Donald Trump

Wednesday January 9, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 9, 2019

Trump doubles down on push for border wall in televised address

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed unauthorized immigrants for killing Americans, taking their jobs and flooding his country with drugs as he doubled down on demands that Congress hand over US$5.7-billion for a wall on the border with Mexico in a nationally televised address.

In a 10-minute Oval Office speech, Mr. Trump tried to rally his base and hold his Republican Party together amid a government shutdown he triggered over congressional refusal to fund the wall.

“Some have suggested a barrier is immoral,” Mr. Trump said. “The only thing that is immoral is for the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized.”

Democratic leaders on Tuesday rejected the President’s demands, and accused him of unfairly targeting asylum-seekers.

“The women and children at the border are not a security threat,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a televised rebuttal, as she accused Mr. Trump of “manufacturing a crisis.” Added Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall.”

In his speech, the President described several murders committed by immigrants, lamented the quantities of heroin arriving from Mexico and claimed that “all Americans are hurt” by migrants coming to work in the U.S.

In fact, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute last year found that crime rates among immigrants in Texas – both legal and unauthorized – were lower than those among native-born Americans. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency found that 90 per cent of smuggled heroin went through designated ports of entry such as border crossings, and air or seaports, which means it would not be stopped by a wall.

The President also repeated an assertion that the wall will be paid for by Mexico through the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The trade pact contains no provision for Mexico to pay for the wall.

Mr. Trump, however, stopped short of declaring a state of emergency that would give him the power to divert money from the military to build the wall. Such a move would likely be met with a court challenge. (Source: Globe & Mail) 

 

2018: Trump Year in Review

December 22, 2017
January 13, 2018
January 16, 2018
March 3, 2018
March 7, 2018
March 9, 2018
March 14, 2018
April 5, 2018
April 10, 2018
April 13, 2018
April 14, 2018
May 1, 2018
May 11, 2018
June 1, 2018
June 6, 2018
June 9, 2018
June 12, 2018
June 13, 2018
June 15, 2018
July 12, 2018
July 13, 2018
July 16, 2018
July 17, 2018
July 18, 2018
July 27, 2018
August 10, 2018
August 23, 2018
August 28, 2018
August 30, 2018
September 6, 2018
October 2, 2018
October 12, 2018
October 25, 2018
October 31, 2018
November 3, 2018
November 6, 2018
November 14, 2018
November 30, 2018
December 4, 2018

2017 Review of Donald Trump

Monday December 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday December 24, 2018

A President In Praise Of Strongmen And Dictators

October 12, 2018

President Trump can be stinging and sarcastic. It’s part of his charm, for those who find it charming. He has the audacity of discourtesy, if you please, whether calling a woman “Horseface,” as he did this week, or ridiculing African nations as … something I quoted on the air only once.

But the president reveals a softer side when he talks about strongmen and dictators.

He’s said there may be “severe” consequences if Saudi leaders ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. But when the president received Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House last March, he told reporters, “We understand each other. Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation, and they’re going to give the United States some of that wealth, hopefully.”

July 18, 2018

The president has often been magniloquent in his praise of those who control the press, suppress dissent, and strike down dissidents. He praised Vladimir Putin, saying before the 2016 election, “The man has very strong control over a country. Now, it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president.”

When Bill O’Reilly, then of Fox News, called Putin “a killer,” Trump memorably replied, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”

The president lauded President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, while human rights groups say his police and vigilante groups killed more than 7,000 drug dealers and drug users, without arrest or trial.

June 12, 2018

“Many countries have the problem, we have a problem,” Trump told him, “but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

President Trump celebrated with President Xi of China when his parliament prepared to approve a change to allow President Xi to stay in office indefinitely. “I think it’s great,” Trump told him at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “Maybe we’ll give that a shot some day.”

And of course the president has gotten almost dewy-eyed over Kim Jong Un of North Korea, telling Fox News, “He’s got a very good personality, he’s funny, and he’s very, very smart.” Later he told a rally in West Virginia, “He wrote me beautiful letters. And they’re great letters. We fell in love.”

Flattery is free, and presidents have sometimes had to praise despots — Stalin during World War II, or Mao Zedong when the door to China was thrown open — for larger national interests. President Trump often scores political points with sarcasm. But when the president pours praise on so many despots, he sounds nothing but sincere. (Source: NPR) 

 

Saturday December 15, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 15, 2018

See you later, Centre Block

Massive home renovations can test even the best of relationships.

April 9, 2009

So it could be a bit of a democratic-relationship experiment to see who and what gets tested when a very long renovation gets under way soon in the home that belongs to all Canadians — Parliament Hill’s Centre Block.

Canadians who don’t work in the shadow of the Peace Tower may only be vaguely aware — or not aware at all — that the building that most symbolizes federal power in this country is in the midst of shutting down for at least 10 or as many as 20 years.

Members of Parliament and senators going home at the end of this week for the long holiday break will return to entirely new workplaces at the end of January. The Commons will shift its operations to what’s known as West Block on Parliament Hill; the Senate moves to a former train station down the road, just across from the Chateau Laurier hotel.

November 19, 2008

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who bade a formal farewell to the building in the Commons on Wednesday, could be a senior citizen by the time Centre Block reopens. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who has served as Commons speaker, also spoke of Centre Block as “more than a building.”

Politicians can be overly quick to describe moments as historic, but it’s fair to say that this shutdown feels well and truly historic to denizens of Parliament Hill and political junkies. The corridors have been crowded with people doing their own goodbye tours, taking in all the history of the soon-to-be-shuttered building.

June 24, 2005

It’s been a chance for everyone to learn a little more about this institution that rose out of the ashes of the great Parliament Hill fire of 1916. It’s only recently, for instance, that I’ve learned more about the architect of the building, John Pearson, thanks to House of Commons curator Johanna Mizgala (who unabashedly describes her feelings about the architect as an “intellectual crush”).

Pearson’s hand can also be seen in some fine architecture in Toronto — the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, Convocation Hall and the Sanford Fleming and Sigmund Samuel buildings — as well as some of the grander old Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce branches around the city.

Much of Pearson’s artistry will be preserved or enhanced during the renovations, but the shutdown of Centre Block has prompted some reflection about renewal for the 21st century, too. In an important piece for Policy Options, editor-in-chief Jennifer Ditchburn asked why we haven’t been talking more about new ways of organizing the Commons while it’s under renovation. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Tuesday December 4, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 4, 2018

Donald Trump threatens to kill NAFTA in push for Congress to approve new trade deal

U.S. President Donald Trump says he will withdraw the United States from NAFTA “in the not-too-distant future” in a hardball attempt to pressure Congress into voting to approve his new agreement with Canada and Mexico. 

November 30, 2018

The original North American Free Trade Agreement would otherwise remain in place if Congress rejected or delayed the new agreement, which Trump calls the USMCA and Canada calls CUSMA or “the new NAFTA.” A Trump withdrawal would give Congress a take-it-or-leave-it choice between the new agreement — which is highly similar to the original — and no agreement at all.

The new agreement has been criticized on various grounds by both Democrats and Republicans, leaving its prospects for passage uncertain. The Democrats, who will take control of the House of Representatives in January, have made clear that they do not plan to approve the deal any time soon.

Trump’s announcement late Saturday introduced new uncertainty into the continental trading relationship just a day after the leaders of the three countries held a signing ceremony for the new agreement, at which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the agreement “lifts the risks of serious economic uncertainty” that hovered over the negotiations themselves. Trump’s words suggested the state of bilateral trade will remain uncertain as long as the president is in office.

November 12, 2018

Advocates of free trade say a withdrawal would be a foolish gamble with the American economy. Trump has said he doesn’t see it that way, since he believes the economy was stronger without NAFTA than it is with it.

“Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well,”  Trump told reporters on the flight back from the G20 summit in Argentina.

“Congress will have a choice of approving the USMCA, which is a phenomenal deal. Much, much better than NAFTA. A great deal, ” he said. He again described NAFTA as a “disaster,” although the new deal he calls “incredible” retains almost all of NAFTA’ s central features while making a smattering of substantial changes.

The Canadian government declined to comment on the record. An official said on condition of anonymity, “ We are focused on our domestic ratification process and not a process that is internal to the U.S.” 

September 6, 2018

Trump’s announcement is likely to displease businesses across the continent, which have hailed the new agreement for preserving tariff-free North American trade and for allowing them to make investment plans with some degree of confidence that the rules will not soon change.

It is unclear whether Trump has the power to actually withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA. Some experts say he does, some say he doesn’t. The move would undoubtedly be challenged in U.S. courts, which have not yet weighed in on the question.

A Canadian government official told the Star last year that they have concluded “there’s a pretty good chance that he could just do this.” The official said the government also believed the old Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which preceded NAFTA, would snap back into force if he did.

June 6, 2018

Others say it would not be so simple.

It is also unclear whether Trump will indeed proceed. Trump has repeatedly delivered trade threats he has not carried out, and his aides — joined by Trudeau — have talked him out of withdrawing from NAFTA before. He has sometimes appeared to use harsh trade rhetoric primarily to appeal to parts of his political base, and his tough talk on Saturday came immediately after he announced that he had taken a conciliatory stance in a trade meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, postponing a plan to increase tariffs on Chinese products. (Source: Toronto Star)