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It started well enough: Soon after Donald Trump won the presidency, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated him, pledging to team with him on trade and security to give Canadians and Americans a fair shot at success.

We're going to keep working withpeopleright around the world. We're going to work with our neighbors, and I'm going to work with President-elect Trump's administration, as we move forward in a positive way for, not justCanadians and Americans, but the whole world, Trudeau said at an event in Ottawa.

Sure, it lacked some of the bombast of a complimentfrom the lips of a Trump Cabinet member.But it seemed like the start of a working relationship. It probably helped that Trudeau had studiously avoided criticizing Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign (though oneLiberal Party fundraisingemail, from September 2016, characterized the American election as a fundamental choice betweenhope or fear, diversity or division and openness and inclusion, or turning our backs on the world. No candidates were named.)

But therelationship between the pair has since gone south.

First, there was Trudeau's Jan. 28Twitter dig at Trump's ban on travel from seven Muslim nations:To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.

Then cametheir first meeting, during which Trudeau famously neutralized the president's handshake.

And there was Trump's strange decision to refer to Trudeau as Justin from Canada in a speech, a relaxed descriptor that struck some as dismissive.

Then there was also a nasty fight over trade and tariffs, during which Trump called Canada a disgrace for its policies that hurt American dairy farmers. (Trudeau's response: The way to do that is to make arguments in a respectful fashion, based on facts, and work constructively and collaboratively with our neighbors.")

Trump also has threatened to"get rid of NAFTA once and for all," which would put Canada in a tough spot.

Trump, however, seems to have changed his tune at least for a day. In honor of Canada Day, the president praised his "new found friend" Justin Trudeau.

Thatshout-out perhapsreflects Trudeau's wide-ranging efforts to winTrump over, even as he opposes many of the president's policies.As the New York Times explained:Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus strategy for managing Mr. Trump is unlike anything tried by another ally. And he has largely succeeded where even experienced leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany have fallen short.

Trudeau's strategy:In the days after Trump won the presidency, Trudeau put together a war room of America-whisperers, seeking to cultivate relationships with people around the president. The prime minister has gone out of his way to compliment Trump, praising his ability to listen and suggesting that the president isn't a typical politician obsessed with being right. He invited the president's older daughter, Ivanka, to a Broadway show in March, and chaired a panel with her on women in business.

Maintaining good relations with Trump is important for Canada because, as Politico explained:

In Trump, Trudeau has the most unnatural of confederates: a man whose policies he must opposeandwhose professional partnership he requires. No matter how philosophically different they may be, Trump must be approached gingerly because of Canadas place in the world and dependence on its economic relationship with the U.S. Perhaps that is why at times Trudeau seems to go out of his way not to irk the tempestuous elephant next door.

Europeans have praised Trudeau's efforts.The way in which Canada relates to this novelty is interesting, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in an interview. He praised Trudeau's strategy of finding common ground with Trump as an effective strategy, saying I think that Canada's example can allow us to have good relations.

And it's paid off in some ways. White House advisers called Trudeau to ask him to persuade Trump to remain in NAFTA. The deal seems safe, at least for now.

Canadians, though, seem a little more skeptical of the budding bromance. In response to Trump's tweet, some replied:

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Donald Trump's very affectionate tweet about Justin Trudeau, explained - Washington Post

Update That was fast: Donald Trumps Saturday afternoon Twitter triple-play just became a foursome, with the oddest parsing of terminology since, well, the difference between fake and fraud 40 minutes ago: My use of social media is not Presidential its MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!

Previous President Donald Trump, one day into the July 4th long holiday weekend and two days into overwhelming criticism for tweeting about a faceliftMika Brzezinski didnt have, just lashed out again at the FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA for working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media.

In a three-part (so far) tweet see them separately below Trump writes, TheFAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media but remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media. I had to beat #Fake News, and did. We will continue to WIN! I am thinking about changing the name #FakeNews CNN to #FraudNewsCNN! The last of these was briefly pinned to Trumps profile page, making it as the top tweet any visitor would see.

Republican politicos including Paul Ryan and Ben Sasse didnt need much encouragement from CNN or other news outlets to condemn the presidents crude, personal tweets about Morning Joes Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. House speaker Ryan said about the facelift tweet, Obviously I dont see that as an appropriate comment, while Sen.Ben Sasse tweeted, Please just stop. This isnt normal and its beneath the dignity of your office.

Said Sen. Lindsey Graham, Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.

Exactly why Trump is parsing the difference between fake and fraud in his nickname for CNN went unexplained in this afternoons presidential Twitter triptych.

Here are the tweets:

Read this article:
Donald Trump Ponders The Finer Points Of Fake, Fraud & Presidential Update - Deadline

Kevin DrumJul. 1, 2017 10:21 PM

Ford Williams/U.S. Navy via ZUMA

A reader emails to ask why I havent written about Seymour Hershs story from last week that accuses Donald Trump of ignoring evidence that Syrias chemical attack in April wasnt actually a chemical attack at all. Its worth an answer.

First off, theres some background. Hershs main outlet was the New Yorker until a few years ago. But they refused to publish his 2013 article making the same accusation against the Obama administration, so the London Review of Books published it instead. But the LRB declined to publish his latest one, so it ended up in a German newspaper. Thats two well-respected publications that have parted ways with Hersh. Why?

Second, Hershs latest piece is almost completely single-sourced to a senior advisor to the American intelligence community. Thats mighty vague. And boy, does this advisor know a lot. He seems to have an almost photographic recall of every meeting and every decision point that preceded Trumps cruise missile attack. Its hardly credible that a civilian advisor could be as plugged in as this guy apparently is.

These things dont inspire confidence. So now lets take a look at the piece he wrote. Heres an excerpt:

Some American military and intelligence officials were especially distressed by the presidents determination to ignore the evidence. None of this makes any sense, one officer told colleagues upon learning of the decision to bomb. We KNOW that there was no chemical attack the Russians are furious. Claiming we have the real intel and know the truth I guess it didnt matter whether we elected Clinton or Trump.

And now heres an excerpt from his 2013 piece:

The same official said there was immense frustration inside the military and intelligence bureaucracy: The guys are throwing their hands in the air and saying, How can we help this guy Obama when he and his cronies in the White House make up the intelligence as they go along?

This is way too similar. In fact, the whole 2017 piece reads like a warmed-over version of his 2013 article. I just dont trust it.

Plus theres this: the Trump administration is one of the leakiest in memory. If Trump flatly ignored the advice of every one of his military advisorswhich is what Hersh saysits hard to believe that this wouldnt also have leaked to one of the legion of national security reporters in DC, who have demonstrated that theyre pretty sourced up. But so far, no one has even remotely corroborated Hershs story.

Is this because the mainstream media is afraid to report this stuff? Please. Theyd see Pulitzers dancing before their eyes. Theres not a reporter in the entire city who wouldnt go after this story.

You never know. Maybe Hersh will turn out to be right. Its certainly a compelling and detailed story he tells. But for now, I dont believe it.

Mother Jones is a nonprofit, and stories like this are made possible by readers like you. Donate or subscribe to help fund independent journalism.

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Did Donald Trump Invent a Chemical Attack in Syria? - Mother Jones

More states are pushing back against President Donald Trump's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

As of Friday, 25 states have refused to give partial or full requested information, according to the Washington Post . Some states cited state laws prohibiting them from releasing certain voter information, while others opposed the information request due to the commission itself, the Post reported.

Trump tweeted about the subject Saturday morning writing, "Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?"

Trump's commission on voter fraud asked each state to provide personal data on all registered voters going back to 2006.

California, New York and Virginia were the first states to balk at the request. Mississippi's Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann gained attention for his statement on refusing to provide the information.

"They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great state to launch from," Hosemann, a Republican, said Friday. "Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes."

Continue reading here:
'What Are They Trying to Hide?' President Trump Questions 25 States Refusing to Hand Over Voter Information - TIME

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, June 20, 2017, in Washington. Evan VucciAP

Updated: Jul 01, 2017 10:50 AM ET

President Donald Trump on Saturday said that MSNBC fired anchor Greta Van Susteren because she did not agree with the network's so-called "Trump hate."

The President made the claim in an early-morning tweet that read: "Word is that @Greta Van Susteren was let go by her out of control bosses at @NBC & @Comcast because she refused to go along w/ 'Trump hate!'"

Van Susteren happened to be on Twitter at the time but did not directly respond to the President's tweet. Instead, she quoted a tweet from a fake Kim Kardashian West account mentioning Trump that was posted several minutes after his tweet.

"You know what? TRUMPET," the account tweeted at the President.

"What does this mean?" Van Susteren replied.

Van Susteren, who was hired in January to host For the Record with Greta, announced she was "out" at MSNBC on Thursday, with her husband and a close friend saying that the news came without warning, according to CNN Money.

Vanity Fair , who first reported news of Van Susteren's termination, attributed the decision to a lack of ratings. A New York Times profile of the network last month touched on the issue, as well.

Its not breaking out, NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack said of her show in the Times piece. Everybody wants every new show to break out Day 1. I think it takes time, and Ive got a lot of patience.

Van Susteren wasn't the only MSNBC host mentioned by the President on Saturday morning. Shortly after his comment about Van Susteren, he turned his attention back to Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

"Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses. Too bad!" Trump tweeted.

His latest comments follow a Thursday tweet in which he said that Brzezinski was "bleeding badly from a face-lift." The remark was widely condemned by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

He also railed against CNN, again calling the network "fake news."

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President Trump: MSNBC Fired Greta Van Susteren for Not Going Along With 'Trump Hate' - Fortune