Day 100. Perspective.

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

1/ How Trump reshaped the presidency and how it’s changed him.| In his first 100 days, Trump has transformed the highest office in ways both profound and mundane, pushing traditional boundaries, ignoring longstanding protocol and discarding historical precedents as he reshapes the White House in his own image. (New York Times) 2/ At 100 days, Trump’s big talk on the … Read More

Let This Quote Sink In

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

That quote should go in every history book, because it epitomizes both the arrogance and the ignorance of the Trump campaign.  We’ve gone from “Only I can fix this” in his convention speech to “I thought it would be easier”. A man who doesn’t know that President of the United States is the hardest job title ON THE PLANET, should … Read More

Trump Loses In Federal Court…. Again…. This Time on Sanctuary Cities

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Immigration and Xenophobia, Supreme Court, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

A federal district court ruling yesterday bars President Trump from withholding funds from jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal agencies to deport undocumented immigrants, marking his second setback in court on immigration.  The first setback, of course, was his Muslim ban. Before I get to the substance of this post, first things first: First the Ninth Circuit rules against … Read More

State Department Website Plugs Trump’s Mar-A-Lago

Ken AshfordEmoluments Violation, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Ethics problem: Washington (CNN)- President Donald Trump personally owns Mar-a-Lago, his private club on Florida’s eastern coast. But that didn’t stop the State Department, in a blog post on the United States Embassy in London’s website, from touting the property. In a markedly promotional blog post from April 5 that could eventually benefit the President’s bottom line, should it spur … Read More

Trump’s Elements Of Style

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

TRUMP’S ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras of Mscsweeney’s Strunk Rule: Omit needless words Trump Rule: No word is needless. They’re all great! Terrific! They’re fantastic words! I know about fantastic words! On Day One, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall. We will use the best technology, including above- … Read More

Recommended Reading

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

I guess it is not a surprise, but Ryan Lizza at The New Yorker reports that Trump advisers turned the White House upside-down looking for information to justify Trump’s crazy “Obama spied on me” tweet. Key graf: The intelligence source told me that he knows, “from talking to people in the intelligence community,” that “the White House said, ‘We are going … Read More

White House University

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Trump on health care: “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” Trump on China and North Korea: “[President Xi] then went into the history of China and Korea….And Korea actually used to be a part of China. And after listening for 10 minutes I realized that it’s not so … Read More

Trump’s Bizarre Interview

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Our President seems unusually obsessed that he could eat dessert and have missile strikes at the same time: BARTIROMO:  When you were with the president of China, you’re launching these military strikes. TRUMP:  Yes. BARTIROMO:  Was that planned? How did that come about that it’s happening right then, because right there, you’re saying a reminder, here’s who the superpower in … Read More

Trump Himself Is Fake News

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

28% of Donald Trump’s Twitter followers are eggs, according to an analysis from Bloomberg.| In Twitter parlance, an egg is trouble. Sometimes a bot, usually a troll, eggs tends to be people who didn’t bother taking the time to even upload a photo in their profile, often because they’re so busy creating fake profiles, it’s just not worth their time. … Read More