monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

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I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars. That is a big part of the reason I was elected. As President, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress.

Trump never deserved the benefit of the doubt over his ludicrous audit excuse, but he unintentionally removed all doubt when he told The New York Times last month that he would consider his finances off limits to the Justice Department investigators working with Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russia investigation.

That redline is flatly incompatible with the idea that, were he not under audit, he’d disclose his tax returns to the general public, allowing Mueller to access them at will.

So—surprise!—Trump lied.

After that grandstanding, I expect Acosta to once again be kicked out of all WH briefings.
Next will be the whole damn crew he works for, CNN, the Candyass News Network.

membership fees raised from $100,000 to $200,000 per year. Trump is cleaning up, and he keeps his overhead down by hiring Eastern Europeans with temporary Visa to work at his Margofriggingalow Cha Ching joint for below minimum wage.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the highly unusual decision to turn down money for his department — $80 million to fight terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation — because he’s afraid of angering Vladimir Putin.

The money is earmarked for the State Department, but Tillerson hasn’t submitted a request for the funds, reported Politico.

The funds are intended for the Global Engagement Center, which is responsible for coordinating government efforts to counter online terrorist activity and, since December, state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.

President Barack Obama expanded the unit’s mission at the end of his term after intelligence agencies concluded Russia had flooded social media with fake news and phony Twitter accounts to influence the 2016 elections, and lawmakers from both parties want a stronger U.S. response.

President Donald Trump wants to cut State Department funding, so Tillerson is trying to spend less of it — not more.

“They use the reorganization as an excuse to not act on anything,” one former State official told Politico. “That’s why people doubt the motivations of the reorganization. They think it’s all about starving the beast.”

But a former senior State Department official told Politico that Tillerson aide R.C. Hammond suggested the secretary of state doesn’t want to fully fund the unit for fear of angering Putin.

Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship from Putin after signing deals with the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft.

Hammond, who serves as Tillerson’s spokesman and on the department’s policy planning staff, has said the unit hadn’t explained how $60 million, which will expire next month, of the earmarked funds would be spent, but the former State Department official denied that was the case.

“Hammond said the secretary is in the process of working through disagreements with Russia, and this is not consistent with what we’re trying to do,” the former senior State official told Politico.

The Kremlin-backed news site Sputnik compares the Global Engagement Center to the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s 1984, and Hammond told Politico the secretary of state did not want to upset Russia while trying to find common ground on Syria and other matters.

“Regarding Russia, we have not sought to reduce efforts to spotlight and combat Moscow’s ‘active measures’ or information activities,” Hammond told the website.

Do you think it's possible that the Trump supporters believe the Russians aren't interfering in the Crimea and Ukraine? I honestly don't fathom the lack of concern by some of my fellow citizens.

The evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election has only grown since Donald Trump took office. Yet a whopping 72 percent of Trump voters believe the whole story is “fake news.” A mere 14 percent believe there’s anything to the Russia story.

'I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil'.

Tillerson appears to best friends forever with Vladimir Putin.

Trump thinks his Military advisors are useless

Mango Mussolini

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said new sanctions imposed by the US are tantamount to declaring a "full-scale trade war" against Moscow.
He said the measures, signed by Donald Trump, demonstrated the complete impotence of the US president, who he said had been humiliated by Congress.
The law aims to punish Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US elections and its actions in Ukraine.
Mr Trump accused Congress of overreach on the legislation.
In signing the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act on Wednesday, he attached a statement calling the measure "deeply flawed".
The legislation limits the amount of money Americans can invest in Russian energy projects, and makes it more difficult for US companies to do business with Russia.
Mr Medvedev also warned that new steps would follow aimed at removing President Trump - whom he described as a "non-systemic player" - from power.
Moscow - which denies interfering in the US presidential election - had already retaliated last week when Congress passed the bill by ordering the US to cut to 455 the number of staff at the US embassy and consulates in Russia - a reduction of 755 people altogether - and also by denying access to a US country house and a warehouse in Moscow.
It also imposes sanctions on Iran and North Korea.
Iran said the new sanctions violated the nuclear deal and it would respond in an "appropriate and proportional" manner, reports the semi-official Isna news agency.
North Korea has so far made no public comments on the US move.