Month: March 2017

Trump Seeks 50 Percent Cut to United Nations

Buck Banks

50%

Foreign Policy: “State Department staffers have been instructed to seek cuts in excess of 50% in U.S. funding for U.N. programs, signaling an unprecedented retreat by President Trump’s administration from international operations that keep the peace, provide vaccines for children, monitor rogue nuclear weapons programs, and promote peace talks from Syria to Yemen, according to three sources.”

Trump Hurting Issa’s Approval Rating

Buck Banks

10 points

Los Angeles Times: “A month after Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) won reelection in the closest congressional race in the country, the congressman got a warning that his next contest could be even tougher. An internal poll by Issa’s campaign showed a nearly 10-percentage point drop in his favorability ratings between mid-October and early December — and that one likely reason the lawmaker’s image took a hit was because of his support for President Trump.”

Trump Has Spent One-Sixth of His Presidency at a Trump Property

Buck Banks

15%

Washington Post: “As of noon Monday, President Trump will have spent about 15 percent of the time he has been commander in chief at a property that he owns or that bears his name. … Most of that time has been spent at Mar-a-Lago, a property he owns in West Palm Beach, Fla. But Trump also has spent time dining at his hotel in Washington (apparently leaking news about the visit to ensure positive coverage) and, this past weekend, at Trump National Golf Club in Northern Virginia, where he held a “partial Cabinet meeting” on Saturday.”

Donald’s Government Is Missing Scientists

Buck Banks

1

President Trump “has moved to fill just one of 46 key science and technology positions that help the government counter risks ranging from chemical and biological attacks to rising seas,” the Washington Post reports. “The vacancies in the 46 Senate-confirmed posts range from the president’s science adviser, to the administrators of NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.”

Kushners Get Sweet Chinese Real Estate Deal

Buck Banks

$400 million

“A company owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, stands to receive more than $400 million from a prominent Chinese company that is investing in the Kushners’ marquee Manhattan office tower at 666 Fifth Ave,” Bloomberg reports. … The planned $4-billion transaction includes terms that some real estate experts consider unusually favorable for the Kushners. It provides them with both a sizable cash payout… for a property that has struggled financially and an equity stake in a new partnership.”