Trump 41: Waiting For My Impeachment

[fraurosena]

His disgusting misogyny is irrepressible.

 

[fraurosena]

Trump’s unhinged Fox Business interview illustrates how Fox News normalizes Trump

[tweets with videos of the exchange are embedded in the quote; if you click on the first one you'll be linked to the whole thread of them]

Quote

On Wednesday morning, hours after news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller will testify before Congress in a public setting on July 17, President Donald Trump called in to Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Business show for a lengthy phone interview that was especially unhinged, even by his standards.

It was a surreal affair from start to finish. But even during its wildest moments, Bartiromo pretended to understand what Trump was talking about and acted as though he was making profound points. In that respect, it illustrated how Trump-friendly media — Fox News and Fox Business in particular — normalize an obviously abnormal president.

The tone was set immediately, as Trump conspiratorially ranted about “people [from the FBI] spying on my campaign” over Bartiromo’s attempts to get a question in.

Bartiromo, perhaps cognizant that Fox Business is ostensibly a business network, tried to steer things into a discussion of the administration’s ongoing trade negotiations with China, but Trump instead made a series of hyperbolic and false statements, including his familiar mischaracterization of how tariffs work.

“Europe treats us worse than China,” Trump said. “Europe is — you know, look, I come from Europe [Trump is actually from Queens, New York]. We come — you come from Europe, okay, you’re of the European nations. European nations were set up in order to take advantage of the United States.”

He attacked the trade policies of both China and the European Union, but he also sounded off on Vietnam, which he described as “almost the single worst abuser of everybody.” He indicated he’s considering levying tariffs on Vietnamese goods.

But Trump’s attacks weren’t limited to foreign governments. One day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a speech in which he stressed the central bank’s independence, Trump — who has been angry with his handpicked chair for not cutting interest rates — trashed him.

“Here’s a guy — nobody ever heard of him before. And now, I made him, and he wants to show how tough he is, okay. Let him show how tough he is. He’s a — he’s a — he’s not doing a good job,” Trump said.

“I think the media got it wrong the other day when they basically said you said you wanted to demote him,” Bartiromo replied, ignoring Trump’s schoolyard taunts.

Trump also said the federal government is considering suing Google and Facebook over his misguided concerns about alleged censorship of conservatives.

“Look, we should be suing Google and Facebook and all that, which, perhaps we will,” he said, adding later, “They make it very hard for people to join me on Twitter ... I’m much hotter now than I was a number of months ago, okay, but all of a sudden, it stopped.”

Toward the end, the conversation turned to Mueller’s forthcoming testimony. Trump, clearly angered, yelled into the phone about alleged crimes he thinks Mueller committed during the course of his investigation, and again wouldn’t let Bartiromo get a question in.

Bartiromo eventually did manage to ask Trump a question about the House passing a $4.5 billion funding bill to improve conditions for migrant children who are being housed in facilities near the border. But despite public outcry this week over reports that children are being denied access to soap and blankets — not to mention the fact that the administration had requested the supplemental funds — Trump indicated he may veto the bill because it doesn’t contain money for his border wall.

“I’m not happy with it because there’s no money for protection,” Trump said. “It’s like we’re running hospitals over there now.”

He then immediately turned to baselessly blaming Obama for his own administration’s harsh immigration policies. Bartiromo, as she and other Fox News personalities are wont to do, made no effort to push back on Trump’s obviously false claims. But the look on her face after the interview ended seemed to speak volumes.

Shortly after the interview ended, Bartiromo appeared on Fox News and pretended as though Trump’s performance was normal.

”The president is who is he, and that’s why he has his base and the loyal supporters that he has,” she said. “He’s not afraid to say — to tell it the way it is. And he was very straightforward and I think that’s why people like him.”

The Fox News host interviewing Bartiromo, Trace Gallagher, ended the segment by commending her for the “exceptional” conversation with the president.

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

A good one from Dana Milbank: "Trump demands subservience and gets incompetence"

Spoiler

Can’t anybody here play this game?

The Trump administration, if you haven’t noticed, is undergoing one of its frequent paroxysms of incompetence.

On the border, the administration holds hundreds of migrant children in deplorable conditions: filthy, frightened and hungry. The president ordered and then called off a massive immigration raid, and, in the middle of the chaos, the administration’s top border security official resigned Tuesday. 

Overseas, the administration is stumbling toward war with Iran, ordering and then canceling an attack. Iran on Tuesday said the White House is “afflicted by mental retardation,” and Trump responded by threatening Iran with “obliteration.”

Here in Washington, Trump just appointed a new press secretary for the third time and a White House communications director for the seventh time. He refuses to say whether he has confidence in his FBI director, his third, and he’s publicly feuding with the Federal Reserve chairman he appointed over whether Trump can fire him. Meantime, Trump is defying a Trump-appointed watchdog who called for the firing of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for illegal political activities, and he’s brushing off the latest credible accusation of sexual misconduct by saying the accuser is “not my type.” And Trump’s protocol chief is quitting on the eve of the Group of 20 summit, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, amid allegations that he carried a whip in the office. 

The chaos takes on many forms, but most of it stems from a single cause: Trump’s determination to run the country like “The Apprentice.” 

The common thread to the mayhem and bungling is Trump’s insistence on staffing his government with officials serving in temporary, “acting” roles at the pleasure of the president and without the stature or protection of Senate confirmation. This allows Trump to demand absolute subservience from appointees. Because he can replace them at will, they don’t contradict him. But this tentative status also means they lack authority within their agencies and the stature to stand up to Trump when he’s wrong. 

It’s no mere coincidence that the border debacle is the work of Trump’s Homeland Security Department, where every major border- and immigration-related agency is led by an “acting” official. Trump’s acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, John Sanders, just resigned after only two months on the job. The Post’s Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey report that he will be replaced by the current acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mark Morgan (who got the job after praising Trump’s policies on Fox News). Morgan, in turn, has only been on the job for a couple of months since Trump fired yet another acting director of ICE. Trump had also ousted his DHS secretary and his head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and he has tabbed an “immigration czar” who has not yet accepted the job.  

It’s no mere coincidence, either, that the Iran debacle is occurring at a time when the Pentagon has been leaderless since Jim Mattis resigned as defense secretary in December. Patrick Shanahan had been the longest-serving “acting” defense secretary in history until last week, when Trump named another acting secretary, Mark Esper. Both men were reportedly with Trump when he ordered the Iran attack, which he later canceled after learning about possible casualties. It’s hard to imagine Trump ordering up a military attack on Mattis’s watch without first getting a casualty estimate. 

And it’s no mere coincidence that the man at the fulcrum of chaotic White House decision-making, chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, also serves in “acting” status. Politico’s Nancy Cook reports that Trump is tiring of Mulvaney (he had the nerve to cough during a Trump TV interview), though he might not yet replace him with a fourth chief of staff, because he likes Mulvaney’s “hands-off approach” to Trump’s “whims and decision-making style.” If he weren’t “hands-off,” he’d be fired. 

Trump is unabashed in his preference for this “Apprentice”-style, “you’re fired” leadership. It’s a theme of a new book about Trump’s Cabinet, “The Best People,” by Yahoo News national correspondent Alexander Nazaryan. Of his fondness for acting officials, Trump told Nazaryan: “It gives me a lot of leeway. It gives me great flexibility. I do like it. It’s such a big deal to get people approved nowadays. . . . We have actings, and we’re seeing how we like them.” 

In other words, the administration is run by people on perpetual tryout, perpetual probation, unable to make long-term plans or to command the respect of those they (nominally) lead. The Federal Aviation Administration, which botched its handling of the Boeing 737 Max crashes, has been led by acting officials. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which bungled the recall of Fisher-Price’s Rock ’n Play bassinet, has been run by an acting chairwoman. (She announced last week she will step down at the end of her term in October.)

Now, Trump’s “actings” are causing babies to go hungry, and they may soon bumble us into war with Iran. But that’s okay, because Trump likes the “flexibility.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Add this to the "you couldn't make this up" pile: "Did Trump just joke about John McCain’s death?"

Spoiler

President Trump alluded Wednesday to his former Senate Republican critics having gone on to “greener pastures — or perhaps far less green pastures.” And given his history with the late senator John McCain, it wasn’t difficult to conclude that he was referring to something wholly inappropriate.

But was he?

First, here’s Trump’s full quote, from an appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition: “We needed 60 votes, and we had 51 votes. And sometimes, you know, we had a little hard time with a couple of them, right? Fortunately, they’re gone now. They’ve gone on to greener pastures — or perhaps far less green pastures. But they’re gone. They’re gone, Bill. I’m very happy they’re gone.”

After plenty of reporters connected the dots with McCain (R-Ariz.), CNN’s Daniel Dale cautioned against assuming that. He noted that Trump has occasionally suggested that his critics have paid a professional price — including in their post-Senate careers.

This is a valid point. Back in January, Trump suggested that former senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) was running into trouble after a retirement he admitted was due to his Trump criticisms making it hard to win renomination in Trump’s GOP. “So Jeff Flake is now selling real estate, or whatever he’s doing,” Trump said. “He’ll probably go to work for CNN. That’s my prediction.”

Trump also suggested at the time that former senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) forfeited a safe Senate seat, though he didn’t so directly refer to his post-Senate employment. “Bob Corker was going to be a senator for another 20 years,” Trump said. “And then, for some reason, he hit me because he thought it was going to be good publicity. It didn’t work out too well.”

Beyond Flake and Corker, about the only senators this comment could have referenced would be McCain and former senator Dean Heller (R-Nev.). Heller is another Senate Republican whom Trump has accused of being insufficiently supportive of his agenda and paying a price for it. Trump also told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the reason he didn’t nominate Heller for interior secretary was that Heller declined to say whether he had voted for him in 2016 — another possible allusion to his former critics finding employment tougher after leaving the Senate.

But also consider this: Heller and Flake were replaced by Democrats. Is Trump really happier to have those two votes going to Democrats, rather than staying in the hands of Republicans with consistent conservative records who occasionally criticized him?

At this point in his speech, Trump seemed to be off-script, and it’s possible he didn’t put a lot of thought into these remarks. But logically, it seems likely he would be happier that Corker and McCain are gone from the Senate, given they were replaced by other Republicans who are less likely to rock the boat.

It’s also important to note Trump’s track record here. Since McCain’s death, Trump has regularly said he wasn’t a fan of McCain’s, attacked a book he wrote (it “bombed”), claimed the McCain family didn’t thank him for his state funeral, suggested that those who tried to obscure the USS John S. McCain (named for McCain’s father) from view during his event had good intentions and said that there were “stains” on his record. All of this, of course, came after Trump suggested in 2016 that McCain wasn’t a war hero. Trump has been fixated on McCain more than any of these former senators, so it’s difficult to believe McCain wouldn’t cross his mind when he’s speaking in this context.

Trump also has a habit of using plausible deniability to his advantage. He often walks right up to the edge of saying something extremely offensive without directly saying it, and then allows his supporters to connect the dots. Then, when his critics connect those same dots, he claims victimhood.

It’s impossible to say with certainty that Trump’s comment was about McCain, but it’s hardly far-fetched. And it seems quite possible it’s the impression he intended to leave and the controversy he wanted.

Even if it wasn't about McCain, and "just" about other former rivals, it's still ugly.

[GreyhoundFan]

ETTD: "Ex-Trump partner says affiliation with failed projects hurt his reputation and cost him millions"

Spoiler

A businessman working with the Trump organization as it sought to expand into the former Soviet Union told congressional investigators this week that he suffered personal and financial costs as a consequence of his work with the president and his associates.

Giorgi Rtskhiladze, a native of Georgia who is a U.S. citizen, was quizzed Tuesday by the House Intelligence Committee’s staff during a day-long closed-door interview about his role in several Trump projects, including his interest in a short-lived Trump Tower Moscow development in 2015.

Questions about those projects probably will be raised publicly next month when the former special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, appears before the Intelligence Committee. Its chairman, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), has said he sees Trump’s potentially lucrative projects in Russia as “a counterintelligence problem of the first order,” noting that Mueller’s inquiry had a counterintelligence component but that much of the work in that field was not included in his final report.

“What were those findings? What were the risks? Have those risks been addressed? Do those risks involve people that got security clearances by dint of nepotism? Are there still threats or compromises that we should be aware of that we need to take steps to mitigate? Those are some of the more important questions we have,” Schiff said during a recent appearance at the National Press Club, reminding his audience about the potential compromise that could be associated with a presidential candidate who actively seeks to expand his fortune overseas.

In an interview following his appearance on Capitol Hill, Rtskhiladze presented an alternative view, noting that seemingly lucrative Trump projects overseas were problematic, in part, because they mixed business with politics.

“I am collateral damage,” he said.

“Looking at my situation and my partners’ situation since Donald Trump became president — unfortunately we see nothing but losses,” Rtskhiladze said, describing the collapse of a planned Trump Tower project in his native Georgia and reputational harm that resulted from efforts to be helpful to Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Rtzskhiladze was a footnote in the Mueller report, which mentioned his connection to video tapes reportedly circulating in Moscow and a text message he sent to Cohen in October 2016, shortly before the election. The text said Rtskhiladze had “stopped the flow of some tapes from Russia,” a presumed reference to reports of material that might be embarrassing to then-candidate Trump.

Rtskhiladze disputed the Mueller report’s characterization of his message and said he was incensed that the report referred to him as a Russian.

Cohen told lawmakers earlier this year that he was part of an effort to chase down rumored tapes of Trump. He said, however, that he had no knowledge any exist.

Rtskhiladze said the footnote in Mueller’s report included only excerpts of his texts and failed to make clear that Rtskhiladze thought the tapes were fake.

“It was important to tell the committee that Michael Cohen knew exactly what I was talking about,” Rtskhiladze said, noting he had told Cohen that video recordings were the subject of gossip and “there was nothing to these tapes.”

He said the period since Trump’s election has provided him with a grim education on what can go wrong when politics and business become intertwined.

“We had no idea what would happen if a private business person who’s well known in the world becomes president,” he said, adding that he and his partners lost millions since they started worked on a proposed Trump Tower in Georgia in 2010.

He said that he was quizzed extensively by the Intelligence Committee staff about his decade of experience working with Trump. He told his interviewers that Trump’s decision to pull out of the Georgia project after the election left him angry. He said he bears no ill will toward the president, adding, “I wish him well in his very important job.”

He said he believed that, throughout the inquiry, he had to stay focused on his discussions with Trump. “Without him,” Rtskhiladze said, “there was no decision made, ever.”

 

[AmazonGrace]

Man not smart don't need no fucking plan 

 

[Howl]

Leaving this without much comment because, JFC, it perfectly sums up where we're at: 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because everything must be corrupt under this sham administration: "July 4 firework donor met with Trump on tariffs ahead of donation"

Spoiler

The CEO of America’s largest consumer fireworks retailer spoke with President Donald Trump on Chinese tariffs in a private meeting just weeks before donating $750,000 worth of fireworks for the “Salute to America” July 4 show on the National Mall.

Phantom Fireworks boss Bruce Zoldan made his case to Trump in a private May 22 meeting with other business executives in Washington.

In a statement to WTOP, Zoldan confirmed the meeting and said he “did not specifically discuss fireworks or address the topic of fireworks and tariffs.”

He added, “I met the president with a group of businessmen who lead a variety of industries, and while tariffs were discussed in general, we did not equate the conversation to a specific industry. Discussions about Phantom and Grucci’s donation to this year’s Fourth of July performance commenced two months in advance of anything relating to tariffs.”

Fireworks companies say tariffs in the escalating trade war with China will make fireworks more expensive for consumers, local and federal agencies. They say their products can’t be easily produced outside of China, mostly due to stricter U.S. regulations on the volatile chemicals that go into them.

The president “knows that fireworks are loved by his supporters and most Americans on the Fourth of July,” Zoldan told Bloomberg, which first reported the story.

He also told Bloomberg that the industry would lose several smaller companies and that larger businesses would be forced to fire employees as profits decline.

Zoldan told WTOP this week that there was nothing political behind the donation.

“The Phantom Fireworks family and the [Fireworks by] Grucci family are thrilled and honored to be a part of this. I know it’ll be somewhat controversial, I know that there will be some media that will play this out as political,” he said.

“When I said that people in my neighborhood came to watch the fireworks show at our house … We were watching fireworks, and everybody was not talking politics. They were talking America’s birthday, the Fourth of July, and that’s why we’re doing this.”

In years past, July 4 celebrations in Washington were handled by Garden State Fireworks, who are still contributing to the 2019 show alongside Phantom and Grucci.

This year’s Fourth of July celebrations won’t be hit by Trump’s import taxes, but the pyrotechnics industry isn’t the only one that wants Trump to back off from Chinese tariffs, and economic experts have been sounding the alarm.

Tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports amount to potentially $190 billion a year in new taxes — paid by U.S. importers and typically passed on to consumers.

For American households, this means higher prices on fruits and vegetables, autos, electronic components and other necessities. What’s more, exporters, especially farmers, can expect to suffer retaliation when China and Mexico hit back with tariffs or other sanctions on exports from the United States.

The tariffs inflict other damage that is harder to measure. They generate uncertainty for American businesses over where to buy supplies, sell goods or situate factories and offices. And they rattle investors and undercut consumer and business confidence.

Researchers at investment bank UBS calculate that a 25% tariff on all Chinese imports would shave a full percentage point from U.S. growth over the next year. The economy grew 2.9% in 2018 and will likely be weaker for 2019. Add a 25% tax on Mexican goods, they say, and the United States could tumble into recession for the first time since 2009.

The Federal Reserve has taken notice. Chairman Jerome Powell made clear this week that the Fed is prepared intervene, likely by lowering interest rates, if the trade wars were deemed to threaten the expansion.

Still, it’s far from sure that Trump’s trade conflicts, even if they escalate, will imperil the economy. Pinelopi Goldberg chief economist of the World Bank, and economists Pablo Fajgelbaum of UCLA, Patrick Kennedy of the University of California, Berkeley, and Amit Khandelwal of Columbia University, calculated that the economic loss from the trade wars last year amounted a minuscule 0.04% of gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output. (Their figure doesn’t include the latest tariff threats.)

One reason is that trade accounts for a surprisingly small portion of the economy. Exports and imports combined equal just 27% of U.S. gross domestic products, the World Bank calculates. The share is lower in only seven other countries, none of them an industrial power like the U.S.

Yet despite its modest economic role, trade punches above its weight in American political discourse. Consider the revamped version of the politically contentious North American Free Trade Agreement that the U.S. negotiated last year with Canada and Mexico, one of Trump’s policy achievements. Trump said the new pact — the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — would create jobs and restore America’s status as “a manufacturing powerhouse” by drawing factories back to the U.S. from low-wage Mexico.

But the independent U.S. International Trade Commission analyzed the new agreement and concluded that it would boost the economy by just $68 billion and add 176,000 jobs over six years — negligible gains in a $21 trillion economy and a job market exceeding 150 million people.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

The orange toxic megacolon fit right in with his buddies:

 

[Smash!]

The orange toxic megacolon fit right in with his buddies:
 

Not surprising, they‘re one of a kind.

[fraurosena]

On 6/27/2019 at 1:21 PM, Howl said:

Leaving this without much comment because, JFC, it perfectly sums up where we're at: 

 

@Howl, it turns out that Trump actually did tell Putin not to meddle with the elections... sarcastically. And only after journalists asked him about it.

Just look at the the smirk on Putin's face when he does...

Edited June 28, 2019 by fraurosena
changing to better footage and subtitled video

[fraurosena]

Cue tweet attack in three.... two.... one....

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump hotel in Washington charged Secret Service $200,000 in president's first year"

Spoiler

During the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, the Trump International Hotel in Washington charged the Secret Service more than $200,000 in taxpayer money, including a bill topping $30,000 for two days of use, according to expense documents obtained by NBC News.

The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request covering Secret Service expenditures, detail money the agency spent at the property from September 2016 to February 2018, which came to a total of $215,254.

While the nature of the charges were not disclosed in the documents, the hotel five blocks from the White House has become a go-to venue for Trump and his supporters for various events, including a fundraiser the president attended Tuesday for his re-election campaign.

These type of events inevitably require Secret Service detail and heavy use of the property and food services to accommodate and feed personnel.

The agency paid $33,638 for unspecified charges over two days in June, which coincided with Trump's first re-election campaign fundraiser. Guests paid $35,000 a plate, according to The Washington Post.

Other charges paid out by the Secret Service include a bill for $14,900 for two days in June 2017 and another for $11,475 for two days the next month, according to the documents obtained by NBC News.

The Secret Service said in a statement Wednesday that it could not discuss costs or resources used to carry out its work.

Trump’s decision to patronize his own property while holding office has raised red flags not just around an ethical conflict of interest, but also what some say is a violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars federal officials from accepting benefits from foreign or state governments without congressional approval.

Trump's lawyers deny that the president has violated the emoluments clause, contending that the constitutional provision only bars compensation made in connection with services provided in his official capacity with a foreign or domestic government.

Although Trump put his business holdings into a trust for the duration of his tenure in office, he still stands to gain from profits brought in by his various enterprises, including his hotel in Washington. According to Trump's financial disclosure forms, the hotel generated revenue of over $40.8 million in 2018, up from $40.4 million in 2017.

The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment by NBC News.

In addition to the Secret Service, several other federal agencies have incurred considerable expenses at Trump International Hotel.

After sending FOIA requests to more than 70 government agencies, NBC News reported last August that almost $56,000 in taxpayer dollars was spent at the hotel between 2016 and 2017, more than $29,000 of which was spent by the Department of Defense. Almost $12,000 was spent by the Department of Agriculture, more than $9,000 by the Internal Revenue Service, and more than $1,700 by the General Services Administration, which oversees the lease with the Trump Organization.

The Trump Organization, including the Washington property, also appears to have taken in a significant amount from at least 22 foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Cyprus. Trump promised to donate any profits from foreign governments, and the Trump Organization has sent $343,000 to the U.S. Treasury for 2017 and 2018. However, the organization did not release underlying numbers to support that figure.

The questionable patronage by these outside governments is the subject of two pending federal lawsuits against the president for allegedly gaining from illegal foreign payments.

On Tuesday, a federal judge greenlighted a lawsuit filed by 200 congressional Democrats that alleges Trump’s financial interests in his properties violates an anti-corruption provision of the Constitution.

Another pending lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, argues that patrons' desire to use Trump International Hotel to curry favor with the president gives it an unfair advantage over competing businesses in Washington and Maryland.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course: "Trump plans ticketed-access area for VIPs, friends and family at July 4 celebration"

Spoiler

Plans by President Trump to reshape Washington’s Independence Day celebration now include an area in front of the Lincoln Memorial reserved for dignitaries, family and friends that will be accessible only through tickets distributed by the White House.

The VIP section will stretch roughly from the steps of the memorial to the midpoint of the reflecting pool, according to the U.S. Secret Service. It is the area in front of where Trump plans to address the nation as part of his rebranding of the traditional July 4 event into his own “Salute to America,” which includes moving the fireworks from the reflecting pool to two different sites, including West Potomac Park.

The revamped festivities will include an added fireworks show, military bands and flyovers by Air Force One, the Blue Angels and aircraft from all branches of the military.

However, some details — including how the VIP section will operate and how it will impact the access and sight line for the general viewing area — still are unclear.

Many folks who have long-standing practices for how they get downtown or where they position their boats for the best vantage points and ease of access, will need to adjust their traditions. Even travelers passing through the region’s skies will be affected.

Local and federal officials on Friday held a news conference to address security issues and deliver updates on the plans still unfurling just days before usually large crowds descend on the Mall from across the region and the country.

The ongoing shifts to what had been established security and crowd-control protocols have left officials in the District and some federal agencies confused about logistics as basic as what Metro stops and roads might be open or closed, and for what period, and how many fireworks displays will launch.

On Friday morning, bleachers had been set up on the plaza below the Lincoln Memorial, and workers were erecting other structures. Seats faced away from the memorial and toward the Washington Monument, making it unclear where exactly Trump plans to stand while giving his speech.

Representatives from the Secret Service and the Department of the Interior referred questions about tickets to the VIP area and how to obtain them to the White House, which said only that the tickets were free. The prime seating comes with additional security screening.

The ramifications of adding the president’s speech to the July 4 lineup, adding another fireworks show and shifting the fireworks’ location already was having a sooner-than-expected impact.

In West Potomac Park, softball fields were fenced off Friday morning, a day earlier than had been announced, while 36 portable spotlights were parked along Ohio Drive. A crew from Garden State Fireworks was setting up its launch site near a baseball backstop.

Come July 4, the Arlington Memorial Bridge, a major thoroughfare that was open in the past on the holiday, will be closed for the day, cutting off people trying to drive into the District from Arlington National Cemetery and other nearby points. Transportation officials warned that the Smithsonian and Foggy Bottom Metro stops could experience extra crowding as a result.

Also, because of the shift in the fireworks launch, boaters accustomed to anchoring between the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and the Arlington Memorial Bridge will be moved to an area on the west side of the Potomac River near the 14th Street Bridge.

The flyovers could affect people using Reagan National Airport. Matthew Miller, the special agent in charge of the Washington field office of the Secret Service, said there will be a 45-minute air closure between 6:30 and 7 p.m. “It shouldn’t significantly disrupt commercial traffic,” he said.

Miller said agencies have been “coordinating this now for three weeks” with the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to minimize potential delays. A spokesman for the airport authority referred questions to the FAA, which did not return calls seeking comment.

Still unanswered is whether the activist group Code Pink can fly its “Baby Trump” protest balloon, and where. Helium balloons are barred from the Mall at all times, including during the event.

Jeff Reinbold, the National Park Service superintendent for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said the group might be able use “cold air” to keep the balloon low to the ground and avoid restricted airspace. Cold air is used in stationary inflatables typically found flapping outside tax offices and car dealerships. Also unclear is whether people can take in smaller versions of the Baby Trump balloons being promoted on social media.

What was clear after Friday’s news conference is that the president’s vision for a grand affair, with elements of the military-style parade he has long sought and local officials have resisted, seems to be coming together.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the city’s nonvoting representative in Congress, has said she worries Trump’s appearance could turn the holiday into a spectacle, and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has said she hopes Trump “recognizes that the event is a unifying event that celebrates the birthday of our nation.”

On Friday, Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham tried to focus on the more functional aspects of governance: updates on road closures, cooling centers, aid stations, appeals for patience and cautions about travel delays.

With July 4 expected to be “very hot, very very hot,” Bowser said, they urged people to frequently check the government website (www.dc.gov/fourthofjuly) and text JULY4DC to 888-777 to receive alerts to help navigate the day.

Reinbold, the Park Service superintendent, said the first fireworks show will go off at 9:07 p.m. They will be ignited from flatbed trailers parked on a mile-long stretch behind the Lincoln Memorial. He described it as a horizontal show low to the ground, with the effect of wrapping around the memorial. That will be followed by the more traditional show that will last 20 minutes.

He said spectators will see 35 minutes of fireworks, longer than in past years. “It will be quite a display,” he said, and “will end with a booming 1,000-foot-high show. It should be in­cred­ibly dramatic.”

He said the best place to view the fireworks will be the Mall, “because you’ll get to see both” shows.

Felix “Phil” Grucci Jr., president of Grucci Fireworks, which is putting on the first display behind the Lincoln Memorial, said in an interview that a team of “over 30 pyrotechnicians” had started working June 24 to assemble the display off-site. Equipment will be moved to the Mall on Wednesday.

Grucci’s firm launched fireworks on the Mall in 1991 for the Park Service and has done shows for every presidential inauguration that had pyrotechnics since Ronald Reagan.

“Our performance area is now about a mile wide in the sky,” Grucci said.

Asked how many pyrotechnics were involved, Grucci demurred. “It’s almost like asking a sculptor how many pounds of clay did you use, or a painter, how many gallons of paint did you use, to create a performance.”

 

[WiseGirl]

Predictable as 24 hours in a day....

20 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Cue tweet attack in three.... two.... one....

 

And here it is...https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/29/trump-jimmy-carter-russia-1390416

[fraurosena]

Somehow I don't think they're talking about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

 

[fraurosena]

His almost orgasmic reverence for the North Korean border is sickening. 

 

[fraurosena]

Phew! We can al rest easy, guys. Putin denies election interference, in the past, and also publicly.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump’s apparent ignorance of basic political terms is on full display overseas"

Spoiler

Liberal democracy appears increasingly in the balance around the Western world, but the president of the United States doesn’t seem to even know what it is. Neither does he seem to grasp what “busing” means.

President Trump held a lengthy news conference Saturday in Osaka, Japan, during which he displayed his apparent ignorance of some very basic political terms and historical concepts.

When asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments saying Western-style liberalism was “obsolete,” Trump apparently thought this term literally referred to the western United States and American liberals.

Here’s the exchange (key parts bolded):

NEW YORK TIMES’S PETER BAKER: His comments to the Financial Times right before arriving here was that Western-style liberalism is obsolete. I know you probably --

TRUMP: Well, I mean he may feel that way. He’s sees what’s going on, I guess, if you look at what’s happening in Los Angeles, where it’s so sad to look, and what’s happening in San Francisco and a couple of other cities, which are run by an extraordinary group of liberal people. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but he does see things that are happening in the United States that would probably preclude him from saying how wonderful it is. At the same time, he congratulated me, as every other leader of every other country did for what we’ve done economically, because we probably have the strongest economy we’ve ever had, and that’s a real positive. But I’m very embarrassed by what I see in some of our cities, where the politicians are either afraid to do something about it, or they think it’s votes or I don’t know what. Peter, I don’t know what they’re thinking. But when you look at Los Angeles, when you look at San Francisco, when you look at some of the other cities — and not a lot, not a lot — but you don’t want it to spread. And at a certain point, I think the federal government maybe has to get involved. We can’t let that continue to happen to our cities.

Democratic liberalism, of course, does not refer to the western United States, but rather the Western world — which generally includes the United States and much of Europe. And liberalism is a political theory that values the freedom of the individual. That term has come to be associated with left-leaning American politicians and political activists, but some right-leaning political thinkers still claim the term as their own.

Broadly speaking, democratic liberalism has been the leading political ideology across the western world since World War II. Of late, though, populist movements across Europe have gained power, leading to questions about how long liberal democracies can survive. Putin’s comments were clearly about that, but Trump doesn’t appear to have processed this very significant development on the world stage.

That wasn’t his only flub on a very basic political term, though. In another portion of the news conference, he was asked about an exchange in Thursday night’s portion of the first Democratic presidential debate over busing. Trump, yet again, didn’t seem to understand what the term meant:

ABC NEWS’S JONATHAN KARL: I’m sure you saw the exchange between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the issue of federal busing — federally mandated busing. Biden thought that was a bad policy; he tried to stop it. Kamala Harris said it was an important part of desegregation, including in her own experience. Where do you stand on that issue of federally mandated busing?

TRUMP: First of all, before we get into that, I thought that she was given too much credit. ... And as far as that, I will tell you in about four weeks, because we’re coming out with a certain policy that’s going to be very interesting and very surprising, I think, to a lot of people. Jennifer, do you have a question?

So Trump is going to come out with a policy on federally mandated busing ... in 2019? After that odd answer and given Trump’s apparent desire to quickly move on from the issue, NBC News’s Kristen Welker followed up on it later:

WELKER: I just wanted to follow up on the question about busing. Do you see it as a viable way of integrating schools. Does that relate to the policy that you’re —

TRUMP: Well, that’s something that they’ve done for a long period of time. You know, there aren’t that many ways you’re going to get people to schools. So this is something that’s been done. In some cases, it’s been done with a hammer instead of a velvet glove. And, you know, that’s part of it.. But this has been certainly a thing that’s been used over the — I think if Vice President Biden had answered the question somewhat differently, it would have been a different result. Because they really did hit him hard on that one. But it is certainly a primary method of getting people to schools.

WELKER: And does it relate to the policy that you’re going to unveil that you just floated?

TRUMP: It relates to everything we’re doing. And you’ll be hearing about it over the next couple of months.

“A primary method of getting people to schools.” Trump apparently believes busing refers the federal government forcing local school districts to provide children with transportation. What’s most amazing about these answers is that not only was this issue the focus after Thursday’s debate, but also that Karl prefaced his question by explaining the term. Trump still couldn’t do anything with that.

The mango moron thinks busing is about transportation. You can't make this up.

[fraurosena]

Sweet Rufus! Kim coming to the White House is precisely the kind of acknowledgement Kim craves, and it's the kind of acknowledgement by a dictator that Trump craves. No wonder they're exchanging such loving looks.  

 

[fraurosena]

If you want to ignore a difficult question, say thank you very much. Works like a treat! 

 

[fraurosena]

Trump just gave Kim permission to continue missile tests. Tests on ballistic missiles that can reach America. 

 

[Smash!]

Does anyone have suggestions as where to find credible sources in German that cover all the madness that‘s going on in US politics? I had today a very frustrating chat with my dad about it. He says I‘m exaggerating, Trump is half as bad as I say and democracy is no way in danger in the States. I would love to give him articles to read but unfortunately he has only basic English knowledge.

[GreyhoundFan]

Aw, he got his fee-fees hurt because the media reported on what actually happened, not what he wanted. "‘It’s only fake news’: Even on a historic day, Trump complains about media coverage"

Spoiler

PANMUNJOM, South Korea — June 30, 2019, was one of the most historic days of Donald Trump’s presidency. But he was still thinking about his press coverage.

It was a personal milestone for Trump, who touched down on the heavily fortified demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas for the first time as his own administration tries to forge a landmark deal to dismantle the North’s nuclear capabilities.

But Trump also did what no other sitting U.S. president had done: He crossed over onto North Korean soil, a move Trump viewed as a goodwill gesture to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he lavished with warm pleasantries and whose friendship he continued to cultivate.

Yet leading up to that historic moment Sunday at the Inter-Korean House of Freedom in the demilitarized zone, Trump was focused on what the headlines could have been if it all went awry and his personal invitation to Kim went unreturned.

“Of course, I thought of that,” Trump said at a news conference one day prior in Osaka, Japan, at the conclusion of the annual Group of 20 summit. “Because I know if he didn’t, everybody is going to say, ‘Oh, he was stood up by Chairman Kim.’ No, I understood that.”

It was part of a stream of complaints about media coverage in recent days by Trump, even as he showered compliments on repressive leaders such as Russia’s Vladi­mir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman. Like Kim, both have taken brutal steps to ensure there is no free press in their countries.

When Trump’s encounter with Kim actually occurred Sunday, hands were shaken and the two leaders sat down inside the House of Freedom. A pleased Trump remarked that Kim “made us both look good” by meeting Trump after he extended the invite in a surprise tweet Saturday in Osaka.

In classic Trumpian fashion, the nation’s first reality-show president built up the suspense of his third meeting with Kim like a seasoned television producer — dropping hints throughout the day that made it clear to the journalists with him that a Kim encounter later that day was inevitable.

But at several of the stops, Trump also pushed back at a narrative he clearly felt was unfair: His diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang that began with the Singapore summit one year ago had done nothing to improve the tense state of relations between the United States and North Korea.

“A lot of progress has been made,” Trump said before meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at his Blue House residence in Seoul. “I watched some of the news — fake news; it’s only fake news — and they said, ‘Well, what’s been done?’ Well, it’s like the difference between day and night.”

And at a Blue House news conference alongside Moon, Trump again seemed to have a rebuttal prepared to a query that was obvious to the journalists following him: What progress, exactly, had been made since failed talks in Hanoi in February?

“You know, when sometimes the media will say, ‘Gee, what’s happened?’ Well, they know what’s happened,” Trump responded to the question that, at that point, hadn’t been asked. “What’s happened is, there was nuclear testing, there was ballistic missile testing. They had hostages of ours, as you know. Very tough situation.”

Trump continued: “So I hate to hear the media, you know, give false information to the public when they say, ‘Oh, what’s been done?’ What’s been done? A lot has been done.”

That didn’t stop the U.S. journalists from pressing the issue.

“Nothing has substantively changed since Hanoi,” noted Bloomberg News’s Margaret Talev, the sole American journalist granted a question at the Blue House news conference. “North Korea has tested short-range missiles. Why does Kim Jong Un deserve this moment?”

Trump insisted there have been tremendous strides.

“Only the fake news says that they weren’t,” the U.S. president shot back.

His sense that he wasn’t getting the credit he deserved followed him in the Marine One ride to the DMZ. Trump viewed North Korean lands from the Observation Point Ouellette — a point commanded by the United Nations along the DMZ — warmly greeted dozens of U.S. and South Korean troops and received a gift in return: a black golf jacket, to wear at his golf clubs.

At the observation deck, a South Korean soldier, whose remarks were out of the earshot of journalists, relayed something to Trump that clearly pleased him.

“Tell them that,” Trump told the soldier, referring to the press. “Tell them that.”

He then spoke directly to reporters, in case the point he was attempting to make wasn’t clear.

Trump said that the area used to be “very dangerous” but that it had changed since Singapore.

“After our first summit, all of the danger went away,” the president insisted. He added, “I say that for the press. They have no appreciation for what is being done. None.”

This all unfolded on a chaotic day for the White House staff and the U.S. press corps.

As American journalists attempted to enter the House of Freedom for the previously unannounced sit-down between Trump and Kim, North Korean security officials stationed at the doorway of the center tried to block U.S. reporters and photographers from trying to enter.

Mayhem ensued. The U.S. press corps tried to wedge their way through North Korean officials. White House support staff were shoved. One American photographer was pulled back violently by his backpack. Incoming White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham ended up bruised.

Ultimately, with efforts from White House advance staff and communications officials, U.S. journalists were able to rush into the room to document Trump and Kim exchanging another round of warm greetings and begin a meeting that ultimately ran near an hour.

Later in the afternoon, as American media tried to reenter the House of Freedom to question Trump and Moon, one official tried briefly to bar this Washington Post reporter — who is of Korean descent — by yelling “U.S. PRESS ONLY!” until other American journalists bellowed back that, indeed, she was.

It’s unclear what will happen from here in the dialogue between the United States and North Korea. Trump indicated that he was in no hurry to schedule a third formal summit with Kim.

But at the end of the day, Trump still will be the first sitting U.S. leader to step foot on North Korean territory.

Trump seemed to sense that weight of history. He watched Moon and Kim share an embrace, and Kim began returning to North Korea. At that moment, Trump couldn’t help but clap — briefly, but excitedly — as the day wound to a close.