President Trump, Week 10

Here's this week's soul crushingly long list of unsurpassed buffoonery coming from President Trump and his White House for the week beginning 2 PM Friday, March 24th to 2 PM Friday, March 31st.  This is likely not all of the Trump team's transgressions, but it's most of them.

A reminder:  If the letter next to the President's name was a 'D' instead of an 'R,' everything on this list would've had at least warranted a mocking press conference from the Republicans.  Many of these issues would've lead to immediate Congressional investigations.  Some would've started impeachment proceedings, and for the first time I can say some of the things on this list would've been the catalyst for Republicans to remove a Democratic President from office, probably with most Democrats on board too.  But since Trump's a Republican, most Republicans still insist Trump's a pleasant stroll though the park, as they perform their Andy Dufresne sewer crawl.

To be fair, there are some brief glimmers of hope the GOP is starting to pony up to their responsibility.  John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, and even Dick Cheney seem to be trying to alert the rest of the GOP community how wrong it is to have colluded with a foreign government to undermine American Democracy (no Sh!#, Sherlock!), and the Senate Intelligence Committee seems like the only functioning federal governmental body we have.  I pray the rest of the GOP clowns wake up soon.

Let's put lipstick on this pig!

• Trump blames Democrats for the failure of TrumpCare to pass the Republican controlled House of Representatives
• Breitbart, a far right news outlet friendly to Trump, and 'formerly' run by Senior Presidential Advisor Steve Bannon, starts blaming Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for the failure of TrumpCare to pass, implying Ryan should be replaced
• Last year, not only was former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn working for the Trump campaign and for the country of Turkey, but he also was part of a bizarre plan, working with Turkish officials to possibly kidnap American based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who is in America due to threats from Turkish leaders.  The plot was to ship him to Turkey against his will.  Yes, that would be illegal
  
• The Trump State Department approves the Keystone Pipeline
• As Trump blames the Democrats for the failure of TrumpCare, it's pointed out the President never once contacted the Democratic leadership to talk about the bill
  
• After the failure of TrumpCare, Trump said he "gave it his all."  His "all" is apparently a few weeks, where he never once consulted with the minority party
• Rep. Devin Nunes, the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, moves to change a scheduled open public hearing on Trump's Russia ties, now saying it will be a private closed door hearing instead
• A story from Vanity Fair says Trump told a friend he was obsessed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's translator's breasts
  
• The Health and Human Services Inspector General has launched an investigation into Trump's decision to pull ads encouraging people to sign up for the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
• Trump appoints Roger Servino to head the HHS Civil Right's Office.  Servino has publicly argued against same sex marriage and transgender rights
• In a military strike on March 17th, US forces accidentally hit a civilian area of Mosul, Iraq.  ISIS was not located in the vicinity of the strike.  It's reported dozens of civilians were killed
• Trump tried to reassure his supporters that "Obamacare will explode," even though Obamacare is the law of the land and Trump and the Republicans don't have a replacement plan in place
• The Democrats are introducing the Mar-A-Lago Act, a law to force Trump to reveal who exactly he's meeting with when he's at his resort
• At a pro-Trump rally in California, when the pro-Trump crowd came across an anti-Trump counter protest, the Pro-Trump protesters attacked them.  No condemnation from Trump or anyone at the GOP, even after they demanded all Democrats had to apologize for an anti-Trump protest at Berkeley turning violent in January
• Trump goes golfing.  This is the 12th time Trump's been golfing during his 9 week Presidential run
  
• Boris Epshteyn, Assistant to Trump, announces he'll be leaving the White House immediately
• Trump tells his Twitter followers to watch a specific Fox News program, Jeanine Pirro.  Yes, he is making this television viewing recommendation as President of the United States
• During Jeanine Pirro's show, the same show Trump specifically told his followers to watch, Pirro demands Paul Ryan resign as Speaker of the House, a sentiment being echoed from the White House.  Pirro insist Ryan was the sole person responsible for the failure of TrumpCare
  
• Sources are stating that Michael Flynn is working out a deal with the FBI to offer information on Trump
• The GOP spends $150,000 to rent a ballroom at Mar-A-Lago to host a fundraiser, and the featured guest for said fundraiser was none other than First Lady Melania Trump
• Reports state the White House is panicking in regards to the Russia/Trump probe
• Republicans seem flummoxed as they keep trying to blame Democrats for the failure of TrumpCare, even though Trump's main talking point on the campaign trail was how HE was the only one who could fix it, and for the public to not trust anyone else in Washington
• Rep. Devin Nunes, the Chair of the House Intelligence committee, a person who's investigative independence has already come into question, took a mysterious dead of night phone call the day before his 'Trump excuse' press conference.  He then abandoned his entire staff to go meet with someone in private, a person who gave him the 'evidence' Trump touted as validating his claims.  The 'evidence' did no such thing
• Steve Bannon was rebuked when he tried to strong arm the House Freedom Caucus by ordering them to vote for TrumpCare
• Apparently, Trump, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel was visiting the White House, handed her an 'invoice' for money he says NATO owes the US.  1) They don't owe us that money, 2) Merkel runs Germany, not NATO 
• Trump advisor and long time friend Roger Stone defended his suspicious prediction of leaked Democratic e-mails by insisting he couldn't have know about them.  His main defense was since there was no 'hashtag WikiLeaks' or 'hashtag Assange' it can't possibly be true
  
• A report on GOP insiders assertions on why Trump failed on healthcare states "you have to know the subject matter" and "he didn't care or particularly know about healthcare"
• After people rightfully question Trump, asking if he was sending a message by telling everyone to watch a TV show which called for Paul Ryan to be removed, Trump insists he endorses Ryan
• A conservative pundit says the only President with a worse first 100 days in office was William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States, a man who died a month into his term due to pneumonia
  
• Rep. Trey Gowdy, a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, tries to insist that Rep. Nunes did not talk to Trump after Nunes himself admitted he'd talked to Trump
• Trump proudly brags he will undo all of President Obama's anti-climate change initiatives he put into place
  
• Trump spends the 13th day of his term golfing, as he decided to spend both weekend days at the Trump National Golf Course in Virginia
  
• Reports say the White House is being torn apart by infighting on who exactly is to blame for the failure of TrumpCare
• The sudden resignation of Boris Epshteyn is raising some eyebrows.  Epshteyn has a long history of pro-Russian work and statements, and reporters are speculating whether he was actually a Russian Agent, possible helping confirm the existence of the Trump sexual debauchery tape from Moscow
• The 'invoice' given to Angela Merkel seems to have originated from Steve Bannon, who apparently ordered Trump to give it to her, like a parent ordering a kindergartener to give a note to their teacher
• Trump announces Senior Advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner will run various government departments and agencies like businesses, in an effort to streamline them
• The Senate Intelligence Committee announces plans to call Jared Kushner to testify in front of them to explain his various meetings with Russian politicians and business leaders
• Trump advisor and long time friend Roger Stone, still trying to save himself, now insists even though he's the only known confirmed link between the hacker Guccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks, he didn't collude with Russia (see earlier post...and numerous posts over the last few weeks)
• After insisting Hillary Clinton would be a "Goldman Sachs President," Trump has appointed his SIXTH former Goldman Sachs executive to his Administration
  
• Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatens to cut Justice Department grants to sanctuary cities who don't start rounding up people
• The source for Rep. Devin Nunes' Trump wiretapping defense claim actually met him the day before the press conference on the White House grounds, a location not everyone is allowed access 
• EPA Chief Scott Pruitt says of the Paris Climate Accord, " Paris was a bad deal"
• White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer admits it's possible the White House themselves gave Nunes the information to defend their wiretap claim 
• Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Dick FREAKING Cheney(!!!), says Russian Interference in the Election of 2016 is "an act of war"
• Jared Kushner just happened to fly to the taxpayer funded Trump family trip in Aspen on the same exact day that Russian Billionaire and close friend of Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich, happened to be in Aspen
  
• Jared Kushner met with the head of a Russian Bank, Vnesheconombank, which was part of a spy ring that was busted by recently fired US Attorney Preet Bharara
• There is strong circumstantial evidence that Boris Epshteyn, former assistant to Trump, is actually 'Source E' from the Steele Dossier, the report which was ordered initially as opposition research for Republicans against Trump during the GOP primary, a report which outed Trump's extreme sexual fetishes in Moscow (for the record Steele never directly talked with 'Source E,' but did talk to 'Source E's Russian handlers.  Much of the Steele Dossier has been proven factual)
• If Boris Epshteyn is indeed 'Source E,' then this would mean Boris, according to the Steele Dossier, is a Russian spy with close ties to Putin, who managed to infiltrate the inner circle of Trump
  
• It's reported a Russian bank Jared Kushner met with is currently under US sanctions
• It's reported that Devin Nunes actually cancelled the Russia/Trump hearings because he didn't want Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates to testify
• Numerous people from both parties are now calling on Nunes to recuse himself from the Trump/Russia investigation 
• Senator John McCain, a Republican, says Nunes must identify who gave him the information at the White House
• In a Twitter temper tantrum, Trump screams about debunked Clinton/Russia ties in an effort to deflect from his campaign's potential treasonous actions
  
• Rep. Lois Frankel from Florida is asking the White House to cover the local costs of Trump's Mar-A-Lago excursions, which are bankrupting the local community
• AG Sessions starts to show his agenda, and the incredible hypocrisy of his agenda.  He screams about Federal law when it comes to legal marijuana and sanctuary cites, but insist Transgender rights are only a state issue.  A logical person could actually make the argument for those things should be reversed
• Nunes, facing numerous calls to recuse himself, cancels all House Intelligence Committee meetings for the week
• Trump once again gives his Twitter followers television viewing advice by sending them to a Fox News show which just happened to be plugging Trump talking points verbatim 
• The Senate has asked for a review of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's comments in an Axios News story, where he told everyone to send their kids to see the 'Lego Batman' movie, a film produced by one of his companies.  This is a clear violation of conflict of interest laws
  
• Trump decided the US would boycott attending talks geared at banning nuclear weapons
• White House Staffers are baffled at what exactly Trump daughter Ivanka Trump's White House role will be
• Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly threatened to walk out of a meeting with Muslim community leaders after a person asked if Trump's executive orders and policies were discriminatory toward Muslims (spoiler alert: they are)
• The errant US airstrike in Mosul on March 17th is now responsible for at least 137 civilian deaths and possibly as many as 230
• It's revealed it was the White House themselves who didn't want Yates to testify to the House Intelligence Committee
• Trump follows through on his threat and does indeed undo all of President Obama's anti-climate change initiatives he put into place
  
• Nunes vows to NEVER release the name(s) of the person who gave him the now debunked Trump wiretap 'evidence' at the White House (wait for it...)
• It costs NYC alone $127,000 to $146,000 PER DAY to keep Melania Trump at Trump Tower in NYC
• Trying to make a joke, Trump asks a roomful of police union officials to help him identify the police officers who didn't vote for him.  It didn't go over well
• A USA Today report states Trump is invested financially with a multitude of Russians, many of whom have ties to organized crime/the mob
  
• Former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort's financials on three New York City properties, including one at Trump Tower, have the appearance of money laundering fronts 
• Sean Spicer gets into an odd exchange with a reporter, April Ryan, where he orders her to stop shaking her head, after he dismissed her Trump/Russia question
• Trump orders the 2020 Census to omit the category of GLBTQ
• For the Inauguration, Trump wanted a full military parade with tanks, missile launchers and fighter jet fly overs
• Trump's anti-climate change orders basically says a company can pollute legally, with zero recourse or penalty from the Federal Government 
• Trump turns down the offer of throwing a first pitch of the season at a Washington Nationals game.  This is minor, but imagine the outrage coming from the GOP if a Democrat turned down the offer
  
  
• Ivanka Trump officially begins her new White House Advisor job but still no one seems to know what her job entails
• Trump attempts a joke (?) about Susan B. Anthony, but his nonsensical line leaves more head scratching than anything else.  It's also possible he thinks Susan B. Anthony is still alive
• The Senate Intelligence Committee, running far more efficiently that the House version, says they will use their subpoena power if they need to in regards to the Trump/Russia investigation
• Sean Spicer insists "the President made women's empowerment a priority throughout [his] campaign."  Considering his "grab them by the P-" line, his extremely sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton, and the numerous lawsuits which were pending against him for sexual misconduct, no he wasn't
• Trump's cabinet has the least amount of women in an Administration since 1980
• A native American tribe in Montana is suing the Trump Administration, challenging the lifting of the moratorium on coal leases without first consulting tribal leaders
• The FBI says Rep. Nunes lied when the he stated FBI Director James Comey declined Nunes' offer to attend House hearings on Trump/Russia
  
• 2016 Republican candidate Carly Fiorina calls for an independent commission on Trump/Russia
• Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke implies the US will just take Mexican land as it builds the border wall.  No, he wasn't joking
• In response to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's criticism of Trump's lack of knowledge about world affairs, Sean Spicer says, "He's very well steeped in World Affairs," he was a "leader in the effort to call for Brexit." Spicer did not elaborate on his claims
• Trump says the New York Times apologized for it's election coverage.  The New York Times did not, putting out a statement, "False!  We did not apologize.  We stand by our coverage"
• US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley refers to the US cutting money and aide for UN peacekeeping missions as "trimming the fat"
• Trump says he's going to authorize the sale of 19 F-16's to Bahrain, a sale held up by President Obama due to Bahrain's horrific human rights record
• Trump says he and the GOP will make a deal on healthcare, because "that's such an easy one!"
• It's announced the rest of the White House will pass on attending the White House Correspondents Dinner
• Speaker Paul Ryan says he has zero intent on trying to work with the House Democrats on anything, but his actions seem to imply he's terrified Trump will cut a deal with Democrats on his own to pass healthcare reform
• A second attempt at getting the court injunction against Trump's 2nd Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban lifted is denied by a Hawaiian Judge
• Seattle sues the Trump Administration over Sessions' threat to Sanctuary Cities, claiming it's unconstitutional and too ambiguous
• Media points out, again, that Trump's claim of Clinton and Uranium to Russian is an outright lie, a lie Trump is using to try to deflect from his own Russian problem
  
• Trump once again rages agains the House Freedom Caucus, telling them the White House will fight them in 2018 if they don't get "on the team & fast"
• Speaker Ryan stands by Rep. Nunes as the head of the House Intelligence Committee but he also insists he never told Nunes to update Trump on anything
• Sean Spicer says Trump isn't bothered or concerned about the additional costs for the Secret Service and the Florida community in regards to his Mar-A-Lago trips
• Another element of the Trump report titled the Steele Dossier is proven to be true as Mikhail Kulagin was outed as a Russian Intelligence Agent.  He had claimed he was a diplomat but people noticed he wasn't doing anything a diplomat would. Kulagin's actual role was to coordinate Russian efforts in the United States to throw the election to Trump.  He was evacuated out of the country out of fear he would be discovered
• Rep. Nunes is reported to have received the documents from that night at the White House from a former staffer of his, and a former Flynn Deputy, Michael Ellis
  
• In what is the beginning of blockbuster Senate Intelligence Committee testimony from Cyber Expert, Former FBI agent, West Point Instructor and Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute Clint Watts, it's revealed Russia is currently targeting Trump with disinformation campaigns because they know when he's watching television/social media.  This is information they know Trump will repeat without verifying
• Prosecutors in Miami Dade County say they will not charge Steve Bannon with voter fraud, even though evidence "tends to indicate" his guilt
• Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, laid out how exactly Russia interfered with the Election of 2016.  By using propaganda based news outlets, bombarding social media, and hacking the Democratic servers and e-mails, they put forward an effort to hurt Hillary Clinton, and help Donald Trump.  He went on to strongly imply people associated with the Trump campaign knew prior to the public what was about to be released, implying Trump's campaign had implicit knowledge of Russia's propaganda campaign
  
• The House Freedom Caucus strikes back at Trump, implying he's already been corrupted by Washington's political culture
• Clint Watts tells the Senate Intelligence Committee, if you want to understand how Russia interfered in the 2016 Election on Trump's behalf, "follow the trail of dead Russians"
• Clint Watts says he fears Russian retaliation against him, as he doesn't trust Trump or the Administration to keep us safe
• The second person who gave Rep. Nunes the intelligence files at the White House that evening was revealed to be Ezra Cohen-Watkin
• Trump, on Twitter, calls for the New York Times to be punished after they revealed the secret names of the two individuals who gave Rep. Nunes the files on the White House grounds
• Vice President Mike Pence casts the tie breaking vote in the Senate, allowing states to defund Planned Parenthood.  He did this the day after he attended the Forum for Empowering Women
• One of the few women in the Trump White House, Katie Walsh, announces she is leaving the Administration for a job in the private sector
• Clint Watts also states for the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russian Operatives are still active and operating in the highest levels of American politics, with the goal of undermining American democracy
• Sean Spicer, in a press briefing says, "I never said I would provide you answers"
• Michael Flynn, former member of Trump's campaign team and former National Security Advisor states he is willing to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution
• UN Ambassador Nikki Haley says the US is changing it's policy on Bashar al-Assad.  She now says the US is okay with leaving a man who killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens, and a man who used chemical weapons on his own people, in charge of Syria
• With Rep. Nunes White House sources being revealed, it's also revealed Spicer lied
• The Oklahoma Bar Association is looking to disbar EPA Chief Scott Pruitt  for lying about his use of private e-mail while the Attorney General of OK
• Vice President Pence states he will NEVER eat one on one with another woman other than his wife, regardless of whatever circumstance or necessity
  
• Pence also says he will never go to an event with alcohol being served without his wife being there for support
• After (CLEARLY) watching Fox & Friends on Fox News, Trump tweets exactly what they said, that he's very happy Michael Flynn has offered to testify against him for immunity
• The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's staff has ordered all US diplomats to avoid eye contact with him.  They've also ordered them to never talk to him directly
  
• Rex Tillerson has spent most of his time as Secretary of State "isolated" and "walled off" from the rest of his staff
• During Senate Intelligence Committee hearings, it's revealed over a thousand paid Russian online internet trolls were put into place to spread fake news, hurting Clinton and helping Trump, during the 2016 Election
• Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA, is refusing to ban proven brain damaging chemicals, chlorpyrifos, in pesticides.  The EPA's own report on the chemicals condemns them
• Rep. Ted Yoho (ironically) walked back his comments defending Rep. Nunes, where he stated Nunes works for Trump.  Elected officials are supposed to work for the people they represent
• With the story of Flynn seeking immunity, sources are saying the White House is starting to weigh all options on the table, including possible resignation
  
• During the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Sen. Lankford comments on the fair point that Russia has been trying to infect American Democracy and US elections for decades, so why is this now a big deal.  Clint Watts' reply points out the issue many people, especially the Republicans, are dancing around.  The reason Russia succeeded in 2016 is because our current Commander and Chief actively used the Russians to undermine his opponent
  
• Trump is apparently "baffled and paralyzed" he just can't order politicians to do things, like he ordered contestants around on 'Celebrity Apprentice'
• Ivanka Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos host an event to promote women who have excelled in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), while at the same time the Trump budget actually will cut $115 million from NASA's Office of Education
• It's pointed out the only person Michael Flynn could give up in order to secure immunity would be Trump himself
• Treasury Secretary Mnuchin admits he shouldn't have promoted the 'Lego Batman' movie, a movie he produced, a movie he promoted as Treasury Secretary 
• The Senate Intelligence Committee officially tells Flynn 'No' on immunity
• Russian Dictator, and man who gleefully kills off his political enemies and journalists, Vladimir Putin called the overwhelming evidence of Russia's 2016 Election tampering "fictional," "lies"
• Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly tell California they won't stop stalking courtrooms with their immigration enforcement agents
• Sessions and the Department of Justice starts putting pressure on Colorado, hinting at a likely Federal crackdown on legal marijuana
• Out of fear the documents would be destroyed by the incoming Administration, President Obama secretly gave the Senate Intelligence Committee a list of documents, evidence of Russian interference into Election 2016
  
• Rep. Jason Chaffetz tells Trump to back off promoting the Nunes/White House claims, and his attempts at intimidation, adding he shouldn't be trying to influence the investigation
• Sean Spicer, defending the White House's feigned ignorance on who Nunes met with on White House grounds, states "we don't track every person who is on the 18 acres" YOU DON'T?!?
• Spicer repeats the Trump claim that the REAL Russian connection was Hillary Clinton, without offering ANY evidence of the already disproven connection

For the sake of humanity...ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?

As this list has gotten progressively longer, I've started to ask why.  Is it because I'm looking in more places for news?  No, I'm still checking out the 20 or so news outlets I always did.  Are my standards lowered, hence I'm getting more things on the list?  No, I ask the same validation questions I did when I started this.

That leaves two other options; the media is now doing a FAR better job of documenting this Administrations insane level of incompetence, or the Trump White House is just getting worse and worse the longer they hold the position.  I think it's a bit of both.  

The fact there aren't multiple current investigations, running independently, in both the House and Senate, is a national tragedy.  My only guesses are the Republicans are too embarrassed to acknowledge their role in creating the monster, and they're hoping this'll all blow over before they have to start thinking about what will anger their voters more; investigating Trump, or not investigating Trump.  In late 2017/early 2018, many Republicans will be screaming for full investigations, claiming to have been doing so ever since the first inkling of Russian interference came to light.  Don't let them rewrite history, or lessen their responsibility for the state of this country.

My guess is Trump will immediately resign the second the Senate and/or the House subpoenas his tax returns...