Tag Archives: Donald Trump Jr.

military news

Don Trump Jr. makes a grotesque comparison about sacrifice

Simply grotesque.

That’s the only description I can give to something that Donald J. Trump Jr. wrote in his book “Triggered.”

He writes about visiting Arlington National Cemetery in January 2017, the day before his father became the 45th president of the United States. He looked at the graves and thought of the “sacrifice” his family would endure once Daddy Trump became president.

He writes: In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks weā€™d already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices weā€™d have to make to help my father succeed ā€” voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were ā€˜profiting off of the office.ā€™

Frankly, it was a big sacrifice, costing us millions and millions of dollars annually. Of course, we didnā€™t get any credit whatsoever from the mainstream media, which now does not surprise me at all.

Wow! He equates the “sacrifice” his family has made to the men and women who have served in harm’s way, who have committed themselves to public service, and in many instances — as he looked over the graves at Arlington — have died on battlefields in far-off lands.

To equate in any fashion the sacrifice made by these Americans to what he and his family have endured is beyond the pale.

Veterans have spoken out in anger at what Don Jr. has written. I cannot blame them. You may count me as one American veteran who takes great offense at what this scion of a family born into immense wealth has written.

This guy knows not a damn thing about “sacrifice.”

national news

Doesn’t the Emoluments Clause mean anything?

What in the name of conflict of interest am I missing here?

The Emoluments Clause in the U.S. Constitution says the president cannot profit from his office. He cannot accept gifts from foreign governments.

And yet …

Here we have Donald J. Trump bringing the 2020 G7 conference of industrialized nations to — get set for it! — his very own Doral National Country Club in Florida.

Trump says he won’t profit from the G7 meeting. To which I scratch my head and wonder: What in the world is he talking about? Of course he’ll benefit financially! He owns the damn resort!

What is mind-blowing to the max is that Trump would do such a thing, given the probable impeachment he is facing over similar violations of his oath of office, that he sought foreign government assistance for political gain.

Here he is, however, proclaiming that Doral is the most fitting place in the United States to stage such an event. That is utter nonsense. You know it. I damn sure know it. The nation is full of perfectly capable resorts that could play host to this event.

Trump, though, decided to bring it to Doral, which on its face presents an entire host of problems. They deal with security, its proximity to residential dwellings, and its location near an international airport (in Miami).

Trump never divested himself of his myriad business interests when he became president. He merely turned over daily operations of them to his sons, Don Jr. and Eric. The president, though, remains a financial partner in all his operations — and that includes Doral, which reportedly has been struggling terribly in recent years.

To think that the president wouldn’t profit from taxpayer money being spent at his private resort, not to mention the money that would pour in from foreign governments is to suspend one’s disbelief to an unprecedented degree.

I smell yet another impeachable offense in the making.

national news

Sen. Burr becomes latest GOP ‘villain’

Richard Burr has become the latest villain du jour among his fellow Republican Party politicians.

How did the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman attract this label? All he did was subpoena Donald J. Trump Jr. to testify before his committee to talk about matters involving that nasty ol’ Russia matter involving Don Jr.’s father, the president of the United States.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared the Russia story is “closed.” He wants to move on. He wants the Senate to stop talking about it. He has declared that Donald Sr. has been cleared of collusion with Russians who attacked our election in 2016 as well as with obstruction of justice allegations that, well, are still out there.

Other GOP pols have declared their disgust, anger, outrage at Burr’s decision to summon Don Jr. to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Let me remind everyone of this fact: Sen. Burr is not running for re-election in 2022.

Burr was re-elected to a third Senate term in 2016, but that’s it. He’s now no longer looking for votes, nor is he tied to blind fealty of the Trump “base” of supporters that gets all riled at any mention by politicians who want to find out the whole truth about the way Trump campaigned for the presidency.

Yes, indeed. Lame-duck status does have this liberating effect on politicians.

education news, national news

Trump’s boasts return to the headlines

Donald J. Trump Jr. had the bad sense to pop off about the college enrollment scandal that has swallowed up the careers of at least two prominent Hollywood TV and film stars.

Junior’s remarks brought out Twitter responses throughout the social media universe discussing how Don Jr. was able to parlay his father’s deep pockets into enrolling at a prestigious school.

And that brought back all those sound bites of Donald J. Trump Sr. bragging about his brilliance.

Which brings me to my point.

I’ve known a lot of wealthy and smart individuals over the course of my 69 years on this Earth. I have made the acquaintance of one billionaire and have become friendly with a number of individuals who are worth millions. I’ve known West Point, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy graduates. I have developed good relationships with many men and women with high-powered degrees from some of the top universities in the United States.

I cannot recall ever hearing a single one of them — be they wealthy or uber-smart — telling me how rich and smart they are. I always knew about their wealth and their intelligence. There was no need for any of them rub it in my face.

Thus, I always wonder when I hear the president of the United States tell us how he went to the “finest schools,” and has built a “world-class company” whether he really is as smart and as wealthy as he claims to be.

I think I can answer the first part of that query. Trump isn’t as smart as he proclaims. I believe that via the nature of the hideous way he communicates via Twitter; I also listen to his spoken syntax as he lies his way through public life.

As for the other part, his wealth, well . . . no one can say for certain if he is as filthy rich as he claims to be. He won’t show us his tax returns.

Therefore, many of us are left to wonder: Is he really that rich? I tend to think not.

business news

Ivanka Trump said what? No one wants a free ride? Wow!

Robert Reich, the outspoken critic of the Donald Trump administration, posted an item on Facebook that needs to be shared here.

In an interview, Ivanka Trump claimed that most Americans ā€œin their heartsā€ donā€™t want to be given something for free, criticizing proposals for a federal jobs guarantee.

Excuse me? Ivanka and her siblings stand to inherit a fortune. And, if Mitch McConnell gets his ways and eliminates the estate tax, they won’t pay a dime on their inheritance. An estimated 60 percent of wealth in America is now inherited.

Ivanka, the American people want fairness, not handouts and nepotism — something you’re quite familiar with.

My jaw just hit the deck when I saw what the First Daughter said.

Americans “in their hearts” don’t want a free ride . . . she said.

Let me think for a moment: Her father was staked by his wealthy dad, Ivanka’s grandpa, hundreds of millions of dollars to start a business. Donald Trump built a business, albeit with some failures along the way.

Then he produced Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric with his first wife. Tiffany came along during Dad’s second marriage. Donald’s third marriage produced Barron, who remains off limits for criticism.

Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric have been “given” all the comforts of an opulent lifestyle. They haven’t worked for any of the wealth into which they were born.

For Ivanka to presume to speak for the rest of us who have struggled at times to provide for our families, to be candid, is laughable on its face.

national news

‘Because walls work’

Donald John Trump Jr. nailed it.

He posted this message via Twitter: “You know why you can enjoy a day at the zoo? Because walls work.”

Where do I begin? I’ll start with this: Don Jr. has issued — hands down! — the most preposterous argument yet in this discussion over whether to erect The Wall along our southern border.

He has, in the minds of many critics, compared illegal immigrants to lions, tigers and bears . . . oh, my! Yep. If we’re going to build walls that separate zoo visitors from vicious animals then we should do precisely the same thing to keep illegal immigrants from entering the United States of America.

I thought that Don Jr.’s dad’s assertion that movie stars, politicians (including former presidents) and the pope living behind walls took the cake for bodacious rationalization. I was wrong. The eldest son of the president has won the take-the-cake prize.

Should we care about what a president’s son has to say about this? In most cases, no. This fellow, though, has become a spokesman of sorts for the president of the United States. He pops off randomly to make some kind of point. He’s usually off base, but what the heck? He carries the name of the man elected to lead the world’s most indispensable nation. That, by itself, seems to lend a bit of misplaced gravitas to the idiocy that sometimes flies out of his mouth.

Illegal immigrants are not wild animals. They are human beings. They aren’t all scurrilous criminals. Most of them are seeking a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Indeed, most illegal immigrants are here legally already, but who have remained past the time their work visas have expired.

Donald Trump Jr. lends not a single constructive thing to this debate. However, his nonsense is worth a brief comment here because — dare I suggest it — he well might be echoing the views of his father.

Disgusting.

2016 election, national news

If there was nothing wrong …

It’s fair now to ask a key question.

It goes like this: If there was nothing wrong with Donald Trump Jr. meeting with Russians who had “dirt” on Hillary Rodham Clinton, why did Don Jr. and his father, the president of the United States, lie about it?

We now at this moment that Don Jr.’s meeting with the Russians in 2016 was meant to deliver the goods on Hillary Rodham Clinton. Junior said at the time that there was nothing to it. He also said the meeting was called to discuss “Russian adoption.” Daddy Trump said the same thing. Oh, he also reportedly dictated the statement that Don Jr. released to the public declaring the phony Russian adoption dodge.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking carefully at all of this. He will tell us eventually where all this will lead.

I just need to say that the view from the cheap seats tells me there’s something quite fishy going on and that Mueller may be getting ready to hook “the big one.”

Conspiracy to collude, anyone?

Anyone?

national news

Can’t put a single thing past POTUS

Once upon a time, long before he died of cancer complications, I once said of the late Amarillo millionaire weirdo Stanley Marsh 3 that I wouldn’t put a single thing past him, that he was capable of attempting any stunt under the sun.

With apologies to the late Texas Panhandle eccentric “artisan” and goofball, I am beginning to think the same thing of the president of the United States.

His former lawyer/confidant/”fixer” Michael Cohen has told authorities that he believes Donald Trump knew of the infamous 2016 meeting with Russians who had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton before the meeting took place.

That means Trump — surprise, surprise! — allegedly lied when he said he knew nothing of the meeting, that no one told him. Cohen reportedly told Don Trump Jr. in advance of the meeting, and that Don Jr. told Dad.

There also are reports that Trump’s legal might have leaked the news of Cohen’s recordings of the two men discussing paying hush money to a Playboy model who alleges she and the future president had a nearly year long love affair.

What might Trump the Elder have done here? There’s some speculation that the president might be behind the leak of this information so that he can get a head start on discrediting Cohen. He wants to peel away at Cohen’s credibility as he has sought to do with special counsel Robert Mueller and former FBI director James Comey.

And this all might be the work of someone who says point blank that he has “done nothing wrong.”

Sure.

national news

Trump torches Bannon

I guess Donald Trump and Stephen Bannon won’t be exchanging Christmas cards any longer.

Bannon, the former chief strategist in the Trump White House, has decided to turn on his former boss-friend by writing in a new book that Don Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign was “unpatriotic” and “treasonous.” Oh, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign chief Paul Manafort were there, too.

The president’s response may go down in political annals as a classic. He fired off a statement that declared that Bannon has “lost his mind,” that he had little to do with the victory that Trump scored in the 2016 election and that Bannon was the primary reason Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore lost an Alabama election he was supposed to win.

As one CNN analyst said, Trump in effect turned a flamethrower on his former top White House aide.

According to CNN: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. Steve was a staffer who worked for me after I had already won the nomination by defeating 17 candidates, often described as the most talented field ever assembled in the Republican party,” Trump said in the statement.Ā 

Well … I guess this means Trump no longer has any relationship with Bannon. To think that Bannon declared after he was let go from his White House job that he would be the president’s best friend and most loyal political ally. Bannon pledged to carry Trump’s message forward.

What does Bannon’s published statement mean to the investigation that special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting? Hmm. I suppose it might mean that it piques the curiosity of Mueller’s legal team enough to question Bannon extensively on what he means by “unpatriotic” and “treasonous.”

Oh, the hits just keep coming.

national news

HHS boss grounds those spendy private jets

There’s some of this going around the Trump administration.

The “this” is a penchant for spending lots of money needlessly. Taxpayer money, at that!

The latest perp happens to be Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Tom Price, who until just this weekend had been using private jets to travel to hither and yon to do the public’s business. What’s more, the public has been picking up the tab.

Secretary Price has grounded the private jets pending a government review of the practice.Ā ā€œWeā€™ve heard the criticism. Weā€™ve heard the concerns. We take that very seriously and have taken it to heart,ā€ Price said.

Fair enough. This is a bad habit that has emerged during Donald J. Trump’s time in the White House.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin wanted the federal government to fly him and his new bride to a honeymoon location. I took note of that request in an earlier post and pointed out that Mnuchin is worth an estimated cool $500 million. I believe he could afford to pay for his own air transportation, although the secretary did mention “security concerns” as his reason for seeking government travel.

Back to Price for a moment.

Price’s travel habits came under scrutiny from Politico, which reportedly identified about $400,000 in private jet travel by Price since he took office earlier this year. Price hasn’t defended his use of private jets; indeed, he acknowledges the “optics don’t look good.”

While he was a Republican member of Congress, Price criticized then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s use of luxury jets to fly around the country. Pelosi in fact had access to government air travel, given that at the tsheecond in line of succession to the presidency. She was criticized correctly for her use of the luxury aircraft.

As PoliticoĀ  has reported, Price’s use of these private jets breaks with recent custom:Ā Priceā€™s useĀ ivate jets breaks with the practices of Obama administration HHS secretaries Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Kathleen Sebelius, who flew commercially while in the continental United States and deliberately avoided taking charter jets. HHS staff last year scrapped a proposal for Burwell to take a multi-city tour linked to the kickoff of annual Obamacare enrollment because the trip would have required charter aircraft and cost about $60,000.Ā 

I just want to offer a word of caution here.

Everyone, it seems, is mindful these days of profligate spending at all levels of government. Secretary Price needs to re-calibrate his public-relations radar to ensure he can avoid getting caught in this PR trap. Don’t blow the public’s cash for the sake of convenience.