Pastor Jim and Lori Bakker welcome special guests Steve Strang and Doctor Steve Greene as they introduce their newest books God and Donald Trump and Love Leads.
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Tag Archives: Donald Trump
God, Trump and Love (Day 2)
Pastor Jim and Lori Bakker welcome special guests Steve Strang and Doctor Steve Greene as they introduce their newest books God and Donald Trump and Love Leads.
Continue reading
God, Trump and Love (Day 1)
Pastor Jim and Lori Bakker welcome special guests Steve Strang and Doctor Steve Greene as they introduce their newest books God and Donald Trump and Love Leads.
Continue reading
Supreme Court dismisses Hawaii’s challenge to Trump travel ban
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday formally dropped plans to hear the last remaining challenge to an earlier version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries and a ban on refugees, but a fight over the legality of his latest restrictions still could reach the nine justices.
The high court said it will not hear the case brought by Hawaii over the bans, which have expired and been replaced with revised policies. Trump’s 120-day ban on refugees ended on Tuesday and is set to be replaced by a new set of restrictions.
Two lower courts have blocked Trump’s new ban targeting people from eight countries, Trump’s third set of travel restrictions, and the issue could find its way back to the Supreme Court on appeal.
The court on Oct. 10 disposed of the first of two travel ban cases — brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and others in Maryland — after Trump’s earlier 90-day ban on people entering the U.S. from six predominantly Muslim countries expired on Sept. 24. It was a replaced with a modified, open-ended ban involving eight countries.
The justices had been scheduled to hear arguments in the two consolidated on Oct. 10.
Among the issues raised by challengers was whether the travel ban discriminated against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on the government favoring or disfavoring a particular religion. The same arguments are being used against the new ban.
Trump has said the restrictions were needed to prevent terrorism in the United States.
The expired ban had targeted people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. The new ban removed Sudan from the list and blocked people from Chad and North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela from entering the United States.
If the new restrictions go into effect, they could block tens of thousands of potential immigrants and visitors to the United States. Trump had promised as a candidate “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
Trump expected to pressure China’s Xi to rein in North Korea: officials
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to pressure China’s president when they meet next month in Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea out of a belief that Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power should give him more authority to do so.
Trump leaves Nov. 3 on a trip that will take him to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It will be his first tour of Asia since taking power in January and one with a major priority: Preventing the standoff with North Korea from spiraling out of control.
Xi is immersed in a Communist Party Congress expected to culminate in him consolidating his control and potentially retaining power beyond 2022, when the next congress takes place.
Trump believes that Xi should have even more leverage to work on the North Korea problem.
“The president’s view is you have even less of an excuse now,” said one official. “He’s not going to step lightly.”
Trump wants to gain some serious cooperation from China to persuade Pyongyang to either change its mind or help deprive it of so much resources that it has no choice but to alter its behavior, the official said.
Trump has heaped praise on Xi in recent weeks in hopes of gaining Chinese cooperation and has held back from major punitive trade measures.
In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, Trump said he wants to “keep things very, very low key” with Xi until the Chinese leader emerges from the party congress.
“I believe he’s got the power to do something very significant with respect to North Korea. We’ll see what happens. Now with that being said, we’re prepared for anything. We are so prepared, like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said in the interview, to air on Sunday.
Trump has traded bitter insults with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, using his speech at the United Nations General Assembly last month to dismiss Kim as a “rocket man” on a suicide mission for his repeated nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches. He said if threatened, the United States would “totally destroy” North Korea.
Kim in recent weeks said the United States would face an “unimaginable strike” from North Korea if provoked.
CIA chief Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that North Korea could be only “months” away from gaining the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons.
(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Iran president defends Guards in show of unity anticipating Trump
By Babak Dehghanpisheh
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iran’s moderate president gave a full-throated defense of his one-time rivals in the Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday, as the country’s pragmatist and hardline factions rallied together in the face of threats from Donald Trump.
The U.S. president is expected to “decertify” Iran’s nuclear deal with global powers this week and add its Revolutionary Guards military force to Washington’s black list of terrorist groups under a strategy to increase pressure on Tehran.
The threat of U.S. action has united the two main factions of Iran’s leadership, with the pragmatists led by President Hassan Rouhani who seek greater openness to the West demonstrating their support for the hardline Guards.
During a cabinet meeting shown on state television on Wednesday, Rouhani said U.S. action against the Guards would be a “mistake beyond mistakes”.
“They think that the Guards are a military entity. The Revolutionary Guards are not a military entity. They’re in the heart of the people. The Revolutionary Guards, in all the days of danger, have defended our national interests,” he said.
“We’re one society. We’re Iran. There are no differences between different factions in confronting the plots of our enemies,” he added.
Rouhani, the architect of Iran’s 2015 deal with global powers to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions, won re-election in a landslide five months ago on a platform promising greater openness to the world and reform at home.
During an unprecedentedly bitter campaign, he repeatedly spoke out in public against the political influence of the Guards, accusing them of backing his hardline opponent to defend their economic interests.
In recent days, however, the threat of new action from Washington has prompted a public display of unity from the rival factions among Iran’s rulers.
“Today, the president of America has created conditions where Iran is more united than ever. Today, those who oppose the nuclear deal and those who support it are side by side. We all have one voice,” Rouhani said.
Newspapers on Tuesday ran pictures of the urbane, U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Javad Zarif laughing and hugging the commander of the guards, Major-General Mohammad Ali Jafari.
Zarif brief lawmakers on Wednesday about the expected U.S. action and about Iran’s plans for a response, according to members of parliament quoted in state media.
“CRUSHING RESPONSE”
“In the closed session Zarif emphasized that if the Americans take any steps against the nuclear deal that the Islamic Republic of Iran will give them a more crushing response,” Shahbaz Hassanpour, a lawmaker representing the city of Sirjan, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Lawmakers did not disclose the specific actions that Zarif had discussed as plans for Iranian retaliation.
Trump’s expected move to decertify the nuclear deal would not by itself withdraw the United States from the agreement, but would pass that decision on to Congress, requiring lawmakers to decide within 60 days whether to re-impose sanctions.
The nuclear deal is supported by Washington’s European allies Britain, France and Germany, as well as by Russia and China, all of which say Iran has complied so far.
Adding the Guards to the terrorism blacklist could have economic consequences, since the elite military force also has a vast business empire in Iran. International banks are required to make sure their clients are not blacklisted.
Washington has already blacklisted other entities and individuals for supporting Guards’ activities, but has not yet blacklisted the Guards themselves.
During the meeting with Zarif, parliament members expressed their support for the Guards, Hassanpour said. Zarif also noted during the session that European countries will continue backing the nuclear deal regardless of what actions the U.S may take, Hassanpour told IRNA.
(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; editing by Peter Graff)
Trump eviscerates health insurance birth control mandate
By Sarah N. Lynch and Caroline Humer
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday eviscerated requirements under the Obamacare law that employers provide insurance to cover women’s birth control, keeping a campaign pledge that pleased his conservative Christian supporters.
Administration officials said two new federal rules will let any non-profit or for-profit entity make religious or moral objections to obtain an exemption from the law’s contraception mandate. The changes also let publicly traded companies obtain a religious exemption.
The move drew fire from reproductive rights advocates and praise from a conservative Christian activists. California’s Democratic attorney general pledged to fight to protect the mandate from circumvention. It remained unclear how many women would lose contraception coverage and which companies would use the exemptions.
“The Trump administration just took direct aim at birth control coverage for 62 million women,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards said in a statement.
“This is an unacceptable attack on basic healthcare that the vast majority of women rely on. With this rule in place, any employer could decide that their employees no longer have health insurance coverage for birth control,” Richards added.
Trump, who criticized the birth control mandate in last year’s election campaign, and won strong support from conservative Christian voters. The Republican president signed an executive order in May asking for rules that would allow religious groups to deny their employees insurance coverage for services they oppose on religious grounds.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday moved to broaden those narrow religious exemptions to include an exception “on the basis of moral conviction” for non-profit and for-profit companies.
The contraception mandate was one provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, also called Obamacare.
The law required employers to provide health insurance that covers birth control, but religious houses of worship were exempted. Some private businesses sued regarding their rights to circumvent such coverage, and the Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that they could object on religious grounds.
“All Americans should have the freedom to peacefully live and work consistent with their faith without fear of government punishment,” the conservative Christian legal activist group Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement praising the administration’s action.
“HHS has issued a balanced rule that respects all sides – it keeps the contraceptive mandate in place for most employers and now provides a religious exemption,” said Mark Rienzi, one of the lawyers for the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Roman Catholic nuns that runs care homes for the elderly and previously challenged the mandate in court.
“The Little Sisters still need to get final relief in court, which should be easy now that the government admits it broke the law,” Rienzi added.
The Little Sisters and other Christian nonprofit employers objected to a 2013 compromise offered by the Obama administration that allowed entities opposed to providing contraception insurance coverage to comply with the law without actually paying for the required coverage.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he was “prepared to take whatever action it takes” to defend the mandate that health insurers provide birth control.
The administration’s new contraception exemptions “are another example of the Trump administration trampling on people’s rights, but in this case only women,” Becerra told Reuters.
The Justice Department on Friday released two memos that will serve as the government’s legal basis for justifying the rule and laying out a framework for how apply religious liberty issues in legal opinions, federal rules and grant making.
One memo instructs Justice Department employees to incorporate its legal arguments on religious freedom into litigation strategies and how they review rules. A second memo used a similar directive to government agencies to be used in the course of “employment, contracting and programing.”
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Caroline Humer in New York; writing by Will Dunham; Editing by David Gregorio)
In meeting with military, Trump talks of ‘calm before the storm’
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After discussing Iran and North Korea with U.S. military leaders on Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for a photo with them before dinner and declared the moment “the calm before the storm.”
“You guys know what this represents?” Trump said after journalists gathered in the White House state dining room to photograph him and first lady Melania Trump with the uniformed military leaders and their spouses.
“Maybe it’s the calm before the storm,” he said.
What storm?
“You’ll find out,” Trump told questioning reporters.
Classical music played in the background and tables were set in the nearby Blue Room for a fancy meal.
The White House did not immediately reply to a request to clarify Trump’s remark.
Earlier in the evening, while seated with the top defense officials in the cabinet room, Trump talked about the threat from North Korea and preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
“In North Korea, our goal is denuclearization,” he said. “We cannot allow this dictatorship to threaten our nation or our allies with unimaginable loss of life. We will do what we must do to prevent that from happening. And it will be done, if necessary, believe me.”
During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said the United States would “totally destroy” North Korea if needed to defend itself or U.S. allies.
The president on Thursday also had tough words for Iran, saying the country had not lived up to the spirit of an agreement forged with world powers to curb its nuclear program.
A senior administration official said on Thursday
that Trump was expected to announce soon he would decertify the landmark agreement.
Trump has filled top posts within his administration with military generals, including his chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, and national security adviser, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster. McMaster, who normally dresses in civilian clothes at the White House, wore his uniform for the meeting.
Without being specific, Trump pressed the leaders to be faster at providing him with “military options” when needed.
“Moving forward, I also expect you to provide me with a broad range of military options, when needed, at a much faster pace. I know that government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on you to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy,” he said during their cabinet room meeting.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney)
The Secret Saboteurs (Day 4)
Pastor Jim and Lori Bakker welcome Doctor Tom Horn, Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, and Pastor Carl Gallups as they discuss the secret saboteurs and the deep state of the United States Government.
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Dollar set for best week of 2017, stocks near records
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar was headed for its strongest week of the year on Friday, while world stock markets climbed back near record-high levels on the last trading day of the quarter.
Firming expectations for another U.S. interest rate increase by year-end, combined with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax-cut plan, have dominated markets for most of the week.
Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending barely rose in August but the report did little to change expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again in December. Another report showed the Chicago purchasing management index, which gauges factory activity, came in better-than-expected for September.
“The economic data we got was either on target or it was slightly better than expected so there wasn’t anything negative at all to put a pause on things,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
“Generally, the overall economic backdrop is very solid. In a bull market when you don’t have bad news you tend to get up moves in the market,” Frederick said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 18.29 points, or 0.08 percent, to 22,362.91, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 4.93 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,514.99 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 31.99 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,485.44.
The S&P technology sector <.SPLRCT> led the way, rising 0.6 percent.
The S&P 500 had set a record closing high on Thursday.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.34 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 0.34 percent.
The MSCI global index was within 0.5 percent of an all-time high and on pace for its 11th consecutive positive month.
The dollar index <.DXY> was flat. The greenback was up about 1 percent for the week, on track for its best week since December.
“What you have seen is a general closing out of some short dollar positions but for that to be sustained we need greater detail on Trump’s fiscal plans and see it going through,” said James Binny, head of currency portfolio management for EMEA at State Street Global Advisors.
The euro <EUR=> was up 0.29 percent to $1.1818.
Benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> last fell 4/32 in price to yield 2.3193 percent, from 2.307 percent late on Thursday.
U.S. crude <CLcv1> fell 0.23 percent to $51.44 per barrel and Brent <LCOcv1> was last at $56.88, down 0.49 percent on the day.
Spot gold <XAU=> dropped 0.2 percent to $1,284.52 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan and Saikat Chatterjee in London; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Nick Zieminski)