Free Republic

Maybe itÂ’s because the complexity is difficult to distill; maybe itÂ’s because some just canÂ’t give President Trump any credit; or maybe itÂ’s because the scope is too challenging to comprehend against the constant belittlement meme du jour; regardless of reason, President Trump is fundamentally realigning international geo-political alliances and almost no-one is connecting the dots. President Trump obviously held a long-ball strategy with the Chinese; heÂ’s described the approach in his books and lived the approach in his business life: At the outset, position yourself at the furthest oppositional point when it costs you nothing; then leverage inward toward...

Over the course of just one day, President Trump declared different positions than he took during the campaign on four issues. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal and at a press conference on Wednesday, President Trump declared that China is not a currency manipulator, entertained the possibility of re-appointing Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve, asserted that NATO is a relevant alliance and expressed a favorable view of the Export-Import Bank. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer portrayed the shifts as reactions to changing circumstances rather than an ideological modification.

"President Trump is abandoning a number of his key campaign promises on economic policy, adopting instead many of the centrist positions he railed against while campaigning as a populist. Trump will not label China a “currency manipulator,” he told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, despite a campaign pledge that he would apply the label on his first day in office. He also said he was open to reappointing Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet L. Yellen after saying last year that the central banker should be “ashamed” of what she was doing to the country. And he embraced the Export-Import...

Not even a contest A caller asked a very pertinent question last week that I could not immediately answer. Namely, had any one compiled a list of accomplishments by the Trump Administration, instead of the liberal media’s focus on things most people do not care about. Me being me, I wanted to find the answer and I did. I found it, coincidently, on the Sean Hannity TV Show. I guess there’s some truth to the scripture “ask, and you shall receive”.

Senior adviser to the president Stephen K. Bannon discussed the three most important goals the White House is working towards at CPAC 2017: homeland security, economic nationalism, and "deconstruction of the administrative state." "Every business leader we've had in is saying not just taxes, but also the regulation," Bannon said. "I think the consistent, if you look at these Cabinet appointees, they were selected for a reason and that is the deconstruction-- the way the progressive left runs, is if they can't get it passed, they're just gonna put in some sort of regulation in -- in an agency. That's...

Remember when Paul Ryan set Trump up before he won the Presidential election? He told him he would meet with him at a gathering, but at the last minute he canceled, humiliating Trump? Trump had made some unbecoming comments which made many turn against him. However, in the political arena, that does not usually turn Presidential supporters against the candidate. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/10/07/ryan-mcconnell-silent-on-lewd-trump-video/?utm_term=.039da67ec1e0 Ryan calls off plans to campaign with Trump; GOP-ers rush to distance themselves. It was a bad beginning for Trump, and it was his own fault, but it also gave us a glimpse into the GOP and Paul Ryan’s...

President Donald Trump has had a busy first week. From debating the size of his inauguration crowd to signing executive orders to fighting with Mexico, the president has proved he can do much more than sit around watching TV. Whether you're impressed with his efficiency or terrified by his impulsiveness, this much is for sure: It's Donald Trump's America and we're just living in it.FridayDonald Trump says he 'outworked everybody who ever ran for office'Newspapers around the world wish America 'good luck' and hold their breathTrump vows that 'we will get the job done' in first words as presidentPresident Trump...

PHILADELPHIA — At a White House meeting this week, President Donald Trump told House Speaker Paul Ryan he "liked" the Republicans' 200 day agenda that includes repealing and replacing Obamacare and overhauling the tax code. But he told Ryan something was missing. Trump asked lawmakers to include the massive infrastructure spending project that he promised voters during the campaign.

Taking aim at the Federal Reserve's politically motivated manipulation of the U.S. economy, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump blasted the controversial central bank's artificially low interest rates. He also denounced the “very false economy” propped up by Fed monetary gimmicks. Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, though, hit back immediately, saying Trump should not malign or even comment on the increasingly unpopular institution that controls America's monetary system.Trump's comments, which sparked national headlines, came earlier this week at an Ohio campaign stop in response to a question from a reporter about possible interest rate hikes by the Fed later this month. “They're...

Having already signed a (mostly symbolic) executive order on Obamacare on Friday night, urging US agencies to "waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation" of provisions deemed to impose fiscal burdens on states, companies or individuals, Trump is preparing to unload a volley of many more executive orders. Courtesy of Axios, which quotes "one of the best-wired Republican lobbyists in town", here is a preview of the initial round of Trump executive actions, some of which may hit as soon as Sunday afternoon: Look for a possible hiring freeze at executive branch5-year lobbying ban on transition and...

Donald Trump delivered a populist rallying call to Americans who felt left behind enough to send a non-politician to do the most powerful job on earth, after he was sworn in Friday as America's 45th president. 'I will fight for you with every breath in my body,' he pledged. 'And I will never, ever let you down.' Trump promised 'America first' would become the central organizing principle around which his government is organized. 'We will follow two simple rules. Buy American and hire American,' Trump declared. At 1,453 words, his inaugural address was the shortest since Jimmy Carter's in 1977....

WASHINGTON — In his first executive order, President Trump on Friday directed government agencies to scale back as many aspects of the Affordable Care Act as possible, moving within hours of being sworn in to fulfill his pledge to eviscerate Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The one-page order, which Mr. Trump signed in a hastily arranged Oval Office ceremony shortly before departing for the inaugural balls, gave no specifics about which aspects of the law it was targeting. But its broad language gave federal agencies wide latitude to change, delay or waive provisions of the law that they deemed...

Donald Trump is ready to take an ax to government spending. Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned. The changes they propose are dramatic. The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the...

The minute Donald Trump was sworn into office, the White House’s web site changed—dramatically. WhiteHouse.gov immediately wiped pages on LGBT rights, civil rights, climate change, and health care from its “issues” section after Donald Trump took the oath of office.

Entrenched GOPe Show Their Cards – Construct “Border Adjustment Tax” To Oppose Trump’s America-First Agenda Anyone who believes Democrats own exclusive opposition to Donald Trump are completely ignoring the deliberate construct of the 2015/2016 republican primary. There are just as many -if not more- natural enemies within the Republican apparatus as there are within the Democrat group. “America-First” is antithetical to the UniParty.Again, prior to Donald Trump there was one party in Washington DC, “The UniParty”. President Donald Trump represented a second party, an independent approach toward legislative and economic priority. He was not a third choice, he was...

Donald Trump will be busy Friday. He and Mike Pence have promised, Mother Jones magazine points out, that on Trump's first day in office he will repeal Obamacare, end the "war on coal," expel illegal immigrants, begin construction of a "beautiful Southern border wall," fix the Department of Veterans Affairs, come up with a plan to stop ISIS, get rid of "gun-free zones," "start taking care of our ... military," withdraw from the TPP trade agreement, cut regulations and designate China a currency manipulator. OK, much of that was probably just campaign talk. I'm grateful for that. I hope...

President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare and Medicaid. Trump declined to reveal specifics in the telephone interview late Saturday with The Washington Post, but any proposals from the incoming president would almost certainly dominate the Republican effort to overhaul federal health policy as he prepares to work with his party’s congressional majorities. Trump’s plan is likely to face questions...

Repealing Obamacare is all but a certainty. It’s the "replace" part that has everyone hung up. Democrats hilariously claim if Republicans “break it, they’ve bought it.” That’s like accusing someone of breaking the picture on a jigsaw puzzle. Still, the matter of replacing this abomination presents Republicans with serious problems, not the least of which is the concept of government interference in health insurance has long been ceded. Were this a pre-Obamacare world, implementation would be easy to stop – people can’t miss what they never had. But it was implemented, and millions of people are used to what Obamacare...

WASH POST PAGE ONE MONDAY: TRUMP SAYS OBAMACARE REPLACEMENT DONE...

By Wallace Bruschweiler and William Palumbo Franklin Delano Roosevelt began an American tradition with his “First Hundred Days” of sweeping legislation, ushering in the New Deal and forever changing American politics and, more broadly, American life. Let there be little doubt about it: President-Elect Donald J. Trump has forever altered this tradition, as he began practically governing the day after he was elected fair and square in an historic upset. What has Trump accomplished as President-Elect? The below list only includes the highlights of a truly remarkable (and exciting) transition period. Jobs - This week, Amazon announced a plan to...