Tag Archives: Trump

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Further to US President Donald Trump, above, reinstating an executive order that will block US federal funding from going to international NGOs that provide abortion services, or “actively promote” the same – even when US funds are not specifically used to that end…

A policy that has been rescinded and reinstated by the different US administrations since first announced in 1984 (see table above)…

Politico reports:

The decision to reinstate — and significantly expand — the Republican policy known as the “Mexico City policy,” or the “global gag rule,” was delivered a day after the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion and two days after the Women’s March on Washington and similar events across the country drew crowds to rally for reproductive rights, among other issues.

The new policy would prohibit any federal aid to foreign organizations that provide or promote abortion…

“The intent is to extend the policy to apply not just to family planning assistance but to global health, including PEPFAR and maternal health,” said Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who added that the full scope of the policy isn’t yet known.

She estimated that when the policy has been applied in the past, it covered about $600 million in foreign aid spending. The new policy could potentially cover up to $8 billion.

Trump revives funding ban to groups providing abortion overseas (Politico.com)

Top image: The Mexico City Policy: An Explainer (KFF)

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This afternoon.

US president-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania meet US president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as they arrive at the White House – ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

Obama tells Trump “I’m always on the left”, as they prepare for their photograph to be taken.

Via ABC News Politics

Meanwhile…

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Gulp.

UPDATE:

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Washington…

UPDATE:

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US President-elect Donald Trump arrives for his inauguration, as Cardinal and Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan, and outgoing US President Barack Obama, above, prays

Via the New York Times

Watch live here

UPDATE:

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US President Donald Trump

Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.

We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.

Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.
It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America.

This is your day. This is your celebration.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

Everyone is listening to you now.

You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.

These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.

The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.

For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;
Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military;
We’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;
And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.

The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.

But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.

From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.

From this moment on, it’s going to be America First.Continue reading →

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Doughmore beach, Co Clare

It’s a classic Mexican stand down.

Bloomberg reports:

US President-elect Donald Trump withdrew an application to build a sea wall aimed at protecting his golf resort in Ireland, the latest twist in a project that had stoked tensions in a tiny village on the Atlantic coast.

Clare County Council, the Irish municipality, said on its website that Trump’s company shelved plans to construct defenses about 1.7 miles (2.8 kilometers) long at his golf resort close to the village of Doonbeg. The plan was submitted on behalf of Trump in May, and spokesman for the authority confirmed it had been withdrawn.

The planned sea barrier may now be replaced with a scaled-down version, Friends of the Irish Environment, which opposed the wall, said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.

Trump Scraps Plan for One of His Walls After Golf Row in Ireland (Bloomberg)

Pic: Save Doughmore/Doonbeg Beach (Facebook)