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Remember when Barack Obama was still in the White House and he and Donald Trump managed to have a civil relationship?
Despite their very different politics the Big O and the Donald made a big effort to get along during the handover for the sake of American democracy.
It was nice, wasn't it?
Well, that was before.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
The President went on the above Twitter offensive over the weekend, apparently causing Barack Obama (who's keeping a low profile lately) to roll his eyes.
His response has been variously described as everything from irked to livid and his spokesman has outright denied the claim from the new Commander in Chief who has yet to provide any evidence that it happened.
He has asked for a congressional investigation however, prompting a reporter to ask why there's a need to investigate something the President has already stated as fact?
Here's what press secretary Sean Spicer said this week when he was asked if he had seen any evidence to support the allegation:
These sorts of distractions continue to overshadow a more serious legislative agenda from the new President – who continues to tweet at will.
What do Democrats think?
Let's check in with Californian Congressman Ted Lieu:
Blunt. And it has some merit, the law is such that wiretapping of Trump Tower would only have been approved if there was credible evidence that something questionable was going on.
The President quite possibly shot himself in the foot, but then perhaps he was just trying to distract from the storm that surrounded his new Attorney General Jeff Sessions this time last week.
It hasn't entirely gone away but it's fair to say it hasn't had much attention this week, as the news wheel turned, much of that story just flowed out in the wash.
He said
"If you like your healthcare plan you can keep it." = "I was born in Hawaii."– in a tweet in 2013.
It seems appropriate to bring this one back in the same week that President Trump began the hard sell on new healthcare legislation while simultaneously accusing his predecessor of wire-tapping him during the election (with no evidence it seems).
She said
"Now, the truth is, life hands all of us setbacks" – Hillary Clinton reflected on her election loss while receiving the "Champion for Girls Award" in New York this week.
Days earlier – this photo of the former Secretary of State was snapped on a plane – reading about the Vice President being hacked while using a personal email server for some official business while Governor of Indiana.
What goes around comes around?
Veep says
Mike Pence says there's "no comparison" between his private email use and Hillary Clinton's.
The Washington Post agrees; while neither are strictly illegal acts – Clinton used her private account exclusively for work and did not hand over all of the emails as part of the FBI investigation.
Vice President Pence says he preserved his emails as required by law when he finished his term as Governor of Indiana, a state where private email use by government officials is legal.
Oh, and that's not all from Hillary Clinton this week.
Check out who's watching over the President when he surprised kids on a tour of the White House:
(We've passed that portrait a few times during our work by the way. It's in the East Wing.)
The President seems to be burying the hatchet
President Trump continues to bring a host of former rivals to the White House as he works his art of the deal on Capitol Hill.
Most recently, Ted Cruz, came to visit (Remember: during the campaign Donald Trump peddled conspiracy theories about the Texan's father's role in the assassination of JFK and was pretty unpleasant to wife Heidi.)
The President also met with South Carolina Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham (Remember: during the campaign Donald Trump read aloud his personal cell phone number at a rally).
Graham has been a fierce opponent of President Trump before, during and after the election. How did that meeting go?
Well, Lindsey gave him his new number.
While we're clearing up old stoushes
Following a freedom of information request, the National Park Service has released a tranche of photos from January's inauguration perhaps finally debunking the "alternative facts" on crowd numbers from Donald Trump's big party.
You decide.
Tap, tap, who's there?
Maybe President Trump has good reason to be paranoid; this week WikiLeaks dumped what it alleges to be the largest tranche of classified information from the CIA in history.
It's said to be bigger than the Edward Snowden leaks and suggests that the CIA has been using everyday devices, like iPhones, laptops and smart TVs to extract information.
This means, among other things, turning on the internal microphone in a smart TV to record conversations even when the TV is off.
Concerning, in so many ways.
The President has stayed pretty quiet on this, unlike 2016 Campaign Donald who would shout, "I LOVE WIKILEAKS!" at rallies after hacked documents were leaked from the Democratic National Committee.
Look! Legislation!
Finally, after Donald Trump said he'd repeal and replace Obamacare within hours of being inaugurated – the draft replacement health care law is here. Technically, it's not exactly The Trump Administration's but a bill from House Republicans.
Many (but not all) Republicans are quite excited but is it THE greatest health care bill?
Maybe not. That honour goes to Texan Republican Pete Sessions who last week introduced exactly that : The World's Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017.
Now, before we get to the intricacies of the replacement, let's have a look at the size of the bill – thanks to The White House.
For once, the Trump Administration is touting something for being the opposite of 'yuge':
Notice how thick it is?
Moving along to the actual contents of the new legislation. Those with pre-existing conditions won't be prevented from receiving health care, which is a win, but critics do suggest that poorer citizens will struggle to get coverage.
Even some Republicans say the Bill will be 'dead on arrival' in the Senate.
Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz didn't help matters when he told poorer Americans to choose between an iPhone and health coverage:
He's not the only Republican turning heads
Ben Carson, the new Secretary for Housing and Urban Development had this eyebrow raising moment this week:
Melania's movements
In her first solo public engagement as First Lady, Mrs Trump visited a children's hospital in Manhattan late last week and read some Dr Seuss to sick kids as part of National Read Across America Day.
Cute!
By the numbers
31% - That's the amount of time President Trump has spent at Mar-a-Lago as of last weekend (he's been there – at least in part – for 14 days of his presidency), according to CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.
Desperate times call for, scotch tape!
Last week we brought you Trump Ties, so, why not a sequel? Here's a snap captured of Donald Trump taping down his ties:
Next week the new Executive Order on immigration comes into force so that's one to watch as various states including Hawaii, New York and Washington once again step up to test its constitutionality.
Donald Trump will also be out and about selling his health plan and holding another campaign style rally, this time in Nashville, Tennessee.
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, government-and-politics, united-states
First posted