Trump Wants Russia Back in the G7: Reason Roundup
Plus: bipartisan bill would tell feds to buzz off on marijuana, prosecutors seize New York Times reporter's emails, and Trump may take pardon suggestions from NFL players.
As Trump heads to the G7 meeting, he's still obsessing about Russia. After heckling Canada about the War of 1812 earlier this week, President Donald Trump is headed up to our northern neighbor to meet with other world leaders for the G-7 summit. It is not expected to go smoothly.
The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force https://t.co/UA86fcjozs
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 7, 2018
Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2018
This morning, however, Trump seemed to be in high spirits about the day's events:
Canada charges the U.S. a 270% tariff on Dairy Products! They didn't tell you that, did they? Not fair to our farmers!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2018
Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn't happen, we come out even better!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2018
I am heading for Canada and the G-7 for talks that will mostly center on the long time unfair trade practiced against the United States. From there I go to Singapore and talks with North Korea on Denuclearization. Won't be talking about the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax for a while!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2018
But Trump himself couldn't stop talking about Russia on Friday morning, suggesting to reporters that it was unfair to exclude Vladimir Putin from the gathering:
It doesn't matter what you call it. It used to be G-8, now Russia is out. Why are we having a meeting without Russia? Would recommend Russia should be a part of it.
The summit, which takes place in the Quebec town of La Malbaie, has drawn a wave of Quebec City protests that are being reported alternately as "mostly peaceful" and as a night of "violent protesters throw[ing] flares and burn[ing] flags in standoff with police."
The final nails in pot prohibition's coffin? The "Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States" (STATES) Act, introduced by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) yesterday, would "amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding" marijuana. Under the bipartisan proposal, the federal ban on weed would "not apply to any person acting in compliance with State law relating to the manufacture, production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana."
At a press conference, Gardner complained that cannabis entrepreneurs in states where weed is legal "can't get a bank loan or set up a bank account because of the concern over the conflict between the state and federal law. We need to fix this public hypocrisy."
See Gardner and Warren's full statements below:
It's time to reform American's outdated marijuana policies. Watch live as @SenCoryGarder and I discuss our new legislation that would let states, territories, & tribes decide for themselves how best to regulate marijuana – without federal interference. https://t.co/BVcvxomhld
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 7, 2018
The first known DoJ seizure of email and phone records of a reporter in the Trump era is of a NYT reporter. The seizure went back to an email account associated with her college years. https://t.co/tYurANaIFT
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 8, 2018
"A former Senate Intelligence Committee aide was arrested on Thursday in an investigation of classified information leaks where prosecutors also secretly seized years' worth of a New York Times reporter's phone and email records," the Times reported on Thursday.
- The Trump administration filed a court brief yesterday calling the preexisting conditions provision of Obamacare unconstitutional.
- The U.S. is ramping up aggression in Afghanistan again. "The Afghan government's unilateral halt to attacks on the Taliban is giving U.S. counterterrorism forces a chance to intensify combat operations against Islamic State-affiliated extremists," reports The Washington Post on Army Gen. John Nicholson's Friday remarks.
- In Norwalk, Connecticut, bail for prostitution is set 100 times higher than bail for a marijuana charge.
- Crime in Louisville, Kentucky, is down despite massive cuts to the number of police officers on patrol.
- Maryland gubernatorial candidate Richard Madaleno just delivered America's first TV campaign ad featuring a same-sex kiss.
- President Trump: "You have a lot of people in the NFL in particular … they're not proud enough to stand for our national anthem … I'm gonna ask all of those people to recommend to me … people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system and… I'm gonna take a look at those applications."
- Happy Friday! If you need a recipe for cannabis-infused cocktails, classic pot brownies, or prison hooch this weekend, we've got you covered.
