Trump's reading list: 11 books the president plugged in 2019

Before taking office, President Trump said he was too busy to read. And with the world’s problems, from North Korea to Venezuela, in his inbox as well as the impeachment battle, it is difficult to see how he can find time to pick up any of the past year's tidal wave of new releases. Yet during the past 12 months, he managed to recommend 28 newly published books to his 68 million followers on Twitter. That is an average of more than a book every two weeks.

Whether he read them cover-to-cover or simply saw their authors on Fox News, here are 11 of the president's favorite books of the past year.

Game of Thorns by Doug Wead Subtitled “The Inside Story of Hillary Clinton's Failed Campaign and Donald Trump's Winning Strategy,” this book won a bump in attention when its author appeared on Fox & Friends Jan. 24. Trump praised the 2017 book on the same day. Sample sentence: "Donald Trump should easily be ranked as one of America’s great presidents.”

Exonerated: The Failed Takedown of President Donald Trump by the Swamp by Dan Bongino Billed as an “explosive, whistle-blowing expose,” this book is one of a number on the list that sets out to reveal the dark secrets of the “deep state” actors who set out to frame Trump in the Mueller report — a recurring genre in Trump's recommendations.

The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson

“Victor Davis Hanson’s new book, 'The Case for Trump,' chronicles the successes of America’s 45th president as only the prolific Hoover Institution scholar could,” according to the Heritage Foundation.

Our Lost Declaration by Mike Lee An important book, according to the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard. "And not just because it lays out the founding rights, but because the Declaration is mostly a list of oppressions by the British government that look like a preview of today’s deep state," he wrote.

Rebuilding Sergeant Peck by John Peck

Peck lost all his limbs in an IED attack in Iraq and was invited to the White House a week after his double arm transplant and uplifting story were featured on Fox News.

Sacred Duty by Tom Cotton

Another reminder that a book does not have to be about Trump to get a presidential seal of approval — although it helps if an ardent admirer writes it. This one mixes the story of the Arkansas senator's military service with that of the Old Guard, the ceremonial regiment that honors fallen soldiers.

Justice on Trial by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino

Fresh details culled from hundreds of interviews with players in last year’s confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh make this one of the few books on this list that won praise from both sides of the political divide.

Radicals, Resistance, and Revenge by Jeanine Pirro

In the second of her alliterative tomes (following last year's Liars, Leakers, and Liberals), the former judge and Fox TV personality picks her way through the "deep state" and the Mueller investigation. Sample sentence: “The White House stands alone like an ancient walled city with barbarians storming the gates, looking to annihilate the man the American people put in that house in 2016.”

Paloma Wants to be Lady Freedom by Rachel Campos-Duffy

“Today we spend so much time talking about diversity and what makes us different that we're forgetting to tell our children stories about what unites us as Americans,” runs the blurb to this children’s tale set inside the U.S. Capitol. Campos-Duffy trod a familiar path to Trump, coming to prominence as a reality TV star in the 1990s on The Real World before eventually becoming a Fox News guest host, by way of The View. She has nine children with her husband Sean Duffy, the former Wisconsin congressman.

Resistance (At All Costs) by Kimberley Strassel

Another book making the case that it is Trump critics — not the president — who represent the real threat to American democracy through their overzealous efforts to drive him from office. “Thought provoking” or “a biased attack on Trump detractors,” according to Amazon reviews.

Triggered by Donald Trump Jr.

Endorsements by the father in chief helped propel this first-time author to the top of the bestseller lists. Or possibly, it was the bulk buys by the Republican National Committee, which reportedly spent almost $100,000 on copies.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com

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Erik Prince's 'Secret' Meeting With Venezuelan Government "Flagged" By US Treasury

Earlier this month we detailed the bizarre story of controversial Blackwater founder Erik Prince's trip to meet with top Maduro government officials in Venezuela in late November. Prince had held "secret talks" with no less than Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, which reportedly included the Frontier Services Group executive pressing Caracas for the release of six imprisoned Citgo executives, something that apparently happened, according to a Bloomberg report. Other details of what was discussed or possibly agreed to remain a mystery. At the time speculation abounded as to whether or not his trip had the approval or knowledge of the Trump administration, given that as we pointed out at the time VP Delcy Rodríguez is a sanctioned individual, meaning discussion of any business arrangement with her or other officials without authorization is against US law. Now it appears Prince could be in hot water over the meetings: Erik Prince, a major Republican donor and founder of controversial security firm Blackwater, has been referred to the U.S. Treasury Department for possible sanctions violations tied to his recent trip to Venezuela for a meeting with a top aide of President Nicolas Maduro, two senior U.S. officials said. There’s no indication that Prince, whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, will be sanctioned for the meeting last month in Caracas with Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Weeks ago the State Department denied that Prince was acting in an unofficial "back channel" capacity. When the reports first surfaced, the State Department even claimed it had no knowledge of the visit, with special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams saying in a statement, “Neither the meeting nor any offers made were on behalf of the United States Government and on their face such offers would appear to violate U.S. sanctions.” The entire strange episode was widely interpreted as meaning the White House had grown tired of regime change efforts inside Venezuela and that support for US-declared 'interim president' Juan Guaidó was wavering. Of course, it could also signal that an internal US government conflict over Venezuela policy is breaking out into the open, as the AP report hints: But the fact the visit was flagged underscores the concern of officials in the Trump administration over what appeared to be an unauthorized diplomatic outreach to Maduro. This, as support for opposition leader Juan Guaidó inside Venezuela — if not Washington — appears to be waning.

A business associate of Prince's who is said to have traveled to Caracas for the meetings claims the National Security Council and Treasury Department were properly notified and that no objections were raised. The associate also said that no sanctions-violating activity took place, as no business dealings were involved, and nothing of value was received from Venezuelan government officials. Instead, "The person said Prince, a former Navy SEAL, continues to support the Trump administration’s goal of removing Maduro but believes State Department efforts to reach that goal have failed and new alternatives — which the person did not specify — need to be tried," according to the AP. Though "flagged" for the trip, it's highly unlikely that any legal repercussions will follow whatsoever, given not only Prince's deep insider connections with the Trump administration, but also that the whole 'mission' was probably authorized by somebody at the top, even if initially "off the books".

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/erik-princes-secret-meeting-venezuelan-government-flagged-us-treasury

NBC’s Meet the Press Libels The Gateway Pundit, Rush Limbaugh, Drudge, Infowars and FOX News for Spreading “Intentionally Bad Information”

NBC’s Meet the Press and host Chuck Todd libeled The Gateway Pundit Sunday morning with a graphic prepared by NBC reporter Ben Collins that falsely labeled TGP of being part of a “chain of intentionally bad information”. Todd also slandered TGP in his question about the graphic.

Here’s the flow chart they posted on NBC which is completely ridiculous in so many ways.

Does all conservative news really start at 4chan?

Is The Drudge Report really conservative anymore?

Are they really saying these outlets are “Intentionally” misreporting the news? There may be a lawsuit in the works here.

Newsbusters reported on the segment and posted a partial transcript. Chuck Todd pressed establishment conservative Matthew Continetti of the Free Beacon on the Meet the Press smear of independent conservative media and Continetti responded by throwing everyone under the bus.

TODD: Matthew, I wanted you to address what I think is an ecosystem problem, at least on the right. I want to put up something that my colleague, Ben Collins, put here. It’s a bit of an ecosystem here. It’ll say, something starts on 4Chan. There’s the subreddit of Trump. InfoWars might pick it up. Then it starts inching into the mainstream. Gateway Pundit might just say, “Oh, what’s this about?” Then it gets to Drudge, might have a provocative headline link. Rush might say it in his fun, little way. Then it does make its way into Fox News and then, of course, your Facebook feed. How do you create more accountability in the conservative ecosystem for, basically, dealing with propaganda?

CONTINETTI: Well, it’s hard work. And I think it begins by trying to instruct young conservatives in the canons of journalism, mainly, empirical verification, right? And this, I think, the distrusted institutions, that’s longstanding among conservatives, has led many of them to no longer believe in the idea that you need, kind of, evidence, in order to forward a fact. Or they don’t believe in certain verified sources, credentialed sources, of evidence or information. They don’t trust any of it.

Further in his comments Continetti compares conservative outlets to the supermarket tabloids that feature articles about the space alien predicting the next president.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/nbcs-meet-the-press-libels-the-gateway-pundit-rush-limbaugh-drudge-infowars-for-spreading-intentionally-bad-information/

>>7669022

Think what is trying to be said here is that POTUS view count is being throttled by Twitter.

>>7669144

*Correction Comments count