Two Weeks Under Trump

Under the headline "Yes, All This Happened. Trump's First 2 Weeks As President" (which allows writer Jessica Taylor to throw in things other people did and associate it Trump), we get a recap from National Public Radio.
She starts off noting the claims about Inauguration crowd sizes, and returns to it a few times (because Trump and his reps kept addressing it). I can believe Obama's crowd was larger. His Inauguration was especially historic, and Washington D.C. and some nearby areas have a high percentage of Democrats and government employees who directly benefit from enlarging government, as Obama promised to do, and African-Americans who felt a connection to Obama because his father was African.

It's not like Trump was promising you can keep your doctor. If he was lying, it's a rather silly lie.

The biggest news happened when Trump met that evening with both Republican and Democratic congressional leaders, reviving his unfounded claims that there were between 3 and 5 million illegal votes cast in the 2016 election that caused him to lose the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

It's probably a hyperbolic statement. Trump should have left it at noting that there were probably some illegal votes cast, and, combined with the fact that if the process of electing the President was based on the popular vote he would have taken a different strategy, and he would have won a legitimate popular vote.

The fact is, California, which is where Clinton got her high numbers, 1) has millions of illegal aliens; 2) gives driver's licenses to illegal aliens; 3) has a "motor voter registration" program. Is it far fetched to think that there was significant voter fraud?

Does NPR run pieces on whether the claims of "1 in 5 college women raped", the numbers of homeless people there are (under GOP administrations only, of course), the number of people killed by smoking tobacco, the percentage of women subjected to domestic violence during the Superbowl have any evidence to back them up?

Trump also signed an executive order reinstating the "Mexico City Policy," a global gag rule which prohibits international non-governmental organizations (NGO) that provide or talk about abortion services from receiving federal funding.

This is GREAT. There is no reason why American taxpayer dollars should be targeted to slaughter innocent human beings in other countries.

He also signaled his intent to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and instituted a federal hiring freeze except for the military.

These were campaign promises, as was the EO on the Mexico City Policy. Whether the withdrawal from TPP was a good thing or bad depends on what, if anything, replaces it. I realize Leftists hate the idea of a federal hiring freeze, but it can do a lot of good.

Ethics experts filed a lawsuit in court alleging that the president was in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution because of his overseas businesses

Trump is going to be constantly bombarded with legal challenges, whether they have merit or not. Of course Obama, being a "community organizer", didn't have this issue, but Trump has been involved in international business for decades.

Trump approved construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline, which had both been stopped during the Obama administration amid outcry from environmental groups.

GREAT! These pipelines are great things.

Other executive orders directed the Commerce Department to review how federal regulations might be impeding U.S. manufacturers.

EXCELLENT!

Trump signed two executive orders keeping one of his top campaign promises, ordering the U.S. government to begin construction of a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He asserted that while the U.S. government would have to front the money, Mexico would pay it back. (Mexican leaders have said they will not.)

Honestly, what are the leaders of the corrupt Mexican government going to say? Although there are ways to have Mexico pay for it, Trump should have never said that. He should have pointed out that the wall and border enforcement will pay for itself by the money saved that would otherwise be spent on illegal aliens and their American-born children.

Trump also directed Homeland Security and the Justice Departments to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities.

EXCELLENT!

In his first interview as president, Trump doubled-down (tripled-down?) on his unproven belief that there were millions of illegal voters.

Has NPR checked into the claims that African-Americans are disproportionately killed by police?

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto canceled a planned trip to the U.S. amid Trump's continued assertion that the country would repay the U.S. for the border wall.

Oh well.

One possibility to recoup the investment from Mexico that the White House floated was a 20-percent import tax, which, as NPR's Scott Horsley reported, "would effectively saddle U.S. consumers with a significant portion of the wall's cost, estimated at $15 billion or more."

It is great to have NPR noting some reality about about taxes and tariffs. Did the note that American consumers were the ones paying the Obamacare taxes? We can argue about the best way of funding federal government projects and programs.

He also tells Hannity he continues to believe waterboarding works and talks about bringing it back, though it is outlawed in the U.S. as torture. His new Defense Secretary, retired Gen. James Mattis, has said he does not believe waterboarding is effective and has reiterated it is illegal, as have top GOP congressional leaders such as Speaker Paul Ryan.

I think this is about sending a message to terrorists.

Trump signs an executive order which blocks travelers from seven countries, all of which are Muslim-majority — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia — from entering the U.S. for 90 days. New refugee admissions are suspended for 120 days, while Syrian refugees are banned indefinitely.

This was yet another campaign promise, and the seven countries had been designated by the Obama Administration. There is no right for non-citizens to travel to the USA. The majority of Muslim countries were NOT part of this, it should be noted. It's also telling that there wasn't much outcry when Obama did something similar in 2011 with Iraqis, other than some people (mostly on the Right) noting that Iraqis who helped the USA (such as translators) deserved better treatment.

Trump reshuffles the National Security Council, elevating controversial chief strategist Steve Bannon to be a permanent member of the principals committee, giving him equal billing with other Cabinet-level officials. The director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are typically permanent members, will now only attend when pertinent issues are being discussed.

Bannon has been turned into a boogeyman. Some people I tend to find credible have bad things to say about him as a boss, but the attacks on him as some "white nationalist" or racist or anti-Semite seem to me to be unfounded. There's nobody Trump could have in Bannon's position who wouldn't be vilified by the Left. Even if Trump had picked a Leftist, that person would've been trashed as a sellout. Now there are people who are making a calculated move to try to get Trump to see Bannon as upstaging him. I think Trump is smarter than that.

Trump calls several foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also has a tense call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, though details won't be reported on this until later in the week. The president tells Turnbull it was "the worst call by far" that he (Trump) has had that day and the two clash on the Obama administration's deal to accept refugees from the country.

The Australian deal, apparently for the USA to take in a bunch of risky foreigners, sounds like one of many bad deals made by the Obama Administration. However, there's so much fake news being put out, and some of it retracted, about how Trump is operating, I'm very skeptical about negative reports. Our President should be looking out for the Union. Making good deals with other countries will often be part of that, but we shouldn't be a doormat.

Trump signs several executive orders — an ethics order banning administration appointees from ever lobbying foreign governments and from federal lobbying for five years after they leave office.

I'm not sure if this will be enforceable or will pass a legal challenge, but this, at least the second aspect, strikes me as something that would be praised up and down as one of the greatest things ever by some Democrats if Obama had done it. But a lot of political operatives, I'm sure, hate it.

He also directs the administration to develop a "comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS."

EXCELLENT!

A U.S. Navy SEAL is killed during a raid in Yemen targeted against al-Quaida militants, the first military casualty of Trump's administration. Later in the week, questions are raised over how the operation — which also is believed to have killed several civilians — was carried out.

Losing a member of our military and killing civilians happened many times under Obama. The planning for this was the responsibility of our military.

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates (a holdover from the Obama administration) announces she will direct Justice Department lawyers not to defend Trump's travel ban. Hours later, the president fires her and replaces her with Dana Boente, the top federal prosecutor in suburban Virginia, as the interim attorney general until his nominee, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, is confirmed by the Senate.

EXCELLENT! Yates should have resigned. She was engaging in political theater. It's also silly how many people on the Left are acting like it is anything other than standard for new Administrations to bring in new leadership.

More Republicans continue to speak out against Trump's travel ban, voicing concern over its implementation. Former President Obama breaks his silence since leaving office, saying through a spokesman that "American values are at stake."

Classless. There were probably a lot of things GWB wanted to say about what BHO was doing but he kept his mouth shut.

Trump signs an executive order that says for every regulation the executive branch proposes, two others must be repealed.

This was another campaign promise, as most of these things were. I think it is a bit problematic, but it can result in some creative work

Trump nominates federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The evening ceremony in the White House's East Room is arranged for suspense, which gives it the aura of a reality TV show in some ways. Conservatives praise his pick, which was a major campaign issue after Senate Republicans refused to take up President Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, for much of 2016.

Excellent pick. And yes, Trump knows how to get people interested in watching TV. Good.

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn makes a surprise appearance at the daily press briefing to announce that the Trump administration is putting Iran "on notice" after the country conducted a ballistic missile test.

The Obama Administration's failure in this area will continue to be a problem.

The AP reports that during a call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto last week, Trump threatens to send in the U.S. military to stop the "bad hombres down there." Mexico denies the remarks.

There's a lot of fake news out there.

The Celebrity Apprentice creator Mark Burnett introduces Trump at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. During his remarks, Trump called out the low ratings of the NBC reality show he once hosted, and criticized the new host, action star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "And I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings, OK," the president said.

Trump was having a little fun, and probably doing a roundabout attempt to help the show. I don't think it is irrelevant that both Trump and Schwarzenegger have engaged in antics within WWE programs.

Trump also pledges at the breakfast to repeal the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt religious groups from wading into politics.

So you mean other churches aside from Left-leaning "black" churches will be able to participate?

New sanctions are announced against Iran, following up on the administration's earlier threat against the country.

Good.

Trump signs two executive orders directing the review of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations and halting implementation of another federal rule which mandates financial advisers to act in the best interests of their clients.

Theft and fraud are illegal, regardless, and if a financial advisor isn't acting in the best interest of their client the client can and should fire them.

We should have a healthy skepticism of our leaders. There is legitimate criticism of Trump. Also, there is, and will continue to be, people in the GOP who want to oppose him more than give him the benefit of the doubt, and Democrats and Leftists who are going to present anything he does as the wort thing ever. There is literally nothing he can do that they would say is a good thing. You can see them on Twitter. You can find them saying "Trump should have tweeted about X" and "Trump tweeted about X wrong!" and "How dare Trump tweet about X?!?"

Some things he's done have been great.

Meanwhile, see Ed Straker's piece at The American Thinker about judges dealing with foreign nationals.