Trump lies

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The "most disastrous trade deal in history" has been changed. In name, that is. Much of it remains simply in place and the President now calls it incredible..

But when Trump told his supporters he would renegotiate Nafta, they did not think he meant he would negotiate a similar deal and call it something else. Yesterday the US president said: “I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico trade agreement; I think it’s an elegant name.” Mainly because it is not “Nafta”. Being Trump, he was quite open about what he was up to. “I think Nafta has a lot of bad connotations for the United States, because it was a ripoff.” At least, that was what he and the Republican Tea Party tendency told the voters it was, despite all the evidence that it had been good for the US economy. 

What is interesting is that all candidates running against incumbents in America condemn free trade and demand protection for American jobs, only to realise once in office that free trade is the best way to defend American jobs. Clinton was against Nafta before he was for it, and now Trump is running away from his campaign rhetoric too. 

Trump also said he wanted a “sunset clause” on his I Can’t Believe It’s Not Nafta agreement after five years, but now he has agreed the new deal will last for at least 16 years. In a way, this is reassuring: Trump turns out to be a bendable politician like the rest, rather than a uniquely destructive force. 

One problem with Nafta, from Trump’s point of view, was that its disputes resolution procedures were unfair to the US and infringed its right to decide its own laws. The new Definitely Not Nafta deal keeps those procedures with minor tweaks.

Donald Trump’s trade deal with Mexico is a farce – and a lesson for Brexit | The Independent

There are some provisions about increasing US content in Mexican car exports to the US, but this actually affects a small fraction of cars (see previous entry).

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How about this for opportunism:

In a tweet Wednesday, Trump insisted that any news story based on an “anonymous source” (his quotes) is “fiction.” He was responding to news that CNN is sticking by its reporting that Michael Cohen could corroborate that Trump knew about his son’s Trump Tower meeting with Russians in advance, even though Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, has admitted he was the source and he’s no longer confident of the claim. Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump “Anonymous Sources are really starting to BURN the media.” @FoxNews The fact is that many anonymous sources don’t even exist. They are fiction made up by the Fake News reporters. Look at the lie that Fake CNN is now in. They got caught red handed! Enemy of the People! 9:40 AM - Aug 29, 2018 59.7K 30.8K people are talking about this Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump When you see “anonymous source,” stop reading the story, it is fiction! 9:41 AM - Aug 29, 2018 69.2K 41.6K people are talking about this 

But Tuesday night, Trump was tweeting about an article in the Daily Caller, a conservative news outlet, that claimed that China had hacked Hillary Clinton’s private email server. The story was based on “two sources briefed on the matter” who were never identified. Nevertheless, Trump actually called on the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate the claim. No other outlet has been able to confirm the reporting; in fact, the Washington Post’s headline describing Trump’s accusations noted that he had not cited any evidence to support his accusations.

Trump’s crusade against anonymous sources is a sham. Here are the receipts. – ThinkProgress

And read the article, this isn't the first time. The general conclusion is simply that Trump says and do whatever works for his personal advantage and blasts whatever doesn't, irrespective of facts or damage he does to others.

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The FBI on Wednesday said it had found no evidence about President Trump's claim that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server was compromised by hackers working for the Chinese government. In a brief statement, the bureau said: “The FBI has not found any evidence the servers were compromised.” The statement follows the president's tweets earlier Wednesday claiming, without evidence, that Clinton's emails had been hacked by China.

"Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!" Trump said. 

FBI contradicts Trump claim that China hacked Clinton’s private email server | TheHill

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President Trump on Tuesday called into question the legitimacy of an "Access Hollywood" tape in which he brags about groping and kissing women without their consent. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Trump suggested the recording that was released just weeks before the 2016 election was "illegal" without offering concrete proof. “There’s even questions about the tape, there’s many things going on," Trump told the conservative publication, claiming it "was done in a trailer secretly."

Trump questions whether 'Access Hollywood' tape was 'illegal' | TheHill

President Trump accused NBC News and its top anchor, Lester Holt, of “fudging” elements of their interview last year in which Trump said he fired James B. Comey over his performance as FBI director, including his handling of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump, who made the allegation on Twitter, didn’t specify what he believed was improperly altered in NBC’s broadcast of the interview. He also provided no evidence for his claim. In his tweet on Thursday, Trump suggested that NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack — whom he referred to as “Andy Lack(y)” — was “about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse.” He added, “When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!”

Trump claims, without evidence, that NBC was ‘caught fudging’ TV interview with him - The Washington Post

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It's getting ever more bizarre..

Donald Trump has falsely claimed that 3,000 people did not die in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, and said the number was made up by the Democratic party “to make me look as bad as possible”. Trump calls Puerto Rico hurricane effort an 'unsung success' – here's the reality Read more Despite significant evidence showing nearly 3,000 people were killed in the devastating storm last year, Trump tweeted an extraordinary claim that the official death toll was a political scheme, two days after he was sharply criticised for saying the government had an “unsung success” in its response to Maria.

Puerto Rico’s government raised the official death toll from 64 people to 2,975 late last month following the publication of new research by George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Trump falsely claims Hurricane Maria death toll was made up by Democrats | US news | The Guardian

It’s bad enough that the president denied responsibility for his administration’s failed emergency response to the Category 4 storm, but now he is denying that thousands of Americans died from lack of oxygen, food, water, and medical attention, and by suicide. Research shows he’s wrong.

Trump is trying to make the case that the initial death toll of 16 is the accurate one. But it was clear to journalists and medical responders from the start that that number was way off. All you had to do was scan local news reports to find evidence — and Vox easily found 81 cases of people who drowned, were crushed by storm debris, or died because they couldn’t get medical care shortly after the storm hit.

While it’s true that many, many people died after Trump left Puerto Rico, they still died because of the hurricane and the destruction it brought, and because the government failed to respond quickly or effectively enough to keep them alive. The island-wide blackout that lasted for months meant people couldn’t get clean water or prescription drugs. They couldn’t refrigerate their diabetes medication or hook up their oxygen tanks. They are not people who “died of old age,” as Trump suggests. Researchers consider them indirect hurricane deaths, and they are normally counted in a disaster’s official death toll.


The latest death estimates, released last month by researchers at George Washington University, showed that 2,975 people likely died directly and indirectly from the storm. The findings are consistent with estimates from scientists at Harvard and Penn State.

Trump invents cruel conspiracy theory about Puerto Rico’s hurricane death toll - Vox

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Scary..

“I think the key in examining Trump is actually what will he do when people present him with facts?” he said. “For instance, it sounds a little esoteric, but the World Trade Organization, which the United States is a member of — very important, allows us to file complaints of unfair trade practices — and there’s a meeting in the Oval Office and the president says, ‘Well, the World Trade Organization is the worst organization ever. We lose all of our cases.'” Trump’s advisers presented him with data that showed the U.S., in fact, won 85.7 percent of the cases it brought before the organization, and he simply rejected their data. “He says, ‘No, that’s not true,’ and the people are saying, ‘Look, call the U.S. trade representative, your guy, and he will confirm this,'” Woodward said. Woodward said the president simply refused. “I don’t want to hear it,” Trump said, according to Woodward. “I don’t want to call him, I don’t want to deal with it.” The president flat-our rejects information that challenges his biases and beliefs, the reporter said. “At some point, he gets literally where the aides ask him, ‘Where did you get these ideas?'” Woodward said. “And he will say, ‘Well, I’ve had them for 30 years, they’re right and if you disagree, you’re wrong.'”

Bob Woodward Explains in Vivid Detail How Trump Throws Tantrums When Confronted With the Truth on MSNBC's Morning Joe | Alternet

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President Trump on Friday attacked protesters demonstrating against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, asserting without evidence that they are "paid professionals."  "The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad Don’t fall for it!" he tweeted. Trump claimed that billionaire liberal activist George Soros is among those funding the demonstrations against the judge, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. He did not provide evidence for his claim.

Trump: Anti-Kavanaugh protesters 'are paid professionals' | TheHill

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Donald Trump has said newly-confirmed supreme court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault or misconduct by three women, was “caught up in a hoax that was set up by the Democrats”. Speaking to reporters before departing for a speech in Florida on Monday, Trump said the allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh were “all made up, it was fabricated and it’s a disgrace”. Kavanaugh was accused by several women of sexual misconduct, including California professor Dr Christine Blasey Ford, who testified under oath that he assaulted her at a party when the two were in high school. Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations. Trump had once said he found Ford’s testimony credible, telling reporters after she testified on Capitol Hill that “she was a very credible witness. She was very good in many respects.” However, he has since increasingly questioned her testimony, openly mocking her at a campaign rally last week in Mississippi.

Trump claims Kavanaugh allegations are 'Democrat hoax' in new attack | US news | The Guardian

It's bad enough that we have a President who keeps on lying and changing his tune 180 degrees whenever that seems expedient, but far worse are his enablers..

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Hillary Clinton offered one of her most direct rebukes of President Trump in months on Thursday after Trump accused her of colluding with Russia during the 2016 presidential election at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania Wednesday night. At the rally Wednesday night, Trump told an arena of supporters that there was "collusion between Hillary, the Democrats and Russia" during the 2016 election, despite offering no evidence for his claim. An intelligence community assessment in 2017 concluded that Russia's efforts were aimed at undermining the Clinton campaign. "There was a lot of collusion with them and Russia and lots of other people," Trump added during the rally.

Clinton fires back at Trump: 'You asked Russia to hack me on national television' | TheHill

So if the Democrats colluded with the Russians, why didn't they come out with the dossier during the campaign, when it mattered?!

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Warren’s campaign also released a video on her family history, published fact-checking information on her website about her heritage, and published the results of Bustamante’s report. “The facts suggest that you absolutely have Native American ancestry in your pedigree,” Bustamante tells the senator in the video. The results of the test align with what Warren has said publicly about her heritage, though she has come under fire for identifying as Native American earlier in life. The “fact squad” findings published Monday on her website purports to set the record straight on those claims, saying that her heritage “played no role” in her hiring throughout her career.

Warren DNA test results ‘strongly support’ existence of Native American ancestor | TheHill

And how do the Trump people react?

President Trump on Monday denied that he offered Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) $1 million to take a test proving her Native American heritage, even though he did just that. Trump spoke after Warren responded to the president's challenge and released the results of a DNA test showing she has a distant Native ancestor.
"I didn't say that. You'd better read it again," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about his $1 million offer. 

Responding to a question about Warren's test, Trump said, "Who cares?" During a campaign rally on July 5, Trump taunted Warren for her claims of Native American ancestry, a staple of his campaign stump speeches. "I will give you a million dollars, paid for by Trump, to your favorite charity, if you take the test and it shows you’re an Indian," Trump said at the time. "I have a feeling she will say 'no.' " 

Trump denies offering $1 million for Warren DNA test, even though he did | TheHill

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday dismissed Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) DNA test revealing her Native American ancestry, calling it "junk science." Warren, a potential 2020 contender, released DNA test results that a top researcher said "strongly support" the existence of a Native American ancestor. "I haven’t looked at the test,” Conway told CNN's Abby Phillip. “I know that everybody likes to pick their junk science or sound science depending on the conclusion, it seems some days.”

Conway responds to Warren DNA test: 'Junk science' that 'really doesn't interest me' | TheHill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday called out President Trump over his offer to pay $1 million if she could prove she had Native American heritage. In a series of tweets, Warren told Trump to send a check to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, which supports Native American victims of sexual violence.

Warren says Trump should pay up on $1 million offer | TheHill