Here’s Every Moment That Mattered In Trump’s Fifteenth Week As POTUS
With the 100 day mark behind us, and a new week beginning, we saw a revitalized and focused Trump ready to take on the important issues facing our great natio…I’m sorry. I can’t finish typing this with a straight face.
Unfortunately, it was back to incoherent nonsense for the man in the oval office. Trump started the week off strong with a divisive rally, remarks on Andrew Jackson’s fictional anger surrounding the Civil War (?), and praise of Kim Jong-un.
Despite the upcoming hurdle in the Senate, Trump ended the week even stronger by popping Bud Light with Republicans and prematurely celebrating their rushed Obamacare replacement effort making it through the House. That’s like celebrating your win at halftime.
Meanwhile, like every other week, the Trump-Russia investigation continued to move forward.
Here is every moment that mattered in Trump’s fifteenth week as President of the United States:
The People’s Climate March
It was Saturday, Trump’s 100th day in office, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered in D.C. They weren’t there to celebrate the man, they were there to protest his destructive climate change denying agenda. Just the day before this march, the EPA removed the climate change page from its website. This move is no different from the countless other anti-science initiatives the Trump administration has undertaken, and proved the cause was worth marching for. If President Trump looked out the window that day, he wouldn’t have liked what he saw.
Check this out: this is one BIG #climatemarch in DC! https://t.co/ZgEe8wZqRU
- While the White House Correspondents’ dinner was about to begin, Trump headed to Pennsylvania on Saturday evening and held a rally with his supporters. He delivered a divisive speech. Although he later claimed his rally broke attendance record, it was clear that wasn’t exactly the case…
Trump says “we have a lot of ppl standing outside” and he “broke the all time record” in this arena. There are rows of empty seats here
Here’s another part of the arena where Trump says people have been left standing outside. Lots of ppl here, but not at all capacity
- President Trump invited President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines (an authoritarian leader accused of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug suspects) to the White House
- North Korea launched yet another failed ballistic missile test
Fifteenth Week (May 1–5)
Monday May 1
The Alternative History
In an interview with the Associated Press, Trump made a bizarre claim about how Andrew Jackson was “really angry” about the Civil War. Andrew Jackson died 16 years before it took place…And according to Trump, people don’t ask “why was there the Civil War?”
Here’s Trump’s full answer on “swashbuckler” Andrew Jackson and the Civil War: “Why could that one not have been worked out?
- Congress reportedly reached a budget deal to fund the government through September. Trump didn’t get his border wall funding or many of the other allocations he wanted. He vented his frustrations the next morning
The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We….
either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!
- As tensions with North Korea rise, President Trump said he would “be honored” to meet with Kim Jong-un and called him “a pretty smart cookie”
- The Trump administration is ending Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” education program
- The Trump administration suspended sodium reduction and whole-grain requirements for school lunches
- Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said the White House has “looked at” changing libel laws a.k.a. restricting free speech
Tuesday May 2
The AHCA Scramble
After last weeks failed attempt to pass their Obamacare replacement the AHCA, House Republicans were back at it again this week. As of Tuesday, Paul Ryan still hadn’t managed to rally up 216 votes needed to pass the bill. Trump vented his frustrations.
The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We….
either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!
- As Jimmy Kimmel’s heartfelt story about his newborn son’s heart surgery and plea for pre-existing conditions protections went viral, healthcare was fresh on the minds of the American people. President Barack Obama even came out of Twitter hibernation for it
Well said, Jimmy. That’s exactly why we fought so hard for the ACA, and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy. And congratulations! https://t.co/77F8rZrD3P
- During an interview, Hillary Clinton said she is “part of the resistance,” Russian Wikileaks and the Comey letter raised doubts in her voters, and questioned Trump’s conduct while in office. Trump took to Twitter…
FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony…
Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?
- “Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates is prepared to testify before a Senate panel next week that she gave a forceful warning to the White House regarding then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn nearly three weeks before he was fired, contradicting the administration’s version of events, sources familiar with her account tell CNN.”
- Government funded Voice of America promoted Ivanka’s book on their Twitter account
In New Book, Ivanka Trump Gets Serious About Women at Work https://t.co/lZLnHI9i06
— @VOANews
- According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner “is currently in business with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and billionaires George Soros and Peter Thiel”
- Trump is placing anti-abortion activist Teresa Manning in charge of the HHS’ family planning program
Wednesday May 3
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Trump-Russia Hearing
In his appearance before the Senate, FBI Director James Comey defended his decision to send the letter disclosing the discovery of emails that may be related to Hillary Clinton’s email server investigation 11 days before the election. As we know, it was a nothingburger and by the time Comey sent a follow up letter, the damage to Clinton was already done. Comey said it makes him “mildly nauseous” to think he may have influenced the election.
- House Republicans set a rushed vote on the AHCA for Thursday. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters they have the votes:
“Do we have the votes? Yes. Will we pass it? Yes.”
- President Trump hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
- HUD Secretary Ben Carson said it’s a bad idea to create comfortable living situations in public housing. The New York Times reports:
Compassion, Mr. Carson explained in an interview, means not giving people “a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: ‘I’ll just stay here. They will take care of me.’”
- President Barack Obama’s former national security adviser Susan Rice declined to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Trump-Russia hearing
- President Trump was reportedly “directly involved in the search for the person who, using the official National Park Service account, retweeted side-by-side comparisons of the crowds at Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony and former President Barack Obama’s 2009 ceremony”
Thursday May 4
The GOP Passes Trump(don’t)Care
Despite no review from the Congressional Budget Office (the CBO projected the previous version of the bill would leave 24 million more people uninsured by 2026) and outrage from their constituents, House Republicans narrowly passed the ACHA with 217 votes. Some members of the GOP admitted to not even reading it before voting for it.
Here’s Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) admitting he didn’t read the AHCA he voted for, which harms his state especially https://t.co/gbuaajsttK
Critics say the bill will negatively affect mothers, domestic violence and rape survivors, the sick and the elderly, and employees who get insurance through work. I won’t dive into all the gory details here, but give this a read to find out more about the bill:
Trumpcare: What The AHCA Means For You
After its passing, the GOP had a party at the White House where they celebrated their “victory.”
Cases upon cases of beer just rolled into the Capitol on a cart covered in a sheet. Spotted Bud Light peeking out from the sheet
— @ajjaffe
- Trump signed an executive order making it easier for Churches to engage in political activities
- The Senate passed a $1 trillion spending deal, averting a government shutdown
- Trump calls the media fake news and promotes Fox News
The Fake News media is officially out of control. They will do or say anything in order to get attention – never been a time like this!
Congratulations to @foxandfriends on its unbelievable ratings hike.
Friday May 5
The Rejection
As the New York Times reported, in “a rare unifying moment. Hospitals, doctors, health insurers and some consumer groups, with few exceptions, are speaking with one voice and urging significant changes to the Republican health care legislation that passed the House on Thursday.”
The Senate has said they are going to write their own version of the bill:
“We’re writing a Senate bill and not passing the House bill,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn). “We’ll take whatever good ideas we find there that meet our goals.”
“Like y’all, I’m still waiting to see if it’s a boy or a girl,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “Any bill that has been posted less than 24 hours, going to be debated three or four hours, not scored? Needs to be viewed with suspicion.”
The senators working on the Senate health care bill: McConnell Hatch Alexander Enzi Thune Cruz Lee Cotton Gardner Barrasso Cornyn Portman
- During a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, President Trump said that Australia has a better healthcare system then the US…Australia has Universal Healthcare. He doubled down on Twitter in an attempt to clarify his comments
Of course the Australians have better healthcare than we do –everybody does. ObamaCare is dead! But our healthcare will soon be great.
- The US added 211,000 new jobs in April and the unemployment rate hits a 10-year low of 4.4%
- The Associated Press reported that Trump’s transition team raised flags over Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak. Also, buried within the piece, Trump’s transition team made copies of classified documents…
Holy cow: Trump team copied documents and removed them from SCIF https://t.co/ZjjOT7NxIf
- Trump’s army secretary pick Mark Green withdraws name from consideration
- The House Financial Services Committee voted in favor of a bill that would gut Dodd-Frank
- The Senate Intelligence Committee sent requests for Trump campaign associates’ communications with Russia. The associates include Roger Stone, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn. The Senate has said they are prepared to subpoena those who don’t cooperate
Republicans may have popped the bud light too soon. Their healthcare initiative still has to make it through the Senate’s rewrite and then it will go back to the House for another vote. Will it survive?
Catch up on Trump’s first 100 days with our cheat sheet
Here’s A Cheat Sheet To The Moments That Mattered In Trump’s First 100 Days
