Tag: Trump making America weaker

Unrest over race dismays US allies, delights enemies

Reputation of U.S. as the Western world’s foremost defender of freedom of speech and rule of law damaged

The massive street protests that have erupted across the United States since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have brought with them a range of reactions from abroad, from harsh criticism by longtime allies of American police violence to a growing movement of sister protests against racial injustice across the world.

From allies, one gets a sense that President Donald Trump’s years of lies and provocations have finally come back to roost for him.

“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week after a remarkably long pause to a reporter’s question about the protests. “It is a time to pull people together but it is a time to listen, it is a time to learn what injustices continue, despite progress over years and decades.” Continue reading.

Attorney General William Barr Is Willing to Destroy the Rule of Law for the Trump Administration

Center for American Progress logoFrom the outset, the independence and integrity of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been in rapid decay under the Trump administration. Early in his presidency, Trump berated then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, accusing him of political “disloyalty,” for Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. Later, after pushing Sessions out, he installed an acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, who was widely seen as a partisan actor willing to be an “attack dog” for Trump. This appointment was done without confirmation from the Senate, invoking serious constitutional concerns.

Since taking the helm of the department, Attorney General William Barr has become an active accomplice in the Trump administration’s efforts to politicize the DOJ. When armed protestors stormed the Michigan state legislature to protest public health orders, for example, Barr was largely quiet—a stark contrast to his willingness to quickly denounce the Black Lives Matter protests occurring throughout the country as “hijacked” by far-left extremists without providing evidence to back up his claim. In fact, despite the vulnerable state of the country amidst the coronavirus epidemic, Barr appears to be ramping up the partisan nature of the DOJ.

These actions provide a dangerous illustration of the lengths that Barr may be willing to go. Continue reading.

The world came together for a virtual vaccine summit. The U.S. was conspicuously absent.

Washington Post logoLONDON — World leaders came together in a virtual summit Monday to pledge billions of dollars to quickly develop vaccines and drugs to fight the coronavirus.

Missing from the roster was the Trump administration, which declined to participate but highlighted from Washington what one official called its “whole-of-America” efforts in the United States and its generosity to global health efforts.

The online conference, led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and a half-dozen countries, was set to raise $8.2 billion from governments, philanthropies and the private sector to fund research and mass-produce drugs, vaccines and testing kits to combat the virus, which has killed more than 250,000 people worldwide. Continue reading.

New White House Personnel Chief Seeking ‘Purge’ Of Trump Critics

In 2018, John McEntee had been serving as a personal aide to President Donald Trump when White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly fired him. But Kelly left Trump’s administration in January 2019 on bad terms with the president, and McEntee was recently rehired for the White House and asked to head the personnel office — where, according to Axios reporters Jonathan Swan and Alayna Treene, the 29-year-old Trump loyalist is trying to purge Trump’s critics.  

Swan and Treene report that Trump “has empowered McEntee — whom he considers an absolute loyalist — to purge the ‘bad people’ and ‘Deep State.’ McEntee told staff that those identified as anti-Trump will no longer get promotions by shifting them around agencies.”

The Axios journalists report that according to three sources, McEntee “called in White House liaisons from cabinet agencies for an introductory meeting” on Thursday and “askedthem to identify political appointees across the U.S. government who are believed to be anti-Trump.” Continue reading.

Folksy John Kennedy gets serious pushback on Ukraine mess

The Louisiana Republican has pushed a discredited theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.

Sen. John Kennedy has long been known as a folksy, straight shooter on Capitol Hill. But now his legacy may be something else altogether: The guy who spread a debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine.

As the House moves forward with its impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump’s staunch allies have attempted to shift the focus to Ukraine. And Kennedy has emerged as the most prominent senator in this process, making Sunday show appearances that have perplexed his Senate colleagues by offering some level of equivalency between Russian and Ukrainian influence in 2016.

“I draw a completely different conclusion from his,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said. “And it’s my understanding he has now changed his mind a bit. But as a member of the Intelligence Committee I have seen no evidence at all that the Ukrainians were involved. And indeed it is more likely that this is part of Russian disinformation campaign, in my judgment.”

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‘Everybody wants to make a deal’: Struggling to negotiate, Trump often claims countries are eager to talk

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

In President Trump’s telling, everyone he’s negotiating with has something in common: They’re all dying to make a deal with him.

Whether it’s Iran, China, Japan, Russia or the Taliban — Trump claims there’s a mad rush by foreign friends and foes alike to sit at the table with him and negotiate on his terms. He has repeated the same boastful talking point even as he’s struggled to finalize major deals.

“Let me tell you, the China trade deal is dependent on one thing: Do I want to make it?” Trump said Tuesday during a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance in London. The Chinese, he added, “want to make a deal now.”

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