Tag: Trump ego

To pay for Trump’s wall, a hurricane-wrecked base in Puerto Rico loses funding

Washington Post logoSALINAS, Puerto Rico — When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico two years ago, it smashed through the National Guard training base here, sending the plaques that Maj. Gen. José J. Reyes gathered over his U.S. Army career into the howl of an unforgiving wind.

The base, known as Camp Santiago, emerged from the storm much like the rest of the island: damaged, shocked and determined to recover against dim economic odds.

So when Reyes helped secure $331.5 million for the base from the Pentagon’s treasured construction budget, officials thought Maria’s clouds had come with a silver lining.

View the complete September 19 article by Paul Sonne on The Washington Post website here.

Border fence construction could destroy archaeological sites, National Park Service finds

Washington Post logoThe bulldozers and excavators rushing to install President Trump’s border fence could damage or destroy up to 22 archaeological sites within Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in coming months, according to an internal National Park Service report obtained by The Washington Post.

The 123-page report, completed in July and obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, indicates that the administration’s plan to convert an existing five-foot-high vehicle barrier to a 30-foot steel edifice could pose irreparable harm to unexcavated remnants of ancient Sonoran Desert peoples. Experts identified these risks as U.S. Customs and Border Protection seeks to fast-track the pace of construction to meet Trump’s campaign pledge of completing 500 miles of barrier by next year’s election.

Read the full National Park Service report

New construction began last month within the internationally recognized biosphere reserve, a national monument southwest of Phoenix with nearly 330,000 acres of congressionally designated wilderness. The work is part of a 43-mile span of fencing that also traverses the adjacent Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

View the complete September 17 article by Juliet Eilperin and Nick Miroff on The Washington Post website here.

Fears of ‘collateral damage to democracy’ swell as Trump weighs withdrawing from global postal pact

AlterNet logoThousands of absentee ballots could be uncounted in upcoming elections thanks to President Donald Trump’s objection to a treaty which governs the international mail exchange for nearly 200 countries.

Citing disapproval of shipping rates it says unfairly favor China, the White House is weighing a potential withdrawal next month from the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a United Nations agency which allows for global postal service.

Without U.S. membership in the UPU, overseas voters could face high shipping rates for mailing their ballots as well as mass confusion, which could leave thousands of votes uncounted in 2019 and 2020.

View the complete September 17 article by Julia Conley from Common Dreams on the AlterNet website here.

From ‘my generals’ to ‘my Kevin,’ Trump’s preferred possessive can be a sign of affection or control

Washington Post logoThe Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter’s insights

President Trump has used it with groups and individuals. He has used it for family members and employees. And he has bestowed it on Washington politicians and middle-of-the-country farmers.

For Trump, the possessive pronoun “my” is a term of endearment — one he dispenses with freely, from “my generals” to “my Peter” Navarro, one of the president’s senior economic advisers, to “my little Melania,” his wife.

Trump uses the pronoun affectionately, part of an almost subconscious effort to shine warmth on someone in his orbit, say current and former aides, who describe the linguistic tic as a doting gesture. But others say the habit can also seem belittling and, for Trump, that it may be as much about dominance and control as familiarity.

View the complete September 16 article by Ashley Parker on The Washington Post website here.

McCabe’s legal team says Trump’s attacks have made fair prosecution an ‘impossibility’

Washington Post logoFormer acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and his legal team have waged a vigorous public campaign to dispute allegations that he lied to investigators about a media leak.

Behind the scenes, they have been just as aggressive.

In recent months, McCabe’s attorneys shared with federal prosecutors and top Justice Department officials a point-by-point rebuttal of what they view as flaws in a possible criminal case against McCabe.

View the complete September 16 article by Matt Zapotosky on The Washington Post website here.

The ‘divine right’ presidency: Trump has identified the USA with himself and claimed unprecedented powers to do whatever he wants

AlterNet logoTrump’s latest use of our government to cover up his mistakes, this time about weather forecasting, is revealing about the nature of his Presidency.

No government weather maps showed Hurricane Dorian threatening Alabama. On Thursday, August 29, Trump was briefed in the Oval Office on the Hurricane by the head of FEMA, which released a photo of him looking at a map of where Dorian had been and where it was headed. A white curved line showed the areas that Dorian might possibly hit. Not Alabama.

Early Saturday morning, August 31, the National Hurricane Center realized that Dorian was not going to hit Florida directly, and threat projections were shifted further east. The next morning, Sunday, at 7:51 AM Trump tweeted the following: “In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.”

View the complete September 15 article from the History News Network on the AlterNet website here.

Trump blamed energy-saving bulbs for making him look orange. Experts say probably not.

Washington Post logoWhile the Democratic presidential debate was underway on Thursday, President Trump was behind a pulpit of his own, addressing House Republicans at a policy retreat in Baltimore. In between bashing the Democratic candidates in Houston and running through a list of what he considered GOP triumphs, Trump said that energy-saving lightbulbs — which his administration has tried to block — make him look orange.

His exact remarks, delivered during a nearly 70-minute opening address:

“The lightbulb. People said what’s with the lightbulb? I said here’s the story. And I looked at it, the bulb that we’re being forced to use, number one to me, most importantly, the light’s no good. I always look orange. And so do you. The light is the worst.”

The comment drew laughs from the audience, though it was not immediately clear whether the president meant it in jest or in earnest. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

View the complete September 13 article by Rebecca Tan on The Washington Post website here.

‘A heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass’: Mike Pompeo torn to shreds by ex-US officials in brutal New Yorker profile

The New Yorker has published a profile of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week and it features some very unflattering quotes about him from former colleagues.

The piece discusses how Pompeo has gone from being a Trump critic during the 2016 presidential election to being one of his most loyal defenders. One former White House official tells the publication that “there will never be any daylight publicly between [Pompeo] and Trump” and described the secretary of state as “among the most sycophantic and obsequious people around Trump.”

One former American ambassador, meanwhile, went even further and described Pompeo as “a heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass.”

View the complete August 19 article by Brad Reed on the Raw Story website here.

Washington taxpayers bear the burden as Trump’s ego infiltrates national Fourth of July celebration

The District of Columbia’s time-honored Independence Day traditions are being squeezed to the side for the sake of the president’s unquenchable thirst for self-aggrandizement.

Washington, D.C.’s Fourth of July celebrations have played out roughly the same way for decades.

This year, though, the longstanding security, logistics, and crowd management practices on the National Mall are being recrafted in the image of President Donald Trump. The nation’s birthday party won’t be a first-come first-serve egalitarian gawp in 2019. It’ll have tiered, ticketed entry, some form of militaristic performance art, and a speech by the divisive and twitchy current occupant of the country’s highest political office.

Trump’s less-than tickety-boo plans include cordoning off a special “VIP” area stretching from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to halfway down the length of the Reflecting Pool. The velvet-rope ethos is an essential part of the gaudy, ostentatious luxury image Trump long ago made into his own personal brand. But it’s alien to D.C.’s fireworks night, which has traditionally been a partisanship-free occasion.

View the complete June 30 article by Alan Pyke on the ThinkProgress website here.

White House asked for USS John McCain to be ‘out of sight’ during Trump’s visit to Japan: WSJ

The White House asked the U.S. Navy to make sure a warship named for late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would be “out of sight” ahead of President Trump‘s visit to Japan over the weekend, according to an email obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

The email, dated May 15, included an outline of plans for the president’s arrival, including instructions for the ship.

“USS John McCain needs to be out of sight,” the email reportedly read. “Please confirm #3 will be satisfied.”

View the complete May 29 article by Brooke Seipel on The Hill website here.