Your Daily Dose of Trump and His Administration News
11/13
- The Trump Organization agreed to pay nearly $300,000 to the government of Scotland following an unsuccessful attempt by the company to block construction of an offshore wind farm within view of one of the organization’s golf courses.
- Jared Kushner and other senior Trump administration officials are planning to set up webcams to live-stream construction of Trump’s border wall, going against objections from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. The Army Corps and CBP have told Kushner that construction contractors do not want their proprietary techniques visible to competitors.
- Mina Chang, a senior Trump admin. official, has embellished her resume with misleading claims about her professional background, raising questions about her qualifications to hold a top position at the US State Department.
- Trump has reportedly been threatening to fire acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney for weeks over recent missteps amid the House’s impeachment investigation.
- Trump has complained about Acting White House Chief of Staff Mulvaney’s appearance at an Oct. 17 press conference in which he admitted military aid to Ukraine was withheld to pressure Kyiv to launch investigations into alleged 2016 election meddling and former Vice President Joe Biden. Senior aides have reportedly advised that firing Mulvaney at such a pivotal moment during the House’s impeachment inquiry could be risky, particularly given Mulvaney’s role in the decision to temporarily freeze the aid and the chaos that would ensue in trying to find a replacement for him.
- Ignoring bi-partisan requests to not do so, Trump hosted Turkish President Erdogan at the White House. Several GOP senators were invited for the unusual meeting with Erdoğan to “clear the air.”
- During Erdogan/Trump meeting, Turkish forces launched fierce attacks on predominantly Christian town of Til Temir, causing massive displacement of the residents, in clear violation of the cease-fire agreement.
- In a private speech to Morgan Stanley’s largest hedge fund clients,Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton said that the president made a foreign policy decision in Turkey based on his own business interests. Bolton said he believes there is a personal or business relationship dictating Trump’s position on Turkey because none of his advisers are aligned with him on the issue.
- Trump Tweeted that William Taylor and George Kent, the public witnesses in the House impeachment inquiry, are “Never Trumpers.” They both denied the claim while under oath.
- Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent and United States Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor testified in the first publicly aired impeachment hearing.
NOTE: For a recap of the day’s Impeachment report, visit The Hill. There is just too much to include here and their reporting is unbiased. http://bit.ly/2pfOW8B
The Past 24 Hours Or So 