Trump's budget sell: Even Breitbart has come out swinging against his health plan
Updated
Donald Trump was back out on the hustings this week with a campaign rally in Nashville, Tennessee.
There he was greeted by thousands of adoring fans as he delivered a speech worthy of an election campaign.
Except, hold the phone, didn't we just have one of those?
This is part of a plan by the Trump campaign, administered separately from the Trump administration, to hold a rally each fortnight.
The President also held an event in Michigan this week as part of his leadership duties, but the Nashville appearance was about maintaining his connection with his base and keeping the momentum alive following on from last year.
At the end of the day, he loves a crowd, right? And he's already declared his intent to campaign for 2020, so consider that the timetable.
Feeling tired already?
The various definitions of wiretapping continue to be central to the national conversation this week. There remains no evidence to support Donald Trump's claim that he was wiretapped by Barack Obama.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has gone further, saying it sees no evidence that Trump Tower was subject to any US government surveillance during last year's campaign.
However, it's not over. Take a look at the latest comment from press secretary Sean Spicer on the matter.
Just on that, senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway seemed to have her wires crossed in an interview where she claimed microwaves have cameras:
Kooky.
The internet has some suggestions for Mr Trump:
Here's Stephen Colbert, talking to President Obama through a microwave, just because:
While that bubbles along, there's been the small matter of Mr Trump's tax returns again, along with the so-called "skinny budget" which flags massive cuts to the State Department (including UN funding and foreign aid) and the EPA, and increased funding to the military and border security.
That was probably obvious in terms of his stated policy positions, but these are huge cuts in real terms and will have massive effects on things like humanitarian programs, publicly funded media like VOA and Radio Free Asia, and a whole swathe of UN-funded initiatives.
Fivethirtyeight.com has a good summary of what's ahead but note, Congress must approve the budget so this is a blueprint only.
Oh, and the latest travel ban that's not officially a travel ban isn't anything right now because it's (again, still) been frozen by two federal judges in courts in Hawaii and Maryland.
The judge in Hawaii was uncharacteristically blunt about his reasons for the freeze, repeatedly referencing language used by the President himself which he says would lead a "reasonable observer" to believe that the ban is targeted at Muslims.
He said
Seriously.
2017, you continue to match your older brother, 2016, in ways that I just can't quite even believe.
The song is supposedly a commentary about police shootings.
Florida senator Marco Rubio even chastised the rap music star to TMZ: "Snoop shouldn't have done that."
Bad Snoop.
Who cares about health care?
The hard sell on health care continues for Republicans. For better or worse.
The usually sympathetic right-wing conservative publication, Breitbart, was out for blood:
And made a concerted effort to pin the bill (which came from House Republicans) to the Speaker of the House:
In the same week the publication leaked audio of Paul Ryan from before the election saying he'd never support Donald Trump:
What's the end game here? Your guess is as good as mine.
Criticism for the health care plan is so bad it's seemingly become a bipartisan issue. Who would've thought?
Why? Well, according to the LA Times, those who are the biggest losers under the new plan are Trump voters.
Tax trap?
Weirdly, an explosive report on Mr Trump's taxes turned out well for the President.
On Tuesday night, folks were scrambling to get in front of the TV after MSNBC's Rachael Maddow tweeted this:
Sounds exciting, right?
Well, if you managed to avoid the excruciating reveal, consider yourself lucky.
The sum total of the hype came in two pages of tax returns from more than a decade ago:
By leading the viewers through a labyrinth of questions surrounding transparency and the Trump administration, MSNBC ultimately cost itself its own scoop:
And the White House released its own statement even before Maddow got to air:
So, after all that, there was no smoking gun.
There was this hilarious parody by Stephen Colbert, though, which made the whole thing worthwhile.
In fact, the returns looked ok. Here's Van Jones:
The fact that the returns (which were from 2005) looked pretty good made pundits wonder whether the releases were actually a leak from the Trump administration or Trump himself:
In typical Trump fashion, the President himself labelled the ordeal "fake news" anyway:
As you were.
Cashing in
And as the war between the media and the administration continues, publications like The Washington Post and LA Times are capitalising — much to the dismay of Fox:
Trump travel
For those of you wondering how President Trump's weekend trips to properties with his name on it are going, here's the latest:
Meanwhile, Mr Obama is keeping with his annual tradition of completing a College Basketball bracket for March Madness:
OK, back to serious stuff.
Next week, representatives of 68 nations will meet in Washington DC to talk strategy in a meeting of the coalition against Islamic State.
The meeting is the first since late 2014 when the coalition was formed, so expect it to get substantial attention. Here's a good primer. There'll also be interest in any further details on Mr Trump's IS strategy. Australia will be represented naturally.
We'll also see the first of the hearings to approve Neil Gorsuch as a new Supreme Court justice.
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, united-states
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