By Jon Herskovitz | AUSTIN, Texas AUSTIN, Texas A state lawmaker filed a resolution this week urging people to think before they text and stop using an emoji of the Chilean flag, which resembles the Lone Star State flag, as a symbol of Texas pride. State Representative Tom Oliverson described the resolution as a light-hearted but serious civics lesson for the social media age. More than a […]
By Jonathan Landay | MUNICH MUNICH Russia has shown no change in behaviour or policies to embrace U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer of better relations or cooperation in fighting Islamist militants, U.S. officials and lawmakers say. Trump’s latest overture was delivered by Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday to a security conference in Germany held amid European worries over U.S. commitment to the continent’s security and […]
Donald Trump has been consistent in his first month in office. As he reminded us at his press conference on Thursday, he has done what he said he would do. But one issue he has changed his mind — on the stock market. On Thursday he tweeted: “Stock market hits new high with longest winning streak in decades. Great level of confidence and optimism — even before […]
By John Whitesides | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON After a tumultuous opening month in the White House, President Donald Trump is heading to a friendlier, familiar and potentially rejuvenating place: the campaign trail. Beset by vicious fights over his Cabinet, legal setbacks over his immigration orders, the resignation of his national security adviser and an investigation into possible links between his campaign and Russian intelligence, Trump is turning to […]
Michigan Republicans are reportedly mulling a Senate run for heartland heartthrob Kid Rock, a country and rock star, who loves to “sit in the backyard sun and drink beer with dad,” according to his autobiographical song, “Drinking Beer With Dad.” Once unthinkable, Kid Rock for Senate is hardly unthinkable now: A professional wrestler has served multiple terms as governor of Minnesota, Christine “I dabbled in witchcraft” O’Donnell […]
By Jeff Mason | NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. President Donald Trump promised to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish companies for moving jobs overseas during a visit on Friday to a South Carolina Boeing Co (BA.N) plant to celebrate the unveiling of its latest Dreamliner jet. The Republican president, who previously feuded with the plane maker over projected costs for the next version of Air Force […]
By Susan Heavey | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump, scrambling to find a new top security aide after firing his first one and being spurned by another candidate, said on Friday he has four people under consideration for the job, including acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg. Trump ousted Michael Flynn on Monday in a controversy over the retired lieutenant general’s contacts with Russia, and on Thursday […]
Current economic conditions around the world provide a good foundation for growth. But unprecedented levels of market uncertainty mean that organizations have to be ready to change strategy faster than ever before. Growth around the world In the US, President Donald Trump has inherited an economy with strong fundamentals: low inflation, and the lowest unemployment rate since 2007. He has promised a pro-business economic agenda with lower […]
As the war between the Trump administration and the “fake news” media rages on, after seemingly escalating in recent weeks, Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, allegedly met with a senior Time Warner executive recently to express the administration’s deep concerns about CNN’s news coverage, according to anonymous sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. The meeting apparently involved Gary Ginsberg, executive vice president of […]
Why would lobbyists donate to Trump’s transition team, which served as the official “government-in-waiting” that worked to craft the new administration’s policies and identify potential presidential appointees? “Money buys access and influence,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the public interest group Public Citizen, adding that he’s disappointed by the actions of a candidate who pledged to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C. “Trump isn’t carrying through […]
“Stock market hits new high with longest winning streak in decades. Great level of confidence and optimism — even before tax plan rollout!” Donald Trump tweeted this week. It is a statement that goes beyond the president’s usual rhetoric. Indeed, Wall Street had a record-setting week that included the four key US stock benchmarks — the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite and the […]
By Roberta Rampton | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will seek on Saturday to soothe allies unnerved by his boss’ unorthodox statements on Russia and NATO as he stresses America’s commitment to Europe during the first major foreign address for the Trump administration. Pence will tell the annual Munich Security Conference that Europe is an “indispensable partner” for the United States, a message he will […]
By Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Wary Democrats on Thursday challenged Republicans who control the U.S. Congress to conduct a credible investigation into contacts between President Donald Trump’s associates and Russia, a process that will likely take months and may never become public. “We will be watching very carefully. If the Intelligence Committee investigation is not proceeding to unearth the entire truth, we will […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney to serve as White House budget director in a 51-49 vote that largely followed party lines. Underscoring the rocky reception that President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees have had on Capitol Hill, the vote came as Republican Senator John McCain opposed Mulvaney along with 46 Democrats and two independents. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Imagine the reporters who must cover daily a bombastic New Yorker who has inherited a fortune, exudes a sense of entitlement, disdains much of the press, trafficks in half-truths, has overseen properties in huge disrepair, routinely overrules underlings, disdains public […]
Mr. Trump’s position on a two-state solution discarded a policy that has underpinned America’s role in Middle East peacemaking since the Clinton administration and raised a host of thorny questions. Continue reading the main story The Palestinians are highly unlikely to accept anything short of a sovereign state, and a single Israeli state encompassing the Palestinians would either leave them as second-class citizens or would no longer […]
By Lisa Baertlein and Paul Ingram | NOGALES, Arizona NOGALES, Arizona For up to 16 hours a day, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and mangoes grown in Mexico flow north through a border checkpoint into Nogales, Arizona, helping to ensure a year-round supply of fresh produce across the United States. This is a city built on cross-border trade. Each year, some 330,000 trucks and 75,000 train cars carrying $17 […]
By Sarah N. Lynch | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON In a blow to President Donald Trump as he tries to assemble his administration, his nominee for labour secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his name from consideration on Wednesday amid concerns that he could not garner enough Senate votes to be confirmed. Puzder’s decision to withdraw is yet another setback this week for a White House still grappling with fallout from […]
Joo Kim Tiah, the son of one of Malaysia’s wealthiest tycoons, sat on stage in the summer of 2013 as his new business partner announced their plans for a C$360m luxury condominium-hotel project on Vancouver’s most prestigious downtown thoroughfare. With characteristic salesmanship, Donald Trump bragged that the 63-storey glass tower on West Georgia Street would be “one of the great buildings, not only in Canada and the […]
By Roberta Rampton and Noah Barkin | WASHINGTON/BERLIN WASHINGTON/BERLIN U.S. Vice President Mike Pence heads to Europe this week to meet with allies seeking clarity on the Trump administration’s foreign policy strategy and its stance towards Russia after the resignation of the top White House national security aide. Pence, who has hewn more closely to Republican orthodoxy than his boss President Donald Trump, will attend the Munich […]
President-elect Donald Trump has a new ally in the legal defense of his executive order restricting travel from seven countries: the state of Texas. Texas’ Republican attorney general on Wednesday filed court papers endorsing Mr. Trump’s travel ban as a “lawful exercise” of executive authority and attacking legal challengers for trying to “interfere with the president’s national-security […] (via WSJ)
By Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Senior Republicans issued their boldest challenge yet to U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, promising to get to the bottom of the relationship between his aides and Russia, and calling for ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn to testify before Congress. Trump, facing a deepening crisis less than a month into his presidency, sought to focus the attention […]
Donald Trump responded to a growing crisis surrounding his White House on Wednesday by rekindling a public war with the US intelligence community, accusing it of mounting a dirty tricks campaign to undermine his presidency by leaking information about his administration’s ties to Russia. In an early-morning Twitter barrage the US president blamed the escalating crisis that forced this week’s departure of Michael Flynn, his national security […]
PARIS France said on Wednesday it would not accept interference by Russia or any other state in its presidential election, and would retaliate if necessary. The pledge by Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault followed complaints by the party of election frontrunner Emmanuel Macron that his campaign was the target of ‘fake news’ put out by Russian media, as well as internet attacks on its databases. “We will not […]
