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Week 28, in one sentence: President Donald Trump fired Reince Priebus, who had been his chief of staff for just six months; replaced Priebus with his secretary of homeland security, John Kelly, who then fired Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, a post he held for just 10 days; tweeted quite a bit about Republicans’ failures in the Senate and called on them to change filibuster rules; failed to clarify how the Pentagon should implement his plans for a ban on transgender people serving in the military; faced reports that he had dictated his son’s misleading statement about his meeting with a Russian lawyer, which the White House initially said the president had nothing to do with; officially got his new FBI director, Christopher Wray, confirmed; grudgingly signed a “clearly unconstitutional” bill that slaps new sanctions on Russia and limits his power to ease those sanctions; threw his support behind a bill that would judge immigrants based on their English-speaking abilities and job skills; reportedly suggested firing the U.S.’ top general in Afghanistan because he wasn’t “winning”; apparently lied to the Wall Street Journal about receiving a congratulatory phone call from the Boy Scouts; and addressed a crowd of cheering supporters in a West Virginia city ravaged by opioids without mentioning opioids.
The “maverick” finally goes maverick Day 190 — July 28
Republicans’ “skinny repeal” of Obamacare failed. John McCain finally lived up to his “maverick” nickname when the Arizona senator voted against the repeal, along with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who voted no on the last two replacement bills. When McCain gave a thumbs down, the chamber briefly erupted into audible gasping and applause. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell apparently almost cried. Earlier that week, McCain had caused a stir when he showed up last minute — just a week after surgery and a brain cancer diagnosis — at the Senate to vote in favor of continuing the debate over healthcare.
Trump let the world know he had fired his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, by tweeting about his new chief of staff: John Kelly, a former four-star general who was already serving as Trump’s secretary of homeland security. (Kelly’s replacement at DHS is so far unknown.) Priebus lasted just six months in the White House, and rumors of his departure had swirled since his first month.
End the filibuster Day 191 — July 29
Trump tweeted eight times about the Senate’s failings. He repeatedly demanded that Senate Republicans change the filibuster rules so that most legislation can pass with only 51 votes instead of 60 and fumed that eight Democrats control the Senate and therefore the country. The rant came on the heels of a particularly humiliating week for Senate Republicans, whose efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare collapsed once again.
Putin on the brakes Day 192— July 30
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that 755 U.S. diplomatic workers in Russia would have to leave the country by Sept. 1 in response to new sanctions from the U.S. Putin said the Kremlin’s relations with the American government are deteriorating, and that he may take further action to push back against the sanctions.
Trump’s sole tweet of the day once again urged Republicans to find a way to repeal and replace Obamacare — and change filibuster rules while they’re at it.
Scaramucci gets the boot Day 193 — July 31
Trump — whose White House has been compared to a season of “Survivor” just last week — again stunned the nation with a surprise firing. He terminated the employment of Anthony Scaramucci, the former hedge fund manager who had been communications director for the White House for just 10 days. Scaramucci’s brief time in the White House was already dogged by scandal.
The military still has no idea what’s going on with Trump’s ban on transgender personnel, the Pentagon confirmed to VICE News. In three stunning tweets last week, Trump told the estimated 15,500 active-duty and reserve transgender service-members in the armed forces that they were a burden and created “tremendous medical costs and disruption” for the military. The Pentagon was reportedly blindsided by the announcement and won’t make any changes until they receive a formal head’s up from Trump.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other members of a White House task force formally urged Trump to declare a federal state of emergency to deal with the opioid epidemic.
The Washington Post reported that Trump dictated — on Air Force One, no less — his son’s misleading statement about that meeting with the Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. election. (The White House previously claimed the president wasn’t involved.) After the Post’s report, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the following day that Trump “weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information he had,” but she denied that Trump had dictated the statement.
A self-described email prankster revealed that he tricked a number of White House officials into thinking he was various other White House officials. The prankster masqueraded as Reince Priebus, for example, and coaxed this response from the real Scaramucci: “You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A man would apologize.” Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert also accepted an invitation to a “soiree” from fake Jared Kushner and offered his personal email address for future correspondence.
Into the Wray Day 194 — Aug 1
The Senate confirmed Christopher Wray, who served as assistant attorney general in George Bush’s administration, as the FBI’s new director. Although an overwhelming majority approved of the role, the vote was still more split than ever before. During his confirmation hearing, Wray promised the Senate that he would never pledge loyalty to Trump — the very question former FBI director James Comey said the president asked of him before firing him.
“I’d never allow the FBI’s work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law, and the impartial pursuit of justice,” Wray said, adding “Period.”
The same day, Trump signed a bill he called “clearly unconstitutional” which slaps fresh sanctions on Russia for meddling in the 2016 election and also requires the president to seek congressional approval before easing them. “Despite its problems,” Trump said, he signed the bill “for the sake of national unity.”
Speaking of seriously pissing off Russia, Trump has another tough decision coming up: whether to approve the Pentagon’s plans to arm Ukraine in its fight against Russia-backed rebels. Ticking that box would risk further angering an already irate Kremlin, while a no on the plans, reportedly backed by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, could alienate his generals.
Trump apparently lied about a phone call he said he’d had with the head of the Boy Scouts. Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he’d received the phone call congratulating him on the “greatest speech ever made” to the group after his controversial and aggressively political remarks at the National Boy Scout Jamboree. The Boy Scouts, however, denied placing the call, and days later, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had misspoken and had merely received “quite powerful compliments” from “multiple members of Boy Scout leadership.”
Good hombres Day 195 — Aug 2
Trump threw his support behind another bill, this time the RAISE Act, which would judge immigrants for entry into the U.S. based on points awarded for skills, like speaking English and their ability to support themselves. The plans, which Trump called “the most significant reform of our immigration system in half a century,” would cut legal immigration by 50 percent. Still, eight Democrats in the Senate would have to vote “yes” for the bill to pass.
With an announcement that he would hire 12 federal prosecutors for a special unit within the Department of Justice intended to go after doctors and pharmacists who illegally dispense opioid painkillers.
Aside from the wall, Trump isn’t happy about the military’s performance in Afghanistan so far. In fact, the president reportedly suggested firing the U.S.’ top military official there. “We aren’t winning,” he said during a tense two-hour meeting in the Situation Room on July 19.
The Department of Justice announced a sudden investigation into anti-Asian American discrimination in college admissions, signaling a potential shift in its decades-long approach to the policy.
Trump launched a video series on Facebook starring his own daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in hopes of convincing viewers it’s “real news.” “Because there’s so much fake news out there,” Lara said in one episode.
Following a lease disagreement with the Trump Organization, Trump Tower’s Secret Service detail now operates out of a trailer.
Russia’s not mad, you’re mad Day 196 — Aug 3
After preemptively expelling 755 diplomats from the country, Russia also wanted the world to know it wasn’t mad at Trump for imposing new sanctions. Instead, in a Facebook post, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he felt sorry that the U.S. establishment had “outwitted” Trump and forced him to hand over power to Congress “in the most humiliating way.”
What two other world leaders had to say to Trump became clear when the Washington Post released full transcripts, prepared by the White House although so far not officially released, of the president’s bizarre phone calls to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull just days after taking over the Oval Office in January.
The highlights include:
- Reminding Peña Nieto that Israel, too, has a wall.
- Calling Australia’s refugees less than ideal members of society “who go on to work for the local milk people,” whatever that means.
- Telling Turnbull that “Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.”
Not only has Special Counsel Bob Mueller established a grand jury in his investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia to win the election, the Washington Post reported — the special group reportedly already issued two subpoenas related to that infamous June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer, sources told Reuters.
From the WSJ:
The development is a sign that investigators continue to aggressively gather evidence in the case, and that Mueller is taking full control of a probe that predated him.
Senators also introduced competing bipartisan bills to protect Mueller. Each bill would require judicial review if Trump decides to fire the special counsel.
Trump managed to deliver a speech in a West Virginia, a state ravaged by the opioid crisis, without mentioning the drugs once — despite the expectation that he would declare a national state of emergency like his opioid task force, headed by Chris Christie, recommended.