Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse

[Michael Scally MD]

THE UNION REPRESENTING nearly 4,000 federal employees working for the U.S. Department of Education filed a complaint this week accusing the agency, run by Betsy DeVos, of union busting.

The complaint, filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority on Tuesday, comes after the Education Department effectively declared itself free from union mandates by imposing upon the agency’s 3,900 staffers a “collective bargaining agreement” that commands no union agreement at all.

The move is a first, even for the boundary-pushing Trump administration. But DeVos has never been known for having positive relations with teachers unions. For decades prior to her joining the Trump administration, she funded politicians dedicated to weakening organized labor and backed school choice advocacy groups that depicted teachers unions as selfish enemies of deserving children.

On Friday, management officials at the Education Department informed their workers’ union, the American Federation of Government Employees Council 252, that they would no longer be bargaining with them. Instead, management issued a 40-page document the department is calling a “collective bargaining agreement.” This unilateral agreement supposedly took effect on Monday. Education Department staffers have been represented by the AFGE since 1982.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Subpoena





WASHINGTON — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has subpoenaed the Trump Organization to turn over documents, including some related to Russia, according to two people briefed on the matter. The order is the first known time that the special counsel demanded documents directly related to President Trump’s businesses, bringing the investigation closer to the president.

The breadth of the subpoena was not clear, nor was it clear why Mr. Mueller issued it instead of simply asking for the documents from the company, an umbrella organization that oversees Mr. Trump’s business ventures. In the subpoena, delivered in recent weeks, Mr. Mueller ordered the Trump Organization to hand over all documents related to Russia and other topics he is investigating, the people said.

The subpoena is the latest indication that the investigation, which Mr. Trump’s lawyers once regularly assured him would be completed by now, will drag on for at least several more months. Word of the subpoena comes as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his investigation to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. Trump’s political activities. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned witnesses, including an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, about the flow of Emirati money into the United S

 

[Michael Scally MD]

In a fundraising speech Wednesday, President Trump admitted once and for all https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/03/14/in-fundraising-speech-trump-says-he-made-up-facts-in-meeting-with-justin-trudeau/?utm_term=.a01bf6d12718 (that he just makes stuff up). The man who has racked up https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/10/president-trump-has-made-more-than-2000-false-or-misleading-claims-over-355-days/?utm_term=.bb2a731bf5f7 (more than 2,000 false and misleading claims) as president said he insisted to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that United States runs a trade deficit with Canada — despite having “no idea” whether that was the case. (Surprise! It's not.)

“I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know,” Trump said. “I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid.”

None of this is hugely surprising. Trump utters way too many falsehoods for it to be a coincidence. And we've seen over and over again — particularly most recently in meetings with lawmakers https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/28/trumps-gun-meeting-went-way-off-the-rails-quickly/ (about guns) and https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/09/we-got-a-glimpse-of-trump-negotiating-today-it-didnt-go-well/ (immigration) — that Trump simply doesn't do his homework beforehand. He generally doesn't seem to have even a cursory understanding of what Congress is up to or about the underlying policies.

But the fact that Trump would make up this particular fact is especially remarkable and ominous.

...

What happens if Trump takes this approach — or the one from the meetings on guns and immigration — to https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/09/trumps-seat-of-his-pants-style-and-lack-of-message-control-loom-over-meeting-with-kim-jong-un/ (his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un)? Can a guy who can't be bothered to understand the basics before talking to foreign leaders and lawmakers do the kind of homework required for very sensitive and complicated negotiations involving nuclear programs? And what if he doesn't even try? What if he decides to wing it, as he did with Trudeau?

Thus far, Trump has shown no signs that he thinks that style isn't working. And apparently, it's still very much a part of his international diplomacy.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

John F. Kelly, his second chief of staff, and Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, are on thin ice, having angered the president by privately saying “no” to the boss too often. White House insiders predict that Mr. Trump could decide to fire one or both of them soon.

Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, and David J. Shulkin, the secretary of veterans affairs, have both embarrassed the president by generating scandalous headlines. Mr. Carson could be axed over an eye-popping $31,000 dining set, and Mr. Shulkin might be replaced over a 10-day, $122,000 European trip with his wife.

And then there’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose original sin — the decision to recuse himself from oversight of the Russia investigation — made him the regular target of presidential ire. The attorney general has threatened to resign at least once, but has more recently indicated his determination to resist Mr. Trump’s obvious desire for him to leave his post at the Justice Department.

Mr. Trump could act as early as Friday to remove one or more of them, though the president is known to enjoy keeping people off kilter.

...

Right now, Mr. Trump is surrounded by cabinet officials and a chief of staff who either have caused him negative headlines, such as Mr. Carson and Mr. Shulkin, or have declined to do what he wants, such as General McMaster, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Sessions.

Contrary to the notion that Mr. Trump is surrounded by sycophants, the president has also tired of staff members who frequently tell him no. Mr. Tillerson disagreed with the president on Iran and North Korea, and Mr. Trump viewed him as disdainful and disloyal. But Mr. Kelly repeatedly staved off efforts to get rid of him.

Mr. Trump grew frustrated with Mr. Kelly and those delays, and also for stalling on the president’s desire for tariffs. The president finally forced the issue a few weeks ago, announcing tariffs on steel and aluminum, and then forcing out Mr. Cohn, who had opposed the policy.

Mr. Trump also grew frustrated last year with Jim Mattis, the defense secretary, for refusing to enact a ban on transgender members of the military. Mr. Mattis essentially ignored Mr. Trump for several weeks, White House officials said, until the president finally went around him and tweeted it. But Mr. Mattis appears to be safe, even when he ignores the president, in part because he is a general who in Mr. Trump’s mind “looks the part” of a military leader.

Mr. Kelly, who is also a former general, has not fared as well.

A few weeks ago, when the scandal surrounding Rob Porter, the staff secretary, exploded into view, Mr. Trump began working the phones to old friends, telling them that he needed his former advisers back and complaining that he was surrounded by people he didn’t know. He told them that Mr. Kelly had badly botched the Porter issue (his language was saltier and unfit for publication, according to several people with knowledge of the calls).

Since then, he has mulled over a number of potential replacements for Mr. Kelly, but he has kept his own counsel about his plans, according to several people close to him.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

He said he was a multimillionaire – an international property developer with a plan to fix America’s cities through radical privatization. He felt that Donald Trump’s administration was where he was meant to work.

“It was a natural fit,” Naved Jafry said in an interview. Citing connections across the military, business and academia, he said: “I bring, and draw on, experiences from different areas of knowledge, like a polymath.”

Jafry was contracted to work for Trump’s housing and urban development department (Hud). His government email signature said his title was senior adviser. Jafry said he used his role to advocate for “microcities”, where managers privately set their own laws and taxes away from central government control.

But those plans are now stalled. Jafry, 38, said he had resigned from his position with Hud after the Guardian asked him to explain multiple allegations of fraud as well as exaggerations in his biography.

Jafry, who has also been known by Jafari and Jafri, apologised for inflating his military record but denied making other false claims. He said he resigned because the Guardian’s questions tarnished his reputation inside Hud.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

If H.R. McMaster is on his way out of the White House, he’s going out with two middle fingers raised and pointed in the direction of the Kremlin.

“Russia is also complicit in [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad’s atrocities,” McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, said Thursday during an appearance at a discussion of the Syrian civil war held at the U.S. Holocaust memorial museum.

His voice raised, McMaster used harsher and more moralistic language than his boss does in characterizing Russia’s geopolitical influence, and unequivocally blamed the Kremlin for “the abhorrent nerve agent attack” on a former double agent, Sergei Skripal, and proposed “serious political and economic consequences” for Russian aggression.

“We believe that Russia was responsible for this attack, and we call on the Russian government to answer all questions related to this incident, and to provide full information to the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]. No nation—Russia, China, or anybody else, any other nation—should be using chemical weapons and nerve agents,” McMaster said, following what critics have called https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-united-kingdoms-decision-expel-russian-diplomats/ casting blame on Moscow for the attack on Skripal.

McMaster’s brief remarks, lasting under 20 minutes, came as the Army three-star general is the subject of furious speculation that Trump will soon fire him and install hardliner ex-ambassador John Bolton atop the National Security Council. His capstone achievement thus far has been a Russia-and-China-centric security strategy that has been conspicuously out of step with Trump’s rhetoric and actions toward both countries.

“Russia has done nothing to encourage Assad to ensure delivery of humanitarian aid, to respect ceasefires and de-escalation agreements or to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254’s call for a U.N.-monitored political process,” McMaster said.

Those remarks suggested that Trump got suckered during his 2017 rounds of personal diplomacy with Vladimir Putin. In November, Trump and Putin issued a joint statement firmly pledging support for what is known as the 2254 Process—though critics considered it a cover for Moscow to continue ensuring support for its client, Assad—that “took note” of Assad’s “recent commitment to the Geneva process and constitutional reform and elections as called for under UNSCR 2254.” And that followed July’s acquiescence from Trump and just-ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signing onto a Russia-driven process centered around achieving ceasefires that McMaster said Russia was not respecting.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Vanessa Trump filed for divorce against her husband Donald Trump Jr. late Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The president’s daughter-in-law filed for an uncontested proceeding, meaning she’s not expected a legal battle over custody of the couple’s five children or their assets.

They were married in 2005.

The Post first reported that they were struggling with marital problems related to Don Jr.’s travels and controversial tweets.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Vanessa Trump filed for divorce against her husband Donald Trump Jr. late Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The president’s daughter-in-law filed for an uncontested proceeding, meaning she’s not expected a legal battle over custody of the couple’s five children or their assets.

They were married in 2005.

The Post first reported that they were struggling with marital problems related to Don Jr.’s travels and controversial tweets.

[Vanessa should talk to Mueller!!!]

Like father, like son.

Donald Trump Jr.'s wife has filed for divorce.

Vanessa Trump married Trump Jr. in 2005. They have five children.

The reasons for the divorce filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court were not clear. The divorce was listed as "uncontested," indicating the split was amicable. Trump Jr. has been traveling extensively while running his father's business with his brother, Eric.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Support for authoritarian leadership is concentrating in the Republican Party, and its elites are doing little to push back. In our highly polarized two-party system, this poses the risk that future partisan conflict could become a battle over democracy itself.

Mr. Trump’s illiberal style of politics fits the authoritarian leanings of a significant portion of his electoral base. Support for a “strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with Congress or elections” is much higher among Trump primary voters (32 percent) than among voters for any other primary candidate, Republican or Democrat.

Even more authoritarian are the voters who switched from Barack Obama in 2012 to Mr. Trump in 2016. Forty-five percent of them support a “strong leader,” and 45 percent don’t agree that “democracy is preferable to any other kind of government.”

The supporters of authoritarian leadership tend to be the least educated and the most culturally conservative. They’re much more likely to say that being of European heritage is very important to being an American, and that we should increase surveillance of mosques and single out Muslims for airport screenings.

To the extent that this mix of attitudes is a defining feature of Trumpism, and Trumpism is taking over the Republican Party, this presents a serious challenge to American democracy. Many Americans identify as Republicans, and most of the time, voters look to their party leaders to tell them what they should think about the issues.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

IDES OF MARCH: A day on the Roman calendar — March 15th — marking the assassination of its tyrant Julius Caesar and a turning point in history.

IDES OF MUELLER: A day on the American calendar — March 15th — marking the subpoena of Trump’s business and a turning point in history.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has owned up to making things up.

For a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump was by his own admission unprepared — deficient in the fundamentals of the Canada-U.S. trade relationship that he’d been railing about since the campaign.

He insisted to Trudeau that the U.S. was running a trade deficit with Canada, a statement contradicted by U.S. government statistics. He was winging it, he confided to donors at a private Missouri political fundraiser Wednesday night.

“I didn’t even know,” he said. “I had no idea.”

Others might be mortified at being caught short. Not this president.

For Trump the showman, the episode illustrated his skill at improvisation. Still, it was a rare admission that he will say things without knowing if they are true.

Trump’s impulse to replace fact with fiction has defined him as a politician and as a businessman before that.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

The mood inside the White House in recent days has verged on mania, as Trump increasingly keeps his own counsel and senior aides struggle to determine the gradations between rumor and truth. At times, they say, they are anxious and nervous, wondering what each new headline may mean for them personally.

But in other moments, they appear almost as characters in an absurdist farce — openly joking about whose career might end with the next presidential tweet. White House officials have begun betting about which staffer will be ousted next, though few, if any, have much reliable information about what is actually going on.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

For a week, the world has waited: When would “60 Minutes” air its interview with porn star Stormy Daniels alleging an affair with President Trump? CBS has been silent. Now there is a planned date, March 25, according to two people familiar with the timing.

Daniels’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, heightened the suspense. After Daniels sat for an interview with news anchor Anderson Cooper, the lawyer tweeted a photo of the three of them, along with the Twitter handle @60Minutes — teasing a tell-all from the woman who has been silenced for more than a year by Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen.