同情特朗普

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An enraged U.S. President Donald Trump and a prominent Republican senator who fears the country could be edging toward "chaos" engaged in an intense and vitriolic back-and-forth bashing on social media on Sunday, in a remarkable airing of their party's profound rifts.

In political discourse that might once have seemed inconceivable, the Republican foreign policy expert in the Senate felt compelled to answer his president's barbs by tweeting: "It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning."

Trump earlier had laid bare his perceived grievances against retiring Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, in a series of stinging tweets that contended Corker:

• Was "largely responsible for the horrendous" Iran nuclear deal, which the Democratic Obama administration negotiated and Corker considered badly flawed. The senator also tried to require that President Barack Obama submit the accord to Congress for approval.
• Intended to obstruct the White House agenda, though he offered no evidence for saying he expected Corker "to be a negative voice."
• "Begged" for Trump's endorsement in his 2018 re-election, then opted against seeking a third term when Trump declined, showing the senator "didn't have the guts to run." The Associated Press reported that Trump, in a private meeting in September, had urged Corker to run. Corker's chief of staff, Todd Womack, said Sunday that Trump called Corker last Monday to ask that he reconsider his decision to leave the Senate. Trump "reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times," the aide said.
• Wanted to be secretary of state, and "I said 'NO THANKS,'" said Trump, who picked Exxon Mobil's Rex Tillerson for that Cabinet post. Corker, the Senate foreign relations committee chairman, was mentioned as a possible pick after the election.

Corker always had been one to speak his mind, and even before Sunday's verbal volleys, his new free agent status promised to make Trump and the party nervous. Already, there was the prospect of even more elbow room to say what he wants and to vote how he pleases over the next 15 months as Trump and the party's leaders on Capitol Hill struggle to get their agenda on track.

Budget director Mick Mulvaney speaks at the White House on March 16. Mulvaney said on NBC's Meet the Press, shortly before Trump took to Twitter on Sunday, that "it's going to be fun to work" with Corker. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)

Not long before Trump's tweeting, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on NBC's Meet the Press that "it's going to be fun to work" with Corker, "especially now that he's not running for re-election, because I think it sort of unleashes him to do whatever — and say whatever — he wants to say."

Tax reform at issue
Corker, a fiscal hawk, is holding the Republicans' feet to the fire on tax legislation, declaring he'll oppose any measure that increases the national debt by a cent. Republicans hold a narrow, majority in the Senate, and just three defections would torpedo the top priority in their partisan push.

Corker delivered a rebuke of the Trump White House after the president's provocative tweets undermined Tillerson's diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis with North Korea. Corker said Tillerson, along with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly, are "those people that help separate our country from chaos."

Corker will be at the centre of what may be a stormy debate over the future of the Iran agreement. Trump's hostility toward the deal has stoked concerns he's aiming to dismantle the international accord despite Europe's objections. Corker is opposed to scrapping the agreement outright.

"You can only tear these things up one time," Corker said. "It might feel good for a second. But one of the things that's important for us is to keep our allies with us, especially our Western allies."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, speaks in Washington in 2015. Murkowski has faced criticism from Trump recently over her opposition to Republican health-care legislation. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

Corker is the latest Republican to face Trump's wrath. The president in recent months has lit into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, over the failure of the party to repeal and replace Obama's health care law. Trump also specifically targeted Senators John McCain, of Arizona, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, for their opposition to Republican health legislation.

Trump's latest broadside came a day after he said he spoke to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about working on health care legislation, a fresh example of his occasional outreach to Democrats.

'Citizen legislator'
Corker, 65, announced last month that his second, six-year term would be his last. The self-described "citizen legislator" and former Tennessee finance commissioner now stands as a throwback to the fiscally diligent Republicans of yesteryear as his Republican colleagues embrace tax cuts that, they contend, will pay for themselves by spurring economic growth.

But ahead of the Republican push on taxes, Corker stewed over his party's inattention to the country's ever-increasing national debt, now at $20 trillion-plus. Since the election, too many Republicans have acted like it's "party time," and "a light switch has gone off" on fiscal issues, according to Corker.

'There's been a lot of sugar talked about the last couple of weeks. There hasn't been a lot of spinach talked about.'— Sen. Bob Corker, on tax reform
He voted against the annual defence policy bill, a typically popular piece of legislation, because the measure exceeded congressionally mandated spending caps by more than $80 billion.

Corker also refused to back the Harvey storm disaster aid package, which also extended America's borrowing authority and funded the government through Dec. 8. The package contained no offsetting budget cuts. Corker derided it as another example of Washington "kicking the can down the road."

Trump delivers remarks on proposed changes to the U.S. tax code at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis on Sept. 27. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

All that was prelude to his dismay over the current direction of the Republicans' tax overhaul. The tax system rewrite is a priority for Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. But Corker, a member of the Senate budget committee and the Senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee, has said the plan's hefty tax cuts could balloon the public debt by several trillion more dollars.

He considers the government's financial shortfalls to be more of a threat than North Korea or the Islamic State militants.

"There's been a lot of sugar talked about the last couple of weeks," Corker said. "There hasn't been a lot of spinach talked about."

Corker in August delivered a blistering assessment of Trump in the wake of the president's contentious remarks about the violence in Charlottesville, Va. Corker said Trump hasn't "demonstrated that he understands the character of this nation."

Trump fired back, tweeting that Corker's comments were strange "considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in '18. Tennessee not happy!" Trump later encouraged Corker to run for a third term, but the senator decided not to.

© The Associated Press, 2017

 

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(CNN) Bob Corker went off on Donald Trump Sunday night.

For 25 minutes, the Tennessee Republican senator unloaded lots (and lots) of pent-up frustrations to New York Times' reporter Jonathan Martin. The interview was remarkable -- both in the scope of Corker's denunciation and the words he chose to say about the sitting Republican President of the United States.

Corker's comments that he feared Trump was steering the nation "on the path to World War III" got the most attention -- and rightly so. But there was a whole lot more that Corker said that's worth paying attention to. Here are the 12 most notable quotes, ranked in order of how damning they are about Trump.

12. "I would compliment him on things that he did well, and I'd criticize things that were inappropriate. So it's been really the same all the way through."
Corker is trying to explain here what's changed in his relationship with Trump. He was once on the long list for vice president and was on the much-shorter list to be secretary of state. Now, he is persona non grata. What's obvious is that Corker believes Trump is wildly unpredictable and mercurial, lurching between love and hate based on the last thing you said about him on TV.

11. "When I told him that that just wasn't in the cards, he said, 'You know, if you run, I'll endorse you.' I said, 'Mr. President, it's just not in the cards; I've already made a decision.'"
It's telling about how devastating the Corker interview was that his direct, on-the-record rebuttal of Trump's assertion that Corker begged for his endorsement ranks this low. That said, if it surprises you that Trump tells himself the story he wants to hear (facts be damned!), you haven't been paying attention.

10. "[It's] a reality show ... like he's doing 'The Apprentice' or something."
It's now clear -- and has been for a while -- that Trump draws no distinction between his previous life as a reality TV star and his current one as president of the United States. His latest orchestrated drama -- Vice President Mike Pence walking out of the Indianapolis Colts game when several San Francisco 49ers players knelt during the National Anthem -- is just the latest example of how Trump views the presidency as a way to build drama and leave the audience wanting more.

9. "I don't know why the President tweets out things that are not true. You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does."
A sitting Republican senator acknowledging that the president of the United States lies on Twitter regularly. So, yeah.

8. "Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we're dealing with here ... of course they understand the volatility that we're dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around him to keep him in the middle of the road."
This quote says more about Corker's Senate colleagues than it does about Trump. Corker is asserting that everyone he works with understands Trump's "volatility." And yet, with the exceptions of Jeff Flake, John McCain and Ben Sasse, very few Republican senators have been consistently and openly critical of Trump and the decisions he makes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn have, largely, toed the Trump line -- even after Trump publicly attacked McConnell and suggested he might need to consider stepping down as the top ranking Senate Republican.

7. "I know he has hurt, in several instances, he's hurt us as it relates to negotiations that were underway by tweeting things out."
Every time the Trump White House -- or some ally of the President -- insists that the media takes his tweets too seriously or obsesses over them too much, they should be shown this quote. This is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee saying that Trump's tweets, on more than one occasion, have made deals more difficult.

6. "I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it's a situation of trying to contain him."
Consider this: A GOP senator in a position to know says that the main job of everyone working in the White House is to try to manage the President of the United States. This is the sort of thing someone might say about an unruly toddler: "We just have to spend all day trying to keep him from making trouble." It's OK when you are 7. When you are 71 -- and the President of the United States -- it's, um, much less OK.

5. "As long as there are people like that around him who are able to talk him down when he gets spun up, you know, calm him down and continue to work with him before a decision gets made, I think we'll be fine."
"Think we'll be fine"???? That's reassuring! Corker said last week that he believed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and chief of staff John Kelly were the only people keeping the country (and Trump) from descending into total chaos. And, as recently as last week, there was open speculation that Tillerson might be on his way out. Even if all three of these men stay on, say, for another year or two, history suggests most people in these high profile and high pressure jobs will cycle out of them sooner rather than later. What then?

4. "I don't think he appreciates that when the President of the United States speaks and says the things that he does, the impact that it has around the world, especially in the region that he's addressing."
Understatement of the year. Maybe the decade.

3. "He concerns me. He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation."
Absolutely remarkable. Remember -- and yes I know I keep saying this -- that Corker is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and in a position to know much more about what Trump is doing day in and day out than we are. That he would openly express his concern over Trump's capacity to keep the country safe is eye-popping.

2. "A lot of people think that there is some kind of 'good cop, bad cop' act underway, but that's just not true."
Nailed it. This is Corker's way of dismissing the idea that Trump is playing three-dimensional chess with every move he makes or tweet he fakes. That he is purposely acting outlandishly as some sort of strategic play to make sure the world knows he is capable of anything. (This is commonly known as the "Madman Theory.") As Corker makes clear -- and as Trump, too, makes clear when he does things like attack Corker -- the President isn't executing against some sort of master plan. He just acts -- primarily out of personal pique. There's no chess being played -- three-dimensional or otherwise.

1. "Trump may be setting the US on the path to World War III."
It doesn't get any more damning than this quote. What's even more remarkable is that Corker suggests that Trump may not even know what he is doing. As in: He may not only be marching us toward another world war but he also could well be totally clueless that's he even doing it.

 

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.08d1c428d026

 

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WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his attack on Senator Bob Corker on Tuesday by ridiculing him for his height, even as advisers worried that the president was further fracturing his relationship with congressional Republicans just a week before a vote critical to his tax cutting plan.

Mr. Trump gave Mr. Corker, a two-term Republican from Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a derogatory new nickname — “Liddle Bob” — after the two exchanged barbs in recent days. He suggested Mr. Corker was somehow tricked when he told a reporter from The New York Times that the president was reckless and could stumble into a nuclear war.

In labeling Mr. Corker “liddle,” the president was evidently returning to a theme. He considered Mr. Corker for secretary of state during the transition after last year’s election but was reported to have told associates that Mr. Corker, at 5-foot-7, was too short to be the nation’s top diplomat. Instead, Mr. Trump picked Rex W. Tillerson, who is several inches taller but whose own relationship with the president has deteriorated to the point that he was said to have called Mr. Trump a “moron.”

Mr. Tillerson initially did not deny it, but later had a spokeswoman insist he did not say it. The president, in an interview with Forbes magazine released on Tuesday, said that even if it were true, he was at least smarter than Mr. Tillerson.

“I think it’s fake news,” he said. “But if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare I.Q. tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”

Mr. Trump was scheduled to have lunch with Mr. Tillerson on Tuesday at the White House, along with Jim Mattis, the secretary of defense, who may play mediator. Just before the lunch, Mr. Trump told reporters he did not think he had undercut Mr. Tillerson with the I.Q. comment.

“I didn’t undercut anybody,” he said, sitting next to a former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, whose I.Q. is generally not questioned. “I don’t believe in undercutting people.” Asked if he still had confidence in Mr. Tillerson, Mr. Trump said simply, “Yes.”

Mr. Trump’s gibe at Mr. Corker echoed his name calling during the presidential campaign when he labeled Senator Marco Rubio of Florida “Little Marco,” dubbed Senator Ted Cruz of Texas “Lyin’ Ted” and called Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.” He has used belittling nicknames to diminish political foes but since taking office has generally avoided doing so with powerful Republican committee chairmen who control appointments and legislation.

It was not clear what Mr. Trump meant when he said The Times set up Mr. Corker by recording him. After Mr. Trump lashed out at the senator on Sunday by saying he “didn’t have the guts” to run for another term, a Times reporter interviewed Mr. Corker by telephone and recorded the call with the senator’s knowledge and consent. Mr. Corker’s staff also recorded the call, and he said he wanted The Times to do the same.

President Trump said he still had confidence in Rex W. Tillerson, his secretary of state, on Tuesday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

“I know they’re recording it, and I hope you are, too,” Mr. Corker told the reporter.

Mr. Corker said in the interview that Mr. Trump ran his presidency like “a reality show” and his reckless threats could set the nation on the path to World War III. Mr. Corker said that Mr. Trump’s staff had to stop him from doing more damage.

“I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain him,” he said.

He added that most Republicans in the Senate shared his concerns. “Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we’re dealing with here,” Mr. Corker said, adding that “of course they understand the volatility that we’re dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around him to keep him in the middle of the road.”

Mr. Trump on Tuesday rejected the suggestion that he was risking a nuclear war. “We were on the wrong path before,” he said, presumably referring to North Korea. “All you have to do is take a look. If you look over the last 25 years through numerous administrations, we were on a path to a very big problem, a problem like this world has never seen. We’re on the right path right now, believe me.”

While White House officials bristled at Mr. Corker’s comments, they also recognized that alienating the senator was fraught at a time when Republicans can afford to lose only two votes on any major issue where Democrats are lock step in opposition. Next week, the Senate plans to vote on a budget measure necessary to clear the way for Mr. Trump’s tax-cutting plan, and aides already assume they may lose Senators John McCain of Arizona and Rand Paul of Kentucky, leaving no room for further losses.

Mr. Corker has been a longtime deficit hawk and has expressed concern about a tax plan that would add as much as $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the budget resolution under consideration.

Some White House officials said they expected Mr. Corker to still support the budget measure next week because he already voted for it in committee, but other advisers to Mr. Trump have said privately that they worried the president was sacrificing his agenda for another round of personal sniping.

Mr. Trump said on Tuesday that he was confident the rupture with Mr. Corker would not sink his tax plan. “I don’t think so at all,” he told reporters during the meeting with Mr. Kissinger. “I think we’re well on our way. The people of this country want tax cuts. They want lower taxes.”

But he expressed his frustration with Republicans in Congress, who have failed to pass legislation he supported to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care program and replace it with their own version. He reaffirmed that he planned to sign an executive order on Thursday intended to make it easier for some Americans to purchase less expensive health insurance. “With Congress the way it is, I decided to take it upon myself,” he told reporters.

He did not save all of his criticism for his own party. He also accused Democrats — with whom he has been trying to negotiate an immigration deal — of being soft on border security. “The problem with agreeing to a policy on immigration is that the Democrats don’t want secure borders, they don’t care about safety for U.S.A.,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mr. Trump demanded this week that Democrats agree to a series of hard-line immigration enforcement measures, including construction of his oft-promised wall along the Mexican border, in exchange for legislation protecting younger immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Democratic leaders called the demands unacceptable.

 

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[Teddy]

好像别人拿他没办法，想咋么折腾都行

浏览附件714649

 

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好像别人拿他没办法，想咋么折腾都行

特朗普一直处在大选的兴奋状态?

 

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41643080

 

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有点儿乱....

 

[Teddy]

What a joke!
"Closer than ever"

浏览附件714922

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What a joke!
"Closer than ever"

他总是爱说这些"家常"话。

川普：我跟国会有“超棒的关系”
VOA, 2017年10月17日 08:37

华盛顿 —
川普总统和几位共和党国会议员多次在公开场合或是政策上有摩擦，他也曾经跟几位共和党议员针锋相对，或是在社交媒体上强硬批评。不过今天川普总统说他跟国会的关系“超棒”。

川普除了抨击民主党议员，也多次严厉批评同党议员。如大选期间他称呼鲁比奥参议员为“小马可”，克鲁兹参议员为“说谎泰德”。执政之后，川普总统也多次攻击同党议员，如最近北卡罗莱纳州的参议员鲍伯科克尔（Bob Corker）因为批评川普的朝鲜政策，被他讥为“小科克尔”，此前因为麦凯恩参议员的反对票而未能推翻奥巴马医保，川普对麦凯恩多所不满。他也在推特上批评参议院多数党领袖麦康奈尔（Mitch McConnell）：“说要推翻并取代奥巴马医保说了七年，还是失败了！”

不过10月16号星期一，麦康奈尔参议员到白宫与川普总统和副总统彭斯共进午餐，之后意外的邀请白宫记者们到玫瑰园中，回答媒体提问。

川普表示，他跟国会议员的关系“超棒”：”我与参议院当中的人有超棒的关系，我与众议院当中的人也有超棒的关系，我跟政治人物的关系都超好的。如果你看报纸，你会以为我像一座孤岛一样，而他们是其他独立的岛屿。不过并不是那样。”

前白宫首席策略师史蒂夫·班农最近在推行一个活动，要取代“除了克鲁兹之外的共和党国会议员”。这是否可能对下次国会议员选举以及今年11月的美国州长选举造成影响？川普表示，他跟班农的关系还是很好，而班农“在做的是他自己认为对的事情”，而多名共和党人被班农针对要拉下马，川普则说“看看能不能说服他不要这样做”。

 

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https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/a...is-drug-czar-nominee-following-report-n811121

 

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