[ad_1]
It was a puzzling week in the face of what President Donald Trump actually thought of Russia's interference in the US elections and of what he and the Russian Vladimir Putin said to themselves during their private meeting. The confusion was fueled by Trump 's hesitant statements on the summit
On other fronts, Trump incorrectly claimed that Queen Elizabeth II had granted her an honor that she had never had before. previously granted during his reign and, when the President was back in the United States, He gave a wrong account of improvements in health care for veterans.
A week in review :
TRUMP : "The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. Eagerly await our second meeting to start implementing some of the many things discussed, including terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyberattacks, trade, Ukraine, peace at Middle East and more, there are many answers, some easy and some difficult, to these problems … but they can all be solved! "- Tweets Thursday.
THE FACTS : Trump implies that he concluded broad agreements with Putin At the meeting in Helsinki, the two countries "may begin to implement" with a second meeting. If he knew it, his own White House and his State Department did not know it.
Sarah Sanders, press secretary of the White House, mentioned humanitarian aid for Syria, Iran, Israel, arms control and the annexation of Crimea. The 2016 US elections were discussed. When she is in a hurry to give details of any planned action, she can not provide any.
"This is the beginning of the dialogue with Russia and our administration and theirs and we will continue to work on these things," Sanders told reporters Wednesday.
The State Department presented its own opinion on the Helsinki meeting, stating that no agreement had been reached and that there had been no only general proposals on matters mainly related to economic and strategic cooperation
TRUMP . if Russia ingested it in the 2016 elections: "The whole concept of this was perhaps a little earlier, but it appeared as a reason why Democrats lost an election – frankly, they would have The electoral college is much more advantageous for the Democrats, as you know, than for the Republicans.We have won the electoral college by many – 306 to 223, I believe. "- Remarks Monday.
THE FACTS : Trump makes the erroneous badertion, again, that Democrats have a "benefit" in the Electoral College. His unique system of election of presidents is actually a big reason why Trump won the presidency. Four candidates in history won the majority of the popular vote, but the Electoral College denied them the presidency. In the 2016 elections, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump after racking up more or less balanced victories in big states like New York and California, according to electoral data compiled by the United States. Associated Press. But she lost the presidency due to Trump's winning margin at the Electoral College, which came after narrowly winning the less populated Midwestern states, including Michigan and Wisconsin
. representatives in each state plus his two senators. This means that more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than the vote of someone in a large state.
Trump also gives a false image of the electoral college vote. The official account was 304 to 227, according to an AP count of the electoral votes in each state.
TRUMP : "I want to have a choice, just as we now have with veterans, all approved, that no one thought was possible.Vets now, instead of staying online for two weeks or a week or three months, they can go out and see a doctor, and we pay for it, and it turns out a lot cheaper, and they love it. "- Remarks Wednesday at the Cabinet meeting [19659003] THE FACTS : The Veterans Affairs Choice for Veterans program to which Trump refers is not "all approved." The health care program of the sector private, measured by the average time veterans have to wait before receiving a doctor's appointment Trump's suggestion that veterans get immediate care because of Choice does not reflect the reality. 19659003] Trump signed a bill last month that would facilitate restrictions on private care. But its success in dramatically reducing wait times largely depends on a redesign of VA's electronic medical records to enable transparent sharing of records with private sector physicians. This review will take at least 10 years.
As part of the Expanded Choice program, which will take at least a year to implement, veterans will still have to meet certain criteria before seeing a private doctor. These criteria will be determined in part by the proposed federal regulations that will be subject to public review.
At present, only veterans who wait at least 30 days for an appointment at a VA facility can receive physician care from the government's expenses. A recent government report on accountability found that, despite the Choice program's guarantee of an appointment within 30 days, veterans waited an average of 51 days to 64 days
TRUMP : is absolutely a great person, where she has revised her guard of honor for the first time in 70 years, I am told. We walked in front of the guard of honor, and it was very inspiring to see and be with her. – remarks Tuesday at a meeting with members of Congress
THE FACTS : No, Queen Elizabeth II did not see her guardian for the first time in 70 years when Trump visited last week. She's only been on the throne for 66 years.
The Queen regularly inspects her guard of honor as part of royal duties, often while visiting foreign officials. That included when President Barack Obama visited in 2011.
TRUMP when it was asked Wednesday at a cabinet meeting whether Russia was still targeting the US elections: " No".
FACTS ]: Trump's apparent response that Russia poses no risk to future US elections contradicts the warning of its director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, a few days ago on Russia's threat of interference in the 2018 elections. Coats compared the cyberthreat today to the way US officials described before 9/11 the risk of a terrorist attack as indicated by intelligence channels: "flashing red", with warning signs of imminent attack
He was saying "no" to any other issues – even if he then spoke to Russia.
TRUMP, on his intelligence officials on Monday: "They said that they thought it was Russia.I have President Putin.He just said that it was not Russia.I will say this – I see no reason why this would be. "
TRUMP, reading a statement, about his intelligence officials Tuesday: "I accept the conclusion of our intelligence community that Russia interference … took place" and the "sentence should have been" I see no reason why it would not be Russia. ""
TRUMP when CBS asked him Wednesday when he was in agreement on the fact that Russia mingled with the elections of 2016: "I l & # 39; have already said several times, and I would say yes. "19659003] THE FACTS : Trump's comment Monday was there a misunderstanding triggered by his saying" would "instead of "would not be"? Or his rare admission of an error rooted in the ferocity of the US response by those – Republicans among them – who said they had undermined the US intelligence services by appearing to side with Putin?
Whatever the case, Trump at various points "I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said at the joint press conference. He made the unsustainable badertion on Monday that "I have confidence in both parties" – his intelligence officials, who say that Moscow has interfered, and Putin, who says no.
Trump was an almost lonely figure in his administration taking on doubts as to whether the Russians tried to influence the elections. Trump's senior national security officials, Democrats and most Republicans in Congress say US intelligence agencies were right to see the Russians secretly trying to influence the elections. The continuation of the investigation in Russia by the special advocate made it possible to draw up a detailed list of attempts and successes of the Russians to steal the Democratic Party and Clinton's electoral communications and disclose e-mails and embarrbading documents
Putin denied again that he favored Trump in 2016. "Yes, I wanted him to win because he talked about the normalization of Russian-American relations"
Putin referring on Monday to Bill Browder, prominent critic of Putin and investor accused of financial crimes in Russia: "Browder's business badociates have earned more than $ 1.5 billion in Russia. Have never paid taxes, neither in Russia nor the United States, and yet the money has escaped the country.They have been transferred to the United States.They have sent a huge sum, 400 millions of dollars, as a contribution to the Hillary C campaign linton. "
THE FACTS : The idea of a $ 400 million donation to the Democratic campaign is a stratospheric exaggeration. On Tuesday, Russia's Attorney General's Office said, on a small fanfare, that Putin was misrepresented and that it meant $ 400,000.
Clinton's campaign committee raised less than $ 564 million. With supporting political action committees added to the equation, the Clinton effort has attracted $ 795 million in donations. Putin's initial figure suggested that much of his money came from a small cabal of financiers
The reality is much less dramatic.
Browder's financial partners in New York, Ziff Brothers Investments, donated only $ 1.75 million for the 2016 campaign, spreading it among candidates for many offices in both parties and promoting Republicans in congressional races. The watchdog site opensecrets.org shows that it only gives $ 17,700 for the Clinton election and less than $ 300,000 for the Democratic National Committee, as well as smaller amounts for others. entities
. , Hollywood, the unions, the health and pharmaceutical sectors, and many others.
TRUMP on the increase in military spending of NATO countries: "I had an excellent meeting with NATO. They have paid $ 33 billion more and will be paying hundreds of billions of dollars more in the future, just because of me. NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia). "- tweet Tuesday
THE FACTS : No, the increased military spending of NATO members is not just due to him. NATO members agreed in 2014 to stop reducing their military budgets and set themselves the goal of "spending" to spend 2% of their gross domestic product for their own defense here. 2024. Most NATO members spend less than 2%, although others are moving in this direction. The problem is not about payments to NATO, as Trump constantly says but how much the members spend for their own armed forces. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Trump's high demands were having an effect on military spending, saying the European allies and Canada would add $ 266 billion to their military spending. here 2024 and have said of Trump. "It is re According to a NATO estimate, alliance members, with the exception of the United States, have collectively increased their budgets military $ 33 billion last year.
Source link
