Washington

Daily Trump Tracker: George W. Bush weighs in

The President acknowledges that healthcare is ‘complicated,’ while a former POTUS chimes in. We gather the news you need from another day in the Trump presidency

President Donald Trump meets with health insurance company CEOs, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump meets with health insurance company CEOs, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

A military boost

In early federal budget blueprints released Monday afternoon, President Trump is putting money behind his pledge to build up the U.S. military by way of an extra $54 billion put towards defence spending. But the military’s gain would also be a loss for the Environmental Protection Agency and State Department, which would be among many agencies seeing cuts in the tens of millions to avoid Trump running up a bigger deficit.

Where Dubya and The Donald differ

Donald Trump may claim the media are the enemy, but former president George W. Bush had a different opinion in an interview Monday with the Today show, calling the fourth estate “indispensable to democracy.” Bush also didn’t appear very supportive of Trump’s travel ban: “I am for an immigration policy that’s welcoming and upholds the law.”

A healthy dose of skepticism

Trump once floated the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare within the hour after his inauguration last month. Perhaps reality set in on Monday, with Trump admitting: “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.” Though he did say he has some solutions—without any specifics yet.

Relax on Russia

U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes said he has no evidence that would suggest Trump’s campaign team had any contact over the phone with Russian intelligence during the election campaign, adding that’s not to say such evidence doesn’t exist. He said there’s no need to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the matter, as his major concern at the moment is those leaking information that undermines the presidency.

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