Trump Expected to Avoid Houston During Texas Visit on Tuesday

Trump Expected to Avoid Houston During Texas Visit on Tuesday

President Donald Trump is heading to Texas on Tuesday to display the federal government's support for areas hit by Hurricane Harvey, but Houston, which is underwater and is expecting even more rain, won’t be on his itinerary.

Trump "will not be coming to the Houston area, which is the most, still danger-prone area," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News Channel Monday.

"Instead, it will be closer to where the hurricane came across shore, which is closer to the Corpus Christi or San Antonio area," Abbott said in response to questions about whether, with up to two more feet of rain still expected in the Houston area, it would be a good time for the president to visit.

 First Lady Melania Trump will accompany her husband on the visit, her communications director tweeted Monday.

The White House has not yet announced the president's itinerary.

In planning the trip, Trump faces the challenge of displaying his support and easing the region’s recovery — but without getting in the way of local officials who are both leading recuperation efforts and preparing for more bad weather.

That test is no small feat for a president who loves the spotlight.

Trump indicated on Sunday he understood some of the obstacles, tweeting that he would visit the state "as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption," adding that "the focus must be life and safety."

Ahead of the visit, Trump and vice president Mike Pence were taking actions from Washington, D.C.. to help the region.

Trump approved Louisiana's request for a federal emergency declaration Monday morning, while Pence, in an interview with Houston radio station KTRH, reassured the people of Texas that Americans are with them and will be there to help rebuild.

A visit by Trump could create a logistical nightmare, even if it took place away from storm-hit Houston, with state and federal officials needing to devote all their attention to the submerged metropolis, where 20 more inches of rain were expected.

In addition, Harvey, now a tropical storm with winds about 30 to 40 mph, could also come back and hit land again, creating more headaches.

The storm is currently about 15 miles off the middle of the Texas coast and is slowly moving back toward coastal waters. It is expected to remain offshore through Tuesday before resurging in the Gulf of Mexico and turning back north toward southeast Texas on Wednesday.

How Trump handles the aftermath of Harvey — the first natural disaster he's faced in the Oval Office — could have lasting impact on his popularity and on the public’s perception of the president's competence.

His two predecessors faced very different outcomes in their immediate responses to hurricanes.

George W. Bush, whose bungled and slow response to Hurricane Katrina is cited by historians as one of the most worst presidential responses to a natural disaster, was in Air Force One when he first surveyed the wreckage of the 2005 superstorm four days after it hit the Gulf Coast.

Bush, who’d been on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., was returning to Washington in Air Force One, which flew low over the Gulf Coast so he could see the devastation. The photos of a somber-looking Bush in his plane, however, backfired, creating the perception almost immediately that he was distant and detached from the horror on the ground.

With Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Barack Obama embarked on a helicopter inspection over New Jersey on Oct. 31, two days after the storm hit, and was greeted enthusiastically by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Obama also took an aerial tour of Queens, Staten Island and other areas hit in New York two weeks later on Nov. 15.

Trump, for his part, faces the added challenge of getting lawmakers to greenlight billions of dollars for the recovery in Texas, due to the skirmishes resulting from a Sept. 30 deadline to continue funding the federal government.

Trump last week threatened to let the federal government shut down if he doesn’t get his long-promised border wall funded.

Source: CBNNews.com

Donald Trump Has No Grasp Of What It Means To Be President

U-turns, self-regard and equivocation are not what it takes

DEFENDERS of President Donald Trump offer two arguments in his favour—that he is a businessman who will curb the excesses of the state; and that he will help America stand tall again by demolishing the politically correct taboos of left-leaning, establishment elites. From the start, these arguments looked like wishful thinking. After Mr Trump’s press conference in New York on August 15th they lie in ruins.

The unscripted remarks were his third attempt to deal with violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. In them the president stepped back from Monday’s—scripted—condemnation of the white supremacists who had marched to protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general, and fought with counter-demonstrators, including some from the left. In New York, as his new chief of staff looked on dejected, Mr Trump let rip, stressing once again that there was blame “on both sides”. He left no doubt which of those sides lies closer to his heart.

Mr Trump is not a white supremacist. He repeated his criticism of neo-Nazis and spoke out against the murder of Heather Heyer (see our Obituary). Even so, his unsteady response contains a terrible message for Americans. Far from being the saviour of the Republic, their president is politically inept, morally barren and temperamentally unfit for office.

Self-harm

Start with the ineptness. In last year’s presidential election Mr Trump campaigned against the political class to devastating effect. Yet this week he has bungled the simplest of political tests: finding a way to condemn Nazis. Having equivocated at his first press conference on Saturday, Mr Trump said what was needed on Monday and then undid all his good work on Tuesday—briefly uniting Fox News and Mother Jones in their criticism, surely a first. As business leaders started to resign en masse from his advisory panels (see article), the White House disbanded them. Mr Trump did, however, earn the endorsement of David Duke, a former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

The extreme right will stage more protests across America. Mr Trump has complicated the task of containing their marches and keeping the peace. The harm will spill over into the rest of his agenda, too. His latest press conference was supposed to be about his plans to improve America’s infrastructure, which will require the support of Democrats. He needlessly set back those efforts, as he has so often in the past. “Infrastructure week” in June was drowned out by an investigation into Russian meddling in the election—an investigation Mr Trump helped bring about by firing the director of the FBI in a fit of pique. Likewise, repealing Obamacare collapsed partly because he lacked the knowledge and charisma to win over rebel Republicans. He reacted to that setback by belittling the leader of the Senate Republicans, whose help he needs to pass legislation. So much for getting things done.

Mr Trump’s inept politics stem from a moral failure. Some counter-demonstrators were indeed violent, and Mr Trump could have included harsh words against them somewhere in his remarks. But to equate the protest and the counter-protest reveals his shallowness. Video footage shows marchers carrying fascist banners, waving torches, brandishing sticks and shields, chanting “Jews will not replace us”. Footage of the counter-demonstration mostly shows average citizens shouting down their opponents. And they were right to do so: white supremacists and neo-Nazis yearn for a society based on race, which America fought a world war to prevent. Mr Trump’s seemingly heartfelt defence of those marching to defend Confederate statues spoke to the degree to which white grievance and angry, sour nostalgia is part of his world view.

At the root of it all is Mr Trump’s temperament. In difficult times a president has a duty to unite the nation. Mr Trump tried in Monday’s press conference, but could not sustain the effort for even 24 hours because he cannot get beyond himself. A president needs to rise above the point-scoring and to act in the national interest. Mr Trump cannot see beyond the latest slight. Instead of grasping that his job is to honour the office he inherited, Mr Trump is bothered only about honouring himself and taking credit for his supposed achievements.

Presidents have come in many forms and still commanded the office. Ronald Reagan had a moral compass and the self-knowledge to delegate political tactics. LBJ was a difficult man but had the skill to accomplish much that was good. Mr Trump has neither skill nor self-knowledge, and this week showed that he does not have the character to change.

This is a dangerous moment. America is cleft in two. After threatening nuclear war with North Korea, musing about invading Venezuela and equivocating over Charlottesville, Mr Trump still has the support of four-fifths of Republican voters. Such popularity makes it all the harder for the country to unite.

This leads to the question of how Republicans in public life should treat Mr Trump. Those in the administration face a hard choice. Some will feel tempted to resign. But his advisers, particularly the three generals sitting at the top of the Pentagon, the National Security Council and as Mr Trump’s chief of staff, are better placed than anyone to curb the worst instincts of their commander-in-chief.

An Oval Office-shaped hole

For Republicans in Congress the choice should be clearer. Many held their noses and backed Mr Trump because they thought he would advance their agenda. That deal has not paid off. Mr Trump is not a Republican, but the solo star of his own drama. By tying their fate to his, they are harming their country and their party. His boorish attempts at plain speaking serve only to poison national life. Any gains from economic reform—and the booming stockmarket and low unemployment owe more to the global economy, tech firms and dollar weakness than to him—will come at an unacceptable price.

Republicans can curb Mr Trump if they choose to. Rather than indulging his outrages in the hope that something good will come of it, they must condemn them. The best of them did so this week. Others should follow.

Source: Economist.com

Trump Calls Removal Of Confederate Monuments 'So Foolish'

Bridgewater, New Jersey (CNN)President Donald Trump on Thursday denounced the removal of monuments to Confederate figures as "sad" and "so foolish," days after white supremacists and neo-Nazis took to Charlottesville, Virginia, to violently protest the planned removal of a statue of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

"Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments," Trump said in a series of tweets. "You can't change history, but you can learn from it."

Trump's tweets came as he continued to face criticism for comments he made on Tuesday in which he blamed "both sides" of the Charlottesville protests -- the white supremacists and those protesting against them -- for the violence that took hold of that small Virginia city. While Trump condemned the neo-Nazi and white supremacists who protested, he insisted there were "very fine people" among those protesting the removal of Lee's statue in Charlottesville.

Echoing his comments on Tuesday, Trump tweeted Thursday that the removal of Confederate statues could lead to the removal of monuments to the US's founding fathers.

"Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!" Trump tweeted. "Also the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!"

Trump's decision to side with those opposed to removing Confederate monuments -- even days after white supremacists and neo-Nazis protested the same cause -- signaled that he was increasingly confident that he had reacted appropriately in a way that would bolster his standing with his core supporters.The President has faced sagging approval ratings for months, but has maintained fervent support among his political base.

Trump fired back against some of those criticizing him Thursday morning, lashing out against the news media and Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican from South Carolina who slammed Trump for expressing a "moral equivalency" between the white supremacists and those who took to the streets to counter their racist, anti-Semitic rally.

Trump rebuked Graham for what he termed a "disgusting lie" and forcefully reminded Graham that he had solidly defeated him in the South Carolina Republican primary 18 months earlier.

In his tweet slamming the news media, Trump argued the media "totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc."

Trump's rejection of the removal of Confederate monuments also came just a few hours after a CBS News poll showed that while a majority of Americans disapproved of Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, two-thirds of Republicans approved of his response. The poll, however, was conducted in part before Trump's impromptu news conference on Tuesday.

Source: CCN