Today in Trump: February 11, 2017
Today in the Trump Administration
Trump/Abe
President Trump is hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his resort in West Palm Beach. Today they teed off for some rounds of golf at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.
Reporters weren’t able to catch a glimpse of the pair as they played on the 285-acre property. But Trump later posted a photo of the two reportedly giving each other a high-five on the golf course and tweeted, “Having a great time hosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the United States!”
First Lady Melania Trump took Akie Abe on a tour of Morikami Museum and Gardens in Delray Beach.
Trump tweets on border wall cost
After a report that the cost of building a wall on the southern border could reach $21 billion, the president tweeted this morning:
I am reading that the great border WALL will cost more than the government originally thought, but I have not gotten involved in the.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017
...design or negotiations yet. When I do, just like with the F-35 FighterJet or the Air Force One Program, price will come WAY DOWN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017
The president also sent out a tweet criticizing the “broken” legal system. He blasted the recent court decision refusing to reinstate his travel ban as “SO DANGEROUS.”
Trump on U.S. Embassy in Israel
In an interview published Friday with Israel Hayom, the president was asked how soon he would make a decision on relocating the embassy to the holy city of Jerusalem from Tel Aviv -- a controversial shift that could inflame tensions across the Islamic world.
“I am thinking about the embassy, I am studying the embassy [issue], and we will see what happens,” Mr. Trump said. “The embassy is not an easy decision. It has obviously been out there for many, many years, and nobody has wanted to make that decision. I’m thinking about it very seriously, and we will see what happens.”
What you missed yesterday
Trump and the travel ban
President Trump seemed to promise new action on his embattled travel ban, after his administration’s request to reinstate the ban was denied by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday evening.
During a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Mr. Trump promised, “We’ll be doing something very rapidly, having to do with additional security for our country. You’ll be seeing that some time next week.” Even so, the administration will “continue to go through the court process and I have no doubt we will win that particular case,” he added.
Trump indicates he may sign a new travel ban
President Trump said on Friday that he may sign a brand-new travel ban next week, rather than waiting for the courts to deal with his first one.
Mr. Trump says speed is essential to national security, but his ban was placed on hold last week by a federal judge and Mr. Trump lost a second round Thursday in a Court of Appeals.
Trump tweets on appeals court decision on travel ban
The president sent a tweet early Friday criticizing the ruling, which upheld the temporary restraining order on the ban’s implementation, as a “disgraceful decision.” In his brief social media post, he quoted an article on the Lawfare blog in an attempt to prove his point.
Russian dossier on Trump gaining credibility with law enforcement
CBS News has learned that the 35-page dossier compiled by a former British spy is gaining credibility among law enforcement. Before he was sworn in as President, Donald Trump dismissed the document, but sources tell CBS News that investigators continue to vet it to see whether there is any truth to the allegations.
At issue is whether the Russian government gathered compromising information on the president during his years of doing business in country as a private citizen. The FBI is leading the investigation but several intelligence agencies are also involved. Typically an investigation of this scale would involve the sources and methods of the CIA and NSA.
Flynn might have violated law when he had call about Russian sanctions
Investigators believe that President Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call with a Russian official, law enforcement sources told CBS News on Friday.
Multiple sources told CBS News’ Jeff Pegues and Pat Milton that the conversation occurred before Mr. Trump took office and, if true, could be a violation of protocol and could be viewed as a violation of the law.
Major Garrett to reporters: Don’t bail on White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Major Garrett will be attending this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and he hopes other reporters will do the same -- whatever they feel about President Trump.
Penning an op-ed in the Washington Post, CBS News’ chief White House correspondent made the case Friday for journalists to proceed with their regularly scheduled programming, even as some news outlets announced their intentions to boycott the glitzy confab in April.
“The annual gala does not indicate, illustrate or represent the relationship between the White House and the reporters who cover it,” Garrett said of the dinner, which has drawn criticism in the past for how it contributed to the appearance of coziness between the White House and its press corps.
Now Trump has 3 Fed board seats to fill
Federal Reserve board member Daniel Tarullo, a key official guiding bank regulation efforts, will resign this spring, the Fed said Friday.
Tarullo’s decision will clear the way for President Donald Trump to select a candidate for the bank supervision position. Trump is likely to choose someone more in line with his desires to roll back the regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled bank supervision in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Tarullo said in a short resignation letter to Trump that he planned to step down “on or around April 5, 2017.” He did not provide a reason for his decision.
Tom Price confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary
The Senate has confirmed Rep. Tom Price to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The 52-47 vote came just a day after the Senate confirmed Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, as President Trump’s attorney general.
Price, 62, is a Georgia Republican who spent his career as an orthopedic surgeon before entering Congress in 2005. In the last Congress, Price succeeded Paul Ryan -- after he became speaker -- as the chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he laid out budget proposals that called for an Obamacare repeal.
More confirmations votes
Following the vote on the Steven Mnuchin nomination Monday night, the Senate will vote on the nomination of David Shulkin to be the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. No procedural vote will be required on the Shulkin nomination.
On Tuesday morning, February 14, the Senate will vote on the nomination of Linda McMahon to serve as the administrator of the Small Business Administration. No procedural vote will be required on the McMahon nomination.
Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister
Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at noon; they hold a joint newser at 1 p.m. and later the Trumps and the Abes have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Trump and Abe will also play a round of golf at the president’s resort.
Before his events with Abe, Mr. Trump will be hosting Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Oval Office at 10 a.m.
Trump backs “one China” policy in call with President Xi, White House says
President Donald Trump has reaffirmed America’s long-standing “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, potentially alleviating concerns about a major shift in Washington’s relations with Beijing.
The White House and China’s state broadcaster CCTV said the two spoke at length by phone on Thursday evening.