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WASHINGTON Just three months into his presidency, Donald Trumps bestselling The Art of the Deal might be due for a sequel: The Humility of the Failed Bluff.

The boastful businessman who claimed that his negotiating skills were unsurpassed appears to have met his match a number of times already.

Trump went from accusing the Chinese of manipulating their currency to agreeing that they didnt. He has not made any visible progress in forcing Mexico to pay for a border wall. He was talked out of abandoning the North American Free Trade Agreement by the leaders of Mexico and Canada. And he was unable to bully Democrats into working with him to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

He has folded like a lawn chair at the slightest hint of pressure, and hes getting played like a violin by enemies like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, said Adam Jentleson, former deputy chief of staff to retired Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

In Mexico, the country Trump has vilified since the start of his campaign nearly two years ago, a senator told The New York Times that political leaders there have started to see Trump primarily as a bluffer.

In front of a bluffer, you always have to maintain a firm and dignified position, Armando Ros Pitertold the Times.

Some Trump supporters challenge that view. Michael Caputo, a western New York political consultant who worked for Trumps primary campaign last year, said Ros and others who underestimate Trump will be sorry.

Bluffers win. And they win big, Caputo said. At the end of the poker game that the senator is speaking about, well end up with more chips. The senator is going to be awful surprised and out of the game early.

But other Trump allies, including radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, are starting to fret about Trumps strategy. Im not happy to have to pass this on, Limbaughtold his listenersearlier this week. But it looks like, from here, right here, right now, it looks like President Trump is caving on his demand for a measly $1 billion in the budget for his wall on the border with Mexico.

On the campaign trail, Trump marketed himself as the ultimate closer, a tough-talking businessman who could renegotiate trade deals and international agreements to better benefit the American worker. He regularly disparaged weak and stupid leaders in Washington for failing to accomplish what someone who had actually sat at a boardroom table could easily do once in the Oval Office.

Jonathan Drake / Reuters

Ive watched the politicians. Ive dealt with them all my life, Trumpsaidin 2015. If you cant make a good deal with a politician, then theres something wrong with you. Youre certainly not very good.

Nearly 100 days into his presidency, however, Trump appears to be finding the job is much tougher than he imagined. He has issued bold ultimatums in negotiations on health care, immigration and trade only to have to back down. While his predecessor once said henever bluffedon the world stage, Trump has embraced the risky tactic on both foreign and domestic fronts with little to show for it.

People put in for the TV character of Donald Trump, a hyper-confident negotiator, a wheeler-dealer mogul, said GOP strategist Rick Wilson. The real Donald Trump is a 70-year-old man who inherited a bunch of money whos been bankrupt four times and who basically turned into a branding company. Hes intellectually sloppy and temperamentally unsuited for the job.

In the health care debate, Trump has been all over the map. He first warned Republican lawmakers that he would leave the Affordable Care Act in place and move on to other priorities unless they approved a bill to repeal and replace it. The ultimatum failed to sway skeptical conservatives in the House, and lawmakers bolted town for a two-week recess without voting on the measure. He and his aides then threatened toreach out to Democratsto resuscitate his stalled agenda, but that too went out the window. This week, the administration is once again pushing for a party-line vote on an Obamacare repeal bill.

Trumps bluster toward Democrats also fell flat. Earlier this month, hethreatened to sabotage Obamacareif they didnt agree to proposed changes regarding the law. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney announcedWednesdaythat the administration was considering cutting off crucial payments to health insurance companies a move thatwould be devastatingfor people who buy coverage on their own, rather than through employers. Later that day, less than 48 hours before a crucial government funding deadline, Trump backed down and said hewould honor the payments after all.

Trump didnt fare any better on funding his proposed border wall, either. Facing likely odds of a government shutdown, the president on Tuesday backed off demands that Democrats agree to fund the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border the same wall he said Mexico would pay for on the campaign trail. Trump maintained that the wall remained a priority and that it would eventually get built. But its hard to see what more he could do to persuade Democrats to vote to fund the wall between now and the next round of budget talks in September.

That issue, because it was a promise repeated throughout his campaign, could do Trump serious damage if he doesnt deliver, said Ari Fleischer, a press secretary to former President George W. Bush.

I think Trump must demonstrate this year, not necessarily now, progress toward building the wall or his base will be disappointed, Fleischer said. He went too far in saying Mexico will pay for it, but I believe his base cares far more about it being built and a lot less about who pays.

Trumps efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement may yet bear fruit. His threat to pull the U.S. out of the agreement brought Canada and Mexico to the negotiating table this week. But its less clear what kind of concessions hell be able to wring out of them. Even Trump admitted that withdrawing from the trade pact would amount to a shock to the system.

If Im unable to make a fair deal for the United States, meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, I will terminate NAFTA. But were going to give renegotiation a good, strong shot, he said at the White House on Thursday.

See more here:
Donald Trump's Art Of The Retreat - Huffington Post

Kyle Chapman is organizing a fraternal order, he says, to protect free speech for the alt-right.

Members of the alt-right claim to be forming a forming a fraternal gang in order to better defend their free-speech rights with violence if necessary when police fail to do so.

Our emphasis will be on street activism, preparation, defense and confrontation, Kyle Chapman, a California activist known online as Based Stickman, wrote on Facebook on April 21. We will protect and defend our right wing brethren when the police and government fail to do so.

This organization is for those that possess the Warrior Spirit, Chapman wrote, dubbing his new group the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights.

Chapman was arrested earlier this month in a clash in Berkeley, Calif. between anti-fascist protesters and pro-Trump demonstrators. He named his new group the tactical defensive arm of the Proud Boys, another group that shows up at pro-Trump rallies and has clashed with counter-protesters, according to a Southern Poverty Law Center report.

Proud Boys organizer Gavin McInnes a co-founder of the website and magazine Vice who now moves in alt-right circles called his group a pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter @skestenbaum

More:
'Alt-Right' Gang Vows To Protect Free Speech - Forward

Police and university officials said they were bracing for possible trouble whether Coulter comes to campus or not, citing intelligence and online chatter by groups threatening to instigate violence.

UPDATE: 12:45 p.m. Eastern

BERKELEY, Calif. The International Socialist Organization says it will hold an "Alt Right Delete" rally in downtown Berkeley to show support for free speech and to condemn the views of conservative commentator Ann Coulter and her supporters.

Thursday's rally at noon comes as Gavin McInnes, founder of the pro-Trump "Proud Boys" has said he will speak in the afternoon at Berkeley's Civic Center Park.

He is encouraging similar groups to show up for gathering.

Another group called the Orange County Alt Right Group is planning a morning rally in the same place.

Coulter's planned speech at University of California, Berkeley, was canceled and police are preparing for possible violence by the groups with opposing political views.

ORIGINAL STORY:

BERKELEY, Calif. Ann Coulter said Wednesday that she was forced to cancel her speaking event Thursday at the University of California, Berkeley amid concerns of violence but might still "swing by to say hello" to all her supporters.

Police and university officials said they were bracing for possible trouble whether Coulter comes to campus or not, citing intelligence and online chatter by groups threatening to instigate violence.

A group of far-right supporters plans to hold a rally Thursday at a Berkeley park to denounce what they claim is an attempt to silence their conservative views.

KCBS reports that Gavin McInnes, founder of the pro-Trump "Proud Boys," says he will speak at 2 p.m. at Civic Center Park and is encouraging other alt-right groups to make a large showing at the gathering.

In emails to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Coulter confirmed that her planned speech on illegal immigration, followed by a question-answer session, was canceled. But she remained coy about what she might do instead.

"I'm not speaking. But I'm going to be near there, so I might swing by to say hello to my supporters who have flown in from all around the country," Coulter said in an email. "I thought I might stroll around the graveyard of the First Amendment."

Officials at UC Berkeley said last week they feared renewed violence on campus if Coulter followed through with plans to speak. They cited "very specific intelligence" of threats that could endanger Coulter and students, as Berkeley becomes a platform for extremist protesters on both sides of the political spectrum.

Efforts by the university to cancel or delay the Coulter event dealt a blow to Berkeley's image as a bastion of tolerance and free speech.

Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks sent a letter to the campus Wednesday saying the university is committed to defending free speech but also to protecting its students.

"This is a university, not a battlefield," Dirks said in the letter. "The university has two non-negotiable commitments, one to Free Speech the other to the safety of our campus community."

Original post:
Alt-right, socialist groups to rally after cancellation of Coulter talk - Carthage Press

An alt-right group apparently is trying to build a small street army vowing to use violence if necessary to defend free speech from leftist extremists.

Kyle Chapman a proud American nationalist who became a conservative hero in some circles after his arrest this month during fierce clashes between anti-fascist protesters and Trump demonstrators announced the formation of the new group last week on Facebook and issued a call to action.

Our emphasis will be on street activism, preparation, defense and confrontation, Chapman wrote on Facebook. We will protect and defend our right wing brethren when the police and government fail to do so. This organization is for those that possess the Warrior Spirit. The weak or timid need not apply.

Chapman said the organization, the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, will be partnering with the Proud Boys, a conservative group formed by Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes that bills itself as Western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world. (McInnes is no longer affiliated with Vice and parted ways with the company 10 years ago.)

The formation of the new fraternity is being done with McInnes approval and Chapman is calling for action to defend against Marxist groups that are intent on stripping us our freedoms, according to another Facebook post.

No more keyboard warrior st, Chapman wrote in an earlier post. No more crying about the state of our country while you do nothing to change it. Its all about action. President Trump has our back for the next 8 years. The timing couldnt be better. Lets do this!

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups and other extremist organizations, has taken notice of the highly masculine group, likening it to a neo-Nazi fight club called the DIY Division, whose members turned up in California last month to support an estimated 2,000 Trump supporters.

Our movement is really getting off the ground now, Chapman wrote on Facebook. We need to expand and keep the momentum going. But I cant do this on my own. I need my fellow warriors to create local Alt-Knight chapters with the intent of carrying out our cause within their community. The mission is to protect our right wing brethren from attack while having rallies, marches and protests. You will also counter protest Marxist groups that are intent on stripping us of our freedoms.

Chapman has solicited submissions for the groups official symbol or crest, generating several dozen suggestions, including designs featuring the slogans Infidel Nation, Proud Enemy of Islam, Good Night, Left Side, a Knights Templar cross, at least two iterations of Pepe the Frog and a foreboding knight with the letters FOAK across a sash in front of an American flag shield.

FOAK is [a] fraternal organization with its own bylaws, constitution, rituals and vetting processes, Chapman wrote, adding that websites will be coming soon, although some chapters have already established pages on Facebook.

Chapman, meanwhile, blasted the horrible decision by conservative commentator Ann Coulter to cancel her planned appearance at the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday, although she confirmed in emails to the Associated Press that she was forced to cancel the event amid threats of violence.

In a statement to students Wednesday, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said groups from the extreme ends of the political spectrum have made known their intentions to use violence to support or protest speakers at the campus.

This is a university, not a battlefield, Dirks statement reads. We must make every effort to hold events at a time and location that maximizes the chances that First Amendment rights can be successfully exercised and that community members can be protected. While our commitment to freedom of speech and expression remains absolute, we have an obligation to heed our police departments assessment of how best to hold safe and successful events.

UC Berkeley administrators insist they did not cancel Coulters event.

Instead, we received a request to provide a venue on one single day, chosen unilaterally by a student group without any prior consultation with campus administration or law enforcement, his statement continued. After substantial evaluation and planning by our law enforcement professionals, we were forced to inform the group that, in light of specific and serious security threats that UCPDs intelligence had identified, there was no campus venue available at a time on that date where the event could be held safely and without disruption.

Berkeley has seen at least three violent confrontations this year between Trump supporters and counter-protesters, most recently on April 15 during a Patriots Day rally when 21 people were arrested, the Los Angeles Timesreports. Fireworks and smoke bombs were tossed into the crowds near Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, where Trump demonstrators had planned a rally. In March, 10 people were arrested and seven others wounded at a scheduled pro-Trump rally, and an appearance by conservative writer Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled in February due to violent protests at the liberal university.

Link:
Alt-right thugs want to bring muscle to liberal protests - New York Post

April 27, 2017, 12:44 p.m.

Groups of demonstrators began trickling into Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley on Thursdayas police swarmed the city.

Among the activists at the park was Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as theOath Keepers.Rhodes and his group had also gathered in Berkeley onApril 15, when a plannedPatriots Day rally erupted in clashes between pro-Trumpdemonstrators and counter-protesters.

"We are only here for self-defense," Rhodes said. His role, he said, was "to keep the hotheads in check."

Rhodes said his group plans to protect alt-right speakers at a Free Speech Rally at 2 p.m. at the park. Speakers plan to take the place of conservative commentator Ann Coulter after she announced a day earlier that she would not speak at UC Berkeley.

Announcements for the afternoon rallyinvited all patriots ... for an afternoon of free speech in America. We wont let the bad guys win.

The speakers include Gavin McInnes, founder of a far right group Proud Boys, and alt-right activist Kyle Chapman. Chapman was arrested at the April 15 demonstration on a warrant alleging an assault at a violent protest in March. When officers grabbed Chapman from the crowd and cuffed him, alt-right blogger Baked Alaska launched a livestream feed denouncing the arrest.

View post:
Conservative and alt-right groups gather for 'free speech' rally in Berkeley - Los Angeles Times