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In a week's time Donald Trump will mark 100 days as the President of the United States.
I know. Time flies when you're having fun, folks.
This week the Commander in Chief has made an appearance with the Easter Bunny at the White House, the administration has misplaced an aircraft carrier (kind of), the Secretary of State has put the hard word on Iran over "state-sponsored terrorism" and nuclear proliferation and VP Mike Pence is popping in Down Under on a tour of Asia.
There's also that matter of North Korea threatening to launch a "super mighty pre-emptive strike" that will turn South Korea and the United States "to ashes".
China and the Trump administration suddenly seem to have buddied up on that issue, while the buddy-in-waiting, Russia, still has its nose out of joint due to the US strikes on its ally Syria.
It's complicated, and yes, the foreign affairs side of things is all over the shop with the US stance on Syria, China, Russia and NATO all changing in the space of a week.
As Mr Trump has admitted more than once, things are often more difficult and complicated than they initially seem and, ever mercurial, he's more than capable of changing his position depending on the circumstances, or who has his ear at the time.
One thing worth pointing out is the fact that the black cloud that's been hanging over the administration over its relationship with Russia has (probably temporarily) evaporated due to the Syria stoush.
We'll see whether it returns with flashes of thunder and lightning in due course.
He said
On the domestic front, there was another election in America this week
Yes, that's right. The Georgia Sixth Congressional District, a wealthy Republican suburban area outside of Atlanta, is without a congressman after Donald Trump appointed Tom Price as his Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The race was a little unusual with multiple candidates from both sides of politics running against each other.
If a candidate took 50 per cent of the vote they'd win the seat; if not, it'd force a run-off in June.
With multiple Republicans running against each other, Democrats sniffed a chance to flip a traditional red seat blue.
Their shining light: Jon Ossoff:
The 30-year-old, who'd never been elected to public office, fell agonizingly short of the threshold for outright victory but buoyed hopes of Democrats across America.
Some say it is proof of anti-Trump sentiment being reflected at the ballot box; others say it shows Democrats can't even beat Republicans even when there are some 13-odd candidates bickering amongst themselves (sound familiar?).
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle and (maybe) the race is some sort of preliminary and obscure bellwether ahead of the 2018 mid-terms.
Democrats are motivated and Republicans are worried enough that Donald Trump recorded a robocall and both parties sank millions of dollars into the race.
After Tuesday's tight result, the President was quick to take credit for the narrow win:
The next special election will be in Montana — and whatever the outcome, the build-up promises to be entertaining:
So, where's Bernie? He loves an election, right?
In a tub of ice-cream.
Next question.
What's Don Jr. up to?
I thought Ivanka was the fashionable one ...
Where's Obama? Somewhere you'd rather be
Here he is, taking photos in French Polynesia:
What's he doing there, you ask?
Well, the former president and first lady were on board a 450-foot superyacht with Oprah, Tom Hanks and Bruce Springsteen.
Come on!
How the times have changed.
Now it's Donald Trump stuck in Washington D.C. trying to solve America's problems while Barack is jet-setting with the stars.
But don't feel too sorry for him — POTUS continues to escape to Mar-a-Lago with regularity.
In this week's edition of "Trump Travels", The Washington Post's Philip Bump gives us an update on the number of Trump trips to his properties since being elected:
While it seems like a lot, as the New York Times reported this week, President Trump has otherwise been somewhat of a homebody during his first 100 Days in office.
The President's visited just seven states, only once heading west of the Mississippi (this week to Wisconsin).
Compared to recent history, George W. Bush had visited 23 states by around the same mark in his presidency while Barack Obama had been overseas three times.
President Trump will head abroad to Belgium next month (and to the UK in October, where he expects a carriage ride with the Queen, according to The Times of London) but for now, the question always seems to be, "Is he at Mar-a-Lago?" Well, fear no more, because now there's an app for that:
Touchdown Trump
It was also a sporty week for America's new Fan-in-Chief.
First, on his trip to Milwaukee, Governor Scott Walker gave him some personalized Bucks merchandise.
I wonder what Aussie Bucks Matthew Dellavedova and Thon Maker think?
He then got back to the White House in time to host his first sports champions, the New England Patriots.
Before that, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski interrupted Press Secretary Sean Spicer during his daily briefing, much to Spicer's delight. (He's a big fan.)
Surrounded by the team outside the White House, Trump was presented with his second jersey in the space of a week:
But with several Patriots players boycotting the event, the New York Times quickly jumped at another opportunity to compare the two presidents and their crowd sizes:
Fake news?
Well, actually, maybe.
The Patriots Twitter account quickly defended the President, arguing that the photos lacked context — and many of the team staff were seated in the crowd:
Looks like the NYT was fourth and wrong on that one.
Outside the White House, protests continue
Thousands rallied around the country over the weekend, demanding the President release his taxes.
As per usual, there were some excellent signs:
Meanwhile, others gathered in support of Steve Bannon, who was rumoured to be on his way out.
See! There's a cause for everyone — and there will be more protests in the name of science this week.
Also, expect a flurry of signed pieces of paper over the next week as Donald Trump tries to meet the huge task he set for himself over his first 100 days.
Here's a reminder from Team Trump if you'd like to tick and cross the boxes.
There are a few of each and a number of question marks.
You win some, you lose some, you get some stuck in the courts, you change your mind on others.
Right?
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, donald-trump, united-states
First posted