Washington

Donald Trump lowers expectations before his big report card

Daily Trump Tracker: The first 100 days mean nothing, insists the president, while a dead tenor makes a reapperance

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with county sheriffs during a listening session in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 7, 2017 in Washington, DC.  (Andrew Harrer/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with county sheriffs during a listening session in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harrer/Getty Images)

Caveat excusor
The nasty media wants to use the totally arbitrary chronological marker of the president’s “first 100 days” to assess his progress.  It’s not like Donald Trump explicitly promised to achieve things in the post-inauguration period that will conclude on April 29. And it’s not like Messrs. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush again, Reagan, or every other one as far back as FDR, were subjected to this kind of scrutiny after their first 3.285 months in office. No fair!

Counting pennies
Trump wants to spend *just* $604 billion on the U.S. military next year, James Mattis reportedly carped to Congressfolk recently. The Defence Secretary says that’s not enough of the green stuff to pay for all the new toys the president wants to buy for the armed forces. Fortunately, the Pentagon managed to locate the aircraft carrier group Trump lost last week. That’s sure to knock a few billion off the ‘replacements’ bill.

I’ll take ‘Famous Italians’ for $100, Alex
Prime minister Paolo Gentiloni was treated last night to a recounting of his nation’s greatest hits as chosen by Donald Trump (or at least his speechwriters). Among the artistic gems the president cited was “a great friend of mine,” Luciano Pavarotti. Trump may need to update his list of warbling chums—Pavarotti passed away in 2007. We hear there’s a Canadian tenor in need of a new gig.

An aid worker comes home
Aya Hijazi returned to the U.S. yesterday after the Trump administration secured her release. The dual American-Egyptian national’s release from an Egyptian jail came after behind-the-scenes negotiations between the two governments during President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s White House visit earlier this month.

This is fine, day two
Keep calm and carry on, says Bill Morneau. Speaking the day after his boss said supply management was here to stay, it was the Finance minister’s turn to respond to Trump’s anti-dairy comments. Canada and the U.S. have “moved from a positive relationship, which it is, to thinking about specifics,” Morneau told the press.

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