TheFrontPageCover~ Featuring ~
Trump's Successful India Trip
Thomas Gallatin
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Trump nominates John Ratcliffe
for top intelligence post
By Alex Pappas
{ foxnews.com } ~ President Trump on Friday said he is nominating Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI)... months after the Republican congressman abruptly withdrew his name for the post. “I am pleased to announce the nomination of @RepRatcliffe Congressman John Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI)," the president tweeted. "Would have completed process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished. John is an outstanding man of great talent!" Ratcliffe, a former federal prosecutor who had been a fierce defender of Trump and his agenda, was one of the most vocal critics of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Ratcliffe will likely face a fierce confirmation battle as Democrats have argued he was selected due to his loyalty rather than experience. In August, Trump announced that Ratcliffe would be withdrawing as his nominee for director of national intelligence just days after announcing him as his pick, citing his tough treatment at the hands of “the LameStream Media.” In a tweet at the time, Trump said that Ratcliffe, whom he tapped to replace Dan Coats, will stay in Congress. But on Friday, he announced plans -- again -- to nominate Ratcliffe. Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, was appointed last week by Trump to serve as acting DNI while Trump considered who he would nominate to take over the job more permanently. Grenell is an outspoken Trump loyalist with a large conservative following on Twitter and also the first openly gay person to serve in a cabinet-level position. "Congratulations, @RepRatcliffe!" Grenell tweeted. "We are ready for you and grateful for your willingness to serve." Late last week it was reported that Trump was considering Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., for the permanent Director of National Intelligence job, but Collins told Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo that while he's humbled by the possible offer, he is focused on running for Senate and would not accept the job. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-nominates-john-ratcliffe-top-intelligence-post .
White House Wins DC Appeals Court Ruling
Blocking Don McGahn Testimony
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ In the background of the impeachment effort the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) led by Chairman scumbag liar-Jerry Nadler was seeking: (1) Mueller grand jury material; (2) a deposition by former White House counsel Don McGahn... and less importantly (3) Trump financial and tax records. Each of these cases were then argued in federal court, appellate courts (6e and McGahn) and the supreme court (financials/taxes). In November 2019 activist Federal District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled Don McGahn must appear before Congress; however, she also ruled McGahn retained the ability to “invoke executive privilege where appropriate” during his appearance. The White House appealed the ruling to the DC appellate court on constitutional grounds. Today a three judge panel from the DC circuit agreed with the White House position.President Donald Trump scored a major legal victory on Friday when a federal appeals court panel ruled Democrats have no right to hear testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s ruling overturned a lower court decision requiring McGahn’s testimony and told the judge presiding over the case to dismiss it outright. The ruling is a blow to House Democrats’ attempts to break the Trump administration’s intransigent stance that it can block Congress from talking to witnesses... https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/02/28/breaking-white-house-wins-dc-appeals-court-ruling-blocking-don-mcgahn-testimony/ .
Chairman Jerome Powell says Fed ready to
protect economy amid coronavirus fears
by Joseph Lawler & Nihal Krishan
{ washingtonexaminer.com } ~ Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sought to reassure markets that the central bank would protect the economy from fears over the coronavirus outbreak... signaling that it would cut interest rates if needed. "The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong," Powell said in an unscheduled statement Friday. "However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity." "The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook," he said. "We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy." Powell issued the statement following major losses in stock markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down nearly 3% on the day and had declined by more than a tenth on the week. Even before Powell signaled that the central bank would lower rates if needed, investors expected that the market turmoil would force the Fed to ease monetary policy. Bond market prices indicated Friday afternoon that investors expected a half-percentage-point cut in the Fed's interest rate target at the monetary policy committee's next meeting on March 17. President Trump has sought to play down economic concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak, blaming the week's market losses on investor fears that a Democrat will win the presidency. Nevertheless, he's also leaned on the Fed to ease money. “And we’ve been hurt by — we’ve been hurt, in my opinion, very badly, by our own Federal Reserve,” Trump said on Wednesday during a press conference about the coronavirus, in which he indicated he favors rate cuts. Yet some within the Fed may advocate against easier money. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard on Friday said that further interest rate cuts were possible if the outbreak became a "pandemic" but also indicated that he was not expecting that scenario. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/fed-chairman-jerome-powell-says-coronavirus-presents-evolving-risks-but-the-economy-is-strong?utm_source=breaking_push&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=push_notifications&utm_source=WEX_Breaking%20News%20Alert_02/28/2020&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WEX_Breaking%20News&rid=5261 .
Appeals court temporarily blocks Trump administration's ‘Remain-in-Mexico’ policy
By Adam Shaw
{ foxnews.com } ~ A federal appeals court on Friday slapped a temporary halt on the Remain-in-Mexico policy -- one of the most effective Trump administration policies in halting last year’s migrant crisis... dealing a significant blow to the administration's efforts to control the flow of migrants claiming asylum at the southern border. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in a 2-1 vote to put a hold on the policy -- formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). In a separate ruling Friday, the same court also blocked an administration policy that prevents immigrants who crossed the border illegally from then claiming asylum in the U.S. The policy, which was established in January and expanded over the summer amid greater cooperation with Mexico, returns migrants to Mexico as they await their hearings, with courtrooms set up at key border points in places such as Laredo and Brownsville, Texas. Approximately 57,000 people have been returned to Mexico under the policy. The policy essentially ended the process known as “catch-and-release” by which migrants were released into the interior, sometimes for years, until their cases were processed. While critics said MPP was cruel and placed migrants in danger of violence by returning them to the country, it was identified as ending a key “pull factor” in why migrants were flooding the border -- namely that they would be allowed into the interior of the U.S. if they reached the border. Officials said the process meant that cases could be heard in as little as 40-60 days, as opposed to the years it sometimes takes after family units are released into the U.S. Those in favor of the program said that works better for the migrants, as it leaves them in limbo for less time, while also acting as a disincentive for Central American migrants who do not have legitimate asylum claims but might otherwise get into the U.S. by claiming “credible fear” of returning home. Since MPP was expanded, there has been a dramatic drop in migrants coming to the border from the high of April where 144,000 migrants reached the border. Officials have repeatedly said the policy, along with other international agreements with Central American countries, has been a significant factor in that reduction... https://www.foxnews.com/politics/appeals-court-temporarily-blocks-key-remain-in-mexico-policy .
NEC Director Larry Kudlow
Holds Press Conference
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ The media is initiating panic about the Coronavirus in 2020 the same way the media attempted to manufacture panic about an upcoming U.S. recession in 2019... Everything about Coronavirus is hyped with purpose. The CDC official who lit the fuse to create the panic was Dr. Nancy Messonnier who read a script handed to her by resistance operatives inside government. Dr. Messonnier is Rod Rosenstein’s sister. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears in the Brady briefing room of the White House to answer media questions about the economic impact of Coronavirus and a declining stock market..
Democrats are Spreading False Information
on Coronavirus to Destroy Trump
By Kristine Javier
{ thepatriothill.com } ~ In an effort to cause public panic, Democrats have made up a list of lies that are targeted to put the blame on the President... While Trump’s popularity continues to grow, Democrats have capitalized on the coronavirus outbreak to spread false information, all in an effort to mislead the public that the President’s “chaotic response” may put the country at risk of an outbreak. During Tuesday night’s chaotic CBS debate, billionaire “Mini Mike” Bloomberg said: “There’s nobody here to figure out what the hell we should be doing. And he’s defunded—he’s defunded Centers for Disease Control, CDC, so we don’t have the organization we need. This is a very serious thing.” Former vice-president loose lips liar-Joe Biden also tried to compare the present administration with scumbag/liar-nObama’s presidency. “We increased the budget of the CDC. We increased the NIH budget…He’s wiped all that out…He cut the funding for the entire effort,” loose lips liar-Biden said. Moreover, Sen. Elizabeth dinky/liar-Warren even used the outbreak to help her political campaign, promising that she would eliminate the border wall as a solution. dinky/liar-Warren tweeted “Coronavirus poses a serious health, diplomatic, & economic threat, & we must be prepared to confront it head-on. So I’m introducing a bill to transfer all funding for @realDonaldTrump’s racist border wall to @HHSGov & @USAID to combat coronavirus.” On the other hand, self-proclaimed socialist Rep. commie-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez echoed the same sentiment from far-left Democrat Sen. Brian Schatz who wrote: “The Coronavirus is not contained. It will not fade in the spring. Trump cut CDC by 9 percent. Trump eliminated the position at the global health security teams at NSC and DHS. They don’t know what they are doing. They are fixated on politics and the stock market.”....
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Trump's Successful India Trip
Thomas Gallatin President Donald Trump spent the last two days in India, where he was cheered at a massive rally in his honor and inked a $3 billion arms sale with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “You have done a great honor to our country,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “We will remember you forever. From this day onwards India will always hold a special place in our hearts.”
“As we continue to build our defense cooperation,” Trump continued, “the United States looks forward to providing India with some of the best and most feared military equipment on the planet.” The arms deal includes the U.S. selling India roughly $3 billion in military helicopters.
It was a largely successful trip for Trump, who is seeking to exploit the growing regional tension between China and India by working toward solidifying a long-term trade deal with the latter. “We will be making very, very major — among the biggest ever made — trade deals,” Trump pledged. “We are in the early stages of discussion for an incredible trade agreement to reduce barriers of investment between the United States and India. And I am optimistic that working together, the prime minister and I can reach a fantastic deal that’s good and even great for both of our countries — except that [Modi] is a very tough negotiator.”
India is one of the few foreign countries where Trump enjoys a high favorability rating, and he is clearly looking to use his popularity to develop a closer relationship with India. As Power Line’s John Hinderaker observes, “The main news to emerge from Trump’s visit so far is a $3 billion helicopter sale, part of a move toward making the U.S. ‘the premier defense partner of India.’ While it has been lost in the minutiae of political press coverage, this military purchase reflects one of the most important global developments of recent years. During its early years of independence and throughout most if not all of the Cold War, India was a socialist-leaning and Russia-oriented ‘nonaligned’ nation. More recently, India has adopted more progressive, free-market economic policies, and has turned decisively toward the West. Its alliance with the United States is one of the most positive geopolitical developments of recent years, and it is properly being celebrated by President Trump.” ~The Patriot Post
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