TRUMP: OBAMA BEHIND PROTESTS

US president says he should get high marks for effort but must improve messaging

DONALD Trump has accused ex-president Barack Obama, right, of secretly co-ordinating protests against him.

In a bizarre outburst, Trump said he believed Obama is behind demonstrations against Republican politicians.

Asked on US TV about the protests, he said: “I think President Obama is behind it, because his people are certainly behind it.

“In terms of him being behind things, that’s politics, and it will probably continue.” DONALD Trump has given himself an “A+ for effort” over his presidency as he prepared last night to make “his biggest speech yet” in front of Congress.

Despite lurching from one crisis to another during his first month in office, the US leader said he didn’t agree with bad reports he had received about his leadership.

Trump said the only problem of his turbulent first weeks had been his “messaging”.

He told Fox & Friends in the US: “I think I’ve done great things, but I don’t think I have – I and my people – I don’t think we’ve explained it well enough to the American public.

“I think I get an A in terms of what I’ve actually done but in terms of messaging, I’d give myself a C or a C+.” Trump also gave himself an A+ for “effort”. The president spoke ahead of his address to Congress and after the White House revealed he proposed to increase military spending by £43.5billion, while cutting the same amount from other departments.

Insiders said he was set to boast about his “promises kept” as well as remind Americans of his “promises made”.

Trump said he would discuss his yet-to-beproposed replacement for former president Barack Obama’s healthcare plan.

The speech was also set to touch on his disputed immigration plans, including the wall along the US/Mexico border and a proposed travel ban from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Trump’s budget blueprint would increase defence spending to £485billion and decrease non-defence discretionary spending to £343billion, Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney said.

The cuts will slash as much as a quarter off the Environmental Protection Agency budget, which one former official said would be “devastating”.