President Trump v. The New York Times

President Trump and the publisher of The New York Times, A. G. Sulzberger, engaged in a fierce public clash on Sunday, July 29, over Trump’s threats against journalism. 

A.G. Sulzberger said the president misrepresented a private meeting that they had on July 20 (which was off the record) and Trump accused The Times and other papers of putting lives at risk with irresponsible reporting. 

Originally, Sulzberger described the meeting with Trump, whom he had met only once before, as cordial. Sulzberger said by the end of the session he felt that Trump had listened to his arguments. Sulzberger recalled that the president told him he was glad that he had raised those issues and would think about them. 

Sulzberger said he bore no illusions that his comments would prompt Trump to curb his attacks on the news media. 

Sulzberger said he encouraged the president to complain about news coverage in The Times that he viewed as unfair. But he appealed to him not to systematically attack journalists and journalism around the world.

Trump said on Twitter that he and Mr. Sulzberger had discussed “the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, ‘Enemy of the People.’ Sad!” 

Sulzberger, who became publisher of The Times on Jan. 1 said, “I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous.” 

Trump, in his initial tweet from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., on Sunday morning, described the meeting with Sulzberger as “very good and interesting.” But in referring to the phrase “enemy of the people,” he did not make clear that he himself began using that label about the press during his first year in office.

In A.G. Sulzberger’s comments after the meeting, he said, “I told him [Trump] that although the phrase ‘fake news’ is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists ‘the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence.”

“I will not allow our great country to be sold out by anti-Trump haters in the dying newspaper industry,” he wrote. “The failing New York Times and the Amazon Washington Post do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements — and they will never change!”

Trump threatens Government shutdown

President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to shut down the federal government unless Democrats in Congress support his immigration initiatives, including money for a wall on the border with Mexico.

Trump wants $5 billion for the border wall this year, but he signaled to leaders that he might be willing to wait until after the midterms, given that Senate Democrats are unlikely to agree to that amount. 

On Sunday, Trump tweeted, "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" 

The federal budget year ends Sept. 30. Lawmakers will spend much of August in their states campaigning for re-election. The House is now in recess, returning after Labor Day. The Senate remains in session and is set to go on break the week of Aug. 6 before returning for the rest of the month. McConnell canceled most of the Senate's recess to give senators time to work on the annual spending bills that fund government operations. 

Sunday's shutdown threat from Trump also echoed a remark he made in February when he said "I'd love to see a shutdown" if the government did not agree to address immigration. Congress ultimately passed a spending bill in March that funded the government through September. Trump threatened at the time to veto the spending agreement, but eventually signed the bill while expressing his displeasure with Congress.

Philadelphia terminates ICE contract after activists’ storm city hall

On Thursday July 26, Democratic Mayor of Philadelphia Jim Kenney announced he is going to let a decade-old contract between the city of Philadelphia and ICE expire at the end of next month. 

In a termination letter sent to ICE, city solicitor, Marcel Pratt said the contract “has created the false perception that the city is willing to be an extension of ICE.” 

“It is not in the best interests of the city and its residents for the city to acquiesce to that perception,” Marcel Pratt wrote. 

“We’re not going to provide them with information, so they can go out and round people up,” Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney.

As a sanctuary city, Philadelphia had already limited cooperation with immigration enforcement. It won’t release inmates to ICE without a judicial warrant. 

Philadelphia will stop giving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to a real-time arrest database, saying the agency is misusing the information to conduct sweeps in which otherwise law-abiding immigrants are also being caught up. 

Mayor Jim Kenney said, “immigration officers are wrongly using the database to go to homes and workplaces of people who list foreign countries of origin and arresting other people who are in the country illegally but otherwise are not accused of other crimes.”

Regarding the contract between Philadelphia and ICE, anyone who interacts with law enforcement is entered into the database, including those who are arrested, victims and witnesses, with limits on what ICE officers can view. 

Philadelphia entered into the contract in 2008, city solicitor Marcel Pratt said, and revised it in 2009 to shield witness and victim information from the agency, as well as to eliminate immigration status. 

Two of three stakeholders in the contract had to vote to end the city’s contract with ICE. The three stake holders are the city, the district attorney and the city courts. District Attorney Larry Krasner had said this month he would oppose the contract’s renewal, saying it promotes oppressive practices.

The Trump administration wants to cut funding to the city as a result but has so far been blocked by a judge. U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman called the decision irresponsible and said the city will end up “harboring criminal aliens.” 

“Sanctuary-city policies make American communities like Philadelphia less safe by putting the rights of criminal aliens over the safety and security of American citizens,” Katie Waldman said. 

“Despite the misguided action taken by Philadelphia today, DHS will continue to work to remove illegal aliens and uphold public safety.” 

ICE has previously said it would focus on immediate deportation for people in the country illegally who had felony convictions or who were suspected of felonies. 

City report on Confederate monuments raises idea of renaming Austin

Due to Stephen Austin’s strong stance on slavery, the city of Austin’s Equity Office suggested renaming the city in a report released about existing Confederate monuments that was published last week. 

On the list of locales to possibly be renamed in addition to the city are Pease Park, the Bouldin Creek neighborhood, Barton Springs and 10 streets named for William Barton, the “Daniel Boone of Texas,” who was also a slave owner.

A change to the city’s name likely would require a vote since “Austin” would have to be struck from the city charter and replaced. 

Stephen Fuller Austin was granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers.

Austin was known as the “Father of Texas” and the founder of Texas. He led the second and ultimately, the successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States to the region in 1825. 

Throughout the 1820s, Stephen Austin sought to maintain good relations with the Mexican government, and he helped suppress the Fredonian Rebellion. He also helped ensure the introduction of slavery into Texas despite the attempts of the Mexican government to ban the institution. 

Austin was a periodical slave owner throughout his life; however, he had conflicting views about it. Theoretically, he believed slavery was wrong and went against the American ideal of liberty. In practice, he agreed with the social, economic, and political justifications of it, and worked hard to defend and expand it.

Mail Time!

• 
  Bill, if the FISA warrant was granted based on the Clinton dossier, isn't any criminal charge the is brought fruit of the forbidden tree? All charges against anyone Muller brings will be thrown out on appeal. 

• Hi Bill, I read today's column about those who spew Anti-Trump themes of the week. I totally agree that’s what’s going on but one thing puzzles me: with something so organized and orchestrated as this, why don't we ever see evidence of explicit anti-trump directives & messaging in the form of letters, emails, texts, etc. since everyone leaks everything these days in Washington?

Word of the Day: Pecksniffian