monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

After the pummeling he incurred during the 35-day shutdown—a self-inflicted punishment—Donald Trump was looking forward to his State of the Union address, seeing it as a presidential safe space where at least some of the attendees had to applaud for him. “He was in a great mood and really seemed ready to go,” a Republican who spoke with Trump before the speech told me. The generally positive response from his favored outlets—Drudge’s headline blared “Trump Rocks House”—has pleased the president this week, sources said. “He’s been in a good mood,” another prominent Republican said. And the no-socialism themes were seen as a potent weapon against Democrats in 2020—the first hopeful sign in a while.

But while the State of the Union adjusted the president’s mood, it wasn’t enough to re-align the underlying dysfunction of the West Wing. Morale inside the White House, never high to begin with, has turned particularly bleak, according to interviews with 10 former West Wing officials and Republicans close to the president. The issue is that many see Trump himself as the problem. “Trump is hated by everyone inside the White House,” a former West Wing official told me. His shambolic management style, paranoia, and pattern of blaming staff for problems of his own making have left senior White House officials burned out and resentful, sources said. “It’s total misery. People feel trapped,” a former official said. “Trump always needs someone to blame,” a second former official said. Sources said the leak of Trump’s private schedules to Axios—which revealed how little work Trump actually does—was a signal of how disaffected his staff has become.

White House Communications Director Bill Shine has told friends he’s angry that Trump has singled him out for the bad press during the government shutdown. “Bill is like, ‘you’re the guy who steps on the message more than anyone,’” said a Republican who’s spoken with Shine recently. Economic adviser Larry Kudlow has told people he’s probably got six months left. “Larry’s really tired of it all,” a source close to Kudlow said.

What’s driving a lot of the frustration is that Trump, now more than ever, runs the West Wing as a family business. Four sources said the only White House advisers he truly consults are daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. “This is a family affair, and if you’re not in the family, you’ve got problems,” a former official said. The special privileges and access afforded to Kushner and Ivanka have been alienating Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney. “Mick is not entirely thrilled with the family,” a Republican close to Mulvaney told me. Multiple sources said Mulvaney is looking for a way out of the West Wing. He’s said to be interested in a Cabinet position, either at the Commerce Department or Treasury, and he’s reportedly been pursuing the University of South Carolina presidency. A senior White House official recently lobbied a friend of Mulvaney’s to convince Mulvaney to stay.

In the meantime, Mulvaney is working to stave off another political crisis before Trump either shuts the government down again or declares a state of emergency to fund his southern border wall. One source briefed on the internal debate said that Mulvaney is advising Trump to accept less than his demand of $5 billion and make up the difference by shuffling money around the existing budget. “Mick wants to re-program existing funds,” the source said. Trump has insisted he won’t compromise, but he faces no good options, with a G.O.P. revolt likely if he goes the national-emergency route. “Trump is going to declare whatever happens a victory,” a former West Wing official said.

The White House declined to comment.

US-backed fighters in Syria say they are meeting fierce resistance in the last enclave held by Islamic State (IS) militants near the Iraqi border.

A battle has been going on for hours, with US-led coalition air strikes and artillery fire pounding IS positions.

Up to 600 jihadists are thought to be defending their last stronghold, a small pocket in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

Two years ago IS controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq.

On Saturday, after a pause of more than a week to allow some 20,000 civilians to leave the area, SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said the group was launching the "final battle to crush IS". Some civilians are believed to be still in the area.

An SDF field commander told AFP news agency on Sunday morning: "There are heavy clashes at the moment. We have launched an assault and the fighters are advancing."

Monitors the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF were advancing across farmland, and there were heavy clashes and landmines going off.

Backed by air strikes, the SDF have driven out IS from towns and villages in north-eastern Syria in recent months.

At its peak in 2014, IS established a "caliphate" stretching across Syria and Iraq that was similar in size to the UK and ruled over more than 7.7 million people.

In December, US President Donald Trump said IS militants were "mostly gone" and announced the US would withdraw all of its 2,000 troops from Syria.

On Wednesday he said: "It should be announced, probably some time next week, that we will have 100% of the caliphate."


The battle for the tiny sliver of land still held by IS next to the Iraqi border has been raging for many hours.

Air strikes and artillery fire have pummelled the IS position, which measures only about a mile across. The SDF believes it will shortly achieve a decisive victory.

IS does still hold another scrap of territory in Syria - and it continues to carry out dozens of attacks - many targeting the SDF.

Even as it seems likely to lose every last fragment of its once-vaunted and self-declared caliphate, IS can continue to operate and pose a potent threat in both Syria and Iraq from remote areas where its fighters find refuge, as well as through militants gone to ground in towns and cities.

IS has suffered substantial losses, but the UN says it still reportedly controls between 14,000 and 18,000 militants in Iraq and Syria, including up to 3,000 foreigners.

Meanwhile, there are significant numbers of IS-affiliated militants in Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, South-East Asia and West Africa, and to a lesser extent in Somalia, Yemen, Sinai and the Sahel.

Individuals inspired by the group's ideology also continue to carry out attacks elsewhere.

The conflict in Palestine is not a religious war.

Gabriel Sherman

sharing of Muslim knowledge

#AllTheBestPeople

El Paso Sheriff Blasts Donald Trump's

Jennifer Rubin
‏Verified account
@JRubinBlogger
The moral failure and abject irresponsibility of the Republican Party, its donors, its activists and its countless enablers continue to shock and dismay the rest of America. Have these Republicans no standards, no decency? They do not.

Have these Republicans no standards, no decency?

The ones in Virginia have more than Virginia Democrats.

But yeah, it does have worthwhile articles from time to time.

Anti-Trump equals worthwhile.

The article is mostly lies and can never be proven.

It is more than clear debate is out, and hate is the answer.