We start on Friday, June 12th, President Trump announces on Twitter that he’s rescheduling his Tulsa rally to not coincide with Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Critics of Trump respond by highlighting that Trump is averting a crisis of his own making.
Meanwhile, publisher Simon & Schuster releases a promotional summary of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s upcoming book, titled “The Room Where it Happened,” accusing President Trump of more “Ukraine-like transgressions” and argues that House Democrats committed impeachment “malpractice.”
Saturday, June 13th, Trump gives a commencement speech to over 1,100 cadets graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. While his speech focused on unity during turbulent times for the country, the subject quickly changed when the President took to Twitter to defend his rapid descent down a ramp.
Sunday, June 14th, nine states report a record spike in coronavirus cases with thousands of Americans gathering in support and protest of President Trump as he celebrates his 74th birthday.
Monday, June 15th, in a watershed victory for LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court rules, 6-3, in favor of barring workplace discrimination against gay and transgender employees. In addition to the Trump administration being handed a defeat, Trump’s own appointment, Justice Neil Gorsuch, broke rank and authored the majority opinion.
Meanwhile, weeks after admitting to and advocating for the use of the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, the FDA revokes its emergency use authorization of the drug to treat coronavirus patients, saying it’s “unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19.”
Tuesday, June 16th, in the wake of George Floyd’s death, President Trump signs an executive order designed to limit the use of police chokeholds and also create a national database of police misconduct. But there is a caveat to it as the chokeholds are only legal if the officer’s life is in danger.
Meanwhile, Trump gets some promising economic news after the Commerce Department reports that retail sales jumped 17.7% in May, the biggest increase on record.
Wednesday, June 17th, former National Security Adviser John Bolton publishes an excerpt of his book, “The Room Where it Happened,” in the Wall Street Journal that includes damaging allegations of corruption, including Trump pleading with Chinese President Xi Jinping for domestic political help and ignored China’s human rights abuses. Trump responded to Bolton by calling him a “liar” whom nobody liked. The Department of Justice follows suit by asking a federal judge to issue an emergency order to block the book’s publication.
Thursday, June 18th, President Trump reacts to the second Supreme Court decision against the Trump administration, calling their decisions “shotgun blasts into the face” of conservatives. The tweet comes after the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision, blocking the Trump administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program that shielded thousands of undocumented children who came to the United States illegally as children.
Despite celebrating his 74th birthday, it was another abysmal week for the president, who’s starting to see few political wins and a growing number of significant losses that only hurts his chances of re-election.
