The media is attempting to initiate panic about the Coronavirus in 2020 the same way the media attempted to manufacture panic about an upcoming U.S. recession in 2019.
On February 26th President Trump and the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) taskforce held a press briefing in the Brady Room of the White House.  Transcript Below:

THE PRESIDENT – I have just received another briefing from a great group of talented people on the virus that is going around to various parts of the world. We have, through some very good early decisions — decisions that were actually ridiculed at the beginning — we closed up our borders to flights coming in from certain areas, areas that were hit by the coronavirus and hit pretty hard. And we did it very early. A lot of people thought we shouldn’t have done it that early, and we did, and it turned out to be a very good thing.
And the number one priority from our standpoint is the health and safety of the American people. And that’s the way I viewed it when I made that decision. Because of all we’ve done, the risk to the American people remains very low. We have the greatest experts in the world — really, in the world, right here — people that are called upon by other countries when things like this happen.
(more…)

President Trump and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force are scheduled to hold a press conference today at 6:30pm Eastern.  The COVID-19 taskforce was established on January 29th.  A quarantine and travel entry ban was announced January 30th, and ongoing proactive efforts to mitigate U.S. risk from the coronavirus outbreak are ongoing.

Fox Business Livestream – White House Livestream – RSBN Livestream Link

.
The task force is being led by HHS Secretary Alex Azar and includes: Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health; Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; Matthew Pottinger, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor.
(more…)

More will be upcoming soon, including schedule details and links to broadcast events; but with the excitement in India building here’s a quick 24hr livestream as President Trump arrives and India celebrates.   It’s all HUGE!!

(more…)

Chopper pressers are the best pressers.  Earlier today President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump departed the White House heading to Ramstein Air Base in Germany on the first leg of their trip to India.  As the president departs he paused to answer a variety of questions from the media.  [Video Below, UPDATE Transcript added]

.
[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody.

Q What’s your message to the people of India today?

Q (Inaudible) win for Bernie Sanders?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it was a great win for Bernie Sanders. We’ll see how it all turns out. They’ve got a lot of winning to do. I hope they treat him fairly. Frankly, I don’t care who I run against. I just hope they treat him fairly. I hope it’s not going to be a rigged deal because there’s a lot of bad things going on. And I hope it’s not going to be one of those. So we’ll see what happens.

But I congratulate Bernie Sanders. And if it’s going to be him, he certainly has a substantial lead. We’ll see what happens.

(more…)

Today President Trump will be delivering the commencement address at Hope for Prisoners graduation ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. Anticipated start time 2:45pm ET.
UPDATE: Video Added [POTUS remarks at 49:50]

.
[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Good to see you. How long have you been doing this?

MR. PONDER: Eleven years.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic.

(more…)

UPDATE:  Appointment Confirmed
Lots to unpack here.  Maggie Haberman is warning resistance allies in the Senate to prepare all defensive weapons against a possible Trump appointment of Ric Grenell as  Director of the Office of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Grenell currently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany.  He can serve as “acting” ODNI, but to become permanent ODNI he would need to survive confirmation railroading by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), Chairman Richard Burr and Vice Chair Mark Warner.  The SSCI is deep swamp and and participated in the coup effort against the office of the president.  The SSCI has a vested interest in controlling the ODNI position; hence their prior blocking of Representative John Ratcliffe.

[Via New York Times] … Mr. Grenell, whose outspokenness throughout his career as a political operative and then as ambassador has prompted criticism, is a vocal Trump loyalist who will lead a group of national security agencies often viewed skeptically by the White House.

(more…)

Prior to boarding Air Force One for a trip to California, President Trump held an impromptu press conference with the media pool. The president took answers on any topic and covered a wide variety.  POTUS Trump seems to wear out the press pool. Too Funny.
[Video Below – Transcript ADDED]

.
[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. It’s a little windy out here, so I’ll button up my coat. You have a couple of more people who want to join you.
Q So we’re hearing you’re going to commute the sentence of Blagojevich?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we have commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich. He served eight years in jail. That’s a long time. And I watched his wife on television. I don’t know him very well. I’ve met him a couple of times. He was on, for a short while, on “The Apprentice,” years ago. Seemed like a very nice person. Don’t know him.
(more…)

Not exactly surprising, but late last night ABC released the transcript of the Bill Barr interview.  A review of the transcript compared to the broadcast shows there was significant interview material left on the editing floor.
Approximately two-thirds of the interview was never broadcast.  Additionally, major sections of answers were completely cut out (chopped up/edited) after the question(s) was/were asked.
Below is the full transcript of the interview (including parts not broadcast), and the full, raw, 25 minute video of the interview:

.
[Transcript] – ABC NEWS CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT PIERRE THOMAS: General Barr, thank you for your time.
ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL BARR: Thank you.
THOMAS: This is the first time we’re hearing from you since the Roger Stone story erupted. At minimum, there appears to be an appearance problem. Trial prosecutors recommended 7 to 9 years on Monday evening. The president tweets at 1:48 AM Tuesday morning calling the recommendations – quote “horrible, unfair and a miscarriage of justice.”
Then word comes out from DOJ headquarters Tuesday morning that the recommendations are too severe and suggests a lesser sentence is more appropriate. Four of the trial attorneys resigned from the case. One of them quitting the Justice Department altogether.
What happened, sir, and what was your role?
(more…)

An interview by AG Bill Barr today is making a lot of headlines. Within the interview Barr indicates that President Trump’s style of communication makes it more difficult for him to do his job.
Here’s the captured interview without pundit opinion. Watch the full interview yourself and decide:
[wpvideo ouQ46FrC]
.
Here’s my take…
It seemed possible yesterday, when AG Bill Barr agreed to testify to the House Judiciary Committee on March 31st, that one of the motives for Barr to coordinate a schedule two months in advance was to gain elbow room.
There never has been any coordination between President Trump and AG Barr on the agenda of the DOJ. However, by placing the testimonial date publicly on his agenda Barr seemed to be stating to those in/around the White House his intent for a disconnect from contact pending questions from highly partisan Democrats.
(more…)

Earlier today President Trump signed a bill supporting the retraining and re-skilling of military service members for important Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) jobs. S. 153, the “Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act,” which promotes veteran participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, computer science, and scientific research.
At the conclusion of the remarks celebrating the bill, President Trump took questions from the media (press remarks @21:10) [Video Below – Transcript Will Follow]
During the press portion President Trump took questions on a variety of topics to include the DOJ, the outrageous Roger Stone sentence, Michael Bloomberg, the upcoming trip to India and interestingly President Trump says he is aware who “anonymous” is, but doesn’t want to say… “you’d be surprised, you’d be surprised”. Much more:

(more…)