Tag: Trump inability to accept responsibility for his actions

Trump furious that he can’t do rallies in COVID-ridden Florida after its GOP governor ‘made it a lot worse’: report

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President Donald Trump is reportedly furious at one of his allies for taking his advice.

According to Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman, the president is angry that he can’t hold any of his trademark campaign rallies in Florida amid its weeks-long surge in COVID-19 cases.

What’s more, Sherman’s sources say Trump is putting the blame for this predicament at the feet of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been eager to follow the president’s commands to reopen state economies even as the country records more than 50,000 infections and 1,000 new deaths from the novel coronavirus every day. Continue reading.

Trump exults in his Mueller revenge play

The president’s appointees have done more to unwind the Russia probe in a few months than years of complaints from the Oval Office ever achieved.

“Hope you had fun investigating me,” reads a meme that has been reposted by President Donald Trump, his family and his allies several times over the last week on social media. “Now it’s my turn.”

More than one year after the Russia investigation ended and six months before he faces re-election, Trump is getting his revenge—and his most trusted advisers, some newly installed throughout the Justice Department and intelligence community since his impeachment acquittal three months ago, are helping him do it.

In the last week, Attorney General William Barr and acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell have arguably gone further in aiding Trump’s campaign against the so-called “deep state” than anyone in the last three years. Continue reading.

Increasingly detached Trump frequently fantasizes about proving critics wrong on experimental coronavirus treatment: report

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump is leaning on the comfort of Fox News pals, Rudy Giuliani and his family as the coronavirus overwhelms his presidency and keeps him from the campaign trail.

The president has grown even more detached and distrustful of the government he oversees and the medical experts trying to guide him through the pandemic, and he’s betting heavily on the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a miracle cure for the virus, reported The Daily Beast.

Trump tore into an impromptu rant during a recent White House meeting on ventilators and attacked the “miserable people” in the media who “say I want to kill millions,” according to one U.S. official. Continue reading.

Trump seeks to distance himself from Turkish invasion of Syria

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday sought to distance himself from a Turkish military operation against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, days after he drew bipartisan backlash for announcing U.S. troops would vacate the area.

“This morning, Turkey, a NATO member, invaded Syria. The United States does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea,” Trump said in a statement issued by the White House.

The president clarified that there are no American soldiers in the area where the Turkish incursion is taking place, and defended his efforts to pull U.S. forces out of the region, even as his strategy has faced relentless criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

View the complete October 9 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

‘Most implausible alibi I’ve ever heard’: Trump mocked for blaming Rick Perry for Ukraine call

AlterNet logoDuring a conference call with House Republicans on Friday, President Donald Trump reportedly blamed Energy Secretary Rick Perry for the July 25 call with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that is at the center of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Citing three anonymous sources who were on the conference call, Axios reported Saturday that “Trump rattled off the same things he has been saying publicly—that his call with Zelensky was ‘perfect’ and he did nothing wrong.”

“But he then threw Perry into the mix and said something to the effect of: ‘Not a lot of people know this but, I didn’t even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquified natural gas] plant,’” Axios reported, citing one source’s recollection of the president’s remarks.

View the complete October 6 article by Jake Johnson from Common Dreams on the AlterNet website here.

Scoop: Trump pins Ukraine call on Energy Secretary Rick Perry U.S. President Donald Trump stands next to Energy Secretary Rick Perry

Axios logoPresident Trump told House Republicans that he made his now infamous phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry — a call Trump claimed he didn’t even want to make.

Behind the scenes: Trump made these comments during a conference call with House members on Friday, according to 3 sources on the call.

    • Per the sources, Trump rattled off the same things he has been saying publicly — that his call with Zelensky was “perfect”and he did nothing wrong.
    • But he then threw Perry into the mix and said something to the effect of: “Not a lot of people know this but, I didn’t even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquefied natural gas] plant,” one source said, recalling the president’s comments. 2 other sources confirmed the first source’s recollection.

Why it matters: The president’s remarks suggest he may be seeking to distance himself from responsibility or recast the pretext for the call. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.

    • Another source on the call said Trump added that “more of this will be coming out in the next few days” — referring to Perry.

View the complete October 5 article by Alayna Treene and Jonathan Swan on the Axios website here.

Trump’s field-tested strategy: Whip up a frenzy, then disavow

The president’s latest episode followed a repeated Trump tactic of pushing his rhetoric over the line — and then shrugging off responsibility.

He once encouraged supporters to attack protesters — then claimed to ensure the safety of all Americans.

He mused that Russia should seize his competitor’s emails — then said it was just a joke.

View the complete July 18 article by Gabby Orr and Burgess Everett on the Politico website here.