Donald Trump

Axios reports: President Trump unloaded on his former defense secretary via Twitter on Wednesday, hours after James Mattis condemned him for making a “mockery of our Constitution” in his response to mass protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Reality check: Trump did not create the “Mad Dog” nickname during his administration as he claimed. News reports as far …

From the Lincoln Project: The Lincoln Project recognizes the long and distinguished national service of General Milley and honors him for it. Likewise, the Lincoln Project appreciates the service of Secretary of Defense Esper. Nevertheless, their participation in the infamous events of June 1st was an egregious lapse in judgement, and they should resign their offices. On that day, in …

Former Defense Secretary James Mattis writes: I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must …

Somebody really wants to keep his job: In an abrupt reversal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region, amid growing tensions with the White House over the military response to the protests. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that the reversal …

More expensive masturbatory jingoism: The administration is working with the South Dakota governor’s office to plan a military flyover at Mount Rushmore during President Donald Trump’s visit to the national landmark on July 3 as part of Independence Day celebrations, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed to POLITICO. “We do anticipate there being a military flyover of some kind,” said …

The Washington Post reports: Hydroxychloroquine did not prevent healthy people exposed to covid-19 from getting the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to a study being published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study is the first randomized clinical trial that tested the antimalarial drug, touted by President Trump, as a preventive measure. It showed that hydroxychloroquine …

Business Insider reports: Twitter said Wednesday it will not tackle all the misinformation on its platform but will instead focus on posts with the “highest potential for harm” as it works to curb false or misleading information from spreading. The social media giant said it is responding to a survey from last year in which respondents said that “Twitter shouldn’t …

Digital Trends reports: Snapchat announced it would no longer promote President Donald Trump’s account on the video-sharing platform. “We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover,” a Snap spokesperson told Digital Trends. “Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek …

The Morning Consult reports: Two major crises playing out at the same time in the United States — the deadly coronavirus pandemic and social unrest over the deaths of black people that has erupted into nationwide demonstrations — have helped erode voters’ confidence in the direction of the country to its lowest point of Donald Trump’s presidency. A new Morning …

CNN reports: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a last resort, directly contradicting President Donald Trump. “The option to use active …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Wednesday disputed multiple reports that Secret Service agents rushed him to an underground bunker as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House on Friday night, asserting he went down earlier in the day “more for an inspection.” “It was a false report. I wasn’t down,” Trump said during an appearance on “Brian …

The Daily Beast reports: Less than 24 hours after President Trump said he was prepared to send troops into cities across America, senior officials in the Pentagon began to try to distance themselves from those words and from the idea itself, underscoring that not one governor had requested additional military assistance from Defense Secretary Mark Esper. A senior DOD official …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump is demanding a packed Republican national convention with “no face coverings and no social distancing,” North Carolina’s governor’s office has said. The US president spoke with Democrat governor Roy Cooper by phone, the office revealed, where they discussed the scheduled August convention in Charlotte. During the call, when Mr Trump “insisted on a full convention …

The New York Times reports: After a day in which he berated “weak” governors and lectured them to “dominate” the demonstrators, the president emerged from the White House, followed by a phalanx of aides and Secret Service agents as he made his way to the church, where he posed stern-faced, holding up a Bible that his daughter pulled out of …

“On behalf of the police chiefs in this country, if you don’t have anything constructive to say, keep your mouth shut. Because you’re putting men and women in their early 20s at risk. “It’s not about dominating, it’s about winning hearts and minds. And let’s be clear, we do not want people to confuse kindness with weakness, but we do …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday sidestepped a question about President Trump’s response to protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, and didn’t directly weigh in on the treatment of protesters outside the White House on Monday night. “I’m not going to critique other people’s performances. I can speak for myself, and I just …

The Associated Press reports: “There is no right to riot, no right to destroy others’ property, and no right to throw rocks at police. But there is a fundamental — a Constitutional — right to protest, and I’m against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop,″ said Republican …

“The president should help to heal the racial divisions in this country. It is at times like this that a president needs to speak to the nation, to pledge to right wrongs, and to calm inflamed passions. “It was painful to watch peaceful protestors be subjected to tear gas in order for the President to go across the street to …

Mediaite reports: There were some stark partisan divides on race in the latest CBS News/YouGov poll, but huge majorities agree that President Donald Trump favors white people. The poll, released Tuesday, asked respondents a variety of questions pegged to the unrest over the killing of George Floyd, and the issues associated with it. For example, 57 percent of respondents agreed …

AM New York reports: New York Attorney General James did not mince words when threatening legal action against President Trump, whose address to the nation Monday included warnings of military deployment to quell the protests that have risen from the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police. “The President of the United States is not a dictator, and President Trump …