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The controversy surrounding the statement by Trump following the hacking of the DNC emails and putting it out on the 1st day of the Democratic National Convention was covered widely. Trump said: "Russia, if you are listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. Let's see if that happens." This coupled with Trump statements that he would not assure the Baltic Republics and other parts of Eastern Europe  that the U.S. would come to their aid in the event of a Russian attack have created new tensions in Europe. This has also led to heavy criticism from U.S. military commanders, from NATO leaders, and from leaders in the Republican and Democratic parties including Speaker Ryan. Some called it "a seismic development," and unprecedented, with involvement of foreign powers in the U.S. elections generally resented by the American people, according to experts.

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This report in the NYT shows that some of the people who identified themselves as Republican in 2016 may not do so in 2017, as the Trump administration makes policy moves that are unpopular with sections of society that were earlier open to his new ideas. Gallup supports studies at Emory University showing a 4% shift, a 4% decline in identification with the GOP Republican label. After a eight years under a Democratic administration some fatigue set in and this was reflected in the election. Now that Republicans are in power in states and the federal level, they face a critical public spotlight on how their actions match the interests of their constituents. A similar process was seen in Britain, after the seeming support for Brexit in 2016. By 2017 some of that support shifted and some new energy on the side of Labor among young people made a difference in the last election with losses for the ruling Conservatives who supported Brexit. Normally this process takes time. Yet this time because ideas such as Brexit or withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement, or the investigation into Russia and the U.S. election, are so drastic in their impact that the pendulum seems to correct itself by swinging to the middle. ...

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U.S. president Trump stands by president Putin as he denies Russian involvement in the U.S. presidential election of 2018. This contradicts the conclusions reached by U.S. intelligence agencies. Resulting in criticism from Republicans in his own party.

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Gerald Seib, executive editor of of the WSJ, attributes the divisions in America both on the left and the right to a deep skepticism among people about the intentions of the U.S. political and financial establishment to conduct the country's affairs in a way that benefits all people. Both the traditional Democratic and Republican establishments, the Bush-Reagan, Clinton-Obama politicians and the financial community were seen as self-serving and looking after their own interests. The right of center supply side economics and the the tolerance for immigration levels of 30% rise in the last decade were discredited. A much larger recovery program was seen as needed from the deeply bruising effects of the financial crisis of 2008, started by the reckless financial establishment behaviours, than either the Reagan supply siders or the Obama people had understood or planned. This opened the way for Mr. Trump to take up the cause of ordinary Americans with a message of ambitious infrastructure development, confronting China's use of trade adversely affecting American workers, and slowing down immigration. And within the Democratic party the emergence of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders with programs for a wealth tax that would finance Medicare for All and college education supported by the federal government. Both the traditional Republicans under Bush and Democrats under Clinton Obama were seen not upto the task, after the 2008 financial and economic crisis created deeper scars than were imagined possible. The lack of effective policies under Bush or Obama simply aggravating the situation further. The culture wars have split Americans down the middle with a breakdown of the traditional American family and social structures creating deep anxieties in America. Obama's comments unsettled people in the heartland when he said that economic decline in the Rust Belt had made people there to "cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them."   The trillions of dollars spent in wars in Asia and the Middle East were seen by Mr. Trump as an enormous waste when much needed investment was deprived of attention at home. Mr. Trump hammered this point home till today it is well accepted across America.  Even as political divisions persist they are now on how to tackle the redevelopment and growth of the U.S. The new focus of agreement has shifted with agreement across the country that infrastructure development in the U.S. and defending workers rights to jobs and opportunities is the top priority. That trade relations need to be reshaped keeping this priority ever present in negotiations. As a result all parties could agree on infrastructure and the recently concluded agreement for trade with Mexico and Canada and phase 1 of negotiated agreement with China. In overseas affairs the U.S. under Trump seeks cost sharing with a 2% of GDP defense spending by other nations so that money can be diverted to use at home. In this sense the debate has already shifted in the U.S. and the UK to how to address the problems of uneven development and growth across the two countries and better allocation of scarce resources to needs at home. Which is for the U.S. a good thing in the middle of all the perception of divisions.      ...

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Values of St Augustine are to be celebrated with Vance, and of Mohandas Gandhi with Harris. Then why the discord? End wars (Biden ending the war in Afghanistan). End migrant incursions Harris pledge to sign the Lankford-Biden legislation into law that fixes asylum entry and Closes the Border with Mexico. Cost of living that hurts the needy and middle class the most. As Applebaum writes about Housing costs Trump has no plan, Harris is willing to put government resources into it. Republicans have their hands tied by a hands off government that is supposed to do nothing and hope everything will work out. That is without corporate housing company greed in a system that doesn/t work -they set the prices too high. As Kristof writes about in the NYT the Republicans will not support paid marital leave, will not support child care assistance, will not support cuts to high pharmaceutical costs, making healthcare unaffordable even to the middle class not to speak of the lower income working class. And will not support investment in the infrastructure that is crumbling around us even as the infrastructure is crumbling around us, like the bridge in Baltimore that went down in minutes. Trump used infrastructure issue in 2016 and rightly so, and talked about it being Infrastructure Week every week, yet did nothing for infrastructure, nothing serious until Biden in 2016-2020. This a continuing project for Harris. Part of this is to end the wars (Biden's efforts in Afghanistan ending it). And end the migrants incursions, Harris 's pledge to sign the Lankford-Biden immigration bill that fixes asylum entry and closes the US Border with Mexico. ...

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Stephen Bannon the controversial adviser to president Trump is removed from the National Security Council cabinet level principals committee at the insistence of the National Security Adviser to president Trump, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. In addition the chairman of the Joint CHiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence, were added back to the principals committee of NSC, and the earlier decision to have them as occasional participants was seen as a serious mistake, with Mr. Trump having wanting to change this much earlier. Karl Rove was a senior adviser to president Bush, but like other advisers was not put on the National Security Council. The reversal of the Bannon appointment brings the NSC to its normal membership.This report in the NYT refers to the large role played by Mr. Bannon in the early days with Bannon pushing for the first travel ban that was struck down in the courts, and for the ultimatum in negotiations with the Freedom Caucus that worsened relations with Republicans in Congress. As a result Mike Spence stepped into a leading role in health care negotiations.  ...

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This WSJ analysis shows that in the counties that flipped to Biden in the U.S. election about 40% of the people had white collar jobs and were better educated and in metropolitan regions. Of the counties that flipped to Trump about 20% had white collar jobs with only 1.4% jobs growth whereas the improvement in the counties that flipped to Biden had much higher jobs growth of 5.3%. Where Biden prevailed 70% of America's GDP is generated, where Trump prevailed 30% is generated. One is white collar in metropolitan regions, in cities and suburbs, better educated. The other is blue collar, less educated. One blue collar is hit hard by the pandemic, the other is white collar but also includes some of the people hardest hit in the pandemic of minorities in the cities and suburbs. In truth none can benefit without bringing all along. And loyalties shift as most of the professional class was once with Republicans who were the party of business. The sending out of American manufacturing to China has not only affected the economy, it has also changed the parties as the Republicans took up the cause of American manufacturing workers changing the two parties. For most of the twentieth century this was not the case as FDR, Truman and Kennedy-Johnson, were Democratic presidents supported by blue collar workers.   ...

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Greg Ip of the WSJ says a second term of former president Trump would look very different from the first. Republicans achieved their goal of tax reform in the first two years of that term. Following that trade tariffs ensued against China creating a different environment in world trade. A second term would lead to more action on trade and more tariffs. Ip says the former president could impose tariffs on all Chinese imports and this would lead to retaliatory tariffs from China and be met with EU retaliatory action in a tit for tat manner. The result would be disruption in world trade and affect the world economy. Higher inflation could also be result of such disruptions.

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Mr. Trump proposes a 10% tariff on all goods imported into the US at Columbia, South Carolina, says this report in WSJ. A universal tariff of this type is similar to Herbert Hoover's Smoot Hawley that brought on the Great Depression in the 1930's in outright beggar thy neighbor policies which don't work, says WSJ. This opinion describes the impact of such a tariff in failing to reverse the trade deficit which is $951 billion in 2022, but fails to point to the lack of effectiveness of tariffs alone in bringing back American manufacturing jobs. As president Biden has pointed out the Trump administration made much talk about returning American jobs but did not accomplish much for American manufacturing to lead the world in the way the Biden administration has done. To do this the Biden administration passed laws to fund a entire new electric car industry, renewable energy industry, and promoting other industries in advanced technologies, including aerospace, to bring back America's leadership in manufacturing of most of the twentieth century with a bold vision for the future. Mr. Trump lacks the experience on this issue and is simply playing the rhetoric to his base without any plan to deliver the goods to sections of the American public that have already suffered the most from decades of neglect of manufacturing by Republicans going back to Reagan and Bush, Democrats Clinton and Obama. ...

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President Trump has listened intently to Dr. Fauci and Dr. Brx of the White House team led by Vice President Pence, as he shapes policy decisions on tackling the epidemic. The White House team met again March 30 to see the data  about the coronavirus impact without lockdown and strict social distancing measures extended to April 30. Following this Mr. Trump extended the lockdown till April 30, 2020. This WSJ report shows how Mr. Fauci has forged a relationship with the president at a time of public health crisis. Dr. Fauci wins the respect of Democrats and Republicans, and the American people for the work he has done against epidemics, the valuable experience gained and how he is bringing this experience to the current crisis. It is also true that this is a team bringing different strengths and with mutual respect for each other- the calm demeanor and grip on data of Dr Brx, the experience of Dr. Fauci fighting epidemics for 30 years, the patience and hard work of Vice President Pence, and the president's fighting spirit and listening skills. ...

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This  article by the WSJ Editorial Board says Mr. Trump acted in a way that was reckless and arrogant in responding to the subpoena by the government. It calls it narcissism and poor judgement not to cooperate in a matter related to documents of national security implications. It says the manner of treatment of these highly sensitive documents showed complete disregard of expected behaviour in such situations. It calls "owning the libs" discourse pursued by some in the Republican party, of waging culture wars, a dead end that serves no purpose and does little to build a better stronger America.

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U.S. president Trump announces withdrawal from the Paris climate change accords, saying the U.S. will consider re-entering the agreement  or coming up with a new deal. He said "I was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris." Trump said he was concerned about the environment, and avoided saying climate change scientific evidence was not correct. He based his concerns on the idea that China and India were getting an unfair financial advantage over the U.S. The U.S. had pledged under the Paris accords to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28% from 2005 levels by 2025. The WSJ's Stokols and Ballhaus point out that president Trump had the option because of the nonbinding agreements committing nations to a broader goal of reducing emissions to combat temperature change of of 3.6 degrees F, to have modified emissions targets and still remained in the Paris accords. For Trump the motivation may have rested more on politics to shore up support in the Republican party which has largely opposed climate change targets.  ...

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In this article in the WP Hohmann points out a rule mentioned by Secretary Powell and Armitage, that "you brake it, you own it," a kind of Pottery Barn rule. When you have the majorities in both houses of Congress and the White House, then there is nobody to blame if you cannot produce results or things don't improve. This happened to Obama, Pelosi and Reid after 2008 when they lost both houses of Congress in the 2010 midterms. Now the Trump Republicans with Ryan and McConnell face the same situation.

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President Trump urged members of Congress to bring up gun control legislation to expand background checks to weapons purchased at gun shows and on the internet, keep guns from mentally ill people, restrict gun sales for some young adults, and secure schools. He called for debate on a assault weapons ban.

About taking guns from mentally ill people Trump said "I like taking the guns early, take the guns first, go through due process second." Most Republicans support the NRA position that opposes gun control, and it is not clear that the president's comments were erratic comments without follow through or that the recent school shooting had changed minds.

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The vote in the Senate was 67 to 27 to move forward with the $95 billion aid package to Ukraine and Israel. The bill has $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and about $8 billion in economic assistance. $14.1 billion to Israel and $10 billion for civilians in conflict zones. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leads a determined group of 18 Republicans in the US Senate that support efforts by Majority Leader Schumer to get a bill for Ukraine Israel Aid passed in the next few days. This would also include economic aid for Ukraine and humanitarian aid in the Gaza conflict. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska says that deterrence is not divisible, American credibility is not divisible." This comes as former president Trump opposes the passage of such aid in Congress. This report says the former president says America's role should be only transactional, and to Russia the NYT reports he says he would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. President Schulz of Germany met with president Biden at the White House this week. After passage in the Senate it faces a challenge in getting enough Republicans to support passage in the House. ...

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Voters took note of the quality of each candidate, and Democrats were scrappier  in the fight this time around to give a tight result. Voters did not know much of what Mr. Biden had done to cap healthcare costs in midterm elections for 36 governors races and for control of the US Congress. The pocket book issues mattered to voters with sharp increases in the price of oil and groceries, but less so than made out earlier and voters may have grasped the bigger picture.

The quality of candidates mattered and on the Republican side the influence of Mr. Trump in the primaries led to choosing weaker candidates because of their loyalty to Mr. Trump. In the end with a large turnout of voters on both sides the election was much tighter than expected. Democrats in each state did better using their own initiative and effort this time and were much scrappier in the fight for the Governors races and the Senate.

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Unintended effects of Title 42 law introduced by president Trump which quickly returns migrants crossing the US border with Mexico leading to repeated crossings by the same persons. This leads to a more complicated picture at the border.  About 2 million will have attempted to cross the southern border in 2022 fiscal year. About 22% of crossings involve repeat border crossers.Two thirds of the 182,000 migrants crossing in July 2022 were single individuals. The pandemic hit Mexico and Central America hard and the quicker economic rebound in the US is leading to a surge in migrants looking for work. In addition to Central America asylum seekers come from Cuba and Venezuela with repressive action by regimes. Mexico only takes some of these migrants back. There is also a flow of illegal drugs across the border from Mexico which continues to this day even after the Trump Wall at the border, as most of it comes through official entry points. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have taken action of different kinds yet the problem remains unresolved. ...

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President Trump says he will reconsider his decision not to join the Trans Pacific Partnership. Trump says he will look for a "substantially better" deal that the one negotiated by president Obama. Trump added that the U.S. already has bilateral trade deals with six of the eleven nations in the TPP and negotiations are taking place with Japan a country with which the U.S. had difficulties in trade. This change of mind comes as Republicans in Congress and other groups including farm exporters are calling for using TPP as a way to pressure China. Wheat exporters in the U.S. say joining TPP would give them a level playing field with Australia and Canada for exports. This means reopening the negotiations with Japan conducted by the Obama administration and seeking more concessions from Japan. Japan's chief cabinet secretary says Japan has made all the concessions it could.  U.S. president Trump would have to come up with a better deal to justify joining TPP.

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At its core what Peter Baker of the NYT calls a question that settles the future of American democracy-Mr. Trump's indictment for efforts to reverse 2020 election result- is a question of culture, of American culture and education having deteriorated in profound and unthinkable ways. Peter Baker who has covered 5 American presidents writes in the NYT that the fourth indictment gets to the heart of the matter, which will define the future of American democracy. This indictment asks whether a sitting president can spread lies to hold on to power when the election shows voters have rejected him. The indictment says that Mr. Trump "knew that his claims were false," yet he "made them anyway to create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger and erode public faith in the administration of the election."  Baker also points out that one third of the electorate still believes this to be true as a result of the claims Trump made. And 75% of the Republicans in NYT-Siena poll think Mr. Trump was simply acting in good faith to question election results in some states and it was nothing more than pursuing his legitimate legal options. This is about 40% of the American electorate. How is this possible unless the education and culture of the country has been allowed by successive failed administrations to deteriorate to an extent never before seen in this way since the country's independence in 1776. Even recent reports that two thirds of America's fourth graders fail basic reading comprehension tests have not jolted the nation out of its tech based glorification of a failing culture and education. ...

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See the video of Trump Mamdani meeting November 20 2025, on the White House site. The US president says  "I don't care for affilitations or parties, we are going to be helping him." DJT says it is all about the good of New Yorkers, if we disagree on some things he will try to convince me or I will try to convince him." DJT says he had a very good meeting with Mamdani and found much more agreement on many things than he had ever expected. Again and again in the response to questions from the press Mamdani and DJT showed a collegiality that astounded the press and is likely to astound most people. Again and again DJT and Mamdani came back to the central issue for New Yorkers living in the 5 boroughs- the cost of living. DJT said he and Mamdani are together on this issue of affordability in New York. DJT described himself as a New Yorker, New York as a great city with great potential , that he himself aspired to be Mayor of New York, and he wants Mamdani to do well spectacularly well for the people of New York. This is a good sign for New York and the Nation. That a Democratic Socialist and a Republican business person can find common ground in the interests of the people and the Nation they love. ...

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US president Biden is proposing a Medicare Solvency Support plan that will increase funding to the Medicare hospital-insurance trust fund. Biden stated in the State of Union message last week that Republicans under former candidate Trump would cut Medicare for the elderly in America.

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The U.S. trade dispute with China takes a new turn after tit for tat tariffs, with the U.S. president Trump claiming that China was interfering in the U.S. midterm elections. This plays into the narrative in China that the U.S. does not want to see China's ascent as a global power. President Trump and Trade Representative Lighthizer have singled out "Made In China 2025," China's plans for tech leadership as a serious issue for the U.S. President Trump made his claim in a speech at the United Nations, saying that he was "the first president ever to challenge China on trade."

Many of China's tariffs on U.S. exports are targeted at agricultural products such as soyabeans and corn in heavily pro-Trump states, and in rural areas where the Republican party has a significant base. 

 

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This exceptional article in the Economist looks inside what is called the Alt-Right, how it got its name, who are its supporters, how it linked up with Trump, the goals of each, and how this movement looks compared to other similar movements in American history, the attitudes towards blacks then and towards Hispanics today. The idea presented of a "cuckservative," Republicans who have sold out to moneyed interests and to liberal ideas.

The use of Twitter and  social media for ideas not accepted in normal society, iconography, vernacular, use of Pepe the Frog as a cartoon character. The sometimes odd mix of Confederacy in the South, anti-immigrant in western states, agrarian nostalgia, and other ideas, all fused together into a rebellious sentiment expression.

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"No amount of misrepresentation or statistical contortion can conceal or blur or smear that record. Neither the attacks of unscrupulous enemies nor the exaggerations of over-zealous friends will serve to mislead the American people." FDR said this  on October 31, 1936, it could also be president Biden.The current Media and Hollywood efforts to choose presidential candidates of their choice runs contrary to "We the People," contrary to views of ordinary Americans, of voters, workers and families. President Kennedy was told he should not take the nomination because he was too young. Kennedys' response was that it was he not Humphrey that went to state after state and won the votes in the primaries, no one else made the effort to run in the primaries in each state. President Biden has the support of 14 million in the primaries. George Chidi from Atlanta reports that undecided voters number about 1 million in the swing states and most are much older than the average. Most may feel insulted by talk about age when they are in the same category.  A 102 years old Lockheed engineer in Atlanta suburbs says he is a Republican but will not vote for Trump. There is also the women's vote in Georgia and Atlanta suburbs with abortion ban as the issue as it was in Kentucky and Kansas. How many vote will also be a factor, making energizing the base a key factor. The idea that one party is doing better than the other is refuted clearly by some of the people in Georgia shown here, and the age factor does not get the prominence the Media have given it, as long as the government is functioning well. Media has failed to look at the policy details of each candidate in a colossal failure that calls for alternatives. Older voters who are the major part of the 1 million or so voters in swing states that are undecided also say that the fact is that with both the candidates- as it is with administrations that are led by young presidents seen as too young to lead (JFK) the opposite of today- many of the decisions are made with an experienced group of advisers around the president. Many if not all also realize that the vast experience of an older president is also an asset. Much of Biden's legislation for chips science, infrastructure, the Inflation Reduction Act have not happened in Germany, France or the UK, and would not have happened in the US without the ability of president Biden to get the bipartisan support from being the one with the most experience in Congress in a long time. The result is the hundreds of thousands of jobs created each month and a growing economy, inflation down from 9 to 3% as the first step to further cost of living action to support ordinary workers and families. Only LBJ comes close and he signed landmark legislation for Medicare and Medicaid, and for civil rights into law 60 years back. By removing America from the wars that Reagan and Bush started and Obama and Trump failed to end president Biden has given the US an opportunity to inspire and lead the free world in a way that has not happened in many decades and build a growing economy, a bright future for the Nation. ...