Politics & Government

Trump Tweets Of The Day, Friday, May 12: 'James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations'

Trump's tweets from the past 24 hours — and what they mean in the grand scheme.

Michael Lello, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
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Twitter has become a modern-day version of the fireside chat for Donald Trump, whose tweets are his preferred 140-character forum for getting out his message — both when he was a candidate and now as commander in chief.

Patch will share Trump's daily dispatches from his preferred platform in one handy post, as well as the context and facts, when appropriate. (For more national political news, sign up for the free White House Patch email newsletter.)

The tweets:

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The tweet:

The context: "The Trump administration has reached new deals with China to ease market access for a variety of industries, including beef and financial service," The Washington Post reported Friday morning.

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The context: Trump was widely criticized from both sides of the aisle for his firing Tuesday of FBI Director James Comey.

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The context: CNN reported Wednesday morning that Trump associate Roger Stone recommended the firing of Comey.

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The facts: As attorney general of Connecticut, now-Sen. Richard Blumenthal lied about serving in Vietnam.

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The context: Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified to the Senate Monday about the Trump campaign's involvement with Russia.

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The context: "Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates will testify in front of a Senate subcommittee Monday about what and when she told the Trump White House in regard to Michael Flynn's ties to Russia," CNN reports. Note: A few hours later, Trump sent a corrected version of the tweet, fixing the spelling of counsel.

The tweet:

The context: Gen. Michael Flynn resigned as Trump's national security adviser after it was revealed that he misled the administration about his dealings with foreign governments during the 2016 campaign. Several times, Trump has pointed out that the Obama administration granted clearance to Flynn.

The facts: It is true that Obama granted security to Flynn, who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency until he retired in 2014. But as Politifact notes, "that doesn’t affect the main allegation against Flynn: that he didn’t properly disclose payments he received from Russia, as required by law and Pentagon policy. Nor does it excuse any oversights the Trump team made while considering Flynn for a White House role."

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The context: Golfer John Daly won his first PGA tour title since 2014 on Sunday. Daly endorsed Trump in the 2016 election.

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The context: "It's going to be fantastic health care," Trump said during Thursday's press conference with Australia's prime minster after the House passed the GOP health care bill. "I shouldn't say this to our great gentleman and my friend from Australia because you have better health care than we do."

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The context: Trump was scheduled to visit New York City this weekend. The news was greeted by protests.

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The context: Despite Trump's disdain for the media (see below) he is a frequent cheerleader for "Fox and Friends."

The facts: "From the week of Trump's inauguration through Sunday, 'Fox & Friends' has averaged 1.66 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That's more than its two cable news rivals, CNN's 'New Day' and MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' combined, continuing a streak of similar dominance over the two," CNNreported last month.

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The context: "Fake news" is one of Trump's signature insults, but it's unclear what exactly he is referring to here.

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The context: Rice on Wednesday declined an invitation to testify at a hearing on Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

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The context: Earlier, Clinton told CNN, "Fine. Better than the interfering in foreign affairs. If he wants to tweet about me then I am happy to be the diversion because we have lot of things to worry about."

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The context: A government shutdown, which would happen Friday if lawmakers can't agree on a spending bill, would include the shut down of national parks.

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The context: Democrats oppose Trump's plans for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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The context: Trump blames Democrats for the impending possible government shutdown, which would mean military personnel would not get paid.

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The context: If Republican and Democratic lawmakers are unable to resolve some of their differences over a necessary upcoming spending bill by April 28, the American people may be facing a government shutdown.

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The context: Health benefits for retired coal miners are set to expire Sunday.

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The context: "Democrats... want help for Puerto Rico, which is trying to restructure its debt to avoid filing for bankruptcy, and to extend healthcare for miners that would otherwise expire this month," according to The Hill.

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The context: Trump frequently railed against NAFTA during the presidential election.

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The context: A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday ruled that President Donald Trump cannot punish so-called "sanctuary cities" by withholding federal funding in a way that violates the constitution.

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The context: The U.S. on Monday announced tariffs on Canadian lumber in the midst of a dairy trade spat.

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The context: Trump is in a debate with Democrats regarding funding for his proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexican border.

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The context: A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that a historically low 42 percent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows that 54 percent of Americans disapprove of the job he's doing. Trump did not say why the polls are "fake news."

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The context: The Trump administration has secured the release of Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American aid worker who was held in Egypt for three years, according to a Friday report from the New York Times.

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The context: ISIS took credit for a shooting in Paris that killed a police officer and injured two others. France's presidential election voting begins Sunday.

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The context: The Super Bowl champion New England Patriots visited the White House Wednesday. The Times' sports account on Wednesday tweeted photos of yesterday's visit and the team's 2015 visit. Patriots owner Bob Kraft, coach Bill Bellichick and quarterback Tom Brady are friends of Trump. Brady missed Wednesday's visit due to personal reasons.

The facts: The 2015 photo shows a bigger delegation, but the Patriots tweeted in response: "These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn."

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The context: Tuesday's special election for the 6th District seat in Congress appeared to be heading to a runoff, with Democrat Jon Ossoff falling just short of the 50 percent needed to claim the seat outright. He'll face top Republican vote-getter Karen Handel in the runoff.

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The context: The frontrunners in today's special election in Georgia are Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel. The 6th District seat became vacant when Rep. Tom Price was named Trump's Health secretary.

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The context: The brutal international gang MS-13 is presumed to be behind a quadruple homicide that has left four young men dead in Long Island last week.

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The context: "North Korea warned it would defend itself against 'reckless acts of aggression' after the U.S. deployed an aircraft carrier strike group toward the Korean peninsula," USA Today reported Tuesday mornin

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The context: Trump met with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday.

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The context: See tweets below.

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The context: Donna Brazile, former interim chair of the DNC and a longtime Democrat operative, was dropped from her job as a CNN contributor after it was revealed that she leaked a question to the Hillary Clinton campaign in advance of a debate.

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The context: Last month, right-wing news outlet The Daily Caller exclusively reported that Democrat lobbyist Tony Podesta, the brother of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, "was paid $170,000 over a six-month period last year to represent Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, seeking to end one of the Obama administration’s economic sanctions against that country."

The facts: The story was picked up by other right-wing sites but not confirmed or reported on by the mainstream media.

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The context: "Fox & Friends" on Monday opened its broadcast by talking about a Friday Fox News report that "[th]e U.S. intelligence official who 'unmasked,' or exposed, the names of multiple private citizens affiliated with the Trump team is someone 'very well known, very high up, very senior in the intelligence world.'”

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The context: On Thursday, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, forced to resign as national security director over his contacts with Russian agents, offered to testify before Congressional investigators in exchange for criminal immunity, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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The context: Meadows, Jordan and Labrador are members of the Freedom Caucus. Trump continues to slam the Freedom Caucus, the ultra-conservative wing of the GOP, which helped defeat the American Health Care Act.

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The context: This is essentially the same anti-Times Tweet Trump posted Tuesday night, complete with a link to the same New York Post column.

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The context: Trump continues to slam the ultra-conservative wing of the GOP, which helped defeat the American Health Care Act.

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The context: It's unclear which New York Times article Trump is taking issue with here, but it could be its Wednesday editorial headlined "President Trump Risks the Planet."

The facts: After the election, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger said the paper would rededicate itself "to the fundamental mission of Times journalism."

PREVIOUSLY:

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The context: This is not the first time Trump has attempted to link Hillary Clinton to a deal between Russia's nuclear power agency and a Canadian company, according to ABC.

The facts: On June 30, 2016, Politifact concluded that Trump's claim was "mostly false."

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The context: President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to begin undoing Obama-era environmental regulations that aimed to reduce carbon emissions from power plants.

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The context: Trump has been very critical of the New York Times, often calling the newspaper "fake news."

The facts: After the election, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger said the paper would rededicate itself "to the fundamental mission of Times journalism." On Monday night, New York Post columnist John Crudele wrote that Sulzberger meant the Times was rededicating itself to honesty.

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The context: This is not the first time Trump has attempted to link Hillary Clinton to a deal between Russia's nuclear power agency and a Canadian company, according to ABC.

The facts: On June 30, 2016, Politifact concluded that Trump's claim was "mostly false."

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The context: The most conservative wing of the House has made demands for changes to the American Healthcare Act. Meetings with House Speaker Paul Ryan and others produced no progress, according to Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mo Brooks.

The facts: The Freedom Caucus has advocated for the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

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The context: Wednesday night, CNN reported information obtained by the FBI suggests that President Trump's associates coordinated with Russian agents during the election season, potentially part of a coordinated effort to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign.

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The context: Trump spoke at a closed-door GOP meeting Tuesday, urging them to vote in favor of the American Health Care Act.

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The context: FBI Director James Comey will appear in front of the House Intelligence Committee Monday where he is expected to face questions about the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and about possible contacts between the Russians and members of the Trump campaign.

The facts: "People associated with Hillary Clinton's campaign also met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman," Fox News reported last week.

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The context: FBI Director James Comey will appear in front of the House Intelligence Committee Monday where he is expected to face questions about the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and about possible contacts between the Russians and members of the Trump campaign.

The facts: Trump's National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, resigned after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russians during the campaign. Trump's Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, recused himself from investigations into the campaign's contacts with the Russians after it was revealed that then-Sen. Sessions had two meetings with the Russian ambassador during the election.

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The context: North Korea is "making observable progress toward its goal of building a missile that could reach the U.S. mainland and China," according to the Washington Post. On Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said "all options are on the table" when it comes to North Korea.

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The context: In the music video for his new song, "Lavender," rapper Snoop Dogg fire a toy gun at a clown/Donald Trump character.

The facts: Snoop Dogg has sold more than 35 million records worldwide. His 2016 album, "Coolaid," was a commercial disappointment, falling to No. 198 on the Billboard 200 in its second week.

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The context: On Tuesday night, MSNB'S Rachel Maddow shared what she says are Trump's 2005 tax returns, acquired by former New York Times reporter, author, and DCReport founder David Cay Johnston.

The facts: Johnston is a 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner and the author of several best-selling books, including 2016's "The Making Of Donald Trump."

PREVIOUSLY:

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The context: The Senate has confirmed 19 of Trump's 23 Cabinet nominees thus far.

The facts: No president has waited this long to have his Cabinet confirmed, according to CNBC. The Senate has yet to hold confirmations for Trump's appointees to lead the Labor (Alex Acosta) and Agriculture (Sunny Perdue) departments as well as Trade Representative designee Robert Lighthizer and Director of National Intelligence designee Dan Coats. Acosta is the most recent nominee, following initial nominee Andrew Puzder's withdrawal.

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The context: House Republicans last week released the American Health Care Act, which would replace Obamacare. It has passed two House committees and will be put up for a vote by the Budge Committee before being voted on by the full House.

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The context: Trump is likely referring to the difficult questions faced by his senior adviser Kellyanne Conway on Sunday morning TV shows as she defended his controversial tweet in which he accused President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower.

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The context: The House Ways and Means Committee voted 23-16 to approve the bill in late-night sessions that stretched into early Thursday morning.

PREVIOUSLY:

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The context: ADP, a payroll processor, released its February jobs report Wednesday.

The facts: The numbers cited by Fox Business, and in turn, Trump, are accurate.

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The context: Trump met with Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, on Wednesday to discuss health care. Cummings said he used the opportunity to also talk about Trump's comments about black communities.

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The context: LinkedIn released its latest Workforce Report today.

The facts: Trump's assertion is accurate, but the report notes that overall hiring was down in most industries in January and February.

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The context: Sen. Rand Paul, a Reublican from Kentucky, called the new health care bill "Obamacare Lite" and said it will not pass and instead called for a full repeal. Paul ran against Trump in the presidential primary last year.

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The context: Multiple news outlets have reported that the White House is operating in chaos. Trump has generally responded to negative reports by calling them "fake news," with little or no evidence.

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The context: The tweet comes a day after the Republicans revealed their health care bill.

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The context: Republican lawmakers on Monday revealed their health care bill that would replace Obamacare. It did not include a provision for allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines, which Trump is in favor of.

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The context: Trump has been under fire for his administration's contacts with Russia during the election.

The facts: The Russian Federation annexed Crimea on March 18, 2014, during President Obama's second term. It's not clear what Trump meant by Russia's "added missiles."

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The facts: "[M]ore more than 90% of those detainees were released during the George W. Bush administration, not that of Obama," USA Today reported Tuesday.

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The context: President Trump has praised other businesses since being elected, including Boeing. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is the former CEO of ExxonMobil.

The facts: Trump on Monday issued a press release praising ExxonMobil's "ambitious $20 billion investment program that is creating more than 45,000 construction and manufacturing jobs in the United States Gulf Coast region."

PREVIOUSLY:

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The context: Pro-Trump rallies were held across the country on Saturday. Trump supporters clashed with protesters in Berkeley, California.

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The context: Trump continued to push back on allegations of his campaign's contact with Russia and on Saturday accused President Obama of "wire tapping" Trump Tower, without evidence. Here, he is quoting President Obama.

The facts: "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility," Obama whispered to then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev during a "hot mic" moment in 2012, according to the New York Daily News.

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The context: Trump continues to muddy the waters regarding his campaign's contacts with Russia during the election. Here is referring to Russian hacks of DNC email servers. Trump called for the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton's emails during the election.

The facts: “The DNC had several meetings with representatives of the FBI’s Cyber Division and its Washington (DC) Field Office, the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and it responded to a variety of requests for cooperation, but the FBI never requested access to the DNC’s computer servers,” Eric Walker, the DNC’s deputy communications director, told BuzzFeed News in an email in January.

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The context: On Friday, Schwarzenegger said he would not return for the next season of "The Apprentice" due to falling ratings which he blamed on President Trump's divisiveness.

The facts: This is a "he said, he said" situation at this point.

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The context: On Thursday, Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Department of Justice's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia after it was revealed that, contrary to his testimony to the Senate, Sessions had contact with Russia during the election.

The facts: We weren't able to verify Trump's assertion Saturday morning, but the fact remains that Sessions told a Senate committee that he had no contact with Russia during the election. He did.

The context: Trump has been blaming Obama and the previous administration for "leaks" to the press. This tweet seems to fall in line with those accusations.

The facts: Trump offered no evidence for his accusation.

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The context: There is nothing unusual about an ambassador meeting with a president.

The facts: Conservative news outlets, including Breitbart News, reported that Sergey Kislyak visited the Obama White House 22 times.

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The context: Trump continued to blast Obama for his alleged wire tapping of Trump during the election. Trump called a previous president "bad (or) sick" and compared the alleged scandal to Watergate without citing any evidence.

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The context: On Thursday, Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Department of Justice's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia after it was revealed that, contrary to his testimony to the Senate, Sessions had contact with Russia during the election.

The facts: On Friday, Pelosi said she had never met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who is at the center of the Jeff Sessions scandal. But according to the Politico article tweeted out by Trump, "a file photo from Pelosi's 2010 meeting with Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev shows Kislyak at the table across from Pelosi — then House speaker — and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)."

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The context: On Thursday, Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Department of Justice's investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia after it was revealed that, contrary to his testimony to the Senate, Sessions had contact with Russia during the election.

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The context: Democrats have opposed many of Trump's Cabinet nominees. Most recently, Ben Carson was approved as secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Rick Perry was approved as secretary of Energy.

The facts: No president has ever waited this long to have his full Cabinet approved.

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The context: Adams is the founder and executive director of the Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness (FLAG), a not-for-profit whose "principal purpose is to educationally proclaim the greatness of America and refute the fallacy of anti-Americanism." The book is "an explosive and startling exposé into the world of legal immigration and what many must endure to come to America," according to publisher Simon & Schuster.

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The context: Following Wednesday night's report that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in contact with a Russian ambassador during the presidential election, the former senator on Thursday recused himself from the government's probe into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia.

The facts: During his confirmation hearing, Sessions said he did not meet with Russians during the campaign. But he did.

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The context: Trump's tweet came while the news cycle was dominated by the Washington Post's bombshell report about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contacts with Russia during the election.

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The context: Trump's first tweet of the day on Wednesday was most likely in reference to his address to the joint chambers of Congress Tuesday night and any positive reaction he received.

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The context: The most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey was released Monday.

The facts: Trump is right, but by a very slim margin. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they approve of the job Republicans are doing in Congress, while 31 percent said they approved of the job Democrats are doing in Congress. The margin of error for the survey is around 3 percent, more than triple the difference the president cited. (Trump did not mention that 48 percent of respondents disapprove of the job he is doing, compared with 44 percent who approve.)

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The context: Trump invited the nation's governors to the White House Sunday night for the Governors' Dinner, which is the high point of the annual National Governors Association's national meeting.

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The context: Trump continues to battle the "dishonest media" over negative stories, including those about his campaign's connection to Russia, which he repeatedly calls "fake news."

The facts: There have been multiple reports by various major news outlets about the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia during the election. Most recently, the Washington Post published an exclusive story reporting that the Trump administration enlisted the FBI to push back news stories on Russian ties to the campaign.

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The context: The New York Times bought a 30-second ad to air during the Oscars Sunday night.

The facts: It was not the first time the Times bought a TV ad; the newspaper aired one in 2010.

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The context: Leaks from the U.S. intelligence community have ratcheted up suspicions that the Trump presidential campaign had illegal contacts with Russian operatives during the 2016 election. On Thursday, CNN, citing "multiple U.S. officials briefed on the matter," reported that "[t]he FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign."

The facts: Trump has decried leaks related to his administration, but during the election he praised WikiLeaks and encouraged the Russians to hack the emails of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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The context: Positioning himself as the "law and order" candidate, Trump often talked about cleaning up violent crime in Chicago as a priority during his presidential campaign.

The facts: The Chicago Tribune on Thursday reported on its analysis of crime data, which shows that murders in the city are so far outpacing 2016 murders there. The paper also reported that seven people were shot to death Wednesdasy in Chicago.

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The context: Republican lawmakers have been facing tough questions, sharp criticism, and, in some cases, protests, during recent town hall-style meetings with their constituents.

The facts: Trump gave no evidence to support his claim. Further, a GOP lawmaker who has been the target of voters' wrath at his own events went out of his way to call the disenchantment "legitimate."

“I want to make clear it’s all legitimate,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa said after his second town hall meeting of the day Tuesday, according to the New York Times. “If Hillary Clinton had been elected president, there’d be people from the conservative end of the spectrum to probably be doing the same thing.”

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The context: Trump was "complimenting" Ellison, who has emerged as a leading candidate for the vacant DNC chair post.

The facts: Here's what Ellison said on July 26, 2015, on ABC's "This Week."

"Anybody from the Democratic side of the fence who thinks, who is terrified of the possibility of President Trump — better vote, better get active, better get involved because this man has got some momentum, and we better be ready for the fact that he may be leading the Republican ticket."

The tweet:

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