Donald J. Trump wins Presidency

Trump never expected to butt heads with people as stubborn as himself. That said, there is growing opposition to these windfarms that are sprouting everywhere. Masses of them just don't look good, and there is mounting evidence that they are harmful to wildlife.

US says cuts to staff in Russia 'uncalled for'.

MOSCOW (AP) —  The U.S. State Department is calling Russia's decision to cut hundreds from its diplomatic staff in Russia "a regrettable and uncalled for act."

On Friday, Russian's Foreign Ministry ordered a reduction by Sept. 1 in the number of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia. The order came as a response to new sanctions approved by the U.S. Congress and sent to U.S. President Donald Trump to be signed into law.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the U.S. would have to cut its embassy and consulate staff in Russia by 755. He did not explain how that figure was determined. Putin said more than 1,000 people are currently employed at the Moscow embassy and three U.S. consulates in Russia. They include both Americans and Russians hired to work in the diplomatic offices.
.....................................
US VP wants better relations with Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says that despite what the State Department described as "a regrettable and uncalled-for act" when the Kremlin ordered the U.S. to cut embassy and consulate staff in Russia, America wants to improve relations with Moscow.

Pence told reporters during a visit to Estonia that "we hope for better days, and better relations with Russia." Speaking to the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — all former Soviet republics bordering Russia — he said Monday that "the recent diplomatic action taken by Moscow will not deter the commitment of the United States to our security, the security of our allies, and the security of freedom-loving nations around the world."

Pence was speaking on the first leg of a European tour that continues to Georgia and Montenegro. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the U.S. would have to cut 755 of its embassy and consulate staff in Russia — a sweeping reduction that he described as a response to new U.S. sanctions.

Trump's approval rating just dropped to a new low in his favorite poll.

President Donald Trump's approval rating just dipped to a new low in the latest Rasmussen poll, the survey that is often most favorable to Trump.

Rasmussen found Monday that just 39% of likely US voters approve of the job Trump is doing, while 61% disapprove of the president.

It was the first time Trump dipped below 40% in the Rasmussen presidential tracking poll.

As recently as mid-June, Rasmussen had Trump's approval rating at 50% — far beyond where other polls found Trump's approval rating to be.

At the time, Trump tweeted, "The new Rasmussen Poll, one of the most accurate in the 2016 Election, just out with a Trump 50% Approval Rating.That's higher than O's #'s!"

Rasmussen interviewed 1,500 likely voters over a three-day period, with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trumps-approval-rating-just-dropped-171415621.html

I'm none too sure just what 'job' Trump is doing, besides taking a wrecking ball to the US....

Meanwhile, a most peculiar scandal is creeping up on the Dems.....

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-31/wasserman-schultz-it-staffer-still-frantically-liquidating-us-assets

As the mainstream media continues to report 24x7 on their Russian collusion narrative in a shameless attempt to take down a Republican administration without any actual evidence of wrongdoing, the Democrats find themselves embroiled in yet another actual scandal, with actual crimes, where people have actually been arrested by the FBI while actually trying to flee the country...yet shockingly, none of these actual crimes seem to be of any interest at all to traditional media outlets.

Be that as it may, the rather curious case of Imran Awan continues with the latest development coming courtesy of the Daily Caller who notes that Imran was frantically liquidating nearly $2 million in real estate holdings right up until the day has was arrested at Dulles airport.....etc,

No, I have NO idea what this one is about, beyond mega-$$$$$$$$$$$$

Er........

http://news.sky.com/story/trumps-new-comms-director-scaramucci-is-sacked-nyt-10969217


Trump's new comms director Scaramucci is sacked - NYT


This is a breaking news story.

We'll update this as we get more information.

Never a dull moment.......

Anthony Scaramucci sacked as Donald Trump’s communications director,

Anthony Scaramucci has reportedly been sacked by Donald Trump as communications director.

The Mooch has been in the role little more than one week.

A White House statement read: ‘Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House communications director. Mr Scaramucci felt it was best to give chief of staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best.’

He’s been thrust into the limelight ever since, and started his new role with fumble after fumble.    More at link - warning, bad language.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/31/anthony-scaramucci-sacked-as-donald-trumps-communications-director-6819751/

China hits back at Trump criticism over North Korea.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China hit back on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted he was "very disappointed" in China following North Korea's latest missile test, saying the problem did not arise in China and that all sides need to work for a solution.

China has become increasingly frustrated with American and Japanese criticism that it should do more to rein in Pyongyang. China is North Korea's closest ally, but Beijing, too, is angry with its continued nuclear and missile tests.

North Korea said on Saturday it had conducted another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that proved its ability to strike the U.S. mainland, drawing a sharp warning from Trump and a rebuke from China.

Video of the latest missile test appears to show it breaking up before landing, indicating Pyongyang may not yet have mastered re-entry technology needed for an operational nuclear-tipped missile, a think tank reported on Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke with Trump on Monday and agreed on the need for more action on North Korea just hours after the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Washington is "done talking about North Korea".

A White House statement after the phone call said the two leaders "agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far".

It said Trump "reaffirmed our ironclad commitment" to defend Japan and South Korea from any attack, "using the full range of United States capabilities".

Trump tweeted on Saturday after the missile test that he was "very disappointed" in China and that Beijing profits from U.S. trade but had done "nothing" for the United States with regards to North Korea, something he would not allow to continue.

Asked by a reporter on Monday how he plans to deal with Pyongyang, Trump said at the start of a Cabinet meeting: "We'll handle North Korea... It will be handled."

China's Foreign Ministry, in a statement sent to Reuters responding to Trump's earlier tweets, said the North Korean nuclear issue did not arise because of China and that everyone needed to work together to seek a resolution.

Russia said on Monday the United States and other countries were trying "to shift responsibility for the situation to Russia and China" following the most recent missile test.

"We view as groundless attempts undertaken by the U.S. and a number of other countries to shift responsibility to Russia and China, almost blaming Moscow and Beijing for indulging the missile and nuclear ambitions of the DPRK (North Korea)," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At the United Nations in New York, China's U.N. ambassador said on Monday it is primarily up to the United States and North Korea, not Beijing, to reduce tensions and work towards resuming talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapon and missile programs.

The United States and North Korea "hold the primary responsibility to keep things moving, to start moving in the right direction, not China," China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told a news conference to mark the end of Beijing's presidency of the U.N. Security Council in July.

"No matter how capable China is, China's efforts will not yield practical results because it depends on the two principal parties," Liu said.

Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming told a news conference there was no link between the North Korea issue and China-U.S. trade.

"We think the North Korea nuclear issue and China-U.S. trade are issues that are in two completely different domains. They aren't related. They should not be discussed together," Qian said.

China, with which North Korea does most of its trade, has repeatedly said it strictly follows U.N. resolutions on North Korea and has denounced unilateral U.S. sanctions as unhelpful.

Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement China must decide if it is willing to back imposing stronger U.N. sanctions on North Korea over Friday night's long-range missile test, the North's second this month.

Any new U.N. Security Council resolution "that does not significantly increase the international pressure on North Korea is of no value", Haley said, adding that Japan and South Korea also needed to do more.

Abe told reporters after his conversation with Trump that repeated efforts by the international community to find a peaceful solution to the North Korean issue had yet to bear fruit in the face of Pyongyang's unilateral "escalation".

"International society, including Russia and China, need to take this seriously and increase pressure," Abe said. He added Japan and the United States would take steps towards concrete action but did not give details.

Abe and Trump did not discuss military action against North Korea, nor what would constitute the crossing of a "red line" by Pyongyang, Deputy Chief Cabinet spokesman Koichi Hagiuda told reporters.

"Pyongyang is determined to develop its nuclear and missile programme and does not care about military threats from the U.S. and South Korea," state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times said on Monday.

"How could Chinese sanctions change the situation?" said the paper, which is published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily.

China wants both balanced trade with the United States and lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, its official Xinhua news agency added in a commentary.

"However, to realise these goals, Beijing needs a more cooperative partner in the White House, not one who piles blame on China for the United States' failures," it added.

The United States flew two supersonic B-1B bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force on Sunday in response to the missile test and the July 3 launch of the "Hwasong-14" rocket, the Pentagon said. The bombers took off from a U.S. air base in Guam and were joined by Japanese and South Korean fighter jets during the exercise.

"North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability," Pacific Air Forces commander General Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy said in a statement.

"If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/u-ambassador-u-n-says-time-china-act-014844085.html

Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer: Sources.

President Donald Trump personally dictated the first statement his son gave in response to a report from the New York Times earlier this month about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort with a Russian lawyer with the promise of damaging information on Hillary Clinton, two senior level sources confirm to ABC News.

The Washington Post first reported on Monday night the news that the president had dictated the messaging.

The decision was initially made that Donald Trump Jr. was to release a truthful statement that "couldn’t be repudiated" ahead of the release of the New York Times story, according to the Post. But that decision was reversed as the president flew back from the G20 Summit in Germany on July 8.

The president personally dictated the statement that his son and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” at the 2016 meeting amid his presidential campaign, the Post reports. The statement emphasized that the subject of the meeting was “not a campaign issue at the time,” the Post reports.

Donald Trump Jr. later acknowledged that he took the meeting after being told that he may receive damaging information about Clinton at the meeting.

Alan Futerfas, Donald Trump Jr's attorney, had "no comment" when reached Monday night by ABC News.

A spokesperson for the president and a separate representative for Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Kushner also declined to comment when reached by ABC News.

President Trump's legal team responded saying the report in inaccurate.

“Apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate, and not pertinent,” Jay Sekulow, a member of the Trump legal team, told ABC News.

The New York Times reported that the president had signed off on the initial statement from his son. Sekulow denied this fact in an interview with ABC News on July 12.

“The President didn't sign off on anything,” Sekulow said. “He was coming back from the G20, the statement that was released on Saturday was released by Donald Trump Jr., and I'm sure in consultation with his lawyers. The President wasn't involved in that.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-dictated-sons-misleading-statement-meeting-russian-lawyer/story?id=48958619

Will Donald Trump be the last Republican president?

Since President Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination a question hangs over the right: Should the GOP survive or is it morally corrupted and politically deformed to such an extent that those of good conscience on the center-right must start anew? Having engaged in the original sin, if you will, of supporting Trump and then defending his aberrant presidency and helping thereby to define political deviancy down (as the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan described the decline of social and behavioral norms in his lifetime), has the GOP in essence forfeited political legitimacy permanently? There are several aspects to the question that deserve attention.

First, keep in mind the distinction between "should" (normative) vs. can (capacity). The former (should the GOP survive) goes to the moral culpability of those who lifted Trump to power and kept him there. They elevated a very dangerous man who has done and continues to do great damage to our country. They've in essence lost legitimacy as a constructive force; the center-right cannot fully purge the stain of Trump unless it sheds (or shreds) the skin of the GOP. Given the enormity of the GOP's malfeasance, a new party may in fact be required.

Then there is the more practical question (can the GOP survive). Given how toxic the GOP brand has become, the time and cost of rehabilitating the brand may not be worth it. Alternatively, anti-Trump Republicans might conclude that the financial, legal and organizational burden of creating a new party with new state parties may be crippling.

We think a middle ground makes sense. An accountability project (maybe not quite at the level of reconciliation processes in the wake of fallen regimes in South Africa or Chile) certainly is needed; a turnover in leadership is essential. The party must repudiate Trump and the Trump era to go forward. Those intent on turning away from the Trump era will require visible symbols underscoring the party's repudiation of Trumpism, including perhaps a name change. (The New Republican Party? The Modern Republican Party?)

Second, is such a dramatic break really needed? Yes, if, as #NeverTrump and #NoLongerTrump Republicans believe, the Trump problem is of an entirely different magnitude than, say, Watergate, and has resulted in much more serious, permanent damage to our democracy, then it is not enough to simply shuffle the presidential candidates, make some speeches and keep the platform and leadership essentially unchanged. And yes, most of the Republicans currently in the House and Senate need to go. They've put party over country, not lived up to their oaths of office and contributed to the polarization of our politics and erosion of our democratic norms. A clean, dramatic break is mandatory.

Third, both the specific agenda (a creaky facade left over from the 1980s) and the central values of the party are in need of revamping. Its positions on tax, budget, environmental, law enforcement and immigration policy are outmoded, counterproductive and in many cases not based on reality. That does not mean Republicans should copy Democrats. A second party with alternative views remains critical in a robust democracy. We need a party that favors market-based solutions where possible; cares about fiscal sanity; sees advantages in federalism; embraces a positive, essential role for government but is wary of highly centralized bureaucracy; and supports American leadership in defense of the international, liberal order. (By the way, it's always possible the current Democratic Party goes in that direction while the far left goes the full socialist route.)

Fourth, Trump's presidency should prompt center-right voters and leaders to re-define the purpose, foundational beliefs and role of the party. Civic character and dedication to democratic norms (as opposed to positions on a laundry list of issues) must be elevated in importance. The party needs to return to a mediating and moderating role whereby it weeds out the most extreme and most irresponsible elements. (Yes, here come the super-delegates.) The party needs to resume a role of gatekeeper (a goal furthered by diverting resources back to national and state parties and away from special-interest cliques and billionaire candidates and donors). Moreover, a party that believes in a strong role for civil society must dedicate itself to repairing frayed communal ties and institutions and ending rigid tribalism.

Fifth, how Republicans behave from here on out will play a huge role in determining the extent of the housecleaning/destruction of the GOP required. It makes all the difference in the world whether Democrats (by winning elections) save the country from Trump or whether the GOP (by impeachment, support for prosecution, primary challenge) takes matters into its own hands to expunge Trump. The latter would not erase entirely the original sin they committed when they backed him, but a Republican revolt against Trump (finally) would suggest internal reformation is possible. Republicans in office, running for office, in think tanks and other right-leaning groups should think long and hard about how they want the Trump presidency to end; it will become the defining event in their personal and political legacies. And the manner of Trump's political demise will largely determine whether the 2016 election was the last to produce a Republican president.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-republican-party-end-trump-20170731-story.html

Trump on tricky legal ground with 'Obamacare' threat.

President Donald Trump's threat to stop billions of dollars in government payments to insurers and force the collapse of "Obamacare" could put the government in a tricky legal situation.

Legal experts say he'd be handing insurers a solid court case, while undermining his own leverage to compel Democrats to negotiate, especially if premiums jump by 20 percent as expected after such a move.

"Trump thinks he's holding all the cards. But Democrats know what's in his hand, and he's got a pair of twos," said University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley. Democrats "aren't about to agree to dismantle the Affordable Care Act just because Trump makes a reckless bet."

For months, the president has been threatening to stop payments that reimburse insurers for providing required financial assistance to low-income consumers, reducing their copays and deductibles.

Administration officials say the decision could come any day.

The "cost-sharing" subsidies are under a legal cloud because of a dispute over whether the Obama health care law properly approved the payments. Other parts of the health care law, however, clearly direct the government to reimburse insurers.

With the issue unresolved, the Trump administration has been paying insurers each month, as the Obama administration had done previously.

Trump returned to the question last week after the GOP drive to repeal the health care law fell apart in the Senate, tweeting, "As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!"

He elaborated in another tweet, "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies...will end very soon!"

It's not accurate to call the cost-sharing subsidies a bailout, said Tim Jost, a professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia.

"They are no more a bailout than payments made by the government to a private company for building a bomber," he said.

That's at the root of the Trump administration's potential legal problem if the president makes good on this threat.

The health law clearly requires insurers to help low-income consumers with their copays and deductibles. Nearly 3 in 5 HealthCare.gov customers qualify for the assistance, which can reduce a deductible of $3,500 to several hundred dollars. The cost to the government is about $7 billion a year.

The law also specifies that government "shall make periodic and timely payments" to reimburse insurers for the cost-sharing assistance that they provide.

Nonetheless, the payments remain under a cloud because of a disagreement over whether they were properly approved in the language of the health law, by providing an "appropriation."

The Constitution says the government shall not spend money without a congressional appropriation.

Think of an appropriation as an electronic instruction to your bank to pay a recurring monthly bill. You fully intend to pay, and the money you've budgeted is in your account. But the payment will not go out unless you specifically direct your bank to send it.

House Republicans trying to thwart the ACA sued the Obama administration in federal district court in Washington, arguing that the law lacked specific language appropriating the cost-sharing subsidies.

The district court judge agreed with House Republicans, and now the case is on hold before the U.S. appeals court in Washington. A group of state attorneys general are asking the appeals court to join in the case, in defense of the subsidies.

Both Bagley and Jost have followed the matter closely, and they disagree on whether the health law properly approved the payments to insurers. Bagley says it did not; while Jost says it did.

However, the two experts agree that insurers would have a solid lawsuit against the administration if Trump stops the payments. Insurers could sue in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which hears claims for money against the government.

"The ACA promised to make these payments — that could not be clearer — and Congress has done nothing to limit that promise," said Bagley.

"I think there would very likely be litigation if the Trump administration tries to cut off the payments," said Jost.

Another way to resolve it: Congress could appropriate the money, even if temporarily, for a couple of years.

"Simply letting Obamacare collapse will cause even more pain," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said recently.

If the president makes good on his threat, experts estimate that premiums for a standard "silver" plan would increase by about 19 percent. Insurers could recover the cost-sharing money by raising premiums, since those are also subsidized by the ACA, and there's no question about their appropriation.

But millions of people who buy individual health care policies without any financial assistance from the government would face prohibitive cost increases.

And more insurers might decide to leave already shaky markets.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says Trump's tweets will bolster arguments from him and his counterparts in other states to intervene in the case.

"We need somebody who will stand up in court and defend the subsidies against the erratic nature of President Trump," said Becerra.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/trump-tricky-legal-ground-obamacare-threat-48962076

This is utter insanity, IMO, I just cannot follow what Trump thinks he's doing.

Tillerson concedes Russia ties are sour, but holds out hope.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top American diplomat put the onus on Russia Tuesday to take steps to repair flagging relations with the United States, even as he conceded that congressional sanctions would pose a new obstacle. Holding out hope for warmer ties, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he'd meet with his Russian counterpart within days.

In a wide-ranging assessment of his first six months in office, Tillerson also: — Revealed the U.S. is looking at options to entice Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave power peacefully. — Insisted the U.S. doesn't blame China for North Korea's nuclear behavior despite the American pressure on Beijing. He said the U.S. is open to talks with Pyongyang.

— Argued that Iran's military must leave Syria for the U.S. to cooperate with Russia on ending the Syrian civil war. — Named retired Gen. Anthony Zinni as special representative to try to resolve the Persian Gulf diplomatic crisis over Qatar.

But on Russia, Tillerson strained hardest to point to progress. He was unable to show that the U.S. has fulfilled President Donald Trump's objective of a new, more cooperative relationship between the former Cold War foes, noting only modest efforts in Syria as a sign the nations share some common goals. While he said frustrated Americans want the U.S. to get along with the nuclear-armed power, he did not address the deep suspicions at home about the president's intentions. U.S. intelligence agencies have formally accused Moscow of meddling in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump.

"The situation is bad, but believe me — it can get worse," Tillerson said, recounting his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met in March. "And it just did." Putin this week ordered the U.S. to dramatically cut its diplomatic presence in Russia, solidifying the conclusion that a Trump-driven detente with Moscow hasn't come to pass. Though ostensibly in retaliation for a similar U.S. move last year under President Barack Obama, the Russian action came just after Congress voted to slap Russia with more economic sanctions, and to include new requirements making it far harder for Trump to ease the penalties.

"Neither the president nor I are very happy about that," Tillerson said of the sanctions bill. The diplomat had urged lawmakers not to proceed. "We were clear that we didn't think that was going to be helpful to our efforts, but that's the decision they made."

Trump plans to sign the bill nevertheless, another potent reminder of the political baggage that has beset his efforts to mend ties to Russia. If Trump were to veto the bill, Congress would almost surely override his veto. At a time when the FBI and congressional committees are investigating possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia, a veto override would make it look like lawmakers were rejecting a Trump effort to protect Moscow from U.S. punishment.

Though the White House said the bill was still being reviewed, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump will sign it. Vice President Mike Pence, traveling Tuesday in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, sought to reframe the sanctions as a "further sign of our commitment" to counter Russian aggression in the region.

"The president and our Congress are unified in our message to Russia: a better relationship, the lifting of sanctions will require Russia to reverse the actions that caused the sanctions to be imposed in the first place," Pence said. "And not before."

The U.S. hasn't said how many of its diplomats will have to leave Russia to comply with Putin's order that the U.S. cut its diplomatic personnel to 455. Tillerson suggested the action was expected, given the domestic pressure on the Russian leader to retaliate for steps Obama took to punish Russia after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Moscow meddled in the election.

"Any leader of any country has their whole population watching them as well," Tillerson said. "He felt he had to do something. Does it make our life more difficult? Of course." In a rare question-and-answer session, Tillerson recalled Trump's meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Putin's top diplomat, three months ago. Tillerson said the president told the Russian foreign minister: "We need some good news."

Though there have been few such positive developments, Tillerson highlighted Syria, where the U.S. and Russia brokered a cease-fire in the country's southwest that appears to be holding, as proof there are opportunities for effective collaboration.

The next substantive conversation about how to move forward will likely be over the weekend. Tillerson said he plans to meet Lavrov on the sidelines of a regional summit in Manila, Philippines.

https://www.mail.com/int/news/us/5405026-tillerson-concedes-russia-ties-sour-holds-hope.html#.1258-stage-hero1-10

Trump administration sends conflicting signals on Russia sanctions.

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump grudgingly accepted new congressional sanctions on Russia, the top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday, remarks in contrast with those of Vice President Mike Pence, who said the bill showed Trump and Congress speaking "with a unified voice."

The U.S. Congress voted last week by overwhelming margins for sanctions to punish the Russian government over interference in the 2016 presidential election, annexation of Crimea and other perceived violations of international norms.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that he and Trump did not believe the new sanctions would "be helpful to our efforts" on diplomacy with Russia.

Trump has been clear that he wants to improve relations with Russia, a desire that has been hamstrung by findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered to help the Republican against Democrat Hillary Clinton. U.S. congressional panels and a special counsel are investigating. Moscow denies any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign.

Tillerson, who did business in Russia when he was chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has said repeatedly that the world's two major nuclear powers cannot have such a bad relationship.

"The action by the Congress to put these sanctions in place and the way they did, neither the President nor I were very happy about that," Tillerson said. "We were clear that we didn't think it was going to be helpful to our efforts, but that's the decision they made, they made it in a very overwhelming way. I think the president accepts that."

Tillerson stopped short of saying definitively that Trump would sign the sanctions, saying only that "all indications are he will sign that bill."

Vice President Mike Pence, at a press conference in Georgia with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, said unequivocally that "President Trump will sign the Russia sanctions bill soon."

Pence acknowledged that the administration objected to earlier versions of the sanctions bill because it did not grant enough flexibility to the administration, but said it "improved significantly" in later versions.

"And let me say that in signing the sanction, our President and our Congress are speaking with a unified voice," Pence said.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday the sanctions bill was under review and would be signed.

"There's nothing holding him back," Sanders said at a news briefing. Trump has until Aug. 9 to sign the bill, or veto it, or it will automatically become law.

In retaliation for the sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia must reduce its staff by 755 people. Russia is also seizing two properties near Moscow used by American diplomats.

Tillerson said Putin probably believes his response was a symmetrical action to Washington seizing two Russian properties in the United States and expelling 35 diplomats last December.

"Of course it makes our lives more difficult," he said.

Tillerson said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would meet in Manila on the margins of next weekend's meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN1AH553

Donald Trump 'collaborated with Fox News' on fake story about death of DNC staffer, claims lawsuit.

President Donald Trump has been accused of collaborating with Fox News to push a claim that a murdered employee of the Democratic National Committee, not the Kremlin, leaked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton.

Mr Trump was alleged to have "reviewed" a Fox News story before it was published as part of an attempt to distract from investigations into Russian hacking during last year's US election.

The claim has been made in court papers filed in New York by Rod Wheeler, a private investigator who looked into the shooting death of the Democratic employee, Seth Rich, in July 2016. He is suing Fox News for defamation, claiming the broadcaster fabricated quotes from him.

His claim alleged that the story was put out to "shift the blame from Russia and help put to bed speculation that President Trump colluded with Russia in an attempt to influence the outcome of the Presidential election".

Mr Rich was shot dead in what Washington police believe was a botched robbery.

Mr Wheeler was brought in to investigate the case by Ed Butowsky, an investor and high profile supporter of Mr Trump who appeared frequently on Fox News, according to the claim.

Two days before the Fox News article was published on its website, on May 16, Mr Butowsky sent Mr Wheeler a text message saying: "Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article. He wants the article out immediately. It's now all up to you."

Mr Butowsky later said he had been joking that the president had read the article.

A month before it was published, on April 20, Mr Butowsky and Mr Wheeler had met with Sean Spicer, Mr Trump's then press secretary, at the White House.

Mr Spicer said the meeting was a favour to a long-time supporter, Mr Butowsky, and that the two men had "informed" him about the upcoming Fox News story. But he said he was not aware of any contact with Mr Trump.

Fox News removed the story from its website a week after it was published, saying that "it was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all of our reporting".

Mr Wheeler, who is black and has himself been a contributor to Fox News since 2005, is also suing the broadcaster for racial discrimination. Fox News has said there is no "concrete evidence" that Mr Wheeler was misquoted.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-apos-collaborated-fox-180143810.html

Odd no-one seems able to get to the bottom of the murdered staffer business....

As for the sanctions - yes, great idea, fall out with half of Europe, too.

THIS IS NOW LOCKED. PLEASE USE 'THE TRUMP DISASTER' THREAD. LL