Archive for the ‘John F. Kelly’ category

Donald Trump Corrects John Kelly: ‘The Wall Is the Wall, It Has Never Changed or Evolved’

January 18, 2018

Donald Trump Corrects John Kelly: ‘The Wall Is the Wall, It Has Never Changed or Evolved’,  Breitbart,  Charlie Spiering, January 18, 2018

(Please see also, FULL MEASURE: January 14th 2018- The Other Wall. — DM)

AP/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump corrected his Chief of Staff John Kelly after he said that the president had “evolved” on the wall.

“There’s been an evolutionary process that this president has gone through,” Kelly said in an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier, pointing out that Trump had “very definitely changed his attitude” towards DACA recipients and the wall.

But Trump pushed back on Twitter against the suggestion that he had evolved on the wall.

“The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it,” Trump said.

The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water…..

He explained that parts of the wall would be “see-through” and that it was never meant to stretch across the whole 2,000-mile border where there were already natural barriers.

Kelly said that he and border experts told Trump that 800 miles of wall would “suffice” which included 600 miles of existing fencing.

“He has evolved in the way he’s looked at things,” Kelly said. “Campaign to governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is within the realm of the possible.”

Kelly also suggested that the wall would not be paid “directly” by Mexico, something that Trump also corrected.

“The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S.,” he wrote. “The $20 billion dollar Wall is ‘peanuts’ compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!”

….The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is “peanuts” compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!

Trump added that without wall funding there would be no DACA deal.

“We need the Wall for the safety and security of our country,” he wrote. “We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world. If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!”

We need the Wall for the safety and security of our country. We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world. If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!

Report: Kelly Is Blocking Negative Amnesty Coverage From Trump

September 15, 2017

Report: Kelly Is Blocking Negative Amnesty Coverage From Trump, Daily CallerAlex Pfeiffer, September 15, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC – Trump and Kelly. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Axios’ Friday report noted: “Instead of being able to march into the Oval Office and hand Trump the latest Breitbart headline or printouts of tweets showing how badly his amnesty drive is playing with his fiercest nationalist supporters, aides opposing the decision would now have to go through the Kelly process, which would involve submitting an official, documented, request to meet with the president.”

White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who used to work for Trump critic Sen. Mike Lee, manages Trump’s news clips and briefing materials, according to the Axios report.

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President Donald Trump’s embrace of amnesty is in part due to White House chief of staff John Kelly blocking negative coverage from the president, according to a Friday report from Axios.

Trump has reversed his stance from the campaign trail and asked Congress last week to “legalize” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program that protects roughly 800,000 illegal immigrants. The reaction has been negative from conservative commentators and news outlets.

Trump has paid attention to outlets like Breitbart and The Daily Caller in office, which have been highlighting Trump’s flip-flop, two sources who speak with the president told The Daily Caller. However, a recent report from The New York Times said that Kelly has started to take TheDC and Breitbart stories out of Trump’s pile of media reports.

This is part of Kelly’s new regime in which there is more control over the flow of information to Trump. Axios’ Friday report noted: “Instead of being able to march into the Oval Office and hand Trump the latest Breitbart headline or printouts of tweets showing how badly his amnesty drive is playing with his fiercest nationalist supporters, aides opposing the decision would now have to go through the Kelly process, which would involve submitting an official, documented, request to meet with the president.”

White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who used to work for Trump critic Sen. Mike Lee, manages Trump’s news clips and briefing materials, according to the Axios report.

Trump struggling with John Kelly’s strict operation: Report

September 1, 2017

Trump struggling with John Kelly’s strict operation: Report, Washington ExaminerDaniel Chaitin, August 31, 2017

(Is Kelly on the way out? How about others who are trying to control President Trump? — DM)

The Post report said Trump, when Kelly isn’t around, uses his personal phone to talk to recently departed White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and other business friends and outside advisers.

“Nobody tells him who to see, who to listen to, what to read, what he can say.” Stone said. “General Kelly is trying to treat the president like a mushroom. Keeping him in the dark and feeding him shit is not going to work. Donald Trump is a free spirit.”

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President Trump is having a difficult time accepting the strict operation in the White House run by chief of staff John Kelly, according to a report Thursday.

Sources close to the president tell The Washington Post that Trump is struggling with the adjustment as the former Marine Corps general has brought a sense of discipline to a West Wing beset by leaks and infighting.

“[Trump’s] having a very hard time,” one friend who spoke with Trump this week told the Post. “He doesn’t like the way the media’s handling him. He doesn’t like how Kelly’s handling him. He’s turning on people that are very close to him.”

Kelly became Trump’s chief of staff at the end of July, replacing Reince Priebus. Since then, Kelly has restricted the flow of information and people that reaches Trump. That includes limiting which family members can see Trump in the Oval Office on a whim.

The Post report said Trump, when Kelly isn’t around, uses his personal phone to talk to recently departed White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and other business friends and outside advisers.

Some people close to Trump also don’t appreciate Kelly’s efforts to tamp down Trump’s penchant for spontaneity and bold statements. According to the Post, some of them have taken to dismissively calling Kelly “the church lady.”

Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser and longtime confidant, told the Post that Trump “resists being handled.”

“Nobody tells him who to see, who to listen to, what to read, what he can say.” Stone said. “General Kelly is trying to treat the president like a mushroom. Keeping him in the dark and feeding him shit is not going to work. Donald Trump is a free spirit.”

Despite Kelly’s work to maintain an orderly West Wing, he refuses to attempt to control Trump’s Twitter habits. He also doesn’t seek out the limelight, as evidenced in Trump’s Phoenix rally earlier this month when he called Kelly to come onto the stage, but he was nowhere to be found.

 

BREAKING: Scaramucci out after brief, turbulent stint at White House

July 31, 2017

BREAKING: Scaramucci out after brief, turbulent stint at White House, Washington TimesDave Boyer, July 31, 2017

In this July 25, 2017, photo, White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci walks back to the West Wing of the White House in Washington. Six months into presidency, Donald Trump is saddled with a stalled agenda,

President Trump removed newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci Monday, just over a week after the president had hired him to help force out chief of staff Reince Priebus.

The stunning move came just hours after Mr. Trump swore in his new chief of staff, retired Gen. John F. Kelly, former Homeland Security secretary.

When he was hired by his friend the president, Mr. Scaramucci made clear that he would report directly to Mr. Trump, not to the chief of staff. It wasn’t clear whether Mr. Scaramucci was insisting on the same direct access to the president upon Mr. Kelly’s new appointment.

Several news outlets reported that Mr. Scaramucci’s ouster came at the request of Mr. Kelly.

Mr. Scaramucci had the president’s blessing last week as he stepped up his criticisms of Mr. Priebus, which led to the resignation of Mr. Priebus on Thursday. The communications director even criticized Mr. Priebus as a “paranoid schizophrenic” in a profanity-laced tirade of an interview with the New Yorker.

But since then, Mr. Scaramucci had gone home to Long Island, New York, to see his newborn son. His wife, Deirdre, filed for divorce two weeks before giving birth last week.