It’s Monday.
Saturday President Trump played golf at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Via tweet President Trump weighed in on the controversy surrounding the Democrat Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam.
He ended Saturday by announcing he’d be interviewed Sunday morning on CBS News’ Face the Nation.
Saturday
1. Great morning at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida with @JackNicklaus and @TigerWoods!
2. Unforgivable!
3. must now be thinking Malpractice and Dereliction of Duty with regard to his Opposition Research Staff.
Friday CNN reported that appearing on Governor Ralph Northam’s (D-VA) yearbook page was a photo that featured one man in blackface while another man was dressed as a KKK member. The yearbook was from Eastern Virginia Medical School and was published in 1984.
Shortly after the photo surfaced calls from Democrats came for Northam to resign, the Governor issued an apology stating in part that he was, “deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.”
As the News Blender reported Saturday Northam held a press conference where he explained that after further investigation he discovered that it was not him in blackface or the KKK outfit, and that he was not willing to resign at the time.
On Sunday the Washington Post reported that Northam “called an unscheduled senior staff meeting Sunday night just before the start of the Super Bowl, as the governor considered resigning after two days of defiance amid a controversy over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook.”
According to the article people familiar with the meeting said “the governor had not reached a decision.”
According to the New York Times election results for November 2017, Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie, 53.9 percent to 45 percent.
4. Enjoy!
Highlights from Sunday’s interview.
In this clip President Trump explains that if we have to we can return to Syria from Iraq, he notes “we have very fast airplanes…”
He explains that he is going to keep troops in Iraq, because we have an “expensive” base there and it means we can watch “Iran.”
In this clip he discusses the Mueller investigation and report, calling the investigation a “witch hunt,” he adds that they have ruined former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s life. Asked about the indictment of Roger Stone he says Stone wasn’t working with the campaign, except “way in the beginning,” he adds, “Roger is someone I’ve always liked, a lot of people like Roger, some people probably don’t like Roger.”
President Trump announces that he will be announcing the time and place for his next meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong un. The announcement will likely come before the State of the Union, on Tuesday. He goes on to say, the two have exchanged what some have called “historic” correspondents.
The full interview it 28 minutes long and was taped on Friday.
Sunday the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, claiming their sixth Super Bowl victory.
Sunday President Trump tweeted that “Everyone is asking,” him, how Tiger Woods played on Saturday. He said “the answer was Great!” He added “Jack [Nicklaus] and Tiger like each other.”
In a separate tweet he talked about caravans “marching through Mexico,” and explained that “Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security.”
Sunday
1. Jack & Tiger like each other.
On Saturday President Trump played golf with “Jack & Tiger.”
2. KEEP OUT!
For What it’s Worth: I googled latest caravan coming to the U.S. border and found stories from November and one from January.
Of Note: On Friday the Washington Post published an analysis that took a closer look at where most of the drugs cross the border. According to Phillip Bump who took his information from Border Patrol’s news releases starting with November 1, 2018, of the 120 seizures “included in those releases,” eighty-two occurred at ports of entry, while fourteen occurred at or near checkpoints, with twenty-four happening “between ports of entry.”
Bump goes on to explain that the identities of the alleged smugglers are either “U.S. citizens or identified as residents of the United States.” Bump writes: Such individuals made up 41 of the 79 incidents in which a suspect’s identity was known. Another 31 were identified as Mexican nationals. A few, like the man stopped near the Yuma immigration checkpoint, were legal permanent U.S. residents. None of those identified as having being arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs was described as having originated from any country other than the United States or Mexico.
Author’s note: This is a test to see if it’s feasible to make weekday noon open threads using President Trump’s tweets. I repeat this is only a test as we figure out how to move forward with the open thread afternoon slot.
This is an Open Thread as noted above and with the tag.
Happy Monday.
