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President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP
Sean Spicer Twitter @PressSec
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †
[Dept. of State] Secretary Tillerson phoned Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko today to discuss his recent trip to Moscow and his message to the Russian leadership that, although the United States is interested in improving relations with Russia, Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine remain an obstacle. The Secretary emphasized the importance of Ukraine’s continued progress on reform and combating corruption.
(Via AP) A transcript of an Oval Office interview Friday with President Donald Trump by AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace. Where the audio recording of the interview is unclear, ellipses or a notation that the recording was unintelligible are used.
AP: I do want to talk to you about the 100 days.
TRUMP: Good.
AP: I want to ask a few questions on some topics that are happening toward the end of the interview.
TRUMP: Did you see Aya (Hijazi, an Egyptian-American charity worker who had been detained in the country for nearly three years) …
President Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, appears on Meet the Pus with Chuck Toad to discuss The Swamp.
Swamp topics include the administrations’ first 100 days, the imminent risk of a government shutdown, the budget battle, the southern border wall, health care, Marine Le Pen, and President Trump visits to Mar-a-Lago.
The Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly sits down for an interview with John King’s ex-wife Dana Bash. The primary topic was border security;
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared on This Week with former Clinton White House staff George Stephanopoulos to discuss current political events. Attorney General Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kelly spent three days this past week touring the Southern U.S. Border and listening to border patrol officers:
A newly empowered Chris Wallace takes the big government Fox Media position and begins arguing with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney. Interested observers will note Wallace defends the U.S. CoC lobbying position around the budget, health care, the border wall, the imminent risk of government shutdown, Trump’s “first 100 days”, necessary tax cuts, cuts to environmental protection etc.
It can be frustrating to watch because Chris Wallace is arguing the exact positions of Tom Donohue, the U.S. CoC and the K-Street swamp’s corporatist lobbyists.
In advance of a generically created media 100 day way-point to judge the presidency, ABC/Washington Post deliver a poll today (full pdf below) to begin framing the week long narrative.
The direction taken by political narratives is mostly due to a loose coalition of like-minded ideologues within politics and media. People who run in the same circles, attend the same cocktail parties and gather at the same conventions and group meetings. The current ‘anti-Trump administration’ approach is no different from prior 2016 election assemblies.
Tomorrow in Chicago, former President Obama is anticipated to rally the ideological resistance to current President Trump. Enhancing the weekly set-up is a poll from ABC and the Washington Post constructed to cast a negative light upon Trump. It’s the same formula used in the 2016 election assemblies.
It becomes exhausting, and really quite futile, to dig through the poll construct. Yes, the pollsters over sample anti-Trump groups, and yes they under sample those methodological groups who would be more favorable in their opinion of Trump’s efforts. The transparency of the intention is evident within the data they assemble, and even more so within the way ABC/WaPo specifically highlights the data and focuses the attention of the consuming reader or reviewer. (more…)
All eyes are on the French Presidential Election (Round #1) being held today. There are multiple candidates but only the top two go to round #2. Most predictions have Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron as the top two candidates.
UPDATE: 5:30pm EDT Surprising most of the liberal punditry, and contradicting most of the earlier exit polls, Marine Le Pen has won the first round over her closest rival Emmanuel Macron (link):
Francios Fillon conceded and endorsed the political establishment favorite Macron. Melenchon has refused to endorse anyone. As expected the national runoff will be:
Similar to Hillary Clinton, Macron will carry the endorsement of the professional political class and all of the left-wing French media. Similar to Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen will be running as an outsider against the entire political apparatus and the media machine.
