Top Stories Today – August 21, 2019
Top Stories Today – August 21, 2019
Trump injects religion into politics again
Showing a fresh willingness to play politics along religious lines, President Donald Trump said that American Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” Trump’s claim triggered a quick uproar from critics who said the Republican president was trading in anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Trump’s comments were denounced swiftly by Jewish American organizations. “This is yet another example of Donald Trump continuing to weaponize and politicize anti-Semitism,” said Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “At a time when anti-Semitic incidents have increased — due to the president’s emboldening of white nationalism — Trump is repeating an anti-Semitic trope.” Logan Bayroff of the liberal J Street pro-Israel group said it was “no surprise that the president’s racist, disingenuous attacks on progressive women of color in Congress have now transitioned into smears against Jews.” “It is dangerous and shameful for President Trump to attack the large majority of the American Jewish community as unintelligent and ‘disloyal,’” Bayroff said. The Associated Press
How Trump views market volatility and economy
President Donald Trump acknowledged his aggressive China trade policies may mean economic pain for Americans but insisted they’re needed for more important long-term benefits. He contended he does not fear a recession but is nonetheless considering new tax cuts to promote growth. Asked if his trade war with China could tip the country into recession, he brushed off the idea as “irrelevant” and said it was imperative to “take China on.”
The Republican president indicated that he had no choice but to impose the tariffs that have been a drag on US manufacturers, financial markets and, by some measures, American consumers. Trump was clear that he didn’t think the US is at risk of a recession and that a boom was possible if the Federal Reserve would slash its benchmark interest rate. The Associated Press
US military drone shot down in Yemen
A US military MQ-9 drone was shot down in Yemen’s Dhamar governate, southeast of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday. This is not the first time a US drone has been shot down in Yemen. In June, the US military said that Houthi rebels had shot down a US government-operated drone with assistance from Iran.
One of the officials said that it appeared that the drone had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile operated by the Iran-aligned Houthi group. The other official cautioned that it was too early to tell who was responsible for the incident. Reuters
Trump cancels Denmark visit over Greenland spat
US President Donald Trump has cancelled a state visit to Denmark after the nation’s prime minister said Greenland was not for sale to the US. The president was scheduled to visit on 2 September, at the invitation of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II. Then last week Trump suggested the US was interested in buying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen described the suggestion as “absurd” and said she hoped Trump was not being serious. Frederiksen is due to give a statement later on Wednesday. BBC
Trump: More background checks for gun buyers off the table
resident Donald Trump has told the head of the National Rifle Association that strengthening background checks for gun buyers is “off the table,” the Atlantic magazine reports. Trump came out in favor of stricter background checks for gun buyers immediately after mass shootings this month in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
But he now appears to be lukewarm on the idea, telling reporters Tuesday the country already has “very, very strong background checks.” He said he is worried about a “slippery slope” when “all of a sudden everything is taken away.” But the president also said his administration is having “meaningful” talks with Democrats on gun control. The Voice of America
Trump to limit protections for migrant children
The Trump administration is expected to announce, as early as Wednesday, that it’s moving ahead with new rules that would allow for the longer term detention of families traveling with children across the US-Mexico border, according to two government officials familiar with the plan.
The government’s detention of children has been limited to less than 20 days under a court settlement known as the Flores Settlement Agreement. President Donald Trump and Republicans have repeatedly blamed the 20-day limit for encouraging undocumented migrants from arriving at the border with children, expecting to be released. ABC News
EU rejects Johnson request to remove backstop
The European Union has rebuffed Boris Johnson’s attempts to tear up the Irish backstop, in a coordinated response that appeared to close the door on further meaningful Brexit negotiations. In remarks shortly before the prime minister departed for a whistle-stop tour to meet European leaders, Johnson put the blame for the EU’s hardline response at the feet of Conservative rebels, claiming his negotiating strategy was being undermined by those who said they could prevent no deal.
The president of the European council, Donald Tusk, accused the British government of failing to admit that its policies would lead to the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland. The Guardian