Trump Today: President calls for expanded U.S. missile defenses

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President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled an overseas trip by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, citing the ongoing partial government shutdown.

He also called for expanded U.S. missile defenses, as reports highlighted his frustration with the shutdown and fresh campaign-related comments by his current personal lawyer and his former attorney.

TRUMP BLOCKS PELOSI’S USE OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT FOR TRIP

President targets Pelosi’s overseas trip after her State of the Union move: Trump on Thursday told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a letter that a trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan on which she was to depart Thursday afternoon has been postponed, saying “it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me.”

A top Pelosi aide said that Trump had been incorrect in naming Egypt among the destinations of the congressional trip.

For security reasons, Pelosi’s trip, which Trump’s letter characterized as a “public relations event,” had not been previously announced, reports indicated.

Trump added that Pelosi could make the journey by flying commercial, after blocking her from using military aircraft. His move follows the Democratic lawmaker’s decision to urge Trump to postpone the State of the Union address because of the shutdown, which enters its 28th day Friday.

Some lawmakers were left waiting on a bus Thursday afternoon to learn whether they would depart on the trip, and there was a flurry of phone calls among lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill, the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House, according to a Fox News report.

TRUMP CALLS FOR EXPANDED MISSILE PROGRAM

President talks missile defenses at Pentagon: Trump called for an expanded missile-defense program to better protect the U.S. in an appearance Thursday at the Pentagon, the Associated Press reported.

Part of the new strategy is to create a level of sensors in space, and the Trump administration’s Missile Defense Review is the first such program since 2010.

“Our goal is simple: that we can detect and destroy” any incoming missile, Trump said.

Ahead of Trump’s remarks, a Washington Post story said the administration is seeking to expand the scope and sophistication of missile defenses on a scale not seen since President Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” initiative.

The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF














ITA, +1.54%












gained 1.5% on Thursday, while the S&P 500














SPX, +0.76%












added 0.7%. The ETF is down about 7.5% over the past 12 months, while the S&P has lost about 6%.

TRUMP FRETS ABOUT ‘GETTING CRUSHED’

Trump shows moments of frustration as shutdown drags on: The president has had recurring moments of frustration as he takes in negative news coverage of the ongoing partial government shutdown, said a New York Times report that quoted Trump as having recently said: “We are getting crushed!”

The shutdown now has lasted for 27 days. A new poll has found 57% of voters say they’ll vote against Trump, with a pollster saying the president’s base is “showing evidence of a cracking.”

The Times report also noted that White House staff members are becoming acclimated to the hands-off style of acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

GIULIANI TRIES TO WALK BACK ‘COLLUSION’ REMARKS

Giuliani says he “never said there was no collusion,” then backtracks: Speaking on CNN on Wednesday night, Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, claimed he has not denied that the Trump campaign may have colluded with Russians in the 2016 election, saying he only has stated that Donald Trump himself was not involved in collusion.

“I never said there was no collusion between the campaign, or people in the campaign,” said Giuliani, the former New York mayor. Multiple published reports noted that Giuliani’s remarks run counter to his past comments on the issue.

Giuliani then made an effort Thursday to walk back his remarks after they generated considerable buzz, saying: “I have no knowledge of any collusion by any of the thousands of people who worked on the campaign.”

COHEN BACKS UP REPORT ALLEGING POLL RIGGING

Cohen confirms he paid a tech firm to rig polls and says Trump directed him to do it: Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, responded to a Thursday scoop in which the Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen hired a tech firm to fix polling in Trump’s favor.

In a tweet, Cohen admitted to the act and pointed at his then-boss as having directed it. But he disputed that he handed over a bag of cash to the tech firm’s founder, Liberty University CIO John Gauger, saying that “all monies paid to Mr. Gauger were by check.”

ATLANTIC TO CONGRESS: IMPEACH

Atlantic cover calls for Trump’s impeachment: The Atlantic magazine’s latest cover story called for Trump’s impeachment, saying that “starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals — and bring the debate about his fitness for office into Congress, where it belongs.”

“This is not a partisan judgment. Many of the president’s fiercest critics have emerged from within his own party,” wrote Yoni Appelbaum, a senior editor at the Atlantic, which is labeled as “skews liberal” in a well-known chart that aims to illustrate media bias.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has knocked down impeachment talk, but her fellow California Democrat, Rep. Brad Sherman, has reintroduced articles of impeachment against the president in the new Congress.

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Source : MTV