Donald Trump praises ‘economic rocket’ North Korea with summit announcement

In a pair of tweets, Mr Trump said his representatives had just left North Korea after a “productive meeting” about the February 27-28 summit which he revealed would held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim & advancing the cause of peace!” he tweeted.

“North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, will become a great Economic Powerhouse. He may surprise some but he won’t surprise me, because I have gotten to know him & fully understand how capable he is.”

The President also appeared to reference his previous mocking of Mr Kim as the “Little Rocket Man”. 

The President had previously announced Vietnam as the summit location, but the city had not been identified. 

It will be the pair’s second summit, the first coming last June in Singapore. Mr Kim pledged then to work toward the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula, without providing a clear timetable or roadmap.

[ABC]

Trump Mocks Warren With Reference to Trail of Tears, Which Killed Thousands

When Senator Elizabeth Warren formally announced her 2020 presidential bid this weekend, President Trump responded with a familiar line of attack.

He mocked Ms. Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, for her claims to Native American ancestry, again calling her by the slur “Pocahontas.” Mr. Trump then appeared to refer to the Trail of Tears, the infamously cruel forced relocation of Native Americans in the 19th century that caused thousands of deaths.

“Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore?” Mr. Trump tweeted. “See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!”

(Ms. Warren had recently apologized to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test to prove her ancestry.)

(Ms. Warren had recently apologized to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test to prove her ancestry.)

The comments drew immediate blowback on social media, with accusations that the president was making light of one of the worst tragedies Native Americans have experienced. Mr. Trump previously invoked the Wounded Knee massacre, one of the deadliest attacks on Native American people by the United States military, in another jab at Ms. Warren.

“He actually is condoning a narrative that supports a genocide and a forced removal,” said Betsy Theobald Richards, who works on changing cultural narratives for the Opportunity Agenda, a social justice organization.

Ms. Richards, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, said most people have been taught only the “dominant narrative” of history in the United States, which she said has long devalued the experiences and voices of Native American people.

“People don’t really realize these are real people who live among you,” she said. “These are their ancestors that are survivors, or carry on the memory of the people who were massacred or removed.”

For those who need a refresher, here is a brief history of the Trail of Tears:

In the 1830s, federal and state officials forced thousands of Native Americans from their land in the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The forced relocation affected thousands of Cherokees, as well as the Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole tribes, among others.

The Native people were forced out of their homes and put in internment camps before they were pushed westward to designated Indian Territory, in present-day Oklahoma, according to the Trail of Tears Association, a nonprofit that works to preserve the historic trail and promote awareness.

Some 15,000 Native people died during the journey from exposure, malnutrition, exhaustion and disease, including about 4,000 Cherokees.

“It’s a terribly tragic event in Cherokee history and looms large,” said Jace Weaver, the director of the Institute of Native American Studies at the University of Georgia, who has studied the Cherokee removal.

[The New York Times]

Trump: Adam Schiff is a ‘Political Hack’ with ‘No Basis’ In Sharing House Intel Transcripts With Mueller

President Donald Trump blasted Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) during a cabinet room press spray, calling the Californian Democrat a “political hack.”

On Wednesday morning Schiff announced plans to share more than 50 transcripts of committee interviews with the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller as he continues to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the general election of 2016.

Schiff told reporters what he plans to share, which “includes transcripts that the special counsel and Justice Department have not had access to and a great many that they have, but have not been allowed to use for particular purposes including in prosecutions for false statements, obstruction, or perjury or any other like offense.”

When Trump was asked to comment on this recent development news that the House Intelligence Committee, of which Schiff is chair, voted on Wednesday to provide transcripts from dozens of witness interviews to the office of the Special Counsel,  the commander in chief replied “He has no basis to do that, he’s just a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself.”

Trump continued “no other politician has to go through that…it’s called presidential harassment.”

Lawmakers approved of the release in a bipartisan voice vote in a closed-door meeting according to Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX.)

[Mediaite]

‘KEEP OUT!’: Trump tells non-Americans to stay out of the country in border tweet

President Donald Trump’s latest tweet about the border outright told all foreigners to “KEEP OUT!”

“With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security. Dems do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions – KEEP OUT!” He wrote in a corrected tweet after misspelling “dimensions.”

[Raw Story]

Trump says his top intel chiefs groveled before him after contradicting him during Senate testimony

In a major interview with the New York Times, President Donald Trump claimed that both CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats groveled before him after he chewed them out for contradicting him during Senate testimony.

While delivering an intelligence briefing to the Senate, Coats said that North Korea had not moved to dismantle its nuclear program, that ISIS had not been defeated, and that Russia was likely to try interfering with American elections again in 2020 — all in direct contradiction to statements made by Trump.

However, Trump claims that both Haspel and Coats swore they didn’t contradict him and tried to blame the media for any confusion.

“I said, ‘What is that all about? Second of all, third of all, you know how well we’re doing with North Korea, what’s that?’” Trump said. “They said, ‘Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And when you read their testimony and you read their statements, it was mischaracterized by the media.”

Reporter Maggie Haberman then interrupted to ask Trump how the media had mischaracterized their testimony.

“It was really very different when I read it,” Trump said of the testimony transcripts. “Because I came in here saying what is this? You mean you’re — because one of the things they said very strongly, according to, was that Iran is, essentially, a wonderful place. And I said, ‘It’s not a wonderful place, it’s a bad place, and they’re doing bad things.’ And they said, ‘We agree.’ I said, ‘What do you mean you agree. You can’t agree –‘ And they said the testimony was totally mischaracterized.”

[Raw Story]

Trump blasts intel chiefs as ‘passive and naive’

President Trump on Wednesday blasted top intelligence leaders for being “wrong” about their new assessment on Iran’s nuclear developments.

“The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning in a pair of tweets.

The president, who claimed Iran has recently tested rockets, also mocked the intelligence leaders in his administration, suggesting they “should go back to school.”

The two tweets came a day after Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel offered testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that seemed to contradict things the president has said. 

Coats testified that the intelligence community found that Iran is not currently seeking to develop its nuclear weapons capabilities, basing his remarks on an intelligence assessment. 

“We continue to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device,” the assessment reads.

The assessment warns that Iranian officials are threatening to begin building up the country’s nuclear capabilities if Tehran “does not gain the tangible trade and investment benefits it expected” from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an Obama-era deal that Trump withdrew the U.S. from last year.

The president, who bashed the agreement as “the worst deal ever” and “defective at its core,” claimed that if the deal remained in place, Iran “will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

The officials also contradicted Trump on several other issues, testifying that ISIS remains a threat to the United States despite Trump’s repeated comments that they have been defeated. 

And Coats said the intelligence community believes North Korea won’t be willing to fully denuclearize because nuclear weapons are viewed as key to the state’s survival — a statement that undermines Trump’s previous claims that Pyongyang is “no longer a nuclear threat.”

Their testimony received heavy attention in the media for its contrast with Trump’s comments.

[The Hill]

Trump dismisses Cliff Sims as ‘low-level staffer,’ ‘mess;’ lawsuit threat over tell-all book

President Donald Trump is distancing himself from Cliff Sims, the former conservative blogger turned presidential adviser, just as the Alabama’s native’s tell-all book about his time in the White House is released.

In a Tuesday morning tweet, Trump described Sims as a “low-level staffer” and “a mess.”

“A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!,” Trump tweeted.

Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc., wrote on Twitter that the campaign planned to sue Sims to violating a nondisclosure agreement.

Sims’ book, “Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House,” was released Tuesday following a round of media appearances by Sims. The book details infighting and dysfunction inside the White House.

Founder of the conservative blog Yellowhammer, Sims took a leave of absence from that job in 2016 to work for the Trump presidential campaign. In 2017, he was named Assistant to the President and Assistant Communications Director for White House Message Strategy.

Sims left the White House in May amid claims of tension with other staff and reports he was moving to a new role with the Secretary of State. That appointment never occurred, however.

Sims is the latest Trump staffer to write about their time in the White House. Former aides Sean Spicer and Omarosa Manigault Newman have previously penned works.

[AL.com]

Trump tweets ex-Starbucks CEO Schultz lacks ‘guts’ to run for president

President Donald Trump wrote online on Monday that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz “doesn’t have the ‘guts’ to be president,” lashing out at the coffee mogul who said over the weekend that he is weighing an independent 2020 bid for the White House.

“Howard Schultz doesn’t have the ‘guts’ to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the ‘smartest person.’ Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!” the president wrote on Twitter Monday morning.

During a pre-taped interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Schultz told journalist Scott Pelley he was “seriously thinking of running for president.” Though he characterized himself as “a lifelong Democrat,” Schultz said he would run as a “centrist independent outside of the two-party system,” criticizing both Democrats and Republicans for failure to meet the needs of the American people.

Many, including former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, a Democrat who announced his own 2020 campaign on Jan. 12, warned that an independent candidate like Schultz could boost Trump’s reelection chances by siphoning voters away from a Democratic candidate.

In recent decades, candidates running independent campaigns for president have caused a stir, but never come close to winning. Billionaire Ross Perot placed third in 1992 with 19 percent of the vote, enough that many have credited him with drawing support from then-incumbent President George H.W. Bush, allowing President Bill Clinton to unseat him.

In 2000, Consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran as the Green Party’s presidential candidate, pulling enough votes from Democrat Al Gore to help President George W. Bush secure the presidency in that year’s razor-thin election.

[Politico]

Trump Blasts ‘Da Nang Dick’ Blumenthal After Senator Talks Mueller Bill and Don Jr’s Testimony on MSNBC

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D- CT) is working with Senator Chuck Grassley(R- IA) to push a Special Counsel Transparency Act to ensure that any the work of special counsel, including Robert Mueller, would be “made available to both Congress and the public.”

Blumenthal joined Rachel Maddowtonight to talk about it and he started off by praising Grassley for his commitment to transparency.

But after talking about the bill, Maddow brought up the issue of people lying to Congress––given the indictment against Roger Stone––and asked, “Can you tell us if other Judiciary Committee witnesses have had their testimony sent over to Mueller, sent to the special counsel’s office as yet?”

Blumenthal said this in response:

“Very simply, Rachel, I’m barred from saying whether any testimony has been conveyed to the special counsel, but I can tell you this much. I was in the room when a great many of these witnesses appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee behind closed doors. I think many of them should be called back to testify in public and I hope that will be true of other congressional committees as well, because behind closed doors, there arose––in my mind very clearly––questions, serious issues concerning their truthfulness and that issue pertained particularly to Donald Trump Jr. in a number of his contentions before our committee. So I think this common thread of lying to Congress and particularly to congressional committees may ensnare a number of other potential targets in the special counsel’s investigation and become a matter of criminal action.”

[Mediaite]

Trump Mockingly Asks What Happened to ‘Global Waming’ After Record Cold in Midwest

President Donald Trump is wondering what happened to global warming since right now it is cold in the “beautiful Midwest.”

“In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder,” Trump wrote on TwitterMonday night. “People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!”


Despite Trump’s claims, 2018 was among the hottest on record across the globe and the planet is expected to get hotter according to experts.

United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas warned in 2018 that temperatures are predicted to rise up to 9 degrees by the end of the century.

“Greenhouse gas concentrations are once again at record levels and if the current trend continues we may see temperature increases of from 5.4 to 9 degrees by the end of the century,” he said in a statement made approximately one week from Trump’s November tweet pondering where — given a few days of cold — global warming had gone.

[Mediaite]

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