Trump and Melania made his first visit to troops as President. They flew to Iraq the day after Christmas, and also visited troops in Germany. Some critics accused him of politicizing the military due to the fact there was some Trump paraphernalia among the troops and he spoke to them about political problems in Washington.
Mitt Romney wrote an op-ed the day before he was sworn in as the senator from Utah. The purpose was to stake a claim against Trump’s character, and lay out some ground rules for how he will deal with Trump as senator:
- “his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.”
- “To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow ‘our better angels.’ A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. … With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.”
- “I do not intend to comment on every tweet or fault. But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions.”
Trump held one of his performative cabinet meetings where he said some strange things. What got most attention was his claim that Russians were justified in invading Afghanistan in the 1980s. It had David Frum wondering: “Putin-style glorification of the Soviet regime is entering the mind of the president, inspiring his words and—who knows—perhaps shaping his actions. How that propaganda is reaching him—by which channels, via which persons—seems an important if not urgent question.” Jonathan Chait wonders the same, and notes that the Putin government will release a revised history of the invasion that mirrors what Trump said: “it raises the question of just where Trump is hearing this stuff. He’s not getting pro-Soviet revisionist history from Fox & Friends. He’s also probably not reading alternative histories of central Asia. So who planted this idea in Trump’s head, anyway?”
The government is still partially shut down due to an impasse over funding the border wall. Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as Speaker of the House Thursday January 3rd, and the Democrats passed the same funding bill that the Senate approved previously. McConnel said he will not take up anything that Trump won’t sign.
The Trump Administration is looking into declaring an official state of emergency so that they can divert funds to build the wall.
In Immigration News:
An 8 year old Guatemalan boy died in custody on Christmas day. He had been in custody for six days, which is against the Florres Decree. Border Patrol agents are revising policies in the wake of the death.
Here is a good New York Times summation of problems at the US-Mexico border: Overcrowding in shelters; More children are getting sick; mass drop offs on city streets; the build up in Tijuana. This is all “a result of a failed gamble on the part of the Trump administration that a succession of ever-harsher border policies would deter the flood of migrants coming from Central America.
It has not, and the failure to spend money on expanding border processing facilities, better transportation and broader networks of cooperation with private charities, they say, has led to the current problems with overcrowding, health threats and uncontrolled releases of migrants in cities along the border.”
Here is an explainer for why the mass drop offs are happening. Border Patrol is apprehending more migrants than ICE can take into custody due to shelter space limitations. For families, which is most cases, the hand off must happen with 72 hours. So ICE is releasing hundreds of migrants to clear space for detention, and Border Patrol is releasing hundreds who cannot be taken in by ICE.
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Trump’s job approve: 41.4%
It will be interesting to see how Trump can justify “national emergency” as a basis to fund the border wall. Will he included the two dead immigrant children in his arguments!