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Trump’s Inauguration: Record Spending Leaves Little For Charities
More than a year after President Trump was sworn in, his inaugural committee said in tax filings that it raised nearly $107 million and spent almost all of the money.
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More than a year after President Trump was sworn in, his inaugural committee said in tax filings that it raised nearly $107 million and spent almost all of the money.
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Updated Feb. 15 at 5:30 p.m. ET
President Trump’s inaugural committee raised twice as much as any of its predecessors, but its final filing with the IRS shows it spent most of the money on events that were significantly scaled back from past years.
The Trump committee raised $106.8 million, roughly twice as much as President Barack Obama’s 2009 committee. Insiders suggested substantial gifts to charity with the unspent funds. Thomas Barrack, a Trump ally and president of the inaugural committee, told the Daily Beast last fall that the IRS filing “will show that millions of dollars of reserve funds will be allocated to various charities, institutions, and foundations in an amount that will surely exceed any previous inauguration.”
The filing doesn’t exactly show that.
The committee gave $1 million each to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and Samaritan’s Purse in 2017. The filing shows three more contributions: $1 million to the White House Historical Association, $750,000 to the Vice President’s Residence Foundation and $250,000 to the Smithsonian Institution. Total contributions: $5 million.
That leaves about $2.7 million in the committee’s accounts. After final expenses are paid, Barrack said, remaining funds will go to “charities of similar stature and quality.”
Unlike campaign committees, inaugural committees are not required to give a detailed accounting of where their money goes.
One spending item drew immediate attention from watchdog groups. WIS Media Partners, a firm incorporated shortly after Trump was elected, was paid $25.8 million — more than any other vendor — for “event production services.” The New York Times reported WIS was created by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a friend of first lady Melania Trump, and Wolkoff herself was paid $1.62 million for her inaugural work. The Times said Wolkoff is also an unpaid adviser to the first lady.
“Mrs. Trump had no involvement with the [presidential inauguration committee], and had no knowledge of how funds were spent,” said Melania Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham. “Stephanie Winston Wolkoff is a contracted volunteer with the Office of the First Lady and has specified duties as outlined in her contract.”
Public Citizen, a liberal watchdog group, and the lawyers’ group Campaign Legal Center both pounced on the filing as proof that inaugural committees need better disclosure. Craig Holman of Public Citizen said the filing showed fiscal mismanagement, adding that it’s “no wonder” the inaugural committee didn’t make voluntary disclosures.
A representative of Barrack didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Trump struggles with consoler-in-chief role
Being the consoler-in-chief requires empathy and the trust of the nation.
Thursday morning at the White House, in the wake of a rampage that left 17 people dead at a Florida high school, President Donald Trump offered a deliberate but emotionless reading of a carefully written speech that lacked any of the typical flourishes of words he’s written himself. He went through the motions, talking about being “joined together in the American family” and addressing scared children, telling them there are people “who will do anything at all” to keep them safe.
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But Trump didn’t appear to group himself among those people, instead suggesting kids turn to teachers, family, police or faith leaders.
“It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. We must actually make that difference,” Trump said.
He said he planned to meet with governors and attorneys general later in the month to discuss ways to keep schools safe but he didn’t make any effort to suggest what the call to action would be, prompting the Democratic Attorneys General Association to issue a statement saying, “We don’t know what the president’s plans are.”
He didn’t mention the word guns.
The overall effect was dutiful, and unmemorable—with nothing like the searing moment of President Barack Obama wiping his eyes at the White House briefing room lectern as he talked about the murder of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.
He talked about grief, but showed no sign of it himself.
Trump said he’d visit the families of victims, and canceled an event scheduled for Friday in Orlando—but is still set to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, 40 miles north of Parkland, where the shooting took place.
“It’s always important for the president to demonstrate he is emotionally connected to America and its problems, and it is critically important for the president to discuss what is happening and show great concerns for victims and community,” said Andy Card, who was chief of staff to President George W. Bush during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and through many ups and downs in the years after.
Card said he hadn’t seen Trump’s Parkland remarks, but he’d read them, and said they looked good on the page. “We’re all saying we always want him to be careful with his words, and I thought the words that were written were appropriate words and demonstrated sincere concern and angst,” Card said.
But they fell flat on the delivery. Time after time, Trump has effectively demonstrated only one public emotion—rage. Trump rarely seems to get revved up about anything that doesn’t directly involve him.
His genius for going right at guts and grievances is the essence of his political appeal, but the absence of efforts to reach beyond his base has defined his presidency—and contributed to historically low poll numbers for his first year.
“He’s Trump. I don’t think he has a lot of empathy,” said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Wednesday afternoon and into the evening, as the news of the shooting poured in, advisers pushed Trump to make a statement. As with similar encouragement to condemn former staff secretary and alleged serial wife-beater Rob Porter, Trump resisted.
Instead Trump, who’s defined much of his presidency by doing the opposite of Obama, found himself outdone on the consoler front by his predecessor, who weighed in on Twitter about an hour after Trump finished speaking.
“We are grieving with Parkland,” Obama wrote. “But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.”
The Parkland shooting was one of several since the start of 2018, and one of dozens since Trump’s inauguration.
There are only two other mass shootings that Trump has previously made speeches about.
One was the attack last summer at a Republican baseball practice, during which he declared, “We may have our differences, but we do well, in times like these, to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country,” just days before he began again accusing Democrats of destroying the country. The other was the shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, which he called “an act of pure evil.”
Though people who have spent time with Trump in private moments say he’s engaged and eager to help—“He was really caring,” Puerto Rico Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, who flew with Trump to the island after Hurricane Maria, told POLITICO’s Off Message podcast—his public appearances have reflected little warmth. His most memorable exchange on the Puerto Rico trip involved tossing paper towel rolls into a crowd of needy people; that came after he made a post-hurricane trip to Texas and chose not to meet any storm survivors.
In the hours after the Las Vegas massacre, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said when pressed on gun regulations: “I think that’s something we can talk about in the coming days and see what that looks like moving forward.”
There’s been no such discussion in the 4½ months since, and there’s been no accounting from Sanders or others in the White House about why not.
A year ago, Trump signed a bill repealing a rule the Obama administration put in place after Sandy Hook that prevented people receiving Social Security benefits for mental disabilities from purchasing guns.
On Thursday, hours before his public remarks, he tweeted that “neighbors and classmates” should have reported the shooter earlier—while his son Donald Trump Jr. stoked the flames of anti-deep state fervor within the Trump base, liking a tweet from Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter that said: “the FBI was too busy trying to undermine the president to bother with doing it’s [sic] freaking job” and track the shooter’s threats online.
Aside from a presidential proclamation lowering flags to half mast, neither he nor anyone else at the White House said anything more about the shooting after his remarks, even after the leader of a white nationalist group in Florida said the shooter had trained with its members, or after CBS News verified an Instagram account belonging to the shooter in which he set a profile picture of himself wearing a red Make America Great Again hat.
Others revisited their familiar scripts. Florida Gov. Rick Scott said in a press conference near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday morning that he wants to have “a real conversation” with leaders in Tallahassee about “how do we make sure” parents know they can send their children to school safely, and how to keep guns away from people with mental illness.
The Florida Senate on Thursday afternoon postponed a pre-scheduled committee hearing on a bill to loosen background checks for gun purchases.
Capt. Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) and the co-founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions, said in a call with reporters on Thursday afternoon that watching Trump’s speech, he heard “a lot of words about mourning and grieving and prayers and a lot of other superlatives.”
Kelly added: “I think it really came from the heart that an incident like this would sadden somebody in his position. But I think what was left out was any suggestion of what would be an effective course of action here besides just, say, a visit to Florida.”
Heather Caygle and Nancy Cook contributed to this report.
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux Split ‘Lovingly’ After Two Years of Marriage
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux have split after two and a half years of marriage — and seven years as a couple, the Associated Press reports.
The former couple “say their split was ‘mutual and lovingly made at the end of last year,’ ” according to AP.
“Normally we would do this privately, but given that the gossip industry cannot resist an opportunity to speculate and invent, we wanted to convey the truth directly,” says the statement released by longtime Aniston publicist Stephen Huvane. “Whatever else is printed about us that is not directly from us, is someone else’s fictional narrative. Above all, we are determined to maintain the deep respect and love that we have for one another.”
The couple announced that they split at the end of the last year, however, they celebrated the New Year together with their annual vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico alongside a handful of close pals including Jason Bateman and his family.
The two spent quite a bit of time apart in recent months raising questions. Theroux was often spotted in New York City away from their L.A. home. They have also had a busy year as Aniston signed on with Reese Witherspoon for a new Apple TV series and filmed Dumplin’ in Atlanta, while Theroux, 46, filmed the comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me in Budapest.
On Saturday, Aniston made an appearance at Ellen DeGeneres‘ birthday party without Theroux. She was spotted standing outside the Hollywood venue chatting with Pharrell.
The next day, the actress rang in her 49th birthday without the actor. Aniston celebrated in Malibu, California with a gathering including pals Courteney Cox, Andrea Bendewald, Leigh Kilton-Smith and Kristin Hahn on Sunday.
Theroux, meanwhile, was spotted out in New York City on Friday walking his dog. (Last year, the duo vacationed together in Los Cabos, Mexico with friends).
Sources recently told PEOPLE that their busy schedules worked for both of them and helped their marriage.
“Justin often spends a few days in NYC by himself,” a source previously told PEOPLE. “When he is in NYC, Jen will catch up with friends and enjoys her own life. When Justin is in L.A., it’s very special for them. They socialize together with friends. They often go out to dinner or have people over.”
Aniston showed off the $21 million L.A. home they designed together in the March issue of Architectural Digest, saying, “I look around at my husband and my dogs and our home, and there’s nowhere else I want to be.”
Aniston and Theroux first met on the Hawaii set of 2008’s Tropic Thunder and began dating in 2011. They later married in a surprise and secret ceremony on August 5, 2015 — just a few days before Theroux’s 44th birthday. A source close to the actress told PEOPLE at the time that the two were happy to have pulled off the surprise wedding, inviting friends to a backyard party under the ruse of celebrating Theroux’s birthday.
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“They seemed ecstatic,” the source said. “They celebrated late and barely slept, but they were in the best mood. They were giddy to have pulled off an amazing wedding celebration with their friends. And they were proud to finally be married.”
Aniston was previously married to Brad Pitt from 2000 to 2005 after starting their relationship in 1998. She later dated Vince Vaughn and John Mayer after her divorce from Pitt.
This is Theroux’s first marriage after previously dating hair stylist Heidi Bivens for 14 years before their breakup in 2011, shortly before he started dating Aniston. Theroux and Bivens shared an apartment in New York City before the split.
Suspect Allegedly Confessed To Fla. School Shootings That Killed 17
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie speaks at a news conference Thursday, as county Mayor Beam Furr (from left), Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, Gov. Rick Scott and FBI agent Robert Lasky look on.
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Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie speaks at a news conference Thursday, as county Mayor Beam Furr (from left), Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, Gov. Rick Scott and FBI agent Robert Lasky look on.
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Updated at 7 p.m. ET
Court documents say the suspect in the shootings at a South Florida high school has confessed to investigators. Nikolas Cruz, 19, has been booked on 17 charges of premeditated murder at Broward County’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
According to a court filing, “In a post-Miranda statement, Cruz stated that he was the gunman who entered the school campus armed with a AR-15 and began shooting students he saw in the hallways and on the school grounds. Cruz stated that he brought additional loaded magazines to the school campus and kept them hidden in a back pack until he got on campus to begin his assault.”
Cruz made his court appearance less than a day after the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, which killed at least 17 people and wounded 15 more.
Cruz allegedly fired on unarmed students and teachers at the high school in Parkland, Fla., which had expelled him for disciplinary reasons.
In a late-afternoon news conference, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel gave a timeline of Wednesday’s events. He said that the shooter arrived at the school at 2:19 p.m., and that within two minutes, he began firing into several classrooms. After conducting attacks on the first and second floors, the shooter dropped his rifle on the third floor and ran away by mixing in among the crowd of students fleeing the scene.
Israel said the gunman visited a nearby Walmart and McDonald’s before he was apprehended without incident.
Within an hour, Cruz was in custody, captured by law enforcement off campus.
The sheriff said the shooter arrived at the school by an Uber car, but he said the driver isn’t suspected of being complicit in the shooting.
Peter Forcelli, the special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that the rifle used in the shooting was legally purchased about a year ago by the shooter.
SWAT teams were on the scene soon after the shooting began, evacuating students from the building. After Cruz was arrested away from the school’s premises, he was taken to a hospital for treatment before being released to police custody.
He faced a judge in court briefly Thursday, and bond was denied.
Suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, is escorted by law enforcement at the Broward County jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday.
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Suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, is escorted by law enforcement at the Broward County jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday.
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Parents and classmates are left to cope with the aftermath.
“No child, no teacher, should ever be in danger in an American school,” President Trump said in a televised speech to the country Thursday morning. “No parent should ever have to fear for their sons and daughters when they kiss them goodbye in the morning.”
“Law enforcement will do everything we can — the FBI, ourselves — to make sure that this person is convicted of all charges and that justice is served,” Israel said Thursday.
Authorities said Cruz began the attack outdoors toward the end of the school day, just as the school’s some 3,200 students were leaving their classrooms.
“This particular individual came onto campus at the time of dismissal,” Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters, “and that is a fairly open time for the campus.”
The shooter then worked his way indoors using using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and what Israel described as “countless magazines,” smoke grenades and a gas mask. Then, the fire alarm sounded — which “seemed odd,” NPR’s Greg Allen reports, “because there had already been a fire alarm that day.”
Greg explains what happened next:
“Soon teachers and students got the word: It was a code red. There was an active shooter in the school. In some classrooms, teachers made sure their doors were locked, lights turned off and students hidden in closets or under the desks.
“But thinking it was a drill, one student interviewed on television says her teacher led them out of the classroom before recognizing the danger. As he got them back into the classroom, she said he was shot and killed.”
“It was pretty chaotic, to be honest,” Broward County Mayor Beam Furr told Morning Edition on Thursday. “There were policemen from every one of our cities — we have 31 cities in Broward County, and I believe every force from the county was there. And as I arrived [yesterday] the kids were coming out, and the parents were beside themselves hoping to see their kids.”
The wounded were taken to three hospitals in the area. Representatives of two of those hospitals, speaking at Thursday’s news conference, said five patients remained in their care at midday.
Among the 17 victims were the school’s athletic director, Chris Hixon, and assistant football coach Aaron Feis. The Douglas football program tweeted that Feis, who was an alumnus of the school, “selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot.”
“He died a hero,” the team said, “and he will forever be in our hearts and memories.”
Authorities say they have notified the victims’ families.
Furr is not only the mayor of the county, but he also worked as a teacher in the local school district. He said the rampage Wednesday called to mind some of the kids he had taught in the classroom.
“You keep your eyes on those kids who become disconnected — you know, they’re out on the fringes. And as a teacher, you try to bring them into the fold, so to speak, in one way or another,” he said. “It’s part of our mission to make sure that kids become part of the overall community — and when one gets away, it’s just sad.”
Accounts from some of the school’s teachers and parents have revealed a record of troubled behavior from Cruz, including at least one incident of bullying, a fixation on firearms, and actions that had so alarmed faculty that, a former math teacher of Cruz said, staff had been warned not to allow him back on campus. Furr also told Morning Edition that the suspect had been a client at mental health facilities and had been expelled from the high school for disciplinary reasons.
A screenshot provided by Ben Bennight, showing the message he said he sent to the FBI about the YouTube comment.
Courtesy of Ben Bennight
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Courtesy of Ben Bennight
Still, it remains unclear how many red flags authorities saw.
“In 2017, the FBI received information about a comment made on a YouTube channel,” Robert Lasky, FBI special agent in charge, noted at the news conference. “The comment simply said, ‘I’m going to be a professional school shooter.’ “
“Who would leave a comment like that?” said Ben Bennight, a bail bondsman in Mississippi, who told NPR that the comment was left on a YouTube video he had posted about the bail bond industry. He says he alerted the FBI, and agents later came to his office to ask him about it, though he had little information to offer because he “didn’t know anything about the individual.”
“I didn’t hear anything else about it until yesterday, when they called and asked to meet with me,” Bennight said.
“No other information was included with that comment which would indicate a time, location or the true identity of the person who made the comment,” Lasky said at the news conference. “The FBI conducted database reviews, checks, but was unable to further identify the person who actually made comment.”
Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott told reporters that the chief focus among officials is having “a real conversation” about both school safety and mental illness in the community.
“If somebody is mentally ill,” Scott said, “he should not have access to a gun.”
Runcie echoed Scott about supporting and treating the mentally ill and went a step further, saying, “Now is the time for this country to have a real conversation on sensible gun control laws.”
Trump, for his part, did not mention guns or many specifics in his televised speech — but he said authorities plan to tackle issues surrounding mental health. He said he plans to travel to Parkland to meet with families and speak with local officials about how to better secure schools.
He said the country “grieves with those who have lost loved ones in the shooting,” in a statement released earlier Thursday. He also proclaimed that the American flag be flown at half-staff at the White House and public buildings throughout the U.S.
“We will take such action as we’re able to take. We’ve got to reverse these trends we’re seeing in these shootings,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the Major County Sheriffs of America conference on Thursday.
“You and I know that we cannot arrest everybody that somebody thinks is dangerous,” he added. “But I think we can and we must do better. We owe it to every one of those kids crying outside their school yesterday and those who never made it out of their school.”
Students have planned a vigil Thursday for their fallen classmates and for the wounded still fighting for their lives.
Stormy Daniels ‘free to tell her story’ after Trump lawyer statement
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The newspaper says Mr Cohen declined to answer why the “private transaction” was made
An adult film star who has been embroiled in allegations of an affair with President Donald Trump is free to tell her story, her manager has said.
Stormy Daniels is no longer bound by a non-disclosure contract after Mr Trump’s lawyer admitted he paid her, manager Gina Rodriguez says.
Mr Trump’s personal lawyer confirmed in a statement to media he privately paid Ms Daniels $130,000 (£95,000) in 2016.
Ms Rodriguez says that acknowledgement allows her client to speak freely.
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Porn actress Stormy Daniels alleged in 2011 that she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006
“Everything is off now, and Stormy is going to tell her story,” Ms Rodriguez told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Her statement comes after Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told the New York Times he paid Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Mr Cohen told the New York Times.
He said he told the Federal Election Commission the same after a watchdog group filed a complaint about the payment, claiming that it had served as an “in-kind” political contribution to Mr Trump’s campaign.
An X-rated cover-up?
Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC Washington
Donald Trump’s lawyer and all-around fixer Michael Cohen has said he doesn’t plan “further comment” on his six-figure payment to Stormy Daniels. His statements, however, raise more questions than they answer.
While he said the money came from his “personal funds” and was not reimbursed directly or indirectly by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign, that leaves open the possibility that he was compensated by other parties – including Mr Trump himself.
Why, in his generosity, would Mr Cohen give $130,000 to Ms Daniels? The Wall Street Journal has reported that it was in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement about a decade-old affair between Mr Trump and Ms Daniels. Circumstantial evidence – that Ms Daniels had been in contact with media outlets prior to the transfer and has since gone silent – lends credence to this line.
Even though the alleged affair is long since past, a story about possible hush money and an attempted cover-up just weeks before the presidential election is much more dangerous for a White House already on its heels. And if it turns out there’s more to the money trail than has been disclosed, an embarrassing situation could quickly morph into a criminal inquiry.
“The payment to Ms Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone,” Mr Cohen said.
The lawyer has previously said Mr Trump “vehemently denies” it occurred.
The revelations on Wednesday follow US media reports that the porn actress known as Ms Daniels was paid to sign an agreement stopping her discussing an alleged affair.
She first said she had a relationship with Mr Trump in a 2011 interview.
In a 2011 interview with InTouch magazine, the actress said she began a sexual relationship with Mr Trump in 2006, shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to his son Barron.
The reports re-emerged in January when the Wall Street Journal reported that she was paid to sign a non-disclosure agreement in the run up to the 2016 election, which prevented her from discussing the alleged liaison.
Ms Clifford was believed to be in discussion with US media about an television appearance to discuss Mr Trump at the time, the report said.
Responding to questions from CNN about why the payment was made, Mr Cohen said: “Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage.”
“I will always protect Mr Trump,” Mr Cohen added.
On 30 January, Ms Daniels’ publicist released a statement in her name denying having an affair with Mr Trump.
But many – including Ms Daniels herself – were quick to note that the signature attached to that denial did not bear much resemblance to another copy of her autograph which had been attached to an earlier statement.
That denial had been released by Mr Cohen on 10 January.
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Ms Daniels hosted a Super Bowl party last month
She has since made several public appearances on television and at strip clubs, but has remained tight-lipped when asked directly about Mr Trump in interviews.
Minutes after Mr Trump’s first formal State of the Union address to Congress, she gave an interview to late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
In it, she refused to directly answer whether she had signed a non-disclosure agreement, or if she had “ever made love to someone whose name rhymes with Lonald Lump”.
Dem poll: Trump favorability improves, GOP gains on generic House ballot
President TrumpDonald John TrumpTillerson: Russia already looking to interfere in 2018 midterms Dems pick up deep-red legislative seat in Missouri Speier on Trump’s desire for military parade: ‘We have a Napoleon in the making’ MORE’s approval rating is up and Republicans are within 4 points of Democrats on a generic House ballot, according to a new survey from the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA.
In a memo sent out Tuesday, the group warned Democrats that they must remain focused on health care and the economy and not to become distracted by Trump’s tweets or the day-to-day controversies that drive the news cycle.
“In the last few weeks, Democrats turned their attention to other issues while Trump has continued to promote his economic policies, and Trump’s numbers have incrementally improved as a result,” the memo states.
“While still on track for a successful November, the extent of Democratic gains will be blunted if Democrats do not reengage more aggressively in speaking to the economic and health care priorities of voters.”
The survey found Trump’s job approval at 44 percent positive and 53 percent negative, up from a 40-54 split in November. That is in line with other recent polling, which has showed the president’s approval rating ticking up from the historic lows it hit in late 2017.
A Politico–Morning Consult survey released Wednesday found that Trump is at an even 47 positive and 47 negative. That is more positive than most other surveys. According to the RealClearPolitics average, the president is at 41.4 positive and 53.9 negative.
The Priorities USA survey also found Democrats with an advantage, 46 percent to 42 percent, in the generic ballot for the House. Surveys conducted in late 2017 consistently found Democrats with a double-digit lead in the generic ballot, leading many election analysts to speculate that Democrats are headed for a wave election.
Still, the Priorities USA memo said the underlying fundamentals lean heavily in favor of Democrats.
Among undecided voters, Trump’s approval rating is at 35 percent positive and 50 percent negative. Fifty-one percent of voters said they’d prefer to see Democrats elected to act as a check on Trump’s power, compared to only 39 percent who said they’d prefer to see Republicans elected.
“The leanings of undecided voters and the preference for more Democrats to be a check on Trump both show that Trump is a lead weight for Republicans,” the memo states.
The party in power historically loses seats in midterm elections, and a string of retirements have left Republicans defending more seats in the House than they anticipated this year. And Democrats believe they will have an advantage in enthusiasm heading into November.
The Priorities memo found that among voters who are very excited to vote in the 2018 elections, the Democratic advantage on the generic ballot spikes to 11 points, 51 to 40. Seventy-eight percent of those who voted for Democratic nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonTrump touts report Warner attempted to talk to dossier author Poll: Nearly half of Iowans wouldn’t vote for Trump in 2020 Rubio on Warner contact with Russian lobbyist: It’s ‘had zero impact on our work’ MORE in 2016 say they’re excited to vote this year, compared to only 64 percent of those who voted for Trump.
Still, the memo warns that Democrats need to stay focused on their economic message, not on running exclusively against Trump.
The survey found that attacking the GOP tax bill as a giveaway to the rich and powerful is a winning message, as strong majorities believe large corporations and the wealthy will benefit more than individuals.
“Democrats continue to have winning messages on health care and the economy, but right now voters are not hearing them. That must change,” the memo states.
“When voters have heard messages from both Democrats and Republicans on the tax bill, Democrats have won. Unfortunately, that debate has been relatively one-sided recently and voters have not heard nearly as much from Democrats. While Republican gains have not been enough to counter the extraordinary political environment for Democrats, it is imperative that Democrats return to focusing on the economic message and counter the narrative being pushed by the White House, Republicans in Congress and their special interest backers.”
The Priorities USA survey of 1,001 presidential year voters was conducted Feb. 2–7 by Garin-Hart-Yang and the Global Strategy Group and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
With White House Under Fire, Trump Says He Is ‘Totally Opposed To Domestic Violence’
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office Wednesday during a working session regarding the opportunity zones provided by the new tax law.
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President Trump speaks in the Oval Office Wednesday during a working session regarding the opportunity zones provided by the new tax law.
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A week after allegations of domestic abuse against a now-former top aide ensnared the White House in scandal, President Trump condemned domestic violence Wednesday.
“I am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind, and everybody here knows that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a photo op for an event related to the recently enacted tax law. “I’m totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that. And it almost wouldn’t even have to be said. So, now you hear it, but you all know.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted earlier this week that Trump had been very clear in condemning domestic violence in the past, after the White House came under fire for its slow and muddled response to allegations of abuse from two ex-wives against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter.
However, following Porter’s resignation and the timeline of events that led up to it — including questions about when exactly the White House knew of the allegations of domestic violence and that such accusations had slowed down approval of his security clearance — Trump had earlier offered comments that appeared to sympathize with Porter.
Last Friday, Trump praised the work Porter had done as part of his staff, said he hoped he still had a successful career ahead of him, and pointed out to reporters that, “He says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that.”
Then on Saturday, Trump tweeted that “lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation.”
Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018
A second aide, White House speechwriter David Sorensen, also resigned Friday amid allegations of domestic violence. Both Porter and Sorensen have denied the allegations against them.
The president’s initial comments about Porter fall in line with Trump’s past reflexes to defend many powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, such as former Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore. Trump himself has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
There have also been mounting questions about when the White House knew about the allegations against Porter and why it didn’t act sooner to remove him. The daily press briefing on Wednesday, where Sanders was sure to face more questions about Porter and the timeline of events, was canceled after being postponed several times.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating the policies and processes surrounding the granting of interim security clearances by the executive branch and, more specifically, seeking information from the White House about the granting of an interim clearance to Porter.
“I’m troubled by almost every aspect of this,” Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who chairs the committee, told CNN on Wednesday. “How in the hell was he still employed?”
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress on Tuesday that the FBI had wrapped up its background investigation into Porter last July, but Porter did not resign until the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published reports about the allegations of his ex-wives, including a story that included an image of Porter’s first ex-wife with a black eye. (Porter told senior staff at the White House that the black eye had been accidental, according to a recent report by ABC News.)
Riding an Untamed Horse: Priebus Opens Up on Serving Trump
The meeting that nearly led to Mr. Session’s resignation came last May shortly after the president fired James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director who was heading an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and any cooperation with Mr. Trump’s campaign. The dismissal of Mr. Comey, which Mr. Trump in an interview with NBC News linked to his unhappiness with the Russia investigation, triggered the appointment of a special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, to the ire of the president.
Mr. Trump was furious with Mr. Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation and therefore losing control over it. Mr. Priebus’s account confirms and adds more detail to a New York Times report that the president berated Mr. Sessions in a meeting in the Oval Office, leading him to offer his resignation. Vice President Mike Pence and the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, were in the meeting, but Mr. Priebus was not.
“Don McGahn came in my office pretty hot, red, out of breath and said, ‘We’ve got a problem,’ ” Mr. Priebus recalled. “I responded, ‘What?’ And he said, ‘Well, we just got a special counsel and Sessions just resigned.’ I said, ‘What? What the hell are you talking about?’ And I said, ‘That can’t happen.’ ”
Mr. Priebus bolted down the back stairway of the West Wing and out the door to the parking lot and found Mr. Sessions in the back of a black sedan with the engine running and about to leave. “I knocked on the door of the car and Jeff was sitting there and I just jumped in and shut the door and I said, ‘Jeff, what’s going on?’ ” Mr. Priebus said. “And then he told me that he was going to resign.”
“I said, ‘You cannot resign. It’s not possible. We are going to talk about this right now,’” Mr. Priebus continued. “So I dragged him back up to my office from the car. Pence and Bannon came in,” he added, referring to Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist, “and we started talking to him to the point where he decided that he would not resign right then and he would instead think about it.”
In the end, Mr. Sessions still drafted a resignation letter later that night and sent it to the White House. Mr. Priebus then went to work on Mr. Trump, arguing that he should not accept it. The president reluctantly agreed and Mr. Sessions stayed.
But that did not end the danger to the attorney general. A couple months later, Mr. Trump took his anger with Mr. Sessions public by telling The New York Times in an interview that he would not have appointed him attorney general had he known that he would recuse himself.
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Behind the scenes, Mr. Trump once again demanded Mr. Sessions’s resignation. Citing a White House insider, Mr. Whipple’s book says the president told Mr. Priebus to act on his order. “Don’t try to slow me down like you always do,” Mr. Trump told him. “Get the resignation of Jeff Sessions.”
Mr. Priebus, however, did try to slow him down and argued that pushing out Mr. Sessions would result in the resignations of the second- and third-ranking Justice Department officials too. “If I get this resignation, you are in for a spiral of calamity that makes Comey look like a picnic,” Mr. Priebus warned him. Again, Mr. Trump backed down.
But in other ways he did not. Mr. Priebus said he and other aides — including Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter; Jared Kushner, his son-in-law; and Hope Hicks, his communications director — regularly tried to convince Mr. Trump that his random, often incendiary Twitter messages were self-destructive.
“I told him, ‘Some of it’s not helpful, it causes distraction. We can get thrown off our message by tweeting things that aren’t the issues of the day,’ ” he said. But he did not get through. “Everybody tried at different times to cool down the Twitter habit — but no one could do it. Not me, Jared, Ivanka, Hope.”
Even the first lady weighed in when her husband addressed Congress. “After the joint session, we all talked to him and Melania said, ‘No tweeting,’ ” Mr. Priebus said. “And he said, ‘OK — for the next few days.’ We had many discussions involving this issue. We had meetings in the residence. I couldn’t stop it.”
The challenge was clear from the very start when Mr. Trump called him the morning after he was sworn in ranting about news coverage comparing the size of his inaugural crowd with that of his predecessor. Mr. Priebus tried to calm the new president, but ultimately had to go along. “Am I going to go to war over this with the president of the United States?” he asked himself.
Mr. Priebus’s inability to control Mr. Trump or even control who could wander in and out of the Oval Office caused consternation. Mr. Bannon told Mr. Whipple that John F. Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, complained to him about it. “He said to me, ‘It really upsets me that I walk in the Oval Office and it’s like Grand Central Station,’ ” said Mr. Bannon.
Ultimately, Mr. Trump would pick Mr. Kelly to replace Mr. Priebus. But Mr. Kelly, who initially earned plaudits for imposing more order on the West Wing, lately has come under fire for his management of the White House, particularly his handling of spousal abuse allegations that resulted in the resignation of the staff secretary, Rob Porter.
Mr. Priebus said that Mr. Trump has spent his whole life resisting the sort of organization that others would like to impose on him. “The idea that he was suddenly going to accept an immediate and elaborate staff structure regulating every minute of his life was never in the cards,” Mr. Priebus said. “At least not on Day One.”
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17 dead in south Florida high school shooting; suspect former student
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Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says there are multiple casualties in a shooting at a high school in South Florida. (Feb. 14)
AP
A former student went on a shooting rampage at a Florida high school on Wednesday, leaving 17 dead while panicked students barricaded themselves inside classrooms and frantic parents raced to the scene.
The gunman, who was expelled, was identified as 19-year-old Nikolaus Cruz. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Cruz was armed with “countless” magazines and an AR-15 rifle.
Cruz was taken into custody miles from the school nearly two hours after the shooting started.
Flanked by officers, the suspect was escorted into a police station wearing a hospital gown.
“This is catastrophic,” Israel said. “There are really no words.”
The shooting happened about 2 p.m. at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which is about 30 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale, according to the Coral Springs Police Department.
Students said chaos ensued when a fire alarm sounded in the school near dismissal time— then the gunfire started. Israel said Cruz started shooting outside then made his way through the school’s hallways.
Television footage showed the terrifying moments outside the school. Students ran single file from the building with their hands in the air — throwing backpacks into a large pile and huddling under trees across the street.
As students scrambled to safety, law enforcers with weapons drawn approached the building.
More: Florida high school shooting: Here’s what we know
More: 20 years in, shootings have changed schools in unexpected ways
More: ‘My school is being shot up and I am locked inside!’: Chaos at Florida school shooting
The gunman was expelled from the school for “disciplinary reasons” but Israel didn’t elaborate.
Cameras captured authorities taking Cruz into custody and to a local hospital. Police described the gunman as someone who possibly attended the school and was a member of the JROTC program. Authorities said he was wearing a hoodie and has red hair.
Some students and teachers who fled the school told reporters they knew the former student and that he had guns.
As friends hiding from the shooter sent photos and videos over Snapchat to 19-year-old Jillian Davis, she started to recognize the suspect as a former classmate who had a history of making dark, gun-related jokes.
Cruz, a classmate who participated in Davis’s ninth grade JROTC group, was usually a quiet kid who kept to himself, but “there was a lot of anger management issues there,” Davis said.
“Finding put it was him makes a lot of sense now,” she said.
Cruz would joke about shooting people or shooting up establishments, she added. At the time, she thought it was normal, violent teenage jokes. Cruz would also talk a lot about having guns and using them in different situations, she said.
Math teacher Jim Gard told the Herald he taught the suspect last year, who he said was troubled.
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” Gard told the newspaper. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said it was a dark day in the county’s history.
“It’s a horrific situation. It’s just a horrible day for us,” he said. “…This is a day we prayed would never happen in our county.”
He said every high school in the county has a police presence, adding there are typically two officers at every school.
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Florida school shooting is the 6th to injure students this year
The White House released a statement as the tragedy was unfolding.
“The president has been made aware of the school shooting in Florida,” deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said. “We are monitoring the situation. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected.”
The incident comes just weeks after a rampage at a rural Kentucky high school. A 15-year-old faces two counts of murder and 12 counts of first-degree assault after police said he killed two and wounded more than a dozen others in a shooting spree at Marshall County High School in Benton.
There have been at least six school shootings in 2018.
More: 20 years in, shootings have changed schools in unexpected ways