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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President Trump will sit down for a new TV interview with Fox Business's Maria Bartiomo due for air on Friday morning.
The duo will discuss the US economy, the 2020 election, international trade and who knows what else.
Kellyanne Conway spoke to the same interviewer earlier today on Fox's Mornings with Maria about her boss's feud with her husband George:
"[Trump's] protective of me and that’s what people really should take from this. I’m not being asked to choose between my marriage and my job. The president has never made me feel that way.
"It’s very unusual. It’s not just unusual. It’s unusual for George, who people know is a very private person who really hasn’t weighed in on many different matters over the years.
"But, anyway, that aside, of course we’ve talked about it in passing, but he’s the president of the United States. And here’s something I think is so remarkable.
"People somehow think they have an equal platform to the president of the United States. Not George, but a lot of people out there are constantly attacking the president on Twitter and Facebook and elsewhere. He’s the president and you’re not. And they somehow trick them into thinking, because we have the same platform - I can - I can just - I’m the same as the president. No, you’re not. He’s the president of the United States."
This is a very timely reminder indeed RE John McCain's actions in relation to the Steele Dossier from British intelligence on Trump-Russia ties.
Would-be 2020 candidate John Hickenlooper telling it like it is on CNN.
Donald Trump said on Thursday it was time to back Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War.
"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!" the president tweeted.
(Reuters)
Mr Trump's remarks come amid US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's solemn visit on Thursday to Jerusalem's Western Wall.
Mr Pompeo is visiting the holy site along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an apparent sign of support for Israel's control of the contested city.
Pompeo is the highest-ranking American official to tour the site with any Israeli leader. His visit was likely to further infuriate the Palestinians, who already have severed ties with the US over its Jerusalem policies.
(AP)
Mr Pompeo and Netanyahu prayed at the wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, on Thursday before depositing written prayers in its crevices and then touring nearby tunnels and synagogue. Neither made any public comment at the site.
The secretary said he thought it was important to visit the wall with the Israeli leader as a show of support for Israel.
"I think it's symbolic that a senior American official go there with a prime minister of Israel," he said before making the trip. "It's a place that's important to many faiths and I'm looking forward to it. I think it will be very special."
(AP)
Here are images of Mr Pompeo's visit in Israel:
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman stand next to the dedication plaque at the US embassy in Jerusalem, Thursday, 21 March, 2019. (Jim Young/Pool Image via AP)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lays a wreath during a ceremony commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, Thursday, 21 March, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
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