Trump: First 100 days (February)

March: Day 71 (3/31) | Day 70 (3/30) | Day 69 (3/29) | Day 68 (3/28) | Day 67 (3/27) | Day 66 (3/26) | Day 65 (3/25) | Day 64 (3/24) | Day 63 (3/23) | Day 62 (3/22) | Day 61 (3/21) | Day 60 (3/20) | Day 59 (3/19)| Day 58 (3/18) | Day 57 (3/17) | Day 56 (3/16) | Day 55 (3/15) | Day 54 (3/14) | Day 53 (3/13) | Day 52 (3/12) | Day 51 (3/11) | Day 50 (3/10) | Day 49 (3/09) | Day 48 (3/08) | Day 47 (3/07)| Day 46 (3/06) | Day 45 (3/05) | Day 44 (3/04) | Day 43 (3/03) | Day 42 (3/02) | Day 41 (3/01)
February: Day 40 (2/28) | Day 39 (2/27) | Day 38 (2/26) | Day 37 (2/25) | Day 36 (2/24) | Day 35 (2/23) | Day 34 (2/22) | Day 33 (2/21) | Day 32 (2/20) | Day 31 (2/19) | Day 30 (2/18) | Day 29 (2/17) | Day 28 (2/16) | Day 27 (2/15) | Day 26 (2/14) | Day 25 (2/13) | Day 24 (2/12) | Day 23 (2/11) | Day 22 (2/10) | Day 21 (2/09) | Day 20 (2/08) | Day 19 (2/07) | Day 18 (2/06) | Day 17 (2/05) | Day 16 (2/04) | Day 15 (2/03) | Day 14 (2/02) | Day 13 (2/01)
January: Day 12 (1/31) | Day 11 (1/30) | Day 10 (1/29) | Day 09 (1/28) | Day 08 (1/27) | Day 07 (1/26) | Day 06 (1/25) | Day 05 (1/24) | Day 04 (1/23) | Day 03 (1/22) | Day 02 (1/21) | Day 01 (1/20)

Day 40, 28 February 2017

• Trump again took credit for the lowered cost on an F-35 airplane even though the Pentagon had announced cost reductions before he met with Lockheed Martin.
• In his first speech as Attorney General, Sessions implied that DOJ scrutiny was “diminish[ing] effectiveness” of troubled police departments. “So we’re going to try to pull back on this.”
• Officials reported that a gunshot had been fired through a Hebrew school window at an Indiana synagogue. At least 100 Jewish community centers and schools have reported threats since mid-January.
• At the United Nations Security Council, Russia and China (two of the five permanent members) vetoed a measure which would have imposed sanctions on Syria for using chemical weapons against its citizens. The US and dozens of countries supported the resolution.
• BILLS SIGNED:
  • Trump signed the Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers and Innovators and Explorers Act (INSPIRE Act, HR 321). INSPIRE authorizes NASA to encourage women to pursue careers in science, engineering and mathematics. He also signed the Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act (HR 255), which authorizes the National Science Foundation to support for women’s entrepreneurial programs.
  • He also signed H.J. Resolution 40 which rolled back an Obama Administration rule designed to restrict guns from “some severely mentally ill people.” The regulation had been opposed by both the ACLU and the NRA.
• EXECUTIVE ACTIONS:
  • EO: Trump directed EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to “reconsider whether federal jurisdiction extends to non-navigable streams.”
  • EO: moves Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to the White House Domestic Policy Council. In the Obama Administration, HBCU was part of the Department of Education. President Jimmy Carter started the White House Initiative on HBCUs. According to the Education Department website:
    

    The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines an HBCU as: “…any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation.”

Day 39, 27 February 2017

• Trump gave his first joint address to Congress.
  • Donald Trump fact check: Almost every big claim he made in his speech to Congress was false (The Independent). Other fact-checks from AP, PolitiFact, Washington Post.
  • TV ratings show the audience lagged about 5 million behind Obama’s first address – 47.7 million to 52.4 million. There are more people today. Trump’s speech had a bigger audience than Bush in 2001 (his big address was 2003). More than 20% of the viewers were watching FOX, followed by NBC. (Nielsen data, NYT)
• Trump gave Breitbart news an exclusive interview. Bannon has called Breitbart news “the platform for the alt-right,” a term that some white supremacists and white nationalists created for themselves. AP has cautioned its journalists against using the term because it “may exist primarily as a public-relations device to make its supporters’ actual beliefs less clear and more acceptable to a broader audience… In the past we have called such beliefs racist, neo-Nazi or white supremacist.”
• DOJ under Sessions abandons opposition to Texas voter ID law. “After arguing for nearly six years that Texas’ voter ID law intentionally discriminated against minorities, the U.S. Department of Justice has informed the other plaintiffs in the case it has abandoned that position. The decision comes one day before the DOJ and the other plaintiffs were scheduled to make their latest arguments against the ID law.”
• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) called for a special prosecutor to examine the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians; Issa is chair of the House Oversight Committee. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was involved in President Trump’s campaign and should not lead the investigation, according to Issa. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) echoed this sentiment on March 1. Both called Sessions “a friend.”
• SENATE ACTION:
  Senate confirms (72-27) billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary. Trump wants to “re-do” NAFTA.
• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  Trump budget would increase military spending by $54 billion and cut nonmilitary programs by the same amount. In the 2015 budget, defense accounted for 54% of discretionary spending. (Was there any off-budget spending for defense in fiscal 2016?) UU military spending is about the same as that of the combined military budgets of the next seven largest military budgets (in order by spending: China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, United Kingdom, India, France and Japan).

  

Day 38, 26 February 2017

• Trump hosted 46 of the nation’s governors; it was the First Lady’s first time hosting a major social event.
• Politico reported that Sean Spicer is subjecting staff to a “phone check” in crackdown on leaks. Apparently in retaliation, someone (Spicer?) planted a hit piece with the Washington Examiner, targeting the Politico reporter.
• PUBLIC OPINION:
  WSJ/NBC poll: 38% believe Trump’s relationship with Putin is too friendly. This is up 5 points from January. Also, fewer people now hold no opinion.
  

Day 37, 25 February 2017

• Trump announced he will not attend the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner. He is the first president to skip the event since Richard Nixon in 1972. When he was a guest in 2011, he was the subject of jokes from President Obama and and “Saturday Night Live” comedian Seth Meyers. Several organizations had already canceled their parties/sponsorships.
• Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) has rejected calls for a special prosecutor to investigate possible ties between Russia and Trump’s administration/campaign staff.

Day 36, 24 February 2017

• In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump blasted news media as “dishonest.”
• Blocked by Sean Spicer from a White House press briefing: @CNN @NYTimes @LATimes @Politico @BuzzFeed. Allowed @Breitbart. Several news organizations boycotted the briefing. In December, Spicer had equated banning a media entity from a government event with dictatorship.
• White House Asked FBI To Publicly Refute Reports Trump Associates Had Russia Contacts. The White House confirmed that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to publicly “knock down” media reports that Trump campaign officials had been in contact with Russian intelligence agents.
• Trump took credit for the lowered cost on an F-35 airplane; a partner in the $8.2 billion project says the reduction is “due to cost reductions achieved through a long-planned increase in production.”
• EXECUTIVE ACTIONS:
  EO: Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda. trump has directed appoint an official as its Regulatory Reform Officer (RRO) and a Regulatory Reform Task Force (RRTF), which is to complete a report within 90 days.
• BANISHED:
  The Guardian reported on BCP treatment of Australian children’s book author Mem Fox earlier in the month when she flew into Los Angeles.
• PUBLIC OPINION:
  News headlines blared that public support for the Affordable Care Act was at an all-time high. A questionable claim. According to a Kaiser tracking poll, in July 2010, 50% of the public held a favorable view; in January 2017, that number was 48%. The margin of error is 3% – so these two “highs” are statistical “ties.” However, headline comes from a NBC/WSJ poll; there are limited details but the two entities are asking different questions.

Day 35, 23 February 2017

• First person: I was a Muslim in Trump’s White House
• Media stumbles: Sean Hannity – a Fox News and syndicated radio host for more than 20 years – apologized after sharing a story on Twitter that called Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) a “war criminal.” #fakeNews
• More on Russia: Paul Manafort may have been the victim of a blackmail attempt last summer when he was chair of Trump’s presidential campaign. The blackmail effort Manafort came to light when a “darknet website run by a hacktivist collective” published the contents of his daughter’s phone, which had been hacked.
• During a White House briefing, Sean Spicer warned Americans to expect the Trump administration to undertake “greater enforcement” of federal marijuana laws. He noted that the 28 states with medical marijuana laws were exempt due to the 2014 congressional budget.
• Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, again dismissed the news media as
  the opposition party, this time in a speech at CPAC. He said that Trump’s agenda is “deconstruction of the administrative state.” What does that mean? Trump et al think that the federal government is “a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that … stymie economic growth and infringe upon one’s sovereignty.”
• Anti-semitism commentary continues
  • Aljazeera: Jake Turx, Jewish reporter, reflects on clash with Trump
  • New Statesman: The rise of anti-Semitism in Donald Trump’s America
• IMMIGRATION:
  • Faith leaders organize ‘underground railroad’ to hide illegal aliens from Trump’s deportation
  • Speaking in Mexico City, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says there will be “no mass deportations” and “no use of military force in immigration operations. None.” However, earlier in the day, Trump had called his deportation effort “a military operation.”
  • An undocumented woman from El Salvador, who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, was moved from a hospital to a Texas detention center “against her will, according to her lawyers.”
  • Customs and Border Patrol agents forced passengers of a domestic Delta flight from San Francisco to New York on Wednesday to show documents certifying their identity before disembarking. “The unusual – and legally questionable – search of domestic travelers comes days after the Department of Homeland Security outlined its plans to implement President Trump’s sweeping executive order targeting millions of ‘removable aliens’ for deportation.”
    

    My flight from SFO to JFK. We were told we couldn’t disembark without showing our “documents.” pic.twitter.com/9ugQspTqeX

    — Anne Garrett (@annediego) February 23, 2017

• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  • Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at ‘top of the pack’
  • CPAC “expels” alt-right leader Richard Spencer; labels Spencer’s group a fascist group. CPAC wants the news media to stop referring to the “alt-right” as “conservative.”
  • Sebastian Gorka, a White House terrorism advisor, “called noted terrorism expert Michael S. Smith II in South Carolina and expressed dismay that Smith had been criticizing him on Twitter.” Steve Bannon hired Gorka, who was previously the national security editor for Breitbart News.
• CONGRESS:
  Earlier this year, House Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY) introduced a “resolution of inquiry” to investigate potential legal and ethical violations involving the Trump administration. To avoid a floor vote, Republican leadership is expected to refer the resolution to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. There, the Republican majority will kill the resolution. If not acted on in committee, a resolution of inquiry must be considered on the floor after 14 legislative days.

CBP domestic ID check (SFO>JFK) is getting legs@RollingStonehttps://t.co/GzdSVEuGMm
and @washingtonposthttps://t.co/rQGLF5WbQs pic.twitter.com/WGrYc2lhOR

— ⚡️Kathy E Gill (@kegill) February 24, 2017

Protesters jammed 7th Street outside the Hotel Covington (Ky) to protest Sen. McConnell's visit on Feb. 23. pic.twitter.com/B2PJORKA4m

— dasvidanyaTrump (@dasvidanyaTrump) February 24, 2017

This is notable. Trump: “We’re getting really bad dudes out of this country … it’s a military operation.”

A military operation. pic.twitter.com/PgU02sg9AW

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 23, 2017

Day 34, 22 February 2017

The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. ~ Politico

• Bloomberg View: Comparing accomplishments at the end of the first four weeks of the presidency — Trump has not yet signed any major legislation, unlike Obama, nor has he provided an outline of major legislation, as had Bush.
• Baltimore Sun op-ed: Making America less safe again
• The Trump Administration rescinded protections for transgender students that had allowed them to use the bathroom that matched their gender identity. In this battle, Education Secretary DeVos lost to Attorney General Sessions.
• Citing Racist Testimony, US Supreme Court Justices Call for New Sentencing in Texas Death Penalty Case
• Anti-semitism commentary continues:
  • CNN: Trump rejects anti-Semitism? Prove it
  • The Guardian Donald Trump’s antisemitism comments: too little, too limp, too late
• Town hall news continues:
  • Woman with dying husband confronts Tom Cotton (AK): “What kind of insurance do you have?”
  • Protester at GOP rep town hall: You wasted a lot of money investigating Benghazi, waste a little on Trump
  • Anger Rises Across The Country At GOP Congressional Town Halls
• BANISHED:
  CBP agents detained Henry Rousso, a French historian and one of the most pre-eminent scholars on the Holocaust for more than 10 hours at the Houston airport. The academics who had invited Rousso to speak in Texas alerted immigration lawyers when he failed to meet his driver. Rousso said he was told that the agent who originally held him was “inexperienced.”

  Thank you so much for your reactions. My situation was nothing compared to some of the people I saw who couldn’t be defended as I was.

  — Henry Rousso (@Henry_Rousso) February 26, 2017

• ETHICS:
  Wall Street Journal and Mother Jones research a loan for $50 million or more that Donald Trump owes to … himself. “Either Trump’s disclosure report is incomplete or there could be a hidden creditor, Eisen (ethics attorney under Obama) and Painter (chief ethics lawyer under Bush) assert… Eisen and Painter have filed a lawsuit against Trump alleging that the president has violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by maintaining a number of beneficial financial relationships with foreign governments.”
• IMMIGRATION:
  Mexico ‘will not accept’ Trump deportation guideline
• PUBLIC OPINION:
  • The latest Quinnipiac University survey: 38% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance; 55% disapprove. MoE is 2.7%.
  • Nearly six-in-10 voters find Trump’s conduct in office embarrassing. More than half believe that he has done “something illegal or unethical as he faces potential conflicts of interest by continuing to own his businesses while serving as president.”

"Our moral duty to the taxpayer requires us to make our government leaner and more accountable," Pres. Trump says https://t.co/sOwLJ2XsZk pic.twitter.com/qDSKB61BNL

— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 22, 2017

New bomb threat to Anti-Defamation League today

CEO @JGreenblattADL: “it will not deter us in our efforts to combat anti-Semitism and hate” pic.twitter.com/QctrXw1o5e

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 22, 2017

Day 33, 21 February 2017

• Anti-semitism: there was a flurry of news reports and columnist riffs on Trump’s public statements, in the wake of Missouri’s defaced cemetery yesterday and increased antisemitic acts since his inauguration.
  • Donald Trump’s Jewish Problem
  • Trump is flunking the anti-Semitism test. He should follow Nikki Haley’s lead instead.
  • Trump’s too little, too late response to anti-Semitism
  • Vandals damage 100 headstones at historical Jewish cemetery, St. Louis, MO
• IMMIGRATION:
  • Almost everybody living in the U.S. without documentation is now subject to deportation @DHSgov says
  • New DHS deportation rules make no distinction between being charged with a crime and being convicted
• JUDICIAL: A federal judge ruled that Texas can’t cut off Medicaid dollars to Planned Parenthood; the ruling bought Planned Parenthood an extra month. “Texas is now at least the sixth state where federal courts have kept Planned Parenthood eligible for Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion services.”
• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  • The president’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was at the center of a Sunday New York Times report regarding a “peace plan for Russia and Ukraine.” He has told four different stories to the press.
  • Donald Trump’s Middle East adviser during the campaign, Walid Phares, has been re-hired by Fox News for a tenth year as the network’s “National Security and Foreign Policy Expert”.
    

    Dr Walid Phares to Fox News: “Address the Jihadi networks insidethe country and cut their supplies. The terror… https://t.co/EZKxxq56VD

    — Walid Phares (@WalidPhares) February 22, 2017

• CONGRESS
  • Rep. Dave Bratt (R-VA) hosts town hall 60 miles away from most constituents
  • Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Besieged By Boos At Town Hall
  • Town hall scenes from around the country, often where voters showed up but GOP congressmen were no-shows.

Womack: Let’s respectfully discuss where we disagree. Constituent: I’m worried about <insert concern>. Womack: We won. Get over it.

— Julie Heimeshoff (@JulieYouJest) February 21, 2017

Day 32, 20 February 2017

• The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) rescinded its invitation to Milo Yiannopoulo to speak after comments about pedophilia; he lost his book deal; he resigned from Breitbart. Milo is deeply connected to the White House. He credited Steven Bannon – then known as the publisher of Breitbart, now in the White House innermost circle – with making him “a star.” Now ex-national security adviser Flynn called Milo “brave” at a November conference for young conservatives. And the president threatened the University because it canceled Milo’s campus appearance after protests became violent.
  

  If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?

  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

• CPAC also ousted Richard Spencer, “a founder of the alt-right movement that seeks a whites-only state and that strongly backed Donald Trump for president.”
• For the first time in its history, the British Parliament debated a potential visit from a U.S. president; more than more than 1.8 million people signed a petition demanding Britain cancel the state visit. The ministers voted no, although they cannot force the government to cancel a state dinner.
• GOLF:
  

  Rory played 18 holes with @realDonaldTrump this weekend @TrumpGolf!! #pga pic.twitter.com/HpnUkPUZos

  — The McIlroy Legion (@RoryLegion_GC) February 20, 2017

• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  Trump names General H.R. McMaster as National Security adviser
• TWITTER:
  Trump castigates media (FAKE NEWS), doubles down on Sweden comment from Saturday.

Day 31, 19 February 2017

• Reports about Russian connection rise to the surface:
  • A week before Flynn resigned as national security adviser, Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, delivered a sealed proposal to Flynn’s office. Inside? A plan outlining a way for Trump to lift sanctions against Russia.
  • White House chief of staff Reince Priebus told FOX news that “there was no collusion between anyone involved in President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian officials.”
• Trump rallies supporters by renewing old promises, insults
• Fact checking the Florida rally
• Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told guests at a Munich security conference that Trump would soon release a “more streamlined version” of the executive order banning foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority nations entry into the U.S.
• Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said that news media are not the “enemy of the American people.”
• A white man shot three men in Olathe, KS.Reportedly, the 51-year-old shooter “told two strangers — Garmin engineers originally from India — to “get out of my country” before opening fire in a bar. A third man had tried to intervene. One of the engineers was killed. The shooter, Adam Purinton, fled the scene and was apprehended five hours later, at another bar. Purinton is a Navy veteran, IT specialist, and former pilot and air traffic controller.

Day 30, 18 February 2017

• At a campaign-style rally in Florida (he has already announced that he is running in 2020), Trump mentioned an incident “last night in Sweden.” There was no “incident” (terrorist attack or the lack) on Friday in Sweden.
  • First-person report, not anonymous; includes photos
• GOLF:
  

  Trump just made his 5th golf course trip since becoming president 29 days ago (3 wknds out of 5 as POTUS)

  His tweets about presidents/golf: pic.twitter.com/sBMhVMYnDz

  — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 18, 2017

  Trump, in leaked audio, is heard inviting his paying golf club members to swing by while he does Cabinet interviews https://t.co/Vwz7RNiNHt pic.twitter.com/SmyUOHMrSs

  — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 18, 2017

• TWITTER:
  Trump castigated the media (“fake news”) on Twitter, claiming that he “inherited a MESS.”

Day 29, 17 February 2017

• Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered a speech at the Munich Security Conference which was a “pointed and striking point-by-point takedown of Trump’s worldview and brand of nationalism.”
• ETHICS:
  After a closed door meeting between FBI chief Comey and the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Rubio (R-FL) tweeted

  I am now very confident Senate Intel Comm I serve on will conduct thorough bipartisan investigation of #Putin interference and influence

  — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 17, 2017

• GOLF:
  

  Trump’s sons Donald & Eric will be in Dubai Saturday to open Trump golf course. We’ll pay the Secret Service costs. https://t.co/jz4L7RDxfT pic.twitter.com/wNALPhhyJQ

  — Jim Roberts (@nycjim) February 18, 2017

• IMMIGRATION:
  AP reported that a leaked draft memo shows Trump is considering using National Guard troops to “round up unauthorized immigrants… Administration officials said the proposal, which called for mobilizing up to 100,000 troops in 11 states, was rejected.”
• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  The Wall Street Journal reported that General David Petraeus turned down the president’s offer to become National Security adviser.
• TWITTER: Trump castigated the news media, calling it “the enemy of the American people.“

Trump drops to 38% approval in latest Gallup pollhttps://t.co/IkJcisdEFk pic.twitter.com/OCrVF7QDnI

— Conrad Hackett (@conradhackett) February 17, 2017

Day 28, 16 February 2017

• At his first press conference, Trump called the news media “the enemy of the American people.”
  • Full transcript and video of Trump’s first news conference
  • Trump castigated the media (“fake news”) on Twitter:
  • Reporter April Ryan asked Trump if he planned to arrange a meeting with the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus). Trump replied, “Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?” Ryan is black.
  • Jake Turx, a reporter for a Jewish magazined, asked Trump about anti-semitism. Trump called him a liar,” told him to sit down, and said anti-Semitism was coming from ‘the other side’.”
• Ten members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) resigned; in their resignation letter, they objected to Trump’s “portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of color and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation.”
• Retired Vice Admiral Bob Harward turned down the president’s offer to become National Security adviser.
• BILLS SIGNED:
  The fourth piece of legislation signed by the Trump Administration, House Joint Resolution 38, rolled back stream protection rules. The rule was finalized during the last month of the Obama Administration, but the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement had worked on this rule since 2009. Prior to that, the agency had worked on a rule under the Bush Administration; that rule ran afoul of Endangered Species Act restrictions. In 1983 the agency published a “stream buffer zone rule” but it did NOT defined what it means not to cause “material damage to the environment to the extent that it is technologically and economically feasible.” This rule has not been clarified since it was written, 34 years ago. The resolution passed the House 228 – 194; it passed the Senate 54-45. Democratic Senators voting with the majority: Donnelly (IN) and McCaskill (MO).
• SENATE ACTION:
  • The Senate confirmed (52-46) Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. That same day, Oklahoma District Court Judge Aletia Timmon ordered Pruitt to “turn over thousands of emails related to his communication with the oil, gas and coal industry” in a case brought to court by the Center for Media and Democracy. Pruitt had sued the EPA 14 times on behalf of the State of Oklahoma.
  • The Senate confirmed Mick Mulvaney as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (51-49, McCain voted with the minority).
• ETHICS:
  • The Pentagon’s largest weapons program is the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 jet. On February 16, Bloomberg reported that Trump called the Air Force general who manages that program prior to his taking office on January 20. In the room while Trump made the call: the CEO of Lockheed Martin rival Boeing.
  • Six White House staffers were dismissed after they failed FBI background checks.
  • The Washington Post reported that Flynn lied in a January 24 FBI interview; lying to the FBI is a felony, but the Department of Justice (headed by AG Sessions) would have to press charges.
  • The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner “met with a senior Time Warner Inc. executive in recent weeks and expressed the administration’s deep concerns about CNN’s news coverage.”
• IMMIGRATION:
  Ten members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) resigned; in their resignation letter, they objected to Trump’s “portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of color and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation.”
• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  Retired Vice Admiral Bob Harward turned down the president’s offer to become National Security adviser.
• PUBLIC OPINION:
  Pew reported the results of its latest national survey: Trump’s overall job approval is much lower than those of prior presidents in their first weeks in office: 56% disapprove and only 39% approve of his job performance. The difference is outside of the margin of error.

Day 26, 15 February 2017

• Andrew Puzder Withdraws From Consideration as Labor Secretary. Republican senators who expressed concerns included Susan Collins (ME), Johnny Isakson (GA), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rob Portman (OH), John Thune (SD),  Thom Tillis (NC), and Tim Scott (SC).
• The FBI released 400 pages of records from the government’s race discrimination investigation into Trump’s real estate company.  “In October 1973, the Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit against Trump Management Company, Donald Trump and his father Fred Trump, alleging that African-Americans and Puerto Ricans were systematically excluded from apartments. The Trumps responded with a $100 million countersuit accusing the government of defamation.” The parties settled the litigation with a consent decree in 1975.
• TWITTER:
  Trump castigated the media (“fake news”).

Join me in Florida this Saturday at 5pm for a rally at the Orlando-Melbourne International Airport!
Tickets: https://t.co/9jDy1tYkgE pic.twitter.com/GDhO6GGxwt

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017

Yet Trump’s choice to hold a campaign rally less than a month into his presidency breaks new ground. Where his predecessors practiced electoral politics between cycles, none was willing to do so as baldly, as quickly, as Trump. Barack Obama realized, like Trump, that he thrived off large audiences, and he made liberal use of the major speech, even early in his term: In February 2009, he made several trips to promote the stimulus package and his agenda. But Obama’s events were political by implication, while outwardly aimed at boosting specific policies. Trump by contrast is planning a straightforward campaign-style rally on Saturday. It’s at an airport, in a swing state, and it’s being advertised through his campaign website. His press secretary even called it a campaign event. ~ The Atlantic

Day 26, 14 February 2017

• BILLS SIGNED:
  In his third Congressional rubber-stamp, Trump signed a bill repealing a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule, written under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, that required energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments. House Joint Resolution 41 “was meant to fight corruption in resource-rich countries by mandating that companies on United States stock exchanges disclose the royalties and other payments that oil, natural gas, coal and mineral companies make to governments.” This only the second time that a President has used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal a regulation; the prior time was 16 years ago. The House passed the bill 235-187; the Senate, 52-47 in a pre-dawn vote.
• SENATE ACTION:
  Linda E. McMahon confirmed as Administrator of the Small Business Administration  (81-19).
• HOUSE ACTION:
  On a vote of 23-15, Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee voted to not request Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department.
• ETHICS:
  • CNN reported in that Trump campaign aides had been in constant contact with Russian officials. Yet Attorney General Sessions refused to recuse himself from any investigation, despite his ties to Trump during the campaign.
  • In letter made public on Tuesday, director of the Office of Government Ethics wrote that there was a “strong reason” to think Conway violated rules, and that disciplinary action is warranted for her on-air comments to buy Ivanka’s “stuff.”
• GOLF:
  

  #golf: “Trump and Abe hit the fairways — largely out of public view — at a Trump golf club in Florida – Washington… https://t.co/al0TGv4OpQ

  — Samantha Nelson (@NelsSam) February 14, 2017

• JUDICIAL: Judge grants injunction against Trump travel ban in Virginia

Day 25, 13 February 2017

• SENATE ACTION:
  • Steve Mnuchin confirmed (53-47) as Secretary of the Treasury. West Virginia Democrat Manchin III voted with the majority (CabinetVotes).
  • David J. Shulkin confirmed as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (unanimous)
• ETHICS:
  • National Security adviser Michael Flynn resigned. Flynn is the third Trump advisor to resign over ties to Russia; others are campaign manager Paul Manafort (August 2016) and campaign adviser Carter Page (September 2016).
  • Commerce Secretary nominee Wilbur Ross Jr. “plans to keep millions of dollars invested in offshore entities whose values could be affected by policies that he implements as commerce secretary,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
• GOLF:
  

  Have to love it! Play w it all season, then send it to the Smithsonian #trump #Golf #law https://t.co/bx1zYtb3Nh

  — Luke Dussman (@DussmanLaw) February 14, 2017

Day 24, 12 February 2017

• US retailers Sears and Kmart said they are discontinuing online sales of 31 Trump Home items
• A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston airport until he unlocked his phone
• ETHICS:
  White House senior policy advisor Stephen Miller was awarded “bushels of Pinocchios” for a series of lies he repeated on Sunday talk shows.
• GOLF:
  

  Today, Trump made his 4th trip to the golf course since becoming president 23 days ago

  Here are his previous tweets about presidents & golf pic.twitter.com/hBOfPMfqcf

  — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 12, 2017

• TWITTER:
  Trump castigated the media (“fake news”).

Day 23, 11 February 2017

• GOLF:
  

  Trump tweets a photo of his 3rd golf course trip since becoming POTUS. (This time w/ Japanese PM)

  And here are some of his previous tweets. pic.twitter.com/ftqRXZlWGt

  — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 11, 2017

• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  In public, at his private club Mar-a-Lago, Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe conducted national security deliberations while waiters continued serving dinner. Aides used their smart phones as flashlights so that the men could read documents. A club member posted photos of the scene on his Facebook account. Trump then departed from the prepared remarks (photographers had captured images of the prepared remarks, which were on the podium) in the joint television statement. Later, he crashed a wedding party for a photo-op.

  North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won’t happen!

  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017

• TWITTER:
  Trump praised his daughter, Ivanka, with both his @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS accounts, continuing his feud with Nordstrom’s for dropping her fashion line.

Day 22, 10 February 2017

• The first lady of Japan, Akie Abe, found herself unaccompanied Friday as she toured DC. The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, also toured solo. This is a break with normal foreign dignitary protocol.
• Several members of the New England Patriots have preemptively refused invitations to the White House to congratulate them their Super Bowl win.
• SENATE ACTION:
  Tom Price confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services (52-47)
• IMMIGRATION:
  Immigration agents arrested undocumented immigrants in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina.
• PUBLIC OPINION:
  Gallup reports that only 29% of us think world leaders respect Trump; 67% said same of Obama in 2009. And only 42% of Americans believe the world views the U.S. favorably, the worst assessment in 10 years (Bush was president). The margin of sampling error is ±4%.

Day 21, 9 February 2017

• Trump pulls EPA staff from 19th annual Alaska Forum on the Environment.
• Trump issues statement: the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers will not be part of the president’s cabinet. This is a break from seven decades of precedent.
• EXECUTIVE ACTIONS:
  Trump signed three new executive orders: (1) task force on public safety; (2) violence against law enforcement officers; (3) dealing with “transnational criminal organizations.” He also signed an order of succession at the Department of Justice.
• ETHICS:
  Trump surrogate Kellyanne Conway told viewers of Fox to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” According to former ethics chief, Kellyanne Conway broke the law with her comments on Fox News.
• JUDICIAL:
  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s request to reinstate the travel ban.
• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  US National Security adviser, Michael Flynn, came under fire after both the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that he talked to the Russian ambassador about the sanctions from the Obama administration before they happened.
• CONGRESS:
  At rowdy town hall, ex-teacher asks Chaffetz — chair of House oversight — “what’s your line in the sand” for Trump? (video, tweet)

Day 20, 8 February 2017

• SENATE ACTION:
  • Four male Senators read into the record the King letter that McConnell had refused to let Warren read Tuesday.
  • Jeff Sessions confirmed as Attorney General (52-47).
• ETHICS:
  Business Insider reported that Press Secretary Spicer had, on at least three occasions, referred to a “terrorist attack in Atlanta.” There have been no terrorist attacks in Atlanta since February 1997. When pressed, Spicer said he “clearly meant Orlando.”
• TWITTER:
  Trump attacked Nordstom’s on Twitter for dropping his daughter’s clothing line. The official POTUS account retweeted, drawing criticism that an ethical and legal line had been breached.

Day 19, 7 February 2017

• Trump threatened to “destroy [the] career” of an unnamed Texas state senator for proposing legislation to curb the government ability to seize property (asset forfeiture) from people not convicted of a crime. In the same meeting, he falsely asserted: “The murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years.”
• Trump asserted falsely that other presidents have had their cabinets in place by this point in their administration “the longest delay in the history of our country.” The facts? Bill Clinton; March 11, 1993. George H.W. Bush, March 17, 2001. Barack Obama, April 28, 2009.
• A lawyer for Melania Trump argued that her “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to profit from the presidency had been damaged by an article in the Daily Mail. California attorney Charles Harder represented wrestler Hulk Hogan, winning for him a $140 million invasion of privacy judgment against Gawker.
• SENATE ACTION:
  • Betsy DeVos was confirmed as secretary of education. The 50-50 tie was broken by Vice President Pence.
  • “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” With that statement, Mitch McConnell may have entered the history books as he censured Sen. Elizabeth Warren  for attempting to read a letter by Coretta Scott King into the record, opposing Sen. Sessions appointment to Attorney General. #ShePersisted spread quickly on Twitter.
• NATIONAL SECURITY
  • Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. John McCain called the recent US raid in Yemen a “failure”. His remarks followed a classified briefing; the operation led to the death of a Navy SEAL and a number of civilians. The White House claims that the “intelligence gathering raid” was “successful.”

Day 18, 6 February 2017

• A visit by Trump to the UK (date TBD) has led to a massive online protest. As a result, “Donald Trump will not be welcome to address Parliament on his state visit to the UK because of its opposition to racism and to sexism,” according to the Independent.
• NATIONAL SECURITY:
  Trump asserted falsely (aka “lied”) that terrorism is “not even being reported.”
• TWITTER:
  Trump castigated media (“fake news”).

Day 17, 5 February 2017

• In a pre-Super Bowl interview with Bill O’Reilly, Trump praised Putin, continued to claim widespread voter fraud in November 2016 election, claimed Obamacare is “a disaster.”
• JUDICIAL:
  • Trump resumes Twitter attacks on judge who blocked his executive order on immigration
  • The Guardian view on Trump v the judges: hastening a collapse of respect

Day 16, 4 February 2017

• I got on the subway in Manhattan tonight and found a Swastika on every advertisement and every window.
• GOLF:
  

  President Trump spent 4 ½ hours at his golf club today in FL.

  WH aides have not told the press pool, NYT’s @MarkLandler, if he played golf. pic.twitter.com/prUGUsGP6W

  — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 4, 2017

• JUDICIAL:
  • So-Called’ Judge Criticized by Trump Is Known as a Mainstream Republican
  • Appeals court rejects request to immediately restore travel ban; US temporarily suspends order as Trump derides judge.
  • How far can protesters go before the government steps in? State legislators (CO, IA, IN, MN, MO, ND, WA)demonstrate willingness to criminalize/penalize protests. “I’ve never seen a coordinated attack on protesters’ rights anywhere near this scale,” Lee Rowland, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. “Marching in the street is symbolic,” Madensen said. “Smart police have learned that the best way to police a public protest is to facilitate it,” Tamara Madensen, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
• TWITTER:
  Trump castigated the New York Times (“fake news”) on Twitter:
• CONGRESS:
  Hundreds Protest Trump At California Congressman’s Town Hall (second source: video, tweet)

Day 15, 3 February 2017

• New Yorker and Vanity Fair pulled out of White House Correspondents’ Dinner parties.
• Yahoo News reported that Neiman Marcus has dropped Ivanka Trump jewelry.
• The Washington Post reported that a January business trip that Eric Trump undertook for the Trump Organization cost taxpayers nearly $100,000 in hotel rooms for Secret Service and embassy staff.
• Sean Spicer told reporters that Trump had saved taxpayers $455 million on the cost of the F-35 airplane. Pentagon officials stated the reduction came before the November election. “This is simply taking credit for what’s been in the works for many months,” Sen. Jack Reed (RI), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
• EXECUTIVE ACTIONS:
  • Presidential Memorandum on Fiduciary Duty Rule directs the Department of Labor (DOL) to seek a 60-day delay in a new fiduciary rule. Set to go into effect on April 10, 2017, the new rule requires financial advisors who provide guidance on retirement savings to act in the best interest of their clients. In other words, the rule was designed to mandate transparency. It had been in development for seven years.
  • EO on regulation of the nation’s financial sector. Trump wants a “sweeping review” of Dodd-Frank Act rules; the law was passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. “The orders are the most aggressive steps yet by Trump to loosen regulations in the financial services industry and come after he has sought to stock his administration with veterans of the industry in key positions.”
• ETHICS:
  Trump surrogate Kellyanne Conway cited “Bowling Green Massacre” that never happened.
• IMMIGRATION:
  • A coalition of 598 college and university presidents sent a letter Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly voicing “concerns” with President Trump’s temporary ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
  • Kjell Magne Bondevik served as prime minister of Norway from 1997-2000 and 2001-05. He was held and questioned at Washington Dulles airport because of a visit to Iran three years ago.
• JUDICIAL:
  Seattle judge halted the Trump travel ban — nationwide — as a result of Washington state lawsuit.

Day 14, 2 February 2017

• At the annual National Prayer Breakfast, Trump said: “I just want to pray for Arnold if we can for those ratings [for The Apprentice].” Vanity Fair reported that “The Apprentice’s ratings have been falling for years.”
• Also at the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump vowed “to overturn a law restricting political speech by tax-exempt churches.”
• Bloomberg reported that Nordstrom’s will stop selling the Ivanka Trump brand.
• ETHICS:
  NPR reported that Trump faces more than 50 lawsuits. At the same two-week point, Obama had five pending lawsuits; Bush had four; and Clinton had five.
• IMMIGRATION:
  In a phone call to the president of Mexico, warned “that he was ready to send U.S. troops to stop ‘bad hombres down there’.”
• JUDICIAL:
  Virginia asked a federal judge to force the President, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and top government officials “to show why they shouldn’t be held in contempt for failing to obey a lawful court order” regarding the travel ban.

Day 13, 1 February 2017

• In kicking off Black History Month, Trump said: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.” The verb tense implies that Douglass is alive; he died in 1895.
• First Lady Melania Trump May Stay in NYC Permanently and Never Move Into the White House
• SENATE ACTION:
  Rex Tillerson confirmed as Secretary of State (56-43).
• GOLF:
  Trump’s Jupiter, FL National Golf Club lost a $5.7 million class action lawsuit; 65 members claimed that they had lost access to the club when Trump took over the course. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Marra awarded the former members their membership deposits plus interest.

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