Donald Trump: America's Marie Antoinette - CNN

(CNN)On Thursday, Donald Trump released his budget for 2017, which proposes slashing programs that help some of our nation's most vulnerable citizens, including the poor and the elderly. And then Trump, in his own "let them eat cake" moment, jetted off 24 hours later to spend another weekend at his luxurious private country club Mar-a-Lago, a place described as akin to the Palace of Versailles.

Trump's opulent Mar-a-Lago is an estate that Marie Antoinette would have felt right at home in. It boasts 16th century Flemish tapestries, lavish oriental rugs and a Louis XIV-style ballroom added by Trump that includes $7 million in gold leaf on the walls.

Dean Obeidallah

Dean Obeidallah

Now if Trump were simply spending his weekends at Mar-a-Lago on his own dime, that would be one thing. But he's not. You, I and every other taxpayer are the ones paying for the five trips Trump has taken there since being sworn in as President.

In other words, instead of spending money on those most in need, Trump is wasting taxpayer dollars on a lavish lifestyle he is seeking to maintain.

What's the cost? Politico has estimated that we pay $3 million each weekend that Trump travels to his palatial country club. That means Trump's five getaways have cost taxpayers in the neighborhood of $15 million for expenses associated with Secret Service, Air Force One, etc.

And that doesn't even include the nearly $1 million in local tax dollars spent by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office to protect Trump when he stays at Mar-a-Lago.

Too many Trumps for the Secret Service?

Too many Trumps for the Secret Service? 02:35

But that's not the end of the costs we bear for the personal choices of the Trump family. In late January, the President's son, Eric, traveled to Uruguay for a Trump Organization business meeting. The cost for private security was close to $100,000 -- and of course his meeting had nothing to do with the governance of the country.

Then there are the additional costs we pay for Melania and Barron Trump to live in New York. While Trump's wife and son certainly have the choice of where they want to live, you and I -- not "billionaire" President Trump -- are the ones paying for this personal choice. Though estimates vary, it appears New York taxpayers are saddled with approximately $146,000 per day in security costs. That's over $4 million a month!

Imagine for a moment how Trump would've responded if the Obama family were costing US taxpayers an additional $4 million per month because Michelle and one daughter wanted to remain in Chicago. Or how Trump would have reacted if Obama had traveled to a luxurious private resort five times in the first two months of his presidency, costing millions in taxpayer dollars. Keep in mind Trump blasted Obama when he sporadically went to play golf.

Ten of Trump's budget's cruelest cuts

Ten of Trump's budget's cruelest cuts

In fact, over the eight years Obama was President, the cost to taxpayers for his eight annual family vacations to Hawaii was a grand total of approximately $85 million. In contrast, Trump has rung up nearly $15 million going to Mar-a-Lago in just his first two months.

Even putting aside Trump's hypocrisy, the most despicable aspect of this is that Trump is spending our taxes on himself, while at the same time advocating policies that slash the budget and hurt so many vulnerable Americans. For example, Trump has callously called for cutting funding for the Meals on Wheels program, which is a critical lifeline for nearly 2.4 million senior citizens and disabled Americans. Five-hundred-thousand of the people who receive Meals on Wheels are veterans, the group Trump keeps telling us he cares so much about.

Trump is updating the "let them eat cake" line to "let them starve."

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The Trump/GOP health care plan would also hurt the most vulnerable Americans, namely the disabled and children. The American Health Care Act would even punish Trump's supporters, because it would negatively impact older Americans and those in rural areas, two populations that favored Trump in the election.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Trump -- like Antoinette -- is a person more concerned with living a lavish lifestyle and less with helping those most in need. The question is, will Trump's base continue to support him once they feel the pain of his policies? Or, like the French did to Antoinette, who continued to live an extravagant lifestyle while they suffered, reject him? Trump's political survival turns on the answers to this.

Lawmakers Want to Boycott Companies That Help Build Trump’s Border Wall - TIME

Lawmakers Want to Boycott Companies That Help Build Trump’s Border Wall

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 11:23 AM PDT

As President Trump pushes forward with his promise to a build wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, local officials in cities and states around the nation are proposing creative solutions they hope will stymie its progress.
In San Francisco, a measure introduced this week by Supervisor Hillary Ronen would consign companies that help design or construct the wall to a kind of blacklist, forbidding those firms from bidding on city projects. The city councils of Bay Area neighbors Oakland and Berkeley have already approved similar measures, while Democratic legislators have introduced their own versions of financial penalty bills in states including New York, California, Arizona, Illinois and Rhode Island.

“Corporations will see it’s bad for business and bad for their image,” says Illinois state Rep. Will Guzzardi, who has proposed that certain state pension funds––with assets he estimates to be around $15 billion––divest from any company that aids in erecting a border wall.
Some of these proposals stand virtually no chance of becoming law. In places like Arizona, where Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, the measures have little hope of even getting a committee vote. In the deep blue Bay Area and New York, such bills have a much better chance of taking efffect.
More than 700 firms around the country have expressed interest in helping to construct the border wall, responding to notices posted by the federal government in late February and early March. Trump’s budget plan asked for $1.5 billion in immediate funding to start planning and building the wall. But several large companies with the resources to tackle a project meant to span a nearly 2,000-mile long border, such as Raytheon and Boeing, are not to be found on the list of interested vendors. Some have cited practical concerns about the scale of the project, while others have acknowledged the PR problems associated with the controversial structure. Still, the list of potential vendors keeps growing, hitting 723 firms as of Thursday.
It’s not clear what effect the local measures will have on the thinking of potential contractors. Multiple firms in the Bay Area that have worked with the city of San Francisco in the past and expressed interested the the border wall project did not respond to requests for comment. When contacted by a local news outlet, one San Francisco contractor expressed dismay about the local blacklist proposals. “Why are taxpayer dollars being spent to hold committee meetings to boycott local companies that employ local workers?” James Flanagan told ABC News. “That’s a little on the radical side and basically, our taxpayer dollars are being used against us.”
Oakland city councilman Abel Guillén, who proposed the measure that will forbid his city from “entering into new or amended contracts” with businesses that have contracted to provide goods or services in connection with building the border wall, says the bill is not discriminating based on political views but is “putting companies on notice.” He believes that building a wall does nothing to solve California’s infrastructure or immigration problems and that local funds should not directly or indirectly support the project.
“I can’t direct how the federal government uses their resources,” Guillén says, “but I can influence how tax dollars are used in Oakland.”
Though such politically motivated financial strategies have been used in the past — by states boycotting companies that have boycotted Israel or pulling money out of investments in South Africa during apartheid — the new proposals could face legal challenges.
Ronen, the San Francisco supervisor, acknowledges that possibility. “With any piece of controversial legislation you always anticipate that there might be legal challenges,” she says. “We have to legislate based on what we think is right.” So far, two of her colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors. The bill will be assigned to a committee in the next month before getting an initial vote.
Just as Trump has suggested that his administration will starve sanctuary cities of federal funds, many of these lawmakers see promise in the persuasive power of money. “Corporations by their very nature put the bottom line first, that’s their job,” says Guzzardi. “And we can pull on the financial levers to change the incentive structure.”

Muslims raise more then £17,000 in 24 hours for victims of Westminster terror and families - Independent

Muslims raise more then £17,000 in 24 hours for victims of Westminster terror and families

A crowdfunding campaign started by a Muslim man who witnessed the Westminster attack has raised more than £17,000 in just a day for victims of the atrocity and their families.
The Muslims United for London page passed the £3,000 mark within an hour of going live and surpassed £10,000 over the next 15 hours as hundreds of people rushed to donate.
Muddassar Ahmed said he started the fund after witnessing the attack, having entered Portcullis House just 10 minutes before terror struck and being barricaded inside for four hours.
“I was shocked to see the injuries and loss of life outside my window,” he wrote.
“I reflected on what it means to be a born-and-bred Londoner and found myself proud of how security and medical services responded, how ordinary passers-by offered first aid, and what our Parliament means to me, an institution that is the oldest of its kind in the world and how, regardless of our critiques of government policies or political parties, remains an institution that reflects how the will of the people can be expressed with civility and dignity.”
He has now raised the fund’s target to £20,000 because of the unexpected “high demand and heartwarming response”.
Donations continued to pour in on Friday morning after police announced a fourth victim of the attack had died.
A 75-year-old man suffered severe injuries and was receiving treatment in hospital before life support was withdrawn.
He was the third victim to die from injuries sustained as Khalid Masood ploughed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing mother-of-two Aysha Frade and American tourist Kurt Cochran, who was in London with his wife to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
Masood, a 52-year-old Muslim convert from Kent, then ploughed the vehicle into a fence outside the Houses of Parliament before running to an entrance and fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer, before he was shot dead.
Isis hailed him as a “soldier of the Islamic State” in a claim of responsibility issued the following day, although the extent of any involvement by the terrorist group remains unclear.
Theresa May told MPs packed into the House of Commons that he had been the subject of a historical MI5 investigation over suspected violent extremism but was not charged with terror offences.
Born Adrian Elms and using a series of aliases through his life, Masood had been jailed repeatedly for violent crime dating back to the 1980s, including grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and assault.
A minute’s silence was held for his victims as faith leaders, the Home Secretary and Mayor of London joined thousands of Londoners at a memorial held in Trafalgar Square on Thursday evening.
Among the attendees was the head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Harun Khan, who condemned the “cowardly and depraved” terror attack.
“There is no justification for this act whatsoever,” he added.
“The best response to this outrage is to make sure we come together in solidarity and not allow the terrorists to divide us.”
Sadiq Khan urged Muslims to be “vigilant” against the dangers of Islamist ideology and hate preachers.
He urged people to ensure young people know “true Islam” from online propaganda to help them combat the risk of grooming and radicalistation.
“Terrorists want to attack London is because they hate the fact that we don’t just tolerate each other – whether you’re a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, member of an organised faith or not, we respect, embrace and celebrate each other and that’s going to carry on,” Mr Khan said.
Police have arrested three women and five men on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts after raids in London and Birmingham, while a house in Camarthenshire was also searched

Donald Trump's US healthcare bill withdrawn - BBC News

Donald Trump's US healthcare bill withdrawn

US President Donald Trump has withdrawn his healthcare bill after it failed to gain enough support to pass in Congress.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and Mr Trump agreed to pull the vote, after it became apparent it would not get the minimum of 215 Republican votes needed.
The last minute move was seen as a huge blow to Mr Trump.
Repealing and replacing the programme known as Obamacare was one of his major election pledges.
Earlier on Friday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the vote would go ahead at 15:30 (19:30 GMT).
Mr Trump had reportedly warned Republicans that if they did not vote for his bill then they would be stuck with Barack Obama's healthcare programme for good.
* How disastrous for Trump?
* Gloats and warnings over failed bill
* Ryan: 'We came really close today'
However, multiple reports suggested that between 28 and 35 Republicans were opposed to his draft American Health Care Act.
The vote was withdrawn shortly after 15:30, and the House is now in recess.
'Obamacare will explode'
Republicans currently have a majority in both the House and the Senate.
However, some Republicans were unhappy that the bill cut health coverage too severely, while others felt the changes did not go far enough.
The bill also appeared unpopular with the public - in one recent poll, just 17% approved of it.
Speaking after the withdrawal, Mr Trump blamed the Democrats for not supporting the bill and predicted that Obamacare would "explode".
He said the Republicans would probably focus on tax reform for now.
"We have to let Obamacare go its own way for a little while," he said, adding that if the Democrats were "civilised and came together" the two parties could work out a "great healthcare bill".

How disastrous is this for Trump? Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter
How bad was Friday's defeat of the American Health Care Act in the House of Representatives? Bad. Very bad.
The American Health Care Act was the first major piece of legislation pushed by the White House and the Republican-controlled Congress, a key political test early in the president's term, when he should be at the height of his power and party cohesion at its strongest.
In spite of all of this, Mr Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republicans running Washington could not get the job done.
For Republicans Friday wasn't just bad. It was a disaster.
Earlier, Mr Ryan told reporters: "We are going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.
"I will not sugar coat this. This is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard."
"We were a 10-year opposition party where being against things was easy to do," he said, adding that it was difficult to get "people to agree with each other in how we do things".
* All-male US health bill photo sparks anger
* Is Obamacare more popular than ever?
Meanwhile, Democrat and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi described it as "a victory for the American people".
And House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said it was a "good day" for Americans, adding "we worked over years to assure that the American public would have access to affordable, quality healthcare".

What did the bill propose?
* Cuts the Medicaid programme for low earners
* Provides tax credits to help people pay medical bills, but reduced compared to Obamacare
* Ends penalties on those who do not buy health coverage
* Allows insurers to raise premiums for older people
* Blocks federal payments to women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood for a year

Birth of the Biggest Lie - New York Times

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Birth of the Biggest Lie
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MARCH 23, 2017

Charles M. Blow
A few things are clear after the congressional testimony of James Comey, the F.B.I. director, this week:
First, Donald Trump owes Barack Obama and the American people an apology for his vituperative lie that Obama committed a felony by wiretapping Trump Tower. It was specious, libelous and reckless, regardless of the weak revelations of “incidental collection” that the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and Trump transition team member Devin Nunes outrageously made public, briefing the president without first briefing his fellow committee members. Nunes’s announcement was a bombshell with no bomb, just enough mud in the water to obscure the blood in the water for those too willfully blind to discern the difference.
Second, Donald Trump will never apologize. Trump’s strategy for dealing with being caught in a lie is often to tell a bigger lie. He seems constitutionally incapable of registering what others would: shame, embarrassment, contrition. Something is broken in the man — definitely morally and possibly psychologically.

Third, and to me this is the biggest, Comey confirmed that the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to the Russians who tampered with our election is not “fake news” manufactured by Democrats stewing over a bitter loss but a legitimate investigation that has been underway for months and has no end in sight.

Individuals who were associated with the president of the United States’ winning campaign are under criminal investigation. That is an extraordinary sentence and one that no American can allow to be swallowed up by other news or dismissed by ideologues.
Depending on the outcome of this investigation, we could be facing a constitutional crisis. Oddly, it is likely that the reason Trump is even in the Oval Office is Comey’s original, extraordinarily inappropriate and unprecedented action. The Trump machinery then used that action to scare Americans about Clinton, in one of the most astonishing acts of deflection and hypocrisy in American history.
The timeline of how the lie of Clinton’s constitutional crisis was born and grew is full of Machiavellian-level misdirections.
On Friday, Oct. 28, a little over a week before Election Day, Comey sent his now infamous letter to Congress saying that “the F.B.I. has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent” to the Clinton email server investigation and that “the F.B.I. should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.”
Soon after the media reported the letter, Trump said at a crowded rally in New Hampshire:
“Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.”
That day, Fox News tweeted a quotefrom the Trump campaign manager Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway, with an image of her appearing on “The O’Reilly Factor” and text that read: “@KellyannePolls on HRC: “If you’re under your 2nd FBI investigation in the same year then you do have a … corruption & an ethics problem.”
About an hour later, Conway retweeted the Fox News tweet, adding, “Most honest people I know are not under FBI investigation, let alone two.”
That night, as reported by The Des Moines Register, Trump said at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rally:
“The investigation is the biggest political scandal since Watergate, and it’s everybody’s hope that justice at last can be delivered.” He went on, “The F.B.I. would never have reopened this case at this time unless it were a most egregious criminal offense.”
Two days later, on Oct. 30, Doug Schoen, a pollster for former President Bill Clinton, said on Fox News that having a president under criminal investigation would pose a constitutional crisis, and the next day he wrote about that it in The Hill, saying:
“I am now convinced that we will be facing the very real possibility of a constitutional crisis with many dimensions and deleterious consequences should Secretary Clinton win the election.”
He continued:
“In the best case scenario, there will be at the very least a criminal investigation of President-elect Clinton. And there will be a criminal investigation of Huma Abedin, which is apparently ongoing. Furthermore, there will be potential investigations into the actions of the Justice Department and most of all the F.B.I. and its director, James Comey.
“After the past eight years wherein America has become progressively more and more divided and a campaign season that has magnified these divisions, I fear for that we will not be able to withstand this kind of continued scandal.”

The Monday that Schoen’s “constitutional crisis” column appeared in The Hill, Trump quoted it at a rally in Michigan. Trump added:
“She would be under protracted criminal investigation and probably a criminal trial, I would say. So we’d have a criminal trial of a sitting president.”

Then that night the Fox News host and Trump flunky Sean Hannity repeated the warning on his own show:
“Think about the magnitude of all of this for a second. Hillary Clinton could be sworn into office while still being under investigation from the F.B.I., which would then put this country into a major constitutional crisis.”

Schiff: ‘More Than Circumstantial Evidence’ Trump Associates Colluded With Russia - NBC News

POLITICS MAR 22 2017, 10:20 PM ET
Schiff: ‘More Than Circumstantial Evidence’ Trump Associates Colluded With Russia
by KAILANI KOENIG

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee claimed Wednesday evening that he has seen "more than circumstantial evidence" that associates of President Donald Trump colluded with Russia while the Kremlin attempted to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the Ranking Member on the committee, was asked by Chuck Todd on "Meet The Press Daily" whether or not he only has a circumstantial case.
"Actually no, Chuck," he said. "I can tell you that the case is more than that and I can't go into the particulars, but there is more than circumstantial evidence now."
Questioned whether or not he has seen direct evidence of collusion, Schiff responded, "I don't want to get into specifics but I will say that there is evidence that is not circumstantial and is very much worthy of an investigation."
That is a shift from Sunday's "Meet the Press" interview, when Schiff only went as far as to say that there was circumstantial evidence of collusion and "direct evidence" of deception.
The Trump campaign and the White House have repeatedly denied that Trump's associates were at all connected to any activities related to Russia's attempts to influence the last election.
Schiff's comments came after Republican committee chair Devin Nunes said that he had seen reports from the U.S. intelligence community showing communication from members of the transition team — and possibly the president himself — were "incidentally collected" as part of a broader surveillance effort.
Nunes said it appeared most of the information was collected after the election and during the transition, it appears it was collected legally, and none of it was related to Russia or the investigation into Russia. He said he did not know who ordered the alleged surveillance.
The disclosure drew condemnation from some Democrats. Schiff bristled at the fact that Nunes did not share the information with him before updating reporters and the White House.
"The chairman will need to decide whether he is the chairman of an independent investigation into conduct, which includes allegations of potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians, or he's going to act as a surrogate of the White House. Because he cannot do both," Schiff said.
Nunes said at a press conference that "the intelligence community incidentally collected information about American citizens involved in the Trump transition."
"From what I know right now it looks like incidental collection, we don't know exactly how that was picked up, but we're are trying to get to the bottom of it," Nunes said.
Trump said he felt somewhat vindicated by Nunes' disclosure: "I somewhat do. I very much appreciated the fact that they found what they found," the president said.
Nunes said he has not seen any evidence that former President Barack Obama had Trump's "wires tapped" before the election — a claim Trump made on Twitter. The director of the FBI said Monday he has no evidence backing up the tweeted claim.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Virginia, said he was "absolutely mystified by Chairman Nunes' actions," and the decision to brief Trump on the information "seems pretty inappropriate to me."
Republican Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told MSNBC's Greta Van Susteren that the back-and-forth among the top members of the committee was "bizarre" and he said partisan fighting had cost Congress its credibility to investigate Russian interference the election.
"No longer does the Congress have credibility to handle this alone, and I don't say that lightly," McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said.
On Monday, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that an investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia had been ongoing since July. Comey said the probe was included in the agency's investigation into what the U.S. intelligence community concluded was an attempt by Russia to interfere with the 2016 election with the purpose of helping Trump win.
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are conducting their own investigations.
Two weeks ago on "Meet The Press," James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence under President Obama, said that to his knowledge, there was no evidence of collusion between Moscow and Trump associates. Clapper oversaw the work of U.S. intelligence agencies through January 20th.
On Wednesday, Schiff told Todd of Clapper's statements, "All I can tell you is reviewing the evidence that I have, I don't think you can conclude that at all — far from it."

Donald Trump told to 'get ready for impeachment' by senior Democrat Maxine Waters - Independent

Donald Trump told to 'get ready for impeachment' by senior Democrat Maxine Waters

'If the facts are there, then we should move quickly to do something about it'

California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters has warned President Donald Trump that he should prepare to be impeached, the latest escalation of rhetoric over alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

Ms Waters has been pressing Congress to quickly impeach Mr Trump if evidence arises of his alleged collusion with the Russian government during the election race.

The Democrat did not cite a particular reason for Mr Trump’s impeachment, but earlier in March said: “The only thing that I am focused on is credible investigations to bring out the facts.

“If the facts are there, then I think we should move very quickly to do something about it.

“And if there was collusion, and any support for undermining our democracy, I think the President should be impeached.”

Ms Water’s tweet comes a day after FBI director James Comey confirmed the agency was investigating possible contact between the Trump campaign and Kremlin officials.

He and National Security Agency boss Michael Rogers also told the Congressional intelligence hearing they believe Russia meddled in the race leading up to the election by hacking the Democratic National Committee and other political organisations.

Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural

Ms Waters follows senior senator Dianne Feinstein in suggesting Mr Trump's presidency may come to an end soon. She was asked by a protester: “[Mr Trump] has obvious dealings with Russia [...] How are we going to get him out?”

Ms Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, replied: “We have a lot of people looking into this. I think he’s going to get himself out.”

A scandal about contact between the Trump team and Russia has refused to die down, with a string of reports emerging linking officials close to Mr Trump to the Kremlin. The White House has maintained no improper communications took place.

Trump Administration Bans Small Electronic Devices on Certain Overseas Flights - TIME

Trump Administration Bans Small Electronic Devices on Certain Overseas Flights

Posted: 21 Mar 2017 03:00 AM PDT

The Trump Administration is banning personal electronic devices larger than a cell phone on flights to the U.S. from 10 overseas airports, the Transportation Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security announced early Tuesday.
The government issued an Emergency Amendment/Security Directive to affected airports and airlines at 3 a.m. Tuesday, giving them 96 hours to ensure compliance. All passenger electronics larger than a smart phone will be required to be placed in checked baggage, the agencies announced. There is no impact on domestic flights or on flights originating from the U.S., officials said.
“Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items,” a senior Administration official told reporters late Monday.

Officials refused to say whether the announcement was made regarding a specific threat, but indicated it came as part of a broader review of security measures. “As a matter of policy we don’t publicly discuss intelligence information,” the official said.
“The United States remains concerned about terrorist groups’ continued interest in targeting civil aviation,” another senior Administration official said.
The ban affects 10 airlines that fly direct service to the U.S. from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Kuwait.
The airports are Queen Alia International Airport (AMM), Cairo International Airport (CAI), Ataturk International Airport (IST), King Abdul-Aziz International Airport (JED), King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Kuwait International Airport (KWI), Mohammed V Airport (CMN), Hamad International Airport (DOH), Dubai International Airport (DXB), and Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). Nine airlines are affected, including Emirates and Etihad.
The State Department has notified foreign governments of the restrictions, an official said.
The disruptive electronics ban, which will include laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, and gaming devices larger than a smartphone, is not permanent, but nor is there a date for its expiration. Officials said they regularly reevaluate security concerns and would update the policy if warranted.
Officials pointed to the attempted 2016 downing of Daallo Airlines Flight 159, in which a suicide bomber tried to bring down a Somali airliner with what was believed to be a bomb concealed in a laptop. Egyptian officials also revealed in December that traces of explosives were found on the bodies of the passengers of EgyptAir Flight 804, which was downed last year.
Airlines that fly to the U.S. are subject to strict security requirements and must comply with TSA directives.
Officials said they coordinated with the FAA about the placement of additional lithium ion batteries in aircraft cargo holds and determined that the risk of a potential attack outweighed the potential risk of battery fire—an emerging FAA concern.
News of the ban first emerged on social media Monday in postings from Royal Jordanian Airlines, one of the affected carriers, though it mistakenly suggested that the restrictions would be imposed on flights originating from the U.S.
Notably the restrictions include Abu Dhabi International Airport, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains a “preclearance” facility for U.S.-bound travelers. Officials said it was included out of an “abundance of caution.”

David Rockefeller, Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist, Dies at 101 - TIME Business

David Rockefeller, Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist, Dies at 101 Posted: 20 Mar 2017 08:19 AM PDT (NEW YORK) — David Rockefeller, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who was the last in his generation of one of the country’s most famously philanthropic families, died Monday. He was 101. Rockefeller died in his sleep at his home in suburban Pocantico Hills, New York, according to his spokesman, Fraser P. Seitel. He was the youngest of six children born to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. With the passing of his siblings, he became the guardian of his family’s fortune and head of a sprawling network of family interests, both business and philanthropic, that ranged from environmental conservation to the arts. To mark his 100th birthday in 2015, Rockefeller gave 1,000 acres of land next to a national park to the state of Maine. Aspects of the Rockefeller brothers’ upbringing became famous, including the 25-cent allowance, portions of which had to be set aside for charity and savings, and the inculcation that wealth brings great responsibility. Two of his brothers held elected office: Nelson Rockefeller served as the governor of New York, hungered for the White House and briefly served as vice president. Winthrop Rockefeller was a governor of Arkansas. David Rockefeller, however, wielded power and influence without ever seeking public office. Among his many accomplishments were spurring the project that led to the World Trade Center. And unlike his other brothers, John D. III and Laurance, who shied from the spotlight and were known for philanthropy, David Rockefeller embraced business and traveled and spoke widely as a champion of enlightened capitalism. “American capitalism has brought more benefits to more people than any other system in any part of the world at any time in history,” he said. “The problem is to see that the system is run as efficiently and as honestly as it can be.” Rockefeller graduated from Harvard in 1936 and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1940. He served in the Army during World War II, then began climbing the ranks of management at Chase Bank. That bank merged with The Manhattan Company in 1955. He was named Chase Manhattan’s president in 1961 and chairman and chief executive officer eight years later. He retired in 1981 at age 65 after a 35-year career. In his role of business statesman, Rockefeller preached capitalism at home and favored assisting economies abroad on grounds that bringing prosperity to the Third World would create customers for American products. He parted company with some of his fellow capitalists on income taxes, calling it unseemly to earn $1 million and then find ways to avoid paying taxes on it. He didn’t say how much he paid in taxes and never spoke publicly about his personal worth. In 2015, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $3 billion. As one of the Rockefeller grandchildren, David belonged to the last generation in which the inherited family billions were concentrated in a few hands. The next generation, known as “the cousins,” has more people. Rockefeller was estimated to have met more than 200 rulers in more than 100 countries during his lifetime, and often was treated as if he were a visiting head of state. Under Rockefeller, Chase was the first U.S. bank to open offices in the Soviet Union and China and, in 1974, the first to open an office in Egypt after the Suez crisis of 1956. In his early travels to South Africa, Rockefeller arranged clandestine meetings with several underground black leaders. “I find it terribly important to get overall impressions beyond those I get from businessmen,” he said. But Rockefeller took a lot of heat for his bank’s substantial dealings with South Africa’s white separatist regime and for helping the deposed, terminally ill Shah of Iran come to New York for medical treatment in 1979, the move that triggered the 13-month U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. Rockefeller maintained the family’s patronage of the arts, including its long-standing relationship with New York’s Museum of Modern Art, of which his mother had been a fervent patron. His private art collection was once valued at $500 million. The Rockefeller estate overlooking the Hudson River north of New York City is the repository of four generations of family history, including Nelson’s art and sculpture collection. One of the major efforts of Rockefeller’s later years was directed at restoring family influence in the landmark Rockefeller Center, most of which had been sold in the 1980s to Japanese investors. He eventually organized an investor group to buy back 45 percent of the property. His philanthropy and other activities earned him a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1998. Rockefeller and his wife, the former Margaret McGrath, married in 1940 and had six children — David Jr., Richard, Abby, Neva, Margaret and Eileen. His wife, an active conservationist, died in 1996.

As Trump Trade Fades, Investors Reverse Course - Wall Street Journal

As Trump Trade Fades, Investors Reverse Course
Developing doubt about the administration’s ability to deliver quickly on its agenda upends a strategy

The Trump trade is over. Get ready for “Trump Lite.”
Developing doubt about the U.S. administration’s ability to deliver on its pro-growth policy agenda—at least any time soon—has upended a strategy that had been a winner since November’s U.S. election: sell bonds, buy the U.S. dollar and pick up cheap stocks that might benefit from improved U.S. growth.
That trade went into reverse in Tuesday’s U.S. trading: The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, its first decline of more than 1% this year and biggest drop since October, while the ICE U.S. dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of six currencies, slipped below 100 for the first time since Feb. 6.

But even before the reversal there had been weeks of stall. In fact, a more successful strategy this year than the Trump trade has been to discount a U.S. recovery and bet instead on Europe and Asia, particularly China. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is up 8.6% in 2017—driven by double-digit gains in Turkey, China, Hong Kong and India—trumping the S&P 500’s 4.7%. Even European stocks have outperformed the U.S. over the past month, despite concerns around France’s coming election.
“There’s a lack of confidence in the reforms and the overall policy agenda, and that’s been spoken about underpinning the whole market sentiment and animal spirits so far,” Catherine Yeung, investment director at Fidelity International, said about investors’ reconsideration.
The skittishness spilled into Asia Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 2.1% to 19183.27, erasing all its gains for the year. The yen strengthened to as much as ¥111.4350 to the dollar; a strong yen typically hurts the earnings of Japanese exporters. Shares also struggled in Hong Kong, with Chinese companies particularly hard hit.
America May Need Making GreatAgainAmerica May Need Making Great Again
This year, the MSCI Emerging MarketsIndex (blue) has outperformed the S&P500 (red) and the Stoxx 600 (yellow).This year, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (blue) has outperformed the S&P 500 (red) and the Stoxx 600 (yellow).
Increasingly, investors are showing they believe the Trump trade has got out of hand. Around one-third of portfolio managers believe global equities are overvalued, the highest level on record going back to the turn of the century, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s monthly survey of 200 funds managing $592 billion, and around four-fifths believe U.S. stocks are the most overvalued of all. Around a third believe the U.S. dollar is overvalued, the highest level since June 2006.
The “Trump Lite” trade hinges upon the administration’s getting sandbagged in policy fights, such as the current wrangling over health care. Drawn-out congressional debates over the details of stimulus measures could cause inflation to peter out, encouraging investors to resume the hunt for yield—buying bonds and stocks with sustainable dividend income.
From the start the market had been too optimistic about Donald Trump ’s ability to execute the finer details of his economic policy, said Megan E. Greene, chief economist at Manulife Asset Management.
“The risks were always going to become more balanced in the markets as it became apparent how aggressive and difficult the administration’s policy agenda is this year, with limited legislative days remaining in the calendar,” she said. “There is little doubt some stimulus will come through, but it is likely to be smaller and take longer to hit the real economy than many investors would like to believe.”
But if Mr. Trump’s current woes are bolstering emerging markets, he still has wide scope to spoil the party, particularly by pushing on his campaign pledges to get tough on the U.S.’s trade partners.
“The market seems to have forgotten about the rhetoric Trump has talked about regarding trade,” said Fidelity’s Ms. Yeung.

Wall Street Journal

What is James Comey’s game? The media must expose the truth together - Guardian

What is James Comey’s game? The media must expose the truth together

Jill Abramson

Tuesday 21 March 2017 22.13 AEDT Last modified on Tuesday 21 March 2017 22.15 AEDT

FBI director James Comey had a very busy July.

He closed a protracted investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. He filed no charges but blasted her conduct as “extremely careless” nonetheless, a lasting wound to her campaign. The public lashing contravened the normal procedure of staying silent on cases that are not prosecuted. Comey’s grandstanding press conference at the time seemed political.

Meanwhile, he confirmed at a congressional hearing yesterday, that in that same month the FBI had opened an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, collusion intended to hurt the Clinton campaign and help Donald Trump. Confirming the existence of an investigation before it has concluded was also unusual and possibly political.

Trump-Russia collusion is being investigated by FBI, Comey confirms

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During the campaign, Comey kept silent about this investigation into far graver matters than the endless pursuit of what Bernie Sanders called Clinton’s “damn emails”. Given the contacts between Trump campaign officials and the Russians, public acknowledgment of this investigation certainly could have damaged his candidacy. What is known about the Russian meddling has contributed to the historically low approval ratings for a new president.

Here’s the uncomfortable question that hung in the air at yesterday’s hearing: could the FBI director’s disproportionate treatment of the two cases have influenced the outcome of the election every bit as much as any Russian efforts? We will never know.

Comey’s testimony is very likely to be all that the FBI will reveal to the public until the investigation concludes, probably many months from now. Some of his statements were clarifying. We now know for certain that there is no evidence that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump, a nonsensical distraction that Trump tweeted after hearing speculation to that effect from a rightwing commentator. But he refused to answer questions about whether specific Trump associates were being investigated for criminal wrongdoing.

Jeff Sessions has recused himself from a role in the Russia investigation because the attorney general outrageously concealed his own contacts with the Russian ambassador. Sessions was one of the first lawmakers to endorse Trump and met with the ambassador twice during the GOP convention, also in July. His grossly misleading concealment of the meetings at his conformation hearing has stained the authority of any justice department investigation. The FBI is part of the department.

Donald Trump's first 100 days as president – daily updates

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The congressional intelligence committees is also investigating the Russian hacking and contacts with the Trump campaign. But it’s doubtful given partisan rancor in Washington that these supposedly bipartisan panels can ever be above the political fray.

That leaves the press as the public’s best hope of getting to the bottom of the Russia matter. Reporters don’t have subpoena power, but the great investigative reporting that’s been done on the story already, by the New York Times, the Washington Post, Pro Publica, a non-profit organisation devoted to investigative journalism, and other newspapers, including this one, gives me hope.

Many of the answers to what really went on during the campaign reside in Russia, a notoriously difficult and dangerous terrain for journalists. Unfortunately, many news organizations have cut or eliminated their Moscow bureaus over the past decade as newspaper advertising collapsed and newsrooms were slashed.

The first amendment protects a free press for exactly this type of situation, to be a check against the abuse of centralized power and to hold the government accountable. I can think of no matter more worthy of concerted press inquiry than the possible subverting of the democratic process by a foreign power to aid an American presidential candidate.

The gravity of the matter calls for a change in the behavior of the press. Reputable news organizations that have committed resources to original reporting on the Russia story should not compete with one another, they should cooperate and pool information.

Russia hearing: Comey says no information to confirm Trump's wiretap claims – as it happened

James Comey and Mike Rogers appear before the House intelligence panel while Trump’s supreme court pick Neil Gorsuch has a confirmation hearing

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I worry that the profusion of news stories, some focused on small developments, creates a confusing din for the public. Multiple stories in so many different publications also create the impression that the media are ganging up on Trump, which isn’t the case.

Stories could be jointly reported and published. This would not be the first time the news media formed a consortium to investigate wrongdoing or delve into very complex matters. The murder of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles in 1976 by a car bomb, an incident connected to the Mafia, was one such case. After the deadlocked 2000 election, news organizations tried to work together on a reliable recount of the Florida vote and overseas ballots. Consortiums combed through WikiLeaks dumps, the Snowden documents and the Panama Papers, all to the benefit of public disclosure.

Surely, the president will call this fake news. But an authoritative, scrupulously factual investigation by a collective of great news organizations could actually be the best antidote. If we can solve the Russia-Trump puzzle, trust in the news media might begin tracking up once again.

Democracy does die in darkness, as the Washington Post’s new motto says. The truth is more important now than ever, as the New York Times new ad says. Now is the time to prove it.