Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump on offensive in Cleveland
Flogs immigration in Ohio amid news of ally’s interview
President attacks Ohio Democrats and crows about his poll numbers in remarks ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
President Donald Trump flared Saturday at Democrats, immigration laws and Mexico, crowed again that his poll numbers are higher than President Barrack Obama’s and insisted the country is doing better than ever even as reports emerged that investigators probing possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election have interviewed one of his closest friends.
Though his journey to the Cleveland Public Auditorium on Saturday was billed as a presidential visit and therefore funded with taxpayer money, Trump was overtly political in his remarks ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. He celebrated his own poll numbers, repeatedly attacked Sen. Sherrod Brown, DOhio, and urged Ohioans to elect Rep. James Renacci, R-Ohio, who is running against Brown.
“We need your vote, we need your help, so go out and help Jim,” Trump said, with Renacci seated by his side. “Get it done.”
In opening remarks at what was billed as a tax discussion, the president started off talking about trade and quickly moved to the issue of immigration. He suggested that Mexico had gone easy on immigrants who recently traveled north to the border in a peaceful caravan.
“I really thought they would be much tougher and better to us on the caravan. Didn’t quite work out, but that’s OK, that’s OK,” Trump said in a tone that suggested it was anything but.
“You just take a look at that mess that’s on television right now,” said Trump, apparently referring to coverage of the caravan, which had shrunk to a few hundred migrants when the group reached the U.S. border a week ago.
Seated beside Renacci, the Republican candidate for the Senate, the president repeatedly blamed Democrats and the incumbent Brown for pushing through weak immigration laws. But the policies he cited, particularly the “catch-and-release” practice governing treatment of asylum seekers, began in the George W. Bush administration or with court decisions and have been continued by Trump’s administration.
“This is a Democrat rule, Sherrod Brown,” said the president, employing shorthand. He added: “These are the problems we have to deal with.”
As he often does on the topic of immigration, Trump relied on falsehoods to sell his argument. In particular, he repeated his criticisms of foreigners who seek entrance legally through a lottery — a reflection of his desire to sharply limit legal immigration into the United States.
“Can you imagine!” the president said. “We take people based out of a lottery. You think a country is putting their finest in a lottery? I don’t think so. I don’t think so, alright?”
Those seeking entrance via a lottery apply themselves; their countries do not control their access. The would-be migrants are vetted before being accepted.
Trump on Saturday also reiterated his campaign promise to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico, and said this nation needs secure borders “even if we have to think about closing up the country for a while.”
Meanwhile, investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller have interviewed one of Trump’s closest friends and confidants, California real estate investor Tom Barrack, The Associated Press has learned.
Barrack was interviewed as part of the federal investigation of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
One of the people who spoke to AP said the questioning focused entirely on two officials from Trump’s campaign who have been indicted by Mueller: Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort’s longtime deputy, Rick Gates.
Gates agreed to plead guilty to federal conspiracy and false-statement charges in February and began cooperating with investigators.
This person said Barrack was interviewed “months ago” and was asked a few questions about Gates’ work on Trump’s inaugural committee, which Barrack chaired, but there were no questions about the money raised by that committee.
A second person with knowledge of the Barrack interview said the questioning was broader and did include financial matters about the campaign, the transition and Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
Barrack’s spokeswoman, Lisa Baker, declined to comment.
Barrack has rare access and insight into Trump going back decades, since their days developing real estate. Barrack played an integral role in the 2016 campaign as a top fundraiser at a time when many other Republicans were shunning the upstart candidate. Barrack later directed Trump’s inauguration.
While the specifics of Barrack’s questioning were unclear, Mueller’s team has asked several other witnesses about the flow of money related to the campaign.
Investigators have for months been inquiring about the Trump campaign’s finances and compliance with federal election law, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors’ questions have been wide-ranging, these people said, touching on the campaign’s data operations, its relationship with data-mining company Cambridge Analytica, payments to Gates and whether there were arrangements that weren’t disclosed in filings to the Federal Election Commission, they said.