Monday, October 21, 2019
Mick Mulvaney Melts Down Under Brutal Grilling By Fox’s Chris Wallace
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-acting-chief-of-staff-mick-mulvaney-melts-down-under-brutal-grilling-by-foxs-chris-wallace
The two would go back and forth over this issue for a few more minutes, with Wallace repeatedly cornering Mulvaney over his previous comments and the chief of staff flailing away and struggling to present even a laughable defense.
At one point, Wallace asked Mulvaney whether he had offered his resignation to Trump in the wake of the blowback and criticism he received over the press briefing. Mulvaney said the topic was “absolutely not” discussed with the president, adding that he is “very happy working there.”
CNN, meanwhile, reported Sunday that prior to the impeachment crisis that Trump finds himself currently embroiled in, there were internal efforts to push Mulvaney out as acting chief of staff. Those efforts subsided, however, when the push for impeachment heated up in the wake of the Ukraine scandal late last month.
Besides the issues surrounding the Ukraine scandal and impeachment, Wallace also grilled Mulvaney on the president’s sudden reversal on next year’s G7 summit, which Mulvaney announced last week would be held at Trump’s personal property.
Asked by Wallace why the president “caved” to the bipartisan backlash, Mulvaney said Trump was “honestly surprised at the level of pushback,” adding that the president “still considers himself to be in the hospitality business.”
Wallace seized on the “hospitality business” comment and pressed Mulvaney if the president understood why it “looked lousy.” The acting chief of staff's retort: “I think he thinks people think it looks lousy.”
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Pressure Builds on President Trump As New Revelations Emerge About His Dealings with Ukraine
https://time.com/5704385/donald-trump-ukraine-impeachment-mulvaney/
Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, undercut the President’s denial of a quid pro quo when he told reporters that Trump withheld military aid as leverage to push Ukraine to investigate Democrats’ activity during the 2016 election—and then reversed himself hours later. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he contacted Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the president’s behest to talk about Ukraine—and then resigned. And European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland told House investigators that Trump had delegated power over U.S. foreign policy in Ukraine to Giuliani, and added that it was “wrong” to link political requests to actions on Ukraine.
Friday, October 18, 2019
Mark Lawson explores how the story of Rudolf Kastner, one of the most controversial figures to emerge from the Holocaust, has been retold outside Israel.Part I, Mark Lawson explores the retellings of one of the most controversial stories to emerge from the Holocaust
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0739pgh
If You Didn’t Already Think Trump Was Unfit for Office, Syria and Ukraine Should Change Your Mind
https://time.com/5704178/trump-character-unfit-office/
Throughout the 2016 presidential primaries and through the presidential campaign, those of us who were classified as “Never Trump” or “anti-Trump” conservatives repeated the same mantra, time and time again: Character is destiny. A man’s temperament, knowledge, and integrity inevitably shape his conduct. As much as voters may hope that the weight of the office or the influence of advisers can shape or influence a flawed president, those flaws will still burst forth — especially when a man is as headstrong as Donald Trump.
So now Trump’s character has free reign. Just this week we learned that he tried to engineer a jolting surprise meeting (with photographers present to document the moment) between grieving British parents and the American diplomat who killed their son and then fled the country under diplomatic immunity. It’s hard to conceive of a more insensitive idea. And then today we learned that Trump intends to host the 2020 G7 summit at his company’s own property, the Trump Doral resort near Miami. Only a man who cares nothing for reasonable advice (or negative public perception) could engage in such brazen self-dealing.
As US withdraws, Jerusalem spooked by Moscow’s growing control over Middle East
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-us-withdraws-jerusalem-spooked-by-moscows-growing-control-over-middle-east/
On the other hand, Israel must come to terms with the fact that the balance of power in the Middle East has fundamentally changed, and it no longer has an ally with boots on the ground in the vicinity, warned Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US.
“I’m concerned. We have relied for the last 45 years on a Pax Americana that no longer exists. I am not saying that the US won’t come to our assistance [in case of war] but we can’t be certain of it anymore,” he told The Times of Israel. “We have to internalize that that’s the situation.”
The United States is an ally; Russia is not, Oren stressed. “It’s useless for us to pretend that Russia is going to be an ally, but we don’t have to make them enemies either. We can reach a modus vivendi with them.”
Trump's Doral Resort Will Host the G7. That Will Only Raise More Ethical Questions - draining the swamp trump style!
Mulvaney cited the physical layout of the resort, with separate buildings that could hold each country’s delegation, as a major factor in the White House deciding to host the event there. He said that the White House didn’t pick the resort because it may lead to future business that could enrich Trump. “Consider the possibility that Donald Trump’s brand is strong enough as it is,” Mulvaney said. “It is the most recognizable name in the English language and probably in the world.”
'Get Over It.' Trump Tied Ukraine Funding to an Investigation of the DNC, Says Mick Mulvaney
https://time.com/5703826/trump-ukraine-dnc-investigation-mulvaney/
“The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the things he was worried about in corruption with that nation. And that is absolutely appropriate,” Mulvaney told reporters in the White House briefing room. In response to a question about whether the White House told Ukraine that funding will not flow to the unless the investigation into the Democratic server happened as well, Mulvaney said: “We do that all the time with foreign policy.”
Mulvaney confirmed that Trump had also brought up the debunked conspiracy that Ukrainian individuals were involved in the investigation into the Russian hacking of the DNC server in 2016. There was no such involvement. “Did he also mention to me in [the] past the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely,” Mulvaney said of a conversation he had with Trump. “No question about that. But that’s it, and that’s why we held up the money.”
Political influence in foreign policy is “going to happen,” Mulvaney said. “I have news for everybody: Get over it. There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy,” said Mulvaney. “That is going to happen. Elections have consequences, and foreign policy is going to change from the Obama administration to the Trump administration.” One consequence — domestic politics bleeding into Trump’s foreign policy — has now spilled into the open.
The US and Turkey reached a Syrian ceasefire. But what does that mean?
https://www.vox.com/2019/10/17/20919566/turkey-syria-us-ceasefire-erdogan-pence-kurds
According to Pence, Turkey has agreed to a 120-hour (five-day) ceasefire, during which time fighters in the YPG — the main Syrian Kurdish fighting force in the region that has helped the US fight ISIS for several years now — would withdraw from a 20-mile “safe zone” near the border with Turkey. The agreement also requires the YPG to turn over its heavy weaponry and dismantle its fortifications.
In exchange, the United States will not place any more sanctions on Turkey, and if a permanent ceasefire goes into effect, then the US will remove the sanctions and penalties already placed on Turkey for its invasion.
”We got what we wanted. This is not a ceasefire. We [will] only halt our operations,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.
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