WTF Community

Day 589

General Discussion
#1

Updated 8/31/2018 2:21 PM PDT

1/ Canada: "We're not there yet" on a NAFTA deal. The Trump administration had given Canada a Friday deadline to join a preliminary, new trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would only sign a "good" NAFTA deal, while Canada's top trade negotiator added: "We're looking for a good deal, not just any deal. We will only agree to a deal that is a good deal for Canada." A spokesperson from the U.S. Trade Representative's Office described the negotiations as "ongoing," while the Trump administration told Congress that it intends to keep Canada in the pact. (New York Times / Politico / Bloomberg / CNBC)

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/08/31/day-589/
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#2

One word: Shameful! :confounded:

A State Department unit created two years ago to lead the U.S. fight against anti-democratic propaganda abroad, including Russian disinformation campaigns, still has not received millions of dollars in funding allocated to it by Congress.

And even if some money comes through for the Global Engagement Center before the end of the fiscal year, it will now be just one-sixth of the amount originally directed to the center to counteract terrorist messaging and foreign efforts to influence elections. . . .

Foreign policy experts suggest that the funding delay is a combination of previous disinterest at the State Department and current foot-dragging at the Defense Department.

Back in 2016, Congress allocated $120 million to cover two years of the Global Engagement Center’s efforts. The money was to be shifted from the Defense Department’s coffers to the State Department.

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#3

From The Hill:

President Trump blasted the news media on Friday after apparently off-the-record comments he made about Canada were leaked, calling it another example of “dishonest reporting.”

“Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED,” Trump asserted in a tweet.

“Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!” Trump added, apparently confirming the comments.

So Trump is admitting he did make the comments. Here they are as reported in The Toronto Star (along with my personal apologies to Canada):

“Here’s the problem. If I say no — the answer’s no. If I say no, then you’re going to put that, and it’s going to be so insulting they’re not going to be able to make a deal … I can’t kill these people,” Trump said of the Canadian government.

In another remark he did not want published, Trump said that any deal with Canada would be “totally on our terms.” He suggested he was scaring the Canadians into submission by repeatedly threatening to impose tariffs on imports of Canadian-made cars.

Bloomberg agreed to Trump’s request to keep the comments off the record. But the Star, which obtained the quotes from a source, is not bound by any promises Bloomberg made to the president, and it published the quotes after they became part of the critical negotiations.

Footnote: Just yesterday Trump told us: “. . . The Fake News Media has it, purposely, so wrong! They love to portray chaos in the White House when they know that chaos doesn’t exist - just a “smooth running machine” with changing parts!” Yeah, right. That was certainly a smooooooth move today.

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#4

Canada exports a lot of car parts to the USA, on which the American auto industry depends. The import tariffs against Canada will therefore make cars more expensive for Americans to buy. I don’t expect that your Fake President knows/cares/believes this.

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#5

@JoyceWhiteVance

Joyce Alene Retweeted Chiraag Bains

Trump’s voting guru, the guy who ran his so-called voter integrity commission (shut down after its true motivations came to light), is now under criminal investigation for vote suppression in Kansas, not exactly a liberal bastion.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article217710045.html

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#6

In comments to The New Yorker published Monday, Giuliani said Trump’s original legal team had secured a deal with Mueller allowing the White House to object to the public disclosure of information in the report. Asked whether the White House would indeed object to the report, Giuliani said, “I’m sure we will.” The report, a conclusion of the investigation to be filed once Mueller’s team has completed its work, will be submitted to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has the option of releasing it to both Congress and the wider public. Giuliani, who has aggressively sought to undermine Mueller since joining Trump’s legal team earlier this year, also said he already has 45 pages of a “counter-report” prepared to refute Mueller’s findings.

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#7
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#8

Kelly Anne’s husband still calling out T.

@gtconway3d

George Conway Retweeted Axios

Senior DOJ official:
:point_right: Trump tweet “shows how POTUS thinks DOJ should be used: As a weapon against enemies and a tool to win elections.”
:point_right: “Both cases [Collins and Hunter] are not even close, the facts are very bad

@axios

With a tweet complaining that indictments of two congressmen “by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department” put GOP seats at risk, President Trump guaranteed a confirmation minefield for any future attorney general.

Axios

With a tweet complaining that indictments of two congressmen “by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department” put GOP seats at risk, President Trump guaranteed a confirmation minefield for any future attorney general.

Driving the news: Trump tweeted, referring to indictments of Rep. Chris Collins (N.Y.) for insider trading and Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) for misusing campaign funds: "Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff."

The tweet rattled even key Republicans:

A senior Justice Department official said: "It was a very concerning tweet. It shows how POTUS thinks DOJ should be used: As a weapon against enemies and a tool to win elections."
Referring to the two congressional indictments, the official said: “Both cases are not even close, the facts are very bad.”

One of Washington’s most respected Republican lawyers said: "Like everything else, he shoots first and then asks questions later. So in his … mind he thinks he can find someone to take the job who will be confirmable and rein in Mueller. So he’ll force out Sessions and then find there’s no one who will take the job who the Senate Republicans can support."

Why it matters:

These Trump tweets will become litmus tests in the confirmation hearing of any future Trump attorney general

.

The nominee will be asked whether they agree with tweets like this, and whether they agree with the president’s conception of the A.G. role — that it’s his personal lawyer, who ought to be indicting political enemies and protecting friends.

Nobody who answers those questions in a manner satisfactory to the Senate will satisfy Trump’s desire to replace Sessions with a toady A.G.

A top Republican knowledgeable about succession issues told Axios that the tweet “will almost guarantee as a condition of confirmation that the [A.G.] nominee pledge that he or she won’t interfere [with] Mueller.”

Be smart: This tweet tested the faith of some of Trump’s usually reflexively defensive supporters. Of course, the biggest diehards will stick by him. But he lost some who had already begun to lose patience.

P.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): “The United States is not some banana republic.”

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#9

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