Perils abroad, full plate at home as Trump opens 2nd year
PALM BEACH, Fla. – The glamour of his holiday break behind him, President Donald Trump is returning to Washington to face a hefty legislative to-do list, critical midterm elections and perilous threats abroad.
Trump is starting his second year in office after a lengthy sojourn at his private Palm Beach club, capped by a New Year’s Eve bash. Before his departure, he fired angry tweets at Iran and Pakistan, slamming Islamabad for “lies & deceit” and saying the country had played U.S. leaders for “fools,” a reference to frustrations that Pakistan isn’t doing enough to control militants.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif tweeted that his government was preparing a response that “will let the world know the truth.”
In the meantime, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday that the United States should be aware his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a future threat. To that, Trump only said: “We’ll see.”
The president is hoping for more legislative achievements after his preChristmas success on taxes. He plans to host Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin at Camp David next weekend to map out the 2018 legislative agenda.
Republicans are eager to make progress before attention shifts to the midterm elections. The GOP wants to keep House and Senate majorities in 2018 but must contend with Trump’s unpopularity and some recent Democratic wins.
The White House has said Trump will come forward with his long-awaited infrastructure plan this month. Trump has also said he wants to overhaul welfare and recently predicted Democrats and Republicans will “eventually come together” to develop a new health care plan.
Ryan has talked about overhauling Medicaid and Medicare and other safety-net programs, but McConnell has signaled an unwillingness to go that route unless there’s Democratic support for any changes. Republicans will have just a 51-49 Senate majority — well shy of the 60 votes needed to pass most bills — giving leverage to Democrats.
Trump spent his last day in Florida as he spent most other days: visiting his golf course and tweeting.
On Pakistan, he wrote: “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
It was not immediately clear why the president decided to comment on Pakistan. The U.S. has long accused Islamabad of allowing militants to operate relatively freely in Pakistan’s border regions to carry out operations in neighboring Afghanistan. In August, the United States said it would hold up $255 million in military assistance for Pakistan until it cracks down on extremists threatening Afghanistan.