Trump: “We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety.”


Developments on Day 135 of the Trump Administration:

Trump Reacts to London Attacks

Donald Trump uses attacks in London, in which six people died and the three attackers were killed, to press for adoption of his ban on entry into the US by refugees and by citizens of six mainly-Muslim countries.

On Twitter, Trump said, “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!” He followed up eight minutes later:

Since his inauguration, Trump has repeatedly invoked the specter of terrorism, even for incidents — such as a disturbance in Sweden — which are unconnected. On Thursday, he turned a confrontation in a Manila casino into an act of terror, even though local authorities said it was a case of a gunman pursuing a robbery and burning some tables.

On Saturday night, three men drove a van onto London Bridge, hitting pedestrians, before jumping out and stabbing people in restaurants. Security forces arrived at the scene within minutes, shooting and killing the assailants.

In his first response, Trump retweeted a message from the sensationalist Drudge Report:

In late January, Trump first issued the executive order banning entry into the US, for an initial period of 90 to 120 days, for all refugees and citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen. The order was blocked by a federal judge and a circuit court of appeals, and a revised version was again suspended in March, a decision reaffirmed just over a week ago by another appeals court.

Trump has repeated attacked the judges for being misguided, claiming he has executive authority that they should not be able to curb.

The Justice Department has been given a deadline of June 12 to file papers for any further effort to lift the suspension on the revised executive order.

TOP PHOTO: Police and paramedics attend to victims of the attack on London Bridge, June 3, 2017 (Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty)


Defense Secretary: “Bear With Us to Do the Right Thing”

Defense Secretary James Mattis has asked an international conference to be patient as it endures the Trump Administration.

At the session in Singapore, the head of an Australian policy institute, Michael Fullilove, questioned Mattis about his advocacy of global order. He asked the Defense Secretary if Trump’s abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Paris Accords on climate was bringing about the destruction of that order.

Mattis answered that question and similar concerns with a reference to Winston Churchill, “To quote a British observer of us from some years ago, bear with us. Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing.”

He added, “So we will still be there, and we will be there with you.”


Trump’s Infrastructure Plan? Have States and Cities Pay

Donald Trump’s self-declared $1 trillion infrastructure plan will have states, cities, and corporations pay most of the cost as the federal government cuts its input.

Advisors said Trump will also endorse a plan to privatize and modernize the US air-traffic control system, introducing it at the White House on Monday and speaking about it in the Midwest two days later.

The details of the infrastructure initiatives will take weeks or even months to establish but advisors said Trump will set out the contours of a plan.

“We like the template of not using taxpayer dollars to give taxpayers wins,” said Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, on Friday. “We want to be in the partnership business. We want to be in the facilitation business, and we’re willing to provide capital wherever necessary to help certain infrastructure along.”

The White House said Trump will hold “listening sessions” with a group of mayors and governors on Thursday. The next day he will visit the Transportation Department, seaking about a reduction of takes to obtain federal permits.