Trump cancel meeting with Putin at G-20 Summit

President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that he is canceling the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit. Trump's reason was that because Russia had not returned the three Ukrainian ships and sailors it seized.
 The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, announced that Mr. Trump had canceled the meeting only after reviewing the report on Russia’s actions and consulting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Some applauded Trump's decision in canceling the meeting, others, however, believed that the meeting was an opportunity for Trump to pressure Putin regarding the matters with Ukraine.
There are other speculation on whether the Trump scrubbed the meeting due to Russian-Ukrainian standoff which happened days before. Trump had not cancel the meeting then. Trump's tweets came only shortly after news of his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, had pleaded guilty for making false statements about how long he had pursued building a Trump Tower project in Moscow. Some believed that a meeting with Mr. Putin could have raised questions about Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia after Mr. Cohen’s confession, therefore the cancellation.

“It’s all about the political optics in light of the Trump Tower Moscow news and the fact that Trump simply can’t bring himself to ever confront Putin in public,” Mr. Carpenter said. “This would have been a P.R. disaster of epic proportions if he had agreed to meet and not confronted Putin” (Washington Post).

Do you think canceling the meeting was the best course of action? Or should Trump had stuck with the meeting and delivered a rebuke to Putin for Russian-Ukrainian standoff? Did Trump cancel the meeting due to Russian-Ukrainian standoff or was there another reason?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/us/politics/trump-putin-meeting-g20.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-trump-putin-have-agreed-to-meet-at-g-20-summit-on-saturday/2018/11/29/610aba8e-f3bd-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html?utm_term=.d60c58b9e6d3
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/29/donald-trump-cohen-plea-adds-scrutiny-putin-meeting-g-20-summit/2120967002/

Trump Administration and Mexico's New Government Discuss "Remain in Mexico" Migration Plan

Andrés Manuel López Obrador was sworn into office on Saturday as Mexico's new president. Following this, his top cabinet members went to Washington DC to discuss a new agreement called the "Remain in Mexico" plan. This plan would make it so asylum seekers have to wait outside the US while their claims are processed, instead of them living and working in the US.  Mexico's new administration as well as US officials are worried about there being continual unrest at the Tijuana boarder where most of the 8,000 members of the caravan have settled, but while both governments have agreed on the plan's basic outline, it hasn't yet been finalized.  

The new Mexican government has claimed that they are "preparing to host thousands of Central Americans while they await to see refuge to the United States" as well as that "they have 100,000 jobs available for Central Americans willing to work in factories along Mexico’s northern border as well as on infrastructure projects in the country’s impoverished southern states." López Obrador's government ultimately seeks to increase the development in Central America so that the people don't have to leave their homes in the first place. They also want the US to help their efforts by putting roughly 20 billion dollars towards a recovery plan. "Trump administration officials have said privately they are prepared to commit significant resources to an agreement that keeps Central American asylum seekers on Mexican soil because such a deal would save millions of dollars in detention and enforcement costs". 

US officials think that the "Remain in Mexico" plan has a good chance of getting migrants to stop leaving Central America in such big groups, knowing they will not be able to easily cross the US border and get released from custody while they are waiting for a far away court date.

Questions: - What do you think about this plan in general? Do you think that the US owes it to Mexico and Central America to help aid their efforts of development?

Sources:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/after-inauguration-mexicos-new-government-heads-to-washington-for-migration-talks/2018/11/30/179699d4-f4cd-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e8bdb0ecfac3

Michael Cohen Pleas Guilty for Moscow Tower Project

A courtroom sketch of Michael Cohen
(center) reading a statement on Thursday,
November 29th.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, has pleaded guilty on Thursday, November 29th to lying to Congress about the project for Trump Tower Moscow. He replaces Trump with "Individual 1" in order to lessen connections between Moscow negotiations and President Trump. 

In the past, Michael Cohen has been a loyal ally to President Trump, claiming, "I'm the guy who stops the leaks. I'm the guy who protects the President and the family. I'm the guy who would take a bullet for the President." (NYdailynews), and has engaged in hush-money deals with those previously in scandals with Trump. In August, Cohen also admitted to committing several federal crimes, having committed unlawful corporate contribution and illegal campaign contribution under the Trump organization.
Trump regarded Cohen as a friend and good person, however his response claimed otherwise, claiming that Cohen lied in order to get a pardon from him. "He was convicted of various things unrelated to us...He's a weak person and what he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence." In two weeks, Cohen will be sentenced for his new guilty plea.

Questions:
What do you think Michael Cohen deserves? Do you think Trump will help Cohen despite changing his opinion?
Sources:
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-timeline-michael-cohen-president-trump-20181129-story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-russia-mueller.html
Picture: https://www.cp24.com/world/ex-trump-lawyer-lied-to-investigators-about-moscow-real-estate-deal-1.4199085

U.S. and China Reach Truce in Trade War

On Saturday, December 1st, the United States and China ultimately reached a temporary truce in their trade war after President Xi Jinping and Trump made a compromise over dinner at the G-20 summit.

The meeting was the first face-to-face interaction between the two presidents since the trade war began earlier this year after Trump complained about China doing nothing to cut its surplus in bilateral trade. Before the meeting, the U.S. had planned to increase tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from ten percent to twenty-five percent. However, the agreement keeps those tariffs at ten percent for the next ninety days until further negotiations are made. China also agreed to purchase more American products in order to decrease trade imbalance between both countries, but the exact amount is currently undisclosed. Despite the agreement, it is not clear as to whether or not the two presidents resolved the issues that initially caused the trade war, leaving room for the temporary truce to crumble.

Do you think Trump and President Xi Jinping will reach a permanent agreement?

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/world/trump-xi-g20-merkel.html

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/02/672685019/trump-leaves-g-20-with-china-trade-truce-plans-to-cancel-nafta-ahead-of-new-pact

Trump administration announces final bump stock ban

On Wednesday evening the Trump administration announced finals plans to ban bump stocks across the country.

Bump stocks are devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire rounds faster. They work by causing a gun’s recoil to "bump" the trigger thus firing at quicker rates. The devices gained national attention following the Las Vegas shooting in October of 2017.

Under the Obama administration, bump stocks were dismissed as nothing more than a "gun accessory" not subject to federal regulation. However, under the current Trump administration, the Department of Justice argued that bump stocks turn semi-automatic rifles into illegal machine guns. If the ban takes effect, current bump stock owners will be given 90 days to destroy or surrender their bump stocks to authorities.

Because plans to ban bump stocks have been debated on for the past year, it is unsure if the Trump administration will go through with it. Recently, they claim that it will only be a matter of days or weeks before the ban is in place. Groups such as the NRA have played a role in hindering the ban and even Sen. Dianne Feinstein expressed her concern that the ban will likely lead to lawsuits.

Questions:
1. Do you think the Trump administration will ban bump stocks? Why or why not?
2. Do you think banning bump stocks are a small step for gun control? Explain your response.

Sources:
-https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/28/politics/final-bump-stock-ban/index.html?no-st=1543790375
-https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/politics/trump-bump-stock-ban.html 

LGBTQ Candidates Find Success in Midterm Election

Jared Polis

In the recent midterm elections, Colorado elected US Representative Jared Polis as the nation's first openly gay governor. Polis will succeed Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper. Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown, who identifies as bisexual, is already the first openly LGBTQ person to be elected governor. Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey came out as gay before he stepped down from office in the early 2000s.

Polis was one of several LGBT candidates who ran for governor this cycle, along with Brown in Oregon, Vermont Democrat Christine Hallquist and Texas Democrat Lupe Valdez. Voters across the country sent a record number of LGBT candidates to Congress. This comes 40 years after the assassination of the first openly gay elected official in California, Harvey Milk.
Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. In 1978, under his urging, the city council passed a gay rights ordinance that protected gay people from being fired from their jobs.

On Nov. 27, 1978, Supervisor Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a former police officer and former city supervisor who had clashed with Milk over LGBTQ issues. After shooting the mayor, White entered Milk's office and shot him five times at his desk.
Many thought the murder meant the end of the gay rights movement. That night there was a candle-lit march from the Castro District up Market Street.

Question:
What does electing more LGBTQ politicians into offices say about voters?

Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/27/670657965/40-years-after-the-assassination-of-harvey-milk-lgbt-candidates-find-success
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/politics/jared-polis-colorado-gay-governor/index.html

Trump upset over Chief Justice Roberts’ defense of “Obama judges”

Chief Justice John Roberts

On November 21st, Chief Justice Roberts criticized Trump for describing a judge who was against Trump’s asylum policy as an “Obama judge”. Jon S. Tiger, a judge of the United States District Court in San Francisco, opposed Trump’s policy, which seeks to get rid of the protections provided to immigrants who enter the country illegally, regardless of whether or not they are seeking asylum, saying that Trump could not “rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden”.

Trump was upset and annoyed about this, calling Tiger an "Obama judge". Chief Justice Roberts' defended Tiger, saying that Tiger was just doing his job, and that there are no "Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges" in the court system, only an "extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them." Trump was quick to respond using his customary means of communication, Twitter, saying that there were in fact "Obama judges," and that they had different views than that of the people keeping the country safe. Trump also expressed his displeasure with the 9th Circuit, complaining that 79% of his decisions have been overturned in the 9th Circuit.

In my opinion this whole thing just goes to show how divided this country really is, on one side you have Republicans who want to completely get rid of any immigration if the people immigrating aren't white, and on the other side you have the Democrats who are for immigration of all races and ethnicity. The justice system at this point is so divided and partisan that a decision made in one state for a crime can be an entirely different decision in another state for the same crime, its disgusting.

Questions:
Does Trump have the jurisdiction to enforce his policy, or does he have to get Congress's approval first?


Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/us/judge-denies-trump-asylum-policy.html

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/21/670079601/chief-justice-roberts-issues-rare-rebuke-to-trump