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The demonstration was part of a fierce backlash in the UK to the announcement last week by Prime Minister Theresa May that US President Donald Trump had accepted an invitation conveyed from the Queen for a state visit later this year.

All this has left the Queen at the centre of a political firestorm -- not a comfortable place for a constitutional monarch.

In a letter to Tuesday's Times newspaper, the respected former head of the Foreign Office, Peter Ricketts, said May had put The Queen in a "very difficult position" and should protect her by downgrading Trump's invitation to an "official visit". Such a trip would be shorn of the ceremonial hoop-la that The President is currently expecting, involving only talks with the Prime Minister and a low-profile courtesy call on the monarch.

May is in a precarious position. If she bows to pressure and downgrades the trip she risks more than losing face: it could cost her a crucial trade deal she's been working on with President Trump.

It could also test relations with Buckingham Palace: Ricketts noted in his letter to the Times that the government's role in protecting the monarch from political controversy was being "put under strain because of the ill-urged advice to the Queen to rush out an invitation to President Trump".

As Ricketts' letter made clear, the Queen doesn't actually have a say on who is invited on a state visit to Britain. Instead, she acts on the advice of the Foreign Office in consultation with Downing Street. May has the ultimate sign-off and only she can alter or withdraw the invitation.

So far the Prime Minister is resolute: the invitation stands, she said at a press conference with the Irish prime minister on Monday evening.

Whether The Queen is a fan of the President is a different matter and, not to put too fine a point on it, irrelevant. Her role is to stay above politics and over the decades she has hosted all sorts of controversial figures from Nicolae Ceaucescu of Romania to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Never have we heard a public utterance of her personal feelings about any of her official guests --she's a stickler for protocol.

The government has its own reasons for wanting to improve relations with the guests, and whether or not the Queen relishes the idea of hosting President Trump, she will oblige, as is her duty.

We don't know how Trump would react to a downgraded invitation but he's unlikely to welcome it and at worst it could be taken as an insult and cause a diplomatic rift.

The Queen no doubt eagerly awaits the guidance from her ministers.

More here:
Theresa May in trouble over Trump's UK state visit invite - CNN

Jared Kushner feels that his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, is undermining his efforts as White House senior adviser, a new Vanity Fair report claims.

The news outlet reported that the real estate developer, 36, who married Ivanka Trump in October 2009, spent 24 hours trying to arrange a meeting between Donald, 70, and Mexican president Enrique Pea Nieto last week to discuss the construction of the MexicoUnited States border wall. A source familiar with the situation claimed Kushner even considered flying to Mexico to convince Pea Nieto, 50, to travel to the White House.

The Mexican president who has strongly reiterated that his country would not pay for the barrier, which would cost an estimated $12 billion to $15 billion initially agreed to meet with the former Celebrity Apprentice host, an accomplishment Kushner presented to Donald on Wednesday, January 25.

"It was his first real victory in the West Wing in his role as senior adviser, and it would be a major step toward turning one of Trump's main campaign promises into a reality," Vanity Fair noted in its report on Monday, January 30.

However, less than 12 hours later, Donald tweeted, "If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel this upcoming meeting." The Twitter post infuriated Kushner, who tirelessly worked to arrange the gathering of the rival presidents. Shortly after, Pea Nieto announced that he had canceled the meeting.

"Kushner was f--king furious," the source told Vanity Fair. "I'd never once heard him say he was angry throughout the entire campaign. But he was furious."

The novice senior adviser's role appears to be taking a "physical toll" on him, the insider told the site. According to the report, Kushner has "become pale" and has "lost a noticeable amount of weight from his already slim frame in just a week." The source also claimed Kushner's body language and demeanor toward Donald has changed since the Pea Nieto kerfuffle. A second insider close to Kushner said he likely lost weight because he "forgets to eat when working long hours."

Vanity Fair's report also claimed that Ivanka, 36, "feels terrible" about posting a photo of herself and her husband at a gala amid the chaos of dad Donald's immigration ban. "[She] does not want something like this to happen again," a source familiar with the situation told the site.

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Excerpt from:
Jared Kushner Is 'Furious' at Donald Trump for Undermining His Efforts as Senior Adviser, Stress Is Taking a ... - Us Weekly

Donald Trump will announce his pick to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court live from the White House in a prime-time broadcast on Tuesday night. Given the incompetence this administration has shown in its first week, it seems fitting that this television event is scheduled for one day before Nielsens February sweeps period begins. And Trump is supposed to be our reality-show president! No wonder ratings for The Apprentice cratered after the second season.

To be fair, there is precedent for a prime-time introduction of a Supreme Court nomination. George W. Bush announced his pick of John Roberts to replace the retiring Sandra Day OConnor live in a ceremony broadcast from the East Room of the White House in July 2005. Speculation at the time was that the Bush administration went for the splashy unveiling to drawattention away from its terrible poll numbers, which were being dragged down by various scandals, the fight over Social Security privatization and the quagmire in Iraq.

There may be something similar at work withthe timing of Trumps announcement. Originally the White House had planned to unveil the SCOTUS pick on Thursday. The media has been speculating that it was moved up by two days to take attention off the backlash overthe immigration ban announced lastFriday by giving reporters almost two full days to feverishly speculate on the identity of the far-right, Heritage Foundation-approved gasbag Trump is certain to nominate.

Whatever the reason, there is more than a touch of showmanship attached to this announcement, and that has been among this administrations most notable features 10 days in (aside from the authoritarianism). Putting on a show is also the motivation behindthe much-ballyhooed executive orders that Trump has been signing nearly every day. Some, like Fridays immigration ban, have had an immediate, dramatic, devastating effect. But othersare just memorandums withorders that could have just as easily been deliveredat a meeting or by phone.

For example, there was absolutely no reason why Trump had to sign a memorandum at a Pentagonceremony,in front of theWhite House press corps and carried live on cable newsand announcing he intends to rebuild the military. In reality, the president lacks the power to unilaterally order the rebuilding he apparentlyintendsto take place or to appropriate funds for it. Unless Im missing something with regard to the constitutional separation of powers (which is definitely possible), Congress controls the purse strings for such an endeavor.

Nor was there any reason for Trump to make a big show out of signing a memorandum giving the Joint Chiefs of Staff 30 days to present him with a plan for defeating ISIS. That one could have been quietly signed and sent to the Pentagon or presented in a meeting with military brass. Instead, Trump made a big display of signing the documentin the Oval Office while surrounded by the reprobates and mountebanks of his administration in front of, once again, the White House press corps.

Even Trumps tweets are often timed to get the medias attention first thing in the morning and capture the days news cycle. The pattern has been evident since the inauguration. Three or four tweets appear on Trumps feed early in the morning, ranting about whatever is bothering him or throwing insults at senators who have displeased him. These are often the only tweets that appear during the day. The media can then be expected for the next few hours to speculate about what they mean and to ask press secretary Sean Spicer about them at the daily White House press briefing. In this way, every day can be turned into a soap opera with Trump, that master entertainer, at its center.

Considering the success that Trump has had using Twitter to grab attention ever since he first announced his candidacy, or the way he kept voters focus on him with his large campaign rallies that news networks were happy to broadcast in full, its no wonder his team is trying to find ways to use the White House to engage in similar tactics. In normal times, these tactics would probably work. Our media has long been reactive, chasing shiny objects for one day and dropping them the next for something new.

But these are not normal times. And the policies this administration has rolled out to this point have been so blatantly discriminatory as to generateworldwide protests. On Monday the media was still forcing the White House to defend the controversies surrounding the weekends immigration actions and the Friday statement it had released to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Trump may have come to power largely through the force of his showmanship. But its just possible that his power to manipulate the media and the news cycle is starting to fade. Now and for the duration of his presidency, its important for the press and the public to understand when this gibbering mango we have seen fit to put in power is trying to distract us with phony and empty ceremony and to react accordingly.

Read more from the original source:
Donald Trump's primetime SCOTUS circus: Is his empty showmanship starting to lose its power? - Salon

"I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court. It will be announced live on Tuesday at 8:00 P.M. (W.H.)," the President tweeted.

The decision to announce his Supreme Court nominee in prime time was Trump's idea, an aide said, in an attempt to draw a larger audience Tuesday evening than he would receive during the day.

It is modeled after President George W. Bush's introduction of associate justice John Roberts in an evening appearance in the East Room of the White House. Roberts eventually became chief justice.

After the death of late Justice Antonin Scalia, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, but the Republican majority prevented his confirmation. This move maintained the vacancy on the court -- leaving a space open for Trump to make his pick.

Scalia was a right-leaning voice on the court, and Trump's pick is expected to fill his place. Trump said in an interview with "60 Minutes" after he was elected that although he thought the issue of same-sex marriage was "settled," he planned to appoint anti-abortion rights justices.

Trump had originally said he would announce his Supreme Court pick on Thursday.

Trump has been teasing his nomination announcement during his first week in office. The President hinted that he had already made his pick last week: "I think in my mind I know who it is," Trump said during a luncheon at his hotel last Thursday with Republicans, according to cell phone video of the event obtained by CNN. "I think you're going to be very, very excited."

CNN's Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

Read more here:
Donald Trump Supreme Court choice announcement coming Tuesday 8 pm - CNN

New York Times

Donald Trump, Quebec City, Warren Buffett: Your Monday Briefing New York Times The reactions: Mr. Trump said the order was a matter of national security, but some Republicans are calling for him to back down. European leaders and Silicon Valley executives denounced the move, while predominantly Muslim nations not affected by the ...

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Donald Trump, Quebec City, Warren Buffett: Your Monday Briefing - New York Times