Tag:

President Donald Trump

Trump officially becomes a Republican nominee in 2020 presidential race

On Monday Republican Party formally nominated President Trump for the second term at Republican National Convention, according to USA Today. An in-person roll-call of 336 delegates opened the night in Charlotte, North Carolina, and selected President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence to face the Biden-Harris ticket on November 3^rd. The President appeared on the stage while the audience was chanting “four more years.” “If you want to really drive them crazy, say twelve more years,” Trump said before his opening statement.

The President started his speech with a warning about voter fraud with regard to wide-spread mail-in voting, as Fox News reported. “Bad things happened last time with the spying on our campaign … and this time they’re trying to do it with the whole Post Office scam … be very careful and watch it very carefully,” he said. Trump accused Democrats of trying to steal the election by using the Covid pandemic to push universal mail-in voting. He also addressed his administration’s record on economy and unemployment, as well as highlighting his plans for the next term, including the development of coronavirus vaccine and treatment. “We’re coming up with it like nobody’s ever seen before.”

A spokesman for the Biden campaign, Andrew Bates, slammed President Trump during Fox News interview. “What they [voters] will hear from Donald Trump this week are the last thing our country needs: more desperate, wild-eyed lies and toxic division in vain attempts to distract from his mismanagement,” he said.

The Republican National Convention themed “Honoring the Great American Story,” will last for four days. Each night will be focused on American exceptionalism for being “Land of Promise,” “Land of Opportunity,” “Land of Heroes” and “Land of Greatness.” Several prominent conservative speakers are expected to be featured with a few surprising guests as Trump hinted recently.

24 August, 2020 0 comment

Politics

Trump signed an executive order on coronavirus relief amid failed aid negotiations in Congress

written by Julia Kanin

Over the weekend President Trump signed an executive order aiming to help affected by the COVID-19 pandemic Americans. It promises a payroll tax holiday, an extension of unemployment benefits, student loan payment deferral, and eviction protections. This move comes after weeks of unsuccessful talks over the relief package in Congress. “We’re going to save American jobs and provide relief to the American workers,” Trump said.

According to the executive order, unemployed workers will receive an extra $400 a week in addition to normal unemployment insurance payments. Up to $44 billion will be redirected from The Disaster Relief Fund to pay enhanced benefits. However, a state “must enter into a financial agreement with the federal government” and cover 25% (or $100) of the aid for each eligible person, according to CNN.

President Trump also signed a measure to defer the payroll tax from August 1^st until the end of the year. According to Fox23 News, payroll tax holiday will affect working Americans who make less than $100 000 a year. Trump hinted that he might extend the deferral or “terminate” the tax if re-elected. “This will mean bigger paychecks for families,” Trump said.

The student loan relief, which currently expires on September 30^th, will be extended until the end of the year. This means federally held loans payments are halted and interest on them will not be accrued. However, the eviction moratorium that lapsed in July is not extended, according to CNBC. The order doesn’t provide any financial relief to those struggling to pay their rent. “The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the CDC shall consider whether any measures temporarily halting residential evictions of any tenants for failure to pay rent are reasonably necessary to “prevent the further spread of COVID-19,” the executive order reads.

Republicans had mixed reactions to president actions. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) publicly expressed his support. “Since Democrats have sabotaged backroom talks with absurd demands that would not help working people, I support President Trump exploring his options to get unemployment benefits and other relief to the people who need them the most,” wrote McConnell in a statement. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized the order, calling it “not conservative.” In an interview with Newsmax TV, he said “Presidents don’t get to legislate, presidents don’t have the power of the purse.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s executive order. “We’re disappointed that instead of putting in the work to solve Americans’ problems, the President instead chose to stay on his luxury golf course to announce unworkable, weak and narrow policy announcements to slash the unemployment benefits that millions desperately need and endanger seniors’ Social Security and Medicare,” they said in a statement.

11 August, 2020 0 comment

Politics

NYT Claims ‘Bush won’t vote for Trump’, Bush claims article is false

written by Ruben Jay

The New York Times ran an article recently that former President George W. Bush won’t vote for President Donald Trump in 2020. According to the Texas Tribune, that article is “completely made up.”

The Times reported, “Former President George W. Bush won’t support the re-election of Mr. Trump, and Jeb Bush isn’t sure how he’ll vote, say people familiar with their thinking,” in an article on Saturday.

In an Email to the Texas Tribune that the claim is false. Freddy Ford, a spokesman for the former President, that the story is not true.

“This is completely made up,” Ford wrote. “He is retired from presidential politics and has not indicated how he will vote.”

The Times has not updated their original article. They have added the following statement at the end of the article, “Freddy Ford, a spokesman for Mr. Bush, said the former president would stay out of the election and speak only on policy issues, as he did this week in stating that the country must ‘examine our tragic failures’ on race.”

It is important to note that neither the former President or former First Lady Laura Bush voted for Trump or Hillary Clinton.

8 June, 2020 0 comment

Business Tech

Facebook pledges $10 millions to fight racial injustice

written by Ruben Jay

As Facebook faces backlash for not censoring President Trump, Mark Zuckerberg pledges $10 million to fight racial injustice. In a post on Sunday Night, the Facebook CEO said that social media platform is “working with our civil rights advisors and our employees to identify organizations locally and nationally that could most effectively use [the funding] right now.”

The Facebook owned Instagram also came out with a stance of anti-racism and a commitment to raise Black voices on its platform. The Social Media site is highlighting Black stories through the #ShareBlackStories hashtag.

Axios is reporting that Zuckerberg spoke with President Trump on the phone in regards to the Tweet in which Trump said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts…” Zuckerberg reportedly expressed some concerns over “about the tone and rhetoric” of the President’s social media posts.

While Twitter posted a warning label on the President’s tweet, Facebook did not remove the President’s post.

1 June, 2020 0 comment

Politics

Trump issues an executive order halting immigration into the US

written by Julia Kanin

President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that temporarily restricts some immigration into the United States. The order suspends the issuance of new green cards for 60 days and can be extended after reevaluation. The order can affect thousands of foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the US and will not apply to people who are changing their immigration status in the country. It also excludes current green card holders, spouses and children of the US citizens, members of the US Armed Forces and their families, healthcare workers, and prospective investor visas holders among others, according to CNN.

This policy is a part of a response by the Trump’s administration to the coronavirus crisis, according to Fox News. “This will ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens,” said Trump during a coronavirus task force briefing. He pointed out that “would be wrong and unjust” to have new immigrants replacing Americans who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The order found a lot of support among Republicans and people advocating for lowering immigration into the US. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted: “22 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last month because of the China virus. Let’s help them get back to work before we import more foreigners to compete for their jobs.” The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) issued a statement they “were thrilled to learn” about this order, but called on Trump to go even further and pause virtually all immigration, including guest workers who were exempt from this rule.

Trump’s new policy was widely criticized by Democrats and immigrants’ rights activists even just after it was announced on Monday. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) blasted Trump as “Xenophobe in Chief” after the President tweeted that he is planning to sign an executive order and details were not clear. Several Democrats accused Trump of using the crisis to further curtail immigration and advance his agenda. “President Trump’s transparent attempt to distract from his own failures with this unwarranted suspension will cause real pain for families and employers across the country,” said Omar Jadwat, a lawyer for ACLU on Wednesday night.

24 April, 2020 0 comment

Politics

President Trump is “open” to a call from former Vice President and 2020 Presidential Contender Joe Biden

written by Ruben Jay

President Donald Trump was asked about his feelings for having a phone call with former Vice President and presumptive Democratic 2020 Presidential nominee, Joe Biden. Trump said he would be open to the phone call. He made it clear that he would want Biden to call him, not the other way around.

Trump called Biden a ‘nice guy”. “I’d love to speak with him too … I always found him to be a nice guy, I don’t know him very well frankly, but I think he’s probably a nice guy.” said the President.

Trump would go on and said “If he’d like to call, I’d absolutely take his call…You can tell him.”.

Biden has gone on record saying that the President should call former President Barack Obama. Trump stated that he want to bother Obama or former President George Bush. “I don’t want to disturb them, bother them. I don’t think that I’m going to learn much,” Trump said last week, adding, “There’s probably a natural inclination not to call.”

2 April, 2020 0 comment

Politics

Trump addressed the nation amid growing fears of the coronavirus pandemic

written by Julia Kanin

On Wednesday President Trump held a press conference at the White House outlining his administration’s efforts to handle coronavirus threat. He announced that the risk for America is very low, but “we’re ready to adapt and ready to do whatever we have to as the disease spreads, if it spreads.” He said that so far only 15 people had contracted the virus and are currently on the way to recovery, according to NBC News. Trump announced during the briefing that he had appointed Vice President Pence to lead the US response to the coronavirus outbreak.

President Trump didn’t call for more travel restrictions after expressing satisfaction with his administration’s efforts to stop the spread of the virus by screening people coming high-risk areas and even issuing a temporary ban on foreign individuals traveling from China, according to CBS News. “Had I not made a decision very early on not to take people from a certain area, we wouldn’t be talking this way,” said Trump.

Trump’s press conference drew criticism. Obama’s former health policy adviser, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, criticized President’s assessment of the danger of novel coronavirus. “I found most of what he said a little incoherent,” said Emanuel, blasting the idea that the virus is similar to the flu. “It is actually more communicable than the flu. It passes between people very, very easily,” he said during an interview with MSNBC. Many other media outlets highlighted an inconsistency between President’s reassurance and CDC’s warning issued on Tuesday. “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier.

Earlier this week the White House unveiled a $2.5 billion plan in emergency funding to combat the spread of coronavirus. These funds will be spent to “accelerate vaccine development, support preparedness, and response activities and to procure much-needed equipment and supplies,” confirmed Rachel Semmel, a spokesperson for the White House budget office. However, Democrats and even some Republicans stated that this plan is insufficient and requested more resources. “We have a crisis of coronavirus and President Trump has no plan, no urgency, no understanding of the facts or how to coordinate a response,” said Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

27 February, 2020 0 comment