Monthly Archives: October 2019

Christian church leader Rick Wiles threatened that "There's gonna be violence in America" if President Donald Trump is removed from office.

Wiles, the senior pastor at Flowing Streams Church in Florida, made the remarks on his right-wing TruNews program Tuesday evening. He claimed that cowboys, mountain men and "guys that know how to do violence" would start attacking and "hunting down" Democrats.

"If they take him [Trump] out, there's gonna be violence in America," the religious leader said. "That's all there is to it," he asserted.

"However he leaves, there's gonna be violence in America," Wiles went on. "I believe there are people in this country, veterans, there are cowboys, mountain men, I mean guys that know how to fight," he said, "and they're going to make a decision that people who did this to Donald Trump are not gonna get away with it."

"And they're gonna hunt them down," the pastor said.

"The Trump supporters are going to hunt them down," he added. "It's going to happen and this country is going to be plunged into darkness and they brought it upon themselves because they won't back off."

Wiles' threat came as it has appeared increasingly likely that Trump will be impeached by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. The fast-moving impeachment inquiry, which was launched at the end of September, has already revealed that the president pressured Ukrainian leaders to investigate his political rivals and allegedly withheld bipartisan approved military aid to the country as a "quid pro quo" to open the probes.

Although it appears likely that Trump will be impeached in the House, most analysts do not believe he will be removed from office by the Republican-controlled Senate. Although a few GOP senators have expressed serious concerns about Trump's actions towards Ukraine, a two-thirds majority of the legislative body is required to remove the president from office. That would mean all the 45 Democrats, the body's two independents and 19 Republicans would need to vote for Trump's ouster.

Despite it remaining unlikely that 19 or more Republican senators will turn on Trump, a survey by the conservative Daily Caller website suggested this week that it's not outside the realm of possibility. Of the 53 Republicans in the upper house of Congress, only seven confirmed definitively that they do not support Trump's impeachment and removal from office. Additionally, 22 of the lawmakers declined to comment altogether.

Wiles and his TruNews program have a history of promoting highly controversial, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ ideas and conspiracy theories. In 2017, the conservative religious figure argued that Hurricane Harvey's devastation in Texas resulted from Houston supporting the LGBTQ community. "Here's a city that has boasted of its LGBT devotion, its affinity for the sexual perversion movement in America. They're under water," he said at the time.

TruNews has also described former President Barack Obama as a "demon from hell."

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Pastor Warns If Trump Is Removed From Office, 'Guys That Know How to Fight' Will Hunt Down Democrats - Newsweek

The comics take a look at the latest in impeachment proceedings, including outrageous tweets, in Best of Late Night Eileen Rivers, USA TODAY Opinion

Impeachment proceedings appear to bereaching a critical point: Summariesof Tuesday's testimony from Bill Taylor, the country'ssenior diplomat in Ukraine, revealed cover ups, quid pro quoand bullying not just from the president, but throughout the administration. If ever testimony solidified the need for an impeachment vote, Taylor delivered it. Hard to imagine things getting much worse, right?

Enter President Donald Trump's Twitter account.

His go-to platform during times of stressincluded a new way of describing the impeachment proceedings. He called the thoroughly constitutional look intohis unseemly (and potentially illegal) activity, a "lynching."

Comedian and writer for "Late Night with Seth Meyers" Amber Ruffin shows why impeachmentproceedings are the furthest thing from a lynching and why calling Trump out on his racism is the furthest thing froma distraction. Take a look at today's Best of Late Night, above, for the deets.

James Corden warned Trump that he was on his way to losingwhat little black support he has.

James Corden(Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

And the comics fill you in on the other outrageous tweetattached to the president's account.

After you watch our favorite jokes from last night's late-night lineup, vote for yours in the poll below.

Follow Eileen Rivers on Twitter @msdc14.

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Corden: Trump may have just alienated his three black voters - USA TODAY

Graham is one of the presidents key allies, but Trump supporters got a #WheresLindsey hashtag trending Tuesday.

Posted on October 22, 2019, at 8:06 p.m. ET

Donald Trump Jr. and other prominent MAGA stars are driving a new social media campaign to pressure Sen. Lindsey Graham to more forcefully defend President Donald Trump from the impeachment inquiry.

Graham, the chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, is one of the presidents top allies in the Senate and is set to play a key role in the presidents impeachment defense. But the presidents die-hard supporters and oldest son are now taunting him to immediately do more, including issuing subpoenas on Trumps behalf.

The campaign has used the #WheresLindsey hashtag to call on Graham to start bringing people in to be interviewed by his Senate committee and to air grievances with what they see as Grahams inaction to protect the president so far. The hashtag, boosted by Trump Jr. and his allies, was trending in the United States on Tuesday, even after Graham went so far as to explicitly defend Trumps morning comments about the inquiry being a lynching. The inquiry, Graham told reporters, is a lynching in every sense.

That wasn't enough to save Graham from intense and personal attacks all day online.

Republican House members last week framed the impeachment process as not being transparent after members were blocked from reading the closed-door testimony from Kurt Volker, the former US special representative for Ukraine negotiations, because they arent members of the committees with jurisdiction over the testimony. The Trump-backing Twitter accounts have spread false conspiracy theories about the House Democrats leading the process, in particular Rep. Adam Schiff, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

Graham, responding to those concerns on Oct. 9, said if House Democrats didnt release a transcript of Volkers full testimony, it would be an abuse of power.

If this continues, I will call Volker before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify publicly to ensure the full story is told, he added.

But the MAGA accounts and Trumps son want Graham to stop talking and just fucking do something already.

Remove the first three words from this tweet and try again, one person tweeted at Graham eight days later in a reply that received over 1,000 likes. An hour later, Trump Jr. quote-tweeted Graham to let him know that the problem was continuing.

Dear @LindseyGrahamSC: The chair of the Intel Committee is orchestrating a coup against the President of the United States, complete w rogue CIA spies, secret testimony and his usual leaks to the corrupt press. WHY IS TRUMP FIGHTING ALONE? a popular pro-Trump Twitter account said later that afternoon. The tweet was retweeted over 5,000 times and liked over 11,000 times.

Lindsey Graham is more worried about the invasion of Syria than the coup taking place in Washington, the account added in a follow-up tweet. In tweets from a year ago, the account had praised Grahams appearance during Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court confirmation hearings and his defense of the president and begged Trump to bring him to rallies.

Trump Jr. escalated the pressure campaign against the senator by promoting his own appearance on Fox News Hannity in early October.

I think we need our guys in the Senate to start pushing back start subpoenaing this. Do you doubt for one second that this team has met with the whistleblower, Schiffs team, that they have dictated every aspect of this? Subpoena em! Ask them! Trump Jr. said in a clip, which was widely shared on Twitter and ultimately retweeted by Trump Jr. himself.

Popular conservative Twitter personalities associated with organizations like Turning Point USA latched onto the rhetoric Tuesday and have encouraged followers to tweet memes and makes posts under the hashtag #WheresLindsey.

Remember based Lindsey Graham? Benny Johnson, Turning Point USAs chief creative officer, posted on Tuesday morning alongside a video of Grahams statements during the Kavanaugh hearings. I do. This Lindsey Graham stopped a bloodthirsty, farcical attack from the Left on our nations most honored institutions. Lindsey crushed these attacks. Do it again Lindsey.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump Jr. added to the call for Graham to start issuing subpoenas to witnesses like Volker. I repeat... its continuing. #WheresLindsey, he said, quote-tweeting Grahams threat from early October.

Grahams office did not immediately return a request for comment about the Twitter campaign or his relationship with Trump Jr.

Paul McLeod contributed reporting to this story.

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Donald Trump Jr. And MAGA Twitter Are Pressuring Sen. Lindsey Graham To Defend Trump From Impeachment - BuzzFeed News

BRUSSELS European leaders have long understood that President Trump is an unreliable ally, subject to loud tantrums, abrupt shifts and sudden whims. They have worried about his ambivalence toward NATO, resented his personal attacks and bristled at his use of trade policy and economic sanctions to restrict their companies and markets.

Until now, Europeans have done little except complain about him. But Mr. Trumps recent actions in Syria and Ukraine may change that.

The more optimistic now argue Mr. Trumps betrayals in those conflicts are of a different category of seriousness, and may accelerate what has been a slowly building process of European integration and peeling away from the United States. Others are not so sure.

But there is agreement that Mr. Trump has destabilized Europes near neighborhood in a major, even fundamental, way that requires a unified response, if only Europeans can come together.

Mr. Trump this month pulled American troops out of Syria, forsaking the Kurds who were guarding European jihadists, and allowing Turkey to invade. Mr. Trumps impeachment inquiry has laid bare how through the course of the year he prized politics over policy in Ukraine.

Both episodes benefited President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has been working to destabilize European democracies, chip away at Western cohesion, and on Tuesday hosted his new friend, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a NATO member.

As European leaders prepare for a meeting of NATO members in London in early December, Mr. Trumps capriciousness is testing Europes ability to cohere and adjust.

Europeans have put themselves in the position of being dependent on an undependable president, said Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

This just exposes again how Europeans remain overly reliant on the United States, he said, not only to deter Russia but to protect Western interests in the Middle East. But will Europeans do anything about it?

Mr. Trumps sudden withdrawal of American troops from northern Syria, and the quick response of Mr. Putin, have shaken Europeans. How deeply is the question.

This has been more grist to the mill for the need for European governments to take more responsibility for their near neighborhood," Mr. Niblett said. But that doesnt mean it will get done.

The European Parliament is preparing a resolution condemning Turkeys offensive and urging economic sanctions, but governments are split on the matter.

While to some degree Americas allies have priced in Mr. Trumps limitations and behavior, this is a whole different level," said Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, playing into all their fears about America as an unreliable ally.

So unreliable has Mr. Trump proved, in fact, that his allies would not dare call the December meeting a summit, NATO officials concede. It will incorporate only a reception at Buckingham Palace and a single morning session at a golf resort hotel an hours drive from central London.

The main reason for that, officials say, is because of Mr. Trumps tantrum about military spending that so distorted the last NATO summit meeting in Brussels in July 2018.

There, Mr. Trump was finally calmed down when the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, told him, We get it, Donald, we need to buy more American arms. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, told him: We understand, we need to spend more so you can spend less.

Such remarks are revealing of Europes deepening disdain for Mr. Trump, even before his meddling in Syria and Ukraine.

European governments have a very low regard for Trump anyway," said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform. They know that they need to work with the United States, but it confirms to them that Trump is incapable of thinking strategically, handing victory to the Russians in Syria.

Mr. Trumps move in Syria was particularly neuralgic for the French. They have been vocally furious with American unreliability ever since 2013, when President Barack Obama decided to ignore his own red line and call off bombing strikes on Syria in response to the regimes use of chemical weapons a decision passed on to Paris just as French war planes were preparing to join the United States in the strikes.

France felt abandoned then, especially after becoming more aligned with Washington under Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Franois Hollande and rejoining NATOs command structure.

But this is a whole new level of frivolousness in the way that the U.S. treats allies, Mr. Leonard said.

Mr. Macron was particularly bitter last week about Mr. Trumps unilateral Syria move, in a news conference after a Brussels summit meeting.

I understood that we were together in NATO, that the U.S. and Turkey were in NATO, Mr. Macron said. And I found out via a tweet that the U.S. had decided to withdraw their troops."

Asked about the seeming impotence of the European Union, he added, I share your outrage.

But such decisions also help those in Europe, like Mr. Macron, who are trying to make the case for more European strategic autonomy, both in defense matters but also increasingly in financial ones, as Europeans try to protect their firms from both American tariffs and secondary sanctions against Iran.

Mr. Macron is pressing for more spending on European defense, especially on French armaments, as a way for Europe to counterbalance a long-term trend of American retreat from multilateral obligations.

But whereas the European Union has mostly joined together in a common regulatory system on matters of trade and finance, it often remains a bloc of 28 foreign policies.

Europe is split, Mr. Leonard said. There are those deeply worried about what is going on and wanting to build a Europe that can defend itself, not just in defense but to push back on the extraterritoriality of American sanctions and Trumps weaponization of the international financial system. And there are those who think they have to suck up to Trump bilaterally, like the Poles, who only trust the Americans to deter Russia.

And then there are those like Germany that will follow Macron to a degree rhetorically, but when it comes down to difficult decisions about how much to spend on defense, how assertive to be on sanctions, holds back," he said.

But the more Mr. Trump and Congress go after European national interest and leaders, threatening a trade war with Europe and insulting its leadership, the more countries are driven into the French camp.

There are more structural developments that have shaken the way that Europeans view the United States, said Manuel Muniz, dean of the School of Global and Public Affairs at IE University in Madrid.

He cited Mr. Trumps questioning of NATO and collective defense; his abandonment of the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal; his imposition of trade sanctions on European products like steel and aluminum; his harsh attacks on individual European leaders at various times, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and former Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain; and the behavior of some of his ambassadors toward their host countries and institutions.

Mr. Trumps criticism of European free-riding on defense is accurate, Mr. Muniz said, but it has also led to Europeans ceding responsibility for their own interests and fates.

But given his unreliability as an ally, Trump will accelerate the process of European integration on defense and security, he said.

In fact, in many corners of the world, Americas transformation from the indispensable ally to the unreliable one is now taken for granted.

Americas unreliability as both a global leader and ally or partner is no longer in doubt and countries are adjusting accordingly, and not just in Europe, according to Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister and now vice president of the Toledo International Center for Peace.

The Kurds and Turks quickly scrambled to make a deal with Russia, and India is also pursuing closer ties to both China and Russia. The South Koreans are seeking a form of rapprochement with the North and even Saudi Arabia is looking for better ties with Iran, he wrote in an op-ed article for Project Syndicate.

The main problem is not just what Trump does, but how he does it, Mr. Leonard said. It is not just Mr. Trumps America First nationalism, he said. Alliances need predictability, and Trump is so unpredictable.

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Trumps Syria and Ukraine Moves Further Alienate Americas Already Wary Allies - The New York Times

Does it even matter any more that, on Monday, El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago had another televised nutty in the White House? Does it matter more that, in the course of his televised nutty, the president* expressed virulent contempt for the Constitution he swore to preserve, protect, and defend. I mean, I was sitting there when he did it. I had to sit through that awful Roger Corman film of an inaugural address. Did I do that for naught?

Anyway, on Monday, the president* unburdened himself of the following thought-like objects.

On the war on terror:

On the whistleblower:

And then, the piece de resistance, in which Alexander Hamilton and James Madison become operatives of The Deep State...

I know he burbled on about George Washington and Barack Obama and Netflix and how unprecedented it is that he's not taking a salary. (Herbert Hoover didn't, nor did JFK.) But I think I briefly went to another place when he said that thing about the Emoluments Clause. How about the Bill of Rights? How about the powers of Congress? How about the impeachment provisions? What other parts of the Constitution does he consider "phony"?

All of them, Katie.

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Donald Trump's Televised Cabinet Meeting Was Another Nutty Episode - Esquire

Whistleblowers have been at time essential and detrimental to a country's democracy, but what makes them different than a leaker? We explain. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON Railing against impeachment at a meeting of his Cabinet, an angry President Donald Trump called Monday for the identification of the government whistleblower who made the first accusations against him.

Do we have to protect somebody that gave a totally false account of my conversation?" Trump said at one point. "I dont know. You tell me.

House Democrats conducting the impeachment inquiry say federal laws are designed to protect the identities of whistleblowers.

They also said the statements of this particular whistleblower are consistent with a partial transcript of July 25 phone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice PresidentJoe Biden, a 2020 presidential contender, and Biden's son Hunter, who once had business interests in Ukraine.

The president disagreed, telling reporters Democrats have "nothing."

"I think they want to impeach mebecause it's the only way they're going to win," he said. "They've got nothing. All they have is a phone call that is perfect. All they have is a whistleblower who's disappear. Where is he?"

President Donald Trump, center, points to members of his Cabinet while speaking during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, in Washington, as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, left, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, listen. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) ORG XMIT: DCPM107(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

Trump also said officials who provided the whistleblower with information should also be exposed.

Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor in New York City, said it would be illegalfor Trump or anyone else to "out" the whistleblower.

"The whistleblower was a tipster and, just like when someone calls the police to say 'Hey, Iheard that five people robbed a bank today and here is where they did it and left the evidence,' you dont need anything more from the tipster you go and find the evidence," Rocah said. "Thats whats happened here and we also have multiple confessions."

She called Trump's comments "a transparent attempt to divert our attention" from the facts of the case.

The impeachment inquiry centers on whether Trump abused his office for his own political gain when he pushed Ukraine to investigate the Bidens during a time when the administration was holding up military aid for the country. Trump has said he did nothing improper and that there was no "quid pro quo" in which he used the aid as leverage to get Ukraine to investigate a political rival.

Impeachment inquiry:Week 5 questions about withholding military aid from Ukraine and diplomat who called policy 'crazy'

Show me evidence: Lindsay Graham doesn't rule out impeachmentif inquiry establishes 'quid pro quo'

Impeachment was one of several topics Trump covered in remarks to reporters during a Cabinet meeting.

During the session, Trump also:

Lambasted top Democrats Rep. Adam Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over the impeachment inquiry, saying they are focused on that and ignoring the nation's real problems.

"These people are trying to destroy the country," he said.

He added, "the president of the United States should be allowed to run the country and not have to focus on this kind of crap, while at the same time doing a great job on Syria and Turkey."

Defended one of his foremost critics Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard against attacks by a more long-term politicalfoe:Hillary Clinton.

Clinton is "accusing everyone of being a Russian agent," Trump said."These people are sick. Theres something wrong with them.

While not specifically namingGabbard, Clinton last week referred to the Hawaii congresswoman by saying during a political podcast that "she's the favorite of the Russians." Clinton added that "theyhave a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far."

Poll: Majority of Americans lacks confidence in Trump when it comes to making Supreme Court picks

In a series of tweets,Gabbard called Clinton the "personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long," and said she is part of a "concerted campaign" to destroy her reputation.

Chided Democrats for pushing back against his decision to host the G-7 summit of world leaders at his resort in Doral, Florida. The president on Twitter Saturday reversed his decision to host the summit there, suggesting Camp David could serve as an alternative site.

"I would have given it for nothing," Trump said of Doral to reporters in the Cabinet Room Monday. "The Democrats went crazy, even though I would have done it free."

Attacked Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, for criticizing his actionsand suggested that Republicans are not as united behind him as Democrats are in seeking to impeach him.

Democrats are ambitious and stick together, Trump said.

"They don't have Mitt Romney in their midst," he said. "They don't have people like that. They stick together. You never seethem break off."

Trump also attacked "Never Trump" Republicans who have always attacked him, claiming they areworse than Democrats.

"The good news is they're dying off fast," Trump said. "They're on artificial respiration."

Democrats denounced Trump's various commentsduring the 71-minute Cabinet meeting.Ronald Klain, chief of staff for vice presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, tweeted that it was a "tirade of lies, deceptions, delusions, and distractions."

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Donald Trump calls for public identification of Ukraine whistleblower - USA TODAY

The host of CNNs Anderson Cooper 360 on Tuesday said it is entirely possible that this day may turn out to be one of the most consequential days in the impeachment inquiry, as well as possibly this presidency.

Coopers assessment came at the start of a segment centered on acting Ukraine Ambassador Bill Taylors earlier reported private testimony before House lawmakers, which the news anchor said had been described as that significant by someone whod heard it.

Taylor reportedly revealed in great detail and in no uncertain terms that President Trump himself directed his people to push for a quid pro quo with the president of Ukraine, military aid and a White House visit in exchange for investigating the firm tied to (former Vice President) Joe Bidens son, Hunter, and investigating a conspiracy theory about the 2016 election, said Cooper.

In short, Taylors testimony, which just wrapped up, describes the very thing the president and his supporters have been denying for weeks now, he added.

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Anderson Cooper: Donald Trumps Fate May Have Been Sealed On Tuesday - HuffPost

Back in early 2018, I noticed something hinky about the confluence of Donald Trumps blurts about his trade war with the movement of the stock market. As I wrote in this space back in August, I believe Trump or people close to Trump might be profiting off the volatility of the markets ever since the president first declared a trade war against our allies and frenemies alike.

Since the passage of the 2009 stimulus, and with the exception of 2015, the markets have been mostly climbing steadily, in a relatively smooth upward slope. This ascending trajectory continued through the first year of Trumps presidency until suddenly we began to observe harrowing single-day declines volatility in the form of precipitous collapses of as much as 1,175 points off the Dow Jones average.

In fact, the top five biggest single-day point declines in the history of the Dow have occurred on Trumps watch, and all have occurred since February, 2018.

Coincidentally or maybe not quite that the president issued his first tariffs on Jan. 22, 2018, and the first gigantic market decline of his presidency happened two weeks later on Feb. 5: the aforementioned 1,175-point crash. However, there were smaller declines that began the day after the first tariff announcement. Since then, many of the biggest market gains or declines have occurred within days, sometimes within hours, of Trumps various statements and tweets.

When theres good news from Trumps yapper, the markets climb. When theres bad news, the markets take a shit. Scanning the financial sites, traders and analysts alike have been clear about why the markets freaked out on each occasion, for better or worse, and the freak-outs have almost always coincided with a Trump blurt about trade. Hence the ongoing rollercoaster of market volatility since late January of 2018.

Vanity Fairs William Cohan published a mind-blowing item last week that closely examined several chaos trades and the linkage between Trumps blurts and the movement of the S&P 500. Sure enough, someone or a connected group of someones has been making super-colossal trades just prior to Trumps announcements about the trade war. When I say super-colossal, Im vastly understating the magnitude of the windfalls these trades have produced.

Cohan writes about one trade in which someone bought 82,000 e-mini contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) just before the markets closed on Sept. 10. The following day, Trump announced a delay in implementing new tariffs on China, which was received as good news, thus launching the S&P skyward by 47 points to close at 3,016. The trader who ordered the 82,000 e-mini contracts, at $50 per contract multiplied by the 47-point gain, made a profit of around $190 million in one suspiciously miraculous day. If the investors last name isn'tKreskin, theres no way of knowing that Trump would suddenly emerge with that announcement about China, unless the president or someone acquainted with his thinking alerted the investor. If that happened, Trump and the investor could be in a lot of trouble.

A $190 million profit earned on the knee-jerk whimsy of a Trump blurt is pocket lint compared with another suspicious trade that came down on June 28 when another mysterious someone bought a whopping 420,000 e-minis. At the G20 summit the very next day, following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump told reporters that everything with China was hunky-dory. The next week, the S&P jumped 84 points, earning the mystery investor a nosebleed-inducing profit of $1.8 billion thats billion with a b.

Then, on Aug. 23, according to Cohan, an unknown investor picked up 386,000 e-minis. On Aug. 26, during the G7 summit, we learned from the president that Chinese trade officials had called and told him they were ready to return to the negotiation table. On that news, the S&P jumped 80 points and the investor raked in a profit of $1.5 billion. It turned out, however, thatTrump lied about the phone call. Chinas negotiators hadn't called him at all. In other words, someone earned a sum of around half of Trumps entire net worth based strictly on a Trump lie.

One CME veteran told Cohan, There is definite hanky-panky going on, to the worlds financial markets detriment. This is abysmal.

The Vanity Fair piece also described a short sale on the S&P that was, yet again, strangely linked to market movement triggered by the president. Briefly put, taking out a short position on a stock is a bet against the success of a stock. Turning a profit on a short sale requires the stock to drop in value. Some shorts end up driving a stock down even more than it would have fallen naturally. Its a crappy but common investment strategy that frankly ought to be illegal.

Words like illegal, hanky-panky and abysmal barely begin to describe the possibility that Trump might also be shorting the markets based on his tweets and the erratic fluffing of his trade negotiations. It doesnt take a Wall Street genius to know that if theres bad news for the markets, short positions can be quite lucrative. So, when we look at those massive one-day declines, moving on Trumps unpredictable shrieking, it seems as if short positions, rather than traditional investments such as those immense e-mini orders Cohan described, would be the only investments to make in accordance with bad news from Trump and the only person who really knows what Trump might say from moment to moment is Trump.

If the president is indeed shorting the markets, what does this say about his stewardship of the economy? Is his disregard for the health and prosperity of the financial markets, businesses and investors alike, so profound that hes betting against their collective success and potentially profiting from their failure? I find it difficult to believe that the forgotten men and women had this in mind when they foolishly set loose such an unapologetic disruption agent upon the world.

Is the president even capable of knowingly manipulating the stock market? Youre damn right he is. You might recall a massive investigation by the New York Times indicating that Trump engaged in a scheme with his dad, Fred Trump, known as greenmailing:

During the 1980s, Donald Trump became notorious for leaking word that he was taking positions in stocks, hinting of a possible takeover, and then either selling on the run-up or trying to extract lucrative concessions from the target company to make him go away. It was a form of stock manipulation with an unsavory label: greenmailing. The Times unearthed evidence that Mr. Trump enlisted his father as his greenmailing wingman.

So theres no denying that hes wired for this awfulness. Additionally, knowing his history with Wall Street combined with the obvious impact of his yawps, hed have to be in a coma not to notice the power he possesses over the markets. It also goes without saying hes not personally making these trades. He could merely be tipping off a trusted ally who, him- or herself, might be several hops removed from the actual broker of the trades. Remember: Trump moves like a gangster, and, as we learned in "The Godfather: Part II," the boss has a lotta buffas.

Or theres always the possibility that this is a wild coincidence, and that the one honorable thing Trumps ever done in his life is to ignore his ability to blurt things that move the markets, whether soaring through the roof or collapsing into the basement.

Given that hes been transparently profiting off the presidency by dragging his entire motorcade to his resorts in Bedminster or Sterling or Mar-a-lago on an almost weekly basis; by hosting 500 Saudis at Trump International; by sending Air Force transports to the financially struggling airfield closest to his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland and ordering the airmen to stay overnight at the resort; by announcing that next years G7 would he held at Trump Doral in Miami (until be backpedaled), and all the rest of it, does he really seem like a man whos loath to profiteer off his presidency?

Bear in mind, too, that Trump referred to the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution as the phony emoluments clause during remarks in the cabinet room on Monday. Make no mistake: He knows it exists, he just has zero respect for its existence.

Its impossible to know incriminating details about these trades from public records. So perhaps an entity with subpoena power and oversight of the financial markets, something like Rep. Maxine Waters' Financial Services Committee, or Rep. Carolyn Maloneys subcommittee, should take a closer look. If it bears out under scrutiny, were talking about serious felonies and at least a handful of additional articles of impeachment on the table.

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Donald Trump's big short: Is the president profiting off the market chaos he creates? - Salon

Ever since Donald Trump began his bid to become US president he has been given an ample platform on his favourite network, Fox News. It carried many of his campaign events live and its pundits gave him full-throated support. In response, Trump has pushed his supporters on Twitter to watch his favourite stars on the network and often takes up their talking points.

Joining Anushka Asthana to discuss the powerful relationship between Trump and Fox News is journalist Luke ONeil.

Now, as Trump faces the twin perils of an impeachment inquiry and next years presidential election, there are signs that the relationship might be souring.

Also today: Jonathan Franklin on the protests in Chile that have turned deadly.

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Are Fox News and Donald Trump falling out of love? podcast - The Guardian

The Editorial Board, USA TODAY Published 9:30 a.m. CT Oct. 22, 2019

Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders aren't the only presidential candidates who deserve consideration. Democrats, take your time: Our view

Going into the 2020 election, President Donald Trump looks vulnerable. He faces an impeachment inquiry in the House.He has the lowest average approval rating in polling history. And his standing among independents is awful, especially for a Republican.

In other words, Republicans should be panickingor scouting aroundfor another candidate, or both.But they know they have an ace in the hole:the Democratic Party.

To win in 2020,all the Democratsmight need is a capable, relatively uncontroversial candidate within shouting distance of the political center, someone who can be competitive in the key battleground states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But, at least so far, Democratic votershave beengravitating toward candidates who lack some of thesequalities.

Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who have led national polls aren't the only hopefuls who deserve consideration.A hint that the field is fluidcame Monday in the form of aSuffolk University/USA TODAY poll of Iowa voters. It showed that PeteButtigieghad moved passed Sanders into third place in the first caucus state. Amy Klobuchar did not see her numbers go up, but the senator from Minnesotahas seen a big fundraisingbump after her favorably reviewed debate performance last week. Several others in the field of nearly 20are plausiblegeneral election candidates.

Bidens experience and decency might well make himthe most electable of the bunch. But his halting performances on the campaign trail and in the debates, coupled withhis fundraising struggles, have party insiders doubting whether, at 76, he meets the capability threshold.

Democratic voting.(Photo: Comstock Images/Getty Images)

ANOTHER VIEW: Betrayed Trump voters want a leader to take USA back from the rich and powerful

Warren and Sanders, the two other septuagenarianswho routinely poll in double digits and have fervent supporters, have espoused massively costly policies on health care and educationthat have little buy-in outside the Democratic Party's progressive wing.

Their hostility to corporations is understandable, considering the damage some companies have done to public health and the environment. Even so,the two senators'anti-corporate mantras have an over-the-top quality that would play into thehands of Trump, who would lovenothing more than to run as the free-enterprise candidate saving the nation from socialism.

Given Trump's abuse of power, chronic dishonesty and incompetence, the stakes in the 2020 election could not be higher.Whats more, the Republican Party'sembrace of Trumpism gives the Democrats the chance to claim the mainstream and become the ascendant party.But for these things to happen, the Democrats would do well to field a candidate who cant be characterized as too far left or too far beyond theirprime.

History shows that polls in wide open primary races often go through multiple phases. At this point in the 2004 election cycle, thetop ratedDemocrat wasHoward Dean.Four years later, Hillary Clinton had a more than25-point lead,while the top Republicans were Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson. None of those erstwhile leadershas a presidential library.

Democrats still have time to check outthe field before they settle on Mr. or Ms. Right.

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Donald Trump and Republicans have an ace in the hole for 2020: the Democratic Party - Daily Advertiser