Trump Watch: Day 215 Wrap-Up

Good Wednesday evening, Trump watchers! I have been running around all day getting ready for an upcoming trip to California and don’t have much time to write this post, so I’m warning you in advance that it will be a bit heavy on the direct quotes. Also, since I’m heading out on my final vacation of the summer, I’ll be on hiatus for the next week. My next post will be on Wednesday the 30th, and after that I should be back to a regular M-W-F posting schedule for the foreseeable future. Without further ado, here’s the latest Trump-related news for Wednesday, August 23, 2017:

— Trump gave a 75-minute speech last night in Arizona in which he “threatened to shut down the government over border wall funding, said the North American Free Trade Agreement is likely to be terminated and signaled that he was prepared to pardon former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is anathema to the Latino community” according to the Washington Post. You can read more details about the speech here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-holds-campaign-style-rally-amid-large-protests-in-arizona/2017/08/22/dd7c83c0-8796-11e7-961d-2f373b3977ee_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumparizonalate-11pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.0ab87e1b7205

— An email from a top Trump aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now Trump’s deputy chief of staff, has been unearthed by congressional investigators who are investigating the Trump campaign’s Russia connections. According to CNN, the email “referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin”. The email was from June 2016, the same timeframe when Donald Jr. and Jared Kushner met with a Russian government lawyer. Also according to CNN, “While many details around the Dearborn email are unclear, its existence suggests the Russians may have been looking for another entry point into the Trump campaign to see if there were any willing partners as part of their effort to discredit — and ultimately defeat — Hillary Clinton.” Stay tuned. http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/23/politics/donald-trump-rick-dearborn-email-russia-investigation/index.html?adkey=bn

— The Trump administration has until tomorrow to decide the fate of 27 national monuments, which they are deciding whether to downsize, eliminate entirely, or keep in place. According to the Associated Press, “conservation and tribal groups are airing TV ads, sending letters to President Donald Trump and creating parody websites in a last-minute blitz to stop Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke from downsizing or eliminating national monument areas that cover large swaths of land and water from Maine to California.” The national monuments under question largely consist of “sweeping sites mostly in the West that are home to ancient cliff dwellings, towering sequoia trees, deep canyons or ocean habitats roamed by seals, whales and sea turtles.” We’ll see what happens tomorrow. https://www.apnews.com/b2407023859c47fc93683d8e8a886c41/Groups-make-last-minute-push-to-save-national-monument-areas

—One of the seven State Department science envoys, Daniel Kammen, resigned from his position today in a scathing letter to Trump, which included a hidden message of “IMPEACH” (the first letter of each paragraph spelled it out). One line of the letter read, “Particularly troubling to me is how your response to Charlottesville is consistent with a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism, and disregards the welfare of all Americans, the global community and the planet.” You can read more about this latest resignation, and read Kammen’s full letter here: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/23/politics/science-envoy-impeach-resignation-letter/index.html

— Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven’t spoken in nearly two weeks according to White House sources. Sources said the last time they spoke was on the telephone and it “quickly devolved into a shouting match as an irate Trump expressed his frustrations about the congressional investigation into Russian interference with the US election last year and fumed about a Russia sanctions bill Congress passed that would tie Trump’s hands on the matter” according to CNN. Additionally, “The rift comes as Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress prepare to tackle tax reform, government funding negotiations and a deadline to raise the debt ceiling, or risk wreaking economic turmoil.” http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/22/politics/mitch-mcconnell-trump-relationship/index.html

That’s all for tonight! I will try to post any important stories on the Facebook page while I’m on vacation. Have a great rest of the week!