Controversies keep on hounding the U.S president. The media’s spotlight is right now focused on his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump. The issues about the involvement of his son-in-law in manipulating the presidential polls last year and his meetings with Russian personalities haven’t died down.
With his babies, as he sometimes calls them in private, getting embroiled in his tumultuous presidency, he cannot help but be personally affronted.
What brought about his loss of patience was the heavy criticism that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. received. He was criticized for his meeting with a lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who has links with Kremlin in June 2016.
This is nothing new to the president, as he himself had faced and continues to be questioned about his dealings with Russia. Now that Donald Trump Jr. is under fierce scrutiny, accused of doing things to help his presidential bid, he’s acting as a protective and defensive parent.
The latest revelations renewed the focus on Jared Kushner, presidential son-in-law and senior adviser. He was with Donald Trump Jr. when he met with the Russian lawyer.
Another issue that earned heavy criticism was Ivanka Trump’s decision to sit in for her father at the G-20 Summit last week in Hamburg, Germany.
A Frenzy of Tweets About Donald Trump Jr.
An irate Mr. Trump bombarded his Twitter account with a number of tweets to defend his son on Wednesday. He ignored his advisers’ pleas to stay away from the issue. He spoke out against the reports – that the meeting was held to collect incriminating information about Trump’s rival in the presidential bid, Hillary Clinton.
He labeled the criticism as part of political history’s greatest witch hunt. He believes that these are manufactured scandals. He espoused the theory that his son, Donald Trump Jr. could be the victim in the political issue that just won’t go away.
Around the middle of the same day, Trump had somewhat calmed down, telling advisers and friends that the situation had become better. He said this hours before he left for France to attend the Bastille Day celebrations at the invitation of French President Emanuel Macron.
Dysfunction at the White House?
More attention is now focused on Jared Kushner after the leaks about Donald Trump Jr. and his meeting with the Russian lawyer. After all he is the senior adviser to the president and is tasked to handle the highly sensitive foreign policy issues of the administration. Due to the controversies, reporters are asking if his security clearance is still valid.
Officials, the media and the public are also looking at how open Kushner was with the president about the meeting with the Russians. He discussed the issue around the same time that the emails regarding it came out.
As the investigation to his involvement continues, he has added more foreign contacts to the list he had to submit to the FBI three times. There are now more than 100 names in the list. According to two persons who received briefing about the issue, Kushner omitted some significant points and said that he told the president there would be no problem even if he has to disclose the name.
In a media interview, Trump said that he only knew that his son met with the Russians a few days ago. It’s expected that the issue will get more press coverage, as the Senate Intelligence Committee panel now plans to include Donald Trump Jr. in their investigations.
The White House aides came under fire because they failed to protect the president’s son from getting involved in the issue. Many said they were blindsided and did not have time to spin a response. Also, there’s the question of who leaked the information to The New York Times and why it took four days for Trump to come to his son’s defense.
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