Trump celebrates free speech after repeatedly attacking war hero John McCain
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump signed an executive order which will withhold federal funding from colleges and universities that do not permit or protect free speech amidst the president’s own attacks on Senator John McCain, more than six months after his death.
According to the president, the order is the first of many steps to come in his protection of the First amendment. During his remarks, Mr Trump invited students from colleges around the country to share their own stories of hindered free speech. One student recalled a time her school stopped her from handing out Valentine’s Day cards with religious messages.
Mr Trump also discussed his administration’s plans for student loan debt, which he said he is “going to work to fix”.
According to the president, who pointed some of the blame at universities, the Education Department and Treasury Department will publish information on future earnings and loan repayment for every major at every school.
The president’s remarks on the importance of upholding free speech come as he faces continued backlash over his own comments regarding late Senator John McCain, who he attacked Wednesday during a visit to Ohio.
In addition to repeating that he was “not a fan” of the late senator, Mr Trump complained that he had never been thanked for McCain’s state funeral.
Democrats and republicans have defended McCain following the president’s comments. The Washington National Cathedral also disputed Mr Trump’s claims that he had to “approve” the funeral for the late senator.
Also on Thursday, Mr Trump “made history” when he tweeted that the United States would be recognising Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently hosting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, called the president’s recognition of the territory as Israeli land a “Purim miracle” and thanked President Trump.
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Here's a repeat of Meghan McCain's commendable performance on ABC's The View yesterday.
More on US secretary of state Mike Pompeo's trip to Israel courtesy of Reuters.
Mr Pompeo described the heavily-armed Hezbollah group as a risk to their fellow Lebanese and conferred with Israel about the Iranian-backed militia ahead of a trip to Beirut.
Mr Pompeo, who has been on a regional tour to promote the Trump administration's hard tack against Iran, received a warning from Israel, which worries it may again be in the sights of Hezbollah fighters winding down their intervention in Syria's civil war.
Washington also has been increasingly voicing concern at Hezbollah power, echoing Israel, whose forces were fought to a standstill by the militia in a 2006 Lebanon war.
Hosting the US secretary at his office, Israeli president Reuven Rivlin said Lebanese PM Saad al-Hariri "cannot say to anyone that Lebanon is separate from Hezbollah" - a reference to the group's clout in Beirut where it has ministers in the coalition cabinet as well as lawmakers in parliament.
"If some(thing) will happen from Lebanon toward Israel, we will hold Lebanon as the responsible (party)", Mr Rivlin said.
Asked what message he would take to Lebanon, his next stop, Mr Pompeo told reporters: "We're going to be very clear about how America sees Hezbollah and our expectations about how Lebanon's success depends on the Lebanese people (demanding) that a terrorist organisation not be in control of their government and not drive policies and create risk for their country as well."
And here's a little on President Trump's forthcoming executive order forcing US colleges to protect free speech on their campuses or risk losing their federal funding.
White House officials say Mr Trump will sign the order requiring colleges to certify that their policies support free speech as a condition of receiving federal research grants.
Trump initially proposed the idea during a 2 March speech to conservative activists. The Republican president highlighted the case of activist Hayden Williams, who was punched in the face while recruiting at the University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley and other colleges have countered that they already have policies protecting free speech and don't need an executive order.
The new order will not jeopardise schools' access to student financial aid that covers tuition.
Officials say implementation details will be worked out in the coming months.
Absolutely sensational piece on understanding Donald Trump through his love of golf by Rick Reilly for Politico below if you're in the market for some light afternoon reading.
Reilly profiles the Don's loyal caddy "AJ", who once got a man in a chokehold for criticising the president on the green and features this insightful exchange between the late John McCain and fellow senator Lindsey Graham.
McCain asked his friend why he insisted on playing 18 holes with Mr Trump, to which Graham replied: "I hope you understand… The best place to talk to him is in his world."
Dan Scavino, now the White House social media director responsible for that Twitter account, first met Mr Trump as a caddy in 1990 when he was 16 and still has the two $100 bills the man himself gave him as a tip.
The caddy's code? "Show up, keep up, shut up".
The McCain Institute has been quietly circulating this fact sheet about the life and accomplishments of the man who gave it its name to counter President Trump's disparaging remarks.
Republican strategist Ford O'Connell has told The Hill he has identified the four Democratic candidates who will reach the final four of the primaries with a view to facing Donald Trump in 2020.
He says Kamala Harris, Joe Biden (yet to formally declare), Beto O'Rourke and Bernie Sanders are his tips, with no place for Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang et al.
O'Rourke and Sanders both made around $6m (£4.5m) in funding a day after declaring their intention to run.
Li 'Cindy' Yang, the Chinese massage parlour proprietress accused of sex trafficking and selling access to President Trump through Mar-a-Lago, was interviewed for the first time on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt last night.
"I'm Chinese. I'm Republican," Ms Yang said. "That's the reason the Democrats want to check me."
"I love Americans. I love our president. I don't do anything wrong."
She spoke out two days after senior Democrats released a letter calling on the FBI to launch counterintelligence and criminal investigations into her operations in Miami.
Cindy McCain, widow of John, has tweeted a threatening message she has received as a consequence of President Trump's rhetoric about her late husband.
Meanwhile here's daughter Meghan McCain again on ABC's This Week, speaking on behalf of her family.
Here's the rare statement from her sister Bridget she's alluding to:
Yesterday, President Trump held up a map of Syria on the White House lawn to show the apparent eradication of Islamist terrorists Isis from the region since he became commander-in-chief.
Huge mistake. A big, beautiful, tremendous new meme was born.
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