THE TRUMP DISASTER AREA

Donald Trump's tax returns are about to come back with a vengeance.

When Donald Trump unveiled his tax-reform proposal on Wednesday in Indianapolis, he promised the audience that his plan wouldn't help people like him. At all.

"Our framework includes our explicit commitment that tax reform will protect low-income and middle-income households, not the wealthy and well-connected," Trump promised. "They can call me all they want. It's not going to help. I'm doing the right thing, and it's not good for me. Believe me."

You'll have to take his word for it because there is simply no way of checking to see if Trump is telling the truth about the tax plan's impact on his own bottom line. Why? Because Trump still hasn't released any of his personal tax returns, the first president in modern times to refuse to do so.   More at link.
http://us.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/trump-tax-returns/index.html

Trump lashes out at San Juan mayor who begged for more help.

BRANCHBURG, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at the mayor of San Juan and other officials in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, contemptuous of their claims of a laggard U.S. response to the natural disaster that has imperiled the island's future.

"Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help," Trump said in a series of tweets a day after the capital city's mayor appealed for help "to save us from dying."

"They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort," Trump wrote from his New Jersey golf club. The tweets amounted to a biting response to San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who had accused the Trump administration of "killing us with the inefficiency" after Hurricane Maria. She implored the president, who is set to visit the U.S. territory on Tuesday, to "make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives."

"We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency," Cruz said at a news conference, her voice breaking with rage. "I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us, to save us from dying." Trump has pledged to spare no effort to help Puerto Rico recover from Maria's ruinous aftermath, and tweeted that military personnel and first responders have done "an amazing job," despite having "no electric, roads, phones etc."

Puerto Rico, he said, "was totally destroyed," and "10,000 Federal workers now on the island are doing a fantastic job." Natural disasters often bring the country together. But Trump used Twitter to accuse Cruz of partisan politics.

"The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump," the president charged, without substantiation. Critics have accused Trump of showing more concern for the people of Texas and Florida, whose lives were also upended by major hurricanes this season. Trump repeatedly praised those citizens as strong and resilient, declaring at one point that Texas could "handle anything."

Thousands more Puerto Ricans have received water and rationed food as an aid bottleneck has begun to ease. Telecommunications are back for about 30 percent of the island, nearly half of the supermarkets have reopened at least for reduced hours and about 60 percent of the gas stations are pumping. But many remain desperate for necessities, most urgently water, long after the Sept. 20 hurricane.

Trump is scheduled to spend an hour Saturday checking in by phone with FEMA Administrator Brock Long, Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, and other local officials. He'll also speak with the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which have received less attention, but were also ravaged by the storms.

Trump's Saturday tweets are the latest example of his insistence on "punching back," even against those with far less power. After a deadly terror attack in London in June, Trump singled out London Mayor Sadiq Khan, suggesting he wasn't taking the attacks seriously enough in a tweet that misconstrued Khan's words.

During his campaign, Trump also picked fights with a Gold Star family and a former beauty queen who publicly supported his Democratic rival. Cruz declined to engage in the tit-for-tat, instead calling for a united focus on the people who need help. "The goal is one: saving lives. This is the time to show our 'true colors.' We cannot be distracted by anything else," she tweeted, along with photos of herself meeting with residents and rescue workers, wading hip-deep through a flooded street and comforting an elderly woman.

Trump said Friday that Puerto Rico is "totally unable" to handle the catastrophe on its own. "They are working so hard, but there's nothing left," he said. "It's been wiped out." He said the government is "fully engaged in the disaster and the response and recovery effort."

Yet even in voicing solidarity and sympathy with Puerto Rico, he drew attention again to the island's debt burden and infrastructure woes, leaving doubt about how far Washington will go to make the U.S. territory whole.

"Ultimately the government of Puerto Rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effort — it will end up being one of the biggest ever — will be funded and organized, and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island," he said. "We will not rest, however, until the people of Puerto Rico are safe."

During this season's trio of monster hurricanes — Harvey, Irma, Maria — Trump and his administration have drifted into the perilous territory of premature self-congratulation in the face of unfolding catastrophe, seemingly unmindful of the "Brownie moment" that scarred George W. Bush's presidency.

Bush famously told his emergency management director, Michael Brown, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" during what proved to be a tragically inept federal response to deadly Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Trump has repeatedly boasted about the positive reviews he said his administration was getting from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for its relief effort, even as people in remote towns struggle to find food, water and other basics. Then Trump's acting homeland security secretary, Elaine Duke, called the federal relief effort a "good-news story" because of "our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths."

"Let me clarify," she said Friday upon her arrival in Puerto Rico to survey the damage. She said she meant "it was good news that people of Puerto Rico and many public servants of the United States are working together."

Cruz responded, "This is a people-are-dying story."

Trump's lack of concern about Puerto Rico has been utterly shameful - possibly as petty revenge for his bankrupt golf course. Contrast it with european nations which got aid to their territories as quickly as possible....

Trump expected to declare that Iran nuclear deal is not in the national interest.

President Donald Trump is expected to announce next week that he will "decertify" the international nuclear deal with Iran, saying it is not in the national interest of the United States and kicking the issue to a reluctant Congress, people briefed on the White House strategy said Thursday.

The move would mark the first step in a process that could eventually result in the resumption of U.S. sanctions against Iran, potentially derailing a deal limiting Iran's nuclear activities reached in 2015 with the United States and five other nations.

But Trump would hold off on recommending that Congress reimpose sanctions, which would constitute a clearer break from the pact, according to four people familiar with aspects of the president's thinking.

The decision would amount to a middle ground of sorts between Trump, who has long wanted to withdraw from the agreement completely, and many congressional leaders and senior diplomatic, military and national security advisers, who believe the deal is worth preserving with changes if possible.

This week, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford expressed qualified support for the deal during congressional testimony. And Mattis suggested he did not believe taking the step to decertify would scuttle the agreement.

Trump is expected to deliver a speech, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 12, laying out a larger strategy for confronting the nation he blames for terrorism and instability throughout the Middle East.    More at link.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-20171005-story.html

Donald Trump warns it is 'calm before the storm' amid reports he will decertify Iran nuclear deal.

Donald Trump said on Thursday night that it was the "calm before the storm" amid reports that he will announce next week that he will “decertify” the Iran nuclear deal.

The US president earlier said that Iran had "not lived up to the spirit" of the nuclear deal.

Mr Trump summoned reporters to the State Dining Room on Thursday evening, where he was hosting a dinner with military leaders.

"You guys know what this represents?" Mr Trump asked. "Maybe it's the calm before the storm. Could be the calm, the calm before the storm."

"What storm Mr. President?" one reporter shouted. ISIS? North Korea? Iran?

"You'll find out," the president said. More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-apos-announce-decertify-201257098.html

Donald Trump to drop contraceptive requirement from workplace health insurance plans.

Administration argues mandate promotes 'risky sexual behaviour' among young adults.

The Trump administration is poised to roll back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, vastly expanding exemptions for those that cite moral or religious objections.

The new rules, which could be issued as soon as Friday, fulfil a campaign promise by President Donald Trump and are sure to touch off a round of lawsuits on the issue.

More than 55 million women have access to birth control without co-payments because of the contraceptive coverage mandate, according to a study commissioned by the Obama administration. Under the new regulations, hundreds of thousands of women could lose birth control benefits they now receive at no cost under the Affordable Care Act. More at link.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-contraceptives-birth-control-workplace-health-insurance-plans-a7986206.html

Trump hints at military action as he says 'only one thing will work on North Korea'.

The president has repeatedly hinted that diplomatic options have been exhausted.

Donald Trump has hinted at military action against North Korea, suggesting on Twitter that "only one thing will work" on the secretive communist state.

The US leader said previous American presidential "administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years", but in his opinion it was "to no avail".

It appears Mr Trump is hinting at using military action against the isolated Asian country, but when he was asked about the comments by reporters ahead of a trip to North Carolina, the US president said he had nothing more to clarify.
More at link.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-north-korea-only-one-think-will-work-nuclear-weapons-a7988446.html
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Trump Boosts Loans to Scottish Golf Courses Amid Mounting Losses.

President Donald Trump faced mounting losses at his Scottish golf resorts last year, forcing him to pour more cash into the properties to cover the shortfall.

Losses at Trump Turnberry more than doubled to 17.6 million pounds ($23 million) in 2016 while revenue fell 21 percent to 9 million pounds, according to accounts filed in the U.K. The company attributed the loss to currency fluctuations and the resort being closed for renovation for six months of the year. Trump flew to Turnberry to reopen the resort on June 24, 2016, the day after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. More at link.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-07/trump-boosts-loans-to-scottish-golf-courses-amid-mounting-losses?cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics
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Trump is hoping Mueller will do the one thing Comey didn't.

President Donald Trump's lawyers have adopted a new legal strategy of cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller in the hopes that he will do the one thing former FBI director James Comey did not: confirm publicly that Trump is not being investigated as part of the FBI's Russia probe, according to The New York Times.

Mueller was appointed special counsel after Trump fired Comey in May. Initially, the White House said Trump's dismissal of Comey was based entirely on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's recommendation and because of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Shortly after, however, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that "this Russia thing" had been a factor in his decision, and that he was going to fire Comey regardless of Rosenstein's recommendation. More at link.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/looks-trump-wants-mueller-one-224821127.html

Trump links border wall, green-card overhaul to DACA.

President Donald Trump told congressional leaders on Sunday that his hard-line immigration priorities must be enacted in exchange for extending protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Trump's list of demands included overhauling the country's green-card system, a crackdown on unaccompanied minors entering the country, and building his promised wall along the southern border.

Many were policies Democrats have said explicitly are off the table and threaten to derail ongoing negotiations over legislation protecting young immigrants known as "Dreamers." They had been given a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the country under President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which Trump ended last month.

"These findings outline reforms that must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients," he wrote, adding that: "Without these reforms, illegal immigration and chain migration, which severely and unfairly burden American workers and taxpayers, will continue without end." More at link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/immigration-proposals-includes-changes-green-card-system-230350571--politics.html
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Trump Was Told 'To Go F*** Himself' By Frank Sinatra.

Add Ol’ Blue Eyes to the list of people who are anti-Trump.

When Donald Trump ruffled the famous Frank Sinatra’s feathers, he had his manager tell him to go f*** himself, The Daily News reports.

Eliot Weisman, the former manager of the American singer from 1975 to 1998, recounts the time the singer was going to perform at the opening of Trump’s Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in 1990 in his new book, The Way It Was, set to be released on October 24. More at link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-told-apos-f-himself-190909691.html
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Trump Marriages: Everything You Need to Know.

Donald Trump’s first wife Ivana’s book is set to hit the shelves in less than a week, bringing with it an inside look into the marriages and divorces of the president.

Although the book, titled Raising Trump, focuses on Ivana’s experience raising the president’s three eldest children, his second wife Marla Marples merits a mention from his first wife, as does the moment Ivana realized her marriage of 15 years was over. More at link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-marriages-everything-know-221637918.html

Trump Could Start World War III Because He Treats Presidency Like The Apprentice, Says GOP Senator Bob Corker.

President Donald Trump could put the U.S. “on the path to World War III” because he treats the presidency “like he’s doing The Apprentice or something” said a senior Republican Sunday.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee capped a week of insults he traded with Trump by saying he knows “for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain” the president.

Trump’s behaviour “concerns me,” said Sen. Corker, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during an interview with The New York Times . “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”

Last Wednesday Corker told reporters that senior White House staff and key Trump administration Cabinet members—such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chief of Staff John Kelly—“are those people that help separate our country from chaos.”

Corker’s comments followed a press conference where Tillerson dismissed an NBC News report that he called Trump a "moron". Tillerson also denied that he nearly resigned over the summer in frustration with the president’s behaviour, despite multiple reports later claiming to confirm Tillerson’s insult and his plan to leave the Trump administration. More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-could-start-world-war-095753734.html

Donald Trump's ex-wife starts war of words with Melania after claiming: 'I'm basically First Lady, OK?'

Melania Trump has described comments by her husband’s ex-wife as “attention seeking and self-serving noise” after Ivana Trump said she was “basically First Lady”.

Ivana, who was married to Donald Trump between 1977 and 1992, said she had a direct line to the White House but did not want to “cause any kind of jealousy”.

While promoting her new book Raising Trump, she told ABC’s Good Morning America that she was “basically first Trump wife, I’m First Lady”.

Ivana said the book is about “my life and raising my kids” and that she did not ask the president’s permission before writing it. More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trumps-ex-wife-im-basically-first-lady-ok-073646772.html
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Melania Trump hits back at Ivana: There's only one first lady and it's not you.

Melania Trump has hit back at Ivana Trump, the President's first wife, after she made a jibe at the First Lady, saying her status as the President’s first wife effectively made her first lady.

She responded to Ivana via a message from the White House,which made clear there was room for only one first lady, but will spark speculation about jealousy among the Trump wives – past and present.

“Mrs Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and The President. She loves living in Washington, DC and is honoured by her role as First Lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books,” said the statement issued by Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's spokeswoman.

“There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. Unfortunately only attention seeking and self-serving noise.” More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/white-house-tells-ivana-trump-194024180.html

Amid cooperation, some Trump allies urge Russia probe fight.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as President Donald Trump's advisers encourage him to accept the realities of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, longtime friends and allies are pushing Trump to fight back, citing concerns that his lawyers are naive to the existential threat facing the president.

Trump supporters and associates inside and outside the White House see the conciliatory path as risky to the maverick president's tenure. Instead, they want the street-fighting tweeter to criticize Mueller with abandon.

The struggle between supporters of the legal team's steady, cooperative approach, and the band of Trump loyalists who yearn for a fight, comes as the Mueller probe begins lapping at the door of the Oval Office. Mueller, who is investigating the firing of former FBI director James Comey and other key actions of the Trump administration, has signaled that his team intends to interview multiple current and former White House officials in the coming weeks and has requested large batches of documents from the executive branch.

In private, Trump remains relatively calm for now, but that doesn't mean he thinks the Russia probe is legitimate, and he could return to fighting Mueller at any moment, according to a group of about 15 Trump allies, advisers and former campaign aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations with the White House. More at link.
https://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/5573740-amid-cooperation-trump-allies-urge-russia-probe-fi.html#.1258-stage-hero1-5

Donald Trump has 'turned into a pressure cooker that frequently explodes', say White House staff.

The President has been likened to a 'whistling tea pot'.

Donald Trump, angry with officials he appointed and frustrated with his failure to progress his legislative agenda, is said to have turned into a “pressure cooker” who frequently explodes at those around him.

Reports suggest that in recent days, Mr Trump, fed up with criticism of his handling of the crisis in Puerto Rico and furious over comments from a senior Republican who claimed he was setting the US on “the path to World War III”, the President has been lashing out at those around him and burning political bridges.

Meanwhile, his relationship with Chief of Staff John Kelly, the former general appointed to try and bring order to the chaos of the White House, may have become “irreparable”, according to one report.

“I’m not all all surprised by this,” Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University in New York, told The Independent. “He has never had to work together with people before, he has always been the king.”

She added: “He doesn’t not seem to understand that the President is a public servant and those people working for you are meant to help make you better.”

The Washington Post said Mr Trump’s fuse had been lit by several factors. He was perturbed when it was reported last that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had called him “a moron”. America’ top diplomat held a press conference to deny reports that he had considered quitting, but Mr Trump was sufficiently thin-skinned to suggest the pair of them take IQ tests and compare the results.

Over the weekend, Mr Trump hit out on Twitter at Republican Senator Bob Corker, who had said the White House had devolved into an “an adult day care centre”.

Mr Trump said of Mr Corker, who has announced he will not seek reelection to his Tennessee seat: “Senator Bob Corker “begged” me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said “NO” and he dropped out”.

The Post said the President had in recent days been displaying flashes of “fury”. It said one confidant of Mr Trump had likened the President to a “whistling teapot”, adding that when he did not blow off steam, “he can turn into a pressure cooker and explode”.

“I think we are in pressure cooker territory,” the person added.

It has fallen to Mr Kelly to try and deal with this fall-out and smooth things over. Yet the atmosphere inside the White House may have already taken its took on the former military officer, who joined the administration in January as head of the Department of Homeland Security.

Last month it was reported that Mr Trump delivered an ear-bashing to Mr Kelly that the former officer said was unprecedented in his 35 years of military service. While Mr Trump, along with his daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were said to be working though Mr Kelly’s lines of authority, the President has become frustrated at the latest attempt to rein him in.

Mr Kelly has on several occasions been photographed looking exasperated at various events, most memorably at a press conference inside Trump Tower when the President clashed with reporters over the violence during a neo-Nazi led rally in Charlottesville.

Now Vanity Fair has said the relationship between Mr Trump and Mr kelly may have become “irreparable”.

One person close to Mr Kelly, said: “He doesn’t love this job. He’s doing it as a duty for the country.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-president-white-house-pressure-cooker-explodes-staff-a7993011.html

Donald Trump Wants to ‘Compare IQ Tests’ With Rex Tillerson After Alleged ‘Moron’ Comment: 'I Can Tell You Who Is Going to Win'.

President Donald Trump is ready to take an IQ test – and not for the fun of it. “I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win,” the president told Forbes magazine in response to the claims that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly called him a “moron.”

“I think it’s fake news,” Trump, 71, said of the accusations. In the interview, which was posted to Forbes’ website Tuesday, October 10, POTUS also responded to the criticism that he has often undermined the secretary of state in tweets. “I’m not undermining,” Trump said. “I think I’m actually strengthening authority.”

These tweets include ones such as: “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man..” followed by “...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done,” which he tweeted on October 1.

Just last week, Tillerson emerged front and center of White House drama after an NBC News story claimed Vice President Mike Pence had to talk the secretary of state out of resigning this summer. The story also included the accusation that Tillerson called the POTUS a "moron."

Though POTUS and Tillerson haven’t always agreed, the former Apprentice host tweeted on October 5 in his defense saying, "Rex Tillerson never threatened to resign. This is Fake News put out by @NBCNews. Low news and reporting standards. No verification from me."

The president is scheduled to have lunch Tuesday, October 10, with both Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Tillerson called for a news conference last week to address the claims, saying he never planned to resign. His spokeswoman also later denied that he had used that language to describe the president.
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/donald-trump-wants-to-compare-iq-tests-with-rex-tillerson-w508033

Donald Trump says tax plan is worth $4,000 to typical household, but doesn't mention it could take eight years.

President Donald Trump said his overhaul of the US tax code would bring back offshore profits providing pay rises worth $4000 to the typical American household, as he made his case to an audience of truckers in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night.

Mr Trump’s tax overhaul has taken on huge importance as other elements of his legislative agenda, such as repealing Obamacare, have become bogged down in Congress.

His tax plans have been criticised for offering tax breaks to the super-rich but Mr Trump insists his proposals would stimulate the economy, creating jobs and driving wages higher.

“It’s a middle class bill. That’s what we’re thinking of. That’s what I want,” he said.

In particular, the plan aims to attract US firms’ profits back from overseas for the benefit of American workers.

“We will totally eliminate the penalty on returning future earnings back to the United States, and we will impose a one-time low tax on money currently parked overseas so it can be brought back home to America where it belongs and where it can do its job,” said Mr Trump at the rally in Harrisburg.

“My council of economic advisers estimates this change along with a lower tax rate will likely give the typical American household a $4,000 pay raise."

He provided no further detail although his council of economic advisers is expected to release further analysis later this week.

In fact, his advisers have already begun floating the $4000 figure but say it will accrue over a period of eight years.

Kevin Hassett, the economist who chairs the council, unveiled the figure in a speech last week in which he talked about what would happen if US companies no longer left their foreign earnings offshore.

“In 2016, US firms kept 71 per cent of foreign-earned profits abroad,” he said. “What would happen if they didn't do that?

“A simple back-of-the envelope calculation suggests US workers in 2016 would have received a raise of nearly 1 per cent.

“What if these firms didn't do that for the next 8 years? The median US household would get a $4,000 real income raise.”

Skeptics also pointed out it requires companies to turn their profits into pay rises for workers.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-says-tax-plan-013058267.html

Donald Trump has state visit to UK downgraded 'and will not be guest of the Queen'.

Discussions of scaled-back trip come after threats of mass protests by opponents of the US President.

Donald Trump is expected to make a scaled-back trip to the UK early next year, which would see him missing out on meeting the Queen.

The US President had been extended the honour of a full state visit after meeting Theresa May earlier this year, however diplomats are reportedly discussing plans for a “working trip” in 2018 where Mr Trump could be asked to open a new embassy in the UK.

The official invitation – which is traditionally reserved for a president’s second term in office – prompted threats of mass protests and boycotts over Mr Trump’s controversial record.

More than 1.8 million people signed a petition against the plans and Commons Speaker John Bercow told MPs that Mr Trump should not be allowed to address Parliament.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also opposed the visit, saying he was “not sure it is appropriate for our Government to roll out the red carpet” for Mr Trump.

The White House had to deny reports over the summer that Mr Trump wanted to delay his visit until he could be sure of a better reception.

In an effort to avoid controversy, Mr Trump’s planned visit will be a more low-key event where he would be a guest of the US ambassador Woody Johnson rather than Buckingham Palace, according to the London Evening Standard.

British and American officials insisted the full visit would still go ahead but refused to comment on claims his first trip to the UK as President would be a more muted affair.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Our position on the state visit has not changed – an offer has been extended and President Trump has accepted.

“Exact dates for President Trump to visit have not yet been arranged.”

A US Embassy spokesperson said: “There are currently no plans for a working-level visit.’’

US, Israel to exit UNESCO over its alleged anti-Israel bias.

PARIS (AP) — The United States announced Thursday it is pulling out of the U.N.'s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform" in the agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit. While the Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, the timing of the State Department's statement was unexpected. The Paris-based agency's executive board is in the midst of choosing a new chief — with Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari leading the heated election heading into Friday's final vote.

Outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova expressed "profound regret" at the U.S. decision and tried to defend UNESCO's reputation. The organization is best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions, but also works to improve education for girls, promote understanding of the Holocaust's horrors, and to defend media freedom.

Bokova called the U.S.'s planned departure a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism. The U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now with "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism," she said.

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. The U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.

In a statement, the State Department said the decision will take effect Dec. 31, 2018, and that the U.S. will seek a "permanent observer" status instead. It cited U.S. belief in "the need for fundamental reform in the organization."

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel also plans to withdraw from the agency, saying it had become a "theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it." Israel has been irked by resolutions that diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and have instead named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

Praising Trump's decision as "brave and moral," Netanyahu said he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare for Israel's withdrawal from the organization in concert with the Americans. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also praised Washington's move as heralding "a new day at the U.N., where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel."

"The United States stands by Israel and is a true leader for change at the U.N," Danon said. "The alliance between our two countries is stronger than ever." U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision and it was not discussed with other countries. The officials were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the issue.

Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called UNESCO's July designation of Hebron's Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as Palestinian territory the latest of many "foolish actions" that had made the agency "a chronic embarrassment."

Haley also criticized UNESCO for "keeping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad on a UNESCO human rights committee even after his murderous crackdown on peaceful protesters" The United States has pulled out of UNESCO before. The Reagan administration did in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. The U.S. rejoined in 2003.

The State Department informed Bokova it intends to stay engaged at UNESCO as a non-member "observer state" on "non-politicized" issues, including the protection of World Heritage sites, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education.

"We will be carefully watching how the organization and the new director-general steers the agency," Charge d'Affaires Chris Hegadorn, the ranking U.S. representative to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. "Ideally, it steers it in way that U.S. interests and UNESCO's mandate will converge."

UNESCO's 58-member executive board plans to select Bokova's successor from among three finalists remaining from the field of seven candidates under consideration at the beginning of the week. Along with al-Kawari, Qatar's former culture minister, the finalists are Audrey Azoulay, a former culture minister in France, and former Egyptian government minister Moushira Khattab. The board's pick then goes to the full UNESCO general assembly next month for final approval.

Iran nuclear deal: Trump decertifies Obama-era agreement and accuses Tehran of spreading 'death and chaos'.

The President's more confrontational strategy toward Iran is likely to complicate relations with European allies.

Donald Trump has struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement – in defiance of other world powers – by choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal.

During a speech at the White House, Mr Trump accused the "fanatical regime" in the Iranian capital of spreading "death, destruction and chaos around the globe" as he again called the nuclear pact "one of the worst" agreements the US has ever entered into.

However, he stopped short of scrapping the agreement altogether, saying he wanted his administration to work with Congress and other nations to address the "deal's many serious flaws".

"In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated," he warned. "It is under continuous review, and our participation can be cancelled by me, as President, at any time."
More at link.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/iran-nuclear-deal-donald-trump-decertifies-agreement-2015-policy-obama-a7999451.html

Donald Trump Just Told A Big ‘Lie’ About His Predecessors, And Was Called Out On It.

US President claimed Obama and others didn’t call families of fallen service personnel.

Donald Trump has claimed wrongly that his predecessors at the White House did not call families of fallen military personnel, and faced an immediate backlash from former Barack Obama aides.

In an impromptu and free-wheeling press conference on Monday, the US President was asked about the four US soldiers killed in Niger last week.

Trump told reporters he planned to call the parents and families of those who were killed. Turning the focus back to himself, he went on:

“The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens - soldiers are killed.

“It’s a very difficult thing. Now it gets to a point where you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest,” he said.

“So the traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them, didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls, I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.”

More at link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-soldiers-obama_uk_59e4fc69e4b02a215b320fa9?ir=UK+Politics

Donald Trump Blames Everyone but Himself for Failed Campaign Promises, in Bizarre Statement.

President Donald Trump blamed John McCain, Republican congressional leadership and just about everyone else in federal government—except himself—for the stalling of his conservative agenda, with no major legislative accomplishments yet to show during his presidency.

As the president was about to host a joint press conference with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday afternoon, he suddenly declared himself free of all blame regarding a number of critical legislative issues, from the failure to overturn Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) to the fact his fledgling tax reform plan could lack the support it needs to pass through Congress.

"We’re not getting the job done," Trump said to reporters who were allowed into the room after he met with his Cabinet. "And I’m not going to blame myself. I’ll be honest. They are not getting the job done."

Trump praised himself for having "great relationships with many senators," and then called out Republican Senator John McCain for his "no" vote on a health care bill that would have gutted the Affordable Care Act.

"We had health care approved and then you had a surprise vote by John McCain," Trump said. "We've had other things happen, and they’re not getting the job done."

The president said he "can understand where Steve Bannon is coming from," alluding to recent interviews in which the former White House chief strategist lambasted the GOP establishment and promised a "season of war" against lawmakers in Washington who aren’t pro-Trump.

"Obamacare is finished, it’s dead, it’s gone," Trump said Monday. "It’s no longer, you shouldn’t even mention, it’s gone. There is no such thing as Obamacare anymore, it’s gone...we're working on some kind of short-term fix prior to Republicans getting together, maybe with some Democrats." More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-blames-everyone-himself-185758120.html

Donald Trump wants Hillary Clinton to run against him in 2020.

In a morning tweet, the President said: “I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, ‘I hope so!’”

Ms Clinton has said she is “done with being a candidate”.

However, she has expressed that she would remain active in national politics, telling CBS in September that she believed “our country’s future is at stake.”

Prior to her 2016 bid for the White House, Ms Clinton ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, eventually losing to Barack Obama.

Following her loss to Mr Trump last year, Ms Clinton mostly disappeared from the public eye. But in recent months, while promoting her new book What Happened, the former senator and Secretary of State has been candid about her thoughts on Mr Trump and the events that transpired during the presidential campaign.

While speaking on Sunday at the Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival, Ms Clinton said she was worried that Mr Trump could in “a moment of pique” launch a nuclear missile. She also accused the President of “picking fights” with North Korea and Iran for the sake of “point scoring.” More at link.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-2020-presidential-election-democrat-opponent-republican-a8003086.html

Donald Trump issues warning to John McCain after senator’s tough speech.

“I’m being very, very nice but at some point I fight back and it won’t be pretty,” Donald Trump said.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a warning shot after Republican Sen. John McCain questioned “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in America’s foreign policy, saying “people have to be careful because at some point I fight back.”

McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent 5½ years in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp and is battling brain cancer, offered a simple response to Trump: “I have faced tougher adversaries.”

Trump said in a radio interview with WMAL in Washington, “I’m being very, very nice but at some point I fight back and it won’t be pretty.” He bemoaned

McCain’s decisive vote this past summer in opposition to a GOP bill to dismantle Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, a move that caused the failure of GOP efforts to repeal and replace “Obamacare.”

In Philadelphia on Monday night, the six-term Republican senator from Arizona received an award for a lifetime of service and sacrifice to the country. In addition to recalling his more than two decades of military service and his imprisonment during the war, McCain took a moment to go a step further than the night’s other speakers, who lamented what many described as a fractured political climate.

“To abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems,” he said, “is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.”     He continued: “We live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil.”     More at link.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/17/donald-trump-vs-john-mccain/

Donald Trump tells slain soldier's widow: 'He knew what he signed up for'.

Donald Trump has been branded "insensitive" after reportedly telling the widow of a soldier killed in northwestern Africa that "he knew what he signed up for".

The US president, who has been criticised for not immediately reaching out to relatives of the four soldiers killed in Niger nearly two weeks ago, telephoned the wife of Army Sgt. La David Johnson on Tuesday to offer his condolences.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson told CNN she was travelling with Myeshia Johnson on the way to Miami International Airport to see his casket arrive home when the president called.

She said Mr Trump told Mrs Johnson: "Well I guess he knew what he signed up for. But when it happens, it hurts anyway."

“They were astonished,” Ms Wilson told the New York Post. “It was almost like saying, 'You signed up to do this, and if you didn’t want to die, shouldn’t have signed up'.”

.@RepWilson, who rode with Sgt. La David Johnson's widow, said she heard part of call with President Trump: "He must've known what he signed up for."pic.twitter.com/7q0nEMFQy1
— Kanisha Jackson (@Kanisha1Jackson) October 18, 2017

The Democratic Congresswoman from Florida said the call lasted about 3-5 minutes and the only words that the widow spoke to Mr Trump were "thank you" at the end.

"It's so insensitive. He should have not have said that. He shouldn't have said it," Ms Wilson told local ABC affiliate, WPLG.

She later tweeted: "Sgt. La David Johnson is a hero. Donald Trump does not possess the character, empathy or grace to be president of the United States."

Mrs Johnson has a two-year-old son, a six-year-old daughter and  is expecting a third child in January.

My heart is broken for the family of La David Johnson. 6 month pregnant 25 year old widow with 2 other kids. No words. Please show her some love and support!pic.twitter.com/X4lvPgVxhK
— Kanisha Jackson (@Kanisha1Jackson) October 18, 2017

Footage showed the casket arriving at the airport, draped in the American flag. Mrs Johnson can be seen leaning over it, her body shaking as she sobbed.

The president has been embroiled in a political fight over his response to the deaths of American soldiers.

Defending his record of contacting relatives of slain American soldiers, he said: “If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn't make calls. A lot of them didn't make calls.”

“I like to call when it's appropriate, when I think I'm able to do it.”

The comment triggered an immediate backlash, with the US President later softening his claim when challenged a second time.

Mr Trump fuelled the row further on Tuesday on Fox News Radio, saying, "You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?"

John Kelly, a Marine general under Obama, is Mr Trump's chief of staff. His son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

A White House official said Mr Obama did not call Mr Kelly after his son's death but did not say whether the former president reached out in some other fashion.

Trump’s Fake Jihad Against the Fake News.

Baby Donald is happy to embrace good reporting when it suits him.

“So much Fake News being put in dying magazines and newspapers,” the leader of the free world tweeted on Tuesday, as his White House denied an anecdote in the New Yorker about a joke he made to Vice President Mike Pence. “Only place worse may be @NBCNews, @CBSNews, @ABC and @CNN. Fiction writers!”

Here’s the thing: Donald Trump has three—sometimes four—minds about “fake news.” In recent years he has proved himself a huge fan of the genre, pinching from the fetid buffet of demonstrably fake news about Obamacare, Barack Obama’s birth certificate, vaccinations, unemployment, terrorism, Ted Cruz’s father and voter fraud.

Many of the original lies Trump has told since becoming president qualify as fake news, such as his claim that the U.S. is the most heavily taxed country in the world, the assertion that CNN’s ratings are down, the idea that nobody but reporters cares about his tax returns or the declaration that he’d signed more legislation in his early months in office than any previous president. No claim short of “the moon is made of green cheese” has been too preposterous for Trump to yodel.

Indeed, ever since Democrats started complaining about the rise of genuinely fake fake news after the election, Trump hasn’t stopped throwing around the term. In December, he began accusing all the top media news outlets—except Fox News Channel, that is—of promulgating fake news. In this revised formulation, fake news was anything Trump didn’t like, anything that made him look bad, anything that threatened him personally or politically, or anything that contradicted him. Unflattering leaks from the intelligence community got the fake news stamp, as did reports connecting him or his campaign to Russia. Critical stories about Ivanka and Donald Jr. fell into the category, too. Anonymously sourced tales about White House chaos? FAKE! Campaign aides taking credit for his electoral victory? Puerto Rico rescue efforts a shambles? Fake, fake. Whenever he failed to find a specific news story to misdiagnose, he can always be relied upon to issue his rat-a-tat condemnation of CNN as fake, fake, fake.

The trouble with Trump’s blanket condemnation of fake news is that it has a few holes in it. It’s not fake news if he likes it or if it delivers findings that damage somebody else. When he needs to make a point, he thinks nothing of favorably citing pieces from news outlets he has repeatedly nailed as “fake.” For instance, when asked earlier this month about the Harvey Weinstein sex harassment scandal—a subject area in which Trump has more than a little exposure—he came close to endorsing the New York Times investigation. “I’ve known Harvey Weinstein for a long time. I’m not at all surprised to see it,” he said to reporters while leaving the White House for a fundraiser. How about similar groping charges against him? Trump backpedaled with his “That’s locker room, that’s locker room” excuse. Donald Jr. was in lockstep with his dad, validating the Times story in a series of tweets.    More at link.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/17/trumps-jihad-fake-news-215722

Trump and the new politics of honoring war dead.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After her Army son died in an armored vehicle rollover in Syria in May, Sheila Murphy says, she got no call or letter from President Donald Trump, even as she waited months for his condolences and wrote him that "some days I don't want to live."

In contrast, Trump called to comfort Eddie and Aldene Lee about 10 days after their Army son was killed in an explosion while on patrol in Iraq in April. "Lovely young man," Trump said, according to Aldene. She thought that was a beautiful word to hear about her boy, "lovely."

Like presidents before him, Trump has made personal contact with some families of the fallen, not all. What's different is that Trump, alone among them, has picked a political fight over who's done better to honor the war dead and their families.

He placed himself at the top of this pantheon, boasting Tuesday that "I think I've called every family of someone who's died" while past presidents didn't place such calls. But The Associated Press found relatives of two soldiers who died overseas during Trump's presidency who said they never received a call or a letter from him, as well as relatives of a third who did not get a call. And proof is plentiful that Barack Obama and George W. Bush — saddled with far more combat casualties than the roughly two dozen so far under Trump, took painstaking steps to write, call or meet bereaved military families.

The subject arose because nearly two weeks passed before Trump called the families of four U.S. soldiers who were killed in Niger nearly two weeks ago. He made the calls Tuesday. Meanwhile, Rep. Frederica Wilson said late Tuesday that Trump told the widow of a slain soldier that he "knew what he signed up for." Early Wednesday, the president called Wilson's version of the conversation a fabrication.

The Florida Democrat said she was in the car with Myeshia Johnson on the way to Miami International Airport to meet the body of Johnson's husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, when Trump called. Wilson says she heard part of the conversation on speakerphone.

When asked by Miami station WPLG if she indeed heard Trump say that she answered: "Yeah, he said that. To me, that is something that you can say in a conversation, but you shouldn't say that to a grieving widow." She added: "That's so insensitive."

Trump took strong issue with that recounting early Wednesday. "Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!" he said on Twitter.

Sgt. Johnson was among four servicemen killed in the Niger ambush. Wilson said that she didn't hear the entire conversation and Myeshia Johnson told her she couldn't remember everything that was said.

The White House didn't immediately comment Trump's delay in publicly discussing the men lost at Niger did not appear to be extraordinary, judging from past examples, but his politicization of the matter is. He went so far Tuesday as to cite the death of chief of staff John Kelly's son in Afghanistan to question whether Obama had properly honored the war dead.

Kelly was a Marine general under Obama when his Marine son Robert died in 2010. "You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?" Trump said on Fox News radio. Democrats and some former government officials were livid, accusing Trump of "inane cruelty" and a "sick game."

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was attacked, said: "I just wish that this commander in chief would stop using Gold Star families as pawns in whatever sick game he's trying to play here."

For their part, Gold Star families, which have lost members in wartime, told AP of acts of intimate kindness from Obama and Bush when those commanders in chief consoled them. Trump initially claimed that only he among presidents made sure to call families. Obama may have done so on occasion, he said, but "other presidents did not call."

He equivocated Tuesday as the record made plain that his characterization was false. "I don't know," he said of past calls. But he said his own practice was to call all families of the war dead. But that hasn't happened:

No White House protocol demands that presidents speak or meet with the families of Americans killed in action — an impossible task in a war's bloodiest stages. But they often do. Altogether some 6,900 Americans have been killed in overseas wars since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the overwhelming majority under Bush and Obama.

Despite the much heavier toll on his watch — more than 800 dead each year from 2004 through 2007 — Bush wrote to all bereaved military families and met or spoke with hundreds if not thousands, said his spokesman, Freddy Ford.

Veterans groups said they had no quarrel with how presidents have recognized the fallen or their families. "I don't think there is any president I know of who hasn't called families," said Rick Weidman, co-founder and executive director of Vietnam Veterans of America. "President Obama called often and President Bush called often. They also made regular visits to Walter Reed and Bethesda Medical Center, going in the evenings and on Saturdays."

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kristen de Groot in Philadelphia, Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City, and Hope Yen and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.