Tag: Donald Trump

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Trump Now Says He’s A Big Fan Of “Intelligence”

President-elect Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump made a slight course correction today after trashing the U.S. intelligence community with tweets over the last few weeks, and recently siding with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on the issue of Russia’s recent cyber-hacking during the presidential election:

Now he says he’s a “big fan” of the U.S. “intelligence” community (so why the quotations around the word “intelligence?”):

On a related subject, last weekend Trump promised he would share with America on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week the secret info only he knows about hacking.

We are still waiting…

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Donald Trump Takes Credit For Jackie Evancho’s Holiday Album Sales

President-elect Donald Trump tweeted today (for a change) that reality TV competitor/singer Jackie Evancho’s record sales have “skyrocketed” since agreeing to sing at his inauguration.

The tweet seems to indicate that folks are buying the youngster’s record because she agreed to appear at his January 20th shindig.

But Billboard isn’t so sure the Trumpster deserves all that credit:

On Wednesday (Jan. 4), president-elect Donald Trump posted on Twitter that Jackie Evancho’s album sales have “skyrocketed” since the 16-year-old singer was announced to be performing the national anthem at his presidential inauguration later this month. “Some people just don’t understand the ‘Movement,’” Trump wrote in praise of the opera singer.

Have Evancho’s album sales really soared since she was announced as the performer on Dec. 14? It depends on how loose your definition of “skyrocketed” is, although they have posted gains. Someday at Christmas, Evancho’s most recent studio album, sold 6,000 copies in the chart week ending Dec. 15, according to Nielsen Music, following its Oct. 28 release.

After Evancho was announced to be performing at the inauguration, however, Someday at Christmas bumped up to 11,000 copies sold in the week ending Dec. 22 (up a big 94 percent compared to the previous week). In the tracking week after, the album sank slightly back to 8,000 copies sold.

Sales of the album did rise following the announcement — but most holiday albums receive a sales spike in the chart weeks approaching Christmas. For context, Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas saw it sales balloon from 139,000 copies sold in the week ending Dec. 15 to 185,000 sold in the week ending Dec. 22.

Furthermore, Evancho performed on the America’s Got Talent holiday special, which aired on NBC on Dec. 19 and re-aired on Dec. 29, and likely helped the album’s cause. Evancho became a star on AGT after placing second on its fifth season in 2010.

Oh – so after appearing on a big network holiday special, Evancho’s holiday record saw a jump in sales? Why, who’s ever heard of anything like that….?

#sad #creditwhore

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GOP Senator Breaks With Trump: I Have More Faith In U.S. Intelligence Officers Than Julian Assange

This morning, President-elect Donald Trump sent out this tweet which many interpreted as Trump believing in fugitive Julian Assange than the U.S. intelligence analysts:

And yesterday, Trump seemed to ding the intelligence community for “needing more time to build a case” regarding the Russian cyber-hacking during the presidential election. Note how Trump puts “Intelligence” in quotes…

Today, Sen. Tom Cotton appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” saying he had more trust in the country’s intelligence community than in WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. “I have a lot more faith in our intelligence officers serving around the world, very smart and experienced analysts that we have here in the nation’s capital, than I do in people like Julian Assange. I can tell you that much.”

Additionally, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called Assange a “sycophant for Russia” today on the conservative Hugh Hewitt radio show.

It seems so very odd for an American president-elect to choose the word of a fugitive on the run like Assange who trades in stealing information in a covert manner over the unanimous position of all 17 intelligence organizations of the United States.

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News Round-Up: January 3, 2017

Fitness model Nick Sandell

Some news items you may have missed:

• Nick Sandell wishes you a shirtless Happy Happy New Year!

• Debra Messing says new Will & Grace episodes are not a done deal.

• Only 46% of Americans believe Donald Trump can handle an international crisis versus an average of 71% of his predecessors.

• Janet Jackson gives birth to her first child at 50.

• The Alabama NAACP is holding a sit-in at Sen. Jeff Sessions office until he withdraws his nomination for U.S. Attorney General.

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed to offer free tuition at state colleges to hundreds of thousands of middle- and low-income New Yorkers.

• On New Year’s Eve, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking enforcement of federal protections that would have barred those in healthcare services to deny reproductive health services as well as services to transgender people based on “religious beliefs.”

• It’s been 159 days since Donald Trump held a press conference. Back in the summer days of the campaign, he excoriated Hillary Clinton for going 179 days with answering questions from the press. Hypocrisy?

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Trump: “I Know Things That Other People Don’t Know” About Cyber-Hacking Russians

Even though all 17 of the U.S. intelligence agencies  – ALL 17 AGENCIES!!! – agree “with confidence” that Russia willfully cyber-hacked American email servers in an attempt to interfere with the presidential election, Donald Trump says he knows “things that other people don’t know,” adding that he would share that info with the American people either today or Wednesday this week.

(p.s. today came and went with no announcement from Trump on the cyber-hacking)

From the New York Times:

“I just want them to be sure because it’s a pretty serious charge,” Mr. Trump said of the intelligence agencies. “If you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong,” he added, referring to intelligence cited by the George W. Bush administration to support its march to war in 2003. “So I want them to be sure,” the president-elect said. “I think it’s unfair if they don’t know.”

He added: “And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”

When asked what he knew that others did not, Mr. Trump demurred, saying only, “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Mr. Trump, who does not use email, also advised people to avoid computers when dealing with delicate material. “It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way, because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe,” Mr. Trump said.

“I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe,” he added. “I have a boy who’s 10 years old; he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”

I should add that since that reporting was made public, Team Trump has admitted that he hasn’t made the time to sit down with the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies to be briefed on what it is exactly they have as proof.

But he knows more than they do.

Because his 10 year old son can work a computer.

#sigh

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Hillary Clinton Will Attend Donald Trump Inauguration

Now, this is a lesson in class.

USA Today is reporting that just two months after a surprise loss in the presidential election, Hillary Clinton will attend the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

An aide to the Democratic nominee confirmed Tuesday that she and former president Bill Clinton will attend this month’s ceremony, speaking on condition of anonymity until plans are announced publicly.

It will be the first joint public appearance by Trump and Hillary Clinton since the three presidential debates that preceded Trump’s surprise election victory.

Bill Clinton will be one at least three ex-presidents at the Jan. 20 inauguration of Trump; George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter have also announced plans to attend.

Bush and former first lady Laura Bush “are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power — a hallmark of American democracy,” spokesman Freddy Ford said Tuesday.

According to New York Magazine, Hillary decided to attend out of “a sense of duty and respect for the American democratic process.”

Trust and believe, had Trump lost he wouldn’t have gone anywhere near the event.

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Trump Threatens General Motors With “Big Border Tax”

Just as he promised throughout the campaign, Donald Trump is beginning to threaten American companies that move jobs abroad by slapping them with a “big border tax” along the lines of 35% on imported goods.

Via Politico:

General Motors is the latest target of President-elect Donald Trump’s Twitter cannon, with the Manhattan billionaire complaining that the American automaker is manufacturing cars in Mexico and importing them into the U.S. without penalty. “General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax!” Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.

General Motors issued a statement in response regarding it’s manufacturing of the Chevy Cruze:

General Motors disputed the facts in Donald Trump’s Tuesday morning attack on the automaker, saying it makes most of its Chevy Cruze models in the United States. The company said in a statement that “all Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the U.S.” are made at an assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It clarified that it builds hatchback models for global markets in Mexico, “with a small number sold in the U.S.”

Free trade agreements, including NAFTA, were constant targets of Trump on the campaign trail.

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DNC Calls Trump Spokesman A “Shill For Putin”

The Democratic National Committee has had enough of Team Trump’s denial of the Russian cyber-hacking that took place.

After White House press secretary Sean Spicer took a spin on the morning political shows saying there is “zero evidence” of Russian involvement, the DNC knocked Spicer for being a “shill” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Via The Hill:

In an email, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) called Spicer’s comments false and pointed to an interview where several former White House press secretaries suggested President-elect Donald Trump often creates his own facts.

“Right on cue, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary was on the morning shows today spinning the falsehood that there is ‘zero evidence’ that Russia influenced the election through their hacking of DNC and Clinton campaign officials,” the DNC email stated. The email was sent under a subject line arguing that the incoming White House press secretary “shills for Putin.”

On Fox News on Monday, Spicer claimed there was “zero evidence” of Russian interference in the 2016 election, despite intelligence agencies’s reports about the hacking campaign leading up to Trump’s electoral win.

The fact of the matter is all 17 of the US intelligence agencies agree “with confidence” that Russia not only hacked into American email servers but did so with the purpose of interfering in the presidential election.

All 17 agencies.

Team Trump’s denials are based on fears that his electoral “win” might somehow be delegitimized if the Russian’s efforts are acknowledged.

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Trump “Struggles” To Pay Transition Team

Congressman Chris Collins, an early Donald Trump supporter, told NPR’s Buffalo affiliate that Trump’s transition team is “struggling” to raise the private funds necessary to pay those working for Trump leading up to his inauguration.

“Mr. Trump held a fundraiser down in New York City a few weeks back and did raise some money, but they have – I would use the word – ‘struggled’ to raise the private funds needed to pay these individuals who are working on behalf of the taxpayers but not being paid by the government,” said Collins.

Communications Counselor Kellyanne Conway will host a $5,000 per person fundraiser in Buffalo this Thursday at the Westin Buffalo hotel. The event will help cover the costs of Trump’s transition team, including their salaries.

Election campaign funds cannot be used to cover the expenses of the President-elect’s transition team.

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Trump Spokesman: When Trump Tweets He Gets Results

Upon winning the presidency, President-elect Donald Trump said that he would probably pull back from his now infamous tweeting on social media.

But now, it’s a new year and a new perspective from the incoming administration.

Donald Trump spokesman Sean Spicer on ABC’s “This Week:”

“You know, with all due respect, I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45 plus million people that follow him on social media, that he can have a direct conversation. He doesn’t have to have it funneled through the media.”

“’Business as usual’ is over. There’s a new sheriff in town, and he’s going to do things first and foremost for the American people.

“Absolutely you’re going to see Twitter. The fact of the matter is that when he tweets he gets results. So whether it’s Twitter, holding a news conference, picking up the phone, having a meeting, he is going to make sure that he continues to fight for the American people every single day.”