Ivanka Trump

Donald Trump Fires His Daughter Ivanka In An Easter Sunday Staffing Rebirth

Posted by on April 1, 2018 at 10:19 am. 2 Comments :

Virtually every alleged achievement that Donald Trump talks about is portrayed as the greatest accomplishment of its kind in the history of the world. Needless to say, that is never actually true. However, there is something that Trump could claim as record-setting if he were of a mind to. That’s the pace at which he has lost members of his administration, from cabinet secretaries to personal assistants. The people he touted as “the best” have scattered like leaves in a hurricane.

Ivanka Trump

Now the President has made what may be the most surprising personnel decision since his inauguration. His daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, have been exiled from their White House posts, according to sources familiar with the situation. Insiders say that Trump was generally satisfied with the progress (or deliberate lack thereof) on the projects that were assigned to them. But he was infuriated by comments that Ivanka has made to the press in recent weeks. For instance:

  • During the Alabama Senate special election, Ivanka appeared to criticize Republican Roy Moore saying that “There is a special place in hell for people who prey on children.”
  • In remarks that could easily be attributed to her father’s record of serial sexual harassment and assault she said “I have no reason to doubt the victims’ accounts.”
  • Speaking about the GOP tax bill, Ivanka said “I’m really looking forward to doing a lot of traveling in April when people realize the effect that this has.” That was interrupted by Trump as meaning that she wanted to get out of town so she wouldn’t have to answer difficult questions about why it failed to help anyone.
  • For some inexplicable reason Trump saw this comment as whining: “There is a level of viciousness [in the media] I was not expecting.”
  • And this sentiment may have been the most maddening of all: “I really try to avoid getting drawn into politics. […] I care more about the country than politics.” Trump is adamant that all of his team put his political interests above everything else. Ivanka crossed a line here.

In addition to those blunders, Ivanka also made an unforgivable error on Twitter last Christmas by aiding and abetting the enemies in the War on Christmas:

There were hints of these terminations recently in the news. Reports from inside the White House indicated that Trump was secretly steering Chief of Staff John Kelly to help him push Javanka out. Kelly was said to be amenable to this because he never thought she should have had an official role in the administration in the first place.

Also, recent disclosures by porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal may explain Trump’s willingness to cut Ivanka loose. They both independently revealed that Trump told them that they remind him of Ivanka. Therefore, he has an inexhaustible pool of potential replacements for the position of First Daughter. So why not take advantage of this holiday weekend to start the process of upgrading? What better day than April First/Fools? 🙂

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

UPDATE April 2, 2018: In case you haven’t already figured it out – – – April Fools! Sorry to disappoint y’all. I wish it were true too. Maybe soon all the Trumps will be gone.

Fox News Launch Party for Laura Ingraham Show Draws Ivanka Trump and Lots of GOP Suck-Ups

Posted by on October 30, 2017 at 4:16 pm. 4 Comments :

Monday night Fox News will premiere a new primetime program featuring ultra-rightist pundit, and radio talker, Laura Ingraham. She is the latest in Fox’s schedule shake up resulting from the terminations of Bill O’Reilly and Eric Bolling. They were jettisoned after multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. Fox News also lost Megyn Kelly, who quit in part due to harassment from O’Reilly and former CEO Roger Ailes.

Rupert Murdoch Laura Ingraham

Fox News chairman Rupert Murdoch threw a party for Ingraham last week to celebrate the show’s pending debut. The guest list says a lot about what sort of program Ingraham will host, and about Fox News in general. On the Twenty-First Century Fox blog a post described the soiree saying:

“In addition to Rupert, host Laura Ingraham and some of her closest family and friends joined more than 40 members of Congress to celebrate the launch of the series. Special guests included Ivanka Trump, Sen. Roger Wicker and wife Gayle, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Todd Young, Sen. Richard Burr, Rep. Bill Flores, Rep. Bill Johnson, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Virginia Foxx, and Rep. Scott Taylor.”

So the President’s daughter, and senior advisor, showed up to celebrate with Ingraham. She was joined by a phalanx of exclusively Republican members of Congress. Some of whom are close allies of Trump and his administration. In addition, Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul were sighted at the exclusive affair. These are just the sort of people who will likely be guests on the program in the weeks ahead. That makes parties like these wholly inappropriate for anyone pretending to practice journalism. The chumminess of these politicians and the program hosts at Fox News destroys any pretense of independence. And the absence of any Democratic guests put to rest any notion that Ingraham’s show will be “fair and balanced” (a slogan that Fox has retired).

Of course, Fox News has never been known as an impartial player in the punditry business. The primetime lineup that Ingraham is joining also features Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. The three of them will be the most sycophantic flock of Trump fluffers ever assembled on television. It’s a three hour block of non-stop GOP propaganda and lies. They have all demonstrated a devotion to the President that borders on cult worship. Ingraham herself was briefly considered for a post in the administration as chief media basher and BS disseminator communications director.

It is, therefore, more accurate than ever to describe Fox News as State-Run TV. It’s purpose is to advance the conservative agenda and to defend Trump from any and all criticism. Ingraham has already announced that she will be interviewing Trump in the near future. That would make it his twentieth interview for Fox News. For perspective, the news entity next on that list is the New York Times with only four interviews. And if Ingraham’s sit down is anything like the others on Fox it will only be good for laugh. See this compilation of the network’s suck-ups:

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Donald Trump’s $110B Weapons Deal w/Saudi Arabia Brings Windfall for Ivanka Aligned Foundation

Posted by on May 21, 2017 at 12:09 pm. 6 Comments :

Donald Trump is currently on the first foreign trip of his presidency. The White House is portraying it as an effort to advance global cooperation and peace. His itinerary begins in Saudi Arabia, a nation with a dismal record on human rights and terrorism.

Ivanka Trump

The featured accomplishment of the trip so far is the signing of an agreement to sell $110 billion dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia. That deal has raised concerns among foreign policy experts. They worry that the weapons could be used to further Saudi Arabia’s attacks in Yemen. Those missions have resulted in untold numbers of civilian casualties. In addition, there is concern that some of the weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. President Obama had withheld certain categories of arms from Saudi Arabia for that reason, but Trump is permitting their sale.

Not mentioned in the Trump PR blitz is a “coincidental” financial arrangement that involves the President’s senior advisor – and daughter. Last month Ivanka Trump announced that she was working with the World Bank to start a “massive fund” to boost female entrepreneurship. The ethical dilemmas surrounding such a venture were immediately apparent. Ivanks’a role in the White House, and influence with her president father, are hard to dismiss. Consequently, the news today from the Wall Street Journal is somewhat more than troubling:

“The World Bank plans to announce Sunday at an event with Ivanka Trump, the U.S. president’s daughter and senior White House adviser, that Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have pledged $100 million collectively toward a fund for women who own or want to start businesses, according to people familiar with the announcement.”

The advancement of women’s rights in business is unarguably an admirable pursuit. However, it is curious that Saudi Arabia is Ivanka’s premiere partner. The Kingdom is not known for its fair treatment of women. Their rights are severely curtailed, including being prohibited from independently obtaining a passport or driving a car.

Ivanka is travelling with the President this week and attending various meetings. She was at the signing of the arms deal before Sunday’s event announcing the donation. The converging optics of these two affairs are disquieting. There is an implied relationship between the donation and the arms deal. While there is no direct evidence of any quid pro quo, the perception of impropriety is inescapable. Even Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, promoted it on Twitter

This is especially notable considering how Trump castigated Hillary Clinton for far less during the 2016 election. He called the Clinton Foundation a “criminal enterprise.” Trump also raised the subject at a debate (video below), demanding that Clinton return donations made by Saudi Arabia. He posted this on Facebook last June:

“Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays. Hillary must return all money from such countries!”

This is the same Saudi Arabia that Trump is now effusively praising as a “magnificent Kingdom.” It’s the same country with which he just signed a “tremendous” deal to supply billions of dollars of modern weaponry. And it’s the same country that is now giving the Ivanka aligned foundation $100,000,000.00. Does that mean Ivanka is running a criminal enterprise? Is that pay-to-play? Will Trump ever acknowledge the hypocrisy? Will the media address it? Stay tuned.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

LOCK HER UP: Ivanka Trump’s ‘Charity’ Auction Sells White House Access To Wealthy Bidders

Posted by on December 16, 2016 at 3:45 pm. 22 Comments :

The chant rang out loudly at Donald Trump’s campaign rallies: “Lock her up!” It was a taunt aimed at Hillary Clinton who Trump accused of violating unspecified laws. The primary focus of his accusations was the Clinton Foundation, a global charity that has benefited millions and received the highest ratings from charity watchdog groups.

There has never been a verified assertion of wrongdoing by Clinton, nor any evidence of favoritism toward donors. Trump himself donated $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Nevertheless, he continued to call his opponent “Crooked Hillary” and charge her with running a criminal pay-to-play operation.

Ivanka Trump

Which makes the actions of his daughter Ivanka Trump all the more disturbing. Last week she put up an auction on the Charitybuzz website. It offered an opportunity to “Enjoy Coffee with Ivanka Trump.” The bidding started at a hefty $50,000. And at last check it had risen to over $72,000. That limits the potential winners to a narrow community of elites who are likely to expect something for their generosity. In fact, the New York Times interviewed some of the bidders who came right out and admitted it. For instance, Ozan M. Ozkural, a London-based investment manager, told the Times that he “wanted to meet with Ms. Trump to gain insight into topics like President-elect Donald J. Trump’s possible future dealings with Turkey and other nations where Mr. Ozkural invests.” The Times further noted that:

“Mr. Ozkural is one of several high-profile bidders in a feverish competition to win time with one of Mr. Trump’s children. Other bidders include the owner of a Tex-Mex restaurant chain from Houston who wants to press Mr. Trump, through his daughter, about immigration policy, and a real estate executive and fringe presidential candidate from Florida who wants to send a message to Mr. Trump about election fraud.”

This is precisely the sort of shady behavior that Trump had attributed to Clinton. And it adds to the previously reported conflicts of interest that have hounded Trump for months. He has far flung financial enterprises that present myriad opportunities for rampant corruption. The Washington, D.C. hotel that was recently completed already hosts foreign officials seeking to curry favor with Trump. And his claims that he will hand off his businesses to his kids ring hollow when his kids are active in his transition and administration. He promised to hold a press conference to iron out these matters, but canceled it earlier this week.

The fact that the stated purpose of the auction was to raise money for charity hardly diminishes the impropriety. For one thing, the money doesn’t actually go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as the website says. Instead, it goes to the Eric Trump Foundation. There is no way of knowing where it goes from there. And we already have the example of Papa Trump’s charity taking donations for veterans, but failing to pass them on to the intended recipients. For another thing, Trump wouldn’t let Clinton off the hook under similar circumstance, so why should Ivanka be let off?

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Shortly after the Times began inquiring about Ivanka’s auction it mysteriously disappeared from the website. [Note: It is cached here] But that doesn’t remove the stench of corruption that surrounds Trump and his clan. In fact, the unexplained removal is a de facto admission that there was something fishy about the whole endeavor. And they may have still accepted the last high bid prior to the deletion. Unfortunately, we may never know what the bidder is getting for his money. And the same is true for the hundreds of other conflicts of interest the will infect Trump’s presidency.