USA: White House yanks Pentagon nominee who suggested Trump’s Ukraine scheme was illegal - by Matthew Chapman

This scheme, facilitated by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and a handful of now-indicted associates, formed the basis of the first article of impeachment against Trump at the end of last year. Senate Republicans ultimately mustered the votes to quash these allegations in an impeachment trial where additional witnesses were prohibited from coming forward.

The Pentagon has not yet stated whether McCusker will remain in the comptroller position on an acting basis

Read more at: White House yanks Pentagon nominee who suggested Trump’s Ukraine scheme was illegal – Raw Story

USA Trump Administration: Trump's 'infrastructure week' goes off the rails - by Melanie Zanona

The White House's self-proclaimed "infrastructure week" has generated a flurry of headlines on nearly everything else.

Part of the reason the initiative was overshadowed was ex-FBI Director James Comey's gripping testimony on Capitol Hill, which commanded the attention of Washington and major cable news networks all week.

But much of the derailment on the infrastructure rollout has been of President Trump's own making. He repeatedly veered off message in tweets and during infrastructure-themed speeches, flouting some of White House staffers’ carefully laid plans.


Read more: Trump's 'infrastructure week' goes off the rails | TheHill

The Trump Whitehouse: White House denies misleading public in aircraft carrier mix-up - Ellen Mitchel

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Wednesday denied that the Trump administration misled the public when the president said last week that a U.S. aircraft carrier was heading toward the Sea of Japan.

“The president said that we have an armada going toward the [Korean Peninsula]. That is fact. It happened. It is happening, rather,” Spicer said during a press briefing.

The Navy announced on April 9 that its Carl Vinson Strike Group would skip a regularly scheduled visit to Australia and head toward the western Pacific Ocean, a move the White House later said was meant as a deterrent to North Korea's recent provocations.

Spicer denied the White House had misled the public and blamed the Pentagon for any confusion.

“[U.S. Pacific Command] put out a release talking about the group ultimately ending up in the Korean peninsula, that’s what it will do,” Spicer said. 

Note EU-Digest: total incompetence in this case shown here by the Trump White House 

Read more: - by White House denies misleading public in aircraft carrier mix-up | TheHill

Censorship USA: White House bans certain news media from briefing

The White House has barred several major broadcasters and newspapers from attending an informal press briefing.

The BBC, CNN, the New York Times and others were excluded from an audience with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, with no reason given.

It came hours after President Donald Trump delivered another attack on the media in a speech, saying that "fake news" was the "enemy of the people".

He has previously singled out CNN and the New York Times for criticism.

Recent reports claiming his campaign aides had contact with Russian intelligence officials have particularly irked the president.

Shortly after Mr Trump's speech on Friday, a number of selected media organisations were invited into Mr Spicer's office for an informal briefing, or "gaggle".

Those allowed into the room included ABC, Fox News, Breitbart News, Reuters and the Washington Times.

When asked why some were excluded, Mr Spicer said it was his decision to "expand the pool" of reporters.

He also warned the White House was going to "aggressively push back" at "false narratives" in the news.

Read more: White House bans certain news media from briefing - BBC News

USA: Paul Krugman dissects the staggering ignorance of the Trump White House - by Janet Allon

Is the Trump White House evil or just stupid? The answer to that burning question is, well, both. In Monday’s column, Paul Krugman takes as his subject the incompetence piece, which is evident in matters both large and seemingly trivial.

Though when you can’t be bothered to learn how you should address the Prime Minister of Japan, or the relatively simple fact that in Asia, the order of names is reversed, it seems more than a little representative of a certain incurious attitude. Trump addressed Abe Shinzo as Prime Minister Shinzo, the equivalent of calling Trump President Donald.  “Trivial?” 

Krugman asks. “Well, it would be if it were an isolated instance. But it isn’t.” In fact it appears that for both the Republican-led Congress and the clowns in the White House, ignorance is seen as a kind of strength.

Examples abound, per Krugman.

We see this on legal matters: In a widely quoted analysis, the legal expert Benjamin Wittes described the infamous executive order on refugees as “malevolence tempered by incompetence,” and noted that the order reads “as if it was not reviewed by competent counsel at all” — which is a good way to lose in court . . .

We see it on national security matters, where the president continues to rely on a chief adviser who, suspicious closeness to the Kremlin aside, appears to get his strategic information from right-wing conspiracy theorists . . . 

We see it on education, where the hearings for Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, revealed her to be completely ignorant about even the most elementary issues . . . We see it on diplomacy. How hard is it to ask someone from the State Department to make sure that the White House gets foreign leaders’ names right?

Too hard, apparently: Before the Abe flub, the official agenda for the state visit by Theresa May, the British prime minister, repeatedly misspelled her name.

Read more: Paul Krugman dissects the staggering ignorance of the Trump White House - Salon.com