Trump tries to sell agenda with Twitter attacks
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump argued Tuesday for changes in tax law, health care and immigration policy by lobbing Twitter insults at the NFL, Congress, Democrats, and fellow Republican Bob Corker, among others.
Trump began his tweet-filled morning by suggesting that the NFL lose tax breaks if players continue to kneel during the national anthem. “Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country? Change tax law!” Trump said during the first of his aggressive morning posts.
Trump has been touting the administration’s broader plan for tax cuts for weeks.
He followed up by attacking Democrats over immigration, appearing to promote a hard-line immigration proposal his White House offered on Sunday night.
Trump, just weeks ago, said he and Democrats were close to a deal to keep special protections in place for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally by their parents. Yet the Trump administration this weekend released a list of hard-line immigration priorities that includes funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and a crackdown on unaccompanied minors fleeing Central America. Democrats have balked, drawing Trump’s ire. “The problem with agreeing to a policy on immigration is that the Democrats don’t want secure borders, they don’t care about safety for U.S.A.,” Trump tweeted. Trump then turned to health care. Angry with a Republican majority that has been unable to agree on a plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health care law, Trump plans this week to sign an executive order that would make one change: Allowing associations to buy insurance across state lines.
“Since Congress can’t get its act together on HealthCare, I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people - FAST,” Trump said.
Trump then went after two favorite targets, the news media and Corker, citing a New York Times interview in which the Tennessee senator said the president’s threats against North Korea and other nations could set the United States “on the path to World War III.”
“The Failing @nytimes set Liddle’ Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that’s what I am dealing with!” Trump said in a tweet, applying a new nickname to the senator.
Later on Tuesday, the White House said Trump was joking when he told Forbes magazine that if Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did call him a moron, as has been reported, the two should “compare IQ tests.”
“And I can tell you who is going to win,” Trump added in the interview, published Tuesday.