(Turnberry, UK) – Protesters are joining President Trump on the golf course. About a dozen protesters gathered outside Trump’s Scottish golf resort in Turnberry where the President and First lady are spending the weekend. Trump seemed unfazed as demonstrators on the beach booed while he golfed. More protests took place across Scotland Saturday, including one in Edinburgh featuring the Trump Baby balloon that drew nearly ten-thousand people. Meanwhile, Scottish Police say they are investigating how a paraglider was able to fly close to the resort yesterday with a banner that read, “Trump: Well below par.”
Trump arrived in Scotland Friday after meeting Queen Elizabeth and British Prime Minister Theresa May. He’ll head to Finland to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
(Washington, DC) – A dozen Russian intelligence agents are being charged for attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election. Today, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Despite the indictments, the White House insists that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Administrators are pointing to the indictment as further proof that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said there’s no evidence that any votes were changed because of the activities. She also said there’s nothing in the indictments suggesting collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Russian agents allegedly hacked Democratic officials in an effort to influence the election.
U.S. Senator John McCain spoke out saying, “These revelations add to a body of evidence confirming an extensive plot by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government to attack the 2016 election.” McCain is urging the President to confront Putin. Trump claimed during a press conference in London that he planned on ‘asking’ Putin about the charge but said he doubts the Russian leader will admit to anything.
(London England) – President Trump is in Scotland after wrapping up a two-day visit to England. Earlier today, the President and First Lady had tea with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.
Trump also held a joint news conference with the British Prime Minister and stressed America’s “special” relationship with the UK.
The two held a joint news conference today, not long after reports surfaced in The Sun newspaper that Trump had criticized her plan for the so-called soft Brexit. He said he’d suggested how she should carry it out and she decided to go in a different direction. May, for her part, said lots of people give her advice on how to negotiate with the EU, but it’s her job to actually go out and do it.
More than 100-thousand demonstrators turned out in central London to protest Trump’s visit to England.
He’ll spend a private weekend at his golf course in Scotland.
(Paris, France) – French President Emmanuel Macron is disputing claims made by President Trump at the NATO summit. Trump held a press conference in Brussels this morning claiming NATO countries have agreed to his defense spending demands. Trump said some allies have agreed to increase defense spending to two-percent of their GDP “at a much faster clip,” but French President Macron says that’s not entirely true. Macron held his own press conference and said allies did not agree to increase spending beyond previous targets, but confirmed their intention to meet the goal of two-percent by 2024.
Macron also said that President Trump never at any moment, either in public or private, threatened to withdraw from NATO. Trump had said at his press conference that he had the authority to pull the U.S. out of NATO, but that the commitments he received during the summit made that unnecessary.
(SL) – A new survey shows most Americans believe Barack Obama is the best president in their lifetime.The Pew Research survey asked respondents to choose any president between Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump and 44-percent chose Obama. Bill Clinton was the second most popular, followed by Ronald Reagan. Nineteen-percent of those surveyed said President Trump is the best president of their lifetime.
(San Diego, CA) – The Trump administration is falling well short of meeting a deadline to reunite around 100 migrant children with their parents. Officials say 38 kids have been reunited with their families.
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw had concluded that 63 of the group of about 100 kids must be reunited by today’s deadline, noting the other cases were more complicated.
He said any failure in the effort must be documented in a written report by Thursday and discussed the following day in court. He said today’s deadline and the July 26th deadline for reunifying the three-thousand other kids “are firm deadlines,” not suggestions.
(Los Angeles, CA) – Representative Maxine Waters says despite receiving death threats recently, she is not afraid to stand up for America. Speaking at an immigration rally in Los Angeles yesterday, Waters warned those who have threatened her that, quote, “if you shoot me, you’d better shoot straight. There’s nothing like a wounded animal.”
She addressed the cancellation of appearances in Texas and Alabama, saying holes in security needed to be fixed. But Waters says she will continue her schedule touring the nation to speak against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
She also called for President Trump’s impeachment, saying America is not his to do what he pleases.
(Washington, DC) – U.S. intelligence officials reportedly have evidence that North Korea is looking for ways to conceal its nuclear weapons stockpile. “The Washington Post” reports that Pyongyang is preparing to deceive the U.S. about how many nukes it has while maintaining secret weapons production facilities.
The report says the new information was obtained following the historic June 12th Singapore summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In that meeting, Kim re-iterated earlier promises to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
(Washington, DC) – A newly unsealed search warrant application is revealing that former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort’s business got a big loan from a Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin. The ten-million-dollar loan came from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, whose ties to Manafort are well known.
Deripaska was among several wealthy Russians who were slapped with sanctions for Russia’s attempts to meddle in international affairs, including U.S. elections. Manafort is currently in jail on charges of money laundering and fraud in connection with the investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is headed for the exit. Kennedy announced his retirement today, effective at the end of July. Kennedy turns 82 in July. He has been on the high court since 1988 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Kennedy is generally conservative but has been seen as a swing vote on the nine-member court. Kennedy delivered the decisive vote in the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling allowing same-sex marriage.
President Trump is expected to nominate a judge with solid conservative credentials to replace Kennedy. His retirement gives Trump the opportunity to lock in a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for many years. The Daily News presented an interesting take on its cover. Kennedy is a native of Sacramento, California and is a graduate of the Harvard Law School.
The Pew Research survey asked respondents to choose any president between Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump and 44-percent chose Obama. Bill Clinton was the second most popular, followed by Ronald Reagan. Nineteen-percent of those surveyed said President Trump is the best president of their lifetime.
