Trump gives no details but tax cuts will be “bigger I believe than any tax cut ever”


Developments on Day 92 of the Trump Administration:

Trump’s Unrealistic Proclamation of a “Massive Tax Cut”

Seeking an impression of a political victory before his 100th day in office, Donald Trump says businesses and individuals will receive a “massive tax cut” under a tax reform package that he will unveil next week.

Trump gave no details of the plan, saying only that the tax cuts will be “bigger I believe than any tax cut ever”. He said the proposals will be released on “Wednesday or shortly thereafter”.

Trump’s 100th day in office is next Saturday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin initially set a goal of getting tax reform passed by August, but he now says that the Administration still hopes to get a bill passed well before the end of the year.

That prospect is far too distant for Trump, who has yet to get a single major piece of legislation through the Congress despite a Republican majority in both houses, and has seen another headline proposal — the “Muslim Ban” barring entry to the US by refugees and citizens of six mainly-Muslim countries — suspended by the courts.

The White House said earlier this week that it is renewing efforts for the repeal of ObamaCare, after the GOP’s American Health Care Bill failed to even make it to a vote in the House of Representatives last month. However, Republican aides on Capitol Hill immediately said that there were problems with the legislation, and that the priority should be on authorizing emergency funding to avoid a Government shutdown on April 28.

See TrumpWatch, Day 91: Trump Trying Again to Repeal ObamaCare

On Friday, Trump signed a Presidential order asking Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to review tax regulations, imposed by the Obama Administration in 2016, seeking to clamp down on “corporate inversions” — in which American companies merge with foreign companies to take advantage of lower tax rates abroad.

The scrapping of the regulations would appear to contradict Trump’s campaign pledge to reduce incentives for companies to move overseas to minimize taxes.

Last year Mr. Obama’s Treasury Department, concerned about drug giant Pfizer’s $152 billion bid to acquire Allergan, which makes Botox, issued rules to thwart the practice. Among those efforts were regulations to prevent moves like “earnings-stripping” in which an American subsidiary borrows from a parent company and uses the interest payments on the loans to offset its earnings.


Trump-Russia: House Committee Asks Current and Former Top Officials to Testify

The House Intelligence Committee asks several current and former top officials to testify in the renewed hearings on ties between Donald Trump’s associates and Russian official.

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, dismissed by the White House in late January over Donald Trump’s “Muslim Ban”, has been approached, as have Obama-era Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan.

The committee has also invited FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers to return in a closed session.

The committee opened its hearings on March 20 with testimony from Comey and Rogers, but GOP chairman Devin Nunes effectively suspended the proceedings as he collaborated with the White House about next steps.

The Washington Post said the White House tried to block Yates from testifying at that time, a charge denied by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

Under pressure over the collaboration, including White House officials passing him information and a meeting with Donald Trump, Nunes finally recused himself from the inquiry earlier this month.


Trump: Far-Right Le Pen is Strongest Candidate in French Election

Donald Trump says far-right politician Marine Pen is the strongest candidate in France’s first-round Presidential vote this Sunday.

Trump said that while he not “explicitly endorsing” the Front National leader, Le Pen was the “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France”.

He continued, “Whoever is the toughest on radical Islamic terrorism, and whoever is the toughest at the borders, will do well in the election.”

Trump said on Twitter that Le Pen’s candidacy will be boosted after the fatal shooting of a police officer in central Paris on Thursday:

Le Pen visited Trump Tower just before Trump’s inauguration in January, but the transition team said she did not meet the President-elect.


White House Denies Exxon Request for Sanctions Waiver for Big Russian Project

The Trump Administration has denied a request by Exxon for a sanctions waiver to permit a major oil project with Russia.

Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said on Friday that US companies, including Exxon Mobil, will not be able to carry out oil and gas drilling in Russia while sanctions remain intact over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Exxon’s request came soon after its CEO, Rex Tillerson, became secretary of State. However, the positive tone of Donald Trump towards Russia and its President Vladimir Putin have been replaced recently by the declaration of Tillerson, as well as Trump, that relations are at “an all-time low”.

Exxon and Russian oil giant Rosneft entered a joint venture in 2012 to develop offshore reserves in the Arctic Kara Sea and the Black Sea, as well as onshore assets in Siberia.

Exxon said in a filing after the sanctions were put in place that its “maximum before-tax exposure to loss from these joint ventures” totaled $1 billion through the end of 2015.


Not 1 Lawmaker From Border States Supports Funding for Trump’s Wall

Not one member of Congress who represents southwestern US states supports Donald Trump’s request for $1.4 billion to begin construction of a US-Mexican wall, according to a Wall Street Journal survey.

Most of 17 lawmakers — nine Representatives and eight Senators, both Democrats and Republicans — said they are opposed and many said they have unanswered questions. A few were noncommittal.

The White House says it wants funding for the wall in a spending bill to keep the government operational after April 28. Senior Congressional Republicans have indicated that they prefer to leave out the measure out, as it could alienate Democrats needed to support the emergency funding bill, which requires 60 votes for passage.


Justice Department Again Warns “Sanctuary Cities” Over Immigration

The Justice Department sends warning letters to officials in eight cities and agencies, calling on them to prove they are complying with federal immigration laws or risk loss of federal grant funding.

The letters were sent to officials in Chicago, New York, New Orleans, the California Department of Corrections, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, and Miami. The Justice Department said each had been identified in a 2016 Inspector General’s report with practices that violate federal law.

Most of the cities are declared “sanctuary cities”, refusing to detain undocumented immigrants without evidence of criminal activity.

In March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatened to “claw back” grant funding from the cities.

The Justice Department maintained on Friday that many of the jurisdictions are “crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime”.

The Department said that “New York City continues to see gang murder after gang murder, the predictable consequence of the city’s ‘soft on crime’ stance”, when in fact the city has recorded a historic reduction in crime, according to the New York Police Department.

Nisha Agarwal, commissioner in the New York Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said the Department’s statement was “outright false”: “Ultimately what they’re doing is conflating immigrants with criminality.”


Defense Secretary Mattis: $56 Billion Increase Not Enough for Trump’s Wish List

Defense Secretary James Mattis says the Trump Administration’s proposed $56 billion increase in the Pentagon budget is not enough to fulfil Donald Trump’s proposals for an increase in military personnel equipment.

“Four sources familiar with the conversations” said Mattis had told Congressmen that the $603 billion Pentagon budget plan is not sufficient for Trump’s declared intention for tens of thousands Army soldiers, a 350-ship Navy, and more fighter jets for the Air Force.

Republican defense hawks in Congress say that the Trump defense budget is only about 3% more than the $584 billion that the Obama administration was planning for 2018, and that it falls short of the $640 billion that some Republicans — like Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain of Arizona — insist is needed for the military.

The Pentagon, Homeland Security, and Veterans Administration were the only departments allocated more funds in the Trump budget, with other agencies cut up to 31% and the State Department slashed by 28%.