President Donald Trump's Final Days...

[frank07]

Originally Posted by Devius

Mueller's office disputes BuzzFeed report that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress

Nowhere does the statement say the report itself was inaccurate - only portions of it.

I think this is Mueller's not-so coded message to Congress - do not start impeachment proceedings, because I'm not done yet.

And Michael Cohen hasn't come out and said it's untrue - as he did when he was accused of going to Prague to talk to Kremlin operatives.

[charliels531]

Originally Posted by frank07

Nowhere does the statement say the report itself was inaccurate - only portions of it.

I think this is Mueller's not-so coded message to Congress - do not start impeachment proceedings, because I'm not done yet.

And Michael Cohen hasn't come out and said it's untrue - as he did when he was accused of going to Prague to talk to Kremlin operatives.

I agree.

The statement from Mueller's office needs to be parsed word by word. Did Cohen use a different preposition? Did the information come to Mueller's office from someone other than Cohen, then be confirmed by Cohen?

No impeachment until the evidence is so overwhelming that 20 or so Republican senators will vote to convict.

[Devius]

US President Donald Trump is to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a second summit by the end of February, the White House says.

The announcement came after Mr Trump met top North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-chol at the White House.

He had been expected to deliver a letter from Kim Jong-un to Mr Trump.

Little progress has been made on denuclearisation since their historic summit in Singapore last June. No venue has been announced for the new summit.

Speculation is mounting that it could be held in Vietnam.

Details:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46927761

[charliels531]

Originally Posted by Devius

Little progress has been made on denuclearisation since their historic summit in Singapore last June. No venue has been announced for the new summit.

The Trump Regime refuses to acknowledge what the Kim Regime means by "denuclearization". There can be no progress, but Baby Trump feels warm and cozy kissing Kim's ass, and he thinks the visit will distract from his legal troubles.

[frank07]

Originally Posted by charliels531

The Trump Regime refuses to acknowledge what the Kim Regime means by "denuclearization". There can be no progress, but Baby Trump feels warm and cozy kissing Kim's ass, and he thinks the visit will distract from his legal troubles.

Where Nixon had China, Trump has North Korea.

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce".

[scoundrel]

While not being wildly optimistic about progress between the USA and North Korea, it makes sense to talk to NK if NK is open and willing to have talks. The USA has in the past been guilty at times of refusing to talk to people it doesn't like simply because it doesn't like them, as for example today with Iran. This is not always a good strategy.

[Devius]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

While not being wildly optimistic about progress between the USA and North Korea, it makes sense to talk to NK if NK is open and willing to have talks. The USA has in the past been guilty at times of refusing to talk to people it doesn't like simply because it doesn't like them, as for example today with Iran. This is not always a good strategy.

Considering the recent reports about Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton asking the Pentagon to prepare military strike options against Iran (after attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Iraq), I have to agree.
But hopefully the second summit will have less rhetoric and more on concrete commitments...otherwise it will be just another photo-op for Kim Jong Un and another exercise in misdirection by the Donald.

[Devius]

Trump expected to propose extending DACA, TPS protections in exchange for wall funding

President Donald Trump is expected to propose extending protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and individuals with Temporary Protected Status in exchange for border wall funding in his remarks Saturday afternoon, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.

The President's latest offer, which he is set to deliver from the White House Saturday at 4 p.m. ET, will link his demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall to the BRIDGE Act, legislation that would extend protections for so-called "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children and are covered by the DACA program.

The compromise proposal would also allow immigrants covered by Temporary Protected Status -- some of whose protections Trump has rescinded -- to remain in the country.

Details:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/19/p...ump/index.html



John Kelly shocked staff with speech 'hostile' to Trump, tell-all book reveals

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly introduced himself to staff members with a speech that was “potentially hostile” to Donald Trump, according to a new memoir by a former Trump communications aide.

The aide, Cliff Sims, described being shocked by a speech Kelly made to staff at the Eisenhower executive office building shortly after Kelly replaced outgoing chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Sims writes in his book Team of Vipers, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian, that Kelly’s speech “hammered” on the theme of service to country coming first, and service to the president second.

“Kelly seemed to be saying that… it might be necessary to subvert the president’s wishes in service of some amorphous higher calling,” Sims writes.

Details:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...liff-sims-book



Donald Trump Called Reporter After Vladimir Putin Meeting to Say He Believed Russian President’s Denial of Election Interference: Report

President Donald Trump phoned a reporter from The New York Times after a meeting with Vladimir Putin at the 2017 G20 summit, saying he believed the Russian leader’s defense against election hacking allegations.

Trump told the journalist that Putin had said, “If we did [hack the election], we wouldn’t have gotten caught because we’re professionals,” the Times reported on Wednesday. “I thought that was a good point because they are some of the best in the world,” the president argued, siding with his Russian counterpart’s defense.

When asked how he compared Putin’s denial to the conclusions of former FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan and James Clapper, who at the time was the National Intelligence director, all of whom assessed that Russia had worked to hack the 2016 presidential election, Trump dismissed the men outright. He referred to Brennan and Clapper as “the most political” intelligence chiefs he knew, while referring to Comey as “a leaker.”

Details:
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trum...erence-1293828

[jcjc7]

Originally Posted by jcjc7

He's probably going to declare a national emergency so that he has an out to reopen the gov't, while knowing that he will start a legal battle instead of getting the money - so it really is just an out to reopen the gov't because he sees he's losing support because of it.

I was wrong, he basically said nothing.

[scoundrel]

It's basically all about who will be blamed for the government shutdown. Mr Trump is probably aware that the voters know he is the one refusing to pass a budget. The Republican senators would almost certainly pass the budget if Mr Trump was willing to sign it off. Mr Trump would like to be seen to be offering a compromise [as opposed to actually offering a compromise] and try to deflect blame onto Mrs Pelosi.

It seems problematic as a ploy. He isn't offering anything except a temporary easing back on measures he himself is pushing. He isn't offering something positive the Democrats might support, but merely an informal promise to dial down on things they don't like - and after all, Donald Trump's promises aren't worth very much. Anyone who looks objectively at the facts will see that Mr Trump is shutting down the government because he wants something the Democrats will not give him, and he is willing to damage the nation to try to get what he wants. That has not changed. I doubt if many people in the USA will have changed their opinions either.