Tag Archives: Barack Obama

File this under “DUH.” The Guardian reports: Senator John McCain, a prominent Republican voice on foreign policy, was visibly irked when asked by the Guardian what message Trump had sent to the United Kingdom, one of America’s most enduring allies. “What do you think the message is? The message is that America doesn’t want to lead,” McCain said, while adding …

NBC News reports: Former President Obama warned President Donald Trump against hiring Mike Flynn as his national security adviser, three former Obama administration officials tell NBC News. The warning, which has not been previously reported, came less than 48 hours after the November election when the two sat down for a 90-minute conversation in the Oval Office. The revelation comes …

The Washington Post reports: Barack Obama is weighing into France’s presidential election, in support of Emmanuel Macron. In a message posted on Macron’s Twitter account, the former U.S. president said he was endorsing the centrist candidate “because of how important this election is.” Macron is facing far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s runoff vote. Polls suggest Macron is well …

USA Today reports: Last year, then-president Barack Obama vetoed a bill that would have curbed the pensions of former presidents if they took outside income of $400,000 or more. So now that former president Barack Obama has decided to accept $400,000 for an upcoming Wall Street speech, the sponsors of that bill say they’ll reintroduce that bill in hopes that …

The Washington Examiner reports: Former President Barack Obama revealed Wednesday his intention to donate $2 million to a summer jobs program for young people in Chicago. He made the announcement while at a roundtable about his soon-to-be-built presidential center and library in Chicago. The completion of that project is “about four years” away, Obama said. However, the programming of this …

Boom and SNAP. CNN reports: Former President Barack Obama hailed the political resilience of his signature health care law at a private event Thursday, pointing out that Obamacare is now more popular than his successor trying to repeal it: President Donald Trump. As Republicans in Washington sputtered again this week in their efforts to undo the law, Obama noted to …

The HuffPost reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) voiced her concerns over President Barack Obama’s plans to accept $400,000 for giving a speech to Cantor Fitzgerald LP, saying money in politics is “a snake that slithers through Washington.” The senator appeared on Sirius XM’s “Alter Family Politics” program to promote her new book, “This Fight Is Our Fight,” and she was …

The Hill reports: Top White House advisor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday criticized the Democratic Party, saying former President Obama’s public appearance a day earlier made her feel like she has “no idea” who is leading the party. “President Obama reminded me yesterday, I have no idea who the leader of the Democratic Party is. Is it him? On whose watch?” …

Newsweek reports: After three months of relaxation, former President Barack Obama will step back into public life Monday with a speech in his adopted home of Chicago. His first public remarks since the end of his two terms in the White House will come as part of an event with young leaders at the school where he taught constitutional law …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Former President Barack Obama will return to Chicago on Monday to speak to young people at the University of Chicago, in what will be his first speech since leaving the White House. Obama and young leaders will hold a conversation on civic engagement and discuss community organizing, his office announced Friday. Hundreds of people are expected …

Politico reports: Former President Barack Obama plans to reemerge on the international stage in late May, sitting down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her home country for a panel discussion about democracy. The panel, part of a 500–year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, is titled “Being Involved in Democracy: Taking on Responsibility Locally and Globally.” The visit will coincide …

The Hill reports: Former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff on Thursday pushed back against President Trump’s wiretapping allegations. “The president cannot order a wiretap, president does not order a wiretap, the president did not order a wiretap,” Denis McDonough said on CBS “This Morning” when asked if the president can order a wiretap. On Wednesday, Trump defended his unsubstantiated …

Politico reports: Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Monday he had not seen any evidence that the Obama administration wiretapped Trump Tower and the Trump administration would have evidence if this surveillance did occur. “I don’t think the FBI is the Obama team and I don’t think the men and women who are career prosecutors at DOJ belong to any …

The Hill reports: Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper on Sunday denied President Trump’s allegations that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower before the election. During an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Clapper was asked if he would be aware if something like that had happened. “I would certainly hope so … Obviously I can’t speak …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump is asking Congress to look into whether the Obama administration abused its investigative powers during the 2016 election, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement Sunday. “Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling,” Spicer said, posting the statement on Twitter. “President Donald J. Trump …

The Hill reports: A former policy adviser to President Obama is firing back at President Trump’s claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, saying it didn’t happen — at least not under Obama’s orders. “No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you,” Ben Rhodes tweeted Saturday morning. He also said …

Complete insane. Reuters reports: President Donald Trump on Saturday accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping him in October during the late stages of the presidential election campaign, but offered no evidence to support the allegation. “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!,” Trump …

The Log Cabin Republicans have published an open letter to Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions. An excerpt: Secretary DeVos and Attorney General Sessions, As transgender members of the Log Cabin Republicans and Republican parents of transgender students, we have deep concerns about your decision to rescind the May 13, 2016 directive entitled “Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students” pertaining to …

The Financial Times reports: Penguin Random House will pay more than $65m for the global rights to two books to be written separately by Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, after a blockbuster auction that set a new record for US presidential memoirs. The company declined to comment on the fee it had agreed with the Obamas. But people briefed …

Politico reports: Barack Obama is getting closer to making his public reappearance in politics, his friend and former Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday. Holder said he’s been talking to the former president about ways — including fundraising and interacting with state legislators — that could help the new National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which Obama asked Holder to chair …