Your Daily Dose of Trump and His Administration News
- Johnny McEntee, current head of the presidential personnel office, gathered White House liaisons from Cabinet agencies and asked for them to identify political appointees across the federal government who are thought to be politically at odds with the president. According to sources, Trump gave McEntee the green light to oust the “bad people” and “deep state.” Additionally, McEntee told the staffers that those identified as “anti-Trump” would no longer receive promotions and would be moved around the agencies.
- President Donald Trump’s new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department.
In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid, according to records and interviews. Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians.
- President Donald Trump has hired Julia Nesheiwat, Florida’s chief resilience officer, to be his new homeland security adviser, according to an administration official and another person familiar with the matter. Nesheiwat joining the White House means she again will work for Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security adviser. The two previously worked together at the State Department.
- White House insiders allege in a new report that President Trump has directly called for a book by his former national security adviser John Bolton not to be published before the November election, calling Bolton “a traitor” and his book material classified.
- Trump Tweeted in all caps, “IF OUR FORMALLY TARGETED FARMERS NEED ADDITIONAL AID UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE TRADE DEALS WITH CHINA, MEXICO, CANADA AND OTHERS FULLY KICK IN, THAT AID WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, PAID FOR OUT OF THE MASSIVE TARIFF MONEY COMING INTO THE USA!”
NOTE: China’s government and companies in China do not pay tariffs. Tariffs are a tax on imports. They are paid by U.S.-registered firms to U.S. customs for the goods they import into the United States. Importers pass the costs of tariffs on to customers by raising their prices. U.S. consumers foot much of the bill through rising prices.
- The White House will soon ask Congress for emergency funds to fight the coronavirus outbreak, after weeks of hesitation by the administration to press for additional funding.However, the amount could be significantly lower than some public health officials have argued is necessary — potentially as little as $1 billion, said two individuals, which could be rapidly exhausted by development of potential vaccines, widespread lab tests and numerous other investments.
- National security adviser Robert O’Brien is rejecting reports that the U.S. intelligence community believes Russia is interfering in the 2020 presidential election with the goal of reelecting President Trump. “I haven’t seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump reelected,” O’Brien said in an interview with ABC “This Week.” “I think this is the same old story that we’ve heard before… We’ve been very tough on Russia and we’ve been great on election security. So I think it’s a non-story.”
- President Trump grew enraged with senior advisers this week when 14 Americans who had tested positive for the coronavirus returned to the U.S. after he had been granted assurances that infected patients would remain in quarantine overseas.
Trump and his coronavirus task force were told last weekend that Americans who had been in quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise liner, where the virus had spread, would be brought home, but that those who had symptoms would remain in Japan. However, the administration ultimately decided to bring back the 14 Americans who tested positive for the virus and place them in isolation without telling the president.
- G20 diplomats claim that the U.S. is opposed to the mention of climate change among global financial leaders after a joint statement revealed the G20 could include the U.S. administration’s position on the issue as a risk factor for economic growth. Some G20 ministers said the U.S. was reluctant to accept language on climate change as a real danger to the economy
- Senior Trump campaign officials lobbied the nonpartisan presidential debate commission over the makeup of its board of directors and its moderator choices, pushing for a process they deemed as “fair” and warning that the president may not participate if he is not satisfied.
- Donald Trump Jr has been granted the right to hunt a grizzly bear in northwestern Alaska near the Bering Sea town of Nome. The son of US President Donald Trump was one of three people who applied for 27 spots for non-resident hunters targeting grizzlies in a designated region of northwestern Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, said Eddie Grasser, the wildlife conservation director for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The Past 24 Hours Or So 