monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

So, with Pompeo under oath, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) sought clarity on the episode. He asked Pompeo whether Trump had made such a request. And Pompeo offered three distinct responses:

- “I’m not going to talk about the conversations with the president that I had.”
- “I don’t recall what he asked me that day, precisely.”
- “He has never asked me to do anything that I consider remotely improper.”

As CNN's Jim Scuitto notes, those statements are somewhat contradictory. If you don't remember what Trump asked, how do you know it wasn't improper?

President Trump told top administration officials Thursday to look at rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the multination trade agreement he pulled the United States out of shortly after taking office.

Rejoining the pact would be a major reversal as Trump escalates a trade conflict with China. The 11-nation Pacific rim trade deal was intended by the Obama administration as a way to counter China’s influence, but Trump criticized the pact as a candidate and pulled the United States out of the pact in early 2017.

So you would prefer not only to bomb Syria but every other country with a Muslim population?

In a White House known for chaos, the process of developing the U.S. response to the Syrian government’s alleged latest gas attack was proceeding with uncharacteristic deliberation, including several national security briefings for President Trump. 

But then Wednesday morning, Trump upended it all with a tweet — warning Russia, the Syrian government’s backer, to “get ready” because American missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ ”

White House advisers were surprised by the missive and found it “alarming” and “distracting,” in the words of one senior official. They quickly regrouped and, together with Pentagon brass, continued readying Syria options for Trump as if nothing had happened.

On Thursday, Trump left further questions. In a tweet, he added doubt to suggestions that military action in Syria was on a fast track.

“Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” he wrote in a tweet that also noted U.S.-led battlefield successes against the Islamic State.

The Twitter disruptions were emblematic of a president operating on a tornado of impulses — and with no clear strategy — as he faces some of the most consequential decisions of his presidency, including Syria, trade policy and the Russian interference probe that threatens to overwhelm his administration.

“It’s just like everybody wakes up every morning and does whatever is right in front of them,” said one West Wing aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share a candid opinion. “Oh, my God, Trump Tower is on fire. Oh, my God, they raided Michael Cohen’s office. Oh, my God, we’re going to bomb Syria. Whatever is there is what people respond to, and there is no proactive strategic thinking.”

The president has been particularly livid in the wake of Monday’s FBI raids on the home, office and hotel room of Cohen, his longtime personal attorney. In the days after, he has seriously contemplated a shake-up at the Justice Department in the hopes of curbing the expanding probe by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, whose referral led to the Cohen raids. Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who is overseeing the probe, several people familiar with Trump’s private comments said.

By Trump’s admission Wednesday on Twitter, Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice has consumed “tremendous time and focus.” And in denying allegations of wrongdoing, the president seemed to equivocate in a parenthetical aside: “No Collusion or Obstruction (other than I fight back),” he wrote. 

On trade, meanwhile, the president is grappling with the potential economic fallout of his threatened tariffs, especially within the agriculture sector, which could harm some of the rural states that carried him to electoral victory — all against the backdrop of his ongoing effort to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement more favorably for the United States.

Trump also finds himself facing the surprise retirement of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), signaling more turmoil for the fractious Republican Party heading into the midterm elections. 

Trump weighs rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership amid trade dispute with China

Quote:

President Trump told top administration officials Thursday to look at rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the multination trade agreement he pulled the United States out of shortly after taking office.

Rejoining the pact would be a major reversal as Trump escalates a trade conflict with China. The 11-nation Pacific rim trade deal was intended by the Obama administration as a way to counter China’s influence, but Trump criticized the pact as a candidate and pulled the United States out of the pact in early 2017.

But since in your opinion, Isalam is "straight forward and unashamed of the hate it teaches and the superiority it proclaims

I am trying to figure out why he would have put the gun in the toilet in the first place.

Former congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) has been found guilty on 23 felony counts for misspending $1.25 million of donor funds on sometimes-bizarre personal and campaign expenses, according to the Texas Tribune.

WATCH: Nancy Pelosi Suffers Serious Face Spasms, Confuses Words

Wayne Allyn Root: ‘Robert Mueller Has Penis Envy’

Right-wing radio host, commentator, conspiracy theorist and Donald Trump–obsessed sycophant Wayne Allyn Root kicked off his radio program yesterday with an epic rant in which he declared that the recent FBI raid on the office of President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is rooted in “penis envy” on the part of special counsel Robert Mueller.

“Robert Mueller has probably never had sex in his life,” Root said. “I know he has never had sex with a beautiful woman. Did you ever see the angry look on Robert Mueller’s face? Robert Mueller needs sex badly and he is so jealous that Donald Trump was a billionaire playboy and obviously had sex with the most beautiful women in the world.”

James Comey’s memoir: Trump fixates on proving lewd dossier allegations false

Comey writes that Obama sat alone with him in the Oval Office in late November and told him, “I picked you to be FBI director because of your integrity and your ability. I want you to know that nothing — nothing — has happened in the last year to change my view.”