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First Lady Melania Trump responds to ‘disturbing’ Kathy Griffin tweet about president

Melania Trump is questioning Kathy Griffin’s “mental health” after the comedian posed for a “disturbing” photo holding a bloody prop meant to resemble President Trump’s severed head.

“As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing,” the first lady said in a Wednesday statement, according to reports.

“When you consider some of the atrocities in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it,” Melania Trump said.

Click here to read more from The Hill.

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Wed, May 31, 2017: Trump meets with Vietnam PM Phuc, announces trade deals

President Trump welcomed the prime minister of Vietnam to the Oval Office on Wednesday, cutting business deals not long after transferring a Coast Guard cutter to a onetime enemy that the United States now views as a front-line defender against an expansionist China.

It was Mr. Trump’s first meeting with the prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and the president had warm words for his guest, despite having raised concerns within the Vietnamese government on both economic and security fronts early in his administration.

“Prime Minister Phuc has done a spectacular job in Vietnam, led so many different categories in trade and other things,” Mr. Trump told reporters before their meeting. “We’re going to be discussing trade. We’re going to be discussing North Korea. We have many things to talk about and we look forward to being together, very much so.”

Click here to read more from The New York Times.

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White House Communications Director Mike Dubke resigns

In this photo taken April 20, 2017, White House Communications Director Mike Dubke arrives in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Dubke has resigned as President Donald Trump considers a major staff overhaul amid intensifying inquiries into his campaign's dealings with Russia. (Andrew Harnik / AP)

Mike Dubke has resigned as White House communications director in the first of what could be a series of changes to President Donald Trump’s senior staff amid the growing Russia scandal.

Dubke, who served in the post for three months, tendered his resignation May 18. He offered to stay on to help manage communications in Washington during Trump’s foreign trip, and the president accepted. Continue reading “White House Communications Director Mike Dubke resigns”

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Tue, May 30, 2017: Trump interviews 2 candidates for FBI director

President Trump will interview two more candidates for F.B.I. director on Tuesday as he resumes his search for a replacement for James B. Comey, who was dismissed earlier this month, the White House said.

Mr. Trump will meet with Christopher Wray, a former assistant attorney general overseeing the criminal division under President George W. Bush, and with John S. Pistole, a former deputy F.B.I. director who began under Mr. Bush and was later made director of the Transportation Security Administration under President Barack Obama.

Mr. Trump has been interviewing a number of candidates, but one of his leading choices, former Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, pulled out of consideration after Democrats raised objections.

Mr. Lieberman, a Democrat who later ran as an independent and endorsed John McCain over Mr. Obama in 2008, was viewed as too political for the post, at a time when the F.B.I. is conducting an investigation into contacts between Russia and Mr. Trump’s associates during and after last year’s campaign.

–The New York Times, Peter Baker

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Mon, May 29, 2017: Trump lays wreath, delivers remarks on Memorial Day

President Trump, in his first public remarks since returning from a nine-day overseas trip, paid tribute to fallen American troops in a traditional Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, saying they “died in war so we could live in peace.”

In one of the annual rites of every presidency, Mr. Trump traveled the short distance over the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to honor the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who were killed in service to their country.

“Words cannot measure the depth of their devotion, the purity of their love or the totality of their courage,” Mr. Trump told an audience that included relatives of slain service members. “We only hope that every day we can prove worthy, not only of their sacrifice and service, but of the sacrifice made by the families and loved ones they left behind. Special, special people.”

Click here to read more from The New York Times

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Melania Trump delivers brief speech to troops in Italy

Melania Trump says she will never forget the women and children she met on her first trip abroad as first lady of the United States.

She has addressed U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Italy before she joins President Donald Trump for the flight back to Washington after nine days on the road. The trip took the Trumps to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium and Italy. Continue reading “Melania Trump delivers brief speech to troops in Italy”

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Sat, May 27, 2017: Trump concludes first foreign trip with visit to U.S. servicemembers at naval base in Italy

President Trump on Saturday concluded his first trip abroad as commander-in-chief with a speech at the Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily, where he said the nine-day tour was a home run.

Speaking to members of the U.S. military on Memorial Day weekend, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to ramping up military spending and supporting men and women in the armed services.

“But we have been gone for close to nine days. This will be nine days. And I think we hit a home run no matter where we are,” Trump said in Italy. Continue reading “Sat, May 27, 2017: Trump concludes first foreign trip with visit to U.S. servicemembers at naval base in Italy”

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Sat, May 27, 2017: Trump at G7: leaders end summit split on climate change, more united on trade

Under pressure from allies, U.S. President Donald Trump backed a pledge to fight protectionism on Saturday, but refused to endorse a global climate change accord, saying he needed more time to decide.

The summit of Group of Seven wealthy nations pitted Trump against the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan on several issues, with European diplomats frustrated at having to revisit questions they hoped were long settled.

Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, tweeted that he would make a decision next week on whether to back the 2015 Paris Agreement on curbing carbon emissions following lengthy discussions with G7 partners. Continue reading “Sat, May 27, 2017: Trump at G7: leaders end summit split on climate change, more united on trade”