The First 100 Days:  Trump Briefs:  Jan. 30-Feb. 2, 2017 (Week 2)

By Michael Hernandez

Friday, Jan. 27^th (Day 8):

Gingrich:  ‘These aren’t reporters—these are propagandists’

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took aim on the media for its extensive coverage of last week’s women’s march on Washington, while ignoring the March for Life Friday on the Fox News Channel.

“All across America, people of faith, people who care for life, people who are concerned about stopping abortion are thrilled that the Vice President of the United States for the first time ever, came to the march,” said Gingrich.

“I think a lot more Americans are comfortable with Vice President Pence’s speech than with Madonna’s speech,” said Gingrich.  “Eighty or ninety percent of the media is the opposition party.   I mean, let’ be honest about it.  These aren’t reporters, these are propagandist.  They miss it every time because they’re so far to the left and so out of touch with every day Americans.”

Sunday, Jan. 29^th (Day 10):

Entertainment Awards Ceremony turns political

The Screen Actors Guild Awards Ceremony turned political Sunday as presenters and winners spoke out against President Donald Trump’s executive action to temporarily ban immigration from some Muslim countries.

Those who went against President Trump included:  Ashton Kutcher, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, William H. Macy, Simon Hedberg, Jocelyn Towne and James Cameron.

Week 2:

Monday, Jan. 30 (Day 11):

Palin attacks media hysteria about immigration ban

“Trump is doing what the majority recognized was necessary to secure our borders,” said Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor.  “Voters asked for it, he promised it, and thus he was elected.  Now he’s doing it.”

 “It’s about fully vetting foreigners and merely following the laws the people agreed upon,” said Palin.  “Many of us have demanded we regroup and get a  handle on security issues.   What next preventable tragedy must happen before we finally do so?”

Democrats Senate leader opposes Trump’s Cabinet picks

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Monday he’ll vote against a slate of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees to send a signal of “defiance to the new administration.”

The Democratic leader will oppose appointments for Treasury, health and Human Services, Labor, as well as White House budget director and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Tuesday, Jan. 31 (Day 12):

President fires Acting Attorney General for “betrayal”

President Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she refused to defend his executive order to restrict immigration and refuges from high-risk countries in the Middle East.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer issued a statement saying that Yates, an Obama administration appointee, had “betrayed the Department of Justice” by refusing to enforce Trump’s order.

“Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” the statement read.

President Trump replaced Yates with Dana Boente, the current U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, until Sen. Jeff Sessions is confirmed by the Senate.

“It is time to get serious about protecting our country,” Spicer’s statement continued.  “Calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme.  It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.”

Democrats threaten to make California a “sanctuary state”

Democrat leaders in the California Senate are advancing a new bill (SB54) designed to protect illegal aliens.   According to the bill sponsor, Senate pro Tem Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), the new bill is to be known as “Protecting California’s People and Prosperity Against Immigration Enforcement Overreach.”  De Leon has ordered these measures “to prevent the use of state and local resources, including personnel, for immigration enforcement; and the creation of a federal registry” fast-tracked, so hearings can be compressed into less than a week.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB4—the “Trust Act” to make California a sanctuary state” back in October 2013 which already prevents law enforcement officials from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have had “sanctuary” policies for decades which were highlighted by Trump’s campaign focusing on the victims of illegal alien crimes.  President Trump has made it clear he intends to penalize any city that offered itself as a “sanctuary city” for illegal alien criminals.

Trump supporter knocked unconscious by protester at Portland airport

A President Trump supporter suffered a concussion after being attacked by a protester at Portland International Airport.  Grant Chisholm, 39 years-old, along with three other members of the Bible Believers Group held a counter protest supporting President Trump’s temporary immigration ban at the same time 600 people were protesting the ban.  

 Jordan’s King wants President to get tougher on terrorism

Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein (King of Jordan since 1999) met with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Vice President Mike Pence Monday and is the first Arab leader to meet with the Trump administration.

The Jordanian king, a former special operations commander, is reportedly encouraging President Trump to take a tough line against terrorism, especially the Islamic State.  King Abdullah and Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Moscow last week, where he told reporters he and Putin share “the same vision of ringing stability to our region.   Without Russia, we will not be able to find solutions to not only the Syrian problem but other regional problems in the Middle East,” Abdullah declared. 

Trump names Supreme Court nominee

President Donald Trump selected Neil Gorsuch, 49-year- old, of the Colorado-based 10^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, to succeed Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.

President Trump said he has promised to nominate a judge who respected the law and loved the Constitution.  “Millions of voters said this was the single most important issue to them and I am a man of my word and will do what I say, something the American people have been asking of Washington for a very long time,” Trump said.

A crowd of Republicans filled the White House’s East Wing, including Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky), Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and mike Lee and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (Iowa).  Members of Trump’s family, including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. also attended as well as former President Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General Ed Meece and Christian activist Ralph Reed.

If confirmed by the Senate, the Denver native, would fill out a court split evenly between conservatives and liberals with Justice Antonin Kennedy, an appointee of President Reagan, often casting the swing vote.

Judge Gorsuch was appointed to the appeals court by President George W. Bush in 2006 (receiving a unanimous bipartisan confirmation by the U.S. Senate) and served as a law clerk for the last Justice Byron White and Justice Anthony Kennedy in the early 1990s and will be the first Supreme Court justice to have clerked for an existing Chief Justice.

In 2013, Gorsuch joined the appeals court in siding with the craft store chain Hobby Lobby and Christian bookstore chain Mardel Inc. in its challenge of Obama Care’s mandate that requires employer health care plans to cover birth control.

In a concurring opinion in the case, Gorsuch said it was “Not for secular courts to rewrite the religious complaint of a faithful adherent, or to decide whether a religious teaching about complicity imposes ‘too much’ moral disapproval on those only ‘indirectly’ assisting wrongful conduct.’”  The United States Supreme Court upheld that decision in a 5-4 vote.

At 49, Gorsuch would be the youngest member of the court—a major consideration for Trump, who wants his picks to potentially remain on the bench for decades.  Supreme Court justices receive lifetime appointments.

Gorsuch is an undergraduate from Columbia (1988),  graduate of Harvard Law School (1991) and University of Oxnard (2004) and currently has been a federal judge over six states and 18 million people or 20 percent of the Continental United States.  He has served as associate attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.  Gorsuch is the author of “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthansia.”

Gorsuch said the most important values for a judge was “impartiality, independence, collegiality and courage.”  According to Gorsuch, “it is for Congress and not the Supreme Court to write new laws.  I am so thankful for my family, my friends, and my faith, these things have kept me grounded and sustained me.  Mr. President, I am honored an humbled.”

President Appoints new Immigration and Customs Enforcement director and new Border Patrol Chief

President Donald Trump appointed Thomas Homan to be acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Homan is a former New York Police Department officer and Border Patrol agent and has served as ICE’s associate director of enforcement since 2013.

The Trump administration announced Ron Vitiello as the new U.S. Border Patrol Chief.  Vitiello was the Customs and Border Patrol’s executive assistant commissioner for operations support and first joined the Border Patrol more than 30 years ago.  His appointment does not require Senate confirmation.

U.S. Senate confirms Trump’s Transportation Secretary

Elaine Chao will serve as President Trump’s Transportation Secretary  after the U.S. Senate voted 93 to 6 to confirm her.  Chao is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mike McConnell.  She is the first Transportation Secretary to ever receive any “no votes” as U.S. Senate Democrats become “obstructionists” to the Trump Administration.

According to Sen. Patick J. Toomey (R-PA), Democrats are committing “a completely unprecedented  level of obstruction.  This is not what the American people expect of the United States Senate.”

Wednesday, Feb. 1 (Day 13):

Senate confirms President’s nominee for Secretary of State

The U.S. Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, the former ExxonMobil executive as the country’s top diplomat by a vote of 56-43.

Poll shows public supports Trump push to limit migration

President Trump’s pro-American immigration reform is getting strong majority support from the public despite the left’s portrayal of the policy as incompetent and hateful and their determination to obstruct the new president.

The poll commissioned by Reuters asked:  “Do you agree or disagree with the Executive Order that President Trump signed blocking refugees and banning people from seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S.?   The results:  48 percent total agree vs. 41 percent that totally disagreed.

A second question:  “The extent to which you agree or disagree that the United States should limit the number of refugees allowed into the country?   “Totally agree:  66 percent v.  26% Totally Disagree.”

A third question:  “The extent to which you agree or disagree the Untied States should open our borders to refugees of foreign conflicts?  46% Total Agree v. 42% Totally Disagree.

Thursday, Feb. 2 (Day 14):

Ex-Obama official suggests military coup against the President

Rosa Brooks, a former Obama administration official outlined four ways “get rid” of President Trump, including declaring him mentally unfit for command or carrying out a military coup.

Brooks is a Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation which is funded by billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations.  She served from 2009-2011 as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and served as a senior adviser at Obama’s State Department.

Anti-Free speech riot erupts at UC Berkeley

Rioters stopped a speech by Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopooulos (a conservative libertarian gay) at the University of California Berkeley Wednesday night as Chancellor Nicholas Dirks tried to balance the “right to free expression” against the university’s values of tolerance, inclusion an diversity”–the leftist, progressive agenda that does not accept a counter-ideology which they say is “hate” language.

The Milo event was cancelled amid violence and destruction of property two hours before the event was slated to begin at Pauley Ballroom after more than 1,500 protesters (many masked) had gathered outside of the venue.  Rioters caused an estimated $100,000 in property damage.  Bank windows and ATMs were smashed, a Starbucks was looted, anti-Trump graffiti was painted on store fronts, Molotov cocktails were thrown and garbage fires were lit in the streets.  Rioters were seen beating Milo attendees with flag poles and fists.  Several celebrities expressed support for the riot, including Hollywood director Judd Apatow.   

Chancellor Dirks ignored the university’s attempt to dissuade the Berkeley College Republicans from inviting Milo on campus and defended Berkeley as the home of the Free Speech Movement , which inspired campus activism across the world in the 1960s.

“If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people  with a different point of view, ‘No federal funds’ tweeted President Trump Thursday morning.  

“The left is profoundly antithetical to free speech these days, does not want to hear alternative points of view, and will do anything to shut it down,” said Milo Yiannopoulos.”

The Atlantic:  “Defunding sanctuary cities is ‘unconstitutional’”

The Atlantic in a piece, dubbed “Trump’s Sloppy Unconstitutional Order on ‘Sanctuary Cities,” argues that federal immigration orders is “unconstitutional because localities cannot be made to enforce federal laws” based on the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

First Lady appoints her Chief of Staff

The First Lady of the United States Melania Trump announced Lindsay Reynolds as her new Chief of Staff.   Her responsibilities will include managing the agenda for the office of the first lady as well as day to day operations.

Reynolds formerly served in the President George W. Bush Administration White House.  She has spent 14 years in political fundraising, event management and logistics.   Reynolds also served as finance chair for former President Bush.

View the whole series: https://citizensjournal.us/?x=0&y=0&s=Michael+hernandez+trump+100+days

(Editor’s Note:  Mr. Hernandez is dedicating himself to advance the 13 spheres; developing an interactive California citizens news platform as an alternative to mainstream media; while advancing the “We The People” Movement that has mobilized behind Donald J. Trump in Ventura County.)

Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service, founder of History Makers International, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email: [email protected].

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