Sunday, July 1st, 2018:

Q Drops 1653 - 1665

https://qalerts.app/?q=Jul+01%2C+2018

PDJT TWEETS

July 2018

July 2018 pictures of Alexandra Chalupa and other Ukrainian’s working with Democrats are taken. Nancy Pelosi, Biden, and NoName are a few who are seen with Ukrainians

Monday, July 2nd:

President Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the White House.

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PDJT TWEETS

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Q Drops 1666 - 1677

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

President Trump hosts military personnel and their families for a picnic and fireworks show at the White House as part of Independence Day celebrations.

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PDJT TWEETS

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Q Drops 1678 - 1681

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Scott Pruitt resigns as EPA Administrator, effective July 6, amidst fifteen federal investigations by various government ethics agencies for his assorted management scandals (see here for descriptions.)

Friday, July 6, 2018

Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and Deputy Administrator of the EPA since April 2018, succeeds Scott Pruitt as acting EPA administrator.

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PDJT TWEETS

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/07/scott-pruitt-just-resigned/

ALWAYS CONSIDER THE SOURCE ALWAYS, BUT GIVES A WINDOW INTO THE REEEEEEEEE of the time period

Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and Deputy Administrator of the EPA since April 2018, succeeds Scott Pruitt as acting EPA administrator. (MotherJones.com)

Scott Pruitt is out as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a coal lobbyist who was recently confirmed by the Senate, will succeed him as acting administrator. Wheeler is likely to continue down the path of rolling back the agency’s environmental regulatory work and changing the scope of its science; Senator James Inhofe (R-Ok.) recently described the personnel change as a “good swap.”

Pruitt has been a lightning rod for controversy throughout his 17 months as EPA administrator, and for much of that time, he’s been a star in Trump’s cabinet by governing the EPA as a “practical implementation of the president’s wrecking-ball rhetoric.” He lobbied the president to pull the US from the Paris climate agreement; began the process of unwinding dozens of Obama-era air, water, and climate regulations; undermined the role of science in agency rulemaking; rejected climate change science; backed off enforcement of polluters; and drove out hundreds of scientists and experts on staff, leaving the remaining employees demoralized. The furious pace of deregulation earned Pruitt accolades from President Trump and industries, especially fossil fuel, agriculture, and automotive, grateful for weaker oversight and less stringent standards.

Listen: Rebecca Leber discusses Scott Pruitt’s ethical scandals and the religious underpinnings of his assault on environmental regulations.

Throughout it all, the former Oklahoma attorney general acted as if he were free to operate outside the normal rules governing public servants. A number of his high-level staffers have resigned from the EPA in recent weeks, many of them aides he brought with him from Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Pruitt consistently sought to pivot blame for his troubles to career staffers and the media.

He’s facing more than a dozen federal inquiries into his conduct, and the EPA’s Inspector General is looking at his travel, expenses, housing arrangements in DC, expansive security staffing, and unauthorized approvals for staff raises, among other matters. The questions don’t end with his departure—audits normally continue even after an employee resigns, and several House Democrats have already pressed for a criminal probe from the Department of Justice.

The individual items in Pruitt’s lengthy list of dozens of controversies are all consistent with the theme of using his public office for personal gain. He’s used his EPA staff to attempt to secure employment for his wife Marlyn Pruitt, trying to get her a franchise with the evangelical-friendly Chick-fil- A before she landed a contract with Judicial Crisis Network, which sends millions to conservative groups and advocates for conservative justices. He sent his aides and security detail on missions to find him lotion from the Ritz Carlton and a used Trump hotel mattress. He’s wanted to spend lavishly on his office furniture, a bulletproof sports vehicle, a charter plane membership, and other perks, while the EPA relocated, demoted, or forced out at least five staffers who resisted his requests.

One of those whistleblowers—Kevin Chmielewski, a senior EPA official who served as Pruitt’s deputy chief of staff until he was put on unpaid administrative leave—recently revealed to members of Congress even more ways Pruitt wanted to use taxpayer funds for first-class travel, swanky hotels, and racking up frequent flier points.

The Atlantic discovered he had approved raises for two of his staffers, using a clean water law as a way to circumvent the White House, and then he denied knowledge of this arrangement on Fox News. Several outlets, including ABC News also uncovered that he had rented a condo from an energy lobbyist, and only sporadically paid below-market prices in an unusual arrangement.

Meanwhile, internal emails obtained from the EPA show how his political staff have seized more control over FOIA requests, cutting Pruitt off from the public and press. The emails also reveal the extent of his strategy of justifying his excessive expenses because of a so-called need for greater personal security. “We’ve reached the point where there’s not much civility in the marketplace,” Pruitt explained to the New Hampshire Union Leader, “and it’s created, you know, it’s created some issues and the (security) detail, the level of protection is determined by the level of threat.” Pruitt’s defense against the scandals was just as spare on the details. He liked to say, “with great change…comes great opposition.”

While defending the Trump administration’s proposals for deep cuts to the EPA budget and celebrating shrinking the agency to Reagan-era staffing levels, Pruitt sought to expand the size and scope of his office. He spent $43,000 to build a secure phone booth in his office; approved a $120,000 media contract with a GOP firm to track and shape press coverage (canceled after Mother Jones exposed it); and has been flanked by an unusually large, 24-7 security detail that drew resources away from the agency’s environmental enforcement office. And these are just a few of the more recent controversies that marked Pruitt’s tenure.

That’s not even the full list. Nor do the ethics scandals begin to touch on the environmental controversies that have defined his tenure and will have inflicted permanent damage to the agency he was appointed to lead: How the industries the EPA’s meant to regulate have dominated rulemaking, how hundreds of staff experts and scientists have been driven out, and environmental enforcement dropped precipitously.

Nonetheless, until almost to the very end, Pruitt sustained plenty of allies on the right who waged a campaign to save his job: In April, for instance, the climate-denier, Koch-brother funded think tank Heartland Institute, American Legislative Exchange Council, and the fossil fuel group American Energy Alliance sent a letter urging Trump to stand by his EPA administrator.

Trump was openly reluctant about cutting Pruitt loose, defending him in a tweet in April: “While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA.” Besides what Trump sees as Pruitt’s effectiveness at crippling the EPA, the two also reportedly bonded over a shared sense of “mutual persecution” that the media is out to get them.

Then Pruitt lost several key friends: Longtime political ally Inhofe told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on her radio show, “All these things that are coming out are really not good things. I’ve kind of taken the position that if that doesn’t stop, I’m going to be forced to be in a position where I’m going to say, ‘Well, Scott, you’re not doing your job.’ And hopefully that will change.”

The EPA is not typically the most glamorous job in a presidential cabinet, nor is it normally a platform for a future political career, but Pruitt always had higher office in mind. “I don’t think EPA is his ultimate destination,” University of Tulsa law and environmental professor Gary Allison told me when I was working on a profile of Pruitt, echoing a similar refrain from Oklahomans who expected him to be eyeing 83-year-old Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe’s seat, who is up for reelection in 2020. His longtime pastor, Nick Garland of the First Baptist Church Broken Arrow, told me about how at each step of his career, Pruitt came to him and said “Pray for me. I’ve got something I feel like I’m supposed to run for.'”

Pruitt’s elevation to the EPA, whether it was God’s plan or not, exposed him to national scrutiny of behavior that was first hinted at during his time as Oklahoma’s attorney general.

But Pruitt’s exit will test another theory: that he could seek to rehabilitate his political future, because he’ll always have some job security with fossil fuel interests. “I think he’s made the bet that the fossil fuel industry will take care of him one way or another,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the committee that oversees the EPA, predicted to me last winter. “They reward obedience, and nobody has been more obedient than Scott Pruitt.”

Image credits: Eric Vance/Planet Pix/ZUMA; Starmax/Newscom/ZUMA

Saturday, July 7, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Sunday, July 8, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Monday, July 9, 2018

President Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the impending retirement of Anthony Kennedy.

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PDJT TWEETS

Monday, July 9, 2018

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/09/brett-kavanaugh-trump-private-meeting-706137

How a private meeting with Kennedy helped Trump get to ‘yes’ on Kavanaugh

Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh are pictured. |AP Photo

Some conservative critics, including those pushing for other possible nominees, sought to draw attention to a photo that ran last month in The Washington Post. It showed Kavanaugh being sworn in by Kennedy to the prestigious United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with a smiling President George W. Bush standing off to his right. Below, Bush strategist Karl Rove is shown in another picture with his arm around a younger Kavanaugh.

The goal was to paint him as too close to Bush, knowing that Trump’s aversion to the family might sidetrack his early inclination to go with the leading candidate. Kavanaugh also was scrutinized about whether he was sufficiently conservative, with skeptics questioning his reliability on hot-button issues like abortion and Obamacare.

But it was his long paper trail from the Bush White House, and his time as a lawyer for Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr, that even some of Kavanaugh’s supporters privately acknowledged helped stall his candidacy, forcing White House lawyers to scour hundreds of pages of records as the concerns of some Senate Republicans, including McConnell, went public.

One senior White House official, describing the jockeying taking place, said that at times it felt as though there were only two camps, instead of four: the people pulling for Kavanaugh, and the “anti-Kavanaugh folks.”

As for the recent concerns relating to the Starr probe, a person close to the process said the White House and outside counsel concluded they could get through the documents fairly quickly. Trump’s selection marked a swift rise for Kavanaugh, who wasn’t on Trump’s initial list of potential justices. During the 2016 campaign, McGahn was intent on nominating justices who lived and worked outside of the D.C. bubble, said two former administration officials. Others mentioned the Obamacare issue.

Kavanaugh and four others, including Barrett, were added to Trump’s list late last year. Kavanaugh was kept off the first list because he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the president and his aides wanted the candidates on the list to heavily represent states that Trump carried in the 2016 election, according to two people familiar with the matter.

He was added at the urging of his many backers in the conservative legal community.

Kavanaugh is “not a clear outsider,” said one former Republican senior administration official. “I don’t think he’d have stayed off the list given his support from the Federalist Society and Heritage and, most particularly, McGahn.”

Observers said Trump, not one to back down when someone he wants to hire or retain in his Cabinet comes under fire, let the latest vetting process play out while focusing on what he sees as the bigger picture. He has told people that the opportunity to have two Supreme Court nominees during his first 18 months in office is historic, giving him the chance to reshape the direction of the courts and fulfill a major campaign promise.

Already Republicans close to the White House are predicting that Trump, if reelected in 2020, could have at least one additional Supreme Court seat to fill if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires, given her advanced age. These aides said Trump viewed Barrett as an obvious choice for a third seat should it come up, even if this time around he was quick to eliminate her following their interview.

Kennedy’s seat, meantime, seemed destined to go to Kavanaugh, thanks in part to the glowing review of Kennedy, whose son, Justin, knows Donald Trump Jr. through New York real estate circles, and whose other adult child has connections to Trump world via the president’s 2016 Silicon Valley adviser Peter Thiel, most recently when the Kennedy firm Disruptive Technology Advisers worked with Thiel’s Palantir Technologies. Both Kennedy sons have been guests at the White House, and Trump had nice things to say about Justin in comments to Kennedy caught on a hot mic last year.

For a White House that had been taking the pulse of the court through the deep network of Kennedy law clerks, his retirement had long been on their wish list. And a year after Trump chose Gorsuch to serve with his mentor, he picked another ex-Kennedy aide to join him on the high court, a move that will shape how the president and the retired justice are remembered.

Trump “is very transactional in a lot of ways — as long as it’s fairly immediate to the benefit for him,” a Republican close to the White House said. “The fact that Kennedy gave him that, he was flattered and thrilled by it.”

Darren Samuelsohn, Lorraine Woellert and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Thursday, July 12, 2018

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend a black-tie dinner at Blenheim Palace.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2018/07/12/melania-trump-wears-sweeping-grecian-goddess-gown-dinner-blenheim-palace/780150002/

==Melania Trump stuns in sweeping Grecian-goddess J. Mendel gown for dinner at Churchill's palace

Maria Puente== (USATODAY.com)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump leave Winfield House, residence of the U.S. ambassador in London, before boarding Marine One helicopter for the flight to their dinner at Blenheim Palace.

With the dramatic backdrop of Winston Churchill's family palace behind her, first lady Melania Trump chose a dramatically sweeping Grecian-goddess ballgown of buttery yellow to wear to a black-tie dinner Thursday on the opening evening of the Trumps' first official visit to Britain.

The pale gown by J. Mendel was made of chiffon, fitted in the ruched, off-the-shoulder bodice and falling from the waist in a princess-style sweep of faint pleats.

The panels that fell from each shoulder the length of the gown gave the impression, especially from the front, of a cape – one of Trump's favorite style looks.

First lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump watch welcome ceremony at Blenheim Palace, west of London, on July 12, 2018.

The ready-to-wear gown is sold out on the French label's website but it originally sold for $6,990 and dropped down to $2,996.

Trump's usual towering heels were Manolo Blahnik silk duchess pumps in a matching color. Her hair was styled slightly different than usual, shorter, parted on the right side and sweeping across her forehead.

She wore her massive diamond engagement ring on her hand but nothing else sparkly except stud earrings mostly hidden under her hair.

Trump stood out standing next to British Prime Minister Theresa May, in a berry-red sleeveless sheath gown plus red pumps a bit higher than her favorite kitten heels.

President Trump and May's husband, Philip May, both wore tuxedos.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump leave Winfield House, residence of the U.S. ambassador in London to board helicopter to nearby Blenheim Palace, July 12, 2018.

As compelling as the women's gowns, the Blenheim Palace setting was just as impressive. Home to the Dukes of Marlborough, Blenheim (nearly 200 rooms on 2,000 acres) is more Downtown than "Downtown Abbey" and way bigger.

Winston Spencer-Churchill, a grandson of a Duke of Marlborough, was born there in 1874 to Lord Randolph Churchill and his American wife, Jennie Jerome, later known as Lady Randolph Churchill. (Incidentally, the late Princess Diana, the former Lady Diana Spencer, also was related to the Dukes of Marlborough.)

Blenheim, which is open to the public for tours, is in Oxfordshire about 60 miles west of London. Built in the early 18th century, it was a gift from Queen Anne to John Churchill as reward for his commanding victory at the Battle of Blenheim in Bavaria in one of the many wars the British fought in Europe over the centuries.

It is still the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-church country house in England to hold the title of palace.

The Great Court of Blenheim Palace as Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards play in ceremonial welcome for President Trump and first lady Melania Trump before a black-tie dinner with business leaders at the palace west of London, on July 12, 2018.

The two couples walked up a red carpet to the palace steps in front of the portico, turned and faced the wide Great Court to watch the ceremonial welcome by the bands of the Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards in scarlet uniforms with their distinctive bearskin hats.

Four gold-clad state trumpeters from the Household Cavalry Band played a royal-sounding flourish, and the bands began to play, marching around the Great Court as the Trumps and Mays looked on.

The trumpeters, last seen at Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle’s wedding at Windsor Castle in May, wore gold cloaks they don only in the presence of the queen or a head of state.

As a bagpiper finished playing a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace,” the sun broke through the clouds and shone brightly on the plaza.

President Donald Trump poses with first lady Melania Trump at the U.S. ambassador's residence, Winfield House, in London on July 12, 2018, heading to Blenheim Palace for a dinner on the first day of a UK visit.

The Trumps are joining the Mays and a host of British business leaders at a black-tie dinner at the palace as they begin their short, first official visit to Britain.

The Trumps are scheduled to meet Queen Elizabeth II Friday at Windsor Castle, and the president will meet with May at Chequers, the country home of the prime minister, earlier in the day.

They are scheduled to spend the weekend in Scotland where Trump owns two golf courses.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Friday, July 13, 2018

Special counsel Robert Mueller indicts twelve Russian intelligence officers,[11] alleging that they "engag[ed] in a 'sustained effort' to hack Democrats' emails and computer networks".

President Trump holds a bilateral meeting and joint press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May at Chequers.[14] President Trump advises May to "sue the E.U." during Brexit negotiations.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle for the first time since becoming president. Their meeting makes Trump the 12th incumbent US president the Queen has met during her reign.

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PDJT TWEETS

Friday, July 13, 2018

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/grand-jury-indicts-12-russian-intelligence-officers-hacking-offenses-related-2016-election

Grand Jury Indicts 12 Russian Intelligence Officers for Hacking Offenses Related to the 2016 Election

Friday, July 13, 2018

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For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

The Department of Justice today announced that a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment presented by the Special Counsel’s Office. The indictment charges twelve Russian nationals for committing federal crimes that were intended to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. All twelve defendants are members of the GRU, a Russian Federation intelligence agency within the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian military. These GRU officers, in their official capacities, engaged in a sustained effort to hack into the computer networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee, and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, and released that information on the internet under the names "DCLeaks" and "Guccifer 2.0" and through another entity.

“The Internet allows foreign adversaries to attack America in new and unexpected ways,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. “Together with our law enforcement partners, the Department of Justice is resolute in its commitment to locate, identify and seek to bring to justice anyone who interferes with American elections. Free and fair elections are hard-fought and contentious, and there will always be adversaries who work to exacerbate domestic differences and try to confuse, divide, and conquer us. So long as we are united in our commitment to the shared values enshrined in the Constitution, they will not succeed.”

According to the allegations in the indictment, Viktor Borisovich Netyksho, Boris Alekseyevich Antonov, Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov, Aleksey Viktorovich Lukashev, Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev, Nikolay Yuryevich Kozachek, Pavel Vyacheslavovich Yershov, Artem Andreyevich Malyshev, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk, Aleksey Aleksandrovich Potemkin, and Anatoliy Sergeyevich Kovalev were officials in Unit 26165 and Unit 74455 of the Russian government’s Main Intelligence Directorate.

In 2016, officials in Unit 26165 began spearphishing volunteers and employees of the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, including the campaign’s chairman. Through that process, officials in this unit were able to steal the usernames and passwords for numerous individuals and use those credentials to steal email content and hack into other computers. They also were able to hack into the computer networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) through these spearphishing techniques to steal emails and documents, covertly monitor the computer activity of dozens of employees, and implant hundreds of files of malicious computer code to steal passwords and maintain access to these networks.

The officials in Unit 26165 coordinated with officials in Unit 74455 to plan the release of the stolen documents for the purpose of interfering with the 2016 presidential election. Defendants registered the domain DCLeaks.com and later staged the release of thousands of stolen emails and documents through that website. On the website, defendants claimed to be “American hacktivists” and used Facebook accounts with fictitious names and Twitter accounts to promote the website. After public accusations that the Russian government was behind the hacking of DNC and DCCC computers, defendants created the fictitious persona Guccifer 2.0. On the evening of June 15, 2016 between 4:19PM and 4:56PM, defendants used their Moscow-based server to search for a series of English words and phrases that later appeared in Guccifer 2.0’s first blog post falsely claiming to be a lone Romanian hacker responsible for the hacks in the hopes of undermining the allegations of Russian involvement.

Members of Unit 74455 also conspired to hack into the computers of state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and US companies that supplied software and other technology related to the administration of elections to steal voter data stored on those computers.

To avoid detection, defendants used false identities while using a network of computers located around the world, including the United States, paid for with cryptocurrency through mining bitcoin and other means intended to obscure the origin of the funds. This funding structure supported their efforts to buy key accounts, servers, and domains. For example, the same bitcoin mining operation that funded the registration payment for DCLeaks.com also funded the servers and domains used in the spearphishing campaign.

The indictment includes 11 criminal counts:

Count One alleges a criminal conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States through cyber operations by the GRU that involved the staged release of stolen documents for the purpose of interfering with the 2016 president election;

Counts Two through Nine charge aggravated identity theft for using identification belonging to eight victims to further their computer fraud scheme;

Count Ten alleges a conspiracy to launder money in which the defendants laundered the equivalent of more than $95,000 by transferring the money that they used to purchase servers and to fund other costs related to their hacking activities through cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin; and

Count Eleven charges conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States by attempting to hack into the computers of state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and US companies that supplied software and other technology related to the administration of elections.

There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity or knew they were communicating with Russian intelligence officers. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the vote count or changed the outcome of the 2016 election.

Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. At trial, prosecutors must introduce credible evidence that is sufficient to prove each defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, to the unanimous satisfaction of a jury of twelve citizens.

This case was investigated with the help of the

FBI’s cyber teams in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and San Francisco and the National Security Division. The Special Counsel's investigation is ongoing. There will be no comments from the Special Counsel at this time.

Friday, July 13, 2018

Saturday, July 14, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

Sunday, July 15, 2018

President Trump remarks during a CBS interview, "Now you wouldn't think of the European Union, but they're a foe," in response to a question about the biggest foes of the United States.

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PDJT TWEETS

Sunday, July 15, 2018

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-interview-cbs-news-european-union-is-a-foe-ahead-of-putin-meeting-in-helsinki-jeff-glor/

"I think the European Union is a foe," Trump says ahead of Putin meeting in Helsinki(SeeBS"news".com)

July 15, 2018 / 7:27 PM EDT

Coming off a contentious NATO summit and a trip to the U.K. in which he seemed to undercut the government of America's closest ally, President Trump took aim at another Western institution just days before his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Jeff Glor in Scotland on Saturday, President Trump named the European Union comprising some of America's oldest allies when asked to identify his "biggest foe globally right now."

"Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn't think of the European Union, but they're a foe. Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn't mean they are bad. It doesn't mean anything. It means that they are competitive," Mr. Trump said at his golf club in Turnberry, Scotland.

"I respect the leaders of those countries. But, in a trade sense, they've really taken advantage of us and many of those countries are in NATO and they weren't paying their bills," he added.

More from Jeff Glor's Interview with President Trump:

Trump on Putin meeting: "I go in with low expectations"

Trump calls Strzok a "disgrace to our country," claims Mueller probe is hurting Russia relations

On Sunday, British Prime Minister Theresa May told the BBC that Mr. Trump had encouraged her to "sue the EU" rather than negotiate over the U.K.'s departure from the bloc. May's conservative government is deeply split over her handling of Brexit, and her hold on power was further weakened by Mr. Trump's comments to a British tabloid that her approach had likely "killed" any chance of a new trade deal with the U.S. once Brexit is complete. (Mr. Trump tried to walk back his criticism in a joint press conference on Friday.)

At the summit of NATO allies in Brussels last week, Mr. Trump took a hard line toward member nations for failing to meet targeted defense spending goals. He claimed his tough stance had paid off in getting allies to spend more on defense, telling reporters on Thursday that members had "upped their commitments and I am very happy."

The president kicked off the NATO summit by blasting Germany as "totally controlled" and "captive by Russia" over a natural gas pipeline project, known as the Nord Stream 2. The U.S. fears the deal could give Moscow greater leverage over Western Europe. In Saturday's interview, the president reiterated the criticisms he made in Brussels.

"Germany made a pipeline deal with Russia. Where they're going to be paying Russia billions and billions of dollars a year for energy, and I say that's not good, that's not fair. You're supposed to be fighting for someone and then that someone gives billions of dollars to the one you're, you know, guarding against. I think it's ridiculous, so I let that be known also this time," Mr. Trump told Glor. "I'll tell you what, there's a lot of anger at the fact that Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars. There's a lot of anger. I also think it's a very bad thing for Germany. Because it's like, what, are they waving a white flag?"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, told reporters after the president's comments in Brussels that she had "experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union" and said her country today made "independent policies" and "independent decisions.

In the CBS News interview, Mr. Trump also continued to criticize the special counsel's Russia investigation, saying it is having an impact on America's standing in the world. "I think we're greatly hampered by this whole witch hunt that's going on in the United States," the president said. "I think it hurts our relationship with Russia. I actually think it hurts our relationship with a lot of countries. I think it's a disgrace what's going on."

Mr. Trump heads to Helsinki on Sunday ahead of his meeting with Putin on Monday. He told Glor he has "low expectations" for the summit. "Nothing bad is going to come out of it, and maybe some good will come out," he said.

The following is a transcript of the portion of the interview that aired on "Face the Nation." More of the interview will air Monday on "CBS This Morning," between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and on "CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor" Monday from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to "Face the Nation." President Trump is still in Europe, he's heading next to Helsinki, Finland, for tomorrow's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yesterday, he spent some time with "CBS Evening News" Anchor Jeff Glor at the President's golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland.

JEFF GLOR: I saw the conversation you had with Jens Stoltenberg which is a very direct conversation, as- as you approach the meetings with Vladimir Putin coming up. Do you expect a similar tone?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don't expect anything. I frankly don't expect I go in with very low expectations. I think that getting along with Russia is a good thing. But it's possible we won't. I think we're greatly hampered by this whole witch hunt that's going on in the United States. The Russian witch hunt. The the rigged situation. I watch some of the testimony, even though I'm in Europe, of Strzok. And I thought it was a disgrace to our country. I thought it was an absolute disgrace. Where he wants to do things against me before I was even, I guess before I was even the candidate. It was a disgrace. And then he lied about it. And you know, talking about shutting it down and 'we, we.' And he says 'oh I meant the American people' all of a sudden you know, he came up with excuses. I guess given to a lawyer, but everybody laughed at it. He was a disgrace to our country. He was a disgrace to the FBI. So when I look at things like that and he led that investigation or whatever you call it. I would say that yeah, I think it hurts our relationship with Russia. I actually think it hurts our relationship with a lot of countries. I think it's a disgrace what's going on. And then you look how, you know, partisan it is. You look at what's going on where – and they know, they know that there's no way he can get away from those horrible texts that he wrote. So the other side does. But it's a very partisan thing.

JEFF GLOR: The Russians who were indicted, would you ask Putin to- to send them here?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well I might. I hadn't thought of that. But I certainly, I'll be asking about it. But again, this was during the Obama administration. They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration. And I heard that they were trying, or people were trying, to hack into the RNC too. The Republican National Committee. But we had much better defenses. I've been told that by a number of people. We had much better defenses, so they couldn't. I think the DNC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing themselves to be hacked. They had bad defenses and they were able to be hacked. But I heard they were trying to hack the Republicans too. But, and this may be wrong, but they had much stronger defenses.

JEFF GLOR: Who is your biggest competitor? Your biggest foe globally right now?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn't think of the European Union but they're a foe. Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn't mean they are bad. It doesn't mean anything. It means that they are competitive. They want to do well and we want to do well. And we're starting to do well. You see what's going on we have best unemployment numbers probably that we've ever had. Black unemployment is the lowest level in history. Hispanic unemployment the lowest level in history, Jeff. Women unemployment lowest in 66 years. Our numbers are great. Our GDP numbers are far greater than what they thought.

JEFF GLOR: A lot of people might be surprised to hear you list the EU as a foe before China and Russia?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No I look at them all look, EU is very difficult. I-I want to tell you. Maybe the thing that is most difficult don't forget both my parents were born in EU sectors okay? I mean my mother was Scotland, my father was Germany. And you know I love those countries. I respect the leaders of those countries. But in a trade sense, they've really taken advantage of us and many of those countries are in NATO and they weren't paying their bills and, you know, as an example a big problem with Germany. Because Germany made a pipeline deal with Russia. Where they're going to be paying Russia billions and billions of dollars a year for energy and I say that's not good, that's not fair. You're supposed to be fighting for someone and then that someone gives billions of dollars to the one you're, you know, guarding against, I think it's ridiculous so I let that be known also this time. I'll tell you what, there's a lot of anger at the fact that Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars. There's a lot of anger. I also think it's a very bad thing for Germany. Because it's like what are they waving a white flag?

MARGARET BRENNAN: More of Jeff's interview with President Trump in Scotland will air tomorrow on "CBS This Morning" and later on the "CBS Evening News," as well as our digital network, CBSN.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Joe Biden accepted monthly draw of money in the sum of $1380.00 from a Chinese associated bank account.

Monday, July 16, 2018

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin participate in the summit at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.

At the joint press conference, Trump reiterates both his faulting of "U.S. foolishness and stupidity" and the Mueller investigation for the freeze in relations between Russia and the United States and his refusal to recognize the Russian government's interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, despite extensive assessments by United States intelligence agencies.

President Trump receives bi-partisan criticism:[23][24][25][26] prominent Republican senators call his summit performance "disgraceful",[24][25] "shameful",[24][25][27] and "a sign of weakness";[24][25][28] former CIA Director John Brennan calls it "imbecilic" and "nothing short of treasonous".[24][25][29]

-—

PDJT TWEETS

Monday, July 16, 2018

https://stylemagazine.com/news/2018/jul/16/trump-says-were-all-blame-poor-us-russia-relations/

Trump says 'we're all to blame' for poor US-Russia relationship, Putin denies interference(StyleMagazine.com)

US President Donald Trump said Monday he holds both the United States and Russia responsible for the breakdown in the …

By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

(CNN) – US President Donald Trump said Monday he holds both the United States and Russia responsible for the breakdown in the relationship between the two countries and railed against the special counsel's Russia investigation.

"I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. We've all been foolish," Trump said during a joint news conference alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

"We should have, frankly, had this dialogue a long time ago. I think that we're all to blame. I think that the United States has now stepped forward along with Russia," Trump said, adding that he feels that the US and Russia have "both made some mistakes."

Trump and Putin blew past the 90 minutes they were scheduled to spend with only interpreters at their sides on Monday, just hours after the US President blamed US policy for the dismal state of relations between the two countries.

After their initial meeting, the two leaders brought in their top aides for an expanded bilateral meeting, the next step in their first official summit, and then concluded with a joint news conference.

Speaking to reporters, Trump again lambasted the special counsel's investigation stemming from Russian interference in the 2016 election as "a disaster for our country."

"I think that the probe is a disaster for our country. I think it's kept us (the US and Russia) apart. I think it's kept us separated," Trump said.

The US President proclaimed in front of Putin that "there was no collusion" during the 2016 campaign and said he "beat Hillary Clinton easily."

He added the Mueller probe has "had a negative impact on the relationship between the two nuclear powers."

While Trump dove into specifics on US missteps, he did not list any malignant Russian activities responsible for the low point in the US-Russia relationship.

Putin, meanwhile, denied any Russian election interference.

Gathered at the Finnish presidential palace, a historic venue where previous US presidents have also gathered with their Russian and Soviet counterparts to tackle the complex bilateral relationship, Trump made clear at the outset that he hopes the meeting can help transform the relationship into an "extraordinary" one.

"I think we have great opportunities together as two countries that, frankly, we have not been getting along very well for the last number of years," said Trump, who is hoping his personal touch can reverse the steep decline. "I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship."

But the highly anticipated meetings that had been minutely planned began with a sluggish start after the Russian President arrived late, setting the summit about 45 minutes back.

Putin is known for arriving late to important events considered a power play by some observers but this time his late arrival offered a role reversal for the US President, who has recently walked in late to meetings at the G7 and NATO summits.

In 2009 and 2012, Putin showed up about 40 and 45 minutes late for his meetings with then-President Barack Obama. But he kept German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych waiting about four hours each in 2014 and 2012, respectively. Even the Pope waited more than an hour for Putin to show up at the Vatican in 2015.

The two men walked into the palace's Gothic Hall together, offering brief remarks and shaking hands for the cameras before the two men were left alone save for a pair of interpreters for the first meeting of the day.

Trump and Putin had set aside 90 minutes of solo time – just as Trump did with Kim Jong Un last month. But the two men spilled into overtime, inviting reporters for the start of their expanded bilateral meeting with top aides 2 hours and 11 minutes after their one-on-one meeting began. Trump was joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton, White House chief of staff John Kelly, Fiona Hill, the top Russia expert at the National Security Council, and interpreter Marina Gross.

The lengthy tête-à-tête made Trump's remarks ahead of the meeting all the more notable – and concerning to some.

US officials have stressed the path to improving US-Russia ties runs through a clear-eyed understanding of Russian aggression and the root causes of discord in the relationship, but Trump is signaling a different course. He is holding previous US administrations and the Justice Department's investigation stemming from Russian meddling in the 2016 election responsible.

"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!" Trump tweeted Monday morning ahead of the summit.

Trump was eager to have time alone with Putin to better personally assess him and develop a personal relationship, according to a US official, but he has also expressed anger at leaks from his meetings with foreign leaders and told aides he wanted to ensure his sensitive discussions with Putin remained secret.

The official also said that Trump doesn't want aides who may take a harder line on Russia undercutting or interrupting him during his talks with Putin.

Just days earlier, Trump pointed to the "pure stupidity" and a "political problem" in the United States for making it "very hard to do something with Russia."

"Anything you do, it's always going to be, 'Oh, Russia, he loves Russia,' " Trump said during a joint news conference with his British counterpart.

Trump's Monday morning tweet and his words and actions in the last week have only amplified concerns about his approach to Russia among US allies and lawmakers of both parties in Washington. During his swing through Brussels and the United Kingdom, Trump has repeatedly criticized US allies, called the European Union a "foe" and criticized the Obama administration rather than Russia in the wake of the Justice Department's indictment of 12 Russian agents who allegedly worked to hack Democrats' emails and computer networks during the 2016 election.

Ahead of his meeting with Putin who is alleged to be behind the assassination of journalists and political dissidents the US President also lashed out again at the news media on Sunday by branding journalists "the enemy of the people."

Trump again as he has repeatedly done pointed the finger at his predecessor President Barack Obama and characterized the investigation stemming from Russian election interference as a "witch hunt."

"President Obama thought that Crooked Hillary was going to win the election, so when he was informed by the FBI about Russian Meddling, he said it couldn't happen, was no big deal, & did NOTHING about it," Trump tweeted. "When I won it became a big deal and the Rigged Witch Hunt headed by Strzok!"

Everything from Russian meddling in the 2016 election to the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine are expected to be on the agenda for their summit here in Helsinki, but Trump has signaled he is most eager to jumpstart talks to "substantially reduce" the two countries' nuclear weapons arsenals and generally improve US-Russia relations.

Trump is not, however, expected to offer to halt military exercises in the Baltics as part of his discussions with Putin, with a US official telling CNN's Jeff Zeleny "at least that's the plan going in."

The question of the Baltics exercises has hung over the summit, particularly after Trump abruptly decided last month to agree to stop joint US-South Korean military exercises during his meeting with Kim.

Trump had said he intended to once again ask Putin about Russian efforts to sway the results of the 2016 election, but signaled he would not press the issue.

"I know you'll ask, will we be talking about meddling. I will absolutely bring that up. I don't think you'll have any, 'Gee, I did it. I did it. You got me.' There won't be a Perry Mason here, I don't think, but you never know what happens, right? But I will absolutely, firmly ask the question," Trump said.

Trump has sought to cool expectations in the last days leading up to the summit, saying in an interview Saturday that he planned to arrive in Helsinki "with very low expectations."

"I think that getting along with Russia is a good thing, but it's possible we won't," Trump said.

Monday, July 16, 2018

https://www.axios.com/2018/07/16/trump-putin-russia-press-conference-election-hacking-reaction

What they're saying: Trump blasted after press conference with Putin(Axios.com)

Zachary Basu

Trump and Putin shake hands

President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands. Photo: Yuri Kadobnovs/AFP via Getty Images

Following an extraordinary bilateral press conference in which President Trump said he didn't see "any reason" why Russia would interfere in the 2016 election, figures from across the political spectrum took to social media and cable news to share their reactions.

The bottom line: Both Democrats and Republicans were stunned by the president's performance today, with several leading voices calling it "shameful," "flat-out wrong," and even "treasonous."

What lawmakers are saying

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE): "This is bizarre and flat-out wrong. The United States is not to blame. America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression. When the President plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): "Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections. This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves. … if it were me, I’d check the soccer ball [that Putin gave Trump] for listening devices and never allow it in the White House."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake. President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world."

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC): Vladimir Putin is not our friend and never has been. Nor does he want to be our friend. His regime's actions prove it. We must make clear that the United States will not tolerate hostile Russian activities against us or our allies."

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA): "For the president to cast doubt is not unreasonable … Having said that, Putin is an evil man."

Rep. Pete King (R-NY): "[I] strongly disagree" with Trump's statement that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election. "[I'm] disappointed, not flabbergasted." King added that having Russia cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller "would be like bringing ISIS into a joint terrorism task force."

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI): "There is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world. That is not just the finding of the American intelligence community but also the House Committee on Intelligence. The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally. There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals. The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy."

What journalists are saying

CNN host Anderson Cooper: "You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader certainly that I've ever seen. An extraordinary press conference."

Axios' Jonathan Swan: "I just have no words. As press in this room, we are all sitting in here speechless and stunned. Trump cast doubt over the U.S. intelligence community and endorsed Putin’s denial. Trump was given an opportunity to denounce the meddling and he didn’t; he just pivoted to lines about the missing server and Hillary’s emails. While Putin spoke forcefully, lying, Trump nodded along. There’s no way of sugar coating or spinning this."

Fox Business host Neil Cavuto: "That’s what made his performance disgusting. I’m sorry its the way I feel. It's not a right or left thing, it’s just wrong. A U.S. president on foreign soil talking to our biggest enemy, or adversary, or competitor … is essentially letting the guy get away with this and not even offering a mild criticism, that set’s us back a lot.”

NYTimes reporter Katie Rogers: "Part of me thinks that all Americans, no matter their politics, are patriotic enough, and many believe in the exceptional nature of their country enough (whether that's right or wrong), to not take kindly to being blamed for a bad relationship with Russia by their own president."

What others are saying

Former CIA director John Brennan: "Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to and exceeds the threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???"

Meghan McCain: "I don’t have anything quippy to tweet. I’m horrified - and have never been more proud of the fact that Putin hates my father so much he personally sanctioned him on Russia’s enemies list."

Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns: "The big takeaway from Helsinki. Trump’s weakness beside Putin. There is nothing close to this in Presidential history. President Trump sided with Putin against our intelligence community on an attack against the U.S. Dereliction of duty."

Former FBI Director James Comey: "This was the day an American president stood on foreign soil next to a murderous lying thug and refused to back his own country. Patriots need to stand up and reject the behavior of this president."

Former Secretary of State John Kerry: "I’ve been involved in public life for six decades. I have never seen an American president do or say anything remotely like what President Trump did today. No one else has, either, and everyone knows it. It is more than unfortunate; it is indefensible … this President has surrounded lock, stock and barrel to President Putin’s deceptions … This is insanity.”

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

The Treasury Department repeals the requirement of some non-profit groups, most prominently the National Rifle Association of America (NRA),[30] to disclose their donor lists to the Internal Revenue Service.[30][31] The rule change is announced whilst the NRA was named as the "primary avenue of influence" for Maria Butina,[32] a Russian national charged on July 16 by the national security division of the Justice Department with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government within the United States without the requisite notification to the U.S. Attorney General.[32][33] The affidavit alleges that Butina (along with an unnamed business partner, presumed to be Aleksandr Torshin)[32] "infiltrat[ed] organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation".[33]

Trump claims that he misspoke in his joint press conference with Putin the previous day, saying "I don't see any reason why it would be Russia" when he intended to say "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia":[34][35][36][37]

It should have been obvious—I thought it would be obvious—but I would like to clarify, just in case it wasn't. In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word "would" instead of "wouldn't". The sentence should have been: "I don't see any reason why I wouldn't—or why it wouldn't be Russia." So just to repeat it, I said the word "would" instead of "wouldn't". And the sentence should have been—and I thought it would be maybe a little bit unclear on the transcript or unclear on the actual video—the sentence should have been: "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia." Sort of a double negative.[34]

Trump's new remarks are criticized by some Democratic senators[38] who do not believe he misspoke[38][39][40] and thought his "back-handed retraction"[38][41] was "too late".[38][41]

PDJT TWEET

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

When asked by a reporter before a Cabinet meeting whether he believes that the Russian government continues to make efforts to interfere in American elections, Trump replied, "no".[42][43] However, Sarah Huckabee Sanders (the White House Press Secretary) disputed that Trump was in fact answering the reporter's question when he said "no",[42][43] and Trump himself refused to clarify his intent to the press later in the day.[43]

The New York Times reports that Trump was briefed on January 6, 2017, regarding the Russian government's attempts to interfere in American elections.[44][45] Trump "sounded begrudgingly convinced", according to the Times's sources.[44][45]

Trump receives a public request from Russian prosecutors for permission to interrogate eleven American citizens, including former Amb. Michael McFaul, as part of an investigation into financial crimes that the Russian government alleges against American hedge-fund manager Bill Browder.[46][47] Trump did not immediately decline the request, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying that Trump is "gonna meet with his team" regarding the request.[47]

PDJT TWEET

Thursday, July 19, 2018

After a non-binding resolution to oppose permitting Russian investigators to interrogate any American citizen passes in the United States Senate by a vote of 98–0,[48] the Trump administration issues a statement that the request "was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it".

Trump invites Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington, D.C., in the fall, according to a tweet from Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Dan Coats (the Director of National Intelligence) reacts to the news of the Putin invitation in a manner deemed by White House officials to be "laughing at the president",[51] and a senior White House official anonymously says to The Washington Post that "Coats has gone rogue".

-—

PDJT TWEETS

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Joe Biden accepted monthly draw of money in the sum of $1380.00 from a Chinese associated bank account.

Friday, July 20, 2018 EST

The New York Times reports that Trump's long-time lawyer, Michael Cohen, secretly recorded a phone call in which Trump and Cohen discuss a September 2016 payment, in the amount of $150,000, by American Media, Inc. (the owner of the National Enquirer) to Playboy model Karen McDougal in order to acquire the exclusive rights to her story of her 2006 affair with Trump.[52][53][54] The National Enquirer never planned on publishing McDougal's story, so the payment (termed a "catch and kill" payment)[52] effectively silenced McDougal's story for the duration of the 2016 presidential campaign.[52][53][54] The Times also reported that the tape contains a discussion of a back-payment from Trump to American Media, Inc.;[52] the reporting directly contradicted Trump's long-standing claim that he had no knowledge of the payment to either McDougal or American Media, Inc.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump's legal adviser, comments that the tape is, in fact, "powerful exculpatory evidence".[52] Some commentators conclude that Trump's legal team, not Cohen's legal team, had leaked the tape to the media;[55][56] the tape had originally been shielded from prosecutors due to attorney–client privilege, which was waived by Trump's legal team.[56][57] Some commentators speculate that Trump's legal team released the tape partly to deny Cohen a bargaining device in potential plea negotiations involving cooperation with federal investigations.

Special counsel Robert Mueller moves to subpoena Kristin Davis, the prostitution mogul known as the "Manhattan Madam". Davis had been best known for her role in the 2008 prostitution scandal involving then-Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York, but she was also a former employee of Roger Stone, a Republican political operative and strategist for Trump.

-

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-20-2018

Saturday, July 21, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-21-2018

Sunday, July 22, 2018

'''Trump tweets that Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections is "all a big hoax",[60] appearing to reverse his position yet again on whether the Russian government interfered (and continues to attempt to interfere) in U.S. elections.[61][62][63]

Trump tweets a threat to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani:'''

NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

The threat was the culmination of a weekend of intense rhetorical exchange between the Trump administration and the Rouhani administration.[65] Trump's tweet was in response to Rouhani's message that war with Iran would be "the mother of all wars"; Rouhani also warned Trump to "not play with the lion's tail, because you will regret it eternally".[66] Rouhani's message was, in turn, in response to a scathing speech made by Mike Pompeo (the U.S. Secretary of State), which included an allegation that Rouhani owns a $95 billion hedge fund;[67] Pompeo also stated that "to the [Iranian] regime, prosperity, security, and freedom for the Iranian people are acceptable casualties in the march to fulfill the Revolution",[67] and that "the level of corruption and wealth among regime leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government".

--–

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-22-2018

Monday, July 23, 2018

President Trump publicly considers revoking security clearances for former top-level officials[68][69] (including John Brennan, James Clapper, James Comey, Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, and Michael Hayden);[69] Trump claims that the former officials' public comments about the Special Counsel investigation are "inappropriate",[69] and Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused the former officials of "politicizing and … monetizing their public service".

'''The Senate confirms Robert Wilkie as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs in a vote of 86–9;[70][71] Wilkie served as an under-secretary in the U.S. Department of Defense since November 2017 (and previously from 2006 to 2009 under President George W. Bush) and also served as acting Veterans' Affairs secretary from March 2018 to May 2018 following David Shulkin's resignation.[70][71]

President Trump launches "Made in America Week" at the White House by showcasing products made in all 50 states.'''

-–

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-23-2018

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

At a speech to the annual convention of a veterans' organization (Veterans of Foreign Wars) in Kansas City, Trump says that "what you're seeing and what you're reading [in the media] is not what's happening".[72][73][74] Some observers describe this quote as "Orwellian".

The September 2016 tape, the existence of which was revealed on July 20, is published by CNN on its 9:00 p.m. show, Cuomo Prime Time.[75] The three-minute recording proves that Trump and his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, did discuss the $150,000 payment to American Media, Inc., as claimed on July 20.[75][76] Moreover, Trump and Cohen can be heard discussing whether to make the payment in cash;[75][76] on the recording, Trump appears to suggest a cash payment, and Cohen appears to dismiss the suggestion.[75][76] According to The New York Times, the salient portion of the "sometimes muddled"[76] recording reads as follows:

Mr. Cohen is heard telling Mr. Trump that he will need to set up a company to arrange the payments.

Mr. Trump then asked, "What financing?"

"We'll have to pay," Mr. Cohen said.

Mr. Trump then appears to say, "Pay with cash."

Mr. Cohen then says, "No, no."

The word "check" is uttered, but it is not clear by whom, and the audio is then cut off.

However, Trump's legal team disputes this.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Q Drops 1682 - 1693

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F24%2F2018&q2=

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Eleven Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee (all members of the House Freedom Caucus) file an impeachment resolution against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, claiming that Rosenstein in his role as overseer of the Special Counsel investigation committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" in refusing to turn over information relating to the ongoing investigation to the House Judiciary Committee.

President Trump holds a bilateral meeting and joint press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House.[citation needed]

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-25-2018

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Q Drops 1694 - 1710

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F25%2F2018&q2=

Thursday, July 26, 2018

The House Republicans who filed an impeachment resolution against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on July 26 back down, deciding not to continue with impeachment proceedings.[81] This decision comes after many high-profile Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan[82] and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions,[83] criticize the impeachment resolution and express support for Rosenstein.

Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, claims that Trump had contemporaneous knowledge of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials (including Trump's son, Don Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner) and Russian lobbyists, where the Trump campaign was promised "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.[84] While Trump has repeatedly denied that he knew that this meeting took place, Cohen claims that he is prepared to testify to the Special Counsel investigation that Trump knew in advance of the meeting.[84] Commentators note that "this revelation, if true, would directly implicate Trump himself in an effort to conspire with a foreign power to tip the election to him, and a subsequent effort to cover that up."[85][86] Trump tweets in his denial that "[it] sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?)."

The deadline (imposed on June 26 by Dana Sabraw, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of California)[88][89] elapses to reunite all migrant families separated by the Trump administration. The government claims that the deadline has been met,[90][91] but its court filing shows that 711 children (about a third of the 2,551 children separated from their families),[90][91] whom the government has deemed "ineligible for reunification", are still in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

--

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-26-2018

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Q Drops 1711 - 1718

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F26%2F2018&q2=

Friday, July 27, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-27-2018

Q Drops 1719 - 1740

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F27%2F2018&q2=

Saturday, July 28, 2018

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-28-2018

Q Drops 1741 - 1747

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F28%2F2018&q2=

Sunday, July 29, 2018

President Trump tweets a threat to support a government shutdown if Democratic lawmakers do not vote for "Border Security, which includes the Wall!"

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-29-2018

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Q Drops 1748 - 1761

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F29%2F2018&q2=

Monday, July 30, 2018

President Trump holds a bilateral meeting and joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House.

After President Trump has claimed "no collusion" for months,[95][96] his legal adviser Rudy Giuliani says that "I don't even know if [colluding with Russia] is a crime".[95][96][97] Another Trump adviser, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, echoes the sentiment, saying that "collusion is not a crime".[96] While there technically is no crime called 'collusion' in the U.S. Code,[96][97] legal experts agree that 'collusion' is an informal shorthand for a number of similar charges, especially conspiracy, which are in the Code,[96][97] and that the difference between 'collusion' and 'conspiracy' is "just a word choice".[96][97] Giuliani's and Christie's claims come on the eve of the trial of former Trump campaign chair, Paul Manafort.

Giuliani also claimed the existence of a previously-unknown June 7, 2016, meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russian lobbyists preceding the Trump Tower meeting on June 9, 2016;[98] however, Giuliani later said that the meeting "never happened".[98] Asked how he could be sure that the July 26 claim by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen (that Trump had advance knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting) was false, Giuliani replied, "Nobody can be sure of anything".

President Trump offers to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with "no preconditions".[99] This follows a heated exchange between the Trump administration and Rouhani on July 21 and July 22.

Robert Wilkie is sworn in as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

According to U.S. intelligence agencies, North Korea continues to construct nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States,[102][103] despite peace talks at the June 12 summit between Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un.

-

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-30-2018

Q Drops 1762 - 1771

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F30%2F2018&q2=

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

The trial of former Trump campaign chair, Paul Manafort, begins in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Anthony Kennedy retires as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,[106] formalizing a decision announced on June 27.

During a rally in Florida, President Trump defends strict "voter ID" laws by claiming that Americans are required to show identification to purchase groceries.

—-

PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-31-2018

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Q Drops 1772 - 1784

https://qagg.news/?q=07%2F31%2F2018&q2=

August 2018

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

President Trump tweets that "Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further",[111] the first time Trump has publicly and explicitly called for the termination of the Special Counsel investigation.[112] Many observers note that this tweet raises concerns about possible obstruction of justice,[113][114] while Rudy Giuliani (Trump's legal adviser) claims that Trump intentionally chose the word "should" because he was expressing an opinion rather than issuing an order to Sessions;[115] Sarah Huckabee Sanders (the White House Press Secretary) echoes Giuliani's sentiments, saying, "It's not an order. It's the president's opinion."

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PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-august-1-2018

Q Drops 1785 - 1793

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Sarah Huckabee Sanders (the White House Press Secretary) calls the press the "enemy of the people".

At a press conference, top national security officials (Dan Coats, Kirstjen Nielsen, John Bolton, Christopher Wray, and Paul Nakasone) announce that the administration will "make the matter of election meddling and securing our election process a top priority".[121][122][123] The officials also affirm that the Russian government is attempting to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections, specifically with "a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States".

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PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-august-2-2018

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Q Drops 1794 - 1801

https://qagg.news/?q=08%2F02%2F2018&q2=

Friday, August 3, 2018

A Justice Department filing on a case against the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding reunification of separated migrant families argues that it is the responsibility of the plaintiffs (i.e., the ACLU), not the government, to use its "considerable resources" to find parents of separated children whom the government has already deported.[124][125] The judge who requested the government filing (Dana Sabraw, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of California appointed by President George W. Bush) calls the government's slow pace in reuniting the separated families "unacceptable",[124][125] and rejects "100%" the argument that the responsibility is on the ACLU to reunite the families.

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PDJT TWEETS

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-august-3-2018

Q Drops 1803 - 1815