-visit.html

[size=34]London anti-Trump protestors get permission to fly massive crowdfunded blimp of the president depicted as a big baby in a diaper when he visits UK[/size]

• Donald Trump is visiting the UK for three days from the end of next week 
  
  
• Protestors wanted to fly 'baby Trump' ballooon above London during the visit
  
  
• London mayor Sadiq Khan 's Greater London Authority has given permission
  
  

By RICHARD SPILLETT FOR MAILONLINE and TIM SCULTHORPE, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:11 EDT, 5 July 2018 | UPDATED: 17:13 EDT, 5 July 2018

    




A giant balloon depicting Donald Trump as an angry, orange baby will fly near Parliament during the US president's visit to the UK next week.
London mayor Sadiq Khan today granted permission for the 20ft (6metre) inflatable, dubbed 'Trump Baby'.
It will fly above Parliament Square Gardens for two hours on the morning of Friday July 13.
The stunt risks raising tensions around the visit as Mr Trump and Mr Khan have clashed repeatedly over terrorism and the Muslim community in London. 

Huge protests are expected in London for the first full day of Mr Trump's visit, which will begin next Thursday night when he flies in from the Nato summit in Brussels.  
His three day trip is thought likely to include a dinner with business figures at Blenheim Palace, meeting the Queen at Windsor and talks with Theresa May at her country retreat in Chequers. Mr Trump is also thought to be keen to play golf at his courses in Scotland.
The programme is being designed to ensure Mr Trump avoids London and the expected angry protests. He cancelled a trip last year for fear of demonstrations.  












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Protesters will be able to fly their 'Trump baby' balloon above Parliament during his visit after permission was given by City Hall 


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A computer-generated image shows what the balloon might look like during the protest
Around 50,000 people are expected to march from the BBC building in Portland Place to Trafalgar Square as part of the 'Stop Trump' protest. 
The group behind the balloon have raised £17,000 through a crowdfunding website to pay for the huge balloon and take it on a 'world tour'.
The group stated: 'If we can troll Donald from the skies wherever he goes for long enough, he'll start seeing "TrumpBaby" in his dreams.'




The prospect of huge protests is not the only event already overshadowing Mr Trump's visit to the UK. 

Business chiefs could boycott black tie dinner with Trump 

Some business leaders have snubbed dinner with Donald Trump during his trip to the UK amid fears over mass protests, it was claimed today.
The US president is due to be the guest of honour at Blenheim Palace - the family home of his hero Winston Churchill - when he comes to Britain next week.
Around 150 business chiefs have been invited to attend the black-tie gathering in Oxfordshire, which will be hosted by Theresa May.
However, according to the Financial Times several have turned down the opportunity to come along to the event. They include lastminute.com co-founder Baroness Lane-Fox, who said: 'I understand why the government have to entertain Trump but I certainly don't want to.'



Around 150 business chiefs have been invited to attend the black-tie gathering in Oxfordshire, which will be hosted by Mrs May. 
But several have turned down the opportunity to come along to the event, the Financial Times revealed this afternoon
They include lastminute.com co-founder Baroness Lane-Fox, who said: 'I understand why the government have to entertain Trump but I certainly don't want to.'
Mr Khan and the American leader have engaged in a long-running war of words over issues like crime and terrorism.
The row between the pair began last June when the US President accused Mr Khan of having a 'pathetic' response to the London Bridge terror attack.
He tweeted: 'At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack,' the president wrote on his personal Twitter account, 'and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'
But critics pointed out that the London Mayor was saying residents should not be alarmed at the increased police presence - not at the terrorists. 


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London mayor Sadiq Khan and Mr Trump became engaged in a war of words over terrorism

[size=18]Emily Thornberry confirms she hasn't had an invite from Donald Trump




L[/size]




Speaking about Mr Trump's visit earlier this year, Mr Khan said: 'I think there will be protests, I speak to Londoners every day of the week and I think they will use the rights they have to express their freedom of speech.
'But they must be peaceful, they must be lawful.'
He added: 'As the Mayor of London it's probably inappropriate for me to join a protest when foreign leaders come into the UK.
'It's important though for me not to be scared to express my views about some of the things he's said.
'It's ironic that the architect of the hostile environment policy in this country has invited the architect of the hostile environment policy in the USA to London.'


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Mr Trump has said that Winston Churchill is one of his heroes. Baroness Lane-Fox has turned down an invitation to attend the dinner at Blenheim


+8


The US president is due to be the guest of honour at a dinner at Blenheim Palace (pictured) - the family home of Winston Churchill - when he comes to Britain next week
More than 10,000 people signed a petition calling for the 'baby Trump' inflatable to be given permission to fly, activists said. 
Speaking about the balloon decision today, activist Leo Murray said: 'We didn't get off to the best start with the Mayor's office over this, who originally told us that they didn't recognise Trump Baby as legitimate protest.
'But, following a huge groundswell of public support for our plan, it looks like City Hall has rediscovered its sense of humour. Trump Baby will fly.'
A spokesman for the Nona Hurkmans group, which is behind the protest, said: 'We are just a small group of friends who set out to use humour to take a stand against the rise of racist and fascist politics both here in the UK and over in the US.
'We have been genuinely overwhelmed and touched by the incredible levels of support we have received for our project.' 

[size=34]Donald Trump UK visit: Everything you need to know [/size]

Donald Trump will finally fly into the UK for his first visit as US President next week.  
Mr Trump will arrive in Britain on Thursday night following a high stakes Nato summit in Brussels at which EU allies fear he could threaten the alliance.
A major row over defence spending could overshadow his visit to the UK.  
Once he reaches Britain, he is expected to stay for three days for a 'working' visit.
The trip is not the full State Visit Theresa May offered last year but he is expected to meet the Queen. Because it is a working trip, he is covering his own costs - though Britain will spend millions on security.  



Mr Trump and Mrs May hold hands at the White House last year
Why did Trump cancel his UK visit in February 2017? 
Theresa May first invited Trump to the UK after she visited him days after his inauguration, becoming the first foreign leader to see the new President and Scotland Yard Chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe let slip that Trump would be visiting in June,
In February 2017, it was revealed that Trump had decided to delay the visit amid snubs from MPs and in order to avoid protests. In addition to this, the trip was again postponed because of widespread dismay of his travel ban on citizens from Muslim-majority countries.
Trump was also due to come to the UK in February of this year to open the new US embassy, but a poll revealed that 4 percent of people, around two million, said they would join a protest if he was given a full state visit.
Is Melania coming to the UK with Trump?
It is expected that the First Lady will join her husband in the UK.
Will Trump meet the Queen? 
Windsor Castle is set to be closed to the public on July 13, suggesting that this is when Trump will meet the Queen, but details have not been confirmed. Ambassador Woody Johnson told Sky: 'Yes, yes, I mean he has to see the head of state.
'Putting his foot on British soil, it's job one, it's very important, very symbolic. Meeting Her Majesty is the most important thing, because she's the head of state, and from then on, it'll be what the president wants to do.'
The Coldstream Guards, the oldest regiment in the British Army, are also rumoured to honour the Trumps on their arrival but Buckingham Palace has not confirmed the arrangements.
What will Trump discuss with Theresa May?
Trade tariffs are expected to be the most discussed topic during Trump's visit to the UK, especially after a call with the President left Theresa May branding his decision 'unjustified'.
A statement released after this phone call said: 'The prime minister raised the US decision to apply tariff to EU steel and aluminium imports, which she said was unjustified and deeply disappointing.
'The prime minister said the US, UK and EU are close national security allies and we recognise the importance of the values of open and fair trade across the world. The prime minister also underlined the need to safeguard jobs that would potentially be affected by the decision.'
May and Trump are also thought to talk about the President's border policy after the Prime Minister said that the policy was 'inhumane'. May told MPs in the Commons last week that 'when we disagree with the United States, we tell them so.'
'But we also have key shared interests. It is right that we are able to sit down and discuss those with the president - a president of a country with which we will continue to have a long-standing special relationship.'


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Mr Trump is expected to get in a few rounds of golf while he is in the UK
Will Trump play golf on his UK visit?
Trump may spend a couple of days at the end of his visit at one of his golf courses in Scotland or the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen. However, this decision has not been welcomed by the country's politicians.
Scotland has told the UK government that it should foot the president's £5 million security bill if the President should choose to visit a golf course, before he travels to Helsinki to see the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Scotland's Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf wrote to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid and said that the country does not want to settle the bill. He tweeted: 'He is coming as a guest as the UK government, they must not leave Police Scotland with a £5m bill.'
When is Donald Trump’s next visit to the UK? 
Trump's next visit has been planned for the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May 2020. Speculation also suggests that Trump will be in the UK for when Britain officially leaves the EU on March 29, 2019.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5923793/Trump-says-hell-test-Elizabeth-Warren-DNA-kit-says-Vladimir-Putin-fine.html

[size=34]Trump says he'll test Elizabeth Warren with a DNA kit, resumes attack on 'low-IQ' Maxine Waters, says Vladimir Putin is 'fine' despite KGB past, and defends ICE at Montana rally[/size]

• President Donald Trump went on the attack at a Montana campaign rally
  
  
• He went after the home-state senator Jon Tester as 'liberal'
  
  
• He called Sen. Elizabeth Warren 'Pocahontas' and say he wanted DNA test her
  
  
• Dismissed critics who he said claimed 'Putin is KGB and this and that'
  
  
• Said he is 'totally prepared' for summit with Putin
  
  
• Claimed Demorats want 'anarchy' 
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 20:47 EDT, 5 July 2018 | UPDATED: 21:17 EDT, 5 July 2018

    



President Donald Trump opened up attacks on an array of targets from the 'crooked press' to Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a lively Montana rally – where he also defended Russian President Vladimir Putin as 'fine.'
Trump brought back his 'Pocahontas' attack on Warren, a leading liberal critic, and even joked about giving her a DNA test, in another dig at her prior claim of Native American heritage based on stories from Oklahoma relatives.  
'I'm going to get one of those little DNA kits and if I'm debating her, we will toss it to her, very gently so it doesn't injure her arm, and we'll say, 'Pocahontas, I'll give you a million dollars if you take the test to show you're an Indian!'' Trump said.
Warren has called the attacks on her by Trump a 'racist slur.'


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President Donald Trump opened up attacks on an array of targets from the 'crooked press' to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxine Waters Thursday
Trump once again called liberal California Rep. Maxine Waters a 'low-IQ individual' and tried to cast her as the face of the Democratic party, linking her to Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who is seeking reelection in Montana.

'I said it the other day, yes, [Waters] is a low-IQ individual. Honestly, she's somewhere in the mid-60s, I believe,' Trump said.
Waters has called for impeaching Trump, who repeated his insistence there was 'no collusion' with Russia during the campaign. He said the issue was an 'excuse' for a party that 'actually got their a** kicked.'
Trump continued to rehash his electoral win, and diminished the popular vote, which he lost.
He said the Electoral College was 'much tougher than the so-called popular vote, where people vote four times.' 
Coming in for better treatment was Putin, who will meet Trump at a summit meeting in Helsinki this month.  
Trump said Putin was 'fine' as he defended his upcoming summit meeting with Russia's president – and even excused the Russian leaders' KGB past.
Trump issued his defense of Putin as he said he would be 'prepared' for the summit and would do 'fine' himself going up against the judo-practicing former KGB colonel.


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President Donald Trump waves after speaking at a Make America Great Again rally in Great Falls, Montana


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Supporters cheer as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Make America Great Again rally in Great Falls, Montana
'You know: President Putin is KGB and this and that,' Trump said, mocking how people describe his counterpart. 
'You know what? Putin's fine. He's fine. We're all fine, we're people. Will I be prepared? Totally prepared. I've been preparing for this stuff my whole life. They don't say that,' Trump said, pointing to the media.
Trump wasn't willing to give slack to Warren, however. 'Pocahontas, to you I apologize,' the president said. 'To the fake Pocahontas, I won't apologize.'
Trump tried to blast Tester as out of touch. 'He showed his true colors with his shameful, dishonest attacks on a great man,  a friend of mine,' Trump said, recounting how Tester helped bring down Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump's pick to run the VA.


He blasted Tester, saying: 'A vote for Jon tester is a vote for Chuck Schumer Nancy Pelosi and the new leader of the Democrat Party, Maxine Waters.' 
'Jon Tester showed his true colors with his shameful, dishonest attacks on a great man, a friend of mine, a man that I said: 'Why don't you run the VA, you'd be great. Navy Admiral Ronny Jackson,'' Trump told the Montana crowd.
Jackson's nomination blew up in April after a series of reports of alleged misconduct.



President Donald Trump went after Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who helped bring down his nominee to run the VA


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Trump said he 'probably' came to Montana to go after Sen. Jon Tester for his role in Jackson's nomination going down


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Trump said Dr. Ronny Jackson never wanted the job of VA secretary
Trump even brought up that Jackson had provided a report on his own health after conducing a physical – in a performance that drew skepticism from 'girthers' who noted Jackson's report showed Trump to be just shy of being technically obese and declared him in 'excellent' health.
'I feel guilty. Admiral Jackson was getting ready to leave service. He served many years admirably. Not a blemish,' Trump said.
'He actually said I was healthy. You know? He's the one,' Trump said, recalling Jackson's commanding performance in the White House briefing room describing the president's health.
'When the fake news starting saying, 'Oh why isn't Trump giving the physical! Why. Dr. Jackson and his staff went out they gave me a physical. That was a physical,' Trump said, appearing to stress its thoroughness. 'And when they said I was very healthy the news was devastated … they didn't want to hear that,' Trump said.
Trump defended ICE, the immigration service some Democrats now want to dismantle and reconstitute over family separation of immigrants at the border.
'We protect ICE. They protect us and we protect them,' Trump said.
He even went after a woman who climbed the Statue of Liberty sporting a 'resist' T-shirt, calling her a 'clown.' 
'You saw that clown yesterday on the Statue of Liberty. You see the guys that went up there. I wouldn't a done it,' Trump said, lauding the bravery of responders.
'I would have said let's get some nets and let's wait 'til she comes down,' he quipped.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5923255/Trumps-female-Supreme-Court-favorite-belongs-group-helped-inspire-Handmaids-Tale.html

[size=34]Trump's female Supreme Court favorite belongs to a Christian group which helped inspire The Handmaid's Tale and tells her to submit to her husband - and members believe they healed teen girl by laying on of hands[/size]

• Amy Coney Barrett is one of Trump's top three potential picks for the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring  
  
  
• She and much of her immediate family are members of obscure Christian group called People of Praise whose practices are likely to be scrutinized 
  
  
• Group, which is mostly Catholic, says women should submit to their husbands, and claims to have miraculously cured scoliosis through laying on of hands
  
  
• It also encourages speaking in tongues although group itself claims to have no political agenda
  
  
• Group helped inspire The Handmaids Tale, book's author Margaret Atwood has said, because it says women should have female mentors called 'handmaids'
  
  
• Barrett's parents, husband, four of her siblings and their spouses and many of their spouses' families are members of 3,000-strong group
  
  
• In 2005 her parents' home in Louisiana was one of five on the same block owned by members of People of Praise
  
  

By ALANA GOODMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 17:39 EDT, 5 July 2018 | UPDATED: 19:52 EDT, 5 July 2018

    






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Membership spotlight: Amy Coney Barrett, 46, is one of Trump's top three runners for the vacant Supreme Court seat
Donald Trump's potential candidate for Supreme Court justice and many of her immediate family members are members of in a controversial religious group that asks members to take a lifetime loyalty 'covenant', encourages female submission to their husbands, and helped inspire publication of The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel about theocratic government.
Amy Coney Barrett, 46, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge was said on Thursday to be one of the three leading contenders for the president's Supreme Court nomination. 
She is a lifelong member of People of Praise, a non-denominational Christian covenant group founded as part of a Catholic revitalization movement in 1971. 

At least 10 members of Barrett's family, not including their children, also belong to the group. 
Barrett's father, Mike Coney, serves on the People of Praise's powerful 11-member board of governors, described as the group's 'highest authority.'
People of Praise, which describes itself as a 'charismatic, ecumenical covenant community,' encourages speaking in tongues, prophesy, and healing by the joint laying on of hands, none of which are in the mainstream traditional practice of the Catholic Church.
The organization appoints a 'personal adviser' for each member to help guide the member's decisions on marriage, career and other life choices.
Members are also encouraged to confess personal sins, financial information and other sensitive disclosures to these advisors – who were until recently known as 'heads' for males and 'handmaids' for females. 
Advisors are allowed to report these admissions to group leadership if necessary, according to an account of one former member.
Husbands are also considered authorities over their wives, according to the group's beliefs.
The group's ultra-conservative religious tenets helped spur author Margaret Atwood to publish The Handmaid's Tale, a story about a religious takeover of the U.S. government which is now a hit TV show, according to a 1986 interview with the writer.


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Charismatic service: People of Praise believe in speaking in tongues and prophecy. Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the federal appeals bench without being asked about her membership of the group


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Inspiration: People of Praise, of which Amy Coney Barrett is a member, was part of the inspiration for the Handmaid's Tale, its author Margaret Atwood said in 1986


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'There is a sect now, a Catholic charismatic spinoff sect, which calls the women handmaids,' Margaret Atwood, the Handmaid's Tale author, said in 1986


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Miracle claim: This is how the People of Praise described their 'cure' of a teenage girl. Such claims are not in line with the procedure for miracles set down by the Catholic Church
The book and show have drawn warnings from Trump critics that his administration could usher in a similar totalitarian religious society.
'I delayed writing it for about three years after I got the idea because I felt it was too crazy,' said Atwood in an interview with the New York Times Book Review in 1986. 'Then two things happened. I started noticing that a lot of the things I thought I was more or less making up were now happening, and indeed more of them have happened since the publication of the book.'
'There is a sect now, a Catholic charismatic spinoff sect, which calls the women handmaids,' continued Atwood. 'They don't go in for polygamy of this kind but they do threaten the handmaids according to the biblical verse I use in the book - sit down and shut up.'
The organization itself says that the term 'handmaid' was a reference to Jesus's mother Mary's description of herself as a 'handmaid of the Lord.' They said they recently stopped using the term due to cultural shifts and now use the name 'women leaders.' 
In a New York Times article last fall, some judicial experts questioned whether such a group could have an impact on Coney's judicial decisions.
'These groups can become so absorbing that it's difficult for a person to retain individual judgment,' said University of Pennsylvania law professor Sarah Barringer Gordon.
Alleged former members also posted on one blog site to describe the group as cult-like and damaging to mental health.
'DONT JOIN! I grew up in this. RUN! I am in therapy because of what it did to me as a kid,' wrote one commentator.
Supporters of the group, which grew from 29 members in 1971 to over 2,300 today, say it is a religious community organization that engages in charitable activities and members are free to leave at any time. 


There are chapters across the U.S., including Tampa, Buffalo, and New Orleans. A spokesperson, Sean Connelly, told Slate.com that the organization is open to all denominations.
'We aim to be a witness to the unity Jesus desires for all his followers,' said Connelly. 
'Our membership includes not only Catholics but Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostals and nondenominational Christians. 
'What we share is a common baptism, a commitment to love one another and our teachings, which we hold in common.'
Coney was grilled by congressional Democrats about her Catholic faith during a prior confirmation hearing which turned stormy and in which she and California senator Diane Feinstein clashed repeatedly.
Coney Barrett supporters said that Feinstein's questioning was hostile to religious belief and ignorant of mainstream Christian views.
But what no senator asked was about the judge's membership of People of Praise.
Coney Barrett, 46, has not confirmed that she is a member but she was in 2016 a director of one of its schools 


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Senior figures: Amy Coney Barrett's parents Linda Coney, 70, and Michael, 72, are both part of People of Praise, with her mom having previously been a 'handmaid'





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Also members: Coney Barrett has five sister, of whom three are known to be closely involved in People of Praise, including Carrie Coney Urbanski, 42, and her husband Matt, 45. Other members of Matt's family are also in People of Praise


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Siblings: Eileen Coney Timler, 38, and her husband John Timler, 43, are members of People of Praise, as are members of his family


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Youngest sister: Vivian Coney Orthmann, 34, Amy Coney Barrett's youngest sister, and her husband David Orthmann, are members of People of Praise and live in the Pacific northwest. His family are also members



Also members: Michael Coney Jr, 32, the judge's youngest sibling, and his wife Naomi Caneff Coney, 32, were full-time workers for the group
She and her husband Jesse Barrett, 44, both have deep family ties in the group. 
Coney's mother, Linda Coney, 70, served as a 'handmaid' in New Orleans and her father Mike Coney, 72, is a member of the Board of Governors until his term expires in August.
Mike Coney was also the official branch coordinator for the group's New Orleans chapter. He is also a deacon in the Catholic church, the nearest clerical rank a married man can have to a priest.
On the block where they live there are four other families who belonged to People of Praise, according to a 2005 article in the group's newsletter.
Most of Coney's siblings, including her brother Michael, 32; her sisters Carrie Coney Urbanski, 42; Eileen Coney Timler, 38; and Vivian Coney Orthmann, 34; brother-in-laws Matt Urbanski, 45; John Timler, 43; and David Orthmann, 34; and sister-in-law Naomi Caneff Coney, 32, appear to be active members of the group and have been written about in its newsletter Vine and Branches.
Michael and Naomi Comey previously led Christians in Mission, a part of the group's activities, as full-time members living in a house owned by the group. 
Coney's husband's brother, Nathan Barrett, 39, is active in the group's youth summer camp, where he 'laid hands' on a 17-year-old volunteer counselor to try to cure her of scoliosis, according to a Vine and Branches article.
The volunteer counsellor told camp leaders that she was suffering from spinal scoliosis and 'just wish[ed] I could touch my toes.'
'Nathan Barrett (Allendale) asked [the volunteer counsellor] to bend over and show the others how far she could reach,' said the article. 'Her fingertips came six or eight inches short of her toes,' he says.'
Barrett and others then 'laid hands on her and prayed'.



Criticism: One former member posted a blog labeling People of Praise a 'cult' while another ex-member - a professor at Notre Dame like Coney Barrett - published a detailed critique


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Debate: The account by a critical former member prompted differing views
'After they laid hands on her and prayed, [the counselor] tried again and stretched her hands a few inches farther than before,' said the article.
The article later claimed the girl was examined by a paediatrician who confirmed she had been miraculously healed.
'Your back is straight. I can't find any evidence of scoliosis—and that's not the kind of thing that just disappears on its own,' the paediatrician reportedly told her.
The claim of a miracle cure is unsupported by the Catholic Church, which investigates such claims. It is unclear if the 'cure' was reported to local church authorities, in line with church law.
The claim of a miracle cure reflects the group's background in the 'charismatic movement', which emerged in the wake of the 1960s reforms known as Vatican Two, but which has had a complicated relationship with church authorities since then.
While successive popes have embraced aspects of the movement, none has endorsed claims of faith healing like that made by People of Praise, and they have been silent on 'speaking in tongues', with the catechism of the church saying that it is only valid if it can be interpreted.
Church critics of the charismatic movement have suggested that its members may in fact end up leaving for evangelical churches where speaking in tongues is part of regular worship.
The group however has received support from mainstream Catholic leaders, according to its website, including Cardinal Francis George.
George, who was president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops before he passed away in 2015, said that the members of People of Praise 'are shaped by love of Holy Scripture, prayer and community; and the Church's mission is richer for their presence.'
People of Praise also touted its openness to all political views on its website.
'We strive to be one of those rare places in 21st-century life where men and women with a wide variety of political and religious views can live together in harmony,' said the group.
David French, a writer at National Review, defended the group as a typical Christian community organization and said critics of the People of Praise were using public ignorance about these organizations to spread fear. 
He noted that the group founded several preparatory schools, known as the Trinity Schools, that he said have received accolades from the Department of Education.
'Often, members of those organizations not only do things like found schools, they also create more formal social networks that allow people to help other members in need, to house members who need places to stay or live (especially when they move to new communities), and to appoint leaders who direct the group and provide biblical counsel to its members,' wrote French.
'Moreover — as anyone with even the most cursory exposure to biblical Christianity knows — these groups use biblical language to describe their roles. Words like 'covenant' are incredibly common,' he added.
However Congressional scrutiny of the People of Praise's record may focus on claims made by one former member about life inside the People of Praise.
Members of the group are also discouraged from leaving, according to a paper written by former member Adrian Reimers, a University of Notre Dame professor who belonged to the group for 12 years.
'The member – even though he may have chosen to leave the community on the basis of his own free decision – is not regarded as free to leave; to do so is to expose himself to spiritual dangers from which only the community can protect him,' wrote Reimers.
'The true evil of a 'quitting spirit' is that it can lead one to break his promises to God, and, [the People of Praise founder] observes, this is worse even than adultery.'
Reimers said this was a 'matter of grave concern' and said it indicated that the member's life was 'not his own.'
'Everything that a member does is in principle subject to the review and judgment of the coordinators,' wrote Reimers. 'Furthermore, the progress of his soul falls directly under their rule.'
Reimers added that there was also no 'seal of confidentiality' when the members were encouraged to confess sins to People of Praise advisors.
'A further point is in order, here. Also unlike sacramental confession, there is no seal of confidentiality,' he wrote.
'It is also the case that if one should admit to an area of sinful inclination – say, strong homosexual temptations – then that information can and ordinarily will be communicated to others in authority within the community.'
'The abuse and potential manipulation of consciences constituted by the practice of deliverance is one of the most serious defects of the People of Praise,' he added, calling this 'a key reason that members feel spiritually threatened by the prospect of leaving the community.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5923975/Trump-backs-GOP-congressman-denied-ignoring-sex-abuse.html

[size=34]Trump backs GOP congressman who has denied ignoring sex abuse when he was a wrestling coach despite a FOURTH wrestler coming forward to insist he was aware[/size]

• Former wrestlers say then-assistant coach Jim Jordan had to have known about doctor's abuse 'because it was all over the locker room'
  
  
• Congressman says: 'I never knew about any type of abuse. If I did, I would have done something about it'
  
  
• Ohio State University is investigating allegations that Dr. Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, abused team members
  
  
• A wrestler told NBC News: 'I considered Jim Jordan a friend. But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn't know what was going on.'
  
  
• Jordan is a close ally of President Donald Trump and has been named as a possible replacement for Speaker Paul Ryan 
  
  

By HANNAH PARRY  and FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 22:41 EDT, 5 July 2018 | UPDATED: 22:46 EDT, 5 July 2018

    


President Donald Trump has backed conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, who denied knowingly overlooking while he was a wresting coach at Ohio State University - the same day that a fourth wrestler came out to accuse Jordan of ignoring the abuse.
Shawn Dailey claims he was groped by team doctor Richard Strauss, while Jordan was an assistant coach at the university in the mid-1990s. He said the powerful conservative deal maker from Ohio was in the team locker room with other wrestlers, when they discussed Strauss' actions.
'It was very common knowledge in the locker room that if you went to Dr. Strauss for anything, you would have to pull your pants down.' Dailey, 43, said. Three other former Ohio State wrestlers have also claimed Strauss' groping of student athletes was widely known. 


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President Donald Trump has backed conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, who denied knowingly overlooking while he was a wresting coach at Ohio State University 
'Doc Strauss was a serial groper,' Mike DiSabato told USA TODAY. 'Everyone knew, including Jim.' 

Jordan has denied knowing anything about the abuse two two decades ago, claiming 'it's not true'.
'I never knew about any type of abuse. If I did, I would have done something about it,' he told Politico on Tuesday. 'And look, if there are people who are abused, then that's terrible and we want justice to happen.' 
President Trump has since weighed in on the allegations against his ally, saying he doesn't believe they are true.
'I don't believe them at all. I believe him. Jim Jordan is one of the most outstanding people I've met since I've been in Washington. I believe him 100 percent,' Trump told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One.
'No question in my mind. I believe Jim Jordan 100%. He's an outstanding man,' Trump added.


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Rep. Jordan was assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1986 to 1994
Jordan has repeatedly said he knew nothing of the abuse until the former wrestlers spoke out earlier this year.
But his denials have been met with skepticism and anger from two former members of the team, NBC News reported. 
Former wrestler Mike DiSabato has said that Jordan is 'absolutely lying' when he says he did not know about the allegations.
DiSabato and Dunyasha Yetts both claim that Jordan - the founder of the House Freedom Caucus - was complicit in the abuse that the university is currently probing.
In April, Ohio State University announced it was investigating accusations that Dr. Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, abused team members when he was their doctor from the mid-1970s to late 1990s.
Jordan was assistant wrestling coach from 1986 to 1994.
His office denied Tuesday to DailyMail.com that he witnessed or had knowledge of the allegations during his tenure. 
'Congressman Jordan never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a coach at Ohio State,' his spokesperson Ian Fury said in a statement.
Fury said, 'He has not been contacted by investigators about the matter but will assist them in any way they ask, because if what is alleged is true, the victims deserve a full investigation and justice.'




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Former wrestler Mike DiSabato has said that Jordan is 'absolutely lying' when he says he did not know about the allegations
Lawfirm Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP says it has attempted to contact Jordan on behalf of the university, but he never responded. The congressman told Politico on Tuesday evening that he has no record of those calls but he would willingly help with the investigation. 
Jordan, 51, is conservative firebrand who came to Capitol Hill in 2007 and quickly rose in the ranks of power. He has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Speaker Paul Ryan and is a close ally of President Donald Trump.
Three former wrestlers told NBC News that it was common knowledge that Dr. Strauss showered regularly with the students and inappropriately touched them during appointments.
They claim it would have been impossible for Jordan to be unaware.
One wrestler said he told Jordan directly about the abuse. 
 DiSabato, whose allegations against Strauss prompted the university to investigate, called Jordan a liar outright.
'I considered Jim Jordan a friend,' DiSabato told NBC News. 'But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn't know what was going on.'
DiSabato said he reached out to Jordan, before going to the university, to tell the congressman that he planned to go public with his allegations.
Jordan told him to 'please leave me out of it,' DiSabato claimed. 'He asked me not to get him involved.'
Another wrestler told NBC that he, too, had told Jordan what happened. 
Dunyasha Yetts, who wrestled at Ohio State in 1993 and 1994, said he and others told Jordan about Strauss.


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Dr. Richard Strauss, who died of suicide in 2005, is being investigated on a range of allegations, from inappropriate touching to sexual assault


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Rep. Jordan is a close ally of President Trump and has been mentioned as a replacement for Speaker Ryan

'I remember I had a thumb injury and went into Strauss' office and he started pulling down my wrestling shorts,' he told the news network. 'I'm like, what the f--- are you doing? And I went out and told Russ and Jim what happened. I was not having it. They went in and talked to Strauss.'
Yetts said he and his teammates talked to Jordan numerous times about their interactions with the doctor.
'For God's sake, Strauss's locker was right next to Jordan's and Jordan even said he'd kill him if he tried anything with him,' Yetts said. 
As for Jordan, Yetts said, 'He's a great guy. We would have all these great talks with him and he talked about how one day he'd be the president of the United States.'
'So it's sad for me to hear that he's denying knowing about Strauss,' he said. 'I don't know why he would, unless it's a cover-up. Either you're in on it, or you're a liar.' 
Another former teammate of DiSabato's said there is no way Jordan could have avoided the rumors 'because it was all over the locker room.' 
The university is investigating the allegations against Strauss, which range from inappropriate touching to sexual assault.
In May the school expanded its investigation.
'To date, the investigative team has received confidential reports from former Ohio State varsity men student-athletes affiliated with cheerleading, fencing, football, gymnastics, ice hockey, swimming, volleyball and wrestling,' a university official said in a statement earlier this year. 'We are sharing this information to encourage our community past and present to come forward.'
When the first stories about the investigation appeared this spring, Jordan told The Columbus Dispatch, 'I had not heard about any type of abuse at all.'
He also said that 'no one reported any type of abuse' to him.  
Jordan was a two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion during his time at the University of Madison-Wisconsin. He was a four-time state wrestling champion. In the 1985 NCAA championship match, Jordan defeated future two-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion John Smith.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that Strauss died of suicide in 2005 after struggling with pain and other health issues.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5924811/US-tariffs-effect-China-retaliates.html

[size=34]China targets Trump country with tariff retaliation as America's farmers, car makers and oil producers will bear the brunt of 'biggest trade war in economic history'[/size]

• U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods went into effect at midnight
  
  
• Trump is targeting computers, aerospace, car parts and other technology
  
  
• China retaliated immediately but is focusing on oil, agriculture and auto plants
  
  
• That means most of Beijing's countertariffs are falling on parts of the country that supported Trump in 2016
  
  
• About 1 in 5 pro-Trump counties will see at least 25 per cent of their local economies affected by the economic fight
  
  
•  Beijing is calling Trump's project the 'biggest trade war in economic history'
  
  

By DAVID MARTOSKO, U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 05:03 EDT, 6 July 2018 | UPDATED: 09:45 EDT, 6 July 2018

    



China's tit-for-tat counterpunches in a newly escalated trade war with the United States are landing largely in parts of America's flyover country that supported President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
The two countries hiked tariffs Friday on billions of dollars of each other's goods, launching what Beijing called the 'biggest trade war in economic history' in a spiraling dispute over technology. 
But while President Donald Trump is flexing the White House's economic muscle in the direction of China's computer, auto parts and aerospace industries, the return fire is toughest on American agriculture, car manufacturers and crude oil.
So far each country has targeted about $34 billion in products, but Beijing's methods appear to be more politically calculated.

A Wall Street Journal analysis found that in nearly 1 out of 5 counties where Trump beat Hillary Clinton, China's tariffs will affect more than 25 per cent of the local economy.
Among counties won by Clinton, just 3 per cent will be hit as hard.


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President Donald Trump's base of support is being hit hard with countertariffs from China


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Chinese President Xi Jinping has set his sights on automakers, farmers and oil companies, demanding import tariffs in a calculated way that will put economic pressure on U.S. counties Trump won in 2016
The potential political fallout from the tariffs and countertariffs that went into effect at midnight could begin to eat away at the solid base of support Trump enjoys in parts of the U.S. where his brand of economic nationalism has been received most warmly.   
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told the Journal that in counties where one-quarter of business activity is targeted by Beijing's economic sanctions, 'there’s a pretty good chance that the economy is going to feel it pretty significantly, could even contract, and see unemployment rise.'
Those places include Great Plains states where soybeans are grown, the upper Midwest where cars are assembled for export, and places like Texas and the Dakotas where energy production is the largest source of jobs.
The Trump administration is confronting Beijing over development tactics it says include stealing or pressuring foreign companies to hand over technology. American officials worry Chinese plans to create tech champions in fields including robotics, biotech and artificial intelligence will erode U.S. industrial leadership.
Washington imposed 25 percent duties on $34 billion of imports from China in the first in a possible series of increases that President Donald Trump says could affect up to $550 billion of Chinese goods.


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Chinese women look at a phone near a rocket-shaped bench with an American flag used as a marketing gimmick for a U.S. apparel shop in Beijing. China immediately retaliated Friday following a round of tariffs in a dispute between the world's two biggest economies


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Trump says he's ready and willing to escalate the new trade war, banking onthe idea that the american economy can hold out longer than China's

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said 'retaliatory tariffs' took effect. The Communist Party newspaper People's Daily said they were imposed on a $34 billion list of goods issued last month that included soybeans, pork and electric vehicles.
Washington has 'ignited the biggest trade war in economic history,' said a Commerce Ministry statement.
China's No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, said 'no one will win by fighting a trade war, yet China will take countermeasures in the face of unilateral moves,' the official Xinhua News reported. It said he spoke during an official visit to Bulgaria.
Companies worry the spiraling dispute could chill global economic growth, but Asian financial markets took Friday's developments in stride.
Japan's main stock index, the Nikkei 225, gained 1.1 percent while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng also rose 0.5 percent.
The conflict between the world's two biggest economies reflects chronic tension in their relationship as customers, business partners and increasingly as competitors. It also is rooted in the clash between American notions of free trade and Beijing's state-led development model.


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A ship hauls containers at a container port in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province on Friday


China's ruling Communist Party has insisted on making changes at its own pace while sticking to state-directed technology development seen as the path to prosperity and global influence. Beijing has announced reforms this year including ending limits on foreign ownership in its auto industry, but none directly addresses complaints that are fueling its conflict with Washington.
On Thursday, Trump said higher tariffs on an additional $16 billion in Chinese goods were set to take effect in two weeks.
After that, the hostilities could intensify: Trump said Washington is ready to target an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports - and then $300 billion more - if Beijing does not yield.
That would bring the total of targeted Chinese goods to $550 billion - more than the $506 billion in goods that China shipped to the United States last year.
Chinese officials reject accusations they steal or force foreign companies to hand over technology. But rules on auto manufacturing and other industries do require companies to work through state-owned partners, obliging them to share know-how with potential competitors.
Other governments express similar complaints toward Beijing, but Washington has alienated potential allies by raising import duties on steel, aluminum and autos from Europe, Canada, Mexico and Japan. Some have responded by hiking their own tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump's confrontational outlook applies to other trading partners as well as China, said Tai Hui, chief strategist for JP Morgan Asset Management, in a report.








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A delivery man transports goods on the streets of Beijing on Friday
'This is a potential concern for the outlook of corporate investment and consumption around world,' Hui said.
The official China Daily newspaper accused the Trump administration of 'behaving like a gang of hoodlums.' It said they would damage the global economy unless other countries stop them.
'There should be no doubting Beijing's resolve,' the newspaper said.
Forecasters say global economic growth could be reduced by up to 0.5 percentage points in 2019-20 if both sides wind up raising tariffs on $250 billion of imports.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China appealed to both sides to negotiate.
'There are no winners in a trade war,' the chamber's chairman, William Zarit, said in a statement. Companies want fairer treatment but will be hurt by U.S.-Chinese tensions, Zarit said. 'We urge the two governments to come back to the negotiation table.'

Maybe this will be a wake-up call for some of the people who support Trump "just because...". Anyone with a brain could have seen this coming and it could get much worse if other countries follow China's lead. There are already some Canadians calling for a boycott of American goods - and they like us!

Wonder if China's tariffs will apply to Trump brand goods.

I don't think it will make a difference he will find a way to blame Obama and the fools that follow him will believe his stupidity.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5925879/America-Trumps-Mar-Lago-club-asks-Labor-Department-permission-hire-40-foreigners.html

[size=34]America last! Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort club asks U.S. Department of Labor for permission to hire 40 foreigners as waiters[/size]

• Trump's Florida has once again asked the Justice Department to approve waivers 
  
  
• The luxury club relies on foreign workers to fill service jobs
  
  
• Trump has said it is 'very very hard to get help'
  
  
• Application comes as unemployment rate ticked up to 4 per cent
  
  
• Trump is leading a crackdown on immigration and blasts firms who give jobs to foreigners instead of Americans
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:22 EDT, 6 July 2018 | UPDATED: 11:56 EDT, 6 July 2018

    



President Donald Trump's luxury Mar-a-Lago club is asking the government to to approve its hiring of 40 additional foreign workers to wait tables at what Trump calls the 'Winter White House.'
The foreigners need not meet any educational requirement, according to a document the club filed with the Labor Department on July 5th.
Trump's club, which charges members $200,000, and where the president golfs frequently while crashing the occasional wedding, said it will pay a minimum of $12.68 per hour.
The request brings the total of foreign workers sought or hired by Trump's club to 480 since his June 2015 campaign launch, BuzzFeed reported. 


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HELP WANTED: President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 23, 2017. The club is seeking foreign workers to wait tables
According tot the form, the overtime is possible for the servers, 'but not guaranteed.' 

'Raises and/or bonuses may be offered to any worker in the specified occupation at the company's sole discretion based on individual factors, including work performance, skill or tenure,' according to the application.
On Friday, the nation's unemployment rate ticked up to 4 per cent, a level that has some businesses that rely on skilled workers scratching for applicants.


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn of the White House prior to greeting guests during a picnic for military families on at the White House on July 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. His hotel sought a foreign worker visas the following day


+3


TALENT POOL: The foreign workers need not have any educational requirements, according to a form the club filed with the government
Trump, who ran on the 'America First' campaign slogan, defended the practice of hiring temporary foreign workers, saying, it is 'very very hard to get help.'
Trump has maintained his ownership of the Trump Organization, although the firm is being run by his two adult sons and an executive.
The West Palm Beach club is relying on H-2 visas, which allow employers to bring in guest workers if they can demonstrate there are no qualified U.S. applicants. 
Trump on Thursday held another 'Make America Great Again' rally in Montana, where he blasted illegal immigration. He has slammed U.S. companies for offshoring U.S. jobs. 

You'll like this prophetic paragraph from one Alexander Hamilton in 1792

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/03/not-to-be-that-guy-but-this-alexander-hamilton-quo.html

Thanks, PAN. I've seen that quote before. Yes, it is prophetic. The men who founded this country knew what they were talking about. Too bad they didn't have a better plan for getting rid of a despot once he was in power.

Yes ... it has come to pass. Thanks PAN.  Mr. Hamilton nailed it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5926419/Trump-administration-seeks-time-reunite-families.html

[size=34]Trump administration says it CAN'T meet July 26 deadline to reunite families separated at the border and pleads with judge for more time for DNA tests[/size]

• U.S. government asks federal judge in San Diego to extend deadline for reuniting families separated at the border under zero tolerance policy
  
  
• Government attorney says deadlines of July 10 for under fives and Jul 26 for other children is too stringent 
  
  
• Administration officials say that they won't be able to confirm a child's parentage by the deadline if DNA testing is inconclusive
  
  
• They will need more time to collect DNA samples or other evidence from parents who have been released from government custody
  
  
• In the court papers, the government said it has identified 101 children under 5 years old who were separated and is the midst of identifying older children 
  
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 12:58 EDT, 6 July 2018 | UPDATED: 15:38 EDT, 6 July 2018

    



The Trump administration asked a judge Friday for more time to reunite families who were separated at the border under its 'zero-tolerance' policy to prosecute every person who enters the country illegally.
Hours before a hearing in San Diego, the Justice Department filed papers seeking an extension of the deadline, which is July 10 for all parents with children under 5 and July 26 to reunite everyone else.
The administration says federal law requires it to ensure that children are safe and that requires more time. 
Administration officials also say that they won't be able to confirm a child's parentage by the deadline if DNA testing is inconclusive. They will need more time to collect DNA samples or other evidence from parents who have been released from government custody.


+4


One reunion: Diego Magalhaes, 10, kisses his mother Sirley Silveira Paixao, an immigrant from Brazil seeking asylum, after Diego was released from immigration detention on Thursday in Chicago


+4


Not fully reunited: Yeni Gonzalez, a Guatemalan mother who was separated from her three children saw her children in New York this week for the first time since mid May. However they remain in a New York facility
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, set the deadline last week, writing that the 'situation has reached a crisis level' and that the 'chaotic circumstances' were of the government's own making. 

He scheduled Friday's hearing for an update on compliance with his order.
More than 2,000 children were separated from their parents after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in May that the zero tolerance was in full effect, even if it meant splitting families. 
While parents were criminally prosecuted, children were placed in custody of the Health and Human Services Department. Trump reversed course on June 20 amid an international outcry, saying families should remain together.
On Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said less than 3,000 children are believed to have been separated, but that includes kids who may have lost parents along the journey, not just parents who were detained at the border. None had been transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be reunited with their parents.
In the court papers, the government said it has identified 101 children under 5 years old who were separated and is the midst of identifying older children. About 40 parents of children in the under-5 age group are in Homeland Security custody and another nine are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Jonathan White, a Health and Human Services official, filed a declaration with the court that gives what is perhaps the most detailed account yet of what the government is doing and the hurdles it faces. 
Its database has some information about the children's parents but wasn't designed to reunify families under the court's deadline.
The department has manually reviewed the cases of all 11,800 children in its custody by working nights and weekends, White said. The results of that review are being validated.
DNA cheek swab tests on parent and child take nearly a week to complete, said White, who called the risk of placing children with adults who aren't their parents 'a real and significant child welfare concern.'
'The Government does not wish to unnecessarily delay reunifications or burden class members,' the Justice Department filing reads. 

+4



Dividing line: The Trump administration walked into the crisis when it declared that all illegal border crossers would be arrested


+4


Controversy: The arrest and detention of all illegal border crossers under the zero tolerance policy created a huge backlash and led to demonstrations outside the White House
'At the same time, however, the Government has a strong interest in ensuring that any release of a child from Government custody occurs in a manner that ensures the safety of that child.'
Sabraw's order in the class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union applies to all families who have been separated and includes a halt to any future separations.
The ACLU sued in March on behalf of a Congolese woman who was separated from her daughter for five months after seeking asylum at a San Diego border crossing and a Brazilian asylum-seeker who has been separated from her son since an arrest for illegal entry in August near the Texas-New Mexico border.
The Congolese woman, identified in court documents as Mrs. L, claimed asylum on Nov. 1, 2017, and four days later was separated from her daughter. The girl, then 6, was sent to a Chicago shelter contracted by Health and Human Services, while the mother was held at a San Diego immigration detention facility until March 6.
The administration says the Congolese woman had no documents and was unable to prove she was the girl's mother when she claimed asylum. U.S. authorities confirmed through DNA testing on March 12 that the woman was the girl's mother and the two were reunited.
The Brazilian woman, identified as Mrs. C, served nearly a month in jail after her Aug. 26, 2017, arrest for illegal entry near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and then spent about six months in immigration detention. Her son was also sent to a Chicago shelter the two recently reunited.

Now they're worried about children being placed with people who aren't their parents. If it worries them so much, why did they do it? Hypocrites!

They aren't worried , they simply want to prove the kids don't belong to the adults.

Annemarie - I was being sarcastic. If they were worried about these kids at all they wouldn't have taken them from their parents in the first place. They don't give a damn if these families are ever reunited.

You might like this..........

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-blimp-protest-london-visit-queen-a8436006.html

Saw a report on the news yesterday about the baby Trump blimp. So fitting.  Too bad the Brits won’t get the satisfaction of having him hear their voices.  Has a U.S. President ever had to be whisked off to outside London for meetings with Brit leaders to avoid a possible uproar from the locals??  I’m actually surprised he is showing up at all.  Don the Con doesn’t like spending his valuable time making friendly with allies.  He would much prefer making nice with the likes of Putin or Kim.

The total lack of preparation, follow through and eventual reunification of these immigrant families shows what little or no regard our government has for these people.  There was no plan to begin with.  They made up a policy and to hell with the consequences.  Our government has treated these people like yesterday’s garbage.  It is sickening.

What's also sickening is how gutless so many of our fellow citizens are. Being a government employee doesn't mean you have no responsibility for your actions.

And, to those ICE and Homeland employees who are enjoying abusing their positions of power to make things more miserable for the immigrants seeking our help: karma is a bitch! Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) you might need someone's help. May you be treated with the same kindness you are showing to these people.

True that Lizzy.  What happened to do unto others as you would have them ...    This country is in a fine mess right now.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5928341/Pompeo-wraps-talks-North-Korea-without-seeing-Kim-Jong-Un.html

[size=34]North Korea slams 'regrettable' talks with Mike Pompeo and accuses the US of 'gangster-like tactics' to pressure them into denuclearization[/size]

• Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the talks were 'regrettable' on Saturday 
  
  
• They claim the US delegation led by Pompeo tried to unilaterally pressure North Korea into complete denuclearization 
  
  
• They say the US's 'stance' was 'concerning' and betrayed the spirit of Trump's visit to Singapore last month to meet with Kim Jong-un
  
  
• Pompeo said the meetings were 'productive' and happened in 'good faith'  
  
  

By PRESS ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHED: 06:55 EDT, 7 July 2018 | UPDATED: 13:37 EDT, 7 July 2018

    


North Korea has described high-level talks with a US delegation led by secretary of state Mike Pompeo as 'regrettable', as it accused Washington of trying to unilaterally pressure the country into abandoning its nuclear weapons.
Mr Pompeo had claimed the two days of talks with senior North Korean officials – though without leader Kim Jong Un – had resulted in commitments for new discussions on denuclearisation and the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War.
Before leaving Pyongyang, he said his conversations with senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol had been 'productive,' conducted 'in good faith' and that 'a great deal of progress' had been made in some areas.
But the North provided a much harsher assessment of the talks, saying the US had betrayed the spirit of last month's summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un by making 'one-sided and robber-like' demands on 'CVID' – the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea.


+4


Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is pictured returning to a meeting with North Korea's Kim Yong Chol (not pictured). On Saturday, North Korea said the talks were 'regrettable' 


The North said the outcome of the follow-up talks was 'very concerning' because it has led to a 'dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm'.
A spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said: 'We had expected that the US side would offer constructive measures that would help build trust based on the spirit of the leaders' summit… we were also thinking about providing reciprocal measures.


'However, the attitude and stance the United States showed in the first high-level meeting (between the countries) was no doubt regrettable.'
Mr Pompeo had said a Pentagon team would meet North Korean officials on or about July 12 at the border between North and South Korea to discuss the repatriation of remains, and that talks would be held soon on the destruction of North Korea's missile engine testing facility.


+4


Mike Pompeo addresses the media before boarding his plane at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang on Saturday. He said the meetings were 'productive' 
In the days following his historic June 12 summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Mr Trump had announced that the return of the remains and the destruction of the missile facility had been completed or were in progress.
Mr Pompeo said more talks are needed on both.
'We now have a meeting set up for July 12 – it could move by one day or two – where there will be discussions between the folks responsible for the repatriation of remains. (It) will take place at the border and that process will begin to develop over the days that follow,' he said as he boarded a plane for Tokyo.
On the destruction of the missile engine plant, he said: 'We talked about what the modalities would look like for the destruction of that facility as well, and some progress there as well, and then we have laid out a path for further negotiation at the working level so the two teams can get together and continue these discussions.'


+4


 Kim Yong Chol waved Pompeo goodbye at the airport on Saturday after their meetings 
Earlier, Mr Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol both said they needed clarity on the parameters of an agreement to denuclearise the Korean peninsula that Mr Trump and Kim Jong Un agreed to in Singapore.
The trip was Mr Pompeo's third to Pyongyang since April and his first since the summit.
Unlike his previous visits, which have been one-day affairs during which he has met Kim Jong Un, Mr Pompeo spent the night at a government guesthouse in Pyongyang and did not see the North Korean leader, although US officials had suggested such a meeting was expected.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5935309/Trump-targets-Pfizer-big-Pharma-rising-drug-costs-vowed-price-decrease.html

[size=34]Trump targets Pfizer and big Pharma for raising costs of prescription drugs after he vowed prices would decrease[/size]

• President Trump tweeted his anger at drug companies for raising costs 
  
  
• Bayer, Novartis, and Pfizer all raises rates on some prescription medicines in the last few weeks
  
  
• Trump vowed last month drug costs would go down
  
  
• He has repeatedly attacked drug companies, saying they get 'away with murder' 
  
  

By EMILY GOODIN, U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:24 EDT, 9 July 2018 | UPDATED: 16:40 EDT, 9 July 2018

    


President Trump is targeting Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies for raising prices on prescription drugs in recent weeks, following his vow earlier this month that costs would decline.
'Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason,' Trump said in a tweet on Monday. 'They are merely taking advantage of the poor & others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe & elsewhere.'
Earlier this month, Pfizer raised prices on more than 100 prescription medications, according to the Financial Times. 


+3


President Trump is targeting Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies for raising prices on prescription drugs


+3


Trump vowed in May that the cost of medication would go down


+3


The cost of a Viagra pill is now $88.45, up from $73.85
Some examples: a bottle of Xalatan, eyedrops for glaucoma, went from $89.38 to $107.05 while the cost of a Viagra pill is now $88.45, up from $73.85.

In May, Trump predicted drug costs would drop, a pronouncement that was said to take the pharmaceutical industry by surprise. 
'I think we're going to have some of the big drug companies in in two weeks, and they're going to announce because of what we did, they're going to announce voluntary massive drops in prices. So that's great. That's going to be a fantastic thing,' he said.
The Department of Health and Human Services had introduced a plan earlier that month to cut the cost of prescription drugs. But participation by pharmaceutical companies was voluntary.


And some drug costs have gone up over 20 percent in 2018,Fortune reported.
Trump has repeatedly criticized these companies, even accusing them of 'getting away with murder.' 
'The other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry, because they're getting away with murder, pharma. Pharma has a lot of lobbies, a lot of lobbyists, a lot of power. And there's very little bidding on drugs,' he said shortly after he was elected president.
'We're the largest buyer of drugs in the world,' Trump added. 'And yet we don't bid properly. We're going to start bidding. We're going to save billions of dollars over a period of time. And we're going to do that with a lot of other industries.'
A Kaiser Health Tracking Poll from March found found that 52 percent said passing legislation to bring down the price of prescription drugs should be a 'top priority' for Trump and Congress.
Politico reported last week that drug companies were defying Trump's call to lower prices with Bayer, Novartis, and Pfizer all raises rates on some prescription medicines.
In a statement to The Hill newspaper, Pfizer said prices were raised on only a small amount of drugs.
'The list price remains unchanged for the majority of our medicines. Our portfolio includes more than 400 medicines and vaccines; we are modifying prices for approximately 10% of these, including some instances where we're decreasing the price,' the company said.
Pfizer also noted most patients or insurance companies will not pay the full amount of drug costs because of discounts.

No wonder he's so furious. They raised the price of Viagra! Add that increase to the price of a hooker and his annual shot at getting laid just got more expensive!

(Hate to agree with him on anything, but he is right on this issue. Drug prices in this country are way too high.)

Fuck his outrage. All he and the Republicans have to do is allow Medicare, the largest single purchaser of prescription drugs, to negotiate volume prices. Prices would go down across the board. One reason prices are lower overseas is that pharmas have to deal with state-supported healthcare systems. Not here. Republicans have fought this one simple, sensible policy for years, because pharmaceutical industry lobbyists line their pockets.

All it's going to take is one White House meeting and a well-placed 'contribution,' and this faux anger goes away. Since when has this *resident had any sympathy for poor people? I ain't buying it for a minute.

I agree he doesn't care , here is his plan.


[size=50]Trump's plan to bring down drug prices takes small steps[/size]

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WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's long-promised plan to bring down drug prices would mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder." Instead he focuses on private competition and more openness to reduce America's prescription pain.
In Rose Garden remarks at the White House Friday, Mr. Trump called his plan to "bring soaring drug prices back down to Earth" the "most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people." But it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the government's Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices for seniors. That idea has long been supported by Democrats but is a non-starter for drugmakers and most Republicans in Congress.  Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas dismissed Mr. Trump's plan as "a sugar-coated nothing pill." 
The administration will pursue a raft of old and new measures intended to improve competition and transparency in the notoriously complex drug pricing system. But most of the measures could take months or years to implement, and none would stop drugmakers from setting sky-high initial prices. Mr. Trump said his administration will begin work immediately, although there is no timeline for implementing his proposals.
"There are some things in this set of proposals that can move us in the direction of lower prices for some people," said David Mitchell, founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs. "At the same time, it is not clear at all how they are going to lower list prices."
Drugmakers generally can charge as much as the market will bear because the U.S. government doesn't regulate medicine prices, unlike most other developed countries.
Mr. Trump's list of 50 proposals, dubbed American Patients First, includes: 

• A potential requirement for drugmakers to disclose the cost of their medicines in television advertisements. 
  
  
• Banning a pharmacist "gag rule," which prevents druggists from telling customers when they can save money by paying cash instead of using their insurance. 
  
  
• Speeding up the approval process for over-the-counter medications so people can buy more drugs without prescriptions.
  
  
• Reconsidering how Medicare pays for some high-priced drugs administered at doctors' offices. 
  
  

[size]
Those ideas avoid a direct confrontation with the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, but they may also underwhelm Americans seeking relief from escalating prescription costs.
Democrats pounced on Mr. Trump for not pursuing direct Medicare negotiations -- an idea he championed before reaching the White House.
"This weak plan abandons the millions of hard-working families struggling with the crisis of surging drug prices," said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement. 




Pharmaceutical investors and analysts expressed relief after the announcement, and shares of most top drugmakers rose Friday afternoon, including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly.
"Trump had a choice today: to seek disruptive fundamental reform or to embrace more incremental steps," wrote Terry Haines, a financial analyst, in an investment note. "Trump chose the incremental over the disruptive."
Some parts of the plan were previously proposed in the president's budget proposal sent to Congress, including providing free generic drugs to low-income seniors and sharing rebates from drugmakers with Medicare patients. Other parts could be implemented directly by the administration.
A majority of Americans say passing laws to bring down prescription drug prices should be a top priority for Trump and Congress, according to recent polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
As a candidate, Mr. Trump railed against the pharmaceutical industry. But as president he has shied away from major changes and has staffed his administration with appointees who have deep ties to the industry. They include Health Secretary Alex Azar, a former top executive at Eli Lilly and Co., who joined Mr. Trump for Friday's announcement.
Azar and other Trump officials have hinted for weeks that the plan would, in part, "dismantle" the convoluted system of rebates between drugmakers and the health care middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, which negotiate price concessions for insurers, employers and other large customers.
Mr. Trump called out those companies in his speech: "Our plan will end the dishonest double-dealing that allows the middleman to pocket rebates and discounts that should be passed onto consumers and patients," Mr. Trump said.
Azar later told reporters that the administration would "seek input" on doing away with drug rebates in the Medicare system to encourage more direct discounts. He gave no timeframe for more concrete steps.
"It took decades to erect this very complex, interwoven system," Azar said in a briefing following the speech. "I don't want to overpromise that somehow by Monday there's going to be a radical change, but there's a deep commitment to structural change."
Public outrage over drug costs has been growing for years as Americans face pricing pressure from multiple sources: New medicines for life-threatening diseases often launch with prices exceeding $100,000 per year. And older drugs for common ailments like diabetes and asthma routinely see price hikes around 10 percent annually. Meanwhile Americans are paying more at the pharmacy counter due to health insurance plans that require them to shoulder more of their prescription costs.
America has the highest drug prices in the world. The U.S. spent $1,162 per person on prescription drugs in 2015, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That's more than twice the $497 per person spent in the United Kingdom, which has a nationalized health care system.
Mr. Trump's speech singled out foreign governments that "extort unreasonably low prices from U.S. drugmakers" using price controls and said U.S. trade representatives would prioritize the issue in trade deals. He accused the rest of the world of "freeloading" off U.S. drug companies, linking soaring prescription drug prices in the U.S. to lower prices abroad. "When foreign governments extort unreasonably low prices from U.S. companies, the U.S. has to subsidize them," he said.
"It's unfair and it's ridiculous and it's not going to happen any longer," he added, indicating that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would be calling on America's trading partners to insist they pay more for prescription drugs.
Hiking drug prices in the rest of the world, however, will have little effect on Americans' prescription costs, health policy experts say.
Experts are also skeptical the U.S. could pressure foreign governments to pay more for drugs.
"It's hard to know why Germany or France or Australia would agree to something like that," said Professor Jack Hoadley of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute.
In the U.S., Medicare is the largest purchaser of prescription drugs, covering 60 million seniors and Americans with disabilities, but it is barred by law from directly negotiating lower prices with drugmakers.
Allowing Medicare to negotiate prices is unacceptable to the powerful drug lobby, which has spent tens of millions of dollars since Trump's inauguration to influence the Washington conversation around drug prices, including a high-profile TV advertising campaign portraying its scientists as medical trailblazers.
The drug industry's top lobbying arm, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, spent nearly $26 million to sway federal decision makers last year, according to records tallied by Center for Responsive Politics. The annual total was the group's highest since the 2009 congressional fight that led to Obamacare.
The group's chief executive, Stephen Ubl, said in a statement that some Trump proposals could help patients afford their medicines, but "others would disrupt coverage and limit patients' access to innovative treatments."[/size]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5936785/Army-veteran-wife-considering-divorce-afford-healthcare-disabled-daughter.html

[size=34]Tragedy of the army veteran and his wife who are considering DIVORCE just so they can afford healthcare for their seriously disabled daughter[/size]

• A Texas couple are contemplating a divorce in order to afford health care costs for their disabled daughter
  
  
• Parents Maria and Jake Grey's six-year-old daughter Brighton suffers a genetic chromosomal disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome
  
  
• The couple said even though their daughter is six, she functions like a newborn
  
  
• Jake is an Army veteran who makes $40,000 a year - up to $15,000 of his income goes toward his daughter's healthcare costs 
  
  
• If the couple divorce, Maria would be listed as single and unemployed mother and may quality for Medicaid
  
  

By JESSA SCHROEDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 02:21 EDT, 10 July 2018 | UPDATED: 02:41 EDT, 10 July 2018

    



A Texas couple struggling to afford healthcare for their disabled daughter are contemplating a divorce so the mother can be listed on paper as single and unemployed and qualify for Medicaid.
Maria and Jake Grey, who reside in Sanger along with their two daughters, Brighton, six, and Fairen, two, say their eldest suffers a genetic chromosomal disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome and requires around-the-clock care.
The pair told WFAA that Brighton suffers hearing and vision impairment and well as seizures as a result of the disorder that has severely delayed her growth and development.
'When you have a newborn everything gets really stressful and you have to really adapt to somebody needing you 24/7... we've had a newborn for six and a half years,' Maria said.


+2


Maria and Jake Grey are pictured above with their daughters Brighton, six, (left) and Fairen, two. Brighton suffers a genetic chromosomal disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome
Maria was reduced to tears as she spoke about her anxiety each time she would walk to the mail box.

'I was scared of what would come or what bill would come or what denial would come,' she said.
The happily married couple have been forced to consider the option of divorce because their child's health comes first. 
'We promised each other and to her that we would do whatever we could do to make her life - however long she is going to be with us - as good as possible,' Maria said, adding that they 'wouldn't have made it this far without each other.'


+2


Dr. Thaddeus Miller, a health care policy expert, called the family's out of pocket costs 'very high' and 'shocking'
Jake said: I can't imagine going through what we've been through with anybody else.'
More than 30 percent of the Army veteran's $40,000 income does toward Brighton's health care costs - even with with the help of insurance.
The couple told the news station they fork out up to $15,000 out of pocket each year. 
'We just have struggled and struggled with it. I guess now we've gotten to the point where we feel like (divorce) is a real possibility,' Jake told the station.
Maria said she and her husband promised each other that they would do everything possible to make their daughter's life the best it can be for 'however long she is going to be' with them.
Dr. Thad Miller, a health care policy expert at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, also said he has never heard of a family going to the extent of divorce.
'For a family like this, they really are in a tough spot,' Miller said, calling the couple's out of pocket costs 'very high' and 'shocking'.
He concluded: 'I think it speaks to our need to really re-think what we do and how - especially for the most vulnerable. 

Really sad and embarrassing for our country that we don’t have a decent healthcare system to protect everyone from having to even consider such ridiculous tactics as this one.  In the meantime the Republicans and Trump continue to gut Obamacare with no real workable alternative to put in its place.

The one happy news I heard this morning was that all the boys from Thai soccer team have been recused from the cave!  What a great rescue effort that brought many countries together to save these kids and their coach.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5937191/Kavanaugh-wrote-indicting-president-cripple-government.html

[size=34]Trump's Court pick came out for law that would shield sitting presidents from prosecution or investigation – saying a presidential indictment would 'cripple' the federal government[/size]

• Judge Brett Kavanaugh has an extensive paper trail
  
  
• He wrote a lengthy article on separation of powers
  
  
• He said an indictment of a sitting president would 'cripple the federal government'
  
  
• Supported a law to exempt a president from criminal prosecution
  
  
• Said responding to investigators is 'time consuming and distracting'
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 04:53 EDT, 10 July 2018 | UPDATED: 09:56 EDT, 10 July 2018

    


President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court has concluded that the presidency is such a unique and challenging job that the White House occupant should be shielded from indictment, prosecution, or interrogation while in office.
Trump, who has inveighed repeatedly against the 'witch hunt' of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, selected Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Kavanaugh, in a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article on Separation of Powers, wrote that the indictment of a sitting president could 'cripple' the government.


+4


INDISPOSED TOWARD BEING DEPOSED: Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh said investigating or prosecuting a sitting president could 'cripple' a presidency
Although he worked with Ken Starr on the report that featured in President Clinton's impeachment, Kavanaugh concluded in hindsight that the nation 'certainly would have been better off if President Clinton could have focused on Osama bin Laden without being distracted by the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.'

It was that case that eventually led to revelations about Monica Lewinsky that were part of the the impeachment case assembled against him by Starr and then by Republican senators. Clinton was deposed in the case. 
Kavanaugh wrote in support of Congress passing legislation to protect a president from prosecution or investigation while in office.
'In particular, Congress might consider a law exempting a President—while in office—from criminal prosecution and investigation, including from questioning by criminal prosecutors or defense counsel,' he wrote.


+4


Judge Brett Kavanaugh speaks after being nominated by US President Donald Trump (L) to the Supreme Court in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC


+4


IN HINDSIGHT ... Judge Brett Kavanaugh speaks after being nominated by US President Donald Trump (L) to the Supreme Court in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. He wrote that it would have been better if President Clinton never had to deal with the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit


He wrote that there would inevitably be charges, including under the expired Special Council Act, that such investigations are politically motivated.
'The indictment and trial of a sitting President, moreover, would cripple the federal government, rendering it unable to function with credibility in either the international or domestic arenas. Such an outcome would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis,' he continued. 
'Even the lesser burdens of a criminal investigation— including preparing for questioning by criminal investigators— are time-consuming and distracting. Like civil suits, criminal investigations take the President’s focus away from his or her responsibilities to the people. And a President who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost inevitably going to do a worse job as President.'


+4


Kavanaugh wrote a detailed article where he argued president's shouldn't suffer being sued or prosecuted while in office – but maintained impeachment as a possible remedy for misconduct
In addition to the Mueller probe, authorized by the Justice Department, Trump faces a civil lawsuit from Sumner Zervos, who claims Trump sexually harassed her.
Kavanaugh acknowledged that his position on the subject has evolved.
'This is not something I necessarily thought in the 1980s or 1990s. Like many Americans at that time, I believed that the President should be required to shoulder the same obligations that we all carry. But in retrospect, that seems a mistake,' he wrote. 
However Kavanaugh does not believe the president should be immune from the political remedy contained in the Constitution.
'The point is not to put the President above the law or to eliminate checks on the President, but simply to defer litigation and investigations until the President is out of office,' he wrote, acknowledging a counter-argument.
'A second possible concern is that the country needs a check against a bad-behaving or law-breaking President. But the Constitution already provides that check. If the President does something dastardly, the impeachment process is available,' he wrote.

My personal thought is that this nomination shouldn’t be  taking place.  One, because it’s an election year.  As the Senate Leader Mitch McConnell refused to let a hearing on Obama’s nomination of a Supreme Court appointment take place because it was an election year I don’t think this year’s congressional elections are any less impactful.  I would like to have seen the Democrats fight back more aggressively but they have no power so ...

Second, I don’t think a President who is under criminal investigation should be allowed to make Supreme Court nominations.  

It’s a joke to think that Kavanaugh’s writings on presidential immunity should apply to this idiot. Hmmmm. It’s hard to say whether the Mueller investigation has actually played a role in Trump’s total dysfunction as a president.  Kidding!  Don the Con has always been dysfunctional.

There's a BBC program coming out that speaks to Trump's trolling private parties for teenage girls in the '80s and '90s and bragging about his "conquests". Not a surprise. There's a story going around that his pal Epstein procured a 13 year old virgin for him to "deflower". Again. not a surprise. He's a pig.

IMO they should forget about trying to find proof of collusion (which the talking heads keep saying isn't a crime) and go after him for rape, business illegalities and treason. If none of that works....send him on a hunting trip with Jr. to the preserve where those lions ate the poachers - just don't load their guns.

Nothing about the chaos in other countries' governments?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/world/europe/david-davis-brexit-resign.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront


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Theresa May in Fight to Save Government Amid Brexit Rift

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The departure of Boris Johnson, the public face of the 2016 campaign that persuaded Britons to quit the European Union, underscores the depth of the divisions within the government.CreditAndy Rain/EPA, via Shutterstock

By Stephen Castle

July 9, 2018

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LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain was battling to save her government on Monday after her foreign secretary quit in protest over her approach to withdrawing from the European Union. The resignation deepened a mood of crisis just eight months before the country is due to leave the bloc.

The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, was the second minister to leave Mrs. May’s cabinet within 24 hours. He stepped down after she pushed ahead with a proposal that would keep Britain more closely tied to the European Union than hard-line conservatives want.

“We are truly headed for the status of colony,” Mr. Johnson said in his resignation letter.

It has been two years since Britons voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that rattled governments on the Continent and beyond. But actually severing the intricate economic ties that bind Britain to the rest of Europe has proved far more complicated than merely casting a ballot at the polls.

Many Britons remain opposed to leaving the bloc, and even among those who favor it, there are deep divisions. Some, like Mr. Johnson, advocate a clean break — or, at least, taking that stance in withdrawal negotiations with the European Union. Others, like Mrs. May, support maintaining at least some ties, including abiding by some European regulations.

That drew a sharp rebuke from Mr. Johnson, who said, “This is our opening bid.” It is as though, he said, “we are sending our vanguard into battle with a white flag fluttering above them.”

Just last week, Mrs. May appeared to have won the full cabinet’s agreement on keeping Britain’s economy closely anchored to the European Union. The resignations reopened speculation about a challenge to her leadership, something that Mrs. May’s spokesman said she would fight.

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With the hard-line supporters of withdrawal, known as Brexit, in the party in full revolt, Conservative insiders predicted further resignations unless Mrs. May dropped her plan.

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Prime Minister Theresa May with members of her cabinet on Friday.CreditJoel Rouse/Prime Minister's Office, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

On Monday night, Mr. Johnson was replaced as foreign secretary by Jeremy Hunt, who moved from the health department to take up the job. Although Mr. Hunt argued against Brexit in the 2016 referendum, he has since argued in favor of withdrawal and is likely to support Mrs. May’s position on Britain’s departure from the bloc.

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The turmoil comes days before a scheduled visit by President Trump, a champion of the kind of sharp break with the European Union that Mrs. May and others on her side of the issue believe would seriously harm the British economy.

Several major British employers have issued warnings in recent weeks over the risks of a chaotic, or “cliff edge,” Brexit. Most prominently, Jaguar Land Rover said it could derail more than $100 billion worth of investment plans in Britain and force the closing of some factories. Airbus and BMW also questioned whether they could continue to keep manufacturing facilities in the country under those conditions.

Mr. Johnson, the public face of the 2016 campaign that persuaded Britons to quit the European Union, is perhaps the most high-profile advocate of Brexit, and his departure underscores the depth of the divisions within Mrs. May’s government. His resignation followed that of David Davis, the Brexit secretary, who quit late Sunday night.

After Mr. Davis’s surprise resignation, there was an ominous silence from Mr. Johnson on Monday morning, although he was supposed to host a meeting in London of foreign ministers to discuss the western Balkans.

Then, around 3 p.m., Mrs. May’s office issued a statement that said simply: “This afternoon, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. His replacement will be announced shortly. The Prime Minister thanks Boris for his work.”

On several occasions Mr. Johnson had undermined Mrs. May’s strategy for withdrawing from the European Union. He described one government Brexit customs plan as “crazy” and, in leaked comments, accused her government of lacking “guts.” He compared her negotiating style unfavorably with that of Mr. Trump, and he compared her latest Brexit plan to excrement.

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David Davis, the cabinet secretary in charge of negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union, said in a statement released late Sunday that he could not accept the approach that Mrs. May demanded in a meeting with top officials on Friday.CreditSimon Dawson/Reuters

In his remarks, Mr. Johnson echoed others in the hard-line Brexit camp — notably Jacob Rees-Mogg — who have complained that under Mrs. May’s plan Britain would become a “vassal state” of the European Union, a “rule taker, not a rule maker.”

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On Monday, loyalist Conservative lawmakers appealed to their colleagues not to demand a confidence vote in Mrs. May’s leadership.

That would require the support of just 48 of her party’s lawmakers — but it would take many more to dislodge her were Mrs. May to try to stay on, as her office said she would. In those circumstances, Mrs. May could keep her job if she won the support of a simple majority of the Conservative Party’s 316 lawmakers.

Another major drawback of a leadership contest is that it could take as long as three months, something the government can ill afford. It needs to seal a withdrawal agreement with the European Union in October.

Mr. Johnson has made little secret of his ambitions to take the keys of 10 Downing Street, and his detractors say he would not hesitate to put his interests first. It remains unclear whether he commands the necessary support.

There is little chance that the opposition Labour Party could force a general election. That would require some Conservative votes, and Tory lawmakers have little interest in that, given the very real possibility that they could lose.

However, if the Conservatives were to change their leader, and therefore the prime minister, there would be political pressure to call a general election.

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Dominic Raab leaving 10 Downing Street after being appointed Brexit secretary on Monday.CreditJack Taylor/Getty Images

Mr. Davis told the BBC he was not encouraging a challenge to Mrs. May. But Mr. Johnson’s resignation reignited the debate just as Mrs. May was hoping that she had restored some stability to the government by announcing that Mr. Davis would be replaced by the pro-Brexit minister Dominic Raab.

European officials will have noticed that, although it took Mrs. May almost two years to produce a detailed plan for Brexit, the truce in her party lasted only two days. That raises more questions about the government’s ability to negotiate an orderly withdrawal.

On Monday, Mr. Davis outlined his objections to Mrs. May’s plan for withdrawal, which was announced on Friday evening and is to be published later this week in a white paper.

In effect, Mrs. May’s proposal means that Britain would sign up for Europe’s rules for manufactured goods, food and other farm produce without being able to shape them. Services like banking and finance — a big component of the British economy — would be dealt with separately and would not have as much access as at present to the continental European market.

No changes to economic rules in the future would take place “without the approval of our Parliament,” Mrs. May insisted, rebutting the argument that Britain would simply become “a rule taker.”

But on Monday, Mr. Davis argued that Parliament’s power would be “illusory rather than real” because, if it rejected future changes, the consequences would be too great. Not only could Britain lose access to continental markets, it would also face the prospect of the deployment of a contingency plan — yet to be finalized — devised to ensure that frontier controls are not erected on the Irish border.

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Mr. Davis also foresaw that Mrs. May’s plans are hardly final. He said they would simply be the basis for negotiation with a skeptical European Union that is certain to demand further concessions — perhaps very substantial ones — including on the freedom of movement of workers. That is something the British government has pledged to end.

At that point Mrs. May could be forced to choose between a Brexit agreement unacceptable to even more of her lawmakers and no deal at all, which would be a disaster for many businesses.

If that happens, Mrs. May will face a final reckoning with her fractious party in the fall — assuming she survives in her job until then.

Follow Stephen Castle on Twitter: @_StephenCastle

Michael Wolgelenter and Richard Pérez-Peña contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on July 10, 2018, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: With 8 Months Till Brexit, Britain’s Government Teeters on Edge. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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In Brexit Give-and-Take, Britain Gives and the E.U. Takes

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On Brexit, It’s Decision Time for Theresa May (and for Her Critics)

July 4, 2018

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Germany’s Europe-Shaking Political Crisis Over Migrants, Explained

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Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany leaving a meeting of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, in Berlin on Monday. Ms. Merkel has staked her legacy on upholding the European Union.CreditCarsten Koall/Getty Images

By Max Fisher and Katrin Bennhold

July 3, 2018

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The political near-breakdown in Germany marks the beginning of the end for the European experiment, for an era of openness toward refugees and migrants in the West, and for Angela Merkel, the German chancellor at the center of the European political establishment.

Or, perhaps, it is a close call in which Ms. Merkel made difficult sacrifices to hold it all together, as she has done many times before.

Or maybe something in between.

The stakes of what is happening in Germany are difficult to overstate, but it can be easy to lose track of how this came to pass and how to think about what could come next. What follows is a simple guide.

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Ms. Merkel at a meeting with her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, in Berlin on Tuesday. The two split over “secondary” migrants: those who enter the European Union in a country such as Italy or Greece, and who then travel across the union’s open borders into Germany.CreditJohn Macdougall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Why are German politics melting down?

It started with a political uprising by Horst Seehofer, Ms. Merkel’s interior minister, over immigration.

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He and Ms. Merkel split over “secondary” migrants: those who enter the European Union in a country such as Italy or Greece, and who then travel across the union’s open borders into Germany.

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Mr. Seehofer has lots of leverage because he, like Ms. Merkel, leads a political party. Ms. Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union, does not operate in Bavaria — a large region sometimes described as the Texas of Germany because of its affluent areas and conservatism. Instead, Bavaria is dominated by Mr. Seehofer’s party, the Christian Social Union.

Their parties have split on the migration issue for a few reasons. Ms. Merkel has staked her legacy on upholding the European Union. A core tenet of the bloc is to maintain open borders among member states. She has also emphasized German leadership on accepting migrants and refugees.

But Mr. Seehofer’s party, like Bavaria, leans conservative. Its location, on the border with Austria, means it receives a disproportionate number of secondary migrants. Though new arrivals to Germany and Europe have dropped off almost entirely, a backlash against immigration has brought support to nativist groups. Mr. Seehofer’s party is worried about losing ground to the far right, especially ahead of state elections in October.

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So Mr. Seehofer demanded that Ms. Merkel close Germany’s border to secondary migrants. If she refused, he said, he might do so himself. Or he might resign, potentially collapsing Germany’s governing coalition and maybe even ending Ms. Merkel’s 13-year reign.

Has the German migrant fight been resolved?

Maybe, but probably not.

Late Monday, Ms. Merkel announced a compromise deal. Germany would set up camps along the Austrian border to house secondary migrants while their status was reviewed. Any arrival found to have registered for temporary status in a different European Union country (think Italy, Greece, Spain) would be deported to that country.

Ostensibly, the border would otherwise be open. But no one is sure how the German authorities would check the papers of every arrival without effectively reimposing a hard border.

The deal is subject to acceptance by the third member of Ms. Merkel’s governing coalition: the center-left Social Democratic Party, which has previously criticized the plans for their “mass-internment camps.” If it rejects the deal, this could force Ms. Merkel to come up with an entirely different compromise option. Or it could collapse the government.

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A center in Ingolstadt, Germany, that houses asylum-seekers.CreditAlexandra Beier/Getty Images

What happens if Germany imposes border controls?

Here are four likely near-term outcomes, beyond the consequences for migrants and refugees caught in the camps:

(1) Possible end of Europe’s open-borders era. Austrian leaders are now talking about securing their own “southern borders,” and others are likely to follow, using the German deal as a fig leaf. (Ms. Merkel can hardly chastise them for following her example.) Border-free travel within the union, which has been the rule not the exception, could become the exception and not the rule. In other words, it could end in all but name.

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(2) Racial profiling at European borders. Unless German authorities set up mandatory border checkpoints at every rail and road crossing with Austria — a huge undertaking — they’ll need to screen selectively. In other words, there will most likely be racial profiling, in which white people get to freely cross borders but others face higher odds of being stopped.

(3) A hard-right political shift. Ms. Merkel will help make nativism, which she has long opposed, an establishment position. The Social Democrats stand to lose out significantly, further eroding Germany’s center left. If they oppose the deal, they could prompt new elections, in which polls suggest they will lose badly. If they accept a deal that supposedly goes against everything they stand for, they will demonstrate their own irrelevance.

(4) Victory for the nativists. Germany’s far-right party, Alternative for Germany, might not be in power, but this deal would demonstrate the nativists’ influence on policy. They have driven the conversation and are taking full credit for the deal. It might not be the last time.

Migrants Are on the Rise Around the World, and Myths About Them Are Shaping Attitudes

Immigrants have often delivered economic benefits to the countries taking them in, but they have also upended the politics of the industrialized world — where the native-born often exaggerate their numbers and their needs.

June 20, 2018

Why is this such a big deal?

There are real concerns that this could set off a cascading series of events that significantly degrade, and maybe even break, European unity.

Many European leaders are less secure in their governing than Ms. Merkel is, and face even larger right-wing nativist backlashes. They go along with open borders because they have to. If Ms. Merkel gives up on open borders, she will open the way for others to follow.

Countries that share borders with Germany, particularly Austria, might even feel pressured to mimic this sort of border closing. Otherwise, their countries could turn into holding grounds for secondary migrants trying to reach Germany, where many have family members.

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Effectively closing Europe’s internal borders would put enormous pressure on the countries where migrants and refugees typically arrive first. Italy’s new populist government is already considered at risk of leaving the union altogether.

It’s about more than borders. Ms. Merkel’s compromise plan would work through bilateral deals between Germany and other European countries — rather than through big, multilateral agreements, which is how the union is supposed to work. That would further chip away at the union.

Then there is the symbolism. This would bring Ms. Merkel’s Germany — the ideological anchor of the European experiment, maybe of the entire liberal Western order — into sync with Viktor Orban’s Hungary, which is seen as representing the forces of nativism, nationalism and democratic backsliding. Mr. Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, drew global condemnation last year when he set up camps much like those Ms. Merkel is proposing. She has even borrowed his term: “transit centers.”

Migration to Europe Is Down Sharply. So Is It Still a ‘Crisis’?

Despite the claims of far-right leaders, the number of undocumented migrants arriving each year is back to pre-crisis levels — and has been for some time.

June 27, 2018

Is this the end of Ms. Merkel? Of the European experiment?

It’s too soon to say, but it remains a possibility. Even if this particular deal doesn’t go through, recent events show that Ms. Merkel’s hold over her coalition — much less the European order — could be getting shakier.

Another interpretation is that Ms. Merkel has shown just enough flexibility to keep her political partners bought in and the European experiment going. Maybe this will be seen as a one-time twist of a political release valve.

Any reporter who has covered Europe in the last decade has written a dozen articles or more about how one crisis or another has exposed the fundamental unsustainability of the European Union.

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You could see that as an indication that the union will inevitably collapse, either formally or in a gradual devolution. And any such scenario usually includes Ms. Merkel leaving power.

Or you could see these nonstop warnings as reasons to shrug off the latest round. If the predictions of doom have been consistently wrong for a decade — remember the euro crisis? — then it’s reasonable to suspect they’re wrong again now.

Still, at the heart of this week’s drama is an irreconcilable contradiction: between calls for keeping out secondary migrants and demands to keep internal European borders open. It’s a version of the contradiction within the European Union itself: between an open union and a collection of sovereign states.

Reconciling irreconcilable contradictions has been Ms. Merkel’s unofficial job description for years. And maybe this deal is enough to do it again.

Maybe it will keep borders open enough that the European Union as we know it basically survives, but closes them enough to quiet right-wing nativist sentiment. Or maybe Ms. Merkel has sacrificed something crucial — perhaps for good — for the sake of briefly forestalling her coalition’s inevitable collapse.

If Ms. Merkel can paper over that contradiction, then the rest of Europe might do so as well, at least for now. If she fails, either by giving up on open borders or by abandoning her shaky centrist coalition, then she will give up on something crucial for her vision of a stable, centrist Germany, and there, too, Europe might follow. Either way, the contradiction will remain, waiting to come back.

The Interpreter is a column by Max Fisher and Amanda Taub exploring the ideas and context behind major world events. Follow them on Twitter @Max_Fisher and @amandataub, and follow Katrin Bennhold at @kbennhold.

A version of this article appears in print on July 4, 2018, on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: The German Crisis Pushing Europe to the Brink. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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Lizzy, the talking heads are right. 'Collusion' isn't a crime, which is why that's not what Mueller is investigating. It's 'conspiracy,' which is a crime.

The story about the 13-year-old girl was actually the subject of a lawsuit. And more of the story is that tRump got mad when Epstein raped the girl first, depriving tRump of the pleasure of having her first. And he took it out on the girl.

She tried to sue him when she became an adult, but the suit died a quiet and unexplained death.

Way2Old - I'm not sure the suit is entirely dead. There are rumblings every now and then and maybe Avenatti or another shark will look into it. I live in hope.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5941337/Germany-captive-Russia-Trump-dresses-NATOs-secretary-general-Brussels.html

[size=34]Germany is a captive of Russia': Trump dresses down NATO's secretary general and threatens Berlin over its lagging defense spending and energy partnership with Putin's government[/size]

• Donald Trump unleashed his fury on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday morning after the leader asked him about gripes about Germany
  
  
• 'Germany is totally controlled by Russia,' Trump charged. 'I think its a very bad thing for NATO.' 
  
  
• President Trump has berated America's European allies for failing to meet their defense spending obligations to NATO
  
  
• The complaints come full circle this week at the NATO leaders' summit
  
  
• On Tuesday, European Council President Donald Tusk hit back at Trump, telling him, 'America does not have and will not have a better ally than Europe'
  
  
• Tusk said: 'America appreciate your allies. After all you don't have that many'  
  
  
• President Trump tweeted minutes later: NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS. Very Unfair!'
  
  
• He told reporters as he prepared to board Marine One that America has plenty of allies and put new pressure on NATO nations to increase their defense spending 
  
  

By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT IN BRUSSELS and GEOFF EARLE, U.S. DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN BRUSSELS
PUBLISHED: 04:06 EDT, 11 July 2018 | UPDATED: 09:33 EDT, 11 July 2018

    



Donald Trump unleashed his fury on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday for defending Germany's energy partnership with Russia and threatened Berlin with U.S. action over the deal that he said is wholly inappropriate. 
Trump fumed that 'Germany is a captive of Russia' and said the U.S. would 'have to do something' in light of the pipeline deal that's funneling billions into Moscow's economy.
'Germany is totally controlled by Russia,' he charged. 'I think its a very bad thing for NATO,' Trump said.
Stoltenberg reminded that the U.S. and Europe are 'stronger together than apart' and that has been proven by two World Wars and the alliance's dealings with Russia. Trump told him in response, 'No, you're just making Russia richer. You're not dealing with Russia, you're making Russia richer.'





Donald Trump unleashed his fury on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday for defending Germany's energy partnership with Russia after Stoltenberg reminded him that the U.S. and Europe are 'stronger together than apart
The confrontation stunned the leaders' senior advisers, including Trump's secretaries of defense and state. A press aide demanded the media leave the room as Trump pushed Stoltenberg to explain how the U.S. is supposed to protect Germany when it's opening its front door to Vladimir Putin.
The White House subsequently said that Trump would hold private talks in the afternoon on the sidelines of the NATO summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. 
Stoltenberg inadvertently whipped up the U.S. president at an internationally broadcast breakfast by asking him about his upcoming meeting with Putin. Trump responded with another tirade on Germany and its weaknesses while griping again about lagging contributions from member nations to the NATO alliance.
Trump gave Stoltenberg an earful with media present, telling the visibly startled NATO chief, 'We're protecting Germany. We're protecting France. We're protecting everybody, and yet, we're paying a lot of money to protect.'
Trump said that past presidents did not confront America's allies because they did not want to meddle in their affairs or they were blind to the problem. 
'I think that these countries have to step it up — not over a 10-year-period — they have to step it up immediately,' Trump demanded. 'Germany is a rich country. They talk about they're gonna increase it a tiny bit by 2030. Well, they could increase it immediately tomorrow and have no problem.'


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TERSE TALKS: Trump fumed that 'Germany is a captive of Russia' and said the U.S. would 'have to do something' about a gas deal that's funneling billions into Moscow's economy


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U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the breakfast with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
The United States' more than 4 percent GDP contribution to the security group compared to its European allies is 'very unfair' to the American taxpayer, he said in a familiar complaint. A new NATO report put the U.S. contribution at 3.5 per cent of the nation's GDP.
'I don't think it's fair to the United States, so we're going to have to do something, because were not gonna put up with it. We can't put up with it, and it's inappropriate,' Trump proclaimed .'So we have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that's being paid to the country that we're supposed to be protecting you against.'
Trump began the rant by telling Stoltenberg it's 'very sad' when Germany, France and 'numerous of the countries go out and then make a pipeline deal with Russia' and then expect the U.S. to foot the bill for their security.
'So we're supposed to protect you against Russia but they're paying billions of dollars to Russia, and I think that's very inappropriate,' Trump said. 'And the former chancellor of Germany is the head of the pipeline company that's supplying the gas.'
Trump informed Stoltenberg that 'Germany will have almost 70 percent of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas' when the deal is fully realized.
'So you tell me is that appropriate?' he said. 'I mean I've been complaining about this from the time I got in. It should never have never been allowed to have happened.
'But Germany is totally controlled by Russia, because they will be getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline. And you tell me if that's appropriate, because I think it's not. And I think it's a very bad thing for NATO, and I don't think it should have happened, and I think we have to talk to Germany about it.'   
Merkel told press in German as she arrived at NATO that her country makes 'independent decisions,' according to a translation by AFP, a global news service.
'I myself have also experienced a part of Germany being occupied by the Soviet Union,' said Merkel, who was born and raised in East Germany, in her native language.
She said of a previously divided Berlin, 'I am very glad that we are united today in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and that we can therefore also make our own independent policies and make our own independent decisions.'


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Trump told Stoltenberg that the alliance must confront Germany over its gas deal with Russia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seen her on Wednesday during her Cabinet meeting in Berlin. She'll see Trump later today at NATO


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Trump said he told Merkel in an undated conversation that he couldn't commit to protecting Germany from Putin's army
In bringing up the gas deal, Trump returned to an issue he has raised before his trip that seeks to both put Germany on the defensive while simultaneously pushing back on the narrative that it is the U.S. that is cozying up to Moscow.
For much of the past year, it has been Trump who has been under attack for resisting sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, his frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his repeated attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
But in Brussels, Trump hammered Merkel for taking part in a deal that would give it direct access to Russian energy supplies and cut out Eastern European nations fearful of Moscow's leverage. 
In March, Germany reached a deal to allow Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom to run its Nord Stream 2 pipeline through its waters. The 9.5 billion pound deal immediately outraged East European allies. 
Russia has used its oil and gas to pressure and punish its neighbors. The move came just a day after Germany joined UK in protesting the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Great Britain.


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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Alliance's headquarters ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels


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She will continue talking to Trump after everyone else has gone home as she is hosting the U.S. President in Britain for a two-day visit
The pipeline will send Russian oil and gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Poland and other Eastern European countries fear the pipeline could leave them vulnerable to Russian pressure.
This May, a State Department official weighed in against the project. Deputy Assistant Secretary Sandra Oudkirk said the pipeline could allow Russia to exert 'malign influence' in Europe. But the pipeline company said the project wouldn't be used to blackmail other countries. 
Stoltenberg unequivocally said at a news conference that followed his meeting with Trump that the pipeline deal is 'a national decision' and 'its not for NATO to decide.'
'It's not for NATO to solve this issue,' he stated.
Trump bashed Germany over the pipeline issue at a campaign rally last Thursday in Montana, where he also raised the pipeline issue. 
'They go out and make a gas deal, oil and gas, from Russia, where they pay billions and billions of dollars to Russia. They want to protect against Russia and yet they pay billions of dollars to Russia, Trump said then.
He said at the rally that he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he could not ensure he nation's security as a result. 






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U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before a bilateral breakfast ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels on Wednesday


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Trump informed Stoltenberg that 'Germany will have almost 70 percent of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas' when the deal is fully realized
Germany's defense minister told CNBC after Trump's assault on her country on Thursday that two weeks ago she had occasion to visit the United States and was reassured by her conversations with American lawmakers of the strength of the alliance.
'The president is as the president is. We know him and we can cope with that,' Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen told CNBC from outside of NATO's headquarter. 'This rhetoric also leads us to remember that a lot is at stake.'
Von der Leyen said that generations that came of age after WII have taken peace granted. 'Now, we have to fight for democracy. We have to secure our international order, our peace architecture,' she said. 
It was Trump who had arrived in Brussels on the defense on Tuesday after the EU Council's head berated him at an off-site event that was attached to the NATO summit.
Trump had signaled in early morning tweets on Tuesday that foreign leaders could expect a reckoning when he sees them this week in Brussels at the NATO summit over the 'unfair' burden on the U.S. taxpayer to pay for Europe's protection.
He was met with an immediate brush-back from European Council chief Donald Tusk, who said at a signing of a joint declaration between the Brussels-based security alliance and the body of EU nations, that Trump should be more careful with his taunts.
'America does not have and will not have a better ally than Europe. Today Europeans spend on defense many times more than Russia and as much as China,' he said in remarks that were addressed to Trump.  'And I think you can have no doubt, Mr. President, that this is an investment in common American and European defense and security.'
Then, in the toughest challenge yet to the U.S. president, Tusk said: 'America: appreciate your allies. After all you don't have that many.'


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U.S. President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday that European leaders can expect a reckoning when he sees them this week in Brussels at the NATO summit and faced an immediate brush-back from European Council President Donald Tusk


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Trump signaled in early morning tweets that foreign leaders can expect a reckoning when he sees them this week in Brussels at the NATO summit over the 'unfair' burden on the U.S. taxpayer to pay for Europe's protection. He's seen here in May of 2017 at a working dinner at last year's NATO gathering
Trump fired back minutes later as he left the White House en route to NATO.
'We do have a lot of allies. But we cannot be taken advantage of. We're being taken advantage of by the European Union,' he told DailyMail.com. 'We lost $151 billion last year on trade, and on top of that we spend at least 70 per cent for NATO, and frankly it helps them a lot more than it helps us. So we'll see what happens.'
Trump had invited the challenge in the lead-up to the alliance's summertime summit by pillorying NATO member nations in almost-day tirades.
Just prior to Tusk's comments on Tuesday, Trump complained that the United States is bearing the brunt of the 29-nation security alliance's costs and said that it's not fair to Americans, especially when the U.S. is getting hosed in the markets.
'The U.S. is spending many times more than any other country in order to protect them. Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer,' he griped. 'On top of that we lose $151 Billion on Trade with the European Union. Charge us big Tariffs (& Barriers)!'
After Tusk's slap at him - which the EU Council leader also tweeted at Trump - the president doubled down on his position, saying, 'NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS. Very Unfair!'


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Trump woke up early on Tuesday chagrined about the United States' trade relationship with allies that are part of the Brussels-based security and their lacking contributions to NATO's defense fund


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Tusk fired back at Trump from NATO's new headquarter city of Brussels: 'America: appreciate your allies. After all you don't have that many'
Tusk had acknowledged in his remarks that European countries need to step up their contributions.  
'Everyone expects an ally that is well-prepared and equipped,' he said. 
The EU Council chief assessed that 'money is important' yet said that 'genuine solidarity is even more important.'
'Speaking about solidarity, I want to dispel the American president's argument which says that the U.S. alone protects Europe against our enemies, and threat the U.S. is almost alone in this struggle,' he said in a repudiation of Trump's statements.


Tusk argued that Europe 'was first to respond on a large scale' when terrorists attacked the U.S. on 9/11. He further noted that European soldiers have been fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with American soldiers in Afghanistan.
Trump refused to climb down from his position as he spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning local time from the White House's South Lawn.
'NATO has not treated us fairly, but I think we'll work something out. We pay far too much and they pay far too little,' he said. 'But we will work it out and all countries will be happy.' 
He acknowledged that the relationship between the U.S. and many of its traditional allies had soured in the nearly 18 months since he took office. He said a meeting next week with the Russian president may be the 'easiest' leg of his four-nation visit to Europe. 




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Trump refused to climb down from his position as he spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning local time from the White House's South Lawn. 'NATO has not treated us fairly...We pay far too much and they pay far too little'


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Trump had invited the challenge in the lead-up to the alliance's summertime summit by pillorying NATO member nations in almost-day tirades
With Trump in the air, it was his NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison who was left to do the talking for him at a news conference where Trump's flattery of Putin and his disagreements with Merkel and Tusk came up.
Hutchison told reporters that Trump backs Article 5 of NATO's charter, which specifies that an attack on one is an attack on all.
'He is committed to Article 5 protection just as it is in he NATO charter,' she told press who arrived at the NATO summit in advance of the U.S. president.
She also stressed that 'the importance of unity in NATO is what makes us different' from other alliances that the U.S. and Europe are a part of.
'I will say that in all of the disagreements that have happened between President Trump and the United States' position and the EU,' Hutchsion said, 'our allies in NATO have remained steadfastly focused on the NATO issues, and we are in agreement, we are in unity on our security issues, and we are an alliance that has performed better, increasing our capabilities.'
Hutchison said that while Trump is hard on Germany,  for instance, he believes he is 'pulling them toward us, not away from us.'  
Stoltenberg thanked Trump for the push at a news conference kicking off the summit on Tuesday.
'It is clearly having an impact,' he said. 'We estimate that European Allies and Canada will add an extra 266 billion USD to defense between now and 2024. This is significant.'


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Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (second from left) arrives for a NATO summit in Brussels with her entourage


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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrive at the Alliance's headquarters ahead of the NATO summit
Stoltenberg said that eight countries would hit their contribution targets this year compared to three in 2014.
At the presser he said he was confident that leaders would be able to put their differences over trade aside as they have done in the past, because NATO has a good story to tell. 
When it comes to defense spending, he said, it is true that the burden sharing has not been fairly distributed. That is why Canada and European nations that are part of the alliance are stepping up their donations.
'I would not be surprised if we had robust discussions at the summit, including on defense spending,' he said. 'Different views are common between friends and allies.'
Just how robust they would get, even he did not seem to have imagined. The NATO secretary general was pummeled in his Wednesday morning breakfast by a fired-up Trump. 
Trump indicated Tuesday that he was chagrined about the United States' trade relationship with allies that are part of the Brussels-based security organization NATO and intended to make their contributions to its defense fund the focal point of his conversations in Brussels.
Just 16 countries are on track to meet the agreed up spending obligation of 2 percent GDP, the United States has said, in accordance with a 2014 pact.







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The president directly linked the the trade discrepancies that inspired his heavy metal tariffs in tweets that contradicted his NATO ambassador's assessment a day prior that the policies should be evaluated separately from one another. He's pictured here talking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in June at the G7 summit
In tweets on Monday Trump berated the rest for relying on the United States for protection, while at the same time running massive trade deficits with the U.S.
The president directly linked the trade discrepancies that inspired his heavy tariffs on metal imports to Western security in tweets that contradicted his NATO ambassador's assessment a day prior that the policies should be evaluated separately from one another. 
'NATO benefits Europe far more than it does the U.S. By some accounts, the U.S. is paying for 90% of NATO, with many countries nowhere close to their 2% commitments,' Trump said. 'On top of this the European Union has a Trade Surplus of $151 Million with the U.S., with big Trade Barriers on U.S. goods. NO!' 
The president put trade on the table in talks that begin Wednesday in Brussels with the tweets that shifted the focus from his Supreme Court appointment. He announced Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee at a Monday night event.
Trump departed the U.S. for Belgium, where NATO recently opened new headquarters, in the morning on Tuesday. He meets with European allies all day Wednesday and part of Thursday before a short stop in London for a working visit with Theresa May. Hell also have a private audience with the queen. 
His trip to Brussels was looking to be a repeat of the testy confrontation he had with leaders from allied nations in June at the G7 summit in Charlevoix.
He butted heads with them on trade in Canada, also, complaining that NATO is 'much too costly for the U.S' and almost as bad as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In Belgium, he will come face-to-face with Canada's Justin Trudeau for the first time since senior aides to Trump accused the prime minister of trying to sabotage the American president's Singapore summit. 


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He put on the table in talks that begin Wednesday in Brussels with the tweets that kicked off a day that was supposed to be focused on his Supreme Court appointment on Monday



Trump will face opposition in Brussels from almost all of NATO's 29 member nations over his worldwide steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU and Canada have retaliated with stiff penalties of their own on American-made products.
He will also enter uncomfortable talks about the alliance's security posture, as well as the United States' in response to his decision to conclude his trip to Europe with a tacked on stop in Finland to negotiate with NATO nemesis and Russian head of state Vladimir Putin.
The president who has groused since he was a candidate about NATO burden sharing was expected to pressure member nations in Brussels to meet the soft goal of two percent GDP for defense spending that was agreed to by the group years before he took office.
'The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable. While these countries have been increasing their contributions since I took office, they must do much more. Germany is at 1%, the U.S. is at 4%,' Trump harped in a message on Monday. 
He has singled out Germany as a violator incessantly. His defense secretary recently put a microscope on spending by the contribution-abiding U.K. in a new twist of the knife, as well, in a letter that leaked to The Sun. 
Trump hammered Germany at a Thursday evening rally, in Montana, where he claimed that he told the country's chancellor, Angela Merkel, that he believes Europe is benefited more by the security alliance because of its proximity to Russia than the U.S.
Germany puts 1.2 percent of its GDP toward the collective defense of NATO nations compared to the United States' 4 percent, Trump pointed out, rounding Berlin's contribution down.
He repeated the charge in tweets on Monday in which he again brought up the EU's trade deficit with the United States. 



An outside view of the NATO building is seen at the NATO's new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The security organization has its annual summit in Belgium this week
A day prior, Hutchison, had insisted on Fox News that trade and security were not related and should not be a subject of NATO talks.

TRUMP'S AGENDA IN BRUSSELS

President Trump arrives in Brussels on Tuesday evening local time July 10. 
He begins his Wednesday with a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg. His secretaries of defense and state and his national security adviser will also participate in the conversation. 
Trump will next meet with the United States' Brussels missions' staff and families, as is customary for a U.S. president when visiting foreign countries. 
Later on Wednesday he will attend an opening ceremony at the NATO headquarters. There, he will meet privately with unknown heads of government. 
He will attend a working dinner that evening with fellow leaders.
Wednesday morning leaders will participate in meeting with the presidents of Georgia and Ukraine.
An Afghan strategy session follows.
Trump departs Belgium on Wednesday afternoon for London, where he has a working visit with Prime Minister Theresa May and an audience with the queen before a weekend in Scotland.
He caps his trip to Europe with a stop in Helsinki, Finland, for a summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin. 



'One thing I will say is that in all of the disagreements that we have seen at the G7 and with allies with whom we are now having trade talks and negotiations and tariffs, that has not come up in the NATO context,' she stated. 'Our diplomats are professional and they are staying on our NATO issues, where we are 100 percent allied.' 
She said prior to the summit that Russia's 'malign activities' and a 'rising China' would be the foremost topics.
The president on Friday slapped $34 billion in tariffs on China that were aimed at reducing a trade deficit with the country that the U.S. has also accused of rampant and intentional intellectual property violations.
But he is said to have told France's Emmanuel Macron that the EU is worse than China on trade in some ways when they met in Canada last month.
The rift over trade and the president's planned talks with Putin set the stage for more tension in Belgium.
Hucthison pointed out on Sunday that Trump's way of doing business had been effective, though, pointing to increased contributions to NATO since he took office.
'NATO really is making progress and they are doing it really at President Trump's insistence, and I think that it's very clear, and he's been very direct about the Europeans needing to do more for their own security,' she said. 'Every ally is now increasing defense spending.'
Trump's liaison to NATO said, 'We've had the largest increase in defense spending since the Cold War. And in the year and a half since President Trump has been in office, it has doubled since 2014.
'So, I think he is making an impact and I think that the Europeans, including Chancellor Merkel just recently who has said we are going to do more,' she said. 'We need to do more, it's the right thing to do and she is encouraging her Bundestag, her parliament, to increase the defense budget so that we will be more fit for purpose in NATO for the fights that we want to deter.' 


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A day prior, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hucthison, had insisted on Fox News that trade and security were not related and should not be a subject of NATO talks
Merkel said last month in a speech to parliament that she anticipates 'very difficult' talks in Brussels in a reference to the increasingly complicated relationship between Germany and the United States in the era of Donald Trump. 
'It is no secret that the transatlantic alliance is under strain at the moment but we are convinced that the alliance remains central to our common security,' the European leader stated.
Trump hit back at her on Thursday evening, saying in remarks at a campaign event for a U.S. Senate candidate that Europe is killing America on trade and paying Russia billions for oil and gas all while complaining that it needs protection from Putin and his military.
'We're paying anywhere from 70- to 90-percent to protect Europe. And that's fine. Of course, they kill us on trade. They kill us on other things,' he proclaimed. 'So they want to protect against Russia, yet they pay billions of dollars to Russia and we're the schmucks paying for the whole thing.'
The president said he told Merkel in an undated conversation that he couldn't commit to protecting Germany from Putin's army. 
'Putin is fine. He's fine. We're all people,' he said. 'Will I be prepared? I've been preparing for this stuff all my life.' 
Hutchison said Sunday that she does not agree with the president's assessment of Putin. She said Trump is right, however, to engage with the former KGB spy who has personally been accused by the U.S. of directing a scheme to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
'We should be talking to Vladimir Putin and many of our allied nations do as well,' she said. 'But it is to try to bring them in the tent instead of just constantly seeing them do these things that are attempting to disrupt us, but will not.'
She claimed on Tuesday at a news conference that Trump was saying at this rally that he was 'not certain' that Germany could pay out more money to NATO, not that he was unclear about the United States' continued ability to protect the ally from Russia.   
'I think that the president believes that Germany is one of our strongest partners,' she asserted.
Von der Leyen said Wednesday on CNBC that Trump is right that Germany needs to increase its defense contribution - and it has. The German defense minister said her country also backs Trump's summit next week with Putin.
'It is good that he talking to President Putin,' she said. 'We have a lot of issues with Russia without question, but its good to be in a dialogue.' 


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Trump hammered Germany at a Thursday evening rally. He says he told the country's chancellor, Angela Merkel, that he believes Europe is benefited more by the NATO security alliance because of its proximity to Russia and because it doesn't contribute enough to NATO
ADVERTISEMENT

This is interesting - back to the Russian connections of the Trump family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJGG6xBrUnU

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5943825/What-good-NATO-tweets-furious-Trump-resumes-attack-Russia-Germany-pipeline.html

[size=34]'What good is NATO?' tweets a furious Trump, as he resumes attack on Russia-Germany pipeline and demands nations meet burden-sharing commitment 'immediately'[/size]

• Donald Trump unleashed his fury at meal with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday morning after leader asked him about Putin 
  
  
• 'Germany is totally controlled by Russia,' Trump charged
  
  
• 'I think its a very bad thing for NATO' Merkel told press that her country is 'independent' after Trump's tongue-lashing 
  
  
• The two leaders then made nice at a bilateral meeting 
  
  
• Trump went back on the attack Wednesday evening 
  
  
• President Trump has berated America's European allies for failing to meet their defense spending obligations to NATO He asked 'what good is NATO?' Critics fear he will split the successful military alliance
  
  
• Said the U.S. is paying for Europe's 'protection' 
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN BRUSSELS
PUBLISHED: 16:16 EDT, 11 July 2018 | UPDATED: 19:29 EDT, 11 July 2018

    


President Donald Trump went back on the attack against Germany and allies who aren't meeting spending commitments Wednesday – and even questioned the utility of the military alliance that contested the Soviets to a draw.
 Trump questioned the usefulness of NATO on his first day at the NATO conference in Belgium, just hours after he unleashed a tirade against Germany at a breakfast with the NATO secretary general.
His latest attack, launched on Twitter, came after he expressed optimism about the 'tremendous relationship' the U.S. has with Germany at a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.   
'What good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy?' Trump wrote.'

He was returning to his attack on an $11 billion pipeline deal between Germany and Russia. East Europeans fear the deal could leave them vulnerable – but it also redirects pressure on Trump, who is under fire for his own Russia issues and whose administration is facing off against special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Then Trump returned to the NATO defense spending commitments made by member nations in 2014 to boost their spending in a decade.
'Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met their commitment?' Trump wrote.


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'What good is NATO?' asked Trump as he resumed his attacks on Germany and allies who are spending less than 2 per cent of their GDP on defense


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President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during their bilateral meeting, Wednesday, July 11, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium


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Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (L) and US President Donald Trump give a thumbs up at the start of a working dinner at the Nato summit in Brussels 


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Heads of state take part in a working dinner at The Parc du Cinquantenaire - Jubelpark Park in Brussels as Trump berates European nations over their consistent failure to spend 2 per cent of their GDP on their own security 


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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, talks with first lady Melania Trump, right, at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels during the summit 


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U.S. President Donald Trump looks back at British Prime Minister Theresa May during a dinner at the Art and History Museum in Brussels 


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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) with France's President Emmanuel Macron (L), Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel (C, front) and Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg (C, back) pose for a photograph at the summit. None of the leaders spends the agreed 2 per cent of GDP on defence
'The U.S. is paying for Europe’s protection, then loses billions on Trade. Must pay 2% of GDP IMMEDIATELY, not by 2025,' Trump wrote.
It emerged earlier in the day that Trump had told leaders he wants them to boost NATO spending to 4 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product. 
Trump unleashed his fury at breakfast Wednesday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday for defending Germany's energy partnership with Russia and threatened Berlin with U.S. action over the deal that he said is wholly inappropriate. 
Trump fumed that 'Germany is a captive of Russia' and said the U.S. would 'have to do something' in light of the pipeline deal that's funneling billions of dollars to Moscow.


'Germany is totally controlled by Russia,' he charged. 'I think its a very bad thing for NATO, and I don’t think it should have happened.' 
Stoltenberg reminded him that the U.S. and Europe are 'stronger together than apart' and that has been proven by two World Wars and the alliance's dealings with Russia. 
Trump told him in response, 'No, you're just making Russia richer. You're not dealing with Russia, you're making Russia richer.'
The confrontation stunned the leaders' senior advisers, including Trump's secretaries of defense and state. A press aide demanded the media leave the room as Trump pushed Stoltenberg to explain how the U.S. is supposed to protect Germany when it's opening its front door to Vladimir Putin.  


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Donald Trump unleashed his fury on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday for defending Germany's energy partnership with Russia after Stoltenberg reminded him that the U.S. and Europe are 'stronger together than apart
Stoltenberg inadvertently whipped the U.S. president into a frenzy at an internationally-broadcast breakfast by asking Trump about his upcoming meeting with Putin. Trump responded with a tirade on Germany and its weaknesses and griped, again, about lagging contributions from members of the NATO alliance.
Trump gave Stoltenberg an earful with media present, telling the visibly startled NATO chief, 'We're protecting Germany. We're protecting France. We're protecting everybody, and yet, we're paying a lot of money to protect.'
Trump said that past presidents did not confront America's allies because they did not want to meddle in their affairs or they were blind to the problem. 
'I think that these countries have to step it up — not over a 10-year-period — they have to step it up immediately,' Trump demanded. 'Germany is a rich country. They talk about they're gonna increase it a tiny bit by 2030. Well, they could increase it immediately tomorrow and have no problem.'
The United States' more than 4 percent GDP contribution to the security group compared to its European allies is 'very unfair' to the American taxpayer, he said in a familiar complaint.  
'I don't think it's fair to the United States, so we're going to have to do something, because we're not gonna put up with it. We can't put up with it, and it's inappropriate,' Trump on Wednesday proclaimed. 'So we have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that's being paid to the country that we're supposed to be protecting you against.'
A new NATO report actually puts the U.S. contribution at 3.5 percent of the nation's GDP in 2018. Still, it's significantly more than the next closest country. Germany's spending on defense as a percentage of GDP was on par with a handful of other NATO nations at 1.24 percent, putting it at the mid-to-lower end of the pack.


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A new NATO report actually puts the U.S. contribution at 3.5 per cent of the nation's GDP in 2018. Still, it's significantly more than the next closest country - and nearly three times as much as Germany


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TERSE TALKS: Trump fumed that 'Germany is a captive of Russia' and said the U.S. would 'have to do something' about a gas deal that's funneling billions into Moscow's economy


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U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the breakfast with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Trump began his Wednesday morning rant by telling Stoltenberg that it's 'very sad' when Germany, France and 'numerous of the countries go out and then make a pipeline deal with Russia' and then expect the U.S. to foot the bill for their security.
'So we're supposed to protect you against Russia but they're paying billions of dollars to Russia, and I think that's very inappropriate,' Trump said. 'And the former chancellor of Germany is the head of the pipeline company that's supplying the gas.'
Trump informed Stoltenberg that 'Germany will have almost 70 percent of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas' when the deal is fully realized.
'So you tell me is that appropriate?' he said. 'I mean I've been complaining about this from the time I got in. It should never have never been allowed to have happened.'
Now, he said, 'Germany is totally controlled by Russia...And you tell me if that's appropriate, because I think it's not. And I think it's a very bad thing for NATO, and I don't think it should have happened, and I think we have to talk to Germany about it.' 
Merkel told press in German as she arrived at NATO that her country makes 'independent decisions,' according to a translation of her remarks on NATO's blue arrival carpet by AFP.
'I myself have also experienced a part of Germany being occupied by the Soviet Union,' said Merkel, who was born and raised in East Germany, in her native tougue.
She touched on her nation's communist history, saying. 'I am very glad that we are united today in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and that we can therefore also make our own independent policies and make our own independent decisions.'
The White House said after the president's remarks went wide that he would hold private talks in the afternoon on the sidelines of the summit with Merkel and then meet separately with France's president.


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Trump told Stoltenberg that the alliance must confront Germany over its gas deal with Russia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seen her on Wednesday during her Cabinet meeting in Berlin. She'll see Trump later today at NATO


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Trump said last week at a rally that he told Merkel in an undated conversation that he couldn't commit to protecting Germany from Putin's army
In bringing up the gas deal on Wednesday, Trump returned to an issue he had raised before his trip in an attempt to put Germany on the defensive while simultaneously pushing back on the narrative that it is the U.S. that is cozying up to Moscow.
For much of the past year, it has been Trump who has been under attack for resisting sanctions imposed on Russia for its election interference. His frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his repeated attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe have also been the subject of national and international scrutiny.
But in Brussels, it was Trump who hammered Merkel for taking part in a deal that would give Germany direct access to Russian energy supplies and cut out Eastern European nations fearful of Moscow's leverage. 
In March, Germany reached a deal to allow Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom to run its Nord Stream 2 pipeline through its waters. The $11 billion deal immediately outraged Eastern European allies.
Russia has used its oil and gas to pressure and punish its neighbors. In a shock move, the parties announced the deal a day after Germany joined UK in protesting the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Great Britain.


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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Alliance's headquarters ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels


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She will continue talking to Trump after everyone else has gone home as she is hosting the U.S. President in Britain for a two-day visit
The pipeline will send Russian oil and gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Poland and other Eastern European countries fear the pipeline could leave them vulnerable to Russian pressure.
In May, a State Department official weighed in against the project. Deputy Assistant Secretary Sandra Oudkirk said the pipeline could allow Russia to exert 'malign influence' in Europe. But the pipeline company said the project wouldn't be used to blackmail other countries. 
Stoltenberg unequivocally said at a news conference that followed his meeting with Trump that the pipeline deal is 'a national decision' and 'it's not for NATO to decide.'
'It's not for NATO to solve this issue,' he asserted.
Trump bashed Germany over the pipeline issue at a campaign rally last Thursday in Montana, where he also raised the ally's defense spending.
'They go out and make a gas deal, oil and gas, from Russia, where they pay billions and billions of dollars to Russia. They want to protect against Russia, and yet they pay billions of dollars to Russia,' Trump said then.
He said at the rally that he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he could not ensure her nation's security as a result. 




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U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before a bilateral breakfast ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels on Wednesday


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Trump informed Stoltenberg that 'Germany will have almost 70 percent of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas' when the deal is fully realized
Germany's defense minister told CNBC after Trump's assault on her country on Wednesday that two weeks ago she had occasion to visit the United States and was reassured by her conversations with American lawmakers of the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
'The president is as the president is. We know him and we can cope with that,' Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen told CNBC from outside of NATO's headquarters. 'This rhetoric also leads us to remember that a lot is at stake.'
Von der Leyen said that generations that came of age after WWII have taken peace for granted. 'Now, we have to fight for democracy. We have to secure our international order, our peace architecture,' she said. 
It was Trump who had arrived in Brussels on the defense on Tuesday after the EU Council's head berated him at an off-site event that was attached to the NATO summit.
Trump had signaled in early morning tweets on Tuesday that foreign leaders could expect a reckoning when he sees them this week over the 'unfair' burden on the U.S. taxpayer to carry the cost of Europe's protection.
He was met with an immediate brush-back from European Council chief Donald Tusk, who said at a signing of a joint declaration between the Brussels-based security alliance and the body of EU nations that Trump should be more careful with his taunts.
'America does not have and will not have a better ally than Europe. Today Europeans spend on defense many times more than Russia and as much as China,' he said in remarks that were addressed to Trump.  'And I think you can have no doubt, Mr. President, that this is an investment in common American and European defense and security.'
Then, in the toughest challenge yet to the U.S. president, Tusk said: 'America: appreciate your allies. After all you don't have that many.'


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U.S. President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday that European leaders can expect a reckoning when he sees them this week in Brussels at the NATO summit and faced an immediate brush-back from European Council President Donald Tusk


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Trump signaled in early morning tweets that foreign leaders can expect a reckoning when he sees them this week in Brussels at the NATO summit over the 'unfair' burden on the U.S. taxpayer to pay for Europe's protection. He's seen here in May of 2017 at a working dinner at last year's NATO gathering
Trump fired back minutes later as he left the White House en route to NATO.
'We do have a lot of allies. But we cannot be taken advantage of. We're being taken advantage of by the European Union,' he told DailyMail.com. 'We lost $151 billion last year on trade, and on top of that we spend at least 70 per cent for NATO, and frankly it helps them a lot more than it helps us. So we'll see what happens.'
Trump had invited the challenge in the lead-up to the alliance's summertime summit by pillorying NATO member nations in almost-day tirades.
Just prior to Tusk's comments on Tuesday, Trump complained that the United States is bearing the brunt of the 29-nation security alliance's costs and said that it's not fair to Americans, especially when the U.S. is getting hosed in economic markets.
'The U.S. is spending many times more than any other country in order to protect them. Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer,' he griped. 'On top of that we lose $151 Billion on Trade with the European Union. Charge us big Tariffs (& Barriers)!'
After Tusk's slap at him — which the EU Council leader also tweeted at Trump — the president doubled down on his position, saying, 'NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS. Very Unfair!'


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Trump woke up early on Tuesday chagrined about the United States' trade relationship with allies that are part of the Brussels-based security and their lacking contributions to NATO's defense fund


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Tusk fired back at Trump from NATO's new headquarter city of Brussels: 'America: appreciate your allies. After all you don't have that many'
Tusk had acknowledged in his remarks that European countries need to step up their contributions.  
'Everyone expects an ally that is well-prepared and equipped,' he said. 
The EU Council chief assessed that 'money is important' yet said that 'genuine solidarity is even more important.'
'Speaking about solidarity, I want to dispel the American president's argument which says that the U.S. alone protects Europe against our enemies, and threat the U.S. is almost alone in this struggle,' he said in a repudiation of Trump's statements.
Tusk argued that Europe 'was first to respond on a large scale' when terrorists attacked the U.S. on 9/11. He further noted that European soldiers have been fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with American soldiers in Afghanistan.
But Trump refused to climb down from his position as he spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning local time from the White House's South Lawn.
'NATO has not treated us fairly, but I think we'll work something out. We pay far too much and they pay far too little,' he said. 'But we will work it out and all countries will be happy.' 
He acknowledged that the relationship between the U.S. and many of its traditional allies had soured in the nearly 18 months since he took office. He said a meeting next week with the Russian president may be the 'easiest' leg of his four-nation visit to Europe. 











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Trump refused to climb down from his position as he spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning local time from the White House's South Lawn. 'NATO has not treated us fairly...We pay far too much and they pay far too little'


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Trump had invited the challenge in the lead-up to the alliance's summertime summit by pillorying NATO member nations in almost-day tirades
With Trump in the air, it was his NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison who was left to do the talking for him at a news conference where Trump's flattery of Putin and his disagreements with Merkel and Tusk came up.
Hutchison told reporters that Trump backs Article 5 of NATO's charter, which specifies that an attack on one is an attack on all.
'He is committed to Article 5 protection just as it is in he NATO charter,' she told press who arrived at the NATO summit in advance of the U.S. president.
She also stressed that 'the importance of unity in NATO is what makes us different' from other alliances that the U.S. and Europe are a part of.
'I will say that in all of the disagreements that have happened between President Trump and the United States' position and the EU,' Hutchsion said, 'our allies in NATO have remained steadfastly focused on the NATO issues, and we are in agreement, we are in unity on our security issues, and we are an alliance that has performed better, increasing our capabilities.'
Hutchison said that while Trump is hard on Germany, he believes he is 'pulling them toward us, not away from us.'  


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Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (second from left) arrives for a NATO summit in Brussels with her entourage


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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrive at the Alliance's headquarters ahead of the NATO summit
At a news conference just before Hutchison's, Stoltenberg had thanked Trump for the push as he informally kicking off the 2018 summit.
'It is clearly having an impact,' he said. 'We estimate that European allies and Canada will add an extra $266 billion USD to defense between now and 2024. This is significant.'
Stoltenberg said that eight countries are on track to hit their contribution targets this year compared to three in 2014.
At the presser he said he was confident that leaders would be able to put their differences over trade aside as they have done in the past, because NATO has a good story to tell. 
When it comes to defense spending, he said, it is true that the burden sharing has not been fairly distributed. That is why Canada and European nations that are part of the alliance are stepping up their donations.
'I would not be surprised if we had robust discussions at the summit, including on defense spending,' he said. 'Different views are common between friends and allies.'
Just how robust they would get, even he did not seem to have imagined. The NATO secretary general was pummeled in his Wednesday morning breakfast by a fired-up Trump. 
Trump indicated Tuesday that he was chagrined about the United States' trade relationship with allies that are part of the Brussels-based security organization NATO and intended to make their contributions to its defense fund the focal point of his conversations in Belgium. 





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The president directly linked the the trade discrepancies that inspired his heavy metal tariffs in tweets that contradicted his NATO ambassador's assessment a day prior that the policies should be evaluated separately from one another. He's pictured here talking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in June at the G7 summit
Just 16 countries are on track to meet the agreed upon spending obligation of 2 percent GDP, the United States has said, in accordance with a 2014 pact. That's roughly half of NATO's 29 members.
In tweets on Monday, President Trump berated the rest for relying on America for protection while at the same time running massive trade deficits with the U.S.
The president directly linked the trade discrepancies that inspired his heavy tariffs on metal imports to Western security in tweets that contradicted his NATO ambassador's assessment a day prior that the policies should be evaluated separately from one another. 
'NATO benefits Europe far more than it does the U.S. By some accounts, the U.S. is paying for 90% of NATO, with many countries nowhere close to their 2% commitments,' Trump said. 'On top of this the European Union has a Trade Surplus of $151 Million with the U.S., with big Trade Barriers on U.S. goods. NO!' 
The president put trade on the table in talks that begin Wednesday in Brussels with the tweets that he continued to send even after he had departed the U.S. for Belgium. 
His trip to Brussels was proving to be a repeat of the testy confrontation he had with leaders from allied nations in June at the G7 summit in Charlevoix.
He butted heads with them on trade in Canada, also, complaining in conversations that NATO is 'much too costly for the U.S' and almost as bad as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In Belgium, he was due to come face-to-face with Canada's Justin Trudeau for the first time since senior aides to Trump accused the prime minister of trying to sabotage the American president's Singapore summit.
He was also assured to have an uncomfortable encounter with Germany's long-running chancellor, Merkel. 


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He put on the table in talks that begin Wednesday in Brussels with the tweets that kicked off a day that was supposed to be focused on his Supreme Court appointment on Monday





Trump was on course to face opposition in Brussels from almost all of NATO's 29 member nations over his worldwide steel and aluminum tariffs, on top of his security demands. The EU and Canada have retaliated with stiff penalties of their own on American-made products.

TRUMP'S AGENDA IN BRUSSELS

President Trump arrives in Brussels on Tuesday evening local time July 10. 
He begins his Wednesday with a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg. His secretaries of defense and state and his national security adviser will also participate in the conversation. 
Trump will next meet with the United States' Brussels missions' staff and families, as is customary for a U.S. president when visiting foreign countries. 
Later on Wednesday he will attend an opening ceremony at the NATO headquarters. There, he will meet privately with unknown heads of government. 
He will attend a working dinner that evening with fellow leaders.
Wednesday morning leaders will participate in meeting with the presidents of Georgia and Ukraine.
An Afghan strategy session follows.
Trump departs Belgium on Wednesday afternoon for London, where he has a working visit with Prime Minister Theresa May and an audience with the queen before a weekend in Scotland.
He caps his trip to Europe with a stop in Helsinki, Finland, for a summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin. 



He will also likely to be pressed on a decision to conclude his trip to Europe with a tacked-on stop in Finland to negotiate with NATO nemesis and Russian head of state Putin.
The president who has groused since he was a candidate about NATO burden sharing was expected to put pressure of his own on member nations in Brussels to meet the soft goal of 2 percent GDP for defense spending. The guideline was agreed to by the group years before he took office.
'The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable. While these countries have been increasing their contributions since I took office, they must do much more. Germany is at 1%, the U.S. is at 4%,' Trump harped in a message on Monday. 
He has singled out Germany as a violator incessantly. His defense secretary recently put a microscope on spending by the contribution-abiding U.K. in a new twist of the knife, as well.
Trump hammered Germany at a Thursday evening rally, in Montana, where he claimed that he told Merkel that he believes Europe is benefited more by the security alliance because of its proximity to Russia than the U.S. 
He repeated the charge in tweets on Monday in which he again brought up the EU's trade deficit with the United States. 
A day prior, Hutchison, had insisted on Fox News that trade and security were not related and should not be a subject of NATO talks.
'One thing I will say is that in all of the disagreements that we have seen at the G7 and with allies with whom we are now having trade talks and negotiations and tariffs, that has not come up in the NATO context,' she stated. 'Our diplomats are professional and they are staying on our NATO issues, where we are 100 percent allied.' 


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An outside view of the NATO building is seen at the NATO's new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The security organization has its annual summit in Belgium this week
She said prior to the summit that Russia's 'malign activities' and a 'rising China' would be the foremost topics.
The president on Friday slapped $34 billion in tariffs on China that were aimed at reducing a trade deficit with the country that the U.S. has also accused of rampant and intentional intellectual property violations. He said Tuesday that he intends to hit Beijing with $200 billion more in penalties.
He is also said to have told France's Macron that the EU is worse than China on trade in some ways when they met in Canada last month.
The rift over trade and the president's planned talks with Putin set the stage for more tension in Belgium.
Hucthison pointed out on Sunday that Trump's way of doing business had been effective, though, pointing to increased contributions to NATO since he took office.
'NATO really is making progress and they are doing it really at President Trump's insistence, and I think that it's very clear, and he's been very direct about the Europeans needing to do more for their own security,' she said. 'Every ally is now increasing defense spending.'
Trump's liaison to NATO said, 'We've had the largest increase in defense spending since the Cold War. And in the year and a half since President Trump has been in office, it has doubled since 2014.
'So, I think he is making an impact and I think that the Europeans, including Chancellor Merkel just recently who has said we are going to do more,' she said. 'We need to do more, it's the right thing to do and she is encouraging her Bundestag, her parliament, to increase the defense budget so that we will be more fit for purpose in NATO for the fights that we want to deter.' 


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A day prior, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hucthison, had insisted on Fox News that trade and security were not related and should not be a subject of NATO talks
Merkel said last month in a speech to parliament that she anticipates 'very difficult' talks in Brussels in a reference to the increasingly complicated relationship between Germany and the United States in the era of Donald Trump. 
'It is no secret that the transatlantic alliance is under strain at the moment but we are convinced that the alliance remains central to our common security,' the European leader stated.
Trump hit back at her on Thursday evening, saying in remarks at a campaign event for a U.S. Senate candidate that Europe is killing America on trade and paying Russia billions for oil and gas all while complaining that it needs protection from Putin and his military.
'We're paying anywhere from 70- to 90-percent to protect Europe. And that's fine. Of course, they kill us on trade. They kill us on other things,' he proclaimed. 'So they want to protect against Russia, yet they pay billions of dollars to Russia and we're the schmucks paying for the whole thing.'
The president said he told Merkel in an undated conversation that he couldn't commit to protecting Germany from Putin's army. 
'Putin is fine. He's fine. We're all people,' he said. 'Will I be prepared? I've been preparing for this stuff all my life.' 
Hutchison said Sunday that she does not agree with the president's assessment of Putin. She said Trump is right, however, to engage with the former KGB spy who has personally been accused by the U.S. of directing a scheme to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
'We should be talking to Vladimir Putin and many of our allied nations do as well,' she said. 'But it is to try to bring them in the tent instead of just constantly seeing them do these things that are attempting to disrupt us, but will not.'
She claimed on Tuesday at a news conference that Trump was saying at his rally that he was 'not certain' that Germany could pay out more money to NATO, not that he was unclear about the United States' continued ability to protect the ally from Russia. Trump promptly contradicted her Wednesday when he indicated that's exactly what he meant during his breakfast with Stoltenberg. 
Germany's defense minister, von der Leyen, said Wednesday on CNBC that Trump is right that Germany needs to increase its defense contribution — and said that it has. 
The German official said her country also backs Trump's summit next week with Putin.
'It is good that he talking to President Putin,' she said. 'We have a lot of issues with Russia without question, but it's good to be in a dialogue.' 
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German chancellor Angela Merkel said as a response that there was a time where a part of Germany actually was controlled by Russia - and she lived there.
So I guess that she knows the difference far better than Trump...

carolhathaway wrote:German chancellor Angela Merkel said as a response that there was a time where a part of Germany actually was controlled by Russia - and she lived there.
So I guess that she knows the difference far better than Trump...

Angela Merkel knows what it's like to live in a country controlled by Russia. Trump knows what it's like to be personally controlled by Putin because he's Putin's puppet. Speculation here is that either Putin has something he's blackmailing Trump with or he's controlling him financially. Either way, it seems Trump is willing to do anything to stay on Putin's good side.

Well I wish all his soundbites were at the very least accurate!

As usual he's exaggerating and looking for headlines to outrage.

The fact that Germany only imports about 9% of its gas supply from Russia at the moment seems to be neither here nor there. He needs to look at how much other countries have to import too, except that most now are building up their green energy supplies so it is less necessary.

Not sure what message he's sending anyway when he's busy cosying up to Putin who undoubtedly has stuff on him.

We're all too polite aren't we? - only one person in any European government has corrected him in press conferences up to now. More is needed.

Gather he's just given an unscheduled press conference and repeated himself endlessly in really really short sentences......a bit like a child