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Donald Trump Tag

President Donald Trump will address a few executive orders from the Department of Homeland Security, including a wall on the border with Mexico, immigration, CIA black sites, and declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. It's his first visit with DHS Secretary John Kelly. We have a live feed after the jump. I will provide tweets and updates as it goes.

Over the course of the general election campaign, Hollywood's celebrities donated money, time, and sometimes questionable talent to elect Hillary Clinton as President. After Donald Trump's victory, there were a stream of celebrity videos deriding the electoral college, trying to sway electors from formalizing the Nov. 8th results, patting themselves on the back for surviving, and dramatically swearing the Oath to the U.S. Constitution. All of this drama has had zero net effect... so far. As Donald Trump reviews how to effectively cut the bloated U.S. budget, it is being reported that he is weighing approval of elimination of two cultural institutions that have been are the bane of many conservatives (or those who enjoy art with class, taste, and dignity).

President Donald Trump will sign a bunch of executive orders today over national security issues, including a wall along the border of America and Mexico and policy against sanctuary cities. Trump will visit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where he will sign all the orders. Trump made immigration the cornerstone of his campaign, often talking about a wall along the border and stopping Syrian refugees from entering the country. According to the Associated Press, one person in the administration said the proposals "included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change."

President Trump's "America First" Inauguration speech has been parodied in a comedy video from the Netherlands. A news satire show, Zondag Met Lubach, released a fake tourism advertisement aimed at Trump. It's worth watching past the trite, Trump-bashing introduction in Dutch for the hilarity that then ensures in English (the very best language).

Monday, President Trump's pen was very busy signing 3 executive orders, withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership, defunding International Planned Parenthood, and freezing the hiring of federal workers. His phone was also very busy. He made a supportive call to Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, indicating essentially military aide would continue to support the regional fight against Islamic extremist terrorists.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that Trump and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi discussed ways to deepen the bilateral relationship between the two countries, fight terrorism and boost Egypt's struggling economy. ...Egypt is the second largest recipient of U.S. military aid.

President Donald Trump began his first full day with a bang by signing three executive orders that withdraws America from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), defunds International Planned Parenthood, and freeze hiring of federal workers. TPP became a hot topic on the campaign trail with Trump vocally against it. Former President Barack Obama worked on the agreement for almost two years with the aim of "eliminating most tariffs and other trade barriers among the U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Vietnam and half a dozen other countries around the Pacific."

At the White House, President Donald Trump announced meetings with Canadian Ptime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He said:
"We're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," Trump said. "Anybody ever hear of NAFTA?" he said. "I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. But we're going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration, on security at the border."

An extraordinary first half-hour of Morning Joe today. The thesis was that President Trump had gotten off on a seriously bad foot by failing to look back at history in his inauguration speech, sending a first and ungracious tweet about the Women's Marches, sending Sean Spicer out to berate the press over crowd-size reporting, and above all for a self-referential, boastful, angry speech, referencing crowd size, given while standing in front of the wall of fallen heroes at the CIA. And the message, delivered repeatedly and in the starkest terms, by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, was that those aides who abetted President Trump, who counseled him to adopt a combative tone, should be fired and leave immediately. View the video to see the myriad ways in which Joe and Mika pummeled the presidential aides who did not advise President Trump to moderate his remarks.

Military deserter Bowe Bergdahl was hoping for a pardon from President Obama which never came. Now that President Trump has taken office, Bergdahl's lawyers are claiming he can't be guaranteed a fair trial due to Trump's prior criticism of him. The Hill reports:
Bergdahl lawyers press for dismissal after Trump inauguration Lawyers for former prisoner of war and Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl made good on their promise to call for his case to be dismissed based on President Trump’s campaign comments against him, filing a motion on Inauguration Day.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Pete King (R-NY) laid out the details on the legislative agenda for the House for the next 100 days when they appeared on AM 790 in New York:
"We're going to be going full steam to move forward with the Trump agenda to make America great again," Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) said on John Catsimatidis' "Cats Roundtable" radio program on AM 970 in New York. "Basically Donald Trump has said it's not only a change in president or change of party, it's really a whole change of philosophy. And it's a whole new movement basically to give power back to the people," he said. "And it's going to be more assertive as far as America is concerned. It's no doubt he is determined, and he didn't back down at all … It's definitely a new era in American history."

Children of politicians, especially young ones, remain off limits. But the tolerant left forgot that basic courtesy on Inauguration Day when so many attacked 10-year-old Barron Trump. Hate President Donald Trump as much as you want, but don't attack his children. Lord knows I couldn't stand President Obama, but I would never attack his daughters.

The liberal media is looking for something to console itself. Anything to show that Obama's election was bigger, better and more important than Trump's. The latest talking point seems to be that Obama drew a bigger crowd at his inaugurations than Trump. The New York Times reports:
Trump’s Inauguration vs. Obama’s: Comparing the Crowds An analysis of news footage appears to indicate that fewer people attended President Trump’s inauguration than President Obama’s in 2009. The footage on this page was captured 45 minutes before each oath of office. Attendees were still entering the National Mall up until Mr. Trump’s speech.

Today, we celebrate the beginning of a new presidency. I thought that a great way to begin this new era is to learn a little something about Donald Trump from a woman who has known him for over 25 years. Terry Lee Ebert Mendozza, who was a successful and powerful real estate mogul in Chicago for many years, was a founding member of "The Trumpettes", a group of influential women from across the country who were among his original supporters. I chatted with her on Canto Talk this week:

Today is a day of pomp and circumstance. It's also a day many people thought would never come: Donald Trump is now the 45th president of the United States. But as I type those words, they seem far less strange than they did a year ago. Some feel a sense of relief as they watch Obamas say good-bye and fly away. I am feeling that emotion plus a cautious optimism about what Trump will actually do as president. Quite some time ago I noticed that people tend to describe themselves in different modes. If you were to ask people to give a brief summary of who they are, the first one might use words of emotion and relationship: I am a kind person who likes to talk to people and hear what they say. I have a good sense of humor. That sort of thing.

My anti-Trump rantings, concerns, conjectures, and complaints are well chronicled in the LI annals. Those have not changed. But looking ahead to the next administration, I'm hopeful. I've been critical of Trump from day one. That won't change. He's a politician (now) and they're never to be trusted. But it's refreshing that the tone of the incoming administration is one that loves our country and sees her for the good she is rather than shaming her for her shortcomings. That much is a welcome change. I'm encouraged by his cabinet picks and the experience they bring to the table. Some are Beltway standard fare. Many are not.