US Politics - Trump cancels summit having to do with North Korea

twitter.com/byrdinator/status/856880318082580481

House oversight panel: No sign Flynn complied with the law

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser did not properly disclose payments from Russia and does not appear to have complied with the law, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings said Tuesday after reviewing Michael Flynn's application for a security clearance.

Chaffetz and Cummings announced their findings to reporters on the Hill following a classified gathering of the committee in which they reviewed documents that Cummings described as "extremely troubling."

"I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said, referring to whether Flynn received permission from the Pentagon or the State Department or that he disclosed the more than $45,000 he was paid for a speech he gave to RT-TV in Russia.

The request comes after the White House declined to provide documents related to Flynn that the panel investigating him had requested, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short outlined in a letter to the House oversight committee how it would not complete the request from the panel, referring some requests to the Department of Defense, saying the office doesn't have custody of some of the other documents or simply stating "we are unable to accommodate" others.

twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/856904721092706306

BBC News wrote:Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka was met with groans as she defended her father's attitude towards women at the G20 women's summit in Berlin.

Speaking alongside German chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF chief Christine Lagarde, she said her father was a "TREMENDOUS champion of supporting families".

BBC News wrote:Former US President Barack Obama is being criticised for reportedly agreeing a $400,000 (£310,000) fee for a speech to a Wall Street bank.

The 44th president has accepted an offer to speak at a healthcare conference hosted by Cantor Fitzgerald in September, US media report.

The deal comes less than 100 days after Mr Obama
left office.

In 2009, he told CBS: "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street."

Mr Obama has reportedly agreed to be a keynote speaker at an event hosted by Cantor Fitzgerald LP, an investment bank that lost more than two-thirds of its staff in the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.

The fee is nearly twice the $225,000 that Hillary Clinton received for three speeches to Goldman Sachs in 2015.

She was heavily criticised during last year's presidential campaign for her Wall Street speeches, with activists on both sides of the political spectrum demanding she release the transcripts.

During Mr Obama's two terms as US president he at times seemed to have strained relations with the financial sector.

He deplored high bonuses paid to bank executives, and said Wall Street shared blame for the 2008 financial crisis.

Some liberals have criticised Mr Obama's speech decision, with one writer saying it "will undermine everything he believes in".

The New York Post, meanwhile, said his speech made him "Wall Street's newest fat cat".

Mr Obama appears to be enjoying life after the White House since he left office in January.

On Monday he made his first public remarks about community organising to students at the University of Chicago, where his presidential library is set to be built.

He was pictured kite-surfing in February with Richard Branson off the Virgin tycoon's private Caribbean island.

And just this month, he and former First Lady Michelle Obama were pictured aboard music mogul David Geffen's luxury yacht off French Polynesia.

They were reportedly on holiday with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey.

Mr Obama also took in a Broadway play in New York City before dining with U2's Bono.

Two months ago the former president accepted an offer from Penguin Random House for two books to be written separately by him and Michelle.

They are expected to receive $65m for the deal.

chalkitdown wrote:Don't all former president go on the speaking circuit and get book deals?

Alvin Flummux wrote:

chalkitdown wrote:Don't all former president go on the speaking circuit and get book deals?

Yeah, but Bernie hounding Clinton for it has made it a whole big Neddy No-No.

Memento Mori wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:

chalkitdown wrote:Don't all former president go on the speaking circuit and get book deals?

Yeah, but Bernie hounding Clinton for it has made it a whole big Neddy No-No.

That was because Clinton was running for president. Obama's never standing for office again.

twitter.com/thesimpsons/status/857350936976437248

Exclusive: Trump says he thought being president would be easier than his old life

He misses driving, feels as if he is in a cocoon, and is surprised how hard his new job is.

President Donald Trump on Thursday reflected on his first 100 days in office with a wistful look at his life before the White House.

"I loved my previous life. I had so many things going," Trump told Reuters in an interview. "This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier."

More than five months after his victory and two days shy of the 100-day mark of his presidency, the election is still on Trump's mind. Midway through a discussion about Chinese President Xi Jinping, the president paused to hand out copies of what he said were the latest figures from the 2016 electoral map.

"Here, you can take that, that's the final map of the numbers," the Republican president said from his desk in the Oval Office, handing out maps of the United States with areas he won marked in red. "It’s pretty good, right? The red is obviously us."

He had copies for each of the three Reuters reporters in the room.

The president has been at loggerheads with many news organizations since his election campaign and decided not to attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington on Saturday because he felt he had been treated unfairly by the media.

"I would come next year, absolutely," Trump said when asked whether he would attend in the future.

"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview ahead of his 100th day in office on Saturday.

Nonetheless, Trump said he wanted to peacefully resolve a crisis that has bedeviled multiple U.S. presidents, a path that he and his administration are emphasizing by preparing a variety of new economic sanctions while not taking the military option off the table.

"We'd love to solve things diplomatically but it's very difficult," he said.

Trump lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for Chinese assistance in trying to rein in North Korea. The two leaders met in Florida earlier this month.

"I believe he is trying very hard. He certainly doesn’t want to see turmoil and death. He doesn’t want to see it. He is a good man. He is a very good man and I got to know him very well.

"With that being said, he loves China and he loves the people of China. I know he would like to be able to do something, perhaps it's possible that he can’t," Trump said.

....

Any direct U.S. military action would run the risk of massive North Korean retaliation and huge casualties in Japan and South Korea and among U.S. forces in both countries.

Trump, asked if he considered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be rational, said he was operating from the assumption that he is rational. He noted that Kim had taken over his country at an early age.

"He's 27 years old. His father dies, took over a regime. So say what you want but that is not easy, especially at that age.

"I'm not giving him credit or not giving him credit, I'm just saying that's a very hard thing to do. As to whether or not he's rational, I have no opinion on it. I hope he's rational," he said.

Trump, sipping a Coke delivered by an aide after the president ordered it by pressing a button on his desk, appeared to rebuff an overture from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who told Reuters a direct phone call with Trump could take place again after their first conversation in early December angered Beijing.

China considers neighboring Taiwan to be a renegade province.

"My problem is that I have established a very good personal relationship with President Xi," said Trump. "I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation. So I wouldn’t want to be causing difficulty right now for him."

"So I would certainly want to speak to him first."