US Politics 2

Monkey Man wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:He probably saw something on Fox that raised his hackles.

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Trump wants to cut deficit but still demands pricey spending

Ten current and former White House and congressional officials told the Washington Post that President Trump has been urging his top advisers to cut the growing federal deficit, even as he tries to implement pricey programs, like a massive infrastructure package.

2010's Tea Party wave, which propelled many budget-conscious Republicans to power in Washington, was prompted by increased federal spending and concerns of big government that have long been central issues for the GOP. But Trump’s contradictions reflect how conflicted the party has become — even as the Congressional Budget Office said earlier this year that the deficit will approach $1 trillion by the end of 2019's fiscal year.

Trump is not well-versed on the particulars of the federal budget, according to the Post. He had largely expressed no interest in discussing the matter and instead told former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn to simply print more money.

"'He’d just say, run the presses, run the presses,' one former senior administration official said, describing the president’s Oval Office orders. 'Sometimes it seemed like he was joking, and sometimes it didn’t.'"

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Trump told the Wall Street Journal Monday that it’s possible the U.S. will apply new tariffs to Chinese-made consumer tech products like the iPhone. The new tariff could be either 10% or 25%, the president said. His comments come four days before he will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping for trade talks.

Trump had promised Cook that he would not place tariffs on Apple products, the New York Times reported in June, and Apple devices missed the first round of tariffs applied by the Trump administration in September, but the company’s luck might not hold. If the iPhone were subject to a 10%-25% tariff, consumers would bear most of the extra cost. And Apple has already been pushing the envelope on the (high) prices of its flagship iPhones. The iPhone accounts for about 60% of Apple’s revenues.

Other Apple products assembled in China, like AirPods, the MacBook Pro, iPad, and Apple Watch, could also be subject to the new tariffs.

Apple’s stock fell 1.8% in after-hours trading on Trump’s comments.

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Harry Ola wrote:

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Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy
Exclusive: Trump ally met WikiLeaks founder months before emails hacked by Russia were published

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, the Guardian has been told.

Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 – during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump’s push for the White House.

It is unclear why Manafort wanted to see Assange and what was discussed. But the last meeting is likely to come under scrutiny and could interest Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later WikiLeaks released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers.

Manafort, 69, denies involvement in the hack and says the claim is “100% false”. His lawyers declined to answer the Guardian’s questions about the visits.

Manafort was jailed this year and was thought to have become a star cooperator in the Mueller inquiry. But on Monday Mueller said Manafort had repeatedly lied to the FBI, despite agreeing to cooperate two months ago in a plea deal. According to a court document, Manafort had committed “crimes and lies” on a “variety of subject matters”.

His defence team says he believes what he has told Mueller to be truthful and has not violated his deal.