Idiocracy

Even on the world stage, he just cannot resist: President Trump slammed CNN as “fake news” after a reporter with the news organization asked him a question during a press briefing at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit. After the reporter asked Trump a question about tensions between him and other leaders at the G-7 summit, the president asked what …

Politico reports: HUD Secretary Ben Carson is backing off plans to triple the minimum rent paid by some of the country’s poorest households, citing Congress’ move to defy the administration and boost his agency’s budget. The proposal to increase the minimum rent paid by rental assistance beneficiaries is no longer “urgent,” due to the additional resources in the HUD budget, …

The Hill reports: President Trump is giving more details on his wife’s medical procedure last month, saying Melania Trump is on doctor’s orders not to fly. “The first lady’s great,” Trump told reporters Friday on the South Lawn before heading to Canada to attend the Group of 7 (G-7) summit. “She has to — because she wanted to go — …

The New York Times reports: President Trump called on the world’s leading economies on Friday to reinstate Russia to the Group of 7 nations four years after it was cast out for annexing Crimea, once again putting him at odds with America’s leading allies in Europe and Asia. The president made the suggestion to reporters as he headed to Canada …

First, a sweet dig from CNN: When Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Stormy Daniels has no credibility because she is is a porn star, he neglected to mention that his client, President Donald Trump, has appeared in three Playboy videos that feature nudity and softcore pornographic content. “So yes, I respect all human beings,” Giuliani said at a conference in …

The Washington Post reports: The meeting was supposed to be about hurricane preparedness, as disaster officials gathered at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters days after the start of the 2018 season. But President Trump had a lot else on his mind, turning the closed-door discussion into soliloquies on his prowess in negotiating airplane deals, his popularity, the effectiveness of his …

Media Matters provides the transcript: BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): What are you calling for now, John? You served your time, wrote a book about it, what are you asking for now? JOHN KIRIAKOU (FORMER CIA ANALYST): I would be forever indebted to the president for a pardon. This president is unlike other presidents. You know, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, they …

The Associated Press reports: Before President Donald Trump sits down with a third-generation North Korean autocrat, he will face what may well turn out to be a tougher crowd — some of America’s oldest allies. With his new tariffs increasing U.S. isolation, Trump heads to Canada on Friday for a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations. The White …

Via Mediaite: On MSNBC Wednesday, host Katy Tur had her hands full when guests Democratic Strategist Bob Shrum and RNC Committeeman Shawn Steel [JMG: in the beret]  jumped right into a fight just after being introduced on the segment. The conversation went off the rails just after the first question, when Republican Steele began answering Tur’s question about ‘the Trump …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN. According to the sources, …

The Hill reports: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday pushed back against President Trump’s “spygate” claims, siding with Rep. Trey Gowdy’s (R-S.C.) defense of the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s campaign and Russia. “Chairman Gowdy’s initial assessment is accurate, but we have more digging to do,” Ryan told reporters during his weekly news conference. A week after a closed-door briefing on …

Politico reports: White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared to suffer a verbal glitch on Wednesday when she apparently referred to President Donald Trump as the “commander in cheese.” Conway, when asked about the recent dust-up over the president disinviting the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House, said, “The problem with the President of the United States, and the commander of …

The Washington Examiner reports: President Trump accused the media of being “unfair” and “vicious” to first lady Melania Trump, who has scantly been seen in public since undergoing a kidney procedure last month. The first lady appeared at a White House event for Gold Star families on Monday, which was her first public appearance since she was underwent a procedure …

Reuters reports: The U.S. State Department on Tuesday defended remarks by the new U.S. ambassador to Germany that drew condemnation from across that country’s political spectrum, saying that U.S. envoys “have a right to express their opinions.” “Don’t we as Americans have the right to free speech?” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in response to questions about U.S. Ambassador …

The New York Post reports: NBA star turned Kim Jong Un soulmate Dennis Rodman will be in Singapore during President Trump’s summit with the North Korean dictator next week, The Post has learned. “The Worm” will arrive in the country a day before the June 12 sitdown — and sources said he could even play some sort of role in …

Deadspin reports: Donald Trump’s hastily arranged replacement for the Super Bowl champion Eagles’ White House visit featured the president making a very brief appearance to talk about how great the economy is and, then, stand awkwardly while mouthing maybe half the words to “God Bless America” like a Yankees fan in right field who started drinking at seven in the …

The Huffington Post reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who sparked a firestorm last week when she said it was a school’s choice to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to report potentially undocumented students, changed her tune Tuesday, telling a Senate subcommittee she doesn’t think schools can call ICE on undocumented students. DeVos’ reversal came during a tense exchange with Sen. …

The New York Times reports: President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States Marine Band would “proudly” play the national anthem at the White House during an afternoon event that had originally been planned as a celebration of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl victory. In early-morning tweets, Mr. Trump obliquely questioned the patriotism of the Eagles and other N.F.L. …

Bloomberg reports: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell canceled most of the chamber’s August recess, bowing to calls from GOP lawmakers to stay in Washington to finish work on nominations and undercutting election campaigning by Democrats who have more than a half dozen incumbents at risk in November. “Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the …

The Washington Post reports: Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his executive scheduler emailed Dan Cathy, chairman and president of the fast food company Chick-fil-A, with an unusual request: Would Cathy meet with Pruitt to discuss “a potential business opportunity”? A call was arranged, then canceled, and Pruitt eventually spoke with …