by WorldTribune Staff, January 30, 2017
While the major media was playing up controversy and backlash surrounding President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, a White House official countered that the media should chill.
From Politico’s Playbook e-letter: “Good morning, Mr. President – N.Y. Times – 5 of 6 stories about Trump http://nyti.ms/2jJaghe … Washington Post – every story about Trump, under banner headline “Trump stands by order as confusion, discontent swirl” – photo shows protests at Trump Hotel in D.C. http://bit.ly/2jMPzi1 … N.Y. Post – “Border War … Protests mount over ‘Muslim ban’ … Trump defends order http://nyp.st/2jMyTam”.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Jan. 29 that the president’s order “really is a massive success story in terms of implementation on every single level.”
The official also called for the media to cease in its “false, misleading, inaccurate, hyperventilating” coverage of the “fractional, marginal, minuscule percentage” of travelers who were “set aside for further questioning” under the order.
During the Jan. 29 briefing, one official sought to clarify some pieces of the order, saying that green card holders are “exempt” from the order.
“Some of the confusion stemming from the green-card issue is just semantic in nature,” the official said.
“I think some of the confusion stems from the semantic debate about the meaning of the word ‘exemption.’ Again, internally, we’ve been clear on this from the beginning, and we’ve waived people through.”
The official also said the implementation of the order had been “done seamlessly and with extraordinary professionalism.”
Meanwhile, Politico’s Jan. 30 version of Playbook kicked off with a familiar refrain for the e-letter, namely that Trump is toast:
“This is when it’s going to get tough for President Donald Trump. Congress comes back to Washington and the 292 Republicans who were sent to Capitol Hill will all be on the hot seat, forced to answer for an immigration policy that was clearly not thought through. …. Lesson No. 1 For Trump: Sometimes it makes sense to go through Congress. Yes, it’s slow, messy and cumbersome. But you’ll end up with something safer – and you’ll share the political risk. The questions now: Will Republicans on Capitol Hill pass something to help clean up the mess Trump created? Or will they force him to own it?”
Press erupts following immigration order; White Houses calls it a ‘massive success story’ added by World Tribune on
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