claimed to distance himself from his businesses, using stacks of unlabeled folders as proof?

Presidents divest their private businesses, usually putting them in a blind trust, in order to avoid conflicts of interest and breaking the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. While blind trusts are not necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Emoluments Clause, Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all did so, while Obama placed his holdings into standard index funds.

Trump refused either a blind trust or relinquishing ownership of his company. He instead said he would resign from all positions and hand control to his sons, with the promise that they would not discuss anything business related.

In January 2017, Trump held his first press conference as President-Elect. He used a large stack of unlabeled folders as proof that he had handed over his company to his sons. He did not allow reporters to look at their contents.

Image result for trump stacks of folders

Don and Eric are going to be running the company. They’re going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me. Again, I don’t have to do this.

Trump also called the emoluments clause of the Constitution “phony” and claimed that Article II of the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want.” Trump also repeatedly promised to release his tax returns both during his campaign and after becoming President.

The Washington Post – Donald Trump won’t do what Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did
MarketWatch – Ethics laws don’t require Trump to give up control of his ‘unprecedented’ portfolio 
Reuters – Trump says won’t divest from his business while president
The Hill – Trump barred reporters from examining stacks of folders at press conference
Britannica – What Is the Emoluments Clause?

said he was the least anti-Semitic and least racist person “you’ve ever seen in your entire life”?

Trump made the remark to Jake Turx of the Jewish publication Ami Magazine, who had not accused Trump of being Anti-Semitic.

Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. The least racist person.

Politico – Trump, asked about reports of anti-Semitic threats nationwide, says he’s not anti-Semitic
CNBC – Donald Trump: I am the least anti-Semitic person that ‘you’ve ever seen in your entire life’

was said to be “like an 11-year-old child” by Steve Bannon?

Steve Bannon, head of Brietbart News and considered the architect of Trump’s campaign, made the remark to a friend in November 2017. Bannon also described the office as already having taken a toll on Trump, saying he believed the President had “lost a step.”

Bannon left his chief strategist role at the White House in August.

Steve Bannon
Steve Bannon. AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

Vanity Fair – “I have power”: Is Steve Bannon running for President?
Business Insider – Steve Bannon reportedly joked to a friend that Trump is ‘like an 11-year-old child’
The Hill – Bannon joked that Trump is like ‘an 11-year-old child’: report 

was called an “idiot” and “dope” as smart as a kindergartener by his National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster?

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster derided President Donald Trump’s intelligence at a private dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz, according to several sources with knowledge of the conversation.

Four sources told BuzzFeed News they heard about the incident from Catz. McMaster referred to Trump  as an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,”, according the the sources

Oracle and the Trump administration denied the comments that Catz later recounted.

Buzzfeed News – Sources: McMaster Mocked Trump’s Intelligence At A Private Dinner

railed against new aircraft carriers and their digital deck propulsion system, demanding that they return to “goddamned steam”?

In an interview with Time, Trump recalled the conversation.

I said, “You don’t use steam anymore for catapult?” “No sir.” I said, “Ah, how is it working?” “Sir, not good. Not good. Doesn’t have the power. You know the steam is just brutal. You see that sucker going and steam’s going all over the place, there’s planes thrown in the air.”

It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said — and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said, “What system are you going to be—” “Sir, we’re staying with digital.” I said, “No you’re not. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”

Foreign Policy – Trump Wants New Aircraft Carriers to Turn Back to ‘Goddamned Steam’ Power Catapults

said of the Charlottesville protests that “there were some very fine people on both sides”?

At Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, a rally named Unite the Right was held to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Those in attendance included the KKK, neo-Confederates, and neo-Nazis. The organizer of the rally, Jason Kessler, was a self-avowed white supremacist and Neo-Nazi.

File:Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' Rally (35780274914) crop.jpg
Unite the Right Rally. Wikipedia

On the second day of the rally, a white supremacist drove a car through a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring 28 people, and murdering Heather Heyer, a 32-year old woman. It was ruled a terror attack by the city and the FBI. A police helicopter responding to the events also crashed, resulting in the deaths of two Virginia state troopers.

When questioned about the rally, Trump remarked, “you have blame on both sides,” and “you had very fine people, on both sides.” He went on to say, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”

The Atlantic – Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: ‘Some Very Fine People on Both Sides’
NPR – Events Surrounding White Nationalist Rally In Virginia Turn Fatal
Real Clear Politics – Trump Didn’t Call Neo-Nazis ‘Fine People.’ Here’s Proof.
Wikipedia – Unite the Right rally
Wikipedia – Jason Kessler

was called “a f*cking moron” by his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson?

After a July 20, 2017 meeting at the Pentagon, the New Yorker reported that then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as “a f*cking moron.”

When asked about it, Tillerson said he wouldn’t be resigning, but also didn’t deny whether he’d said the remark.

After the report emerged, Trump publicly challenged his Secretary of State to an IQ test.

Tillerson was fired the following year.

Time – The Rise and Fall of Rex Tillerson: A Timeline
New York Magazine – Tillerson, Who Privately Called Trump ‘Moron,’ Pretty Much Confirms It in Public
Quartz – All the ways Trump’s closest confidants insult his intelligence
BBC News – Rex Tillerson – Trump’s former top diplomat

opposed and delayed sanctions on Russia, despite bipartisan support in Congress?

The sanctions were passed with a veto-proof majority because of Russian election interference in 2016. They followed sanctions passed in 2012 for human rights violations, called the Magnitsky Act.

Trump later lifted sanctions on firms connected to Russian oligarchs.

ABC News – Timeline of Trump’s delays on Russia sanctions
Reuters – Trump administration holds off on new Russia sanctions, despite law
Wikipedia – Magnitsky Act

More assuredly to come soon

Error: Please refresh

Newer Posts
Older Posts