Category Archives: Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump Sunday called on President Biden to resign in disgrace over his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and other issues.

It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan, along with the tremendous surge in COVID, the Border catastrophe, the destruction of energy independence, and our crippled economy, the former president wrote in a statement.

The Taliban have rapidly taken control of most of the country as insurgent forces enter the capital city of Kabul, where US troops have been sent to evacuate the embassy.

Mobs of panicked people can be seen at the Kabul airport frantically trying to flee the city on Sunday.

Trumps administration had negotiated the terms of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by May 1. Trump even considered withdrawing troops from the region before leaving office.

When Biden announced that he planned to fully withdraw troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, he was slammed by Trump, who insisted Biden keep as close as possible to his own goal of getting the troops out on May 1.

I made early withdraw possible by already pulling much of our billions of dollars of equipment out and, more importantly, reducing our military presence to less than 2,000 troops from the 16,000 level that was there (likewise in Iraq, and zero troops in Syria except for the area where we KEPT THE OIL), he said in an email to supporters in April.

Republicans have blasted Biden for the current crisis in the country, where the US had maintained a presence for 20 years.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said the US troop pullout has been an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions on Sunday.

Biden was also criticized by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who told Fox News on Thursday the situation would not have happened if Trump were still in office.

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Trump calls on Biden to 'resign in disgrace' over crisis in Afghanistan - New York Post

The coronavirus pandemic, a fraught election, an attempted insurrection, more of the coronavirus pandemic the United States is suffering from the mental version of long COVID, says Mary Trump.

The psychologist and niece of former President Donald Trump joins The New Abnormal to talk about it this week.

Mary Trump speaks with co-host Molly Jong-Fast about how her uncle Donald politicized the COVID-19 pandemic, demanding that his supporters endanger their lives to demonstrate their loyalty to him. He said Wednesday that the CDCs recommendation for booster shots was simply a money-making operation for Pfizer.

He will do anything to feel that hes still the center of attention. Unfortunately, he has nothing good to offer us. Hes incapable of, you know, doing a PSA to have people get vaccinated, she says.

Did you know you can listen to The New Abnormal bonus episodes in your member dashboard or a podcast app? Click here to get set up and sign up for new episode email alerts here.

Mary Trump argues in her new book, The Reckoning: Our Nations Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal, that the intersecting crises have left the nation reeling. Americans have experienced profound whiplash and decline over the past two years, she says.

What will happen to this nations mental health after months more of chaos and fear? Plus, of course, that it was worsened by Donalds need to keep people at each others throats, she tells Molly.

Also on the episode, Margaret Sullivan, media critic for The Washington Post, joins to discuss shortcomings in the coverage of the U.S. militarys withdrawal from Afghanistan and the ensuing Taliban takeover.

Its impossible to Just give me the facts because everything is framed. You know, everything is a choice. Quoting Karl Rove is a choice. Voting Leon Panetta is a choice, she says. I think its been not great at all.

I feel like when you have John Bolton on, you may have lost some of your credibility, Molly says.

You can quote people like that. But when you do, you owe it to your readership or your audience to say what their role was when the decisions were being made, Sullivan replies. The government has lied to the American people for years about this. Lets not forget that as were quoting the exact same people who lied.

Molly also interviews Jason Kander, the former Missouri secretary of state who was deployed to Afghanistan as a U.S. Army intelligence officer. They talk about the disaster unfolding in Kabul and beyond.

One of the problems that were having right now as a country is were really used to having somebody to blame, and this is a 20-year war, Kander says.

Like Sullivan, Kander says one of the most bitter disappointments of recent weeks has been Americans ahistorical perceptions of the war.

I am mad that the American public seems to have figured out this week that weve been fighting a war in Afghanistan for 20 years and theyre not happy about it, he says.

Listen to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

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Why Uncle Don Is 'Incapable' of Convincing the Unvaccinated - The Daily Beast

In Showtimes new docuseries Gossip a recording of Donald Trump pretending to be his own publicist is played; a story about Tom Cruises front teeth falling out during a dinner with former New York Post editor-in-chief Col Allen is told; and 91-year-old Cindy Adams defends her past and present friendships with Roy Cohn, Imelda Marcos, John Gotti, Gen. Manuel Noriega and, of course, Trump.

But beyond salacious Page Six stories and Adams questionable friendships, Gossip, is at its core an examination of power and how Rupert Murdoch fundamentally shifted the foundation of the news industry via the New York Post and its tabloid journalism.

The four-part docuseries explores how New York Citys most prominent gossip columnists Liz Smith, George Rush, Richard Johnson and Adams built their careers and used their power.

Gossip director-producer Jenny Carchman is no stranger to covering media outlets, having received an Emmy nomination for her work on The Fourth Estate. She and Liz Garbus co-directed the 2018 docuseries, which follows New York Times reporters as they cover the Trump presidency. In Gossip, Carchman tracks the rise of The New York Post and how the newspapers gossip section created celebutantes like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian while also allowing lies to become reality.

Imagines Brian Grazer and Ron Howard serve as executive producers on the project along with Imagine Entertainments Michael Rosenberg, Imagine Documentaries Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes, and Troy Searer from New York Post Entertainment.

Variety spoke with Carchman about Adams candidness, what scandals to include in the series, and what it means to own gossip.

What drew you to this project?

The whole series looks through the lens of the New York Post, so that interested me because of the journalism piece of it. But when I was told that Id have access to Cindy Adams, I was like, Okay, this is amazing. Because then it became about a person and this persons history and this persons story. Thats what excited me.

Adams is very candid in the series. How did you convince her to take part in the doc?

Ron Howard met with Cindy and he was like Oh my God. What a character. They hit it off and I think Cindy felt like, Why not do the series?

In one interview you did with Adams she also describes how she went after Leona Helmsley when the hotel empress supervillain, and Adams former friend, betrayed her. She then warns you about how you chose to portray her in the film, saying with a smile, I will find you. Were you ever intimidated by Adams or afraid to ask her anything?

Yes. I also know that in that interview when she said that, I couldnt tell if it was a joke or if she was serious. I wasnt sure, so I just decided to go with it.

The series explores Adams friendships with controversial figures such as the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Roy Cohn, Imelda Marcos, John Gotti, Mario Cuomo and of course Donald Trump. At one point a colleague says Cindys one of those people who views everybody through the prism of how they treat her. So if Adolf Hitler had been nice to her, well Has Adams seen the film, and does she like it?

Yes. She liked the film. Listen, shes unapologetic. Shes absolutely clear about her feelings and about her relationships. These are her friends. She is very loyal to her friends. Theyve done nothing wrong to her. She doesnt feel the need to apologize for them or for their behavior. In fact, she was able to further her career by having access to these people. I think she feels like shes telling it, like it is from their point of view. Shes a reporter from their point of view.

Page Six has covered many celebrities and scandals. How did you decide what items to include in the series?

I laid out a timeline. I put all the big stories that Cindy had covered, and the not so big stories. What were the stories that were going to give us insight into Cindy as a person, reporter, and friend? Then I looked for the stories that would help us understand the world were in today, which is Trump and how did we get here? So, that was the deciding trajectory of it. As we get later into the decades, theres stories you cant ignore like Harvey Weinstein. You cant tell a story about gossip and not tell his story because he was a master of it. And you cant tell the story of Page Six and not tell the story of Paris Hilton, because she was created by Page Six.

What I found surprising is that the series is less about celebrity gossip and more about how much power tabloid journalists have. Was that intentional?

Yes. Its all about how to manipulate the media. In the series we learn about befriending gossip columnists; giving people stories; trading stories with people; having information that you can barter for more self-interested publicity. We see how celebrities of all types from Donald Trump to Kim Kardashian to Harvey Weinstein use the media. Its about, using this form of gossip as a form of journalism for ones self-interest.

Why make this series now?

I thought that this would be a fascinating look back at where the idea of a transactional relationship with the media formed. I mean, thats been going on forever so, I dont want to say that it was born in 1976 when the Post was bought by Murdoch, but thats where we start our story. I do think Murdoch, along with the internet and television all of these pieces came together in this perfect storm of combining news with entertainment and the entertainment is salacious and gratuitous, stuff that you see mainly in gossip. Then (that combination) became part of our everyday life.

The series is called Gossip, but its about so much more. Was the title chosen as a way to appeal to viewers that wouldnt normally watch a doc about the evolution of the New York Post and how it shifted journalism?

Everybody gossips, right? Everybody loves to do it. It feels good. Its information that you have, and it gives you power. The point of this series is how to use that power with the information. It would be great if we appeal to a (really broad) audience and they watch it and learn about the history of the New York Post and Cindy Adams and Donald Trump. But either way, the series is trying to take that word gossip and unpack it. Like, what is it actually? And I think where we come to is that the word is enormous power.

Gossip debuts Aug. 22 on Showtime

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Gossip Director Jenny Carchman on Cindy Adams, the NY Post and Donald Trump - Variety

Trump's webmasters didn't appear to be the only ones who were busy trying to clean up their sites. Insider points out that the Republican National Committee has taken down a page that considered Trump's deal with the Taliban as a foreign-policy achievement. It trumpeted what it called a "preliminary peace deal " with the Taliban that would put an end to military action there. According to the now-defunct GOP page, the U.S. would pull out its troops within 135 days of the agreement, which was signed on February 2, in exchange for a promise that Afghanistan wouldn't be used as a base for terrorism.The RNC has since told Insider that the removal was part of a "scheduled transfer" of old posts from an old site to a new one.

Even if the page had stayed up, what the GOP's site does not mention is that the Trump administration backed the Taliban's call for the release of 5,000 of its insurgents who had been imprisoned by the Afghan government. The insurgents were singled out using a list provided by the Taliban. Of the names on the list, 400 had been linked to or convicted of serious crimes. Those prisoners were eventually released, thanks to the efforts of then secretary of state Mike Pompeo (via The New York Times).

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Why Donald Trump's Position On Afghanistan Is Coming Back To Haunt Him - The List

A COVID drug used to treat former US president Donald Trump has been approved for UK coronavirus patients.

Ronapreve will be the NHSs first tailor-made Covid treatment, and is proven to cut deaths and hospital admissions.

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Trump described it as a cure for the virus when he was struck down with it in October last year.

It works by injecting virus-fighting antibodies into the blood, where they latch on to the coronavirus and stop it getting into cells.

Scientists said the drug was another weapon in the UKs arsenal and said it could slash the risk of someone going into hospital by 70 per cent.

An Oxford University study found the pricey drug costing up to 2,000 per patient could cut the risk of death by up to a fifth in those who do not have natural antibodies. And it can also stop people getting Covid in the first place, so could be given to family members of those who test positive.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: We are now working at pace to ensure this treatment can be rolled out to NHS patients as soon as possible.

Ronapreve, made by the US-based firms Regeneron and Roche, is made from antibodies harvested from those who have already recovered.

Other drugs used to treat seriously ill Covid sufferers were designed for other illnesses years ago.

Although most people have natural antibodies thanks to jabs, it could be used for those who have not had a vaccine or whose immune systems are weak.

After being released from hospital last year, Trump said: I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president, because I feel great. I feel perfect.

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Covid drug used to treat Donald Trump approved for UK patients... - The Sun

As Republican Party pariah Liz Cheney made clear Tuesday in her opening remarks at the Houses investigation into the attack on the Capitol, lawmakers must get to the bottom of the events surrounding the insurrection or it will remain acanceron our Constitutional republic, undermining the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democratic system. Specifically, Cheney insisted that the Houseselectcommittee must not only determine what happened here at the Capitol but what Donald Trump was up to as well, saying, We must also know what happened every minute of that day in the White Houseevery phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during, and after the attack.

Now, if Trump was (trigger warning here) still in power, his administration would no doubt refuse to allow anyone who had any contact with him on January 6 to testify before the committee, asserting executive privilege. But luckily for Congress, the country, and the humanity, Trump isnt in power anymore.

Per The Guardian:

FormerTrump administrationofficials can testify to Congress about Donald Trumps role in the deadly January attack on the Capitol and his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, the Justice Department (DOJ) has said in a letter obtained by The Guardian. The move by the Justice Department to decline to assert executive privilege for Trumps acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, clears the path for other top former officials to also testify to congressional committees investigating the Capitol attack without fear of repercussions. The Justice Department authorized witnesses to appear specifically before the two committees. But a DOJ official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said they expected that approval to extend to the January 6 select committee thatbegan proceedings on Tuesday.

Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee,told The Guardianin a recent interview that he would investigate both Trump and anyone who communicated with the former president on January 6, raising the prospect of depositions with an array of Trump officials.

The Justice Departments decision marks a sharp departure from the Trump era, when the department repeatedly intervened on behalf of top White House officials to assert executive privilege and shield them from congressional investigations into the former president.

Who might Thompsons committee want to talk to and what kind of questions might they ask? In addition to Rosen, The Washington Post suggested several people of interest on Tuesday:

Top of the list is precisely what then president Donald Trump did before, during, and after the attack. How did he prepare his speech preceding the insurrection, in which he told the crowd to fight? What did he anticipate his audiences reaction would be? When did he know the pro-Trump mob was threatening the Capitol? Why did he offer only mild statements long after the danger was clear? Did Trump-affiliated rally organizers coordinate with extremist groups? Answering such questions calls for subpoenaing former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; Mr. Trumps daughter Ivanka and her husband, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner; and other White House aides with useful information.

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Will the 1/6 Committee Force Jared and Ivanka to Testify Against Donald Trump? - Vanity Fair

Politicians almost always act in their own electoral interest. This sounds bad except that much of the time that means that they are acting in the self-interest of the people who voted for them, representing the views of the majority of their constituents. It is rare that a politician acts against his own self-interestbut then again, Donald Trump is a rare breed of politician. No politician has made it a habit of acting against his own electoral interest like Donald Trump.

Trump and many of his Republican colleagues have allowed a virulent anti-vaccine/anti-masking/anti-social distancing campaign to spread among their voters, reinforced by Fox News. The campaign gained strength just in time for the emergence of a new and more contagious COVID variant: the Delta variant. Polling has shown that the anti-vaccine message is especially popular among Republicans. Kaiser Family Foundation data indicate that Republicans are the group most likely to say they will definitely not get a vaccine:

A total of 17 of the 18 states that voted for Trump in the 2020 election have the lowest vaccination rates. The exception was Georgia which went for Biden by a very small margin.

But in recent weeks some Republican leaders have been changing their tune. Right-wing stalwarts like Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the House Republican whip, just got vaccinated publicly. This move is in contrast to former President Trump and First Lady Melania who got vaccinated before leaving the White House without making a public appearance out of it and without urging their supporters to do the same. The very conservative governor of Alabama held a press conference to admonish her constituents to get vaccinated. Appearing every bit the irritated grandmother talking to teenagers she said:

Its the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down. Ive done all I know how to do. I can encourage you to do something but I cant make you take care of yourself.

And Fox News has taken some small steps towards sanity with several high-profile anchors disputing disinformation from the web and urging viewers to get vaccines.

Slowly but surely, in recent weeks, the number of vaccinations has been increasing. So why the change of heart among conservative leaders? Reality is probably the biggest reason. Grandmothers dying, hospitals overrun, and young people getting sick have a way of combatting the nonsense on the web. Eventually conservative leaders will not want to bear responsibility for the pain of so many. Now that the COVID casualties are piling up in deep red states rather than liberal cities on the coasts they are finding their pandemic humanity. And so politics may well be driving the Republican about-face as elected officials recognize that people are dying and many of those are potential Republican voters in 2022 and beyond.

Health statisticians use a metric called excess deaths. According to the CDC, Excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods. In other words, people die every day but during the pandemic many more people died than would ordinarily during the same period.

Belowis a table usingCDC data showing the estimated excess deaths thathave occurred since February 2020by state, as apercentage of the population. So, for instance, Mississippi has lost approximately 0.35% of its population in excess of what was expected. The table is arranged in order of the magnitude of the loss. Of the top fifteen states that have suffered excess deaths, New York, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New Mexico are Democratic strongholds. Three states, Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania are swing states that went for Biden in 2020 and the remaining eight states are Republican strongholds.

Note: New York numbers combine New York City with the rest of New York State.

Its not too far out to assume that in some places the Republican quiescence in the face of anti-vax nonsense may be killing their own voters. As we know from this long pandemic, it hits the elderly the hardest. People 65 and older are most likely to die. And as we know from many surveys, Trumps support is highest in the oldest age cohort, those over 65 years old. In Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania there will be tough contests at the statewide and congressional levels and 2024 is likely to be as close as was 2020. Given these numbers, killing off your most reliable voters is perhaps not the best strategy.

These data do not, in themselves, show that COVID is killing Republican voters or disproportionately affect Republican families. For example, we know that because of healthcare disparities, Black Americans are more likely to die from COVID than white Americans. In Republican states, increases in COVID infections, hospitalizations, and deaths could be affecting Black residents, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic, even in Republican stronghold states. However, the sudden change in rhetoric from conservative, Republican politicians, and even among Republican leaders who were previously vaccine-skeptical or vaccine-silent, suggests that something else is happening. It suggests that Republican politicians are recognizing where the current COVID wave is hitting hardest, and they arent Democratic cities and counties.

Trump himself has often been immune to rational political calculationsjust look at his insistence on endorsing the weaker candidate, Susan Wright, who recently lost the Republican special election in Texas 6th congressional district. The winner dubbed himself a Reagan Republican, not a Trump Republican. And in a final irony, Congressman-elect Jake Ellzey will replace Rep. Ron Wright who died of COVID.

Historically, rational political calculus has been a bipartisan quality, but not in the Trumpified GOP. If Trump wants to preserve the lives of his best voters, he would turn his rallies into mass vaccination sites. There is still time, but it is running out for thousands of Americans.

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COVID-19 is crushing red states. Why isnt Trump turning his rallies into mass vaccination sites? - Brookings Institution

TCF Center in Detroit erupting as counting continues

A chaotic scene erupted outside the vote tally room at TCF Center in Detroit as election officials informed dozens of challengers that they could not reenter the room due to it being over-capacity.

Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey on Wednesday described how she and other election officials were threatened and harassed in the wake of the 2020 presidential election after President Donald Trump madebaseless claims of corruption in the outcome.

"Threats were made against me, my staff and Detroit poll workers by phone, by email and in person," Winfrey said in testimony to the U.S. House Administration Committee, which held a hearing on threats of election subversion amid Trump's continued lies that the election was fraudulent.

The committee is considering whether legislation is needed to protect election officials and workers from harassment.

Trump lost Michigan to President Joe Biden by more than 154,000 votes and Republican lawmakers in Lansing, as well as elections officials and Trump's own Justice Department, have concluded there wasn't any evidence of widespread fraud. But Trump has continued to claim fraud, especially in Detroit, despite having done better in that city in 2020 than he did in 2016 when he faced Hillary Clinton.

More: Report: Barr rejected Trump's allegations of Detroit voter fraud. Trump called him worthless

More: Here's how Biden beat Trump in Michigan and it wasn't corruption

More: Trump's false claims are whipping up Republicans. They might also hurt their chances

After Trump pressed his claims, there were numerous incidents in Michigan and several other states where his supporters protested, threatened or harassed election officials or staff pressing claims of fraud that were never proven.

Winfrey said she expected to receive more harassment for merely appearing before the committee.

"Some of my colleagues have been shot at ... all of us have been threatened," she said, though she didn't elaborate on the circumstances of anyone who may have been targeted by firearms. "We just want to uphold democracy. ... It's unfair that we're attacked for doing our jobs."

"I feel afraid," she continued. "I know I'm going to get some kind of repercussion for just sitting here today."

In her testimony, Winfrey said the most direct threat she encountered came some time after she had testified, despite having been diagnosed with COVID-19, to election officials responsible for certifying the vote.

Walking in her neighborhood, she said "an unknown Caucasian male approximately 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds approached me ... and abruptly stated, 'I've been waiting for you at work and decided to come by your house.' "

Winfrey said the man continued, saying, "Why did you cheat?" and "Why did you allow Trump to lose? You are going to pay dearly for your actions in this election."

"He approached me in a threatening manner, coming closer and closer and my only recourse was to yell, 'I have COVID-19 and I will spit on you!' " she said.

Winfrey said a neighbor who was driving by intervened, asking whether Winfrey was OK and using her car to block the man while the Detroit clerk got home. But that wasn't the end, she said.

"Later that evening, I receive a message on Facebook stating that he was going to blow up my block and that I was a chicken head and ugly in person," she said, adding that she contacted Detroit police. "As recently as February 2021, I was notified by (Detroit police) that the police would be patrolling my home for the next couple of weeks. My husband and I decided to simply leave home."

Winfrey who also said she received insults and threats via social media and texts on her cellphone noted she wasn't the only election official to be harassed, as state and other local officials also received threats. She also noted that during the counting of absentee ballots at TCF Center in Detroit, several Republican challengers had to be removed because of "disruptive conduct."

"Some wore intimidating masks over their entire face, others banged on the walls and windows shouting, 'STOP THE VOTE,' " she said. "Others violated social distancing standards and, as required by COVID-19 rules, refused to place protectivemasks over their noses when asked. It appeared that this disruption attempted to undermine the tabulation of absentee ballots."

In response to a question from U.S. Rep. G.K. Buttterfield, D-N.C., Winfrey said her staff was shaken by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the harassment they received. "A number of my senior staff decided to take off work, to take (family leave). ... The overall climate ... is one of fear almost. Peopleare wanting to retire."

Winfreysaid the role of local clerks to protect the integrity of the vote is vital and asked the committee to take steps to protect them from harassment and intimidation while conducting their official duties.

"We need laws to protect us for simply doing our jobs," she said. "I'm not partisan in my job and, as such, me and my staff, we shouldn't be threatened. We shouldn't do the job fearfully."

Winfrey, who has served four terms as Detroits chief election officer, is up for reelection this fall. She will face three challengers in the citys upcoming Aug. 3 primary.

Shehas spoken out against bills introduced by Republican state lawmakers that someelection officials and voting rights advocates say would disenfranchise voters in the state based on misinformation that the Nov. 3 election was rife with fraud.

While Winfrey has positioned herself as an advocate for the citys voters, some of her challengers have argued that she hasnt done enough to ensure elections in the city are accessible and addressed persistent problems with mismatches between the number of ballots recorded as cast in the pollbook and the number of ballots counted.

Those concerns came to a boil after the August 2020 primary election when nearly three-quarters of the citys precincts recorded imbalances between the number of absentee ballots counted and the number of ballots recorded as cast, which state election officials attributed to recording errors. That prompted the Wayne County Board of Canvassers to ask state election officials to step in to help the city during the presidential election.

During the November election, about 70% of the counting boards charged with counting absentee ballots cast by the citys voters were out of balance without an explanation, but a post-election review was able to reconcile and resolve many of the discrepancies.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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Winfrey describes threats in wake of 2020 election to congressional panel - Detroit Free Press

The assignment for a collection of national and local reporters in December of 2019 was simple: What was it like to cover President Donald Trump, both in his campaign days and as president?

"But when these pieces started coming in, many were very personal," said Jerry Ceppos, LSU journalism professor and editor of the book that resulted from the reporters' essays, "Covering Politics in the Age of Trump," published this month by LSU Press.

"We realized there was a higher calling for the book," he said. "Readers would be able to get into the mind of a reporter and see that we are human beings," said Ceppos, the William B. Dickinson Distinguished Professor in Journalism at LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication, where he previously was dean.

On Thursday, at 2 p.m., LSU Press and the Society of Professional Journalists, which funded the book, will hold a live, remote discussion and readings from the book with Ceppos and three of the book's 24 contributors: Mark Leibovich, chief national correspondent for the New York Times Magazine; Major Garrett, chief Washington correspondent for CBS News; and Mary C. Curtis, a columnist for Roll Call, the Capitol Hill news organization, on the LSU Press Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/LSUPress/.

People can RSVP for the reading on the "events" link on the above Facebook page, to get a reminder beforehand, at https://fb.me/e/RLu9Y7cA. After Thursday's reading and Q-and-A, the event will be available on the "videos" link of the LSU Press Facebook page.

The journalists' essays in the book fall into one of eight chapters, including "When the President Calls You Out," "Could All of This Be Our Fault?" and "Look to the Future."

One of the essayists, Ashley Parker, the White House bureau chief for the Washington Post, wrote in her piece for the book: "At the Post, our former executive editor, Marty Baron, stressed that we don't cover Trump any differently than we'd cover any other president. But Trump did present different challenges."

In the chapter called "The Story Isn't Always in Washington," Mark Ballard, the Capitol News Bureau editor for The Advocate and Times-Picayune, noted the Trump administration had better relationships with the local press than the national media.

"Covering Politics in the Age of Trump" is dedicated to the late Martin Johnson, who was dean of the Manship School when he had the idea for the book.

Johnson, who became dean in 2018 after Ceppos stepped down after seven years in the position, died at age 50 in his sleep on Sept. 28, 2020.

"It still gets to me," said Ceppos, adding, "Martin and I went to LSU Press together to drop off the first draft of the book."

Ceppos said the aim was to portray the impact of Trump's presidency on journalists.

"It was not at all intended as an anti-Trump book," Ceppos said last week. "It's about how journalists think and how they try to be objective."

"You can see that fairness is the goal," he said.

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What was it like to cover Donald Trump as president? Writers tell stories in new LSU press book - The Advocate

Former President Donald Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had a tee time with donors at a Trump golf course in April.

A political action committee Donald Trump co-founded to help Republicans take control of the Senate spent20%of its operating expenditures at the former president's businesses, according to a financial disclosure filed earlier this month.

TheTrump-Graham Majority Fund paid the Trump Hotels Collection $22,000on June 3 for a facility rental and catering. The PAC reported total operating expenses of $105,000 for the quarter.

Just days after it launched in April, theTrump-Graham Majority Fund held the Trump Graham Golf Classic at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach. Theentry fee was $25,000, a person,reported Punchbowl News.

The PAC raised $705,000 last quarter. Contributors who pitched in at least $25,000 included Lynda Blanchard, Trumps former U.S. ambassador to Slovenia. She is nowrunning for Senate in Alabama.Herhusbandmade a big donation as well.Mississippi State Senator Joel Carter (R)also was in for $25,000. The PAC for the GEO Group, a private prison company,chipped in$20,000.

Representatives from the Trump-Graham Majority Fund and the Trump Organizationdidnot respondto inquiries.

Former President Donald Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) address their donors and Trump's customers.

I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the

I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., just a couple miles from my home. When Trump won the election and refused to divest his business, I stayed on the story, starting a newsletter called 1100 Pennsylvania (named after the hotels address) and contributed to Vanity Fair, Politico and NBC News. Im still interested in Trump, but Ive broadened my focus to follow the money connected to other politicians as wellboth Republicans and Democrats.

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Trump PAC Spends 20% Of Its Operating Expenses At Trumps Business - Forbes