This week’s report card finds President Trump in his usual spot of battling new legal challenges, the latest related by former lawyer Michael Cohen’s claims he was direct to make hush-payments by the boss, and a strong showing in the Oval Office against Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
What’s more, at the end of his week, he picked the obvious choice of budget chief Mick Mulvaney to be his acting chief of staff, a job the former congressman sought. Insiders said that Mulvaney is a strong choice because he is very loyal to the president but doesn’t pull his punches. He and his aide, John Czwartacki, invented the phrase “MAGAnomics.” And he has good ties to Capitol Hill, which he’ll need to negotiate a new healthcare plan should the Supreme Court agree with a lower court ruling Friday that Obamacare is dead, and push through a new attorney general and interior secretary.
Secretary of the Interior @RyanZinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period of almost two years. Ryan has accomplished much during his tenure and I want to thank him for his service to our Nation…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2018
Our conservative grader Jed Babbin, in giving Trump a “B” for the week, focused on the Trump-Pelosi-Schumer meeting and showdown over the wall.
Jed Babbin
Grade: B
President Trump had a relatively quiet week, at least after the stage-managed blow up with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday. After that, Defense Secretary Mattis changed Trump’s mind on a key issue and the Senate passed a resolution which would end U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen and formally condemn Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.
As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster! Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions. Mitch and Nancy, get it done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2018
Both Schumer and Pelosi went into the White House meeting intending to show Trump that they’re the new bosses (which, after the Republican drumming in November, they are at least legislatively), but Trump turned the meeting on its head. The Democrats are determined to never fund construction of Trump’s campaign-promised border wall. Trump countered by demanding it in the pre-Christmas funding bill and said he’d be “proud” to shut the government down if he didn’t get it.
The president also said that he might use the military to build the wall. He probably can’t do that because without congressional approval to spend it that way, the Pentagon doesn’t have the legal authority to shift that much money around.
The president canceled the annual White House party for the press corps, another message of disdain for those Trump calls the “enemies” of the people. There will be a dearth of Christmas cookies and the famous White House eggnog on Pennsylvania Avenue.
I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called “advice of counsel,” and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid. Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
In November, Trump had said he was canceling the increase in the Pentagon’s budget planned for fiscal year 2020 and reducing it below the $716 billion it had been in FY 2019. Defense Mattis stepped in and convinced Trump that the new National Defense Strategy announced last month simply cannot be performed with the budget cut Trump had tried to impose. Mattis is right: You can’t do more with less, you can only do less with less. And let’s not forget that the increase in FY 2019 wasn’t even enough to fix existing problems. The Pentagon has barely begun to recover from eight years of spending cuts and disdain in the Obama years.
Thanks to Leader McConnell for agreeing to bring a Senate vote on Criminal Justice this week! These historic changes will make communities SAFER and SAVE tremendous taxpayers dollars. It brings much needed hope to many families during the Holiday Season.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018
The Senate resolution on Saudi Arabia, apparently under the War Powers Act, won’t have any effect because the House isn’t likely to pass it. But it is a repudiation of Trump’s policy. The Saudi war in Yemen — against the Iranian-backed Houthis — is stalemated. That stalemate would be broken to the disadvantage of the Saudis if our support, especially air refueling of Saudi aircraft – were withdrawn. The Senate sent a clear message that it believes MBS is directly responsible for the Khashoggi murder and wants him to be penalized. Trump is resisting so far. That likely means the newly Democrat-controlled House will raise the stakes next year.
Jed Babbin is an Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
