Trump to the donor's wife with the Presidential Medal of Freedom | New policies

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated press

WASHINGTON (AP) – Miriam Adelson is a doctor, philanthropist and humanitarian, but she is perhaps best known as the wife of Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino mogul considered one of the most powerful Republican donors of the country. It will add a new title on Friday when President Donald Trump will award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Miriam Adelson is one of seven personalities recognized by Trump with the medal, the highest honor the United States can bestow on a civilian.

Other recipients include retired Republican Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah, one of the oldest senators in US history; Alan Page, who was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court after a career in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears; and Roger Staubach, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback of the Hall of Fame.

Posthumous honors are awarded to Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth and Antonin Scalia, the Conservative Supreme Court Justice.

The Adelsons gave a $ 30 million boost to Trump's presidential campaign in the final months of the 2016 race. The couple then donated $ 100 million to the Republican party for the mid-term elections. last week.

Miriam Adelson, 73, is a naturalized American citizen born in Israel. She earned a medical degree from Tel Aviv University and founded two treatment and research centers for addiction treatment in Las Vegas and Tel Aviv. She and her husband own the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Israel Hayom newspapers.

The Adelsons are also strong supporters of Israel. Their passion for strengthening the country, with Israel-United States. public relations, helped maintain political priorities such as the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Republican Party and the Trump administration.

Trump moved the embassy in May and Sheldon Adelson, who had offered to personally fund the move, was sitting in the front row for the ceremony.

Robert Weissman, Chair of the Public Citizen Public Interest Group, said it was hard to believe that the decision to recognize Miriam Adelson was based on merit.

"It's emblematic of Donald Trump's corrupt and transactional presidency, and it's a shame, but not a surprise, that it corrodes and corrupts a civic treasure, an honor like the Medal of Freedom." "Weissman said.

Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said Trump had used the process followed by previous administrations to address the problem of his group of laureates. The process was coordinated by the Office of the Staff Secretary, taking into account the recommendations of the public, the relevant Presidential advisory bodies, the Cabinet and senior White House officials, she said.

The prize is awarded to persons "who have made a particularly meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace or to cultural activities or other important public or private activities".

Miriam Adelson is said to be "deeply humbled and moved by this exceptional honor".

"Freedom is at the heart of my decades of work against drug addiction, addiction is a slavery for the user, his family and society, and the treatment of an emancipation," she said. in a statement released Thursday by Las Vegas Sands Corp. , a company owned by Sheldon Adelson, which operates hotels and casinos around the world. "Together, my husband, Sheldon, and I have dedicated our lives to freedom: to a free market that benefits the highest good and philanthropic activities that help those who suffer from poverty and disease."

E. Fletcher McClellan, professor of political science at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, said that there was no limit to the number of people who could receive this presidential honor.

"He has total discretion over who and when and how," said McClellan, who has studied the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Christopher Devine, a professor of politics at the University of Dayton, questioned Miriam Adelson's impact on American culture or national interests over former winners such as Oprah Winfrey or Bruce Springsteen. Winfrey and Springsteen both received medals from President Barack Obama, which they supported politically.

"This leaves many people wondering if President Trump has designated her as a thank you, thanking her husband's very important contributions, Sheldon Adelson, to Republican candidates and Republican causes. over the years, especially in favor of its 2016, "said Devine, who wrote a book on the presidential medal of freedom.

Devine said that although Miriam Adelson is not the first contributor to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the size of her contributions to the campaign sets her apart from others.

Editors from the Associated Press Steve Peoples in New York, Michelle Price in Las Vegas and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this article.

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