Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Inauguration through Week 1 (Jan. 20-28)
During an inauguration speech in which he presents a remarkably bleak view of the nation, Trump says “this American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”
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Early on his first full day in office, Trump calls White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and screams at him to debunk media reports that the crowd at his inauguration had been smaller than former President Barack Obama’s. A short time later comes ...
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… The “Baghdad Bob” press conference. In his first statement from the White House briefing room, press secretary Sean Spicer berates the media for “deliberately false reporting” and says Trump drew “the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period.” Two weeks later … •••
… Melissa McCarthy turns Spicer into a national punchline, portraying him as a gum-chomping rage-aholic in the opening of “Saturday Night Live.” It’s reportedly the beginning of the end for Spicer, as White House sources say Trump believes that being mocked by a woman makes Spicer look weak.
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Trump visits CIA headquarters with a goal of showing the agency he fully supports it but draws criticism for presenting a speech focusing mainly on himself. “And then they say, ‘Is Donald Trump an intellectual?’ ” Trump says. “Trust me, I’m like a smart person.”
••• Presaging the midterm election results in 2018, millions of women gather in cities across the nation, including Las Vegas, to march in protest of Trump. At the Las Vegas march, organizers used the occasion to launch a voter mobilization effort.
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Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway says Spicer presented “alternative facts” with his claim about the inauguration crowd. A buzz term for the administration is born.
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Trump signs an order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. •••
Trump signs orders to build the border wall and cut off federal funding for cities shielding immigrants.
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In the first order he signs, Trump clearly has not prepared. Surrounded by lawmakers, he examines the document, asks what it addresses, asks where to sign it and says he thought it was for health care.
••• Trump tweets that he will seek an investigation into voter fraud, doubling down on his unfounded claim that “millions and millions” of fraudulent votes were cast against him.
••• Without warning, Trump bans visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, and bans refugees from entry for 120 days. The order unleashes chaos, as there are no instructions on how to enforce it.
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Trump fires acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she defies the White House by saying the Justice Department will not defend the travel ban.
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The stock market closes Jan. 25 with the Dow Jones industrial average over 20,000 for the first time.
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As he takes office, Trump refuses to create a clear firewall between his global business empire and the Oval Office. Handing control, but not ownership, of the business to his two sons Eric and Donald Jr. in January, President Trump, who will later spend many of his weekends at Trump properties in what amounts to an ongoing advertisement, ignores the warnings of ethics watchdogs in both parties who say this situation poses serious problems. The decision establishes the tone at the outset for the muddied ethical landscape of Trumpland.
Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
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A federal judge blocks the travel ban. The administration files an emergency motion to stop the order from taking effect.
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Gallup releases polling results showing Trump’s approval rating at 42 percent, the lowest of any president two weeks into his administration. Trump’s disapproval rating is 53 percent.
••• Speaking of alternative facts: Defending the travel ban in an interview, Conway cites two Iraqis who committed what she describes as a massacre in Bowling Green, Ky. Such an incident never happened.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously refuses to reinstate the travel ban.
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Time magazine publishes a cover profile of White House aide Steve Bannon, questioning to what extent he influences Trump. Trump bristles over the suggestion that Bannon is his puppet master, tweeting: “I call my own shots.”
••• Trump tells Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that he respects Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting O’Reilly to ask how the president could respect a murderer. “You got a lot of killers,” Trump says. “You think our country is so innocent?”
National security adviser Mike Flynn resigns after disclosures that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his communications with Russia’s ambassador totheU.S.
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Trump dials up his attack on the media in a tweet: “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @ CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!”
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Trump bashes Pope Francis after the pontiff criticizes him over his immigration policies. “A person who thinks only about building walls … and not build- ing bridges, is not Christian,” the pontiff says. Trump says Francis is being used as a pawn by the Mexican government and that it’s “disgraceful” for the pope to question his faith.
••• Trump’s first solo press conference is a 77-minute spectacle in which he wildly exaggerates his accomplishments, makes blatantly false claims about the size of his Electoral College victory — calling it the biggest since Ronald Reagan despite the fact George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Obama all won more electoral votes — and berates the media. One of the oddest moments comes when a black reporter asks Trump if he has consulted with the Congressional Black Caucus about his plan for inner cities, and he tells her that she should organize the meeting.
Trump picks Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new national security adviser.
••• Trump revokes Obama administration guidelines on transgender bathrooms.
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After yelling “Get out of my country” to a group of men that includes an immigrant from India at bar in suburban Kansas City, a man returns to the establishment and opens fire. He kills the immigrant, Srinivas Kuchib-
hotla, and wounds two other men. The slaying heightens concerns that immigrants are facing increasing harassment in the aftermath of Trump’s election.
••• Univision publishes a story documenting more than 40 reports of readers being subjected to racist insults and hateful speech since mid-January.
Week 6 (Feb. 26-March 4)
Explaining why Republicans have been slow to embrace a replacement plan for Obamacare, Trump says “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”
• • • Trump draws wide praise for his address to a joint session of Congress, which is far more optimistic than his inaugural address. However ...
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… The afterglow is quickly snuffed out when The Washington Post reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations in 2016 with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., neither of which he revealed during his confirmation hearing when asked about possible contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
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The day after the Post’s story appears, Sessions announces he will recuse himself from investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign, including any Russian interference.
••• Trump issues a series of tweets accusing President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the election. Trump offers no evidence, and none has surfaced since. The situation is symptomatic of a president willing to launch unwarranted accusations against those who oppose him.
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After a report by The New York Times, the White House confirms that Flynn, Jared Kushner and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak had a previously undisclosed meeting in December at Trump Tower to establish a line of communication between Trump’s transition team and the Russian government.
••• ProPublica reports the following: “Since Jan. 1, at least 105 locations of Jewish organizations in the United States — including schools, Jewish Community Centers and offices of the Anti-Defamation League — have received a total of 146 bomb threats.”
• • • Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is criticized after referring to the nation’s historically black colleges as “pioneers” of the school choice movement. Critics point out that most of the colleges were established during the Jim Crow era to provide education to blacks who were barred from attending colleges catering to whites.
Week 7 (March 5-11)
Trump issues a revised version of the Muslim travel ban, which he claims is critical to maintaining national security and has nothing to do with religion. •••
The economy adds 235,000 jobs, and unemployment dips to 4.7percent.
••• Homeland Security Director John Kelly acknowledges that the administration is considering separating families at the border as a deterrent method. The story doesn’t draw much attention at the time, but the fuse is lit on what will become a bombshell of an issue.
Week 8 (March 12-18)
Duck! The Trump administration formally specifies that the border wall should be 30 feet tall. Later, in listing reasons a wall of that height is needed, Trump says it will prevent people from being hit in the head by 60-pound bags of drugs being thrown over the current wall.
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Hours before the revised travel ban is scheduled to go into effect, a federal judge in Hawaii blocks it. Trump reacts angrily, accusing the judge of “unprecedented judicial overreach.”
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FBI Director James Comey confirms that agents have been investigating possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia since July. In response to questions before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey also says he’s seen no evidence that Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower.
• • • During a stop in South Korea on a regional tour, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the policy of “strategic patience” toward North Korea has ended and that further aggression by the Kim regime could provoke a military response from the U.S.
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Week 9 (March 19-25)
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron jokes that one of the greatest benefits of being out of office is that he no longer has to listen to Trump’s wiretapped conversations. Cameron is among many people who are mocking Trump as it becomes increasingly clear that his wiretapping allegations are entirely baseless.
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The Associated Press issues a report showing that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort had done lobbying work for a Russian billionaire to benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin. The report contradicts statements by Manafort and Trump that the campaign manager had never worked to aid the Russian government.
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CNN reports that the FBI has evidence suggesting Trump associates “may have coordinated” with Russians to influence the outcome of the 2016 election by releasing damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
••• Despite Trump threatening GOP lawmakers that “you will lose your seats” if they don’t pass the party’s Obamacare replacement bill, a vote on the measure is postponed due to a split between GOP conservatives and moderates.
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Devin Nunes, the chair of the House committee investigating possible Russian meddling in the election, makes his “midnight run” when he disappears in an Uber car and makes an unscheduled late-night trip to the White House. There, he’s reportedly provided with information from intelligence agencies that captured communications of Trump and his associates while conducting surveillance on foreign targets. Then, in a remarkable breach of protocol, Nunes has an impromptu news conference in which he states that Trump had been caught up in an investigation by U.S. intelligence. He then briefs Trump on his findings. The situation raises serious questions about Nunes’ ability to lead an independent investigation.
Week 10 (March 26-April 1)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Flynn has told the FBI and congressional officials he is willing to be interviewed in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
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The White House releases documents showing that Flynn failed to reveal income from a Russian television network and a firm linked to Russia in a financial disclosure form he signed and submitted in February.
••• Trump issues an executive order that aims to dismantle a number of Obama-era environmental regulations, including a moratorium on coal leases on federal lands. Most significantly, it marks the beginning of the process to rescind the EPA’s Clean PowerPlan.
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The first quarter of 2017 closes with GDP growth of 1.8 percent.
••• During a signing ceremony, Trump leaves the Oval Office as he’s peppered with questions about a tweet defending the now indicted Flynn. But Trump has neglected to sign the order, prompting Vice President Mike Pence to sheepishly retrieve the document from the president’s desk.
Week 11 (April 2-8)
On April 4, North Korea tests a missile that reaches the Sea of Japan. The test comes amid growing tensions between the North and the U.S., including recent comments by Trump that “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”
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Trump orders cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase in response to a reported chemical attack.
••• Bannon is removed from the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, a sign that he has lost a power struggle against a faction led by Kushner and lost favor with Trump after grabbing too much of the media spotlight. •••
Kelly shifts on the reason behind family separations at the border, saying it will only be done “if the child’s life is in danger.”
Week 12 (April 9-15)
Targeting Islamic State militants, the U.S. drops the largest non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal in Afghanistan.
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It’s revealed that the administration is no longer releasing the identities of visitors to the White House. Government watchdogs are alarmed, saying public disclosure of the visitor lists is critical in determining who may be trying to influence policy in the West Wing.
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Trump tells Fox Business that he made the decision on the missile launch over “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake” and incorrectly identifies Iraq as the target.
Week 13 (April 16-22)
Thousands of protesters march in more than 150 cities nationwide demanding that Trump turn over his tax returns.
••• Gorsuch is approved by the Senate and sworn in.
••• During a regular press briefing, Spicer compares Syria’s Bashar Assad to Adolf Hitler, saying, “You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” The comment triggers an avalanche of criticism, with critics noting that Hitler gassed more than 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. Spicer issues an apology.
••• Federal Election Commission filings show that Trump brought in a record $107 million for his inauguration, more than doubling the previous record set by Obama in 2009. Seven-figure donations came from such 1 percenters as Charles Schwab and Sheldon Adelson, who donated $5 million.
Week 14 (April 23-29)
Can’t argue that: The AP publishes a story from an interview with Trump, headlined, “Trump at 100 days: ‘It’s a different kind of presidency.’”
••• Congressional Republicans introduce a revised version of the American Health Care Act, their Obamacare replacement measure.
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North Korea conducts an unsuccessful ballistic missile test, defying a warning by Trump that a “major, major conflict” between the U.S. and North Korea is possible.
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Trump offers a White House invitation to Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president accused of of abetting death squads and extrajudicial killings. The invitation raises concerns about Trump’s affinity for strongman leaders and questions about his support of American values.
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In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Trump says he’s surprised how difficult it is being president. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier,” he says.
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The Washington Post reports that Environmental Protection Agency director Scott Pruitt has requested around-the-clock security, a first for an EPA leader.
Week 15 (April 30-May 6)
American history, Trumpstyle: Trump suggests he doesn’t understand why the Civil War happened and says Andrew Jackson was upset about the conflict. Jackson died 16 years before the Civil War began.
••• Trump signs an executive order easing enforcement of rules barring churches and other religious groups from political activities.
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The House narrowly passes the Obamacare repeal-andreplace bill, including a provision allowing states to opt out of providing coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions. Trump tweets: “Republican Senators will not let the American people down! ObamaCare premiums and deductibles are way up – it was a lie and it is dead!”
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Week 16 (May 7-13)
Trump fires Comey. The White House cites the cause as dissatisfaction with how Comey handled the Hillary Clinton emailprobe.
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In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Trump directly contradicts the White House’s official explanation of Comey’s firing by saying that he made the decision himself based on the Russia investigation. “I was going to fire Comey, knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,” Trump tells Holt.
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The New York Times reports that Trump asked Comey to pledge loyalty to him during a January dinner.
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The Washington Post reports that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a meeting in the Oval Office. The White House initially denies the story, but Trump acknowledges it happened and claims he has the
“absolute right” to share intelligence with Russia.
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Trump creates the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, a group that will investigate his claims of widespread voter fraud. Critics say the commission is a front for establishing suppressive voting laws nationwide.
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North Korea conducts yet another ballistic missile test, and this one is successful. The twostage, mobile rocket flies 430 miles before crashing into the sea.
••• Referring to his tax plan during an interview with The Economist, Trump makes the false claim that he invented the term “priming the pump.”
••• Turning back the clock: Trump fumes to Time magazine about the Navy’s new electronicmagnetic system for launching planes off of carriers, saying it should be “going to (expletive) steam” instead.
Week 17 (May 14-20)
Obstruction of justice? The New York Times obtains a memo written by Comey in February saying Trump asked him to shut down the FBI’s investigation into Michael Flynn a day after Flynn was ousted from the White House. In the memo, Comey says Trump told him, “I hope you can let this go.” Trump denies it.
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Enter Mueller: Rosenstein appoints former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation. Priebus will claim later that moments before Mueller’s appointment, Sessions had offered to resign after Trump subjected him to a tirade in which Trump blamed Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation for the scandal.
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Citing a document containing details of a White House meeting between Trump and Russian officials, The New York Times reports that Trump told the Russians that firing Comey relieved him of “great pressure” from the investigation.
“I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump is reported to have said. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
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The Washington Post reports that during the Trump Tower meeting involving Kushner, Flynn and Kislyak, Kushner suggested establishing a secret and secure communication channel between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Week 18 (May 21-27)
Late-night comics and internet commenters light up as Trump issues a baffling tweet: “Despite the negative press covfefe.” There’s no statement before or after the message that would help explain it.
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The AHCA will cause 23 million Americans to lose insurance by 2026, says a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office and staff of the Joint Committee onTaxation.
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The Washington Post reports that Kushner is under investigation by the FBI over the Trump tower meeting. Reuters reports that Kushner had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with Kislyak during and after the presidential campaign.
••• Trump makes his first trip overseas as president, a five-country tour in which he visits Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican. Pope Francis urges him to be a peacemaker.
Week 19 (May 28-June 3)
Trump announces that the U.S. will pull out of the Paris climate agreement.
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Don’t get mad, get even: A Mexican businessman takes out his frustrations over Trump’s insults to his countrymen by introducing Trump toilet paper. The product’s marketing slogan: “Softness without borders.”
Week 20 (June 4-10)
Eight people are killed and 48 wounded when three men run over pedestrians on a London Bridge walkway, then get out and attack others with knives. Trump reacts by issuing a tweet bolstering his travel ban, prompting criticism that he instead should have expressed sympathy for the victims and support for the British people.
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In televised testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey says he kept notes after talking privately with Trump because “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting.” He further says he gave his memo to a friend to leak to the media after seeing Trump’s tweet saying Comey “better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations.”
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After his first face-to-face conversation with Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin hails the meeting and says he believes Trump accepted his assurances that Russia didn’t meddle in the U.S. presidential election.
Week 21 (June 11-17)
The Washington Post reports that Mueller is investigating Kushner’s finances and business dealings.
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The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals becomes the second appellate court to reject the Trump administration’s attempt to overturn a federal judge’s decision blocking the travel ban.
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The Washington Post reports that Mueller is investigating Trump for obstruction of justice.
Week 22 (June 18-24)
Yahoo News reports that Trump’s lawyers have learned that Donald Trump Jr. has sent and received emails regarding a June 2016 meeting involving Trump Jr., Manafort, Kushner and a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin.
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In an interview with The New York Times, Trump issues a warning to Mueller not to investigate the Trump family’s financialhistory.
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Trump draws ridicule when, during a meeting with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, he brags that the Panama Canal is “doing quite well.” “I think we did a good job of building it, right — a very good job,” he says. Varela interjects, “Yeah, about 100 years ago.”
Week 23 (June 25-July 1)
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity sends letters to all 50 secretaries of state requesting such information as voter names, addresses, dates of birth, voting histories and the the last four digits of Social Security numbers for all voters. Several states refuse to comply fully, including Nevada.
••• Kushner hires a defense attorney. •••
The Supreme Court agrees to review the legality of Trump’s travel ban. •••
Senate Republican leaders delay a vote on their Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, after it becomes clear the measure doesn’t have enough votes for passage. Nevada Sen. Dean Heller is among the Republicans who express concerns about the bill.
••• During the airing of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Trump issues tweets criticizing hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. The rant, which includes a claim that Brzezinski had been “bleeding badly from a face-lift” during a visit to Mar-a-Lago, prompts criticism that Trump should be spending his energy on more important issues. “Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham tweets.
••• Mueller dials up the heat: Federal investigators raid Manafort’s home, reportedly armed with a search warrant to obtain materials from the residence.
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The second quarter of 2017 closes with GDP growth of 3 percent.
Week 24 (July 2-8)
Trump tweets a video in which he tackles and punches a man whose face has been replaced by a CNN logo.
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North Korea successfully tests its first intercontinental ballistic missile. Trump issues a derisive tweet referencing President Kim Jong Un: “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?”
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In a face-to-face meeting with Putin at the G20 summit, Trump tells Putin it is an “honor” to meet him and that he anticipates “positive things” happening between the U.S. and Russia. Later, it’s revealed that Trump and Putin met a second time for nearly an hour, with only Putin’s interpreter present and no record of the conversation made.
••• Donald Jr. comes under scrutiny: Citing interviews and documents, The New York Times breaks the news that Donald Trump Jr. arranged a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with members of the Trump team and a Russian lawyer with connections to the Kremlin.
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Trump Jr. issues a statement saying the purpose of the meeting was to discuss a program for adoption of Russian children. The statement says the meeting was not related to the campaign and there was no follow-up. The source of the statement will soon become significant.
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The next day, the Times reports that Trump Jr. was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before the Trump Tower meeting.
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Based on the new report, Trump Jr. issues a new statement containing a different explanation of the meeting. He acknowledges he was offered information that could be helpful to the campaign, but says none was offered — further, he says the source claimed to know Russia-connected individuals who financially supported Clinton and the Democrats. Trump Jr. says there was no further contact and that his father knew nothing about the meeting.
Week 25 (July 9-15)
Citing sources who say they’ve seen emails involving the meeting, the Times reports that Trump Jr. went into it knowing that it involved a Russian lawyer offering compromising information about Clinton as part of a Russian government effort in support of his father’s campaign.
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Later, after learning that the Times has obtained copies of the emails, Trump tweets images of his email chain related to the meeting. He issues a statement saying he thought the information being offered was standard political opposition research.
••• Minutes after the tweets, the Times reports that the emails reveal that Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting after being promised documents that “would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.” Further, Trump Jr. was told that the documents were “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” the newspaper reports.
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The emails include messages from publicist Rob Goldstone, who helped arrange the meeting. Among the excerpts: “The Crown prosecutor of Russia ... offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
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The circle widens: Various media reports reveal that the meeting included at least eight people, including Trump Jr., Kushner, Manafort, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, who is reputed to have ties to Russian intelligence.
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An ABC News/Washington Post poll puts Trump’s approval rating at 36 percent, the lowest of any president in 70 years at this point in his administration.
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The Center for Public Integrity says an outside public relations agent has been working for free to provide a “shadow press office” for Bannon. That’s a possible violation of a federal law barring government employees from accepting voluntary services.
Another attempt at repealing and replacing Obamacare falls apart in the Senate.
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In an interview with the New York Times, Trump says he wouldn’t have appointed Sessions if he had known Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
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Amid mounting pressure from the Mueller investigation, the failure to spur the Senate into action on Obamacare and the ongoing internal power struggle, turmoil tears at Trump’s team. A triggering event is Trump’s outof-nowhere hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, a move that Priebus sharply opposes. Spicer resigns. Ousters will soon follow.
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In an 11-page statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kushner denies colluding with Russia and portrays his meetings with Russian operatives as innocent interactions.
Week 27 (July 23-29)
Scaramucci begins the week by pledging to Fox News that he’ll launch “an era of a new good feeling” and says he hopes to “create a more positive mojo.” Four days later ...
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… What was that about “good feeling?” In a call to a reporter with The New Yorker, Scaramucci calls Priebus “a (expletive) paranoid schizophrenic” who would be asked to resign, and also uses coarse language to criticize Bannon. Scaramucci later is quoted threatening to fire the entire communications team and vowing to “(expletive) kill all the leakers.”
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The Senate once again fails to repeal and replace Obamacare, this time on a dramatic thumbsdown vote from John McCain.
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The vote has major repercussions for Priebus, whom Trump reportedly blames for not being able to help deliver votes. Priebus will later say that Trump begins belittling him, referring to him as “Reincey” and at one point calling him in to swat a fly.
••• Priebus exits the administration, apparently by tweet and left shocked on the tarmac near Air Force One. He had expected to be allowed to stay on for a couple of weeks out of his loyalty to Trump, but instead Trump promotes Kelly from director of Homeland Security to chief of staff.
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Kelly sets about trying to establish order by restricting Oval Office access, blocking some calls to the White House switchboard and establishing broad authority over staffing.
••• Trump is criticized by law enforcement authorities and others for encouraging police brutality after he tells a group of officers to not “be too nice” with people in their custody, such as when they’re loading handcuffed suspects into police vehicles.
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In a series of tweets, Trump
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In a series of tweets, Trump announces that transgender people will no longer be allowed to serve in the military. The tweet surprises Defense Secretary James Mattis, who disagrees with the ban and will push back by slow-playing implementation of it.
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Hell of a speech: Trump presents a campaign-style speech at the Boy Scout National Jamboree, where he attacks his opponents, brags about his accomplishments and uses a mild profanity. Afterward, the chief Scout executive for the Boy Scouts of America issues an apology for the remarks.
Week 28 (July 30-Aug. 5)
End of an “era”: Scaramucci becomes a short-timer even by the Trump administration’s standards. Amid a torrent of derision over his tirade in The New Yorker story, he is fired after 10 days on the job.
••• Nothing to see here, folks: On the same day of Scaramucci’s departure, Trump tweets there is “No WH chaos!”
••• Mueller impanels a grand jury and requests documents from the White House related to Flynn.
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The Washington Post reports that Trump dictated the initial misleading statement from Trump Jr. about the June 2016 meeting, overriding a plan by staff to respond with a truthful account of the situation.
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New White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump “weighed in” on the original statement as “any father would.”
Week 29 (Aug. 6-12)
After violence breaks out in Charlottesville, Va., Trump ignites a firestorm when he issues a statement condemning the hatred “on many sides” but not singling out white supremacists.
••• Trump tells reporters that North Korea will be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it continues to threaten the U.S. He follows up by saying the U.S. military is “locked and loaded.”
Week 30 (Aug. 13-19)
A furious reaction to his Charlottesville comment prompts Trump to issue an on-camera statement walking it back. “Racism is evil,” he reads. “And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
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The walk-back is short-lived. The next day, Trump doubles down when, during a combative exchange with reporters during what was supposed to be a news conference on infrastructure, he says there were “very fine people” on both sides. He further defends the white supremacists by claiming incorrectly that they had a permit to demonstrate while counterprotesters did not.
••• Trump’s comments draw applause from the extremist right.
“Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa,” tweets former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke. The editor of Daily Stormer, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi site, praises Trump for refusing “to even mention anything to do withus.”
••• Republican Party figures and business leaders harshly rebuke Trump over Charlottesville, and members of his two major business advisory councils resign. Trump responds by lashing out and continuing to dial up his rhetoric. “Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,” he tweets about monuments to the Confederacy.
••• Bannon contacts a progressive publication and gives a candid interview in which he contradicts Trump’s stated policy on North Korea and describes his efforts to push out adversaries in the administration. Days later, Bannon is ousted as part of Kelly’s effort to rein in chaos in the West Wing.
Week 31 (Aug. 20-26)
At a campaign rally in Phoenix, Trump blames the media for the furor over his Charlottesville comments and defends his statements. “The words were perfect,” he says.
••• During the same rally, Trump also hints that he’ll pardon controversial former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of violating federal rulings against racial profiling. Days later, Trump issuesthepardon.
••• Sebastian Gorka, a former Breitbart News editor who serves as a deputy assistant to the president, follows Bannon out the door. He laments in his resignation letter that “the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again’ have been internally countered, systematically removed or undermined in recent months.”
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As a man obsessed with claiming (rightly or wrongly) historic achievements, and having come into office with the lowest approval rating of any president in the era of modern polling, Trump continues to set records with a 34 percent approval rating in the Gallup Poll.
Week 32 (Aug. 27-Sept. 2)
A spokesman for Putin confirms that Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer and business adviser, sent him a message in January 2016 seeking help in reviving a stalled Trump Tower development in Moscow.
••• Hurricane Harvey inundates Houston. Trump is criticized for egotism and a lack of empathy when he arrives to survey the damage and announces, “What a crowd! What a turnout!”
••• Mueller issues subpoenas to Manafort, Manafort’s spokesman and an attorney for a law firm that has represented Manafort. In related news, Trump Jr. agrees to testify privately to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Week 33 (Sept. 3-9)
Now, there’s a wedding cake: Putin says Trump is “not my bride, and I’m not his groom.”
••• Through Sessions, Trump announces he’s rescinding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections effective in six months, giving Congress a deadline for finding a resolution for the nation’s 800,000 Dreamers. The move draws widespread denouncements from political moderates, business leaders and pro-immigrant organizations.
••• Trump defies congressional Republican leaders by reaching out to Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and cutting a deal with them on Hurricane Harvey relief and an increase in the debt limit, circumventing a possible government shutdown.
Week 34 (Sept. 10-16)
Pelosi and Schumer announce that they have negotiated a deal with Trump to protect Dreamers without funding for the border wall as a string attached. The White House denies it after right wing media erupts with outrage. Whatever they agreed to goes nowhere.
• • • Visiting yet another hurricane zone — Florida’s southwest coast, which has been pounded by Irma — Trump brushes off a question about whether the storm is an indication of climate change. “If you go back into the 1930s and the 1940s, and you take a look, we’ve had storms over the years that have been bigger than this,” he says.
Week 35 (Sept. 17-23)
In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Trump says the U.S. will “totally destroy” North Korea in defense of itself or its allies, and says of Kim Jong Un, “Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.” Trump follows up by ordering new sanctions on North Korea.
•••
After Trump follows up on his comment by ordering new sanctions on North Korea, Kim responds by calling Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and says he will make the president “pay dearly” for his threat to destroy North Korea.
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At a General Assembly luncheon, Trump repeatedly refers to Namibia as “Nambia.” He also brags about how his friends are going to Africa “to get rich,” which is described as tone-deaf given criticism that Western companies are exploiting Africa’s natural resources.
•••
In a rally, Trump uses a profanity to describe NFL players who stand during the national anthem in silent, peaceful protests against police brutality.
““Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, get that son of a (expletive) off the field right now. He is fired,” Trumpsays.
••• Hurricane Maria slams into Puerto Rico, knocking out power across the entire island and causing massive flooding as it dumps as much as 30 inches of rain in some areas in one day. Trump issues a state of emergency for Puerto Rico, then travels to his golf club in New Jersey for the weekend.
• • •
In an interview, Stephen Curry from the NBA champion Golden State Warriors says he would vote against visiting the White House to celebrate their title. Trump sees the comments and rescinds the team’s invitation.
Week 36 (Sept. 24-30)
Five days after Maria hits Puerto Rico, Trump administration officials arrive on the devastated island for the first time. By then, the government response is already drawing widespread criticism comparing it to Hurricane Katrina. Millions of Puerto Ricans are left without access to clean drinking water, hospitals remain closed, meals are undeliverable because of infrastructure damage, and the electrical and communications systems lay in ruins.
•••
At a news conference, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz says, “We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency, and the bureaucracy. This is what we got last night. Four pallets of water, three pallets of meals, and 12 pallets of infant food — which, I gave them to the people of Comerio, where people are drinking off a creek. So I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell.”
••• Trump issues an angry response to Yulin that will draw criticism of him for victim-blaming: “... Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantasticjob.”
•••
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigns in disgrace after media reports show he has splurged on private charter flights at a cost of more than $400,000 to U.S. taxpayers.
Politico reports that despite expectations for government officials to travel commercially, Price has gone on at least two dozen charter flights since May.
•••
The Washington Post reports that the EPA contracted to build a $43,000 soundproof booth in EPA Director Scott Pruitt’s office.
•••
The third quarter of 2017 closes with GDP growth of 2.8 percent.
Week 37 (Oct. 1-7)
Humor cop: Trump lashes out at late-night comics in a tweet complaining about “their very ‘unfunny’ ” material and asking, “Should (Republicans) get Equal Time?” Critics point out that the FCC’s equal time requirement applies to campaigns and is not meant to protect anyone from being the butt of jokes.
•••
On Oct. 3, Trump visits Puerto Rico, where he tosses rolls of paper towels to survivors and appears to minimize the humanitarian crisis on the island by contrasting Maria to “a real catastrophe like Katrina.”
••• Trump visits Las Vegas the next day, where he praises law enforcement officers, first responders, hospital workers, survivors and heroes in the crowd that night for their actions during the Oct. 1 mass shooting. Surrounded by officers and emergency responders at Metro headquarters, he says, “While everyone else was crouching, police officers were standing up as targets just trying to direct people and tell them where to go. Words cannot describe the bravery that the whole world witnessed on Sunday night.” Referring to others who gave assistance, he says, “Some of them were very badly wounded, and they were badly wounded because they refused to leave. People leaving ambulances to have somebody else go because they thought they were hurt even more so.” He refuses to discuss whether he believes the shooting calls for the need for gun safety laws, saying, “We’re not going to talk about that today.”
••• During a White House speech, Trump seems to suggest he thinks the F-35 fighter is invisible. “You literally can’t see it. It’s hard to fight a plane you can’t see,” he says of the stealth aircraft.
•••
The stock market closes Oct. 2 with the Dow Jones industrial average over 22,500 for the first time. Power is still not restored in Puerto Rico and a humanitarian crisis there deepens.
Week 38 (Oct. 8-14)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who supported Trump’s campaign, warns that Trump’s statements about foreign leaders are threatening to trigger World War III. He adds that a small group of Trump advisers are all that “separate the country from chaos.” He goes on to call the White House an “adult day care center.”
•••
Upset over an NBC News report that Rex Tillerson referred to him as a “moron,” Trump offers to compare IQ tests with the secretary of state. He also issues a tweet with authoritarian overtones, saying perhaps the network’s license should be revoked for criticizing him.
••• Trump nominates Kelly protégé Kirstjen Nielsen to direct Homeland Security.
••• Having failed to meet his campaign promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare despite having Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, Trump signs orders undercutting the ACA in two key ways — eliminating billions of dollars in subsidies to private health insurers covering low-income Americans, and making it more convenient for Americans to purchase stripped-down health plans that are inexpensive but do not cover such essential needs as maternity and postnatal care, prescription drugs and addiction treatment.
•••
As the House nears a vote on a $36.5 billion aid package for Puerto Rico, Trump lashes out with a tweet: “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”
The hurricane hit three weeks earlier. By this point, 90 percent of the island remains without power, and full restoration of electricity isn’t expected until March.
Week 39 (Oct. 15-21)
In a profile of Pence, The New Yorker reports that Trump once joked that the vice president “wants to hang” all gay people.
•••
The widow of a U.S. soldier killed in Niger says Trump struggled to remember her husband’s name during a call meant to console her. She also says Trump told her, “He knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens, it hurts anyway.”
• • •
Trump denies that he forgot the name of the soldier, Sgt. La David Johnson.
Trump also makes a patently false claim that Obama didn’t make calls to families grieving the deaths of service members.
•••
Kelly lashes out at Rep. Frederica Wilson, who was on the call with Johnson’s widow and disclosed details of it. Kelly calls her an “empty barrel” and says she lied about the circumstances in a speech she had made earlier.
Week 40 (Oct. 22-28)
Corker, during an appearance on “Good Morning America,” says Trump should “leave it to the professionals for a while” on North Korea. When Trump criticizes him on Twitter, Corker fires back, “#AlertTheDaycareStaff.”
•••
In a speech to the Senate, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake says, “We must never regard as ‘normal’ the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals.” The comments reveal a growing rift within the GOP about whether Trump is fit to serve, but they also show the strength of loyalty to Trump among some Republicans. Two years into his presidency, there still has been no significant effort within the party to take steps to constrain Trump.