Today in Trump: February 26, 2017
Today in the Trump Administration
Trump’s choice to be Navy secretary withdraws
President Donald Trump’s choice to be secretary of the Navy, businessman Philip Bilden, said Sunday he was withdrawing from consideration for the post, citing concerns about privacy and separating himself from his business interests.
Bilden’s withdrawal raises similar issues to that of Vincent Viola, Trump’s nominee for Army secretary who stepped aside earlier this month.
As CBS News’ Major Garrett reported over a week ago, Bilden drew resistance due to his lack of familiarity with Navy issues and encountered difficulty separating himself from his financial interests. At the time, the White House publicly denied that Bilden was reconsidering his nomination.
Kasich on “Face the Nation”
As Republicans try to figure out how to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Ohio Gov. John Kasich says they’ll encounter “a problem” passing replacement legislation with some House conservatives if it still includes any vestiges of the original law. Because of that, he said, the GOP will need to reach out to Democrats to be successful.
Kasich was asked whether he agreed with former House Speaker John Boehner’s recent characterization of the issue: “Most of the Affordable Care Act, in the framework, is going to stay there,” Boehner said, adding that Republicans are “basically going to fix the flaws and put a more conservative box around it.”
Ex-CIA Director John Brennan says Trump travel ban won’t “help in any significant way”
With President Donald Trump expected to release his revised travel ban this week, former CIA Director John Brennan said Sunday that he doesn’t believe it will make the country significantly safer.
“I don’t think the travel ban is going to help in any significant way,” Brennan told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in his first media interview since leaving the CIA.
The governors
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted a dinner for governors who are attending their annual winter meeting in Washington. Vice President Pence and his wife joined the president for a dinner with a record number of governors -- 46 -- and their spouses or guests.
The president told the governors, “I can say that after four weeks, it’s been a lot of fun,” according to the pool reporter. “We’ve accomplished almost everything we set out to accomplish. The borders are stricter….”
He went on to say that while “there are some big problems in the world,...we’re very happy with the say things are working. We’ve made a lot of promises over the last two years and many of those promises are kept.”
He joked, “Such an easy job you have,” and told them he looked forward to meeting them Monday.
In those meetings, he suggested health care would be a topic, and said, “I think you’re going to see something very, very special,” regarding repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
What you missed yesterday
White House
It’s been a quiet day at the White House for President Trump, though he did have a working lunch with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Gov. Rick Scott “to discuss how best to solve the problems of Obamacare, with a special emphasis on the states’ role in healthcare,” according to White House readout.
National security staffer quit after 8 days in Trump White House
A White House national security staffer resigned after eight days in the Trump administration. The Maryland woman is a Muslim-American whose family emigrated from Bangladesh.
She was a holdover from the Obama White House who had hoped to stay.
“It was a very tense and unwelcoming feeling,” Rumana Ahmed said.
Ahmed worked as a staffer on the National Security Council during the Obama administration. When President Trump took office, she decided to stay, but quickly became uncomfortable. --Jeff Pegues
Fact-checking Trump’s claim about debt dropping by $12B in last month
President Trump claimed Saturday in a tweet that the national debt decreased by $12 billion in his first month as commander in chief.
Later in the day, the president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget said that while the debt outstanding did decline by $12 billion in his first month, it had nothing to do with new policies implemented by his administration.
Trump won’t attend WHCA dinner
President Trump announced on Twitter Saturday that he doesn’t plan to attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the end of April.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
Fact-checking Trump’s claim that debt dropped by $12 billion in first month
President Trump claimed Saturday that the national debt decreased by $12 billion in his first month as commander in chief. Later in the day, the president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget said that while the debt outstanding did decline by $12 billion in his first month, it had nothing to do with new policies implemented by his administration.
CPAC
CPAC wraps up its conference. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks (1:50 p.m.), and a straw poll will be taken (3:05 p.m.)
DHS report: Citizens of travel ban countries “rarely implicated” in U.S.-based terrorism
An intelligence report compiled by DHS’ Intelligence and Analysis Unit has concluded that citizens affected by President Trump’s travel ban are “rarely implicated in U.S.-based terrorism.”
The report concluded that “country of citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity,” and it says that “relatively few” of the citizens of these countries maintain access to the U.S.” The countries named in the president’s original travel ban were Somalia, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Yemen.
Trump this week - AP fact check
President Donald Trump said Friday that his predecessor’s health care law covers “very few people” as he minimized the impact of replacing it. That’s only true if you consider more than 20 million people to be very few.
He took another mysterious poke at Sweden, too, and decried open U.S. borders that are not.
Here’s a look at his statements at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday:
TRUMP: “Obamacare covers very few people.”
THE FACTS: More than 20 million people are covered by the two major components of former President Barack Obama’s health care law: expanded Medicaid and subsidized private health insurance.