During an interview broadcast on Tuesday’s “Fox & Friends” on the Fox News Channel, President Trump denied that he had softened his stance on China with regards to trade and China being a currency manipulator. Trump said, “I didn’t soften my stance. … Now, what am I going to do, start a trade war with China in the middle of him working on a bigger problem, frankly, with North Korea? So, I’m dealing with China with great respect. I have great respect for him. We’ll see what he can do. Now, maybe he won’t be able to help. That’s possible. I think he’s trying, but maybe he won’t be able to help.” He added, “What am I going to do, in the middle of him talking with North Korea, I’m going to hit them with currency manipulation? This is the fake media that just does a number. … I haven’t changed my stance. China’s trying to help us. I don’t know if they’re going to be able to or not. But, would I want to start heavy, heavy trade or currency statements against somebody that’s out there right now trying to stop what could be a very bad situation?” (h/t Grabien)
Author: Ian Hanchett
Matthews: ‘We Know There’s No Audit’ on Trump IRS Leaking That ‘Would Be a Good Leak’
On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” host Chris Matthews wondered if the IRS could state that President Trump isn’t really under audit, and stated that it “would be a good leak” if someone at the IRS leaked that Trump isn’t under audit, because “we know there’s no audit.” Matthews said, “[W]e know there’s no audit. Can’t the IRS — they claim the — can’t the IRS just make a statement, ‘He’s not under audit’? Just make the announcement. Can’t somebody — by the way, that would be a good leak. Somebody from the IRS just leak it.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Brooks: Trump ‘Making the Conclusion That the Populism and the Bannon-ism Is Not Working’
On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks argued President Trump “is making the conclusion that the populism and the Bannon-ism is not working, and he’s going to go to something else.” Brooks said, “Donald Trump is different. He’s a marketing guy. He’s a business guy, whatever’s working for him at the moment. And it seems, from this many data points, he is making the conclusion that the populism and the Bannon-ism is not working, and he’s going to go to something else. Now, what exactly that else thing is, we don’t really know. It could be sort of a corporatism. It could be, let me trust my business guys. Let’s go to the CEOs, and let’s — those guys, I can trust. There seems to be some instinctual sense who — that he’s shifting teams of who he wants to be his key advisers. And with Trump, because he knows so little, it’s not him personally initiating policy. The crucial question is, who is he listening to? And there’s a clear shift, at least in one week, that there’s been a radical shift in his advisee team.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Trump: Terrorism ‘One of the Gravest Threats to Religious Freedom’
During Friday’s Weekly Address, President Trump stated that “one of the gravest threats to religious freedom remains the threat of terror.”
House Freedom Caucus Member DeSantis: ‘We Can Pass Something, Relatively Soon’ on Obamacare
On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” House Freedom Caucus Member Representative Ron DeSantis (R-FL) stated that there’s “definitely a path” to an Obamacare bill, and that if they can deliver lower premiums and more choice, “I absolutely think we can pass something, relatively soon.” DeSantis said, “I think there’s definitely a path, Bill. I mean, if you remember this March 23rd date, where this kind of blew up, that was not any deadline. That was a self-imposed deadline. And what happened was, the bill really wasn’t ready for primetime. You hadn’t developed a consensus. You set a date to vote on it without having the consensus. And so, what’s happened since then, is members are talking to each other, and really the administration, I think has done a good job. Vice President Pence has been exercising a lot of leadership to try to figure out how do we actually fulfill the promises we made to the American people, and for me the core thing that we have to do is deliver lower premiums and more choice on private insurance, because that is the reason why people dislike Obamacare because their premiums have gone up and their deductibles have
Krauthammer: ‘I’m Not an America Firster’ – ‘I Welcome’ Shifts In Trump Foreign Policy Doctrine
On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” columnist Charles Krauthammer stated that he welcomes President Trump’s recent foreign policy moves, particularly the Syria strike, because “I’m not an America Firster. I thought it was a mistake to enunciate a doctrine in the Inaugural Address which is, we’re coming home.” Krauthammer said, “[T]he strike on Syria was not something that is a tweak or a slight deviation from what he ran on. … And the reason it is a radical departure is because, in the Inaugural Address he defines national interests very narrowly, and here, what we are back to is the traditional American understanding of national interests as a broad definition, going all the way back to Harry Truman, in which we define our interest as worldwide, otherwise, what is Syria to us?” He added, “I welcome this. I’m not an America Firster. I thought it was a mistake to enunciate a doctrine in the Inaugural Address which is, we’re coming home. It scared the bee-jeebies out of our allies in NATO, when he talked about it being obsolete. It scared — in the Middle East, the Gulf Arabs were scared to death. I think this is
AZ Sheriff: ‘Illegal Immigration Goes Hand-In-Hand, Almost Always,’ With Drug and Human Trafficking
During an interview broadcast Thursday’s “Special Report,” on the Fox News Channel, Pinal County, AZ Sheriff Mark Lamb (R) stated, “illegal immigration goes hand-in-hand, almost always, with drug trafficking and with human trafficking.” Lamb said, “People need to understand that illegal immigration goes hand-in-hand, almost always, with drug trafficking and with human trafficking.” He added that the 287(g) program “allows me to make sure that I’m not putting criminals back in our communities.” During the same segment, ICE’s LA Field Director David Marin said, “[T]hose sheriffs and law enforcement agencies realize that by turning over these criminal aliens to us, that, they’re not going to be able to go out and commit additional crimes.” Marin added that with sanctuary cities “Instead of taking these criminal aliens in a secure environment of a jail, our officers have to go out on the street. And that not only endangers our officers, but the community at large, as well.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Kirsten Powers on Hillary Election Remarks: ‘Never In This Equation Is Hillary Clinton to Blame’ for Losing the Election
On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” CNN Political Analyst and USA Today columnist Kirsten Powers reacted to former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s remarks where she pointed to FBI Director James Comey, WikiLeaks, Russia, misogyny, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and the media as some reasons why she lost the 2016 election by stating, “Never in this equation is Hillary Clinton to blame for anything, and she was, after all, the candidate.” Powers said, “Never in this equation is Hillary Clinton to blame for anything, and she was, after all, the candidate. There were outside forces that were affecting the campaign, no question, but there were a lot of things, I think related to her candidacy that were problematic. And I don’t think this helps Democrats, frankly, to be looking back at this. I think people want to move on and not seem like sour grapes. It makes the audience she was talking to happy. This was Women in the World, very liberal women, and I think it makes the base happy, but I don’t think it’s helpful overall.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
CNN’s Tapper: Hillary ‘Doesn’t Seem to Have Done Enough Introspection’ – Putin Didn’t Keep You Out of Wisconsin
On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” anchor Jake Tapper said that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s remarks where she placed some of the blame for her defeat on Vladimir Putin and FBI Director James Comey show “she doesn’t seem to have done enough introspection.” “[O]bviously, Putin, Comey, etc., there’s a whole list of reasons why she didn’t win, but she doesn’t seem to have done enough introspection. … There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of introspection when it comes to, no one — you know, Putin didn’t tell you, ‘Don’t go to Wisconsin.’ James Comey didn’t tell you, ‘Call one-quarter of the country deplorable.’” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Sessions: ‘I’m An Admirer of Steve Bannon and the Trump Family,’ ‘They’ve Been Supportive’
On Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Laura Ingraham Show,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated he’s an admirer of chief strategist and former Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon and the Trump family, which has “been supportive of what we’re doing. I have not felt any pushback against me on anything I’ve done or advocated.” Sessions said, “Well, I’m an admirer of Steve Bannon, and the Trump family. And they’ve been supportive of what we’re doing. I have not felt any pushback against me on anything I’ve done or advocated. And I believe everybody, virtually both parties believe that we should end the illegality at this border and get it fixed. So, that’s what I am committed to.” Sessions added that he believes the president’s agenda on immigration is “shared throughout the White House. I don’t believe anybody’s going to object to that.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett